Ren pulled out his list and noted that the next item was shampoo. He then put the list back and swapped it for his scroll to check the time. It was 10:17 in the morning. There was still plenty of time to explore, but before he could nominate their next destination, his stomach had a point to make.

"It appears you are experiencing borborygmus," Penny noted, "also known as 'the tummy rumbles'! Did you eat breakfast this morning?"

Ren thought quietly to himself. He wanted to leave as early as possible, but he didn't consider eating breakfast first. He shook his head to Penny. He then looked around for a nearby café or fast food restaurant. He was hungry, but he wasn't interested in waiting all day for a meal. He then immediately spotted a small café just across from the hygienics store.

Turning to Penny, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Penny looked as those she had a million thoughts running through her head. After about a minute of thinking, she responded. "Yes."

Making their way through the crowd, they eventually made it to their destination, where they sat down, waiting for the waitress to hand them menus and take their order. With impeccable service in mind, a blonde woman in glasses and wearing her café uniform walked up to the table with a smile on her face.

"Hello! Welcome to the Schnee Café! My name is Glynda, and I will be your waitress! How may I-?"

"Miss Goodwitch?"

Horrified, the waitress removed her glasses to clean them to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She wasn't. She saw one of her students sitting at a table at her second job. Her secret second job. The jig was up for Beacon professor Glynda Goodwitch.

Glynda was always viewed with three things by her students: dignity, pride, and fear. Seeing her in a waitress uniform, working an honest Jill's shift (who was not as honest as she claimed, since she called in sick for work, then walked past the restaurant not 20 minutes ago), was disillusioning. She wasn't some disciplinarian who ruled the halls of Beacon with an iron crop anymore. She was as human as anyone else in that restaurant.

"I will have the egg salad," said Penny, totally oblivious to both the current situation and what an egg salad was, "with fries on the side! Nothing to drink, please!"

Glynda sighed and pulled out a pen and scribbled on her notepad. "And for you, sir?" she asked, defeated.

Ren looked over his menu again. Everything was cheap, but he didn't have much to pay out of pocket. He had enough in the jar for all the items, plus the Bullhead ride home. 'I should have eaten at Beacon. Their food is freed.' Ren thought.

"Is it possible for me to just get fries?" he asked.

Glynda sighed as she scribbled. "Yes, I suppose. And to drink?"

"Just water."

Scribbling one last time, Glynda took the order to the counter after giving the usual "thank you" and "we will let you know when your order is ready". Since there was time while the food was being made, Ren decided to make small talk.

"It's a beautiful day outside."

"Yes, and forecasts detect that it will continue like this for 3.849 days!"

Ren wasn't sure if he should be impressed or worried about that exact measurement. Then again, she's the niece of General Ironwood. Perhaps Ren should push on that.

"Hey, Penny?"

"Yes?"

"You said your uncle was General Ironwood."

"Yup!" she said with a smile, "He was there when I was… born." She hiccupped. Odd, since Ren hadn't seen her eat or drink one thing since meeting this girl.

"What's it like?" Penny stiffened herself at the question.

"T-to be born?" Ren sighed internally. She was almost as bad as Nora.

"No, being the niece of a powerful man like Ironwood." Suddenly a roar of laughter erupted from the kitchen, followed by one of the employees asking Glynda what was so funny.

"Oh, well it's okay, I suppose. He's kind, but strict. He's harsh, but reasonable. He's tough, but fair. He's-" Penny continued listing his pros and cons as such until the order finally arrived.

"Will there be anything else?" Glynda said, clearly distressed about her cover being blown.

"Would you mind explaining why you're so stressed out?" Penny said, slightly disappointed that her egg "salad" was more like an egg sandwich. "Your stress levels have been on the rise since Ren recognized you, though it seems to have fallen a bit not too long ago." At least the fries looked good.

Sighing, the Beacon professor who moonlighted as a waitress, knew she might as well. They had no customers and, even if they did, she was told to go on her break after finishing this order. She pulled out a chair and sat on it before saying, "Where do you want me to start?"

Ren paused for a moment, thinking of the right question. He planned to ask her when and why she got this job. Was the pay not good enough as a professor? Was she so shallow that she liked the uniforms? Or perhaps her reason is-

"How do you know Uncle Ironwood?" Ren sighed as Penny asked first while figuring out what an egg salad is called the way it is.

"James and I attended Beacon together". Glynda answered. "He never told me he had a brother or sister. He's usually so open with me."

Penny went as wide-eyed as a Beowolf caught underfoot of a Goliath. "Um, well, you see, that is- Classified!"

Ren was caught off-guard by Pennys' sudden outburst. Glynda just sighed.

"I suppose that's how he is now. We used to be so close, and now…" She sighed again.

"Why did you get a job here?" Ren inquired.

"Honestly? I'm just making some extra Lien."

"But don't professors at Beacon get paid a hefty sum?"

"Yeah, but it's spent on Dust, Grimm, and supplies for teaching. There's only enough left over for the essentials."

"Essentials?" It was now or never for her. She had to eat and see if this "egg salad" was worth it. She took a bite, chewed, and swallowed… and nearly gagged. It was awful! It's a good thing it was cheap. Glynda continued with her story.

"Food, water, shelter; all needed for the human body to survive. Unlike the Grimm, we actually need to eat. Maybe it was a mistake becoming a huntress. This "war" has been more like a one-sided fight since day one for me. Day after day, we struggle, and we keep losing ground. Soon, there won't be any ground left to lose."

Miss Goodwitch looked like she had just hit rock bottom. Ren could understand her feelings. A lot of hunters join for various reasons: money, fame, or just to hunt Grimm. The only wrong reason to join, in Ren's opinion, was to join to sabotage the effort.

"Why a waitress?"

"Because no one else was offering. They all either had enough employees, or not enough Lien to pay one more."

"What do you need the extra cash for?"

She was silent for a moment, deep in thought, before replying, "I have my reasons."

This was getting nowhere fast. Ren had somehow put his professor into a hole that she couldn't climb out of. For the first time in his life, he asked himself, 'What would Jaune do?' No doubt make a fool of himself, only to recover somehow, like saying something inspiring or making people smile, and live to fight another day. Maybe Ren could do something like that, but without the looking like a fool.

Ren finished his fries, and Penny, being taught not to waste food, ate the whole egg salad that tasted like the inside of a sweaty gym sock. Ren put down his out of pocket Lien and walked away from the now depressed waitress.

"For what it's worth, I think we're about to make a comeback. We may be losing ground right now, but that's fine, because we have somebody at our backs, pushing us forward. And that person has someone behind them, and behind them, and behind them, and behind them until we form one giant line that will push back. We have something the Grimm don't." Ren looked back to see if she was listening. She was, and she looked like an eager student learning from their favorite teacher. "Each other's backs."

She smiled, earning a smile right back from her student. Penny also smiled, but it was more peer pressure for her, wanting to be in the group.

"Don't worry about me telling the others. I won't tell anyone else." And just like that, Glynda wasn't sad anymore. She felt renewed, refreshed, and ready to take on whatever comes her way.

"I expect to see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Lie!" she shouted.

"Will do!" He shouted back.

Ren exited the restaurant and pulled out his list.

Looking at the time, Ren saw that it was now 10:54 in the morning, a little more than five minutes until 11. Ren pulled out his list and saw that shampoo was next on his list.