After finishing his call with Yith, Shirou began preparing for today's work.
A few days ago, he had promised the Penguin Logistics members he would make dessert. However, he did not actually know many sweets to begin with, and the few he did know had already been "exploited" by them, especially by a certain someone who practically treated sweets as a staple food.
And it had only been a month.
So, in his spare time, Shirou had been studying some desserts from Lungmen.
He had also looked into apple pie a bit, but to prevent a certain someone from pestering him for it every single day, he decided not to make it just yet.
At the very least, it should be reserved for special occasions—like birthdays.
At the supermarket, Shirou checked out the discounted items, picked ingredients for today's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, and also grabbed discounted milk, whipping cream, and some gelatin sheets.
He planned to make milk pudding, a very simple dessert he had seen on his phone.
Returning to the dorm with all the ingredients, Shirou did not start on the main dishes first. Instead, he began preparing the milk pudding.
After all, it needed time in the fridge to set.
The ingredients were simple: fresh milk, cream, gelatin sheets, and the Laterano people's "soul seasoning"—sugar.
"I remember… soak the gelatin sheets in ice water until soft…"
Shirou took a small bowl, added drinking water, cut about 15 grams of gelatin sheets into smaller pieces, and placed them into the bowl along with some ice.
Without ice, they would dissolve in room-temperature water, he had double-checked that from the video.
"Next, heat the milk, cream, and sugar together… but do not let it boil."
He poured 480g of milk, 480g of cream, and 40g of sugar into a pot and heated it over low heat.
"Once the sugar dissolves, squeeze the gelatin dry, toss it in, and stir evenly and then it's done."
Following the video step by step, Shirou completed the process.
He poured the smooth liquid mixture into prepared containers, let it cool, then placed it in the fridge to set. By the time dinner was over, it should be ready to eat.
Recently, Shirou had been slightly reducing the portions of the main dishes, adding fruit afterward, and occasionally including desserts like today.
He felt like Exusiai had gained a bit of weight.
Compared to Croissant and Texas who exercised a lot and Sora who had self-control, Exusiai basically ate whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.
She was practically turning into a "chubby angel."
So Shirou had started gradually adjusting portion sizes. Whether it worked would be seen later.
By the time Shirou finished cooking dinner, the Penguin Logistics members had already gathered in the living room, ready to help bring the dishes to the table and quickly devour them.
"In the afternoon, Yith contacted me. There is a long-distance job in the next couple of days. Tomorrow, we will take you out and give you a basic rundown of what to watch out for."
Texas got straight to the point after dinner.
They avoided serious topics during meals, it affected digestion.
"So soon? This morning Yith was telling me to find time to ask you guys about it."
Shirou was a bit surprised at how quickly the mission came up.
"Yeah, it's a delivery to Ursus. If it goes smoothly, it will take one or two days."
To make things clearer, Texas pulled out her phone and showed him a map.
Ursus was north of Lungmen, massive in size, but the delivery location was just a border village, close to Lungmen.
"Ursus…"
Shirou's understanding of Ursus came mostly from books and hearsay.
Overall, it was a powerful country but notoriously harsh toward the Infected.
He had not seen it firsthand but his impression was not great.
Maybe even worse than his impression of Archer.
"Do not worry. We are only going to a border village, we will not go deep into Ursus."
Sora noticed his expression and reassured him. After all, this would be his first time leaving Lungmen.
"And we are going through official channels. As long as we do not go overboard, we will not clash with Ursus authorities."
Exusiai added.
"Yeah as long as we do not go overboard."
Croissant emphasized, recalling past experiences.
"Do not mind those two. Anyway, tomorrow we will go buy some supplies and explain what you need to watch out for."
Texas cut in, feeling like they were only making things sound worse.
"No problem. I will make time tomorrow."
Shirou did not take their comments too seriously but somehow they still made him a bit uneasy.
To shift the mood, he went to take out the milk pudding he had made earlier.
"Milk pudding?"
As a dessert enthusiast, Exusiai recognized it instantly.
"You learned another new dessert? You are picking things up pretty fast."
Sora scooped a small portion and watched it wobble on the spoon.
It was oddly soothing.
She had seen videos of similar desserts before, some shaped like animals but those required more skill and tools.
A simple version like this was already nice.
"Why milk pudding?"
Exusiai took a bite. The rich milky flavor and smooth texture, like a softer pudding, were not overly sweet but paired perfectly with the milk's taste.
"Because the milk was on sale. And I happened to see this recipe recently, it looked simple, so I gave it a try."
Shirou, the bargain-hunter, answered.
"…As expected of you."
Croissant was deeply impressed.
Most people decided what to eat first, then bought ingredients.
Shirou did the opposite, he looked at what was on sale, then decided what to cook.
But as someone responsible only for eating, she had no complaints.
At least they got different desserts every day, unlike before when Exusiai would just bring back apple pies all the time.