57 days before Beacon.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! EUCA!"

[You have rested on a desk! HP and AP partially restored! Stiff and Sleepy Debuff has been applied!]

[Stiff: -75% AGI and DEX 10:00]

[Sleepy: -20% INT 2:00]

I woke to a sudden scream resonating throughout the shop followed by the sudden rapid loud footsteps and flurry of knocks at the Workshop door. The sudden nature of my awakening plus debuffs that came with sleeping on a desk made me grumpy.

'…I think I need some coffee today.' I had found out long ago that coffee did nothing for me but remove the Sleepy debuff. It was still soothing for me to have a warm drink, regardless of whether or not I needed it.

"Ugh…I should see about adding a bed in here, or a very comfy lounge chair." I grumbled, pushing myself off of the desk and stretching my limbs before opening the door and leaving the Workshop. "Arc! What's the big idea causing a ru-" I began before I realized that it wasn't Jaune who was knocking at my door.

Instead it was a very pretty girl, slightly shorter than me, with straight blonde hair that went just beyond her neck. I also noted that she was wearing Jaune's clothes and they were too big for her.

"Oh uh…Arc isn't supposed to have guests over miss..." I began awkwardly. "Arc! This is a shop! Not a hotel! Tell your sister or your friend or girlfriend to leave! You better not have done anything on my be-"

"Euca! It's me! Jaune!" My mind halted before I quickly used observe on her.

[Joan Arc Lvl20]

[Hunter Student]

'Oh.'

[You have identified a new potion!]

[Heroine Potion]

[Permanently turns the drinker into a Heroine. Applies overnight. +4 AGI, +4 LUK, +4 DEX, +4 INT, -2VIT, -2 STR]

[0.0009% Chance of being brewed using Potion Brewing.]

'Oooooooooooooh…well fuck this is my fault isn't it.'

[Achievement Unlocked! Cannon No Longer]

[Mess with the original story line.]

'Shut up.'

There were many things I didn't like dealing with, head among them were the consequences of my actions, people who needed my help specifically, and interrupting my source of income. Yet somehow, I had managed to put myself in a situation involving all three since dealing with the now female Arc involved me not opening the shop for business.

"Alright, so let me get this straight." We had moved back upstairs and we were both sitting on the floor. I had helped Jaune…er…Joan…I had helped Joan up and wrapped my bed's blanket around her in an attempt at a comforting gesture. "You are Arc."

She nodded.

"The same Arc that has been my employee for quite some time now." She nodded again.

"The same Arc that snores all night."

"I don't snore!" She protested. "You're the one snoring!"

"Sure, also magic is a thing, young women with the powers of nature exist, a wizard did it, and my life is a video game." I said dismissively. "So now you wake up one day and suddenly you're a girl." I sighed. "You know if I were anyone else I'd say you were crazy, or think this was a prank, or ask you to leave, or all of the above."

"I'm not crazy Euca! Please you have to believe me." She pleaded, discarding the blanket and grabbing me by the shirt.

"Relax, I said if I were anyone else." She calmed down. "Unfortunately…uh…this is kind of hard for me to say but…this is kind of my fault…"

"…What."

"Yeah, uh, you remember the soda I gave you yesterday?" I was met with silence which I took as a cue for me to continue. "It wasn't soda. It was…well I'll have to tell you things that you aren't meant to know first…Arc? Are you listening?" She wasn't responding. "Arc? Jaune? Jaune friend? Ehrm…Joan?"

"Why would you do this to me?!" She cried out, suddenly shaking me frantically. "Were you planning on turning me into a girl from the start?!"

"I wasn't! I didn't know what the drink would do so I figured what was the harm in giving to you! It wasn't going to kill you!"

"Fix this! Turn me back to normal!"

"I can't!"

"…What do you mean you can't?!" She demanded angrily, I looked away by tuning my head to the side.

"I can't undo this, I don't know how to, and honestly I don't even know if I can…" There was silence once more and I felt her let go of me. Then I heard sniffling and I made the mistake of looking back.

There were a few things that rivalled my love of money and the way it drove me into action sometimes and that was seeing girls cry, even if said girl wasn't originally one in the first place, especially if it was because of me.

"What am I going to do now ?" I heard her whisper while crying.

'Damn it. Damn IT. DAMN IT.' I was severely going to regret getting more involved in this world than I already was. It looked like I was going to have to take a more hands on approach to this. All I had planned for my stay here was to get strong, get rich, get in a fight or two, profit, and live peacefully. It might've be selfish of me but I had no obligation to play hero, to be the good guy, nor did I want to change anything. It was how this world was meant to be and I had already gone and changed something.

'You know what? Fine, in for a penny in for a pound. I'm gonna change all the things!'

Slowly my arms wrapped around Jaune. "Hey, it's alright, look I'm sorry that I caused this…" I forced the next words out of my mouth. "I promise I'll help you out with anything you need, okay so just stop crying."

"T-thank you Euca…I still hate you for doing this to me but thanks…"

"You're welcome Jaune…now you some rest, you get the day off since I'll be closing the shop for today, I'll go buy some food and then we'll talk about your plans for the future." While I made mine.