The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Melanie...Melarton?

Sienna was still unsure how to address the woman.

She thought to herself, actually, that's not important.

In any case, she seemed to know where she was going and set off with steady steps, as if she was certain that Sienna could keep up.

Sienna had to jog to keep up. Meraton was probably half a head shorter than her, but that didn't mean keeping up with her pace was easy.

Sienna hesitated between brisk walking and jogging, just so she could keep up with her.

“You’ve never come out and walked around, have you?” Meraton asked.

"Hmm... I wouldn't say I've ever done that before, uh, you mean wearing a uniform out for activities, right?" Sienna replied.

“Of course,” she said, raising her hand to rub her chin. “That’s right. This is going to be tough. I’m not the kind of person who’s good at teaching you those tricks.”

“Well… is that okay?” Sienna tried to say. “I don’t really want to be a public hero or anything like that. I just want to live my own life.”

"Hmph. Yeah, that makes sense. You can't blame yourself. Hunting down villains is a real hassle, dealing with those companies is a nightmare, and then there's the final battle, that's just awful."

"Have you participated in some Endgame battles?" Sienna asked.

Meraton remained silent for a while. "Let me put it this way," he said, "there are four paths to becoming a hero. There may be more than four, but this division makes it easier to understand, you get it?"

"Ah."

They reached the end of the alley, and Meraton walked straight into the bustling crowd without slowing down at all.

Sienna stumbled and stammered as she followed behind, noticing every gaze directed at them, the surprised expressions on the faces of those around her, and the way people took out their phones to take pictures.

"Um...um, uh," Sienna stammered.

Teddy took her hand and squeezed it gently.

Sienna looked down at the large brown eyes that were half-hidden by the cartoon mask, and felt a little more at ease, knowing that she was not alone.

"You'll get used to it, and just don't slow down, or they'll think they can stop you for photos or autographs."

Believe me, it's not worth it. Even if you beat down the first ten idiots who think they can get their hands on you just because you're in uniform, they still won't learn their lesson.

“Wh...what?!” Sienna exclaimed.

Would anyone really do that? She quickened her pace, keeping close behind the heroine.

“Like I just said, there are four paths,” Meraton paused, “The first one, which is probably the easiest at the beginning, is to join the Hero Emergency Response Team, which has training programs and the like.”

However, their contracts weren't great, and the salaries weren't very high, but since it was a government job, the benefits were decent.

Furthermore, they require you to participate in any final battle within the country, which is closely related to the military.

"Hmm, I remember we learned in history class that there can't be superpowered people in the military, right?" she asked.

"If you really think any country will strictly adhere to this, you're being naive. If you really want to make a difference, there's no future in going down the government route."

Even if you just need to rescue someone from a burning building, you have to fill out three forms.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Sienna said.

She shrugged. "That's the situation. We're crossing the street from here."

The heroine strode into the traffic, and cars in both lanes came to a sudden stop.

Sienna bit her lower lip when she saw her jaywalking so carelessly.

But the nearest pedestrian crossing is in the middle of the block, and the pressure from onlookers is increasing, so Meraton is walking further and further away...

So she held her hat in one hand and pulled Isabella along with the other, and ran toward the heroine.

"So that's one option. Another major option is to join a company. There's still a lot of paperwork involved, but you just need to hire an agent and a lawyer to handle it for you."

The salary I received was also incredibly high; I could earn six figures.

The problem is that your salary is directly proportional to the risks you take, and you have to appear in public frequently.

If you make a big mistake, your career will be ruined, and it's not as simple as just changing your name and starting over.

"Hmm, that sounds... well, quite interesting?"

"It's just so-so. There are a lot of PR gimmicks, meet-and-greets and the like."

Most companies have a whole team to help you maintain a good image, and even coaches to teach you how to speak.

You can't swear in public. That would be a huge problem.

“Uh,” Sienna said. She didn’t want to point out the hypocrisy in this.

Meraton pointed to a building across the street, with a large billboard on its side featuring a whole team of heroes.

Sienna certainly recognized Silver Fox and Meraton, as well as a few others.

The withered one with a rose in his mouth, the white knight in knight's armor, the peacemaker in nurse's uniform, but there were six or seven other people she didn't recognize.

"Those kinds of ads? They're ridiculously expensive, but they can promote your image, and then you can use that image to promote other things."

"It will only work if your superpowers are flashy enough or you have that kind of personality," Meraton added.

"Oh, then this might not be suitable for me."

"Yes, you seem like the kind of person who gets stage fright in front of crowds."

However, it's not to say that this kind of personality has no future; some guys actually like shy girls.

Sienna blushed immediately after hearing this.

"And yeah, I think if you forget someone's name at a meeting, you'll break down the first time."

She pointed to another alley, then walked in without looking back. "The other options aren't much better."

Her voice echoed in the narrow passageway.

"oh oh?"

"You can be a freelancer, like me, working for a company, but you still have to rely on yourself for everything."

In that case, they would basically only be second-tier heroes, but some people still managed to make a name for themselves.

Wireless Fire is a household name; all of its advertising is done by itself.

Sienna nodded.

Meraton walked to the end of the alley, then stepped onto another street without hesitation. "And then there's the last option, which is what we're doing now."

“What is that?” Isabella asked.

Meraton looked down at Isabella, who had somehow covered the lower half of her face with a mask, something Sienna hadn't noticed at all.

"Become a vigilante. Solve problems yourself, who cares about the government and laws?"

Sienna held Isabella's hand tightly. They walked in silence for a while.

I crossed another street, then went through another alley. The surroundings changed.

The buildings have changed from being primarily commercial to a mix of commercial buildings and ordinary apartment buildings.

Eau Clare is a nice city with a large population. The university plays a role, and the Trans-Ontario Highway, which runs through the lower part of the city, makes business traffic very busy.

This city should be quite wealthy. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have areas with poor security.

The buildings they passed looked dilapidated. The walls were covered in graffiti, more and more windows were boarded up, and many shops along the street were closed.

This was the kind of place she would normally deliberately avoid. She hadn't expected it to be just a few blocks away from those shops and malls.

"This is Homi's territory, be smart, understand?"

“Oh, okay?” Sienna said.

She didn't know how to be clever, but she would try her best.

"What are we looking for?" Sienna asked. "Like, a villain or something?"

Meraton scoffed. "I think that's unlikely. The villains won't stay here for long."

"They won't stay long?"

The female hero shook her head. "No. Just think about how many new heroes are born every Superpower Awakening Day?"

"I...I don't know?"

Meraton said, "Here? Two or three, I suppose, while there are twice that number of people who just want to live their own lives."

As for the villains? They probably only appear once every year, and they're overwhelmed by the heroes before they even have a chance to become stronger.

That's why becoming stronger is so difficult; the best training comes from sparring with opponents of equal or greater strength, something heroes don't have many opportunities for.

“Yes, I understand,” Sienna said.

What does this mean for her? Besides the fact that if she messes up, a lot of people will come after her.

This... is not good.

"Here we are."