Even though Hoshiguma herself insisted it was unnecessary, Shirou still followed her all the way back to the Lungman Guard Department dormitories, only leaving after personally confirming that she had returned safely.
After all, he did not want to see a familiar face end up in the news, nor did he want to witness some absurd scene involving an Lungman Guard Department officer passed out inside Lungman Guard Department headquarters.
He was not one of those chaos-loving people like Exusiai or Croissant who looked forward to bizarre and unexpected developments all day long.
After returning to the dormitory, Shirou found the others already full and satisfied after ordering takeout.
Just as he had expected, they had ordered pizza and fried messenger beast combo meals.
The moment Exusiai saw Shirou come back while holding a slice of pizza about to go into her mouth, she very consciously lowered the pizza and pretended nothing had happened.
The others immediately followed Exusiai's lead and acted similarly.
Mainly because... they all felt strangely guilty for some reason.
"It is not like I said you cannot eat it. Just show some restraint yourselves."
Watching their reactions, Shirou found it rather amusing. He casually hung up his coat before heading into the kitchen to start preparing the potatoes, carrots, and beast meat he had bought on the way back.
There were already onions in the refrigerator, so he had not bought more. Basically, with those four ingredients and the curry roux blocks, he could make delicious curry.
"Huh? Shirou, are you making dinner right now?"
Seeing Shirou walk directly into the kitchen and begin handling ingredients, everyone at Penguin Logistics became curious about what exactly he was planning to make.
Especially Croissant, who squatted at the doorway with fried food in one hand and soda in the other while asking the question.
"Hoshiguma gave me this stuff to help process it. If stored properly after cooking, it can last quite a while, so this counts as tomorrow's dinner, I guess?"
While deboning and cutting up the beast meat, Shirou answered Croissant's question.
"Oh... so Officer Hoshiguma was the one looking for you today? Did she make you drink with her?"
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Exusiai immediately asked.
The moment they received this new piece of information, everyone's attention shifted away from the ingredients.
After all, Shirou had not started cooking yet, so they had no idea what he was making. Meanwhile, there was fresh gossip right in front of them. Ignoring it would be a waste.
"Do not talk as if Hoshiguma only knows how to drink, alright? She gave us a lot of great seasonings, you know? It is not very nice to talk badly about her like that."
Even if it was technically true, Shirou did not like speaking poorly about people behind their backs.
"You do have a point... but we always see Hoshiguma dragging Chen Sir and Officer Shi out drinking together, so that is why we think that way."
After Shirou pointed it out, Exusiai also realized she had been making assumptions.
If Swire heard you calling her "Officer Shi" you people would definitely end up fighting the Lungman Guard Department again...
Shirou silently complained in his heart while his hands never slowed down.
He peeled the potatoes and carrots before cutting them into rolling chunks. The onions were diced finely as well. Then he seared the meat first until golden brown before adding the other prepared ingredients into the pot to stir-fry together. Once the onions became somewhat translucent, he poured in water.
After that, he simply covered the pot and lowered the heat to let it simmer for about twenty minutes.
During this time, Shirou did not remain idle either. While listening to Penguin Logistics chat about completely meaningless topics and occasionally responding, he also separated and stored all the ingredients and seasonings he had received today.
At one point, Exusiai even forcibly shoved a slice of pizza into his hands. One with an especially strong cheese flavor.
Probably because of Texas, bizarre pizzas rarely ever appeared on Penguin Logistics' dining table.
Even if they did, it was usually because Exusiai secretly bought them while Texas was away.
Sweet pizza and similar creations... they were honestly a little too strange. Still, there would always be some unusual customer base that enjoyed them.
"By the way, the Lungman Guard Department training exercise actually has area restrictions? That is way too unrealistic, right? What kind of criminal just stays inside a designated zone? Obviously they would try escaping outside the area."
The group crowded around a terminal while pointing and discussing things. Croissant even directly started complaining.
"That sounds perfectly normal though. It is only an exercise after all. They cannot exactly disrupt ordinary civilians. Honestly, the fact they gave us this much usable space already means the Lungman Guard Department probably put in a lot of effort."
Texas did not have many opinions on the matter. After the initial excitement wore off, she simply found the exercise troublesome.
At least it counted as work and came with a paycheck.
"You are right, but there are still a lot of restrictions. Most of the ideas we originally thought of cannot be used anymore."
The most invested person in this exercise was definitely Exusiai.
From stink bombs to pepper spray grenades, she had been desperately brainstorming every possible method of making people miserable without actually harming anyone.
"Even if the Lungman Guard Department had not banned those ideas, we would have stopped you from using them anyway, you know?"
Watching Exusiai look disappointed, Sora's mouth twitched slightly beside her.
"...Exusiai, just how much of a grudge do you have against the Lungman Guard Department?"
Shirou, who had not been fully aware of what kind of plans they were making, started feeling genuinely worried after hearing all this.
Originally, he thought using those irritating devices was already excessive enough. He never expected Exusiai to have even harsher ideas.
This was no longer a training exercise.
They were trying to annihilate the Lungman Guard Department at this point.
"Hey, I am only thinking about it."
Exusiai gave a cheeky grin, clearly attempting to brush the issue aside.
"...Forget it. I will probably be participating too anyway. I will just keep an eye on you then."
Watching her play dumb, Shirou sighed before preparing to return to the kitchen and close the door to block out the group's conversation.
He was worried that if he kept listening, he might end up jumping over to help the Lungman Guard Department himself.
What Shirou did not notice was that after hearing those words, the eyes of everyone outside suddenly seemed to light up intensely.
Even Texas, who had almost completely lost interest earlier, rejoined the discussion enthusiastically.
Seriously, with Shirou as their trump card, driving a vehicle straight into Wei Yenwu's office would probably not even be a problem anymore.
Separated by a single door, it felt as though two entirely different worlds existed on either side of it.
In the living room, four people were grinning like villains while plotting something.
Meanwhile, inside the kitchen, Shirou worked quietly by himself.
He turned off the heat beneath the curry that had been simmering for twenty minutes, added an appropriate amount of curry roux blocks, then stirred until they dissolved before turning the heat back up and continuing to stir.
The longer curry simmered over high heat, the thicker it became. Shirou chose a middle ground here, making it somewhat thicker than the average curry commonly found in Lungmen.
The good news was that these curry roux blocks were sweet curry flavored with apple.
The bad news was that Exusiai had already appeared beside him holding a plate in preparation.
"I did not cook rice, you know. Eat it tomorrow instead?"
Looking at the uninvited sweet-tooth addict, Shirou had absolutely no intention of letting her eat it now.
Mainly because everyone had already eaten their fill earlier.
If he let them keep eating...
They would genuinely all become penguins at this rate.
"I can smell it! This is definitely sweet! I can smell apples!"
Naturally, Exusiai, who had followed the scent here, had no intention of giving up. She had already detected the aroma of apples.
And this was made by Shirou himself. Even if it was not apple pie, as long as she got to eat it, then rounding up meant she basically got to eat Shirou's apple pie, right?
"It is on the sweeter side, but if you eat it directly like this it will still be pretty salty. And besides..."
Shirou casually explained the curry he was still stirring. When he reached the words "and besides," he deliberately dragged them out for much longer.
"And besides what?"
Even though Exusiai knew Shirou was doing it on purpose, she still bit the bait without hesitation.
If she did not bite, she definitely would not get to eat any, and Shirou would not continue either.
But if she did bite, then there was still hope.
"...if you leave it overnight, it becomes even more fragrant and delicious."
Seeing Exusiai cooperate so obediently, Shirou stopped teasing her further. He knew exactly how to persuade them, especially when food was involved.
"Even more delicious..."
Hearing Shirou say that, Exusiai's mind had already begun imagining the scene.
Pathetic tears continuously dripped from the corners of her mouth.
She actually was pretty full right now anyway, so maybe... she should just listen to Shirou and wait until tomorrow?
"Yeah. If you eat it now, the meat and potatoes still have not fully absorbed the flavor. But if you wait until tomorrow, all the ingredients will soak up the curry completely."
While verbally persuading Exusiai, Shirou turned off the heat the moment the curry reached his desired thickness, though he continued stirring.
The stirring also had to be gentle. Otherwise, breaking apart the ingredients inside would be troublesome.
"Okay okay okay, then we will eat it tomorrow!"
Successfully persuaded by Shirou, Exusiai immediately put the plate back before darting out of the kitchen in one swift motion, even remembering to shut the door behind her.
She needed to separate herself from delicious food while she still had her rationality intact, otherwise she feared she might waver again.
"Honestly..."
Watching Exusiai arrive in a rush and leave just as quickly, Shirou sighed.
After continuing to stir for a while longer, once the temperature dropped slightly, Shirou opened the kitchen window for ventilation. Once the curry cooled a bit more, he could portion it out and store it in the refrigerator.
That way, whenever they wanted to eat it, they only needed to heat up a serving in the microwave or in a pot before pouring it over rice.
With everything neatly arranged, the rest of the time now belonged to Shirou himself.
Walking out of the kitchen, he saw that the four of them were no longer gathered together. Instead, they had all returned to doing their own things, just like usual.
The only difference was...
Everyone seemed to be eating snacks and crackers?
Normally, even Texas, who practically never let go of her Pocky, would cut down on snacks around this time.
So why was even Sora snacking now?
And they were eating the snacks Hoshiguma brought over too.
Hmm... well, Shirou himself was somewhat hungry too.
Mostly because Hoshiguma had eaten over half his dinner earlier.
Originally, he could have endured it, but after smelling curry the entire time just now, he ended up hungry anyway.
Quietly grabbing a small packet of snacks from beside Croissant, Shirou sat down in his usual spot.
"Ugh... Shirou, making something that smells this good at this hour is too cruel."
Seeing Shirou sit down, Sora lightly complained while nibbling on crackers.
"Sorry, sorry. I will be more careful next time."
When facing Sora, Shirou found it difficult to act deviously the way he did with Exusiai and Croissant.
The same applied to Texas.
After all, those two usually did not do anything particularly outrageous.
But as for the Angel Bear duo...
It felt like if they went even one day without causing trouble, their whole bodies would start itching.
If he did not occasionally tease them back, the two simply would not settle down.
Not everyone could use a glare like Texas to instantly suppress them, after all.
Thinking this, Shirou glanced toward Texas, who was quietly reading nearby.
Yeah.
Definitely impossible to learn.
Suddenly sensing Shirou's gaze, Texas raised her head only to see him sighing at her.
Texas: "?"
This curry ended up being an overwhelming success.
When Shirou brought it to the Lungman Guard Department the next day, Hoshiguma herself ate very happily, while the other two were equally satisfied.
The slightly sweet flavor also received unanimous praise from everyone at Penguin Logistics.
Though the main contributor to that praise was definitely Exusiai.
The others only found it refreshing because this kind of flavor was relatively rare to them.
Meanwhile, Miss Exusiai spent three straight days eating curry before finally finishing off all the sweet curry.
By the end of it, her entire body practically radiated the smell of curry. The kind where she probably would not want to touch curry again for quite a long while afterward.
As time passed, the date for the training exercise between Penguin Logistics and the Lungman Guard Department was finally decided. Detailed explanations and rules had already been distributed to both sides.
On Penguin Logistics' side, the main participants were Texas's group along with the logistics-supporting Yith.
Apparently, in order to participate in this exercise, Yith had worked overtime for several days in advance just to clear enough of his workload to free up the time.
Because of that, Shirou could only feel that their boss was truly ruthless when it came to overworking Yith.
Still, the relationship between those two seemed surprisingly good, so perhaps the salary was genuinely excellent?
Penguin Logistics had six participants in total:
Texas, Sora, Exusiai, Croissant, Yith, and Shirou himself.
The Lungman Guard Department side had far more people involved.
Both Chen and Swire, who were serving as commanders, would personally participate, along with the squads under their command and additional Lungman Guard Department personnel providing support.
Altogether, this mobilized nearly half of the Lungman Guard Department's manpower.
To prevent troublemakers from taking advantage of the situation, the Lungman Guard Department specially invited Blacksteel Worldwide, who had previously cooperated with them before, to serve as referees and provide assistance if any unexpected incidents occurred.
The rules also clearly stated that if any real emergency happened, all operations would be immediately suspended. Lungmen's public safety would take absolute priority.
Possibly because of this exercise, Shirou had been frequently spotting many people wearing bamboo hats moving around covertly over the past two days.
Although they tried to stay hidden, Shirou could still see them perfectly clearly.
Naturally, those people also noticed Shirou constantly staring at them, but they did not react at all. They simply continued carrying out their duties as though Shirou did not exist.
If he remembered correctly, those people were all subordinates of Wei Yenwu...
Did that mean Wei Yenwu himself was also paying close attention to this exercise?
Hopefully, after seeing Exusiai throwing grenades loaded with durian smell, rotten egg smell, and chili pepper powder, the man would not suddenly feel tempted to personally join the field himself.