"Missy, have things on your end been handled?"
A voice that immediately gave a sense of reassurance came through Swire's phone.
"Hoshiguma? What are you doing here?"
Hearing the voice and seeing the tall, green-haired woman in the distance holding a large shield, Swire instantly recognized her colleague.
"Jaye just called and said you were in trouble Missy, so I came over. If you are done there I will head your way. I already caught someone who was watching you with binoculars."
"You can come over now."
Swire glanced at Shirou beside her, and then at the thugs crouching on the ground with their hands on their heads in surrender, before replying.
"Is that someone you know?"
Seeing Swire hang up, Shirou relaxed his guard slightly.
"Yeah she is a colleague. Thanks for earlier."
Rubbing her temples lightly, Swire thanked him.
If not for her, Shirou would not have come here and none of this would have happened. In fact, if he had been alone he might not have even needed to run, he could have handled everything himself.
She had been too eager to find clues by coming here without even bringing a weapon, that had been her mistake.
"No… they were after me. This is probably my fault."
Shirou took the blame instead. Without him, Swire would not have gotten involved in this mess.
"…Let's not argue about that. Have them stop the bleeding first."
Seeing his reaction, Swire did not continue the discussion. The priority now was treating the injured.
Even though Shirou had held back, without proper treatment, there was still a risk to their lives.
"Yeah… you are right."
Shirou nodded and stepped forward to bandage the two injured men.
Using their own clothing, he wrapped the wounds tightly to reduce blood loss.
"Are we taking all of them in, Missy?"
A tall woman carrying a large shield approached, dragging a man along with her.
"Yeah. They are related to the one we caught at the mall a few days ago. Let's see if we can get any useful information."
"All this risk… just for a hunch?"
Hoshiguma knew Swire's line of thinking regarding the case but she had not expected her to act so rashly and investigate alone.
People in the slums did not exactly welcome members of the Guard Department. What Swire did was practically jumping into a pit of fire.
"…You're right. I was impulsive. I cannot argue with that."
Swire had no defense.
This entire situation had started because of her spur-of-the-moment decision to look for clues.
Without a weapon and with no backup, and the one person she brought along, she had not even confirmed his capabilities before assuming he would be fine.
If Shirou had not actually been strong, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.
And throughout the whole incident… she had basically been the one holding things back.
That's why, when Shirou tried to take the blame earlier, she did not know what to say and chose to change the subject instead.
"Having initiative is good, but at least make sure you stay safe. You are not as strong as Chen, after all."
Seeing Swire accept her mistake, Hoshiguma did not press further. Though they were close, Swire was technically her superior.
"Yeah… I will be more careful next time."
Swire nodded.
"I have taken care of things over there—"
After finishing the bandaging, Shirou walked over to report, but froze when he saw Hoshiguma up close.
First she was tall. At least a head taller than him.
Second, the horns on her head.
Shirou recognized that clearly. Before coming here, he had read about such beings in books.
In Terra, they were real.
The Oni race from Higashi.
This was his first time seeing one in person and he had to admit, the sense of pressure was intense.
"Did I scare you?"
Hoshiguma chuckled lightly. She was used to this reaction, people often felt intimidated by her height and her Oni heritage.
Compared to a certain seafood vendor rumored to be the mastermind behind Lungmen's underworld, though, she had it easy.
"…A little."
Shirou admitted, somewhat embarrassed.
"Do not worry about it, I do not mind. You are the one Swire mentioned from Penguin Logistics right? Your combat sense earlier was pretty solid."
Seeing his awkwardness, Hoshiguma gave him a friendly pat on the back.
She had heard about him before from Swire during a late-night meal.
Well… when you have late-night snacks, you usually have drinks too. That night, Swire had gone on and on about how such a promising talent ended up in Penguin Logistics.
Very entertaining conversation over drinks.
"…I guess so?"
After being patted a few times, Shirou felt like he had been hit by a car, his whole body nearly falling apart.
Still, the casual tone of conversation helped ease his tension.
"When did I ever tell you that?"
Swire looked confused. She did not recall telling anyone.
"Missy, you really should not drink so freely outside."
Hoshiguma teased her, instantly reminding Swire that the culprit was those drinks from a few nights ago.
"Ugh… seriously. I need to cut down next time. I already called Chen to arrange people and transport."
Covering her slightly flushed face, Swire muttered. Every time she drank, new embarrassing stories somehow ended up in Hoshiguma's hands.
Thankfully, Hoshiguma was not the gossiping type.
"Got it. And you are…? You can call me Hoshiguma."
Turning to Shirou she asked for his name. She had been about to offer him a ride, but realized she did not even know what to call him.
"Just call me Emiya."
"Emiya? That's… a Higashi name. A codename?"
Being from Higashi herself, Hoshiguma recognized it immediately.
"It's my real name. Full name: Emiya Shirou."
Shirou had already explained to Penguin Logistics that he used "Emiya" publicly to avoid trouble. Using a codename was not unusual, so it did not stand out.
"Oh? A fellow countryman? How about a drink sometime?"
Hoshiguma grew interested. Not only was he someone Swire valued, he was also from the same homeland.
"No thanks. I do not really drink."
Shirou declined. He genuinely did not drink and more importantly he was not even of legal age yet.
In Lungmen, the legal drinking age was eighteen. By his calculation, he still had two or three months to go.
"Is that so? What a shame. Then how about catching a ride with us later?"
Hoshiguma did not push further, it was just polite conversation. Still, if Shirou had agreed she would have happily shared a drink or two.