Mid-January, morning, Lungmen City.
The people on the streets were bundled up in heavy coats. While it was not cold enough to snow, the temperature was already considered quite chilly by most standards.
Among this crowd of heavily dressed pedestrians, Shirou stood out rather noticeably, riding a bicycle while wearing only a relatively light jacket.
Several days had passed since his hotpot gathering with Nian.
True to her word, she had continued inviting him out for hotpot, and she had indeed allowed him to use a separate pot. Overall, the meals had been quite enjoyable.
The only troublesome thing was her request that he help with filming a movie.
With the internet available, looking up a director's previous works was not difficult. At first, Shirou had searched purely out of boredom.
The result left him questioning his understanding of life.
How should he put it?
He felt that those movies were simply beyond the comprehension of an ordinary person like him.
Perhaps only his boss could truly understand them.
In any case, he was starting to regret agreeing so readily.
Fortunately, he would not need to appear on camera. All he had to do was provide projected weapons and spend a little mana to keep them floating in the air.
That was a problem for later, however.
At the moment, he was merely a courier for Penguin Logistics. Delivering the package in his hands to the customer was his current priority.
"Phew... This delivery is a bit far away. On the way back, though, I can stop by and check on Rope and the others. It has been two or three days since I last visited. I wonder if they have been keeping warm."
Pulling over to the roadside, Shirou checked his phone to see where his next delivery was headed.
Compared to the workloads of Texas, Exusiai, and Croissant, Shirou's deliveries were remarkably few, and the packages were usually quite light.
The main reason was his mode of transportation.
A bicycle.
Secondly, if his workload became too heavy, nobody would be around to handle dinner preparations. As a result, the other three consciously reduced the amount of work assigned to him.
As for why he used a bicycle?
It was not because Emperor was stingy.
Initially, Shirou had delivered packages by motorcycle.
Then he got ambushed.
Unlike Texas or Exusiai, he lacked advanced driving skills, and the attackers had specifically targeted his vehicle. The result was that his motorcycle was wrecked.
While riding, Shirou had to protect both himself and the package. Since the attack focused on his vehicle, he had not reacted immediately.
However, once he got off the bike, he had one less thing to worry about.
Holding the package in one hand and a projected Lungman Guard Department training sword in the other, he promptly beat every one of his attackers.
The damaged motorcycle was not his concern either.
Yith had already arranged for it to be taken away for repairs.
Still, after that incident, Shirou had given up on the idea of continuing motorcycle deliveries.
His driving skills were simply not good enough yet.
At the very least, he needed to learn from Exusiai and Texas until he could freely weave through every street and alley of Lungmen.
If he had possessed that level of skill back then, he would have shaken off his pursuers immediately, and none of the subsequent events would have happened.
In the end, Shirou returned to the bicycle that had accompanied him for nearly a year.
It was not particularly fast, but he knew it inside and out.
Most importantly, if it broke, he could repair it himself.
The cost-performance ratio was excellent.
"I should probably let them know. I can take care of lunch there too."
After planning his route, Shirou opened the Fuyuki Shop group chat and sent a message to Phal and Rope.
This had actually been Rope's request.
The last time Shirou visited, he had only stopped by because he happened to be passing through. Unfortunately, Rope had been out working and missed the lunch he prepared.
Naturally, Shirou had left her a portion.
However, Phal claimed that leftover meals were unhealthy and kindly took care of it for her.
It was said that ever since then, Phal's hidden stash of snacks and biscuits would occasionally disappear without explanation.
For some reason, the children around the shop also seemed to have gained more snacks in their pockets.
Shirou could more or less guess who was responsible.
But he did not think much of it.
Everyone knew each other well by now.
Besides, Phal was not stupid. He definitely knew what had happened.
He simply chose not to expose it.
Moreover, he knew he had been in the wrong, which was why he had deliberately bought extra snacks and biscuits afterward.
"Hm?"
Before Shirou could send the message, a sharp sound echoed from the distance.
Sirens.
Both Lungman Guard Department vehicles and fire department vehicles.
"The Lungman Guard Department and the fire department moving together? That does not sound good..."
Listening to the overlapping sirens, Shirou frowned slightly.
After sending his message, he immediately checked for any new notifications.
Although he had not visited the Lungman Guard Department recently, Wei Yenwu had instructed him to remain in contact with them. If anything happened, Chen, Swire, Hoshiguma, or someone else would contact him.
At present, however, his phone showed no new messages.
That meant he could continue with his own business.
"Hopefully nobody gets hurt."
Stowing his phone back into his backpack, Shirou mounted his bicycle and headed toward his next delivery destination.
After spending time working with the Lungman Guard Department, Shirou had learned to distinguish between what he should do and what he should not do.
Interfering with an ongoing Lungman Guard Department operation could be dangerous for the officers involved.
That was why he did not immediately chase after them.
There was another reason as well.
He seriously doubted that he could catch up to them on a bicycle.
The citizens of Lungmen were willing to yield the road to Lungman Guard Department and fire department vehicles.
That did not mean they would move aside for a cyclist.
Without knowing the destination and unwilling to disrupt the Lungman Guard Department's plans, the best thing he could do was continue being an ordinary citizen of Lungmen until someone contacted him.
Of course, if an incident happened right in front of him, he would not stand by and do nothing.
Still, Lungmen was a huge city.
Aside from the Black Snake incident and occasionally being harassed by street thugs, Shirou rarely found himself dragged into trouble by chance.
Most of the time, he was the one who actively involved himself.
The result of that habit had been a stern lecture from Officer Chen.
And now he was working for the Lungman Guard Department.
"Good thing there is no delivery deadline. Traffic is pretty bad... I will just take this way instead. If I remember correctly, this alley connects to another side road. There should be less traffic over there."
As Shirou rode through the city streets, his speed gradually slowed.
There were simply too many vehicles ahead, making it difficult to move forward. The sidewalks were crowded as well, leaving him stuck in the middle of the road with nowhere to go.
After glancing around, he found an alleyway he remembered that connected to another route.
This was where the advantage of a bicycle came into play.
A motorcycle would never fit through this alley, but a bicycle was compact enough to pass through with ease.
Besides, if he dared ride a motorcycle onto the sidewalk, the Lungman Guard Department would come knocking on his door.
He had no desire to sit through one of Officer Chen's one-on-one traffic safety lectures.
And afterward, it would undoubtedly become yet another topic everyone used to tease him.
Thinking about such trivial matters, Shirou successfully passed through the alley and arrived at a smaller road.
Just as he expected, there were far fewer pedestrians and vehicles here.
He immediately picked up speed and headed toward his destination.
Having learned his lesson from earlier, Shirou deliberately chose side roads and alleys for the rest of the journey.
Although the route was more winding, it was still much faster than sitting in traffic.
"Feels like there are a lot more people than usual today... Is it because the Spring Festival is coming?"
While traveling through the alleys and side streets, Shirou occasionally caught glimpses of the main roads.
Seeing the endless line of traffic jams, he began to feel that something was unusual.
One or two congested roads would have been understandable.
Traffic backing up this far was another matter entirely.
The only explanation he could think of was the approaching Spring Festival.
Lungmen's population always swelled significantly around that time.
After all, Lungmen was a mobile city rather than a stationary one.
Combined with transportation and communication concerns, most people preferred arriving early to avoid potential complications.
Those were things Sora had explained to him.
According to her, similar situations occasionally happened when popular idols held concerts, though never on this scale.
At the time, Shirou had been unable to imagine the scenes she described.
Now that he was seeing it with his own eyes...
He felt Sora had actually been understating things.
As he drew closer to the slum district, however, the number of vehicles and pedestrians gradually decreased.
Even so, it was still livelier than usual.
"Hmm...?"
While cycling along, Shirou faintly heard the sound of an explosion.
The noise was quiet, however.
He looked around but could not spot any suspicious flames or smoke.
The explosion had come suddenly, and because it was so distant, he could not determine where it had originated.
Besides...
Hearing explosions in the slums was not particularly unusual.
If anything, it felt as though the local gangs would start itching all over if they went a day without fighting and causing trouble.
When Shirou first arrived, he had dealt with quite a few street thugs.
Then, for some reason, nobody came looking for trouble anymore.
At the time, he had not paid much attention to it.
Only recently had those same kinds of thugs started targeting him again, eventually resulting in his motorcycle being damaged.
That particular delivery had apparently been intended for a rival gang, which was why they had singled him out.
Originally, Shirou had planned to complain about the situation to his boss.
The rest of Penguin Logistics, however, thought it was completely normal.
They all told him he would get used to it eventually.
That experience made Shirou realize just how dangerous the daily work of Penguin Logistics really was.
Far more dangerous than he had originally imagined.
He had assumed that business trips outside Lungmen were the truly stressful assignments.
Instead, even routine work was this hazardous.
"I should probably let Minmin and the others know. The Rhodes Island office is pretty close to here."
After some thought, Shirou decided to notify Minmin's group.
He would also remind Phal and the others to keep an eye on the children.
Just because he could ignore certain dangers did not mean everyone else could.
The Rhodes Island office had armed operators stationed there, so they were relatively safe.
The Fuyuki Shop did not have that luxury.
After sending a brief warning, Shirou increased his speed, hoping to reach the shop sooner and check on things personally.
He had already been fairly close.
With the extra effort, he arrived much earlier than expected.
Once the delivery was completed, he immediately headed toward the shop.
When he saw that everything around the shop looked as peaceful as usual, he finally relaxed.
"Yo, you are here."
The moment he pushed open the door, Shirou spotted Phal lying in a recliner beside the register.
A thick quilt was draped over him.
A heater sat nearby with a kettle of water warming on top, creating an extremely comfortable scene.
Portable heaters like this were not common in Lungmen.
This particular one belonged to Phal.
It had some minor issues, but after Shirou repaired it, it functioned normally again.
"You are certainly taking it easy. By the way, where is everyone else?"
After teasing him, Shirou asked his question.
Normally there would be at least two or three people in the shop.
Today, however, only Phal was present.
That was definitely unusual.
"After receiving your message, they went out looking for people. With the Spring Festival coming up, there are a lot more orders than usual. Some others are busy working in the back."
Phal answered casually.
"You sent the kids out to look for people at a time like this? Do not tell me it is because you are afraid of the cold."
Hearing that explanation, Shirou suddenly felt an urge to punch something.
The comfortable-looking Phal in front of him seemed like a perfect target.
"Come on, brother! I am an Oni! A strong and sturdy Oni! Normally, I would not mind wearing shorts and a T-shirt in weather like this. I am sick right now, okay?"
Seeing Shirou beginning to crack his knuckles, Phal immediately sat upright and hurriedly explained his situation.
"…You should lie back down. I am going out for a bit."
Only then did Shirou remember that the man was currently a patient.
With a helpless sigh, he lowered his fists.
After all, he was a patient. Staying here and resting was perfectly normal.
The cold was entirely self-inflicted, too.
He had been playing hide-and-seek with the children and ended up climbing onto a rooftop, where he stayed hidden for an entire afternoon. When Minmin heard about it, even she could only marvel that he was truly a one-of-a-kind talent.
Otherwise, with an Oni's physique, getting sick was no easy feat.
"Actually, Shirou, you do not need to worry so much. This area has people looking after it... cough cough... I mean, this area is basically my territory. Nobody would dare cause trouble here. Everyone is willing to give me that much respect."
Seeing how worried and hurried Shirou seemed, Phal thought for a moment before offering a reminder.
Shirou himself did not know that someone was protecting this district.
Phal, however, knew very well.
Otherwise, how could a good-hearted guy like Shirou, who practically looked like a walking sign that said kind and carrying money, have spent so long in the slums without becoming a target?
"Respect? Oh... it is fine. I am more worried about them getting caught up in something."
At first, Shirou responded with a skeptical expression.
Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he came up with what seemed like a reasonable excuse before immediately pushing open the door and heading outside.
"That kid..."
Phal could only glare at Shirou's departing back while remaining sprawled in his chair.
"...Well, I suppose his concerns are not entirely unreasonable. Good thing I already informed Big sis Hoshiguma and the others earlier. Overall, there should not be any major problems."
Aside from being sick and physically weakened, Phal had already done everything that needed doing.
Everyone who needed to be informed had been informed.
Everyone who needed to be contacted had been contacted.
Now all that remained was for him to lie down properly and recover.
As for Shirou?
That guy came and went in a rush, never even letting him finish what he was saying.
He had even doubted him.
Whatever.
Let him do as he pleased.