"Straight ahead? Now that you mention it, I think there is something…"
Hearing Shirou say that, Exusiai quickly picked up the binoculars and looked straight ahead.
After searching for a bit, she did spot something that looked like a group of infected creatures, though it was still too far away to see clearly.
Once the vehicle drove a little closer, she confirmed Shirou was right. There really were infected creatures ahead so she had Texas take a slight detour.
"Nice, Shirou. I will leave the scouting to you."
After confirming things were safe, Exusiai immediately went into slacker mode and put away the binoculars.
With Shirou around, who needs binoculars?
Binoculars that can see two kilometers? What garbage!
Their Shirou could see four kilometers directly!
"Exusiai, you are way too lazy just giving up like that?"
Seeing her dump the job on Shirou, Croissant could not help but complain.
"You should still do your own job properly."
Sora added from the side.
"Agreed."
Texas delivered the finishing blow.
"Ahem… is that really slacking? I call it putting the right person in the right position. You all know how tiring it is to keep using binoculars."
Exusiai felt like ever since Shirou joined, her teammates did not appreciate her anymore!
Sure, Shirou cooked great food, cleaned the house, and occasionally made desserts for everyone…
Basically like a perfect girlfriend.
…Wait, that actually means he is better than her in most ways.
Never mind then.
"I do not really mind, but you should still tell me what else I need to watch out for."
Shirou did not mind Exusiai's attitude, he just wanted her to explain the important details first.
"Shirou, you are spoiling her too much. She is going to turn useless at this rate."
Sora finally realized why her teammates were getting lazier and lazier.
It was all because Shirou spoiled them.
Before, they only slacked off in the dorm and now it was spreading to work.
At this rate, Penguin Logistics would turn into "Slacker Logistics."
"Yep, yep, I'm totally useless."
Exusiai slumped in the passenger seat and gave a thumbs-up.
Still, Shirou's words made her sit up and focus again.
After briefly explaining her experience, Exusiai let Shirou take the lead on providing information, while she verified it.
That way, her workload was much lighter, using binoculars constantly especially in a moving vehicle was not comfortable.
"What about the rear? Do we not need to watch that?"
After checking the front, left, and right with nothing unusual, Shirou asked.
"The rear? You would have to use that position to see it but we usually do not."
Exusiai pointed to the sunroof above her.
It was specially installed for her, it was normally covered but when needed they could open it for shooting or observation.
It could also be used to check behind them when being chased.
But normally they avoided it.
Opening it meant getting blasted with dust and sand which was uncomfortable for everyone in the car.
"I see… then I will just take a look through the window."
The reason Shirou asked was because he had just felt hostility coming from behind.
He did not know why, but ever since arriving in this world, he could occasionally sense hostile intent or malice directed at him.
Which meant…
They were probably already being targeted.
"So diligent… as expected of Shirou."
Watching him unbuckle his seatbelt and carefully lean toward the window to look behind them, Sora could not help but admire his dedication.
"Yeah, someone like Shirou would do well anywhere."
Croissant nodded in agreement.
"Exusiai, I think there are people behind us, about a dozen vehicles."
Adjusting his angle, Shirou spotted several vehicles about one kilometer behind them on the left.
Not sure if they were following, but better safe than sorry.
"What? Seriously?"
Hearing that, Exusiai snapped out of slacking mode. Croissant and Sora stopped chatting and grabbed their weapons.
"I will speed up first. Shirou, keep watching and if they keep following closely, then we have got a problem."
With that, Texas slammed the accelerator.
Driving like this felt great but for everyone else inside, not so much.
Still, this was an emergency.
They would just have to endure it!
Everyone grabbed onto whatever they could to steady themselves. Even if they knew it was safe, it still felt scary.
"Are they still following us?"
After gaining some distance, Exusiai asked.
"They have fallen back a bit but they are accelerating to catch up."
Shirou confirmed the vehicles were speeding toward them.
"Prepare for combat!"
Texas did not ease off the gas.
Out on this open plain, they were like prey being chased.
And behind them—
A pack of wolves.
Their options were to widen the gap and shake them off… or fight once they got close.
But with all the cargo in the back, outrunning them was not likely.
So they had to prepare for battle.
"I will try to slow them down. Texas, please keep the car steady."
Shirou assessed the situation, at about one kilometer he could fire to suppress them.
And since the enemy likely did not have weapons with that range, he should be relatively safe.
The only concern was Texas suddenly swerving and throwing him off the car.
"Trust my driving."
Texas calmly bit into a Pocky, showing zero doubt in Shirou.
Even if things went wrong, in the worst case they would just fight on foot.
No big deal.
With her approval, Shirou opened the window, grabbed the roof and pulled himself up onto the top of the vehicle.
Thankfully, the window was big enough.
"Lungmen profanity—you are going that wild!?"
Watching him climb onto the roof, Croissant was completely stunned.
Sure, it looked cool—
But doing that at this speed?
That took some serious guts.