"The scariest thing… is people?"
Hearing Texas' words, Shirou paused to think.
A certain priest who constantly talked about "pleasure," a certain golden arrogant king who claimed all the world's treasures were his, an Archer who wanted to kill his past self… and also Caster, Rider, Shinji, Illya…
"…Yeah, people really are terrifying."
After finishing his thoughts, Shirou spoke.
"Did something come to mind just now? Your expression does not look too good."
Sora had originally wanted to lighten the mood worried that the topic was too heavy but then she saw Shirou's face turn serious after saying that people were the scariest.
"It's nothing. I just remembered some unpleasant things."
Rubbing his temples, Shirou felt a headache coming on just thinking about those bizarre individuals.
Just like Rin said—most magi were not exactly normal.
Though… he was not that normal himself either.
"If it's unpleasant, do not think about it. People should just live happily!"
Croissant fished out a bottle of soda from the back seat and tossed it to Shirou.
Shirou caught it, it was still cold, probably just taken from a cooler.
"Exactly. Do not think too much. If anyone dares mess with us, I will just fill them with bullets."
Exusiai made a finger-gun gesture and spoke confidently, then asked Croissant for a soda too.
She had only brought it up as a reminder since compared to avoidable threats like infected creatures or catastrophes, humans were the biggest unknown.
She did not want Shirou to lose his life because he trusted others too easily.
As for Texas, the reason she mentioned it was because she had noticed Shirou tended to treat others with a certain level of goodwill.
After all, she had been one of the examiners alongside Yith.
It was not a bad thing—just… worrying.
This land was too dangerous for someone who treated others kindly.
One mistake, and he could end up stabbed in the back. She had seen too many people like that before.
But since she had benefited from Shirou's care, she felt it was only right to give him a reminder.
Now, though, it seemed Shirou had already experienced such things.
There was no need to say more.
Talking further would only reopen old wounds and those kinds of experiences were rarely pleasant.
"You two are always so cheerful."
Seeing how carefree Exusiai and Croissant were, Shirou felt his mood improve.
"Keeping a good mood is one of Penguin Logistics core principles. You should learn that, Shirou."
Exusiai crushed her empty soda bottle and tossed it into a nearby trash bag, then continued:
"Where were we? Oh right…catastrophes, infected creatures, and hostile humans. Those are the three situations we encounter most often."
Listening to her, Shirou got a general idea.
It sounded simple, but in reality there were many details, different infected creatures had different group behaviors, and catastrophes varied widely.
It was easy to say, hard to handle.
Luckily, he had an experienced "senior" like Exusiai to guide him.
As long as he was not completely incompetent, he should be able to occasionally cover her position or even replace her.
"Do you want to try? I just spotted a group of infected creatures. See if you can find them."
Exusiai handed him the binoculars.
After thinking for a moment, Shirou did not take them.
He had not forgotten that he was a magus… or more accurately, a magus who used magecraft as a practical tool.
Reinforcement magecraft was extremely versatile.
"Do you think it's too much pressure? Afraid you will mess up? Do not worry, guns jam sometimes too. If something goes wrong, we can handle it. Worst case, we just walk back to Lungmen!"
Seeing Shirou hesitate, Exusiai assumed he lacked confidence and tried to encourage him.
Her words would have been motivating, if that had been the reason.
But Shirou simply had a better method.
Actions spoke louder than words.
"Trace on—"
Shirou murmured.
This time, he was not projecting anything but he was reinforcing his eyesight.
When he opened his eyes again, the world looked completely different.
Filtering out unnecessary information, he quickly locked onto two groups of infected creatures.
One was about three kilometers away. The other was around one kilometer ahead.
The one Exusiai mentioned should be the closer one.
"You mean about one kilometer ahead, slightly to the right?"
Shirou pointed forward-right.
"Huh?"
Exusiai, still holding the binoculars, frowned.
One kilometer ahead… Praise Laterano—that is exactly what she saw.
This binocular's effective range was over two kilometers, and even then she had to focus carefully to spot it.
But Shirou… saw it with the naked eye?
Lungmen profanity. She seriously wanted to report someone for cheating.
"What's wrong? Did Shirou get it right?"
Seeing Exusiai's expression shift from confusion to shock to "I want to report this," Croissant asked.
"That is exactly what I was going to have him find with the binoculars… Shirou, your eyesight is totally broken. Do you usually use it to spy on people?"
Having calmed down slightly, Exusiai immediately came up with questionable applications.
And it would not even be illegal, you could just say you were "enjoying the scenery."
Heh. No wonder Shirou did not seem interested in them… so that's why!
Exusiai felt like she had uncovered the truth.
"…I do not."
Shirou's lips twitched slightly. Any thought of making her desserts earlier completely vanished.
If Exusiai were just a bit more normal, he might have baked her an apple pie already.
"Must be nice, being able to see that far."
Sora sounded a bit envious but only a little. Everyone had their own strengths.
"Anyway, how far can you actually see, Shirou?"
Exusiai believed him, he did not seem like someone who lied often.
Now she was just curious about his limits.
"I would say about three to four kilometers? There is another group straight ahead."
Shirou thought for a moment.
Magecraft really was quite useful in everyday life.