After the arrival of this legendary spice-loving customer, some people who could not handle spicy food began to leave one after another.
Mainly because the smell was just too strong.
The Penguin Logistics group stayed, waiting for Croissant to finish eating. Shirou and the others had no intention of continuing, Exusiai had already demonstrated what it meant to smell spice while eating something sweet.
The silver-haired woman also noticed some people leaving, but she seemed used to it and did not care much.
However, when she spotted Shirou at the neighboring table, her eyes lit up as if she had discovered something extremely interesting.
"Hey, kid."
The silver-haired woman waved a paper fan toward Shirou.
But Shirou did not hear her, he was focused on discussing tomorrow's report with Texas and Sora.
Exusiai and Croissant were busy with their own things as well, so none of them noticed.
"Hey, kid~!"
The woman did not get angry. Instead she stood up, walked over and patted Shirou on the shoulder.
"Hm? Do you need something?"
Caught off guard by the sudden approach, Shirou looked confused. He did not think there was anything about him that would attract attention like this.
But while Shirou lacked that awareness, the others in Penguin Logistics thought otherwise.
First it was Swire from the Guard Department, then Alina from Reunion and now this silver-haired beauty.
Did Shirou have some kind of ability that attracted women?!
It had only been a month! This was already the third time!
"Kid, I see you have got an extraordinary bone structure! What is your name? You can call me Nian."
Holding her paper fan, Nian lightly tapped Shirou as she spoke, clearly very interested in him.
"Uh… Shirou?"
Faced with her overly familiar attitude, Shirou could only give his name while already preparing to make a run for it.
Being approached by a beautiful woman was certainly pleasant, but to Shirou it felt less like she saw him as a man and more like she was looking at a rare treasure.
Like how Exusiai looks at apple pie, Croissant looks at meat, Texas looks at Pocky, or Sora looks at cute pretty dresses.
"Hey, do not run. Let me take another look."
Sensing Shirou's intent to escape, Nian directly pressed him back into his chair and stared closely at his face.
"Miss Nian, please let go of our teammate."
Seeing her push things too far, Texas's expression turned cold.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. It's just… Shirou, right? There is something about you that feels familiar."
Hearing Texas's warning, Nian realized she had gone a bit overboard and quickly released Shirou.
"We do not know each other, right?"
After being let go, Shirou leaned back a bit, wary that she might suddenly pick him up and run off.
When she had pinned him earlier, he had not been able to break free at all. It might have looked like he did not resist, but in reality, her strength was overwhelming.
Given what she had just shown, Shirou had no doubt she could carry him off if she wanted. While he had ways to escape, it would be better to prevent that situation altogether.
"We have never met. That is not the kind of 'familiar' I mean. It is more like… there is a feeling coming from you… something like blades and swords?"
Nian placed a hand on her chin, thinking, before realizing what that familiar feeling was.
The sensation of blades.
She was a blacksmith who used to forge weapons often. Seeing Shirou gave her a strong sense of familiarity.
Even though she did not forge as much anymore, someone like Shirou who radiated that aura still made her blood boil with excitement.
It was not that Shirou had the aura of someone experienced with weapons; rather, it was as if he himself was a blade.
"…"
Hearing that, Shirou fell silent.
His magical element and origin were both "sword," giving him a unique affinity in that regard.
Combined with his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works…
It could only be said that Nian had seen right through him at a glance.
"Hm… though you seem a bit dull. Weapons forged by someone with doubts in their heart tend to have flaws, you know."
Looking at Shirou, Nian could not help but say more. She could sense that he was troubled by something.
"Ahem, Miss Nian, sorry, but we should get going."
Exusiai suddenly stepped between Nian and Shirou, cutting off the conversation.
After all, Nian had abruptly approached them and started saying all sorts of incomprehensible things.
More importantly, Shirou looked like he was actually being influenced by her.
To prevent someone as straightforward as Shirou from being tricked, Exusiai decided to step in!
"Yeah, yeah, we should get going."
Croissant wiped the chili oil from her mouth and stood up as well.
Sora and Texas were already preparing to quietly pull Shirou away toward the exit.
"…How interesting."
Watching the group, Nian did not think of the cliché "jealousy" scenario. Instead, she imagined something like—
Children realizing their aging parent was being scammed and rushing in to stop it?
Now that was a great story idea!
Maybe she could write it in later, kids jumping out while their elderly parent is fighting a giant monster. Sounds fun, right?
If Shirou knew what she was thinking, he would probably wonder how someone could twist such a wholesome scenario into something so bizarre.
She really was a unique talent.
"Um… sorry, we have something to do, so we will be going."
Nian's words had struck a chord with Shirou. While the others thought she was just talking nonsense, Shirou felt a bit of respect toward her.
"Ah, no worries, no worries. I have had my fun anyway."
Nian waved her hand and returned to her seat. The meat and vegetables she had put in earlier were already overcooked, but she did not mind at all and simply scooped them into her bowl.
After thinking for a moment, she felt it was not quite right to mess with someone like that without saying anything, so she added:
"Try to find what you really want to do. Sharpen the blade in your heart, it will do you good."
Nian was quite looking forward to how Shirou would develop. After all, she had never seen someone like him before.
"…I understand."
Faced with her cryptic advice, Shirou nodded.
This was probably the only riddle he had managed to understand recently. The rest of Penguin Logistics, however, were completely confused.
"What did Shirou understand?" Croissant whispered to Texas.
"No idea."
Texas did not even bother thinking about it, right now she just wanted to get back to the dorm and sleep.