Shirou woke up early in the morning. The scarf he finished knitting last night had already been given to Miss Dalia, though she seemed to plan on passing it to someone else who needed it more.
Shirou did not mind, honestly she did not even have to tell him, but she still explained where it would go before heading out, reminding him to lock the door if they left.
"Miss Dalia really is a good person."
Thinking that, Shirou tidied up the area around the fireplace. Since she had kindly lent them her home, the least they could do was return it as clean or cleaner than before.
What surprised him was that the members of Penguin Logistics were also up early.
He had just greeted them and they suddenly started crying, nearly scaring him to death.
He hurriedly pulled tissues from his bag and wiped their faces.
"Why are you suddenly crying? Did you see something you should not have? Use a warm towel on your eyes, or they will get swollen."
He sat them down, mixed some hot water with a bit of cold to make it warm, then handed out towels for them to wipe their faces and rest on their eyes.
Otherwise, if the Boss saw them return with red, swollen eyes, he might think Shirou had bullied them.
Even if the swelling went down later, it still would not look good to go out like this.
"Thank you."
Sora took the warm towel and placed it over her face.
The gentle warmth relaxed her.
"Are you feeling better?"
Because of the cold, Shirou kept replacing their towels so they would not cool too quickly.
"I am fine. I just need a bit of rest."
Texas leaned back in her chair, head tilted upward.
"Alright… rest here for now. I will finish cleaning up. If the towel gets cold, replace it. If the water cools, I have already boiled more, just mix it in."
Looking at the four of them sitting in a row with towels over their eyes, Shirou was not sure what else he could do. After reminding them, he went back to tidying up.
Most of it was already done with just small details left.
The remaining things were supposed to be carried to the car after they woke up, but now he would handle it himself.
"I will move the luggage to the car. Do not forget to turn off the alarm."
After saying that, Shirou began carrying things outside.
"Is everyone already busy this early?"
Carrying a pile of luggage, he noticed villagers moving about hurriedly.
After neatly loading everything into the trunk, he briefly considered going to say goodbye to Alina but decided against it.
They were not that close and they had already said a simple farewell yesterday. As for Miss Dalia, he had already said goodbye in the morning.
"The weather… seems decent?"
Looking at the wide snowy fields and clear blue sky, Shirou made a quick judgment.
"Is everything packed? That was fast, Shirou!"
Croissant came out carrying her shield and hammer.
Shirou glanced at her and her eyes looked fine now. Good.
"It's not too bad. How is everyone else?"
He helped load her gear into the car.
"Thanks to your hot water, we are doing great. We checked everything inside, there is nothing left behind. The weather looks good too, we should be able to head back to Lungmen."
Croissant said while checking the backseat supplies.
In work mode, she was much more serious, so much that Shirou almost could not reconcile this version with the usual Croissant he knew.
Grrr…
"…I want a proper meal when we get back. Yesterday's soup was good, but not enough!"
Croissant clutched her stomach.
"…Sure. We will talk about it when we get back."
Shirou almost made a remark, but held back.
He also did not ask about what happened in the morning. If they did not want to talk, he would not push, but if they needed help he would be there.
"Are you done over there, Croissant?"
Sora jumped down the steps into the snow.
She was still wearing two coats, along with Shirou's Holy Shroud around her neck.
Texas and Exusiai came out as well with Exusiai yawning.
"Yeah there is nothing left inside. Though Miss Dalia is not home, so we could not thank her properly."
Exusiai stretched after a big yawn.
She, Sora, and Texas had checked both the room and fireplace area, and cleaned up the wash basin too.
"I already said goodbye to her this morning."
Shirou reassured them.
"That is good. Thanks to her, we did not have to sleep in tents. In this weather, that would have been miserable."
Now relaxed, Exusiai started feeling sleepy again. Somehow, she felt like she had not slept well at all.
"Since that is settled, let's get in the car."
Texas checked the vehicle, started it to confirm everything was fine, then called everyone in and drove them out of the village.
"Heater! ON!"
The moment she got in, Exusiai turned on the heater and immediately got her hand smacked by Texas.
"You cannot do that right away, it is bad for the car."
"Exusiai, you cannot do that."
Croissant added.
"You know about this stuff?"
Sora looked surprised.
"Heh, just a bit of knowledge."
Croissant crossed her arms, clearly expecting praise.
Unfortunately, no one reacted except Shirou, who spared her the embarrassment.
"Very impressive. Here is your reward."
He handed her a pack of jerky.
While Croissant happily accepted, Shirou focused on the road ahead.
Remembering what Exusiai had said earlier, he carefully observed the surroundings.
Their route plan was to head southeast for a while, then turn southwest.
According to Exusiai, the snow was lighter in the southeast, making it passable.
It meant taking a slight detour but if all went well they could reach Lungmen by nightfall.