Early the next morning, Shirou woke up very early.
Mainly because a certain light source kept shining on him, making it hard to sleep.
After opening his eyes, Shirou lay there for a bit to clear his head before sitting up.
The moment he got up, he realized something was off.
The light shining on him seemed to be the halo above Exusiai's head.
"…Wait, why am I sleeping inside?"
Shaking his head, Shirou fully woke up.
Was he not outside last night?
How did he suddenly end up inside!?
After thinking it through, Shirou quickly concluded that the culprits were Exusiai and Croissant. Only those two would pull something like this.
Once he got back, he would definitely "reward" them with salted meat pie and croissants.
After calming down a bit, Shirou remembered that his sleeping bag was still inside. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to sneak back into the "penguin den" to retrieve it.
Gently pushing the door open, Shirou first checked whether everyone was still asleep before quietly stepping in.
Looking at the still-sleeping Exusiai and the others with eye masks on, Shirou briefly entertained the idea of turning Exusiai's halo into a lamp and using Croissant's horns as decoration.
But that was just a thought, he could not actually bring himself to do it.
Well… not yet, anyway.
"Brr… Exusiai, can you close the window…?"
Croissant mumbled in her sleep, curling up and leaning closer to Exusiai for warmth.
Holding the sleeping bag, Shirou thought for a moment, then unfolded it and covered all of them with it.
If he got found out so be it, it was Exusiai and Croissant's fault anyway. He would deal with them later. But letting them catch a cold would not be good.
After arranging the sleeping bag, Shirou quietly left the room.
After he left, Texas slightly lifted her eye mask and saw the extra layer of sleeping bag covering them.
"Shirou really has a good temper…"
After sighing at his kindness, Texas curled back up. She had driven all day yesterday and she was a light sleeper to begin with, so she needed a bit more rest.
Just a bit more.
"You got up so early, did not sleep well?"
Standing in the living room and stretching, Shirou heard a woman's voice behind him.
"I slept well. Thank you very much for lending us the room."
Turning around, Shirou replied politely.
"It's nothing. After all, you came here to help deliver a letter. Being able to receive letters from that couple is already more than enough."
The woman said, then seemed to recall something and picked up a letter from the table, handing it to Shirou.
"Do you want to send a reply?" Shirou asked, slightly confused. He was not familiar with this kind of work, Texas and Sora usually handled it.
"Yes. My daughter hopes I can go live with them, but I'm old now. I feel more comfortable staying here. So I will trouble you to send this letter back for me."
The woman said with a wry smile.
"I understand… Please leave the letter with me. I will need to inform the others."
Shirou noticed the crystal on the woman's hand and understood.
She had likely become an Infected after her daughter left, and that was why she had no intention of going.
The Infected…
This was the first time Shirou truly experienced what kind of treatment they received in this world.
"Then I will have to trouble you again. Also, it snowed quite heavily last night. If it is inconvenient, you are welcome to stay here for a few more days."
"Thank you very much."
Shirou politely expressed his gratitude.
When others offered kindness, responding with courtesy was always the right choice.
"Oh right, did you come into contact with Reunion members yesterday?"
The woman suddenly remembered that Shirou had gone out last night with some bread and given it to two children.
She recognized them, they were part of Reunion.
"Reunion? You mean… Mephisto and Faust?"
Thinking back, those two were the only ones he had interacted with. But what was Reunion?
"Mm. It seems you do not know about Reunion. Let me explain, so you will not fail to recognize them if you encounter them outside."
As expected, the woman nodded, pulling Shirou to sit down and even pouring him a cup of hot water.
Around nine o'clock, one of the sleeping bags in the room suddenly shifted, and Sora's head popped out.
"Mm… what time is it…"
Sora groggily sat up. It had been a bit cold last night and she had not slept well and cold drafts had made things uncomfortable.
"Nine o'clock."
Texas had woken up earlier than Sora, but the temperature inside the sleeping bag was vastly different from outside. Unless something important came up she had no intention of leaving it anytime soon.
"Nine already? Yawn…"
Sora yawned and snuggled deeper into the blanket.
Cold weather and a warm bed, there was no way she was getting out.
Without "Mama Shirou" calling her, she was not leaving.
"Are Exusiai and Croissant still not up?"
After thinking for a bit, Sora decided not to go back to sleep and started chatting with Texas.
"Not yet. They probably went to sleep pretty late."
At the mention of those two troublemakers, Texas felt a slight headache.
Thinking back, she should have just woken Shirou last night. Unfortunately, she lost to sleepiness and drifted off again.
When Shirou covered them with the sleeping bag in the morning, she regretted it even more.
He was so kind and yet got pranked by the "walking lightbulb" and the "bread girl."
Later, she might as well push Exusiai and Croissant out and let Shirou deal with them.
Texas thought to herself.
"Brr…"
Exusiai and Croissant, sensing a chill, instinctively curled deeper into their sleeping bags.
"Did they not sleep well either? It was pretty cold last night."
Sora assumed they were also kept awake by the cold.
"They dragged Shirou into the room after he fell asleep."
The moment Texas said that, Sora instantly lost all sleepiness. She sat up straight and looked around the room.
Not seeing Shirou's sleeping bag, she let out a sigh of relief, thinking Texas was joking.
And then she noticed—
There was an extra sleeping bag covering all of them.