Shirou had already grown quite accustomed to life in Lungmen.
Whether it was cleaning and cooking for everyone at Penguin Logistics every day, or spending his free time in his room absorbing knowledge about this land, his days felt very full.
"Am I… doing this right?"
Shirou gazed up at the starry sky as he thought.
Just like back then, only now he was alone.
In the end, he still felt somewhat out of place in this world.
Where did he come from? Why was he here? What could he do?
He still did not know.
"Is that him?"
A conversation in the distance interrupted Shirou's thoughts.
The village was extremely quiet at night and any small sound became very noticeable especially to someone like Shirou.
Still, it was hard for him to tell whether the speaker was male or female. The voice was hoarse, as if their throat had been injured.
Turning his head, Shirou looked toward the source of the sound.
Two children stood there, one with black hair, the other with white.
Shirou remembered the black-haired one; he had seen him when he first arrived in the village, holding a crossbow.
Looking around and seeing no one else, Shirou guessed they had come to find him.
The two seemed to realize that they had been spotted and stepped out.
The white-haired child timidly hid behind the black-haired one. He also seemed to have difficulty moving, holding a cane in his right hand.
"Um…do you want some?"
Not knowing how to talk to them and feeling the awkward atmosphere, Shirou thought for a moment, then took out some chocolate from his pocket and offered it to them.
"…Thank you."
The black-haired child glanced at the chocolate in Shirou's hand, then at his face. After a moment's hesitation, he accepted it and handed it all to the white-haired child.
"You're welcome. Did you come here looking for the owner of this house, or…?"
Once the atmosphere felt less awkward, Shirou spoke.
"We are… on patrol. We just happened to see you spacing out here."
The black-haired child paused before answering but Shirou could tell he was lying.
Still, he did not plan to call him out on it.
"I am just stargazing. The stars here are really bright."
Shirou pointed up at the sky.
The two children glanced up as well, but did not seem particularly interested.
After all, what felt fresh and beautiful to Shirou was just everyday scenery to them.
"Mm…it is very beautiful," the black-haired child said.
If Shirou had not just seen them glance away after a single look, he might have believed him.
"Do you want to sit?"
Shirou shifted aside and asked them.
"No, we still have to patrol."
The black-haired child stuck to the persona he had just made up and politely refused.
"Hmm… then wait here a moment."
After thinking it over, Shirou decided to get them some more food.
He had brought extra himself in case the Penguin Logistics crew got hungry on the road. But everyone else had brought plenty too so his share had gone untouched.
It was just store-bought bread. Aside from giving Croissant a croissant on the car, none of it had been eaten.
He kept about 30% and packed up the rest, handing it to the black-haired child.
"Thank you."
This time, the child did not hesitate and accepted the bread obediently.
It seemed that while Shirou had stepped away, the two had discussed something, leading to this change in attitude.
"You are welcome. Take it back and share it with your family."
At the mention of "family," both children's expressions visibly dimmed for a moment before quickly recovering.
It was only an instant, but Shirou noticed.
Based on what he knew about Ursus, it was probably tied to some unpleasant memories.
So he quickly corrected himself:
"You can split it between yourselves, or share it with your friends instead."
Hearing that, the two nodded.
"Um… My name is…I mean, Mephisto. And he is Faust. Thank you for the chocolate and the bread."
The white-haired child Mephisto introduced himself.
Shirou figured these were probably code names. Many people here seemed to use them and Shirou himself sometimes used "Shirou" as a codename too.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
"My name is Shirou."
After a simple introduction, Shirou did not try to keep them any longer. It was already late and it would not be good for children to stay out in the cold for too long.
Watching Faust and Mephisto leave, Shirou stood up, brushed the snow off himself and returned to the house.
After sitting in a vehicle all day, it would be a lie to say he was not tired.
He spread out his sleeping bag outside the room where the Penguin Logistics members were sleeping. Even though he did not think anything would happen, it was better to be safe.
Since he could not change clothes or wash up, he simply took off his coat, folded it and set it aside.
Making do was fine, he would often fall asleep in his own warehouse while practicing magecraft until exhaustion. At least now he had a sleeping bag.
Inside it, Shirou quickly drifted off to sleep.
After a while, the door quietly opened.
Two heads peeked in, one with a halo and the other with horns.
"Is he asleep?"
Exusiai whispered as she looked at the sleeping bag by the door.
It was her first time seeing Shirou asleep, it was kind of exciting actually.
"He should be. Do you want to carry him inside?"
Croissant squinted, observing Shirou for a moment before confirming he was asleep.
Their goal was simple: drag Shirou from outside into the room.
The plan had been proposed by a socially doomed Exusiai, and Croissant joined in because it sounded fun.
Sora and Texas seemed to be sleeping deeply, so they were not disturbed.
They had no intention of dragging Shirou in to sleep between them, they just wanted to move him from outside the door to inside.
Officially, it was to help him get used to them faster.
In reality, it was to make him share in the pain of social embarrassment.
Carefully, the two moved Shirou and his belongings into the room, then quickly slipped back into their own sleeping bags, eagerly anticipating what would happen the next morning.
However, their movements seemed to wake Texas.
She slightly lifted her eye mask and saw Shirou being dragged in.
Putting two and two together, she immediately understood that Exusiai and Croissant were up to something reckless again.
She briefly considered whether to wake Shirou or carry him back outside herself but overwhelming sleepiness made her abandon the idea.
Pulling her eye mask back down, Texas returned to her dreams.
After all, when the time came, the only ones who would be punished by Shirou would be the true culprits, Exusiai and Croissant.