"Hmm... Go see Hoshiguma after work? She is probably not trying to drag me out drinking, right?"
After finishing his morning sparring session with Chen and settling the direction of their future training matches, Shirou prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he habitually checked his messages. He found that Hoshiguma had asked him to wait for her at a shop after the Lungman Guard Department got off work in the afternoon, saying that she had something she wanted his help dealing with.
Shirou had been to that shop a few times before. Back when he was a newbie at the Lungman Guard Department, if the workload for the day was lighter, Chen, Hoshiguma, and Swire would head there for food and drinks.
There had even been one occasion where they dragged him along, leaving him to watch the three of them compete in drinking.
Fortunately, Hoshiguma had an extremely high alcohol tolerance, so it never turned into the awkward situation of him having to somehow send all three of them home by himself.
In every sense, Hoshiguma perfectly matched Shirou's image of the Oni race.
Horns, immense strength, incredible drinking capacity. The biggest difference was probably that Hoshiguma seemed much more good-natured.
Although that was only based on things Shirou had heard and read before. He himself had never actually seen a real Oni before. Perhaps there had been Servants related to that sort of thing, but unfortunately, he had never met one.
That afternoon, he headed over to the Fuyuki Shop, greeted Phal, and checked on both the children's studies and the condition of the store.
He had to admit that Lin Yuhsia was genuinely very professional. The lessons were all arranged clearly and methodically, and most people could understand them without issue.
The only problem was that she did not have much spare time, so some matters still had to be left to Ah Xing and Jaye, who spent a lot of time there.
Of course, most of the work fell to the former, since Jaye spent mornings and evenings running his food stall.
After handling things there, Shirou sent a message to everyone at Penguin Logistics to let them know he would be coming back late today, then got up and headed toward the small restaurant Hoshiguma had mentioned.
"Looks like dinner today will either be here or takeout after I get back... Wonder what would be good to eat. Fried food is probably out. Everyone has been consuming a bit too many calories lately."
As he walked, Shirou thought about dinner.
Normally, this was the time he would already be buying ingredients to cook with after getting home. Occasionally, if something came up, he would just let everyone order whatever they wanted.
That had become less common lately, though. After all, Shirou had been fairly free recently.
"Got it. Just remember not to agree to any weird jobs, okay?"
In the group chat of five people, Sora specifically reminded Shirou of that, while the others copied the same message and spammed it to make their presence known.
Shirou could only smile helplessly at that. He replied with a yes sticker before putting away his phone.
Originally, he had planned to tell them not to order nonsense, but now it seemed fine to just let them do as they pleased. He could always make lighter meals afterward to balance things out.
When he arrived at the small restaurant Hoshiguma had specified, he looked around but did not see her anywhere. Without hesitation, he found a seat and ordered some food.
He planned to settle dinner here.
"Yo, you got here pretty early, huh?"
Just as the dishes Shirou ordered were brought to the table, a hand suddenly slapped onto his shoulder.
Tilting his head up, Shirou saw Hoshiguma carrying a large bag.
The contents of that bag were probably what Hoshiguma wanted his help dealing with. Unfortunately, the bag was not transparent, so Shirou could not see what was inside.
"Just saying this in advance, I am not drinking alcohol."
Seeing Hoshiguma sit directly across from him and casually order drinks and bar snacks, Shirou immediately declared his position.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I am not asking you to drink, so relax."
Hearing that, Hoshiguma found it somewhat amusing. Shirou was surprisingly stubborn about this sort of thing.
The alcohol arrived quickly, though the snacks still needed some time.
Seeing this, Shirou pushed one of the side dishes he had ordered toward Hoshiguma.
"Oh, thanks."
Hoshiguma did not stand on ceremony. One bite of food, one gulp of alcohol. She drank with loud gulps, looking incredibly straightforward and unrestrained.
"No problem. By the way, what was the thing you wanted me to help deal with?"
That dish had originally been ordered for exactly this kind of situation, so Shirou was not bothered by eating a little less.
At worst, he could make a late-night snack after returning to the dorms. He was certain the others would happily help finish it off.
At the same time, Shirou decided it was best to deal with the matter first, in case Hoshiguma got so absorbed in drinking later that she forgot.
Even though he knew her alcohol tolerance was excellent, people still made mistakes sometimes.
And besides, he was genuinely curious about what she had brought.
"It is an ingredient. Or maybe I should say a seasoning. One of my old little brothers brought it back while visiting home. It is pretty rare in Lungmen, you know? No idea whether you can work with it though."
Holding the items she had sorted out after returning home from work, Hoshiguma explained.
The bag contained all sorts of things she had received over time. People she knew would often bring her souvenirs, and they were the kind of gifts that were hard to refuse.
As a result, Hoshiguma had accumulated quite a stockpile. Ordinary things were easy enough to deal with, but ingredients like these could only wait until she had time to cook for herself.
Unfortunately, after tasting Shirou's homemade lunches, her own cooking started to feel rather lacking. On top of that, the Lungman Guard Department had been especially busy lately, so these ingredients had remained untouched until now.
Thankfully, they were all things with a long shelf life, so she did not have to worry about them going bad.
Besides ingredients and seasonings, the bag also contained some snacks she liked eating while drinking at home.
Shirou definitely would not eat them, so they would undoubtedly end up in the stomachs of the Penguin Logistics crew instead.
The reason was simple. She just hoped that after eating her food, they might go a little easier on her during training exercises later.
Still, those were only extras. The thing she truly wanted Shirou's help with was a seasoning from Higashi that she had received two days ago.
"This... could it be?"
The moment Shirou saw the item in Hoshiguma's hand, he immediately recognized what it was.
"It is specially made in Higashi, you know? The flavor is a little less spicy compared to Lungmen's version."
Seeing that Shirou seemed rather interested, Hoshiguma directly placed the item in front of him.
If this had not been a brightly lit little restaurant, and if Hoshiguma had not still been wearing her Lungman Guard Department uniform, the scene would have looked rather... suspicious enough to make someone want to call the Lungman Guard Department.
However, neither of them seemed aware of that. Shirou picked up the item in front of him and examined it carefully.
"These are curry roux blocks. This is what you wanted me to deal with?"
There was no need to even open it. Just from the appearance alone, Shirou immediately knew what it was.
Lungmen had these as well, though the local version tended to be spicier. Still within Shirou's acceptable range.
But for the others, especially Exusiai, it apparently was not quite manageable.
He wondered whether the one in his hand was the sweeter kind... Though either way, it was something worth trying to cook with.
He could make it as soon as he got back tonight. After all, overnight curry was the best kind of curry.
"Yep. I have been pretty busy lately and have not had time to do anything with it, so I figured I would leave it to a professional. I have got high expectations for you, you know? Oh, and all this stuff here is for you too."
Setting down her glass, Hoshiguma grinned as she pushed the entire bag toward Shirou.
"All of this was given to you by other people?"
Looking at the bag stuffed full of rare Lungmen goods, Shirou felt that Hoshiguma's social circle was genuinely enormous to receive so many things.
The last time he saw someone receiving this many gifts of this sort was... Taiga's grandfather.
Well then, Shirou felt like he suddenly understood something.
"Yeah. It has already been a long time, and we do not really keep in touch much anymore, but every now and then they still send me stuff and letters."
Leaning most of her body against the table, Hoshiguma gently swirled the alcohol in her glass while staring at the liquid moving inside.
It was not that she disliked receiving these things.
It was just that sometimes... what arrived was not necessarily souvenirs.
And that was only in cases where people still had the means to send something at all. Perhaps even more had simply disappeared quietly without a word.
Those damn fools always only shared good news and hid the bad, saying they did not want her to worry.
Did they really think she knew nothing?
Seriously... those idiots deserved a beating.
"Is that not a good thing though? There are a lot of people who still remember you!"
Not noticing Hoshiguma's current expression, Shirou replied directly.
"...Hahahaha, yeah. I guess that is true."
After hearing Shirou's words, Hoshiguma immediately straightened up, grabbed the bottle, and started drinking directly from it. After finishing half the bottle in one go, she immediately opened another.
Shirou: "...?"
Did he say something wrong just now? Why did Hoshiguma suddenly start drinking so enthusiastically?
Hoshiguma, calm down. If someone your size drinks herself unconscious, I will only be able to drag you home.
"Phew... that feels much better."
After several bottles went down, Hoshiguma finally returned to normal.
Watching Hoshiguma down five bottles in one breath without even looking drunk, Shirou could not help but admire her alcohol tolerance.
So when she drank with Chen and Swire before, she had not even been drinking seriously?
"How about it? Can you cook the other stuff too?"
Before Shirou could continue thinking about other things, Hoshiguma suddenly asked.
"Hmm... none of it looks particularly difficult. I will deal with the curry roux first over the next couple of days. As for the rest, I will think about what to make later."
After taking another look through the bag's contents, all sorts of recipes immediately appeared in Shirou's mind.
For example, that seasoned frying mix could be used to make karaage... or rather, karaage-style fried messenger beast meat chunks would probably taste even better.
The rest of the ingredients were the same. Looks like Exusiai was going to be in for a treat these next few days.
If all these ingredients tasted close to what he remembered, then the dishes for the next while would probably lean sweeter.
"Then I will look forward to it."
Watching Shirou stare at the ingredients with a deeply thoughtful expression, Hoshiguma had no intention of disturbing him.
She merely continued using the dishes Shirou ordered as snacks to go with her alcohol.
Honestly speaking, she could roughly guess why Shirou was so extremely against drinking alcohol.
After all, what normal person was still "growing" in their twenties?
Combined with Old Chen saying there were issues with his records, it was obvious someone had tampered with his age information. On top of Shirou himself being strangely stubborn about this topic, that was probably why he resisted alcohol so much.
Seriously... even though he was already considered an adult in Lungmen, he still followed rules so rigidly. Exactly the same kind of person as Old Chen.
Sigh... double the trouble. And with Missy added in, the trouble multiplied several more times over.
On the bright side, Shirou was usually pretty steady and had never really caused her headaches before.
But whenever something did happen, it instantly became the kind of situation that made her want to smack him upside the head.
And the worst part was that the guy was completely unaware of it himself.
He was obviously the same type as Old Chen, yet somehow he also gave her the same kind of worries as those little brothers of hers.
That was also why, whenever she heard Shirou make those completely unconscious remarks, she would instinctively reach out and smack him once.
What if one slap actually managed to wake him up?
Now it seemed she had simply been overthinking it. If he could really be smacked awake that easily, the people at Penguin Logistics would already have been giving him a daily slap long before her. Plenty of them were even more anxious about it than she was.
"Hmm? Is there something on my face?"
Only after finalizing all kinds of dishes in his mind did Shirou notice that most of the dinner he had ordered had already been eaten by Hoshiguma, while she herself had been staring at him the entire time.
Though calling it "spacing out" was not entirely accurate.
Her left hand propped up her head while her right hand used chopsticks to move food into her mouth. Then she would set the chopsticks down, grab her drink, gulp it down, and pick the chopsticks up again.
The impressive part was that her gaze never once lowered toward the food. She had been staring at him the entire time.
"No. I was just thinking about those little brothers of mine from back then."
Hoshiguma did not bother hiding it. After setting down what she was holding, she stretched lazily.
"Cough... what happened to them?"
Silently reciting "do not look at indecent things" in his head, Shirou shifted his attention toward the few remaining dishes on the table while continuing the conversation.
"Tch, how should I put it? There is this really stupid idiot who keeps doing extremely dangerous things, even though none of those things actually have anything to do with him. He just keeps throwing himself in because he wants to help out a little. And the worst part is that he has absolutely no awareness of what he is actually doing. He is always putting himself beneath everyone else. Do you not think that kind of person is kind of... you know?"
Using the alcohol as an excuse, Hoshiguma started venting her complaints to Shirou.
Though she never mentioned any names.
"Yeah... definitely."
The idiot in question completely failed to realize that she was talking about him.
Still, Shirou could hardly insult one of Hoshiguma's acquaintances right in front of her, so all he could do was nod along with her opinion.
"Pfft... say this guy keeps sticking his nose into all these dangerous situations and eventually gets himself killed because of it. Would that not be kind of miserable?"
Seeing that Shirou still had not realized she was talking about him, Hoshiguma added another comment.
Watching someone unknowingly criticize himself so naturally was surprisingly good drinking material.
"Hmm... if it is something he genuinely wanted to do, then maybe that counts as getting what he wished for? At least he would have no regrets?"
Listening to Hoshiguma's description, Shirou began to feel like the story sounded oddly familiar.
Wait a second. Was this not extremely similar to those two people?
Especially Archer. Although he became somewhat twisted later on, at the very end, he really had still been smiling.
"...Even if nobody ever knows about what he did?"
After hearing Shirou's answer, Hoshiguma fell silent for a moment before asking that question.
The bottle in her hand even developed a tiny crack from her grip. If Shirou's answer disappointed her, the bottle would probably explode on the spot.
"You do not necessarily do those things so everyone in the world will know about them. Besides, you said it yourself, right? He just wanted to help out a little."
The moment Shirou finished speaking, several more cracks appeared on the bottle in Hoshiguma's hand.
But his next sentence made her stop moving entirely.
"And besides... are you not already fully aware of what he has done? As long as you remember it, would that not be enough?"
"Is that really how it works...?"
Looking at Shirou's serious expression as he answered the question, Hoshiguma found herself completely unable to laugh anymore. Even the alcohol in her hand no longer tasted as good.
"I think so, probably? I am not the person involved, so I can only answer from my own perspective."
Looking at the glass in Hoshiguma's hand, Shirou suddenly realized things were bad.
Just now, most of his attention had been focused on recalling those memories, so he had completely failed to notice that the bottle in Hoshiguma's hand was practically about to explode.
Right as Shirou started wondering how he should salvage the situation, Hoshiguma suddenly loosened her grip on the bottle and asked:
"Do people like that really exist?"
Shirou: "...?"
Were they not talking about her little brother figure? Why was she suddenly asking that?
"They do. Among the people I know... there are at least three of them, probably."
Although full of confusion internally, Shirou still answered honestly.
Three people.
One of them was Kiritsugu.
The other two were old familiar faces.
"Sigh... so that is how it is."
After hearing Shirou's answer, Hoshiguma let out a sigh.
No wonder he turned out like this. This was what happened when people were influenced by bad company.
In her heart, Hoshiguma kindly sent countless curses toward those three people before finishing the last bottle in her hand.
"So this means... SAFE now?"
Shirou still had no idea what she actually meant, but judging from Hoshiguma's current state, his final answer just now had probably... solved the issue somehow?
"Phew, alright then, let us call it here for today! I will look forward to your cooking! And if you run into trouble in Lungmen later, you can come find me too. I may not be able to help much, but I still know quite a few people around here."
Once the bottle was empty, Hoshiguma immediately stood up and declared it.
Combined with her large frame, those words made her seem especially dependable.
Though the timing of the statement felt somewhat random.
Still, Shirou simply assumed that his earlier answers had satisfied her greatly, and that the slight drunkenness was making her act this way.
Was this not just drunken behavior? He had seen plenty of it before.
At the very least, Hoshiguma's version was considered extremely mild.
Without giving Shirou any chance to respond, Hoshiguma immediately ran off to pay the bill and left. The sight made Shirou's eyelid twitch. He quickly grabbed the bag, paid as well, and hurried after her.
He needed to make sure she got home safely.
Otherwise, if tomorrow's news headline ended up being something like "Oni Causes Disturbance While Drunk"... that would really be bad.