Marice and Katherine exchanged looks before facing Suzy, who had her attention squarely on her phone. The police officer's complete disinterest in her surroundings ticked off one of the men to grab her wrist, lifting her phone up in the air. And at that moment, Suzy's constantly bored and apathetic expression twisted into something fierce.

"Unhand me or I'll break your arm."

The man sneered in response. "We're hurting on cash right now, so how about you become an obedient little girl for once and let us—grraaahh!"

Her hands had turned into a blur, snapping his arm from the elbow. As the man collapsed on the ground, Suzy resumed flicking her phone's screen for a moment before glancing at the others. "Get lost."

The cowering men hightailed past them, leaving their writhing companion behind. "Y-You bitch! You're a police officer! You can't just randomly break people's arms like this!"

"That's what you get for being an idiot," a young girl said, causing the rest of the crowd to burst out in laughter.

With his face completely red, he picked himself up and limped away. "I'm going to tell your dad about this!"

"Whatever," Suzy replied.

"Um," Katherine uttered, "is he going to be okay?"

"Don't worry about those troublemakers," an old woman replied. "What brought you ladies here? Are you perhaps here to ask about Jerico?"

"Hmm... I've read that he was a founding member of Liberty, but he left two decades ago, right?"

"Yes, he hasn't returned since as far as we know."

"I see, but we're not actually here for him though." Using her visor, Katherine projected an image of the witch they were looking for. "We're just about to visit this person. Does anyone here know her?"

The murmurs among the crowd resumed. "Ah yes, I heard one of Lucia's children got caught in an accident. Are you here to check up on them?"

"Yes, something like that." She switched the image to the taho vendor. "Is she actually the mother of this girl? Our database doesn't indicate anything of the sort."

"Yeah," a bearded man replied. "Lucia goes around the city to take abandoned half-breed children under her wing."

"And make them work for her?" Marice asked.

"Yeah. They mostly sell street foods in Ermita and Intramuros "

"What?" Katherine uttered. "That's horrible!"

"Sure beats goin' insane from starvation for us half-breeds."

"Y-Yeah, I get you. One of the worst feelings in the world is being hungry, but still...!"

Marice sighed. "He meant that in the literal sense."

"Huh? You mean...?"

Marice gestured at the crowd. "Most of these people are part aswang, so they still need to consume some human meat for nourishment. However, synthetic meat is relatively expensive compared to the usual livestock meat. Last time I checked, a kilo of low quality synthetic meat is as expensive as a kilo of beef briskets."

"She's right," the man said. "It's a tough life for people like us, but we gotta live with it. Not like we had a choice, y'know?"

"I...I didn't know," Katherine said, lowering her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizin'? You're a little weird, lassie."

"W-Weird?"

"For takin' pity on us. But that means you really didn't save that city just for show."

"Well, duh!" a young boy said. "Miss Robot Lady looked so awesome and beautiful in the videos!"

The girl beside him ran towards Katherine and embraced her leg. "When I grow up, I wanna be like you!"

"Hey, no fair!"

The rest of the children suddenly swarmed Katherine and her shield, earning another bout of laughter from the grownups. "Marice, help...!"

Smiling, Marice shook her head. "Can anyone point us where this Lucia is living?"

They were then accompanied to a small storehouse at the opposite corner of the complex. Katherine knocked on the gate a few times, and a young man opened the door a minute later.

"Um, good evening," Katherine said, "Is this place the residence of Miss Lu—"

"What do you need? I believe Master already explained what needed explaining back at the station."

"So you were expecting us," Marice said.

"To think the police would send the three of you, of all people, for something so insignificant. Please leave. Your methods of intimidation won't work on us."

"Wait!" Katherine said. "We just want to know if she's fine!"

"She's fine. Now leave us be."

The familiar hurriedly closed the door, but Marice wedged her foot inside just in time to stop him. "Talk is cheap. If you really aren't intimidated, let us see the girl."

Katherine nodded. "Please. We just want to check on her."

A flash of annoyance went over his face as he turned around, looking at the window on the second floor. The window had a one-way mirror, so ordinary peeping eyes wouldn't be able to tell if there was a person watching on the other side. And while Marice and Katherine could easily see through the mirror with their own eyes, it wouldn't benefit them to further aggravate the residents any further, especially when dealing with a witch of unknown power and specialization.

After about a minute of what Marice assumed to be a telepathic communication between familiar and master, the young man faced them once more and opened the door.

"Please," he said, stepping aside, "come in."

Katherine's eyes widened. "Eh?"

"Jesse is still in the bath right now. You will have to wait for a bit."

The trio then entered the gravel-covered yard and saw a couple of sidecars parked under a nearby shed, including the one that got wrecked by the aswang. As they were asked to sit at a table next to the sidecars, they noticed a chalkboard hanging on the wall to their left, detailing the shifts of Lucia's workers in a week. According to the chart, Jesse should be taking her day off tomorrow as well.

After almost ten minutes, the door near the back side of the building swung open and Jesse came rushing towards them, a towel still bunched over her head.

"Sorry!" she said, fixing the strap of her shirt. "Sorry, I took so long!"

"Don't take long," the familiar said. "You have classes in the morning."

"Y-Yes, thank you Luis."

As the familiar left them, Katherine shot up from her seat. "I'm so sorry we didn't get back to you so soon! A lot of things happened and—!"

"I-It's okay," Jesse replied, letting her hair loose. "I saw you guys on television..."

"We got roped into that one," Marice said. "But enough about that, how are you?"

She froze for a moment, averting her eyes. "H-Huh? I-I'm fine..."

"That's not convincing. Did she do anything to you?"

"Um... she really gave me an earful. This isn't the first time I got my wares destroyed too..."

Marice narrowed her eyes. "Did she do anything to you?"

Taken aback by her stern tone, Jesse shook her head. "No, she didn't. And if she were really that angry, she wouldn't have let me meet you in the first place."

She was tempted to use Stellar Glare on her, but she chose to hold on to her word instead. "Okay, how about you take a seat first?"

She complied, albeit looking a bit baffled. "Did you come all the way here just to talk to me and Miss Lucia?"

Katherine nodded. "How could we not after hearing what happened at the station earlier?"

"Y-Yeah, Miss Lucia isn't exactly a very patient person..."

"Well, she is a witch," Marice replied.

Katherine smiled, looking at her. "Oh, that explains a lot."

"Shut up. Anyway, if she still thinks that it was your fault, we might as well clear that up for you while we're here."

Glancing at the policewoman behind them, Jesse waved her hands frantically. "A-Ah! It's fine! You don't have to do that anymore!"

Marice tilted her head, drawing her eyebrows. "You sounded scared when you practically begged us to be your witnesses earlier, and now you're turning us down? Why?"

"Miss Lucia just got carried away back there!" She clutched her towel. "She just has... a lot of things on her mind right now, so I don't want to add more problems on top of what she already has."

"Do you like Miss Lucia?" Katherine asked.

"O-Of course! She has done so much for me and the others! I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her!"

"Then... do you like doing your job too?"

"I wouldn't say like, but it's something I've grown to be proud of. It's honest work, at the end of the day."

Katherine then suddenly leaned on the table, eyes fixed on Jesse's like a stalking cat. "Do you really, really like your life here?"

"Um, yes!"

"Do you really, really, reeeally li—ouchie!"

Marice had brought down a karate chop on her nape. "Enough. You got the idea already."

Katherine got off the table, facing her. "B-But...!"

"If she likes it here, then that's that."

Jesse looked away with a smile, cheeks turning flush. "I still can't believe you two came over here just to check on me—kinda like my guardian angels! Thank you so much. I'm so lucky to have met you two."

Marice couldn't help but turn her gaze elsewhere as well. "G-Guardian angels? You're exaggerating..."

"Eh? D-Did I say something weird?"

As Katherine started laughing, Marice stood up and slammed the table with her palm. "Look, you were just unlucky you ran into us earlier. If something similar happens to you next time, your own safety should be your priority, you hear?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

"And you, stop giggling. It's about time we get back too."

Katherine giggled some more before giving Jesse a thumbs up. "If you need anything else, just swing by the station! Bring your wares too so everybody there gets to try your tofu pudding!"

"Ah! I left your coat at the station's front desk by the way! Don't forget to pick it up!"

She nodded, standing up. "Thanks! Guess we'll see you later, huh?"

"Yup. Take care!"

As they wished Jesse and the familiar good night, the three of them took off in the air. "Still worried about her, huh?" Marice said, noticing Katherine's rather static expression.

"Yeah," Katherine replied.

"I think she has it figured out. She wouldn't have made it this far otherwise."

"You think so?"

She nodded and smiled. "Come on. Let's catch up to the others."