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

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

"That's the spirit!" The veteran thief merely smirks, patting my back while his cane points in a specific direction. "You solely need to deliver drums to some idiots. They have a note where to drop them."

Just as he finishes his sentence, one of his henchmen comes into the scene, pushing a blue platform cart carrying gray barrels, each with a red warning sticker.

I break away from his grasp and check the barrels, lightly hitting them to confirm if they are full, and read the label. "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. "I don't ask questions. Why should I? If they need something, I can deliver. But if I had to guess, those barrels are used to make drugs or maybe bootleg alcohol. If they are actually doing the latter, then you shouldn't be surprised if you find corpses lying around."

My face turns pale for a moment as I picture the plausible scenario. "You are 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 brow in mild surprise. "So you don't sell drugs? That's unexpected coming from you, if you ask me."

He shrugs. "If it's a very profitable venue, why shouldn't I? But I have standards. If they want to ruin their lives, they should at least do so with the best quality available."

His corrections make me sigh. "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 them to me let out a whistle in surprise, but a glare 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 and return here to do the same, and transport fees will surely be out of my pocket.

He grabs his cigar and taps it a few times, ash falling. "Because I can't trust you, plain 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.

I'm not an idiot to actually try. 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 gladly show you why the underworld fears her."

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

Thankfully, I caught it inches above the floor and stored it away.

[ (Black Briefcase) has been added to your inventory.]

Again, with the parentheses. They must mean something.

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 shot a glare at the sadistic girl, who only laughed in silence while the gang leader gently patted her shoulder in misguided pride and approval of her previous actions.

"She knows the addresses for those two. Don't bother asking me. And remember, payment only in lien." With his last order given, he turns around and leaves us alone to do whatever he is busy doing.

With him gone, Neo calmly walks up to me, my body becoming tense, expecting another attack from her. Except she stands on her tiptoes and pets my head with an apologetic look.

Which doesn't last as she slaps my back, gesturing me to leave the warehouse.

"So… how should I complete this?" I ask, today is the first day of my secondary job and I don't want to get myself in deep shit with authorities or my new boss. A tip would be helpful.

Instead, the ice-cream girl takes a short moment to ponder my question and shrugs nonchalantly.

"Really? You drag me into this stupid mess and won't help me?" I growl, my anger boiling in my stomach.

Neo from her part just looks at me with a blank expression for a moment before her lips split into a mischievous smile as her hand comes between us with my fucking scroll.

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

The anger is gone, and my brain is clear enough to understand her message. I sigh in defeat and unlock my scroll to dial the number.

Moments later, a message notification appears at the top of my screen, which I don't hesitate to check.

'You need a disguise first.' The message reads.

My head snaps back to Neo, who keeps her smile and her hands behind her back. But I don't give up and try to look behind her.

Key word try. She predicted my intentions and showed both hands, not before giving a slow spin, showing that she had nothing to hide.

"How…. whatever, your semblance is weird." I drop my question immediately and move on. I don't want a headache.

She nods and leads me outside where a black car with the same guy dressed in tuxedo was waiting for us.

And just like the last time, my head quickly found itself on her lap.

I am glad that Roman was wrong about corpses lying around. The worse the street has to offer us is a junkie on the pavement babbling incomprehensible words and flailing like a fish out of the water, clearly high in whatever shit he took.

I am disturbed by how amusing I find his misery. Fucked up? Yes. But amusing nevertheless.

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.

Not an endless wait as I hear multiple locks and hinges unlock before it is finally open. But as soon as it opens, my nose scrunch up in disgust when the smell burns my nostrils and my eyes tear up a little.

It was really that bad, pinching my nose to block. It 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.

Soon a very fucked up face comes out from the door, a human that barely looked human. I could describe him better as a skeleton with skins, face totally covered in red spots, and sunken, bloodshot eyes. "Oh, shit… uh… so…. uhhh, no refunds."

"Your delivery." I growl.

My underline threat snaps him back to reality.

"Yeah… today… delivery…. uhhh put it there." His scrawny looking hand shows itself only to point at a wall with the 'fuck you' words painted. Very funny.

With the delivery point set, I grab the barrels from my inventory; I place them next to each other in an orderly fashion. "Pay up, lien only." I added the last part, just like Roman said.

"Lien yes… Huh, one sec…" He gets back inside and comes out moments later 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 left the skeleton behind and away from the foul smell to where Neo was waiting and handed her all the lien. She takes a quick glance before stashing them on her back… somewhere.

"That was easier than expected. I was expecting a group acting all tough and scary trying to shake me down or any excuse to not pay." I comment. Seconds later, my scroll buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to check the message.

'Because they know their place.'

I take another glance at the crazy girl who maintains her smug smile.

As it was a signal, I received another message. ' Left. 3 blocks from here, an alley.'

I frown, trying to decipher how her semblance 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. Not very cramped or filthy, but not a place you would choose to spend a night in given the choice.

I follow her directions and arrive at the designated alley, except when I step inside, my heart drops. A single guy in blue 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 approaches and extends his 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 didn't take my response well and cocked a fist. "Fucking give me my st-gaah!"

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

He fell on to the floor with his visor cracked.

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

I summon his package and toss it without caring if it gets damaged. Almost immediately, the downed guy grabs the strange brick and hugs it like a loved teddy bear.

Is 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 stay long appreciating the sight and takes the wallet from his pants along with other devices and handcuffs. The looks she gave me when those were in her hands were 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 silenced him with a kick to his mouth. She slowly turns at me and gives me a thumb up or down.

I watch the guy moaning in pain. I was feeling pity at first, but 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 several times with glee, destroying the visor of his helmet before saving everything of value… somewhere on her back. It just disappears into the thin air. I'm tempted to touch her back to confirm if there is something I cannot see.

But Neo turns around quickly and waves her index finger with a knowing smile.

"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 I finished my sentence, my scroll buzzes in my pocket.

'It won't.'

I should always keep my scroll at hand when she's around. I can save 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 last delivery for the day and I can return home and take off this stupid beanie.

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

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

Neo just giggles as she opens her pink parasol, letting it rest on her shoulder as she happily walks away.

She enjoys messing with me, doesn't she?

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

"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. Such a polite lady, who not long ago gave a concussion to a corrupt 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.

"How can I help you?" The owner speaks up from behind the counter, revealing a rather old faunus with dog or wolf's ears atop of his black hair.

"Delivery." I say flatly. No point in beating around the bush and he seems polite enough.

"But I didn't… oh! Of course, silly me. Please come in." He hurries towards the second door and uses his keys to open it for us.

I understand his actions. Nobody would want to be caught delivering probably illegal stuff in plain sight. So I accept his invitation and pass the counter, where Neo has her face glued to the glass, checking out the ice-cream flavors.

The backroom is quite dark and rather packed with boxes but nothing out of the ordinary for a shop backroom. Though, it could have a quick cleaning because I am seeing a spider web in the corner.

With our new found privacy, I take out the black briefcase from my inventory after he closes the door and gives it to him. The old dog doesn't waste time and unlocks the briefcase in his hands, his eyes widening with glee.

"Just what I wanted." He pulls out a very advanced looking gun and drops the case. I am confused why a shop owner would want an Atlas gun, but I will take Roman advice and not ask questions. "Here is your payment." The man hands me a lot of lien cards, but before I could take them, Neo swoops in and snatches everything.

She was behind, looking at the flavors. When did she enter?

And the old faunus didn't care, as he was more preoccupied with his new gun than questioning Neo's break in without breaking anything.

I will leave her semblance as the answer and move on. The plan will go through because I went to the commercial district to replenish my fridge. "I know this sounds awkward but… can you sell me ice-cream?"

My question caught him off guard. Looking quite stunned, before exchanging glances with both of us. "Oh, sure."

He returns his brand new weapon back to the briefcase and carefully hides it between the many boxes in the room.

And yes, it was an awkward sale.

I send my ice-cream straight to my inventory and pray it will last the journey to my apartment. And for my companion, she is happily enjoying her suspiciously gained frozen snack.

"Did you pay for that?" My question is answered by her shaking her head before taking a small bite of her dual flavor cone. "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 flavor." And she kinda ruined it by spreading all her saliva around it. That was clearly done on purpose.

Instead of keeping her smug attitude, she recoils and gives me puppy eyes before her other arm covers her eyes. Cartoonish waterfall of tears start coming out from her eyes.

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 flatten 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 glare 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 uses the opportunity to close the distance and lock her gaze with mine, flashing another smile before planting a light kiss on my right cheek.

And then she grabs my hand so she can pass me her unfinished snack.

I'm not given the chance to reply before she vanishes in front of my eyes.

Moments later, my scroll buzzed to life, causing me to check. 'See you later!'

This girl will send me to my early grave or destroy my rational brain, whatever comes first, because I cannot understand her and her shenanigans.

But I understand myself quite a bit, and I understand my need to sit down for a moment to relax. Physically, I am not tired. This is more like a mental thing now that I let everything sink in.

Also, I might not like dual strawberry and chocolate flavor but I won't say no to free ice-cream, even if it is just a little left in the cone.

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

I should get a much 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 other suggestions. Besides, two faunus traits are too easy to spot in a crowd.

Leaving my ears 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 a cook, but I should take a brighter look and take some solace in the fact I will travel around. Maybe that asshole will send me to a pleasant location once in a while.

"Hey Ma'iq!" My ears perk up with a familiar voice, causing my gaze to turn 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.

So 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 comments caught her by surprise and tilted her head to the left. "Boyfriend?"

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

"Ah, nonono! Me and Ren? PFFFT… We are childhood friends! We are together-together but not 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 balanced 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 lady 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 black 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 chuckle. A full grocery shopping run cost me thousands of lien. And the fruit is rather expensive, they only sell them by unit, not 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!"

"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 explanation 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 them 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 population to avoid Grimm tides or alphas from developing." Ren explains, 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 semblance, we can enter and leave at any time!" Nora sneaks an arm around her friend and pulls him closer.

"My semblance is tranquility, I can mask negative emotions around me." He clarifies, 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 semblance could be. But I can only hope I win the lottery with my semblance. It would be so anticlimactic and heartbreaking that my semblance ends up being storage related.

"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 late. 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 related stuff. I really wanted to catch up more, but work is work. And I don't want to become deaf by being late."

"That's unfortunate. But I am sure this won't be the last 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 place. See you later."

"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 criminal principal base, I take deep breaths to collect myself before walking through the door. My arrival is immediately noticed by Roman, who dismisses his henchmen and turns his attention 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 added to your inventory.]

Roman is an irremediable asshole, but at least he is an asshole who pays well.

AN: Now we need… I'm going with muriatic acid. Hold up! It's supposed to be caustic soda! Pour it in.

Now that's a wrap! I had to split the chapter in two cause it didn't feel right. Even now I feel something is wrong here, but I will have to compromise and push it. Time to add chapters to other stories and keep fixing some stuff here and there.

Don't forget to pump those favs and follow boxes!