About half an hour had passed since Penguin Logistics set out on their mission.
During that time, Shirou finished his breakfast and cleaned up the aftermath.
Once everything was tidied, he headed upstairs.
"I see… they did clean up a bit."
He cautiously checked inside first. After confirming there was nothing too problematic, he finally relaxed and opened the door fully.
Compared to yesterday, it was somewhat cleaner but overall, it was still quite messy.
After taking a look around, Shirou quickly formed a plan for cleaning.
The main enemies were dust and years of stubborn grime, especially the kitchen, which was basically a disaster zone.
He worked efficiently, using various tools to clean. Then suddenly, he noticed something lying beside a few boxes of Pocky.
"Hm? Is this… a pair of earphones?"
He paused and examined them carefully. It looked like the wire was damaged.
Thinking back to the first time he was brought to the shopping district, Texas and Exusiai had talked about this. Texas seemed to really like these earphones, but they were discontinued, and repairs were expensive, so she had been putting it off.
Shirou had experience fixing earphones and various other things before, so he was fairly confident but to be safe, he decided to check thoroughly first.
He extended his hand, and his magic circuits activated.
"Hm… the structure is similar enough. The main body is fine, just a bit old but still usable. The issue is the wire between the main unit and the connector."
The fix was not difficult: cut off the damaged section and solder the intact parts back together.
After inspecting them, Shirou did not take the earphones. Instead, he placed them back where they were.
After all, they belonged to Texas and taking them to repair without permission would not be right. At most, he could mention that they could be fixed and leave the decision to her.
Another reason was that he needed to buy some equipment: soldering tools, insulating tape, and heat-shrink tubing.
"Hmm… maybe I should just buy a full toolkit? It feels weird not having one on hand."
As he continued cleaning, he thought about it. Back when he was in the storage room, he had access to a full set of tools and soldering equipment. He used them whenever needed and had become quite skilled at this kind of work.
He used to help Issei, the student council president, repair old school appliances. And Taiga would often bring home broken devices that might be fixable.
"That's probably enough for now. I originally planned to clean the kitchen too, but that might have been too ambitious."
Shirou wrapped up his work and checked the time, it was already past noon.
Aside from areas containing important personal belongings, most places were now quite clean.
Just cleaning the living room had taken him half a day, mainly because there was so much clutter.
After putting away the cleaning tools, he went downstairs, washed up, made himself a simple lunch, and then headed out.
He first went to the shopping district to buy a toolkit and an apple pie for Exusiai. Then he stopped by the supermarket to get ingredients for dinner.
Back at the dorm, he placed the apple pie in the fridge, it could be reheated later. Then he returned to his room and set the toolkit on the large table he had bought a few days ago.
On the table were several projected items. Over the past few days, he had tried projecting all sorts of things, but most were just hollow shells. Only when projecting swords did he notice significant differences.
He unpacked the toolkit and arranged it on the smaller table according to his habits, then checked for any defects.
"Yeah, looks good. No problems."
He unplugged the soldering iron and looked at the neatly arranged tools with satisfaction.
This was the first time he had spent money on a hobby here.
Cooking did not count, those expenses were covered collectively by Penguin Logistics, so it was considered shared spending. He had kept receipts for everything and could request reimbursement from the Boss.
Applying for expenses was something Croissant had reminded him about.
Shirou sat down to rest. After being busy since morning, once he had nothing to do, his mind naturally began to wander.
"Come to think of it… it has been over a week since I came to this world."
Of the four doors he had seen before, the remaining three were still tightly locked with golden chains and were completely inaccessible.
His intuition told him those doors contained more knowledge about magecraft.
And more of his past experiences.
Over the past few days, he had also gained a rough understanding of this world or rather, this land.
The "Originium" that the Boss had mentioned was extremely important here.
Energy, abilities, weapons—all originated from Originium.
Even a small piece could provide a massive amount of energy, and it could be used to power something called Originium Arts.
In Shirou's understanding, possessing Originium meant being able to use abilities similar to magecraft.
As for weapons… here they were often called "Arts unit" or "staff" but not in the traditional sense Shirou understood. The term was broad—anything capable of casting Originium Arts was considered a "staff."
Incidentally, Exusiai's gun was also classified as a type of staff.
When he first learned that, Shirou had been utterly confused.
Ordinary people needed a staff to use Originium Arts.
But there was one exception—
The Infected.
Because they already had Originium in their bodies, they could use Arts directly, using themselves as the medium.
But in return, the Originium inside them would continue to grow.
It sounded convenient—but in reality, once someone became Infected, there was no cure. Their life effectively entered a countdown.
Thinking about this, Shirou rubbed his temples.
"What a chaotic world…"
At least in his original world's modern time, conflicts between magi were hidden in the shadows. On the surface, people lived normal lives.
…Well, unless you count everything being explained away as gas explosions.
But here, people had already grown numb to this kind of reality.
After all, the barrier to using Originium Arts was not that high, anyone with enough determination could obtain and use it.
This land was chaotic.
So… what should he do?
He did not know.
At least, not yet.
Shirou looked at the holy shroud wrapped around his right arm.
The ideal of being a "partner of justice"…
It seemed he was no longer as obsessed with it as before.
"Was it because of the Holy Grail War I experienced?"
He believed that the war had changed him. Even if he could not remember it, his soul still did.
But now, he could not afford to stubbornly cling to ideals like before.
At least, not for now.
He needed to understand this land, understand how to help those who needed help.
And most importantly, he had to continue doing his current job—
Penguin Logistics' housekeeper.
After all, they had saved him.
His impression of the Boss and the others was not bad, and kindness should be repaid.
Until Penguin Logistics no longer needed him, he would remember that.