Some days, Min Zheng regretted choosing to open a Dust store in this listless, backwater town.

It wasn't that opening the store had been a bad business decision. Quite the opposite, in fact; in a town this small, he had virtually no competition. He had more lien than he knew what to do with, most days. He even loved his dinky little store, with its creaking roof and hand-carved shelving.

He sighed, peering through the windows that decorated the front doors. He could see glimpses of the festival through them, the dancers cavorting through the streets, children laughing as they ran through the streets with wooden swords, dressing as the great heroes of legend.

No, his problem wasn't the money. It was the responsibility the job entailed. The festival was a day of merriment, a day where everybody could just ignore their responsibilities for a day- except him. He had to sit in his store, surrounded by the faintly cotton-like smell of Dust, sifting through old, yellowed receipts and dozens of false reports of Grimm activity near the farms surrounding the city.

A gust of warm air blew through the shop, and Min quickly slammed his hand down on the papers scattered haphazardly over the redwood counter. Noise flowed in, the sound of music and laughter filling his store briefly before the door swung closed behind her.

The door swung closed behind her. He waited for the tinkling chimes of the bell to die before he spoke hesitantly. "Can I help you with anything?"

While the store was open, he hadn't expected to actually see anyone come in- even Hunters usually took the day off, giving themselves one day a year where they could just rest and relax. Occasionally people did wander in, wanting to see a Hunter's equipment for themselves, but there were at least three actual Hunters in the city at the moment, so why anyone would think to visit his store was beyond him.

The fact that the girl was young, probably not even in her late teens, just confused him further. Her hair was short and uneven, cut roughly as if someone had simply cut it with a knife when it grew too long, but it was long enough to cover her eyes from his gaze when she looked down at the floor. A long, flowing cloak concealed most of her figure, but he could see her scrawny legs, thinner than he liked. He self-consciously patted his gut- the pastries in the bakery across the street were expensive, but delicious...

"I hope so..." The girl weaved her way through the shelves that dotted the store, taking care to avoid tripping over the crates of Dust scattered haphazardly beneath them. The shelves, filled with crystals of all colours and sizes, were blatantly ignored as she made her way to the counter, then stopped, biting her lip. "I need some, uh, Propulsion Dust, please. Military standard, if you have some. Fine, but not too fine- I need it for a heavy-duty assault weapon."

Min glanced quickly over the girl. She had seemed timid when she walked in, but as she had talked about the Dust she needed, she'd grown more confident. It was obvious she knew what she was talking about.

He arched an eyebrow, hoping his pause hadn't been noticeable. "Would Grade 2 be fine enough?"

She shook her head, absently tapping a pouch on her belt. "That's too fine, I don't want to risk it backfiring. Have you got any Grade 3? I could use Grade 4, but it has a tendency to leave residue on the barrel, and it's really hard to clean off."

"Sure, I have Grade 3," he said cheerfully. Grade 2 was too fine for use in a heavy duty assault weapon- it was far too volatile to risk jostling it around in the types of situations that would call for such a weapon. His own little test, of sorts- it wouldn't do his reputation any good to sell Dust to any random girl that walked into his store, after all. "How much do you need?"

She tilted her head to the side, mouthing to herself for a moment. "Um, two pounds?" she asked weakly.

Most of his Dust was stored securely in an underground bunker, well away from the hands of anyone who didn't know what to do with it. The Dust in the storefront was mostly crystals and Grade 5 stuff, the type of Dust that wouldn't explode if mishandled, kept out for decorative purposes- the store was drab, filled with plain wooden shelving and grey stone walls. The Dust crystals added some welcome colour to the place, particularly during the evening, when he could light the lanterns that adorned the walls. The colours were truly mesmerizing then.

He did keep a crate full of the more volatile Dusts on hand for situations like this, though. It was rare that anyone needed more than a dozen or so pounds of Dust at once, so he could keep small amounts of it out here with him to ensure quick sales.

As he bent down, pulling the crate of Dust stored beneath the counter out, he spoke up. "You planning to stay for the festival?"

"I think so." The girl didn't sound too certain of herself, but as she spoke, her voice firmed. "Yeah, I'll probably stick around for a few days. Why? Are the Grimm causing issues?"

He snorted before he could stop himself. "Always causing issues, little miss. If you're planning to stick around, there's some Ursa bothering the farmers around. None of the Hunters around here have managed to track them down yet." He rose, holding a thin glass tube containing the Dust she had asked for.

"I'll get them." She sounded so confident that Min was taken aback for a moment, before he silently sighed. Overconfidence had killed more Hunters than any Grimm. "Are there any more? I- I could, uh, use the money."

He blinked slowly, trying to rapidly sort through the reports of nearby Grimm. There were quite a few Grimm causing issues nearby- Boarbatusk, more Ursa, even reports of a Death Stalker, as ridiculous as the notion was- but most of them were deadly. He didn't want the death of a teenager on his hands.

"There's a pack of Beowulves that just moved in nearby," he said casually. "The Mayor's issued a bounty for them- five thousand lien, but you have to bring back proof of their death. Here's your Dust."

The girl hesitantly took the Dust. "Thank you. Um, how much is that?"

He watched her reactions closely. "Two pounds of Grade 3 Red Dust is… one hundred lien." Her shoulders slumped, and he quickly cut her off as she opened her mouth to speak. "But it's the Day of Resurgence- I think I can afford fifty lien on today of all days, don't you think?"

She drew herself up, before sighing slightly and letting herself slump back down. "Thank you," she mumbled, reaching into one of the pouches on her belt and pulling out the coins.

He palmed the glazed wooden coins, mentally wincing- he was down a hundred lien now. "It's not an issue," he said as cheerfully as he could. "Always nice to meet a new Huntress. My name's Min Zheng- what's your name?" He held his hand out.

She took it, shaking his hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong for such a small girl "Ruby," she replied. "Thank you again, Min."

Making a rude noise, he waved dismissively. "I told you, it's not an issue. If you need any more help, don't be afraid to come see me, okay?"

The corner of Ruby's lip twitched, and she nodded her acknowledgement as she turned to leave.

The bell rang twice as she left, a timid sound that nonetheless seemed to drown the sounds of the festival outside, and he slumped at his desk.

It was a sorry state of affairs when a town was so bad off it couldn't afford to turn a child's offer of assistance down.