"Melissa, please." Mr. Leicarton, the man who owned one of the dismantling shops in the 8th district, said, as his daughter stared up at him with wide eyes, the corpse of Red Face in her hands.

"Want to dismantle." She said with finality.

"I know but…" The shopkeeper looked from Melissa and to Madoka, who looked a little too smug for his liking as she twisted his arm about the price of dismantling, using his daughter's love of rare monsters against him.

"We've also got a Emerald Queen with us." Madoka said, putting the final nail into the coffin.

Melissa's stares became unbearable, and her father gave in. "Alright. You win." He said with a sigh. "What do you want me to do with the materials?"

"The basic materials can be sold, but the advanced materials we will want to keep for our own use." Madoka said as she took out her key and transferred the corpses in her storage into Mr. Leicarton's. "That includes any magic stones."

"I see. With this many Furballs and Giant Bees, you'll definitely get at least a few Wind Stones, and the Red Face should provide 'Burning Jewels', the higher rank of Fire Stones." Mr. Leicarton said, scratching his chin. "As for the Emerald Queen, I honestly have no idea. I've never seen one before. I've only ever heard about them. …Did you kids really hunt all of this in one day?"

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Shirou said with a bow of his head.

"Not at all. This is our job." Mr. Leicarton said looking at the boy, or rather, his somewhat distant golden eyes.

Eyes that weren't too different from his daughter's own distant expression.

Melissa wasn't your ordinary girl. She wasn't a first generation Seeker, but a child born in this world, between Mr. Leicarton and his wife. Only, while his wife was still in the beginning stages of pregnancy… she died. She died and came back as a Demihuman. A wildcat.

Because of this, Melissa's behavior had always been a little… off. She was distant, and didn't talk much. But she was, in her own way, a good girl.

Shirou's blank expression reminded him a lot of his daughter, to the point if he wondered if he was also the child of a Demihuman. Perhaps a Lizardman, considering the way the Demihuman girl seemed to be attached to his side, was more attentive towards him than a Demihuman normally was.

Either way, he found the boy interesting.

"Alright, after selling everything we didn't want to keep and getting the bounties for Red Face and the Emerald Queen, we've got 53 gold and 23 copper." Madoka said, handing it all over to a confused Shirou, who didn't understand what he was supposed to do with it. "So let's decide on shopping."

"Can't you just buy items with that online shopping thing of yours?" Ayako asked.

"It's convenient for when you are in the dungeon, but you can only see what people have in their storages, and you can't barter for better prices. It's great for food, but for everything else I would suggest shopping the old fashion way." Madoka explained before quickly adding. "Though I can definitely get you better prices than you normally would!"

"I see." Issei said, pushing up his glasses. "Our greatest expenses are probably going to be weapons and armor, but we also need various everyday goods, clothes we can wear outside of the dungeon. It would likely be for the best if Madoka was in charge of purchasing our dungeon equipment while we focus on other things."

"You can count on me." Madoka said with relief.

"...Actually, if you have the time, could you purchase materials used in the manufacturing of weapons and armor?" Shirou asked, surprising the girl. "I've looked over my possible skills, and most of them appear to be related to manufacturing and maintaining equipment."

After leveling up, more options had been added to Shirou's list of possible skills, including two that seemed to deal with the creations of new equipment.

+ Equipment Manufacturing I: Gain the skills necessary for manufacturing equipment.

+ Mystic Forge I: Use Magic Power to replace the need for tools used in manufacturing. Requires Equipment Manufacturing I.

"Wait, Shirou's job is a manufacturing job?" Madoka gasped.

"Is that a problem?" Shirou asked.

"No, it's just… Shirou, do you feel stronger? Like you were stronger than you were before you got a job?" Madoka asked.

"No. Not particularly." Shirou admitted.

"You don't?" Issei said, as surprised as Madoka.

"Really? You don't feel like you've somehow become a superhero? With super strength and speed?" Ayako asked him.

"No." Shirou replied.

"I thought so." Madoka said weakly. "People who get merchant and manufacturing jobs usually don't get physically stronger, even as they level. Not only that, they don't get any special attacks to help in combat."

"What are you saying?" Ayako said.

"Right now, his armor buffs make it pretty safe for him, but soon, Shirou won't be able to act as a combatant any longer."


Since raw ingredients for food and crafting didn't have prices that could be easily negotiated, Shirou and Issei were placed in charge of getting those while Ayako and Madoka went after clothing, equipment and 'necessary items' for women.

Theresa was following close behind Shirou, continuing her duties until she was returned to the Mercenary Guild.

Shirou had until 8 pm to get her there, so he wanted to hold off in order to have dinner together with everyone.

The selection of foods though was a little disappointing, as Shirou struggled to find the spices that he considered necessary for a proper meal. Though there were also items that he had never heard of, meats from different kinds of monsters and plants that didn't exist on Earth.

That night would be a different sort of adventure.

It was while Shirou was comparing two different kinds of grain, trying to decide which of them he was going to try to use as a substitute for rice, that Issei asked him an unexpected question.

"Shirou, do you… hate me?" Issei said completely out of the blue.

"Why would you ask that?" Shirou said, not having a clue what Issei was talking about.

"I was constantly getting you to help out around the school and do odd jobs. You always seemed fine with it before but… were you only doing it because I was forcing you to?" Issei asked. He looked over at Shirou, who was giving him the deer in the headlights look, and gave a sigh of relief. "Forget I said anything."

"...I'm confused." Shirou freely admitted.

"Whenever we first arrived here, everyone was panicking and I tried to calm them down. …But when I did, they all turned on me and told me what they really thought of me." Issei said weakly. "They said that I was a pushy control freak and that they always hated me and my attitude, and that now that there was no more school, they would never have to listen to me ever again. In fact, they wanted to never have anything to do with me. They kicked me out of the group."

…Oh wow.

That was something to have people drop on you right after you yourself had just died. Shirou found himself feeling sorry for Issei.

"Ayako was the only one who stood up for me. Tohsaka only tagged along because she was friends with Ayako." Issei said.

"I didn't know that Tohsaka and Ayako were friends." Shirou said, thinking about how little he really knew about Rin.

"Me neither, but apparently they had been friends for years." Issei said. "Anyways. If you ever feel like I'm being too bossy, please just tell me, alright?"

"...Sure, I guess." Shirou said, though he doubted he ever would.


"I don't believe this." Issei said in amazement as he dug into his dinner. "I had no idea Tohsaka knew how to cook."

Part of it was made by Shirou, which he was used to eating, but the other part was prepared by Rin.

Much to his surprise, there wasn't an obvious difference in quality.

Rin had gotten their residence for them, and as the top dogs in the district, they had received a luxury sweet, with four separate rooms that each had two beds, and a fully equipped kitchen.

They could have gone and had a meal in the restaurant downstairs, but were deciding to save their money. Not to mention that Issei was a long standing fan of Shirou's cooking, believing it to be the best there was. So having Tohsaka's match it was completely unexpected.

"Of course I know how to cook." Rin said, tossing her hair back with a slight huff. "I've been living by myself for ten years now. I wouldn't have survived long if I didn't know how to cook."

"You've… lived by yourself?" Issei asked, completely surprised.

"Rin's family died years ago, and her legal guardian doesn't live with her." Ayako explained.

"I had no idea." Issei said, looking at Rin with wide eyes.

"Of course you didn't. Even if we were stuck with each other in middle school, you never bothered to get to know me at all. You just assumed I was some kind of evil witch pretending to be nice to people. You never even considered that I might have my own problems, my own struggles." Rin said in a scolding voice.

"I… Well…" Issei looked down at his plate before closing his eyes. "You're right. I apologize."

Rin was silent for a moment before snorting. "It's fine, since I assumed the same of you."

"What?" Issei said in surprise.

"I thought you were only acting out the role of a perfect student and that you were really scum. In fact, I only joined this party because I wanted to protect Ayako in case you suddenly showed your true colors." Rin freely admitted. She actually had suspected Issei's family of being magi, and possibly wanting to usurp her as Second Owner of their city, their long history as keeper of the temple seemed to suggest that was the case, but now she wasn't so sure. "After you shielded Ayako with your own body, I suppose I can't call it an act anymore."

A true magus usually didn't go out of their way to protect others.

"...You also stood between us and Red Face." Issei said awkwardly. "I'm sorry for having misjudged you."

"You didn't misjudge me at all." Rin said with a twisted smile to hide her flustered internal feelings. "I am an evil witch. But I can't make your life hell if you are dead, now can I?"

Ayako started to laugh at Issei's horrified face.

"Now, since we are all here and have a bit of food in us, I'd like to talk about our next steps." Rin said, gathering their attention. "The level of comfort you see around you is what you can get by being at least in the top 200 out of 3000 individuals in District 8. Not a level that is even hard to maintain. Our party is currently number 1 already and we could keep a high enough status to live in modest comfort by averaging 100 contribution points a week, which isn't hard. Not only that, as 2-star Seekers, we can now buy property and open up businesses, if we want to put fighting behind us all together. If you want to simply live safe and comfortable lives, I won't blame you. However, I want to keep going."

Rin laid things out for them, and didn't make any attempt to deceive them. The option of quitting was a valid option, and if they chose it, she wouldn't have hard feelings.

"...Interesting. I hadn't exactly considered our options before. It is true that progressing could make things more dangerous for us." Issei said, nodding his head.

"It almost certainly will. But I don't think I can live with myself just calling it quits here." Rin said with a shake of the head. "I want to know what this is all about. Something or someone went through a lot of trouble to create this world and bring us here after our deaths. I want to know why. Why did whatever god made this place decide to do such a thing? They call us 'Seekers', so what is it we are supposed to seek?"

"I see. The spiritual question of why." Issei said, nodding along in agreement.

"Just like you to already be thinking the deep questions." Ayako chuckled.

"I am. And I feel that the best way to answer these questions is to climb up the ranks and move on to the higher districts. At the very least, we don't have access to a library until we move into at least District 7." Rin said with a nod. "But if anyone wants out, tell me now. Climbing up the ranks won't be easy. Today, we were reckless, and because of that, we managed to get the qualifications for moving into District 7 in a single day instead of in 6 months. I plan on keeping that same kind of momentum going, if at all possible, though hopefully being smarter about it. Using information gathered to mitigate the danger."

Everyone looked around the table, thinking about what Rin was saying.

"I'll go with you." Shirou said, the first one to break the silence. "I'm not sure how much help I will be, but I will do whatever I can."

Rin smiled, glad that Shirou would be along for the ride.

His skills would be invaluable, with several of her plans in the short term riding on his shoulders… and she had always admired his stubborn determination.

"I wouldn't be much of a monk if I didn't search for the answers." Issei said with a nod of his head.

"I'm game." Ayako said, leaning back in her chair with her arms behind her head. "I'm not huge into the whole spiritual fulfillment thing, but I kind of like the excitement of it all. Plus, my family was big into maintaining our honor as Samurai. I can't dishonor myself by running away."

"I… I won't be much help with fighting." Madoka admitted weakly. "But I'll try to help in any way I can if you will take me."

Another mission critical hit, in Rin's opinion. Methods of obtaining money and connections were always necessary.

Shirou then turned to Theresa. "Would you like to come with us? I could try to talk to the Mercenary Guild, if you'd like."

Theresa didn't react. She just sat in front of her empty plate, completely silent.

"Are you sure you want to bring her with us?" Ayako asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Why not? Theresa is a part of this party too?" Shirou said, confused by Ayako's awkwardness.

"...Doesn't she make you uncomfortable at all? The way she just silently follows us around and acts like an empty shell." Ayako said. "I mean, Demihumans are people who have died but are still moving around, acting without any sort of human will. She's like a real life walking corpse."

"Don't call her that!" Shirou shouted, slamming his hand on the table and causing everyone to jump in surprise. He even seemed to surprise himself as his expression went from one of anger back into his usual relaxed face. "It's getting late. I'll get into trouble if I don't take you back to the Mercenary Guild now."

He got up from the table and took Theresa by the hand and led her out the door.

Silence reigned even after the door had closed behind him for a few seconds before Rin spoke up. "I'd never seen Emiya mad before. I wasn't even aware he was capable of being angry."

"...Me neither." Ayako said, shrinking down and seeming ashamed of herself. "Not even Shinji can ever get him worked up. But he…"

"Shirou empathizes with Theresa. I can't say I'm surprised." Issei said with a nod of his head. "You all probably don't know this, but back during the Fuyuki fire ten years ago, Shirou was at ground zero."

"What!?" Madoka squeaked in shock. Even if she had been little more than a baby at the time, the story of the fire had echoed for years. An explosion that had consumed 500 lives in an instant, with more dying for injuries afterwards, and thousands more being crippled and left homeless.

It had been a horrible scar on their city's history.

"He… I have no idea." Ayako said in shock.

"He was orphaned by that fire, and lost his memories of who he was before it. I met him shortly after, since his adopted father was a friend of my dad's. Shirou lived through something that should have definitely killed him, but he was… off. It was like the experience had burned away part of his humanity, and for more than a year he just blindly followed his father around with a blank expression on his face, lacking the will to do anything without being instructed to." Issei said, a look of complete shame crossing his face. "…The first time I met him, I freaked out, thinking that he was a 'walking corpse' and tried to get my older brother to do an exorcism on him."

At the time, Issei had imagined he could see an evil force sticking to Shirou's body, with his child's imagination running wild. The things he did and said he still felt ashamed of, despite the fact that Shirou himself seemed to hold no ill will for it.

"I'm guessing that he sees Theresa's situation and it reminds him of his own. I can't say I'm surprised that he wants to be so kind to her." Issei said.

"I see." Ayako said, wilting even further. "I said something I really shouldn't have, huh? …Do you think that Shirou will forgive me?"

"We didn't even know Emiya was capable of being mad. I am pretty sure a grudge is beyond him." Rin said with a shake of her head, trying to comfort her friend. "He'll be back and then you can apologize. Until then, we can continue to discuss our future plans."

Rin then brought out the copies of Juggernaut's specs and the reports of recent activities in the second floor of the dungeon, as well as a map.

They had planning to do.