It was now Tuesday, July 13. Allen was at Coffee & Chronicles very early in the morning. He was sitting at the store computer about to print a bunch of fliers out with the copy machine. He had promised Nera that he would do the flier designs for their new supernatural inspection service and he would meet Nera with the fliers to spread them across the Underside to draw in potential clients.

"Hmm, what's this? A crescent moon surrounding an iron shield, it's fairly intriguing but your crappy art really doesn't let it shine."

A chill went down Allen's spine as a hand was placed on his shoulder and he heard a smug familiar voice unexpectedly come from behind him. He nearly leaped out of his chair as he turned to face the person he knew it was.

"Amy, you shouldn't be here this early.", Allen stated defensively.

"Aww, you almost make it sound like you're not happy to see me. You know you shouldn't be here this early either. You always get here just a few minutes before you'd be late." She remarked condescendingly.

"Hey, on time is on time. Besides, why are you meddling with what I'm doing right now?"

"It's part of my job description as your boss to meddle with what you're doing. So, what's this picture that you're about to use the store printer for anyway? Is it something to do with Diagram?"

"Uhh, yeah. My group has to make fliers for this event called the..."Crescent Moon Iron Shield Festival"," Allen paused momentarily. He was waiting to see if she would fall for his hastily made-up story.

Amy simply smiled coyly with cat-like eyes, "Hmm, they sure have you guys work on a lot of festivals, don't they?"

Inside of his head, Allen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, move over," Amy commanded, forcing Allen out of his seat.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Allen asked nervously.

"I'm going to redo your crappy design of course and turn it into something great. Didn't I say it was a part of my job description to meddle with you?"

"Well, yeah. But you don't have to do that, it's fine. I've gotten content with my lack of talent for art and getting the design right will be a hassle."

Amy laughed haughtily. "You seem like you're doing a lot better than Friday. Actually, might be the most motivated you've been since I met you."

"Huh, what's that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't mean it as an insult," Amy assured. "It's just that I've never seen you work on small projects like this outside of the art group. ...It was like you were just going through the motions before as if you had given up before you truly started."

"Well, I probably did if that's what it seemed like," Allen admitted. "I knew I was nothing special but coming here made me realize just how big the world was and how small my skill was compared to it."

"What changed then?"

"Nothing much, I was able to help someone out with my art, that's all. It's kind of funny how little it took to kick me into gear."

"Hmph, it's a good thing to enjoy being helpful. I should know since I'm going to have a bunch of fun helping you with these fliers!" Amy declared dramatically.

"Hey, I already said I didn't need the assistance." Allen protested only for Amy to break out in laughter again.

"Alright, what's so funny this time?" The young man asked sheepishly while holding back a grin of his own.

"That you're acting like I'm giving you a choice."

***

Wednesday had arrived and Allen and Nera met up just like they promised at the abandoned garden with Allen bringing the fliers with the redone art courtesy of Amy. They immediately went to spread the flier to every establishment they could and walked through the streets looking for good places to do so.

They reached a marketplace with two rows of stalls featuring a variety of merchandise such as jewelry, antiques, and food. It was off from the busier streets and had a pedestrian-only walkway through it. There were many people here buying items such as fresh produce and uniquely crafted works of art. Several Crafters were even using their mystical abilities to create objects in front of their customers.

One of them was a man with a thin mustache who levitated a lump of clay into the air and swiftly molded it into an ornate vase with a name etched on it. This was then given to the woman watching who paid for the specially-made vase bearing her name.

Allen and Nera randomly walked up to one of the vendors who was closest to the entrance of the area. They were a middle-aged man in an orange t-shirt, and he had a fruit stand. Upon closer inspection, Allen noticed that it had some fruits that he had never seen before and wondered if there were certain flora that only grew in the Underworld.

Nera held up a flier and then said, “Hey, we’re starting up a specter hunting service and we were wondering if we could post one of our-”

“Get away from my establishment, you lousy no-good!!” The man loudly interrupted, shocking Nera and Allen.

“I don’t want any of the trouble that comes with associating with someone like you!” He yelled vehemently.

“Hey! What the hell’s your problem, man!?” Allen fired back.

“It’s that girl with white and black hair with you, she’s a failure at best and trouble at worst. It was her fault that maniac caused so much damage yesterday.”

“Screw you, she was the one who stopped him you piece of-”

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“Let it go, Allen.”

Allen was stopped mid-word as he was reaching a hand out to the stand owner by Nera’s utterance. When he looked back at her, he was confused by her lack of aggression or anger in her expression. He did not understand why it seemed like he was more upset than her, the person who was directly insulted.

“What!? I don’t care if this guy’s a Crafter, I can’t let him badmouth you like that.”

“What about all of them then?”, Nera inquired, causing Allen to notice the crowd of people with questioning looks or outright sneers of contempt. Of all the different types of people there, young, old, women, men, vendors, and customers, none of them had a shred of sympathy or compassion in their faces as they stared at her like some kind of abnormal creature.

“What’s going on here? Just what are you guys' problems with us!?”, Allen loudly asked the gathered crowd and a spew of unpleasant answers burst forth from them.

"If you had acted faster, we could've avoided so much damage."

"You should've done your job and kept people from getting hurt. Used your own body as a shield if you had to!"

"What do you think we keep monsters around like you here for anyway!? If you're not gonna help, get lost!”

One of the crowd, a middle-aged woman in a brown cloak, walked straight up to Nera and grabbed her arm firmly and shouted in her face, “Why!? You’re the one he was after aren’t you? So why did you lead him here? Why are you still here!? You probably started a fight with him in the first place! If it wasn’t for you, my husband wouldn’t be in the hospital right now!”

Tears were now streaming down the hysterical woman’s face as she unleashed all of her frustration out onto Nera who remained emotionless. She simply placed her hand on the woman’s arm and with some effort, forcibly removed it to the woman’s shock and disgust.

“You brute!”

Allen was stunned by what he was hearing and seeing. So many awful statements like this about their battle with Erno Rautiainen and how terrible Nera was were shouted at her while she looked on ambivalently as if she was deaf to their words. Allen gritted his teeth and could not just stand by cluelessly.

“Nera, what’s going on with these people? Why are you just letting them talk shit about you?”

Nera opened her mouth in response but was cut off by a fruit smashing into her head from an unseen direction. The fruit splattered into pieces with it’s bright red juices staining her hair and clothes. Nera looked down and clicked her teeth.

“Who the hell threw that!? Come out and show yourself right now asshole!”, Allen yelled in outrage. A man from the angry crowd then spoke up.

“Shut your trap, boy. Leave this place and take that mangy mutt with-”, he was interrupted by a punch straight into his face from Allen packed with mystic energy. Allen was already about to throw another one but was pulled by Nera into the mob and away from the fruit stand. People immediately began pushing and shoving them while the man Allen had struck tried to get to them.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting out of here!”

“But they threw-”

“You think beating all these people up is going to help us!? Remember what our goals are, Allen!”

The young man grunted and reluctantly followed her as she paved a way through the crowd and back out into the city streets. They quickly hurried away until getting about a block between them and that area and away from the loathing looks of the mob. When this happened, Nera stopped in her tracks and relinquished her grip on Allen.

“What was those people’s deal? Why did they put all the blame on you when you’re the one who stopped that crazy maniac?”

“It’s probably because they see it as my responsibility. I’m not a Crafter but I’m also not a normal human. And what I am comes with a lot of expectations from them. Hasn’t someone as geeky as you been curious to know where my abilities come from?”

“Of course, but that doesn’t matter. No one should be treated like that regardless of what they are. It’s not up to you to be some scapegoat for their own self-satisfaction.”

Nera smirked somberly, “I’m glad you think that but if we’re going to make it as “protectors” we’ll need to be able to live up to expectations.”

“Only the ones we’ve set out to achieve, not the ones arbitrarily placed on us. Neither of us are tools designed to function for their sake and how they see fit. Our goals are what drives us not theirs or anyone else’s.”

“Even when our entire business plan depends on those expectations?” Nera questioned.

“We’ll just have to change them then. We’ll tell them what we’ll do and make good on that and make them accept it.”

“That’s a stellar sounding idea but I’ve been trying for years to accomplish that.” Nera sighed and ran some of her hair through her fingers. This caused them to be stained red as well.

“I can't understand it. Why did you just let them get away with all that stuff without fighting back?”

"It doesn't matter what I say to them, they'll still treat me that way for something I can't change," Nera's eyes wavered as she reflected on the truth. No matter the season or the place, the people who knew what she truly was would bombard her with anything they had: stones in autumn, black ice in winter, dirt clumps in spring, rotten vegetation in the summer, and cruel words any time of the year.

"But why..." Allen wanted to know what the reason was. He was burning to find out what made Nera's abilities so different from the other wondrous parts of this city but he held his tongue. If Nera had truly wanted him to know, she had plenty of opportunities to tell him by now. While he was feeling a renewed sense of purpose despite the trouble they were in, Nera still had worries that were only building up.

“You had your reasons for not fighting those thugs the other day, right? I had my reasons now too." Nera continued hoarsely. "If I had let my anger get the best of me…” She raised her fist which was clenched so tight that it looked like her veins were about to burst.

She then slammed her fist on the wall next to them with a thunderous impact, leaving a large crater on it. Allen couldn't help but wince at the sudden impact.

“...I would’ve become the kind of monster they think I am.”

***

Several more hours passed of the two attempting to find somewhere that would allow them to post the fliers for their new specter hunting service. All their efforts had been in vain after the fiasco at the marketplace. It did not help they were trying to get this advertisement for free. Eventually, they heard of one locale that might agree to this uneven deal, and they were now standing in front of that very same place.

In bright bold teal letters, the words "2R Lounge" made of the glowing sign of the establishment preceded by "Welcome" in smaller light-blue ones, and Refresh and Relaxation was written on a sign just below that in golden text. The building itself was mostly black and white while looking very spacious and upscale.

"Moment of truth, if a place like this will accept us then our specter hunting service is sure to kick off to a great start." Allen proclaimed undaunted.

"You bet, I feel this is going to be where we make our start in a mega big way. Here, we're sure to get our credibility up quickly."

With renewed determination, they walked through the front doors. They first noticed an older gentleman barista behind the counter who was now waving leisurely to them. Besides him, there were several people scattered throughout the lounge, a young woman in an idol outfit singing off-key, two guys sitting close to the middle with one showily throwing cards in the air while the other was drawing on the table. At the other end of the building. another young man was dressed head to toe in dark clothing with his back turned to everyone else and was flagrantly playing video games on one of the lounge's TV screens. There were no other occupants.

"So, this is where we are going to make our big start. That's probably going to be hard to pull off here." Nera voiced honestly.

"Yeah, we have a lot of work ahead of us."