Without backing away, Shirou t the man's gaze directly.
At a mont like this, showing hesitation would only make him seem even more suspicious.
With a swift motion, Shirou leaped down from the rooftop. He spread the fingers of both hands and raised them beside his shoulders, making it clear that he had no intention of fighting.
"What is your purpose?"
The man before him was not convinced by this gesture in the slightest. In fact, as Shirou drew closer, he partially drew the blade hanging at his waist.
With a sharp click, Shirou imdiately stopped advancing, maintaining a distance of roughly ten ters.
For Shirou, that was a distance he could close with a single burst of speed.
But he could also tell that the man before him was anything but ordinary.
Only after getting closer could he truly appreciate it. The pressure radiating from this man was no less intimidating than that black-clad individual who looked almost like a machine.
"I just heard the voices of so children—"
Before he could finish speaking, Shirou saw that the blade had already been drawn more than halfway.
He quickly took two steps back.
"Calm down! I am part of a rescue operation!"
"A rescue operation? Hmph. Looking at you, covered head to toe in blood, you look more like soone searching for his next victim. You have been following us for quite so ti. What exactly do you want?"
The Liberi snorted dismissively, clearly unconvinced.
"..."
Shirou had not expected that trying to save a little mana would end up causing even more trouble.
Still, since the man had not imdiately charged at him with a drawn sword, Shirou knew the situation had not yet reached its worst possible state.
If it ever did reach that point...
He would simply run.
The man did not seem like soone who intended to harm the children, so there was no reason for Shirou to fight him.
The main reason he had co down to talk in the first place was to warn him that a Catastrophe was approaching. After taking a look around earlier, Shirou had noticed that there were hardly any suitable shelters nearby.
Along the way, he had not only been observing the children and trying to determine the old Liberi's intentions; he had also been carefully searching for potential hiding places.
Unfortunately, most of the buildings had already been heavily damaged. To find sothing truly suitable, he would probably have to investigate personally for basents or underground facilities.
He had also seen plenty of people fleeing throughout the city.
Those people, however, seed capable of looking after themselves, so he had not interfered.
"Cough, cough... I really do not an anything by it. I only followed because I heard children talking! Then I saw a fierce-looking man carrying a weapon leading a group of children around. Anyone would find that suspicious, right? And all this blood got on while I was rescuing people!"
Seeing that the blade seed to be inching even farther out of its sheath, Shirou hurriedly blurted out everything he wanted to say in one breath.
He could even hear suppressed laughter coming through the communicator from the people listening on the other end.
Excellent.
Once he got back, he was going to ask Hibiscus how to make her nutritional als and introduce Penguin Logistics to a healthier lifestyle.
"...I hope everything you have said is true."
After hearing Shirou's explanation, the man's expression barely changed.
However, he finally slid the sword fully back into its sheath.
Nor did he seem offended by Shirou calling him fierce-looking. He had long since grown accustod to such remarks.
"Of course. By the way... would it be possible to ask where you are all headed?"
Judging by the man's reaction, Shirou knew he had successfully convinced him.
Still, there were procedures to follow. He needed to know their destination and confirm how many people were involved.
"..."
The mont he asked, he was once again t with that dangerous stare.
At least this ti, the man did not reach for his weapon.
"The clouds overhead are not signs of ordinary rain. They are a warning that a Catastrophe is approaching. If your destination is not sturdy enough, or if it lacks underground shelter, then I strongly recomnd finding another place to hide as soon as possible."
Shirou pointed toward the dark, cloud-filled sky.
Rhodes Island had already calculated the approximate arrival ti of the Catastrophe. He still had so ti to act.
Once the strong winds began, it would signal that the disaster was about to start.
"Hellagur. That is my na. And our destination has a sufficiently large underground area for shelter."
Following Shirou's gesture, Hellagur glanced up at the sky.
It was obvious that he had taken the warning seriously.
Anything concerning the safety of children was sothing he would rember, no matter how slight the risk.
As he studied the clouds, however, his brow furrowed deeply, as though sothing else was weighing on his mind.
"As long as you have sowhere safe to hide, that is enough. Please stay safe. If you encounter mbers of Reunion, those wearing red armbands can generally be trusted. Though that does not necessarily an they are safe."
After confirming that Hellagur's destination contained secure underground shelter, Shirou knew he could move on to search for the next group of people.
Still, before leaving, he rembered Alina's request and added a brief warning about Reunion mbers wearing red armbands.
"Reunion? Are you one of them?"
For so reason, the mont Hellagur heard the words "Reunion" and "red armband," the tension in his expression noticeably eased.
It was almost as though he had found a potential ally.
"Uh... at the mont, you could say we more or less share the sa objective?"
Seeing the man relax, Shirou suddenly felt rather awkward.
If he outright denied being associated with Reunion, the atmosphere would probably beco tense all over again.
So he settled for saying that their goals happened to align.
Which was true enough.
Alina wanted to save people.
Rhodes Island wanted to save people.
And Shirou wanted to save people.
There was nothing wrong with that logic.
"I see... Then may I ask a favor of you? Take these children to the Azazel Clinic. They know the way. All you need to do is ensure their safety during the journey."
After learning that Shirou was not actually a mber of Reunion, Hellagur's brow tightened slightly once more.
Nevertheless, after weighing his options, he decided to entrust the children to him.
At the very least, the young man clearly knew certain things about Reunion's internal affairs.
Had Hellagur not recently reunited with an old friend, he himself probably would not have known those details either.
From the very beginning, the other man's attitude had been sincere. And throughout their conversation, his gaze had never once wavered. It was remarkably clear and straightforward.
"Why?"
Shirou could not understand Hellagur's request.
"I originally intended to take them to et another group of children who are currently in hiding. If what you say is true and a Catastrophe is imminent, we may not reach our destination before it arrives."
Hellagur offered a brief explanation. At the sa ti, he called the children out of the building and inford them of the situation.
"I understand. I will make sure they arrive safely."
Watching Hellagur carefully instruct the children on what they needed to be aware of, Shirou decided to accept the request.
He had co here for the sake of the children's safety in the first place. Now that their guardian had more important matters demanding his attention, there was no way he could simply ignore them.
"There are Reunion mbers receiving treatnt at the Azazel Clinic. Be sowhat careful when you enter. As for the Catastrophe, you can explain the situation to them directly."
After finishing his instructions to the children, Hellagur stood up and briefed Shirou on the situation at Azazel.
Although he had ultimately chosen to trust Shirou, caution was still necessary.
In fact, Hellagur had already given the children instructions.
If this red-haired young man showed any ulterior motives during the journey, they were to report everything directly to Talulah or another Reunion leader once they reached Azazel.
Under normal circumstances, Hellagur would never have allowed the Azazel Clinic to cooperate with Reunion.
But the current situation was far from normal.
First, the faction seeking cooperation was the branch of Reunion attempting to quell the riots.
Second...
There were simply too many people and forces involved behind the scenes of this uprising.
Hellagur understood all too well that Azazel Clinic would inevitably be used as a pawn in soone else's ga.
Had the Reunion mbers who approached him been intent on causing harm, he would have rejected them imdiately.
However, those who ca to him were trying to stop the unrest. They stood in opposition to the Infected rioters. Combined with the involvent of an old friend, that was enough for him to agree to cooperate.
Perhaps it was not the ideal decision.
But the circumstances left him little room to think about ideals.
Once he had finished speaking with both the children and Shirou, Hellagur sprinted away at astonishing speed toward another destination.
That left Shirou standing there, exchanging bewildered looks with several children.
"So... we go this way?"
Looking at the group of Ursus children, Shirou asked.
After receiving several nods of confirmation, he started leading them forward.
Unlike Hellagur, who had remained constantly vigilant and stopped frequently to assess his surroundings, Shirou moved without restraint.
He relied entirely on his ability to sense malice.
Fortunately, all of his potential enemies were human.
And human hostility was exactly what this ability specialized in detecting.
The mont soone nearby harbored harmful intentions toward them, Shirou would know imdiately.
In actual combat, however, the ability was much less useful.
Once imrsed in a swamp of hostility, adding more mud to the swamp hardly made a difference.
Thanks to this, their travel speed was extrely fast.
For most of the journey, they were practically jogging.
Along the way, Shirou even found opportunities to deal with several Reunion mbers who were bullying civilians.
He handled them entirely with a longbow and arrows.
After witnessing that display, he could clearly sense that the children behind him had beco far more obedient.
Children really were simple, he thought.
Show them an impressive trick, and they imdiately settled down.
Little did Shirou realize that the children's real reason for behaving was completely different.
They understood perfectly well that if he had wanted to harm them, he could have done so from a distance long ago.
There was no reason for him to approach them, let alone speak face-to-face with Grandpa Hellagur.
Moreover, Shirou had maintained a relentless pace the entire way.
Simply keeping up with him was exhausting enough.
They had no spare energy left to wonder whether he might have ulterior motives.
"It is just up ahead, right?"
Under Shirou's leadership, one man and several nearly exhausted little bears finally reached their destination.
Although tired, the children had only needed to focus on running the entire way.
As for physical labor, Ursus children were not lacking in endurance.
The question itself was sowhat pointless.
After all, Shirou had already spotted the Reunion mbers nearby.
He had checked carefully.
Every single one of them was wearing a red armband.
"You all should head inside. I need to get going."
After escorting the children to the entrance of Azazel, Shirou prepared to leave.
Bringing them this far was enough.
Besides, the stares coming from inside were rather unpleasant.
Every eye seed fixed firmly on him, as though they would all charge out and beat him senseless the mont he made a suspicious move.
What a headache.
All he had wanted was to save a little mana, yet now he had to endure everyone looking at him like so kind of criminal.
Only after personally confirming that every child entrusted to him by Hellagur had entered the clinic safely did Shirou turn around to leave.
"Please wait a mont. Soone wishes to see you."
Just as he turned away, soone inside called out to him.
"No thanks. I do not know anyone here."
Shirou politely declined.
Setting aside all the hostile stares, the only people in Reunion he was remotely familiar with were Alina, Sasha, and Ino.
According to what Amiya had said earlier, all three were still outside the city.
Which ant that whoever wanted to see him was definitely not soone he knew.
And if it was not Alina's group, then it was probably soone he had fought earlier.
That gave him even more reason not to go inside.
"What if the leader of Reunion wishes to et you?"
This ti, the voice was different.
A woman's voice.
"...I will et them."
His answer ca imdiately.
After hearing those words, Shirou imdiately changed his mind.
The leader of Reunion.
Talulah.
She was a truly significant figure. Everything Shirou knew about her ca either from the intelligence provided by Wei Yenwu or from descriptions given by various people.
Based on the information currently available, she was not an enemy of either him or Rhodes Island.
That said, Wei Yenwu's suspicions could not be completely dismissed.
"Then co in."
Under the invitation of the woman before him and the watchful gazes of many others, Shirou turned around and entered the Azazel Clinic.
Following a silver-haired woman dressed in military attire, he passed through nurous Infected patients and civilians receiving treatnt before arriving at a room containing a whiteboard.
"Shirou, you do not mind if I call you that, do you? Alina has ntioned you before."
Talulah casually found a seat and sat down. Then she poured a cup of water and handed it to him.
"Then I will call you Talulah. I have heard about you from Alina as well."
Shirou accepted the cup and took a sip.
"Not only from Alina, I imagine. Did Wei Yenwu not have anything to say about ?"
Talulah let out a small laugh as she spoke.
"...He did. Though everything was based on the assumption that you were being controlled by Koschei."
Shirou felt sowhat awkward when Talulah suddenly brought up Wei Yenwu.
He had deliberately avoided the subject, yet she had brought it up herself.
Even he could tell that Wei Yenwu harbored extrely complicated feelings toward Talulah.
"That does sound like sothing he would say. But you can rest assured. The Black Snake has already been expelled by Archer. The person standing before you now is simply Talulah, leader of Reunion."
After understanding the kind of impression Wei Yenwu had given Shirou, Talulah sighed with a hint of nostalgia before speaking.
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