After Shirou was pulled away by Swire, the seafood stall owner scratched his head.
"Here we go again…"
Looking fierce was not his fault, yet because of it all sorts of strange rumors had spread about him in the slums. But in reality, he was just a seafood vendor and at most he sold fish balls at night.
Really! Please believe him!
"Hey! That red-haired guy just now—"
A man walked up to the stall and slapped the table, intending to ask about Shirou. But the moment the owner looked up, he froze.
He was simply too scared to speak. If not for the last shred of dignity holding him together, he might have needed a change of pants.
"…Uh, what is it?"
The owner set down his knife and looked at him.
"N-nothing! Big boss, you carry on, I will be going now!"
The man fled immediately, followed by several others carrying weapons.
"Sigh… here we go again. But those guys…"
Watching them leave, the owner sighed as usual.
Still, he had noticed that the men trailing behind seemed armed and their target appeared to be the person with Officer Swire.
"…Better notify Officer Hoshiguma."
He took out his phone and made a call to report what he had seen, then looked worriedly in the direction Shirou had gone.
He was just an ordinary citizen. This was about all he could do.
Meanwhile, the man who had slapped the table was still shaken. The others caught up and asked:
"Second Brother, do we go after them?"
"We chase! Lungmen profanity—he's the one who got Boss arrested! Move!"
The man known as "Second Brother" quickly steadied himself and ordered the pursuit.
They had just received word that the person responsible for their boss's arrest was near the slums. They rushed over and confirmed it was him.
"We are in position and ready to act anytime."
A voice came through the phone.
"Just injure him and do not kill him. Do not hurt civilians, or we will break the rules."
Second Brother gave a firm reminder.
In Lungmen, small-scale fights were common. As long as no one died, authorities usually turned a blind eye, unless it involved infected causing trouble.
Their boss had been arrested precisely for that, causing trouble as an Infected. Honestly, he had it coming. He had just been too greedy, taking action for a bit of petty profit.
If not for worrying about losing face among his men, Second Brother would not have bothered avenging him at all.
"The target just said something to his… companion… oh, looks like flirting. There is nothing unusual."
The person on the other end reported what they saw, Swire covering her ear and glaring at Shirou.
"…Proceed with the attack. Avoid vital areas."
Lighting a cigarette, Second Brother gave the order.
They just wanted to vent, any excuse for a beating would do.
With the first crossbow bolt fired, the street fight officially began.
Holding up the reinforced table, Shirou kept watch on his surroundings.
Passive defense like this had its limits. What he needed was to wait for the right moment and then either counterattack or escape.
But since the enemy had crossbows, running outright was not really an option.
What he needed to do was disable their ability to fight and pursue.
From the rhythm of the attacks, Shirou estimated there were about three attackers. Reflections from nearby glass surfaces helped him pinpoint their positions.
"Trace on."
Three short blades appeared between his fingers.
They were just ordinary daggers, he had no intention of taking lives. Simply restricting their movement would be enough.
Though he would not kill them, making them suffer a bit was fine.
"That is…?"
Seeing the blades suddenly appear in his hands, Swire rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had imagined it.
Did this guy just… pull knives out of thin air?
Shirou did not answer, instead he flicked his wrist and threw the blades one after another each aimed in a different direction.
"Lungmen profanity—my hand!"
"Ugh—!"
"Gahhhhh!"
Accompanied by screams and the clatter of metal hitting the ground, Shirou grabbed Swire and started running.
The three daggers had done their job, each crossbowman's hands were effectively disabled.
As expected, once the three shooters were taken out, another group began chasing them.
"Lungmen profanity—get him!"
Their shouting was so crude that even Swire could not stand it.
"Lungmen profanity—if I catch them, I swear I will…!"
She cursed as she ran, while Shirou focused solely on figuring out their escape route.
She was from the Guard Department, he did not dare comment on her language at all. The last thing he wanted was to end up getting "dealt with" along with the people chasing them.
"Shirou, where are we heading?"
Seeing fewer and fewer people around as they ran, Swire could not help but ask.
"Toward less crowded areas. They may not intend to hurt others, but they will still damage stalls."
Following the route in his memory, Shirou answered while running.
"Can you not just take them down cleanly? Like you did just now?"
After witnessing his dagger throws, Swire no longer underestimated his combat ability.
She had been completely wrong.
A real expert used a plastic table as a shield and casually pulled out knives to disable enemies.
"…I'm worried about going too far. The terrain here is not ideal and there are civilians."
Shirou thought for a moment before answering.
The tools he could use were either ordinary weapons or Noble Phantasm-level ones.
The former required time and favorable terrain. The latter could end things instantly but he could not guarantee those people would survive long enough to receive treatment.
So it was better to find a battlefield that suited him. More importantly, he wanted to avoid harming others in the aftermath.
"…Fair enough."
Swire could not argue with that.
Her emotions right now felt like a roller coaster—
From confidently searching for clues,
to realizing Shirou might not be as strong as she thought,
to suddenly being attacked,
and finally discovering that he was actually very capable.
She swore that next time, she'd at least bring her meteor hammer.
At the very least, she would not be stuck like this, running away from a bunch of foul-mouthed thugs with no way to fight back.