"Ready for your first day? Don't worry, I've set my expectations low for you."

  "Thank you for the vote of confidence." I roll my eyes at his attempt at humor and fold my arms. "What do you want to send? Tell me so I can go home."

  "That's the spirit!" the veteran thief smirks and pats my back while pointing his cane in a specific direction. "You only need to deliver some drums to a bunch of idiots. They have a note telling you where to drop them."

  Just as he finishes his sentence, one of his henchmen appears, pushing a blue ptform cart loaded with gray barrels, each with a red warning sticker.

  I break away from his grasp and check the barrels, lightly tapping them to confirm if they're full and reading the bel. "Caustic soda?"

  "Mmm?"

  "I honestly expected you to make me carry your drugs or weapons. Not barrels of whatever caustic soda is, seems anticlimactic." I say, thinking back about the tales of gangsters with illegal trades and more. Menagerie has their share of men and women who didn't exactly have the best of starts.

  Roman takes a long puff from his cigarette and thinks for a minute before speaking. "I don't ask questions. Why should I? If someone needs something, I can deliver it. But if I had to guess, those barrels are probably used to make drugs or bootleg alcohol. And if they're doing the tter, then you shouldn't be surprised if you find corpses lying around."

  My face turns pale as I picture the gruesome scenario. "You're sending me to a drug den?"

  "Yup, remember to only accept payment in lien. I don't need their eight tier garbage."

  I raise a single eyebrow in mild surprise. "So you don't sell drugs? That's unexpected coming from you, if you ask me."

  He shrugs, taking another puff from his cigarette. "If it's a very profitable venture, why shouldn't I? But I have standards. If people want to ruin their lives, they should at least do so with the best quality avaible."

  I roll my eyes at his cavalier attitude towards drugs. "I shouldn't be surprised."

  With no more time to waste, I touched the barrels, causing them to disappear.

  [Caustic Soda barrel has been added to your inventory.] X5.?The henchman who brought the barrels to me lets out a whistle in surprise, but a sharp gre from Roman sends him running deeper into the warehouse.

  His features soften before addressing me. "Make haste, there are more deliveries waiting for you. I would love to complete all orders for today."

  "And why not give them to me now? I finish there and go with the others and save us all the time."

  I find it very wasteful to complete a delivery, only to return here to pick up another and pretty sure the transport fees will be out of my pocket.

  He grabs his cigar and taps it a few times, ash falling. "Because I can't trust you, pin and simple. You might take the chance to flee with my merchandise to your little zoo, after all." He returns his cigar back to his mouth.

  I frown at his comment. Yesterday he made the consequences clear as water and those big scissors are scary as fuck.

  As on cue, Neo came out from hiding and tugged Roman's sleeve to get his attention.

  "Yes Neo? Ah, you wish to go?" The fashionista nods excitedly, earning a chuckle from the thief. "Well, I don't see why not. Just make sure he doesn't cause trouble."

  He turns to look at me with his smirk. "It's your lucky day! With her around, I can trust you to carry out all the deliveries for today. Try anything funny and she will gdly show you why the underworld fears her."

  The pink girl giggles, accepting the messed up praises before tossing a bck briefcase towards me.

  Thankfully, I catch it just in time, mere inches above the floor, and quickly store it away.

  [ (Bck Briefcase) has been added to your inventory.]?Again, with the parentheses. They must mean something then.

  However, Neo doesn't give me a chance to think as she throws a freaking brick to my face that I narrowly avoid and catch mid-air.

  [ (Brick) has been added to your inventory.]?I shoot a gre at the sadistic girl, who only responds with silent ughter, relishing in her twisted sense of humor. The gang leader, on the other hand, simply pats her shoulder in misguided pride and approval of her previous actions.

  "Heh, she's something else, isn't she?" he remarks before turning to face me. "She knows the addresses for those two. Don't bother asking me. And remember, payment only in lien." With his st order given, he turns around and leaves us alone to do whatever he is busy doing.

  With him gone, Neo walks up to me, causing my body to tense up in anticipation of another attack. However, she surprises me by standing on her tiptoes and petting my head apologetically. The moment doesn't st long as she follows up with a sharp sp to my back, gesturing for me to leave the warehouse.

  I turn to her before leaving and ask, "So... how should I complete this?" It's my first day on the job, and I don't want to mess up and get in trouble with either the authorities or my new boss. A tip or some guidance would be appreciated.

  Neo takes a moment to ponder my question before shrugging nonchantly, offering no help.

  I gre at Neo, feeling my annoyance turn into anger. "Really? You drag me into this stupid mess and won't help me?"

  Neo, on her part, just looks at me with a bnk expression for a moment before her lips split into a mischievous smile. She pulls my fucking scroll out of her pocket, causing my eyes to widen as I realize my pockets are empty.

  "Give me that!" I snatch back my property to check it, hoping she hasn't tried to lock me out again. A sigh of relief washes over me as I see the normal locked screen and the same note from yesterday with a scroll number.

  I shoot another gre at Neo, who responds with a pyful wink, making me sigh in defeat and unlock my scroll to call her.

  Obviously, she doesn't answer my call. Instead, a message notification appears at the top of my screen seconds ter, which I check.

  'You need a disguise first.'

  My head snaps back to Neo, who maintains her smile and keeps her hands concealed behind her back. I furrow my brow in confusion and try to peer around her, but she predicts my intentions and reveals both hands with a flourish.

  A quick spin follows, her tailed jacket twirling around her and exposing her back to me.

  'Enjoying the view?'

  "Whatever, lead the way." I sigh.

  She nods and leads me outside where a bck car with the same guy formally with red sungsses is waiting for us.

  And just like the st time, my head quickly finds itself on her p.

  I am gd that Roman was wrong about corpses lying around. As we make our way down the poor street, the worst thing we encounter is a junkie lying on the pavement. He's babbling incomprehensible words and filing around like a fish out of water, clearly high on whatever shit he took.

  I find his misery strangely amusing. It's a fucked up thought, I know, but I can't help it. Maybe it's the way his erratic movements, or the complete new nguage in his babbling. Either way, I quickly shake off the feeling and focus on the task at hand.

  We soon arrive at a vandalized house with a metal door deep into an alley. Really, what's the deal with people having houses in alleys?

  I knock on the door a few times and wait, occasionally pulling the sides of the green beanie to accommodate my ears. They can bear the annoyance of tight spaces, unlike my tail.

  After a brief wait, I hear multiple locks and hinges being undone before the door finally opens. As soon as it does, a putrid smell assaults my senses, causing me to scrunch up my nose in disgust and my eyes to water.

  It was really that bad, and pinching my nose barely helped.

  Neo doesn't look to fare any better, because she took the chance to get away and leave me behind to deal with these smelly bastards while she tries to keep her stomach intact.

  The door creaks open, revealing a face that's so fucked up, it's barely recognizable as human. It's more like a skeleton wearing skin, with a face full of red spots and sunken, bloodshot eyes.

  "Oh, shit..." he mutters nervously, eyeing me up and down. "Uh... so... uhhh, no refunds."

  "Your delivery." I growl.

  My underline threat snaps him back to reality.

  "Yeah...delivery...uhhh, just put it over there," he says, pointing his scrawny hand at a wall with the words 'Fuck you' painted on it.

  Very funny.

  With the delivery point set, I take the barrels out of my inventory and pce them next to each other in an orderly fashion. "Pay up, lien only," I say, just like Roman instructed.

  "Lien, yes...huh, one sec," he says before disappearing inside. He returns a few moments ter with a dirty, thick, yellowish envelope. "Here...all counted."

  I pry open the nasty envelope and find a lot of lien cards held together with rubber bands. I don't really know how much is in there, but Roman said nothing about counting or numbers, and Neo is here, so I will push that responsibility to her. He assigned her to be my supervisor, after all.

  I leave the skeleton behind and walk over to where Neo is waiting. I hand her all the lien and she quickly checks them before stashing them away… somewhere on her back.

  "That was easier than expected. I was expecting them to act all tough and scary, trying to shake me down or any excuse to not pay." I comment. Just then, my scroll buzzes in my pocket, so I pull it out to check.

  'Because they know their pce.'

  I take another gnce at Neo, who maintains her smug smile.

  ' Left. 3 blocks from here, an alley.'

  I frown, trying to decipher how her sembnce works to pull these magic tricks. "At least this other delivery is not that far."

  I check my surroundings but find nothing of importance. Compared to the slums, the neighborhood is a step up. It's not very cramped or filthy, but it's not a pce you would choose to spend a night in, given the choice.

  Following her directions, I arrive at the designated alley. However, when I step inside, my heart drops. There is only a single guy in a known blue uniform pacing back and forth.

  "Shit…" I urgently turn to Neo for support, who instead pushes me into the alley and stays behind.

  I become tense when the cop finally notices me, and approaches before extending his trembling hand. "Be quick. I can't be missing for too long.""You are a cop." I say, eyeing him up from head to toe.

  "Does it matter?" He hisses. "Give me my stuff!"

  "Money first." I demand, keeping a firm stance.

  However, he doesn't take my response well and cocks a fist. "Fucking give me my st-gaah!"

  I was ready to dodge and counter this asshole sloppy attack, but Neo came just in time to stop him first, grabbing his poorly thrown punch and twisting his arm before smming him against the wall, head first.

  He fell on to the floor with his visor cracked.

  "He is a junkie, isn't he?" I look at my savior, who gives me a mild shrug in response. "Whatever, thanks for the save."

  I summon his package and toss it to the ground without caring if it gets damaged. Almost immediately, the downed guy grabs the strange brick and hugs it like his life depends on it.

  It's pitiful to see a figure of authority reduced to such a pathetic state. They looked very professional back at the bus station.

  Unlike me, Neo doesn't linger long to appreciate the sight and instead retrieves the wallet from the cop's pants along with other devices and handcuffs. The look she gave me when she had those handcuffs in her hands was slightly worrying.

  That snaps him back to reality and tries to protest. "W-wait, I'm sorry! D-don't-"

  He never got the chance to finish his sentence, as Neo shut him up with a kick to his mouth. She slowly turns at me and gives me a thumb up or down gesture.

  I watch the idiot holding back his screams and moaning with both hands covering his probably broken mouth. I was feeling pity at first, but then he had to get violent with me. "Fuck this guy."

  [Affection with (Neo Politan) increased by 1, 06/100]?She enjoys hurting people. Another reason I shouldn't get on her bad side.

  With my permission given, Neo stomps the cop's head with her heels several times with sadistic glee, destroying the visor of his helmet before saving everything of value… somewhere on her back again. It just disappears into the thin air. My curiosity piqued again, and I'm tempted to touch her back to confirm if there is something I cannot see.

  But Neo turns around quickly and gives me a sly grin while wagging her finger.

  "Am I that obvious with my thoughts?" I ask in defeat and she confirms my fear with a nod, making me sigh. "Well, so… A junkie cop? You could've told me who the client was. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."

  Not even a second after I finished my sentence, my scroll rings another notification.

  'It won't.'

  I should always keep my scroll at hand when she's around. It would save me seconds of my time.

  "I guess I will have to take your word for it. So, where is the next drop point?" I ask, thankfully it is the st delivery for the day and I can return home and take off this stupid beanie.

  'Commercial district. My favorite shop, hard to miss.'

  "I can't compin much. I needed to buy some ice-cream anyway. Because someone ate it all."

  Neo just giggles in response, completely unrepentant as she opens her pink parasol, letting it rest on her shoulder, and happily walks away with a skip in her step.

  She enjoys messing with me, doesn't she?

  I let out a sigh of exasperation when I see our final destination for the day.

  "What are the fucking chances?"

  Or how could I not see it coming? Favorite shop? And ice-cream shop. The answer was fucking obvious.

  My supervisor pats my back before she heads to the door and keeps it open for me, gesturing me to enter first. Such a polite dy, who not long ago gave a possible concussion to a junkie cop. Well, I hope it was only a concussion and not permanent brain damage. Her kicks looked to be packing a lot of force behind them.

  The owner of the small store looks up from behind the counter, revealing a rather old faunus with dog or wolf's ears atop his bck hair. "How can I help you?" he asks politely."Delivery." I say ftly. No point in beating around the bush and he seems polite enough, the best for the st it seems.

  The faunus furrows his brow. "But I didn't... oh! Of course, silly me. Please come in," he excims, realizing his mistake. He hurries towards a second door and uses his keys to unlock it for us.

  I understand his caution. Nobody would want to be caught delivering probably illegal stuff in pin sight. So, I accept his invitation and pass the counter. As I walk by, I notice Neo with her face glued to the gss, checking out the ice cream fvors.

  As we enter the back room, I take note of the cluttered shelves and piles of boxes stacked precariously high. The old man navigates his way through the mess, leading us to a small table in the corner of the room. "I'm sorry about the mess," he apologizes, "it's been a busy day."

  With the door closed and our privacy secured, I reach into my inventory and pull out the bck briefcase. The old dog wastes no time in taking it from my hands and unlocking it, his eyes widening with glee.

  "Just what I wanted," he excims as he pulls out a very advanced looking gun and drops the case. I'm confused why a small shop owner would want an Ats gun, but I decide to take Roman's advice and not ask questions. "Here's your payment," he says, handing me a stack of lien cards.

  Before I can take the payment, Neo swoops in and snatches everything. I'm surprised to see her there; she was behind me, looking at the ice creams. When did she enter?

  Ignoring my confusion, Neo stuffs the lien cards into her pockets and gives me a sly grin. However, the old faunus didn't seem to care. He was more preoccupied with his new gun than with questioning Neo's unexpected appearance.

  "I know this sounds awkward but… can you sell me ice-cream?"

  My question catches him off guard, and he looks at me with a stunned expression before exchanging gnces with both of us. "Oh, sure."

  He puts away his brand new weapon back into the briefcase and carefully hides it between the many boxes in the room before going back to the front room.And yes, it was an awkward sale.

  As we exit the store, I quickly send my ice cream straight to my inventory, hoping it will st the journey back to my apartment and I don't get a soup. Neo, on the other hand, seems to be happily enjoying her questionable obtained frozen snack.

  "Did you pay for that?" I ask, pointing at her ice cream cone in her hand. Only for her to shake her head in response and take another small bite of her dual-fvored ice-cream. "Whatever, not like he will notice one cone is missing. You should have at least got one for me as well."

  Neo smirks and gives it a long lick before offering me a quick bite.

  I stare at the ice-cream in surprise. I didn't expect that, to be honest.

  "I will pass. I don't like dual fvor." And she kinda ruined it by spreading all her saliva around it. That was clearly done on purpose.

  To my surprise, Neo's smug expression quickly turns into one of hurt and disappointment. She recoils and gives me a pleading look, covering her eyes with her other arm. Suddenly, cartoonish tears start pouring out of her eyes in a comically exaggerated fashion.

  And that made me realize we weren't alone, as I could hear the whispering from the gathering crowd forming around us. They also have the gall to shoot me with disapproving looks, completely ignoring the fact that waterfall tears are impossible and she is just messing with me and embarrassing me.

  And it fucking works. My cheeks heat up and my ears ftten on top of my head. When it becomes unbearable, I grab her arm and make a run for it, away from the biased crowd and their disapproval.

  I don't know how long I ran, but I was panting for air when Neo yanked my arm to stop me.

  I take seconds to recover and gre at the girl with mismatched eyes. "Very funny Neo, now people will not only judge me by my faunus heritage but they will also consider me a douchebag who makes girls cry… wait, why do I even care for their opinion? I grew up in Vacuo. Others' opinions are worth shit!"

  Leaving was a good call, but I shouldn't have run.

  Neo calmly breaks away from my grip and pokes my stomach.

  Somehow, her ice-cream remained intact from the entire ordeal and she continued eating it as if nothing happened. I wanted to object at first, but I let it go with a long drawn-out sigh after recalling that it is better to have her happy than angry. Anger that could be directed at me, something I want to avoid for my safety.

  Seeing my defeated attitude, the bane of my existence takes advantage of the moment and closes the distance between us. She locks her gaze with mine and fshes me another one of her infuriating smiles before pnting a light kiss on my right cheek.

  Before I can even react, she grabs my hand and pces her unfinished snack in it and vanishes from the street.

  Moments ter, my scroll buzzed to life.

  'See you ter!'

  This girl is going to be the death of me or make me lose my mind. I don't think I will ever quite comprehend her and her antics.

  What I do understand, however, is the need to take a moment to rex and gather my thoughts. It's not a physical exhaustion, but more of a mental one as I let everything sink in.

  And while I'm not a fan of the dual strawberry and chocote fvor, I won't turn down free ice cream, even if it's just a little bit left in the cone.

  The crunching sound of the pastry gives me a moment to think. I practically committed a crime, and I'm guilty by association.

  I should have come up with a better disguise instead of this stupid beanie that has been squashing my ears for hours now. It was the only thing that came to mind, and Neo didn't offer any other suggestions. Besides, having two faunus traits is too easy to spot in a crowd.

  Yet, leaving my ears exposed was the easier choice to hide compared to my tail.

  I will think of a better option tomorrow. As for now, I let my ears spring free from their binds and let the fresh air caress them once more. I watch the green hat in my hands for long seconds before letting it fall on the sidewalk. It was a cheap hat, and I really hated it.

  I stare at the darkened sky as I rub the back of my neck. Being a delivery job is far simpler than being a cook, but I should take a brighter look and take some soce in the fact that I will travel around. Maybe that asshole will send me to a pleasant location once in a while.

  "Hey M'aiq!" My ears perk up at the sound of a familiar voice, causing me to turn my gaze in the right direction.

  "Nora?"

  The girl who accidentally smashed my chest a week ago is happily waving her hand with a wide grin on her face.

  And I wave back.

  In a matter of seconds, she is already in front of me. "Yeah it's me! Funny finding you here! Like, what are the chances?" She rests both hands on her waist.

  "Yeah, it is. So… where is your boyfriend?" I look to both sides, trying to find Ren between the crowd. They seemed to always stick together.

  My comment catches her by surprise, and she tilts her head to the side. "Boyfriend?"

  "You know, Ren?" I tease her with a knowing smile.

  "Ah, nonono! Me and Ren? PFFFT… We are childhood friends! We are together but not together-together." Her face turns red and her hands frantically denying my question.

  "Okay?"

  That was a bit exaggerated for a simple no. But I couldn't deny the amusement I got from her innocent reaction.

  "Yup, just best friends. Besties!"

  "So, where is he?"

  She collects herself before answering in the same cheerful manner. "He is at the market right now. Something about how important it is to have a banced diet and veggies."I chuckle, recalling my brief memory of him. "He seems the type to say that."

  "So, what brings you here?" She finally asks, leaning closer.

  "Enjoying my free time. Work can get the better of anyone, you know?" I gesture at my surroundings.

  "You have a job? That was really quick. Lucky you."

  I shrug. I wouldn't have been hired if it wasn't for my high-level cooking job, courtesy of my gamer system. She is right how lucky I am. "Yeah, for an enormous kitchen in the industrial district. The old dy seems nice enough, if not strict, when it comes to her kitchen."

  I couldn't hide my cheeky smile. Her face was priceless when I proved her wrong. That is a memory I will fondly remember for a long time.

  In a blink of an eye, she is sitting right beside me with expectant eyes. "What can you cook? Sweets? Cakes? Pancakes? You should exchange recipes with Ren! He is always looking for new recipes to add to his list."

  "Nora?"

  Speaking of the devil.

  The teen with bck hair with a pink streak comes into the scene carrying their groceries inside paper bags.

  "Look who I found, Renny!" She pats me on the back, strongly I may add.

  "Oh, is wonderful to see you Ma'iq."

  "Likewise."

  "He works in a kitchen! You should swap dishes with him!" Nora, just as fast, jumps right next to her childhood friend and tries to bring him closer, causing him to be surprised by her intentions.His attention turns towards me after accepting his fate. "You cook?"

  "Of course. I won't be living on fast food and snacks all my life. I would go broke with these city prices." I say with a chuckle. A full grocery shopping run cost me thousands of lien. And the fruit is rather expensive, they only sell them by unit, not by weight.

  He gives me a nod. "Understandable."

  "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing before coming here?" I dismiss our encounter as mere coincidence, but not an unwelcome one.

  "We were scouting!" Nora shouts.

  "Scouting?"

  "We are preparing for Beacon's initiation. We got a tip that they will hold it inside the Emerald forest. every advantage is helpful to increase our chances of passing." Ren's concise expnation makes a lot of sense. I would've done the same after all.

  "Ah, that's pretty clever."

  "Exactly! And there are a lot of Grimm to smash with Magnhild!" Nora's comment caught my full interest.

  "Grimm?" I frown. Those monsters wandering so close to the city don't sit well with me for some reason unless I'm wrong with my geography.

  "Emerald forest might be infested with Grimm but they are usually newborns so they possess minor threat and Beacon academy keeps a tight control on their popution to avoid Grimm tides or alphas from developing." Ren expins, making me sigh in relief.

  "And they just let you go inside? I don't doubt your strength, but it sounds dangerous." Even the safest spot in Menagerie's jungle could turn deadly in a split second.

  However, Grimm are my source of exp points. I need to take advantage of this and get access to this forest.

  "Well… we don't really go inside. Like ultra deep, like hours of walking. Besides, with Renny's sembnce, we can enter and leave at any time!" Nora sneaks an arm around her friend and pulls him closer."My sembnce is tranquility, I can mask negative emotions around me." He crifies, making my eyes go wide in awe.

  "That's really useful, like really, really useful against the Grimm." Not having to worry about those monsters sneaking on you would make traveling a lot easier. It makes me curious what my sembnce could be. But I can only hope I win the lottery with my sembnce. It would be so anticlimactic and heartbreaking that my sembnce ends up being storage reted.

  "That's what I've said! We can go ultra sneaky like ninjas and then BAM! No more Grimm." She hits the palm of her hand as she finishes, while her friend nods in agreement.

  I don't need high intelligence to understand how much fun she has while fighting them. I should be a bit more than her, find more excitement in the heat of battle. At least with low level Grimm.

  My scroll buzzes inside my pocket, making me frown, as I already know who is sending me a message. But I pulled it out to read it.

  'You shouldn't be te. Roman might take offense to that.'

  Figures I couldn't have a moment for myself and catch up with others.

  "Is something wrong?"

  It seems my expression unconsciously told them a lot.

  I let out a sigh as I stood up from the public bench and dust off my shorts. "Work reted stuff. I really wanted to catch up more, but work is work. And I don't want to become deaf by being te."

  "That's unfortunate. But I am sure this won't be the st time we meet." The ninja says with a faint smile.

  A smile that I reply in kind. "Maybe you are right. The world is a small pce. See you ter."

  "See ya!"

  I walk away with a destination in mind, a spot to take a ride.

  Since Neo was kind enough to warn me, I took a taxi instead of the normal bus ride.

  Obviously, I don't have the driver take me to the exact warehouse address but a couple of blocks away and I finish the rest by foot.

  Standing in front of the entrance to the criminal principal's base, I take deep breaths to collect myself before stepping through the door. The sound of my entrance catches the attention of Roman, who dismisses his henchmen and turns his gaze towards me.

  "Welcome back, kitten! No need to tell me the details. Neo already told me everything. You did well for the most part, but don't get violent with the clients. People are idiots, and idiots do idiotic things."

  "You should have warned me I was selling to a fucking cop. I had a heart-attack when the asshole showed up." I hissed, assuming she also told him that the junkie also tried to punch me.

  The thief isn't surprised, instead he keeps his amused expression.

  "Sometimes we don't know who might be the client. It's better to be mentally prepared for the possibility. Cops, politicians, kids, hunters, the possibilities are endless!" His free hand reaches for a small package under his jacket. "And here is your reward for surpassing my low expectations."

  I caught the mysterious package in mid-air and sent it straight to my inventory.

  [3000 lien has been added to your inventory.]?Roman is an irremediable asshole, but at least he is an asshole who pays well.