"…Did Shirou cover us up this morning?"
For the first time, Sora felt that her teammates were truly asking for a beating.
At the very least, they could have given her some mental preparation, right?
"Mm. Let's tie up Exusiai and Croissant later."
Texas calmly pronounced the death sentence for her teammates.
"Agreed."
This time, Sora showed no mercy.
The warmth inside the sleeping bag no longer felt comforting. Sora climbed out and while her body was still warm, quickly put on both of her coats.
"I will go check what Shirou is doing."
After saying that to Texas, Sora left the room.
Pushing the door open, she saw Shirou sitting by the fireplace, knitting something in his hands.
"?"
Sora stared at the scene.
It was both incredibly harmonious… and slightly surreal.
Inside, Texas saw Sora frozen at the doorway and also climbed out of the covers to take a look.
Then the two of them stood at the door, both with puzzled expressions.
After a while, Shirou finished a round of knitting and finally noticed the two standing there blankly.
"Sora, Texas, why are you just standing at the door? Come sit here. Miss Dalia even lit the fire specially."
Shirou pointed to the burning fireplace.
Miss Dalia was the owner of the house. Early that morning, she had chatted with Shirou for quite a while before heading out.
Before leaving, she had lit the fire and worried he might be bored, she even taught him how to knit.
Shirou had some prior experience with knitting so he picked it up quickly. After two hours, the piece already had a rough shape.
At this pace, it would probably be finished in a day or two. This kind of repetitive work was something he excelled at.
The yarn had been generously provided by Miss Dalia. In return, Shirou gave her all the remaining bread.
"You have already gotten familiar with her?"
Sora sat down by the fireplace without hesitation. The warmth from the fire was completely different from the warmth inside a sleeping bag.
Texas also sat down, enjoying the heat.
"Miss Dalia is very welcoming. She told me a lot about the village this morning."
Shirou set aside the yarn and took out some instant coffee, preparing a cup for both Texas and Sora.
Drinking it plain was a bit bitter, but milk was not easy to find, so they had to make do.
"Thanks."
After taking a sip, the bitterness helped wake Texas up considerably.
"Ugh…"
Sora, on the other hand, clearly struggled with the taste. But sticking to her principle of not wasting food, she still finished it.
"…Oh right. Miss Dalia wants us to deliver a reply letter."
Seeing that Sora had finished drinking, Shirou quietly put the sugar back into the luggage and changed the topic, handing the letter to Texas.
"Deliver a letter? Got it."
Putting down her coffee, Texas briefly checked the letter and stored it in her bag.
Their original job had been to deliver a letter and bring the recipient back if possible. If the recipient refused, they would instead carry a reply.
Judging by this letter, the recipient had clearly chosen to stay.
Texas would not try to persuade her. Their job was simply to deliver messages, items and letters accurately. What the client chose to do was their own business, Penguin Logistics did not interfere.
Of course, if someone attacked them, that would be a different story.
"Phew… I wonder if we can head back today."
Having recovered from the bitterness, Sora spoke. The cold here was really getting to her.
"That would probably be difficult. I checked earlier and the weather is still not great."
This time, Shirou poured Sora a cup of hot water. The water was from their own supply, heated in a kettle.
The cup and kettle themselves were projected by Shirou, though Sora and Texas assumed they were borrowed from Miss Dalia.
In reality, Miss Dalia only had one tea set and had originally planned to borrow more from neighbors. Shirou had pretended to take out a set from his luggage to stop her.
He probably would not take this tea set with him, it would stay here. Under normal use, there would not be any issues.
"Then I guess there is no helping it."
Hearing this, Sora gave up and pulled her legs into her coat. It was a bit of a tight fit but her slim build made it possible.
She sat on the chair hugging her knees and her feet sticking out and gently swinging.
It was warmer this way, though the downside was being stuck in one position.
Still, since Shirou would help fetch things for her, that was not really a problem.
Sora quite enjoyed this kind of relaxed moment, if only the weather were a bit warmer.
"Is there anything unusual about this village?"
Texas had felt something off about the place since yesterday. Now that Shirou had gotten information from a local, she wanted to know more.
"Mm… From what I remember, there is a forested mountain north of the village. There are many wild animals there that occasionally harass the village. But about three months ago, an organization called Reunion moved in and since then the problem has been resolved. Now the village and Reunion have a cooperative relationship."
Shirou summarized what he had learned that morning.
At first, based on Miss Dalia's tone, he thought Reunion might be some kind of dangerous organization feared by the villagers.
But that was not the case.
They helped guard the forest and village perimeter, and even shared excess hunted animals with the villagers. Their relationship was largely cooperative and mutually supportive.
There were also infected creatures in the forest which had caused trouble for the villagers. Many people had been attacked and became Infected.
Thanks to Reunion, life had become relatively stable.
"Reunion…"
Texas thought about the unfamiliar term.
The strange feeling she sensed yesterday might have been Reunion members watching them. The reason they had not acted was likely because they determined Penguin Logistics was not a threat.
At least, she had not felt that unease afterward.
"Mm. I heard it is an organization made up of the Infected."
Shirou added.
"…Try to avoid contact with them."
After considering it, Texas gave her advice.
The Infected especially those from Ursus could be dangerous if approached carelessly. It was not that she was worried about Shirou being attacked, if a fight really broke out she would be more worried about the other side.
Still, she preferred to avoid trouble. Dealing with Exusiai and Croissant's messes was already enough and she did not want Shirou following in their footsteps.
Especially considering Shirou's combat ability, if something went wrong even their boss might not be able to handle the consequences.
But sometimes, avoiding something did not mean you would not encounter it.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the front door.
Shirou assumed they were here for Miss Dalia, but since she was out he would have to explain and ask them to come back later.
Just as he was about to open the door, Texas said:
"Shirou, be careful."
At the same time, she gripped her weapon, ready to act.
Sora also pulled her legs out of her coat and slipped back into the room. If things went south, she'd wake the other two immediately.
Seeing how cautious they were, Shirou simply thought his teammates had excellent awareness. After adjusting himself, he opened the door.
Standing outside were Mephisto and Faust.
"You two? What brings you here?"
Shirou was slightly surprised.
"Um… the bread you gave us… it was found out."
Mephisto still stood behind Faust, but compared to yesterday, he seemed a bit less timid. At least now, he could look Shirou in the eye while speaking.
"…Was it confiscated?"
Shirou's first reaction was that the bread had been confiscated. But he did not have any bread left anyway, only some snacks.
"It was not confiscated. Our teacher just wants to meet you."
Faust, standing in front, shook his head. He had not even brought his crossbow today. Originally, they had planned to come see Shirou again, but since the bread incident was discovered, they came much earlier than expected.
"Teacher?"
Shirou had not expected them to bring their teacher to meet him.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not quite figure out the logic behind it.
"I am sorry, my students have troubled you."
A woman's voice sounded out. Shirou shifted his gaze from the two children to behind them and saw the speaker.
It was a woman, with white hair and… a pair of deer antlers?
"Hello, my name is Alina. I am the teacher of Mephisto and Faust."
The woman named Alina introduced herself, her eyes fixed on Shirou's face as if she were confirming something.
"Hello, Miss Alina. You can call me Shirou."
Shirou gave a simple introduction in return.
"Shirou… mm, I understand. Just call me Alina. There is something I would like to talk to you about, would that be convenient?"
After hearing his introduction, Alina smiled faintly and extended an invitation.
"Here?"
Shirou did not agree immediately. An unclear invitation could be dangerous.
"Yes, just for a simple conversation."
Alina did not seem offended by his caution, maintaining her gentle smile.
"…Alright. But I need to inform my teammates first."
After thinking it over, Shirou found no real reason to refuse.
His first impression of Faust and Mephisto was not bad. Since they were part of Reunion, that meant Alina likely was too.
And he was indeed curious about Reunion, especially this organization formed by the Infected.