Several days had passed since Shirou repaired Texas's headphones and returned them to her.
During those same days, Exusiai noticed that apple pie had completely disappeared from her meals and finally realized her mistake. She chose to surrender to the evil Demon King Shirou.
Although she could just buy apple pie herself, Shirou would always come up with some excuse to confiscate it and distribute it to everyone else.
And if no one else wanted it, he'd eat it himself!
The evil Demon King Shirou had deprived her of her apple pie!
So she decided to sincerely apologize.
"I'm sorry! I should not have teased you, please give me back my apple pie!"
With a completely earnest expression, Exusiai apologized to Shirou, who was in the middle of tidying up.
"Hm… what should I do about that?"
Shirou deliberately dragged out his words, looking like he was seriously considering it.
"I'll wash the dinner dishes for a whole week!"
Exusiai raised her right hand high, her face full of sincerity.
"Alright, I accept your apology."
A slight smile appeared on Shirou's lips, he was quite satisfied with her defeated reaction.
In truth, he had not gone that far, he had only slightly reduced her intake of sweets.
He had not expected Sankta to treat desserts like their lifeline. After having her apple pie taken away a few times, Exusiai completely broke.
The moment she was forgiven, Exusiai grabbed her bag and dashed out the door.
"Then I'm off to deliver goods!"
Watching her disappear in an instant, Shirou sighed and closed the door.
The others had already gone out to work. Exusiai had stayed behind specifically to apologize and beg for her apple pie back.
Under normal circumstances unless there was a big order the Penguin Logistics crew grabbed jobs based purely on speed. The more they snatched, the more they earned.
The main competitors were Texas, Exusiai, and Croissant. Sora, on the other hand, seemed to have another career, so she was more laid-back about it.
As for Croissant, she also ran a stall but Shirou had once passed by and seen her goods.
…How to put it?
They were… questionable.
Could something like a solar-powered flashlight that did not have a battery really sell?
"But I'm still in debt…"
Watching everyone work hard to earn money, Shirou began to worry about his own situation.
Before, he had not been concerned because he had bigger problems to deal with. Now that most of those were resolved, the pressure of debt started to set in.
Another reason was that he had been covering everyone's meals for quite a while, and his funds had already dropped by more than half. While he was not completely broke yet, he was starting to worry about running short on food expenses.
Just yesterday, Shirou had asked Texas to contact the Boss. He could only hope the company would cover meal expenses otherwise he would have to consider cheaper ingredients.
"Come to think of it… my living room has basically turned into a staff cafeteria."
As he cleaned up the remains of breakfast, Shirou sighed.
It was not that he disliked the feeling. Back in the past, Fujimura-sensei and Sakura often ate at his house, so he was quite used to it.
"If only Croissant and Exusiai could be a bit less… hyper, like Texas or Sora."
Thinking of Fujimura-sensei reminded him of her energetic personality and that, in turn, reminded him that everyone in Penguin Logistics was just as lively. Especially Croissant and Exusiai.
Ring ring… ring ring…
His phone rang from his pocket. After wiping his hands, Shirou answered.
"Hello? This is Shirou."
He spoke cautiously, it was his first time receiving a call here, and there was no caller ID.
"Kid, did not expect you to start working so early. What's up? Did you run out of money already?"
The Boss's voice came through the phone, faintly accompanied by heavy bass music in the background.
"Um… I still have more than half left. I just wanted to ask, does everyone's meal cost count as company expenses?"
After organizing his thoughts, Shirou spoke directly. This was a conversation between an employee and his boss, and his request was completely reasonable so he did not feel nervous at all.
As for salary, he did not mention it. Honestly, even without pay, having food and lodging in an unfamiliar place was already something he was grateful for.
"That's it?"
The Boss sounded puzzled. He had expected Shirou to ask for money—but instead, he was only asking about expense reimbursement?
This guy's material desires were way too low.
After Texas reported in, the Boss had investigated Shirou's recent purchases and activities. He found that most of Shirou's money had been spent on food, mainly discounted supermarket items. He had even gotten friendly with some housewives and received extra ingredients from them.
Where did this housewife even come from? How did Penguin Logistics end up with someone this… normal?
This was not Penguin Logistics at all!
…Then again, if someone had to take care of those chaotic girls, maybe a normal person was exactly what they needed.
With that thought, the Boss finally calmed down.
"For now, that's my only question. If anything else comes up, I'll contact you again. Is this the right number?"
Shirou remained polite.
"Drop the politeness—that's not how Penguin Logistics operates. And I've already looked into you. So far, you're a qualified househusband."
The Boss cut him off, clearly fed up with his overly polite manner.
"Uh… thank you?"
Being praised as a "qualified househusband," Shirou was not sure how to respond, so he just said thanks.
"Anyway, do not worry about expenses—they'll be covered. Also, that money from before wo not count as your debt. Consider it a signing bonus. Congratulations on officially joining Penguin Logistics."
The Boss had already ruled out the possibility of Shirou being a spy—after all, sending someone this simple-minded as a spy would be ridiculous.
Of course, he did not completely trust him yet. Necessary caution would remain, and over time, he planned to involve Shirou in more of Penguin Logistics' work.
Even if he was not suited for combat, being logistical support was not a bad role.
The Boss took a sip of red wine.
"Hm? Did I not already join a while ago?"
Hearing the welcome, Shirou recalled being dragged into Penguin Logistics by a penguin shortly after waking up—and even having a welcome party. So that had not counted?
"Cough—kid, you… never mind. I'll have Yith deliver a card to you later. Funds will be transferred monthly. Do not let the others go hungry. I've got things to do."
After hanging up, the Boss patted his chest, easing the discomfort from choking.
He had to take it back.
Shirou was not just simple.
He was too simple.