Earlier
"Do you think we're able to get some customers?" Billy asks as he and the rest of the Cunning Hares set up a stall along with a bunch of boxes filled with copies of 'As I've Written'.
"I doubt anyone is interested in reading this trash," Nekomiya huffs.
"If I remember correctly, you were very curious when you saw Nicole reading this with a face full of tears," Anby says in a deadpan tone. "You stop being interested the moment Nicole reveals who the writer is, then you sneak up into Nicole's bed on the night to read the whole book, only for you to burst into tears and call it 'peak fiction'."
"W-what, hey! I didn't do any of that!" Nekomiya denies with a flustered expression.
"....Cipher's final moment of seeing Aglaea comforting her is a lie; it was just a hallucination made by her mind as she's slowly dying," Anby says, and in an instant, Nekomiya burst into tears.
"Wah!!! You're cruel, Anby!!!" Nekomiya wails, not noticing Anby shed a tear as well.
"Sorry to ruin your emotional outburst, but can we talk about how you sneaked into my room!?!" Nicole asks in disbelief and annoyance before looking at Anby. "And do you have to tell everyone here that I cry!?!"
"It's not exactly a big secret," Anby shrugs. "Billy knows you cry when reading this book. It was a very bittersweet story."
"Indeed," Billy nods sagely, causing Nicole to groan.
"Can we just focus on selling these books? We need to earn the budget we spent back before the sun set." Nicole says as everyone raises their eyebrow.
"Nicole, you sound awfully confident we'll earn that much money," Anby says.
"With how good the story is, I bet words spread quite fast," Nicole says confidently. "Besides, I have a good marketing tactic to attract customers."
"What are you four doing?" The quartet tenses up as Seth slowly approaches them. "Don't tell me you four plan on going back to your old ways?"
"Hey, we're currently being completely law-abiding citizens here," Nicole responds with a scowl. "And as a law-abiding citizen, we need money to pay rent. All we're planning to do is simply sell books."
"Books?" Seth looks confused as Anby approaches him while showing him the book. "'As I've Written'?"
"It's a good story written by Caelus, truly," Nicole says, acting like she's bragging about a team member (Which he is not). "My humble opinion? A five-out-of-five, a romantic story like none that has come before!"
"...he wrote a romance novel?" Seth mutters questioningly.
"I was surprised as well, but he was a truly great writer!" Nicole admits, while Anby, Billy, and even Nekomiya nod in unison. The latter pauses before she shakes her head in denial.
"...you're not trying to trick me, are you?" Seth asks questioningly.
"No! Here, let me show the proof!" Nicole shows Seth the chat history between her and Caelus. Both of them have predicted that the PubSec might find it suspicious, so they planned to prove it by recreating their entire conversations through chat.
As for why no recording? Caelus may have accidentally shut it down when helping reboot Billy during his short-circuit episode. He's still trying to get used to his eyes and the overload of information he receives when using them.
"...I see," Seth mutters while narrowing his eyes, remaining suspicious. "How much for one book?"
"20,000 Dennies," Nicole exclaims proudly, causing Seth to balk.
"You dare to sell that book at that amount of price!?" Seth asks in disbelief.
"Have you seen how thick the book is?" Nicole asks with a frown. "The budget to make those is not cheap, and buying one is enough to keep you busy, especially since it has hundreds of chapters in it. Also, the story will make you want to reread it multiple times. Trust me, you will like it."
"...fine," Seth grumbles as he pulls out some cash and gives it to Nicole, who looks smug as the cat boy walks away.
"...I honestly expect Nicole to fail," Anby admits, causing a tick mark to form at the back of Nicole's head.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Nicole asks as Anby shrugs.
"He seems to dislike us, so I expect him not to buy anything from us," Anby says as Nicole blinks.
"...oh," Nicole mutters.
"...did I hear a sob?" Nekomiya mutters as her ears twitch.
"That fast!?!" Anby, Nicole, and Billy exclaim in shock before Zhu Yuan slowly approaches them. This causes the quartet to panic as they thought she was going to arrest them, but she simply looks at the pile of books on the stall.
"So, this is the book Seth bought earlier..." Zhu Yuan mutters as she looks at the quartet. "...I hope you four didn't rip off my fellow officer."
"W-we wouldn't dare to do that, officer," Billy stammers. "We're here doing an honest job, selling our friend's book at his request."
"Oh? And who wrote this?" Zhu Yuan asks curiously.
"Caelus," Anby responded, causing Zhu Yuan to blink.
"...he wrote?" Zhu Yuan asks in surprise.
"I-Indeed, five out of five rating in our humble opinion! A romantic story like none that has come before!" Nicole exclaims as Zhu Yuan blinks.
"...it seems we didn't know him well. I would never consider him to write a romance novel," Zhu Yuan mutters as she looks at the book. "Why does his pen name call 'Trailblazer'?"
"No idea, all I know is he wanted to stay anonymous," Billy says.
"And you guys just spill it to me," Zhu Yuan points out.
"He knows you, so it's fine," Nicole waves it off as Zhu Yuan shakes her head in disbelief. After seeing the price, she pulls Dennies from her wallet and places it on the counter. Nicole gives the book to her without question, and Zhu Yuan simply nods in response and leaves.
"Boss, do you think it's a good idea to keep saying that? We both knew the story was anything but romantic," Billy says nervously.
"Let's not question it, especially when he already gave us a job that lets us gain a lot of money. Think of this as the usual job we take," Nicole dismisses him before more people start passing by.
Nicole had to use some tactics to attract buyers. Acting as a saleswoman is like a second nature for Nicole, especially since she has used similar tactics with her clients and loansharks multiple times. But, she had a secret move to 'convince' her customers to buy the book.
To put it simply, most of the buyers were fully distracted by her...figures.
"...it's kinda sad that the only reason why this book was even sold is that everyone is horny," Anby mutters as she watches the buyer leave with a dumb grin before glancing at the pile of Dennies on the stall.
"I hear one of them believes the book is pornography," Nekomiya mutters, causing Anby and Billy to sweatdrop.
"No offense to Caelus, but he should've known that being a new, unknown writer is going to struggle to gain their audience," Nicole says casually. "We need to find an unconventional method to even sell one book."
"...I doubt jiggling your chest is considered unconventional when it was used by a lot of people in the underground," Nekomiya deadpans.
"Unconventional for those naive citizens," Nicole insists before she turns around and freezes when she notices a particular person walking nearby. It's Tsukishiro Yanagi, and she glances at the brochure in her hand.
"A new discount on buying a bulk of red bean bun... Hmm, I hope it hasn't sold out yet." Yanagi mutters as she notices Nicole and the gang. "...you,"
"H-hey..." Nicole waves nervously.
"...what are you doing here? Trying to plan your next scam?" Yanagi asks while narrowing her eyes.
"Nooo...." Nicole says nervously as she notices Yanagi slowly pulling out a baton. "We're here just to sell books, you know...."
"..." Yanagi didn't say a word, simply narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"...would you like to buy one?" Nicole asks shamelessly.
"No," With that, Yanagi simply left. She would love to drag her and her companion's asses into the PubSec, but for whatever reason, the PubSec that patrolled the area had left them alone. She didn't know the reason behind it, but she doubted they would do anything to them.
Besides, it's her day off at her captain's order; she can't exactly 'disobey' it.
"...geez, boss. I think scamming the Void Hunter at her early day really cost us a customer," Billy mutters, causing Nekomiya to look at him in disbelief before looking at Nicole.
"You did what!!?" Nekomiya asks in disbelief.
"Don't ask," Nicole mutters as she sighs in relief, slumping down on her seat as Anby pats her back. As they continue to sell the book, the quartet feels a shiver running down their spines as the street slowly grows quiet. This has caused the PubSec officers and even Yanagi, who had bought a bag full of red bean buns and sat at the Coff Cafe, to pause as they were wondering what was with the sudden silence.
"...is it me or the street suddenly has grown quiet?" Billy asks in confusion before they all hear something. The PubSec officers turn towards the source and widen their eyes in surprise as they see a crowd of people slowly approaching the stall.
Slowly, they start to surround the stall, and the Cunning Hares grow nervous. The look on the people's faces is anything but happy; their eyes are red, visible tears on their faces, and each of them is holding 'As I've Written' with tears on the covers.
"Uh...hi," Nicole waves nervously before the crowd goes ballistic, causing them to panic as the officers use their bodies to block the crowd from reaching the Cunning Hares, while Seth and Zhu Yuan, who had arrived after noticing the crowds, pull them away. Yanagi blinks at the scene before munching another bun and notices one of the crowd has dropped their book.
Glancing left and right, she secretly picks it up and opens it, curious about the book while wondering why everyone is out for the Cunning Hares' blood. Did they scam their customers by writing shitty stories and selling them at a high price or something?
Meanwhile, Zhu Yuan and Seth lead the Cunning Hares into a hiding spot (aka the Arcade) before looking at them.
"So...mind telling me why you lied to everyone about this being a romance story?" Zhu Yuan asks as she raises the one she bought earlier. The Cunning Hares glance at Zhu Yuan and Seth, and notice their eyes are both red as well.
"...to be fair, I say 'romantic story', as in emotional longing, love, and sacrifice. You guys just automatically assume it was a romance," Nicole says while looking away with a cheeky grin.
"..." Zhu Yuan sighs as she rubs her forehead.
"And it was Caelus' idea. We simply follow his request," Anby says as both Zhu Yuan and Seth blink. They weren't expecting Caelus of all people to suggest them.
"Get this 'Trailblazer' fucker over here! I want his head!"
"How dare he make Phainon go through such pain!?!"
"Let Cyrene be free, you sadistic bastard!!!"
"Why does he hate the Chrysos Heir so much!?!"
"Get his ass over here! We would like to talk!"
"..." The group went silent as they heard the crowd talking, unsure how to react.
Meanwhile, at the cafe, Yanagi can be seen sobbing with the red bean bun stuck on her mouth. She was so invested in the story that she had forgotten to eat her favorite food.
To be Continued