The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna occasionally… actually often, felt that Sam was going a bit too far. This girl was extremely extroverted, and Sienna suspected that Sam had quite a few problems that would require a very skilled psychologist to figure out.

However, although Sam acted erratically, he always did so for Sienna's sake, so Sienna kept her reservations to herself and never complained about Sam's rather strange habits.

Sam was talking to one of the owners of the "Yeast Feast" bakery, gesturing towards the depths of the alley where they were standing while he launched into a rapid-fire sales pitch.

The shopkeeper handled the "storm" much better than Sienna had anticipated, and would occasionally glance at Sienna and her sisters standing further down the alley.

At this moment, Teddy had transformed into a bear, with Trinity and Athena riding on her back. One of Trinity's figures was using the height to peer into a trash can deeper into the alley.

Sienna glanced at Trinity, met her gaze, and slowly shook her head. Trinity, who was standing on Teddy's back, then sat down.

“Yes, without a doubt, they are truly skilled,” the shopkeeper said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the girls. “But what I don’t understand is, what do you want from us?”

“Oh, it’s simple,” Sam said. “You see, this city is getting more and more dangerous. Villains are everywhere, and worse, there are henchmen too!”

You are a shrewd shop owner, and you are well aware of the risks involved in keeping your shop running.

Now, imagine how much safer your shop would be if the girls came to patrol. And even better, think about how many people would come to your shop!

A bakery frequented by superhero customers. No, a bakery with superhero mascots!

The man stroked his chin. "I think I can see the appeal, but it all depends on how much you ask for."

“It’s really cheap,” Sam said. “We offer three packages for local businesses. We approached you first because we know you have good relationships with other people in the area, and we thought we could use you as a bridge. Of course, we’ll give you a big discount for that.”

"Hmm," he responded. Sienna didn't think his tone was rude; it simply meant "I'm listening."

"Our basic package costs only $200 per month and includes one monthly visit for the entire team."

They'll come in and buy some...bread or croissants, maybe smile at the camera, and then run off to do what we do best.

“This is half the money I’m currently spending on security systems,” he said.

Sam grinned. "Only half! Think of how much money you can save! Our next package is two visits per month, including one meal at your restaurant each month."

We will use our superior investigative skills to track down anyone attempting to rob or intimidate you. All of these services cost only $400 per month.

"This is twice as expensive as the previous set meal."

Sam nodded. "That's right, of course, this is the price after the discount."

"This price is not cheap."

“Our top-of-the-line plan is $1,000 a month,” Sam said. “But for you, it’s only $950. That’s a 5% discount!”

“This is outrageous,” he said. Sienna didn’t nod, but she had to agree with him in her heart.

Sam shook his head. "No, it's not outrageous at all. At this price, we'd come to your store once a month and stay for at least four hours to promote your store to passersby."

Photos, autographed posters, and kisses for the baby—the whole package is available!

"You'd pay a thousand dollars for four hours?" he asked.

“Several heroes are staying for four hours,” Sam pointed out. “Do you know how much it costs to hire a hero to work for you, even for just one hour?”

Look at all these heroes here, and then tell me we're not worth this price or even more! The exposure we get on social media alone is worth ten times that amount.

Sienna was astonished to see that this person was actually considering this matter.

If they could close this deal here, well, she was pretty sure that the monthly income would be enough to cover food and necessities...probably.

And this much income can be generated from just one store.

"Will they all come?" he asked.

“As you know, we’re all very busy people. At least two of us come each time. We can take turns so that people don’t get tired of seeing us. Just the fact that people come to collect all the autographs will give you a lot of repeat customers.”

He rubbed his hands together. “We can make some specialty pastries. In the shape of bear paws, and… well, I’ll come up with some owl and raccoon themed designs.”

“Of course,” Sam said. “It’s obvious that we’ll get a cut from the sales of any merchandise.”

"what?"

“We can start by discussing an 80% split,” Sam replied.

“This is too much.”

Sam snorted. “Look me in the eye and tell me that if people had the chance to get autographs from heroes, they wouldn’t spend twenty dollars on a poster. Each poster only costs a dollar to make, and I bet they’d sell out every time.”

"...Let's make it 50%."

Sam quickly extended his hand to shake his. "Seventy-five percent, how about we come over next Wednesday in uniform, around four o'clock?"

"Let's change it to the day after tomorrow. Do you have any official promotional images for posters or other promotional materials?"

“We haven’t approached any local printing companies to do this business yet,” Sam said, “but we’ll be doing it soon.”

They shook hands, and Sienna tried hard not to be dumbfounded.

“Okay, do you have a phone number that I can text to arrange these things?” Sam asked.

They exchanged phone numbers, and Sam handed Sienna an extra business card. Sienna took it carefully, then wondered what she should do with the card when she was in uniform.

Sam chatted with the bakery owner for another minute or two, then the owner went back into the shop. "This... to be honest, it's really incredible," Sienna said.

"Yeah. That poor guy got completely fooled. But hey, that's the appeal of a hero, I guess."

Sienna shook her head. "Where to next?"

“I wasn’t joking when I said I was going to the printing plant. We probably can’t do this kind of good ‘business’ there, but we still have to make the arrangements.”

The merchandise sales could be very profitable, and frankly, these kids are incredibly photogenic. I bet a ten-second video of them would go viral.

Sienna glanced at her sisters, then frowned. "Teddy! Trinity! What are you doing with that trash can?"

Sienna found it quite strange that she could now read the grizzly bear's facial expressions.

She watched as Teddy carefully backed away from the trash can, the lid slammed shut, and Trinity jumped down, returning to the ground.

“I have to go to that interview,” Sienna said. “Are you sure you can look after these girls?”

She didn't use the phrase "childcare" mainly because it would offend these girls, who are no longer children. They are much more troublesome than children.

“I’m fine,” Sam said. “I’ll keep my phone on just in case, but I don’t think anything will happen. We’ll be careful, just in case.”

“Okay.” Sienna actually trusted Sam quite a bit. By this point, Sam had invested so much; there was no reason why he shouldn’t earn that trust.

Besides, her sisters can take care of themselves under supervision, so they should be able to manage. But if someone tries to harm them, that person will have a very difficult time.

Teddy will turn into a bear, Athena will do terrible things to their brains, and Trinity is stubborn and nearly immortal.

Sienna probably has nothing to worry about.

But when she realized that even so, she still had a lingering worry in her heart, she felt quite annoyed.

Sienna quickly gave her sisters a few instructions, telling them to be good and listen to Sam, and then she set off.

The bakery wasn't far from where she was going to conduct the interview; it was just a block away in an upscale restaurant—the kind of restaurant where there are greeters at the door and tables have to be reserved in advance, even at lunchtime.

Sienna straightened her clothes, made sure the mask was on properly, and then walked along the sidewalk toward the restaurant, trying her best not to hunch over.

There were two customers ahead of her who moved aside when they saw her, staring intently at her. So she... walked straight to the counter and tried to put on a smile. "Ah, I'm 'Hoodie,' I have a reservation," she said.

The waitress nodded. "This way, please," she said.

Was the waitress...dazzled by the celebrity's aura? Or was she frightened?

No, that's too silly. Sienna dismissed the idea. People wouldn't do that because of her.

She followed the waitress through the restaurant to the back, where there were several private booths separated by partitions. The partitions were quite high, completely enclosing the booths and making it difficult for people sitting inside to be seen.

With soothing classical music playing above, it's hard for others not to overhear what the people in the private booths are saying.

There, Sienna met the reporter who wanted to interview her. It was a haggard-looking young man, wearing a sweater that looked a bit too warm; he was startled when she sat down.

“Hello,” Sienna said. “I’m ‘the boss.’ You’re here for an interview, right?”