Welcome to ch 32 of TPA.
Jaune looked over the three people in front of him and nodded.
"Ok, so seeing as we have a bit of free time, I'm gonna teach you how you approach a job that is not issued by the Company. The first, and most important, thing to do is information gathering."
"It doesn't matter where you are going, who the client is, or what kind of job it is. The first thing you do is go to the regional Crisis Prevention Center and check out Grimm activity in the area you will be working in, and if there were any Harrowed sightings in the past ten years. "
"But didn't you say Grimm don't come near Harrowed territory?" Asked Ruby
Jaune shook his head.
"Grimm usually don't come near Harrowed territory. If there is enough negativity or the Harrowed appeared only recently, you can still encounter them, and most Harrowed do not have territory big enough to make all the Grimm in the area go away."
"Now, the next step is to check the client. Easiest way is to contact the Company, but if you are not a registered member, or the person hiring you is some random civilian, you probably won't get much. One thing you can, and should, always do is to check if the person has a criminal record. It's rather easy - just go to any police station, explain you are a Hunter and want to check if your potential employer is clear. They should help you without much trouble."
"Lastly, you secure transportation and, if possible, accommodation. Usually you can book some decent rooms online, but it's get harder the further from civilization you go. Any questions?"
"I assume we are supposed to gather all this information on our own?" Asked Ren to which Jaune nodded.
"Then just one question. Who is our client?"
"Regis." Answered the blond WItcher. "Emiel Regis."
About two hours later Ruby, Ren and Nora entered a small cafe near Vale's bullhead docks. Locating Jaune wasn't hard, the blond Witcher was sitting at the lone table in the far corner of the room, with his back to wall, and a good view of the door. He raised his hand when he spotted them.
"So, what did you learn?" He asked when they sat and ordered drinks for themselves.
"First of all, our client, Emiel Regis, age 52. Graduated from Vale Medical university at age 25, worked for five years in Vale's Main Hospital, then started traveling offering medical services in frontier villages. Currently living in Dragon's Maw, a small settlement north-east of Vale. No criminal record." Said Ren.
"Grimm activity around the city is low to very low. In the past ten years, only common Grimm were signed within a 50 kilometer radius around city. Mostly Ursa, the occasional Nevermore. Two months ago, a pack of around twenty Beowolves approached city, but were exterminated. There were no other incidents worth mentioning in… over twenty years. Overall, form what I found, it's a rather… boring city. They do not produce anything special, don't have any rare resources, and it's not a popular tourist spot." Ruby added, accepting her hot chocolate from the waitress.
"From what we found, there were only three registered Harrowed encounters in the past ten years. All of them were Ghouls. All three were exterminated. "
Jaune smiled, nodding in approval.
"Good job, guys. I already got a Bullhead for us. We are flying out in an hour, so if you have any questions, ask away."
"Why didn't you want to bring more people? It would be more fun with everyone there!" Nora asked.
"I wanted it to be as close to how a real job usually looks like as possible. You generally don't want to bring too many people with you, especially when you are supposed to deal with Harrowed. More people make it harder to find transport and lodging. They need more food, and you to split the reward between more people. Plus, Harrowed tend to hide in cramped spaces, like caves, sewers, and so on. More people would just get in each other's way."
"I see, but how do you know it's Harrowed?" Asked Ren, checking something on his scroll and sippin his herbal tea.
"Well, you can never be sure, but you can make an educated guess based on what info you have. We are dealing with murders here, so unless some local suddenly decided to start chopping, we have three options."
"One, the most popular - Grimm, but there are not many of them, and since the first victim was found over a week ago, someone would probably spotted them by now. Two - bandits. It's a possibility, but they wouldn't just stick around, killing people one by one, too much risk, for too little gain. That leaves Harrowed. Of course, we will learn more once we get there."
"By the way, what is your team up to, Ruby? I thought I saw Weiss dragging them out into Vale."
The young huntress gagged.
"Yeah. She said she wanted to see how the city is preparing for the Vytal festival, and visit docs to 'greet arriving students from other academies'."
"You mean, 'scope out the competition'?"
Ruby nodded.
"Pretty much. Of course, she was denying it. Eventually we agreed to pretend we believe her."
Nora nudged her.
"Aren't you worried? I am, leaving them alone for almost two full days… what if they get into trouble?"
Ruby shrugged.
"They are big girls, they should be fine, and Weiss should be able to stop Yang from doing anything too crazy."
"And who is going to stop Weiss?" Asked Ren, raising a eyebrow.
Ruby sighed.
"I'm kinda counting on Blake for that one. She is always so cool and calm. I'm sure she will be able to prevent the other two from getting into any trouble."
Ruby shuddered and pulled the warm cloak Jaune made her tightly around her. It was way colder here than she imagined. Sure, it was late fall, but Vale was still rather warm.
It must be this wind. She shuddered again, and ran up to her friends. Jaune looked them over, making sure everyone had their backpacks and motioned for them to follow. Ruby took a moment to look around, and had to admit the scenery was very beautiful. The small airdock their Bullhead landed on wasn't in the city itself, rather in a small clearing a few hundred meters away from the city walls. It was surrounded by sparse forest. Dragon Maw was a medium sized city, that survived in the Wilds of eastern Sanus for almost 50 years now. The reason why quickly become clear when the group got close enough to take a good look at the city.
T front of the settlement was protected by the palisade, its sides and back covered by massive walls of mountain. A river flowing out of a cave visible at far back of city made a natural moat. The walls were manned by four guards armed with rifles, with two more standing near the gate. Jaune exchanged a few words with one of them, and they were let inside.
"Ok, listen up." Said the blond leader, with a serious expression.
"When you visit a city like this, you have to be aware that the laws here are a bit different than in a big city. Try to not get in trouble, because whoever is in charge of keeping order will be much more likely to put you behind bars than the locals. Also, you will probably have at least twenty percent higher prices, so more often than not, you will have to bargain."
"Now, there are a few thing you need to do when arriving in the city for the first time. First, if you haven't done it already, you secure a sleeping space. Ren, Nora, that's your job. I trust you to be able to find a tavern on your own. Second thing, is to meet with whoever is in charge of the police, or more likely, the militaria. Whatever you were hired for, it pays to be on good terms with local law enforcement. Me and Ruby take care of this. After everything is done, we will meet here. Questions?"
There were none, and they went their separate ways. Ruby looked around curiously. It seemed like a rather nice city. People were walking around, busy with their everyday lives. They looked healthy and well fed for most part, with clean clothes that didn't look like rags. The houses, mostly simple, one storey buildings, were in good condition.
"So, what do you think?" Asked Jaune suddenly.
Ruby blinked, surprised.
"About what?"
"The city. The people. What do you think about them?"
She bit her lip. The question was out of blue, but she somehow doubted Jaune wanted to start idle talk. He again had that focused, sharp expression, that Yang dubbed as 'badass mode'.
So, this is probably some form of test. He expects me to notice something.
She focused, and looked around again, trying to figure out if something was out of place, but she couldn't see anything. Most people were minding their own business, a few looked at them couriusly, and then returned to whatever they were doing. Nothing really stood out to her as strange, or out of place.
"It seems… normal. Calm. Just a normal city with normal people going about their everyday life."
Jaune nodded.
"Correct, and what does that tell us?"
Ruby hummed, considering her answer.
"That… nothing too bad happened? Safe from this murders of course."
"And?"
Ruby looked around again, trying to figure out what Jaune wanted her to see. There had to be something more, or he wouldn't have asked.
"I… I don't know." She admitted finally.
"Think about what we are here for."
She hummed, considering his words.
"Because there are some Harrowed here that need to be killed?"
Jaune shook his head.
"We don't know for sure if those people were killed by Harrowed, but look at how the locals act. They are act normal, even though three people have died. That means that it wasn't done by a person."
"How do you know?"
Jaune shrugged.
"In cities like this, someone being killed by Grimm, or wild animals, is just an unfortunate accident. There would be a funeral, people would grieve for day or two, and then move on. But if they were killed by a person? That is a tragedy. In a small community like this, where everyone knows everyone, when someone is killed, all the suspicion falls on strangers. You could feel tension in the air, people would be whispering. You would see more of them carrying weapons around too."
"I see. So, that means those people were killed by Harrowed, right?"
"Or Grimm." Jaune nodded. "I doubt it was just a wild animal, but we will have to get in touch with Regis to find out more." He paused in front of large, two story building. "Ok, we're here. This building serves as both police station and prison. Just a heads up, from what I remember, the sheriff is a bit of a jerk. You better stay outside, I'll handle it."
Ruby sighed, and checked her scroll. Over half an hour had passed since Jaune entered the police station, and she was starting to get bored.
What's taking him so long? Should I go inside?
She sighed again, and shook the device. Unfortunately, it still mocked her with its 'no signal' icon. Ruby groaned, and hid it in her pocket, instead focusing on the city around her. Most of the people weren't paying any attention to her, but a few cast curious glances her way. She made it a point to smile and wave to every one of them. Some waved back, some just shrugged and went on their way. She briefly considered going on a walk, but discarded the idea. It would be really embarrassing if she got lost, and Jaune had to come and search for her.
She looked around again, and something caught her eye. A girl, around her age judging by her looks, were struggling with a basket far too big for her. After a moment of hesitation, and when said girl nearly tripped two times, the young Huntress decided to help her out. That's what Huntresses did, after all.
She managed to take a single step before the girl stumbled again - and this time fell over. With a silent curse, Ruby activated her Semblance and dashed towards the falling girl just in time to catch her and her basket.
"You ok?"
Brown eyes looked at her in surprise.
"I- I- yes. Thank you." She got to her feet and smiled. Ruby returned the gesture. Now up close, she could tell that the other girl was even shorter than she was. She had short, brown hair, and wore a simple, dark green dress, that looked like it was too thin for the cold weather outside.
"That's good." She looked the girl over again, noticing how pale she looked. "Aren't you cold? Did you lose your jacket or something?"
"Oh, no, not at all. I'm just not bothered by cold, that's all. Plus, this dress is way warmer than it looks." She smiled. She stared at Ruby for a moment, and tilted her head to the side. "I haven't seen you around before. You new to this town?"
Ruby nodded.
"Yeah, me and my friends from Beacon came over to…"
"Beacon?!" The brown haired girl exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. "You are a Huntress?"
Ruby chuckled nervously.
"Well, in training. I was moved up two years, so…"
"That's so awesome!"
Ruby couldn't stop the goofy smile that appeared on her face. She was awesome? Well, of course she was!
"Nah, it's nothing special." She dismissed the praise with a wave of her hand, and a nervous chuckle.
"No, it is! I.."
"Rias! Rias, where are you?"
The girl, apparently named Rias, tensed at the loud female voice calling her over.
"I'm sorry, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you…" she trailed off, looking up at young Huntress with a shy smile.
"Ruby." She introduced herself.
"Yeah, Ruby. I hope we meet again. See you later!"
Ruby smiled. That was a strange encounter, but not unpleasant. She chuckled and shook her head. She better go back to her spot, before…
"Making new friends?" A masculine, slightly amused voice sounded behind her.
Ruby eeped, and spun around. there, a few steps away, stood Jaune, with his arms crossed, and a small smirk on his lips.
"I… I just…" she stammered. It wasn't a mistake to talk with locals like that, right?
"Good job. Making a good first impression is important."
She let out a breath of relief.
Why am I even so nervous? Jaune wouldn't get mad at me for helping someone.
She shook her head, and followed her fellow team leader.
They met with Ren and Nora soon after. The black haired boy reported that he was able to secure two rooms for them for a reasonable price, to which Jaune nodded with approval. Then, he proceed to question them about town in a similar manner as he did with Ruby. After they were done, they all gathered in their room for a strategy meeting.
"So, I was able to get some details about our investigation. We have three corpses so far. One is a Hunter, not from this village, and not a relative of anyone here. He was found two weeks ago. Two more victims, one old drunk,and the second a young girl. No connections between them. Apparently, Regis was the one doing the autopsy, so he will be able to tell us more."
"Will we be going to meet him now?" Asked Ren. Jaune shook his head.
"No, it's getting late,and he lives outside the village walls. Let's get something to eat, and then I want you guys to wander around a bit. Get to know the layout of town, where the important buildings are, and let locals see you."
"What will you be doing?" Asked Nora, bouncing on her bed.
Jaune shrugged.
"Some shopping, maybe ask around a bit. I need to restock on Elixirs too."
"Need any help?" Asked Ren, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Jaune smiled.
"Sure, but no experiments this time, we stick to recipes. No need for dancing marshmallows now."
Both girls looked at each other confused, while the boys chuckled at some in joke. They shrugged, it probably wasn't anything important.
The trip around town was uneventful for Ruby, save from one older lady that she helped carry her bags. She was even nice enough to offer her a cookie afterwards.
Now, someone might have said something about taking sweets from strangers, but one, it was a very nice old lady, not some creepy guy, and two, cookies simply couldn't be bad. Never!
So, now Ruby sat at the edge of the river flowing out of the cave at the far end of Dragon Maw, munching down her reward. The entrance - or was it exit - of the cave was jagged and dark. It really looked like the open maw of some monster, and was apparently the source of the village's name.
The young Huntress hummed, considering what to do next. She felt like she had a pretty good idea of the town's layout. The small square in the center with a few stalls and a single well. The buildings around it housed the police station, clinic, and general store. The mayor's house was a bit further back, a surprisingly humble, one story building. The tavern they were staying at was nestled near the single gate leading to and from the village.
She had hoped she would meet that Rias girl again - but no such luck. Ruby glanced at the darkening sky and sighed. It looked like it was time to go back. It was getting dark, and with the fading light, the temperature had started to drop.
On the way back, she considered what she had learned from the locals about the victims. The Hunter Jaune had mentioned was outsider, no one knew the man, but the two locals were well known. The older man, even though almost always drunk, hadn't ever caused trouble, most people referred to him as a decent person, who mostly minded his own business. He apparently was a carpenter, but ever since he lost one arm in an accident, he spend most of his time drinking.
The girl, was the daughter of one of lumberjacks living in Dragon's Maw, and was supposedly a nice and outgoing girl. No one believe that they could be had actually murdered, most people agreed that they were just unlucky and encountered a stray Grimm, or maybe a bear or wolf. This theory was supported by fact that all the bodies were found outside village walls, deep in the forest.
Nothing too interesting.
Oh, well. She thought, shrugging. We will learn more tomorrow, I guess.
Once they gathered back at the tavern, they shared what they learned. After that, Jaune and Ren left to the room, and spent about an hour or so making various Elixirs. Ruby and Nora decided to watch them, but soon got bored. Mixing herbs was nowhere near as interesting as working with weapons.
Well, at least watching as someone else did it, Ruby thought, getting changed in her pyjamas. Maybe she should ask Jaune to let her help next time? Who knows, maybe she would learn something.
They woke up early the next morning - which is to say Jaune threatened to dump a bucket of water on them if they didn't get up, and seeing how fast Nora went from half-asleep to fully awake, Ruby decided she didn't want to find out if he was serious or not.
Thankfully, unlike her sister, she had no problem waking up early.
After an hour of light exercise, they gathered in the tavern's main hall for some breakfast. The weather was nice, and the food plentiful and tasty. It was a nice beginning of what looked to be a nice day.
Right up until the young man in uniform approached their table.
"We found another body." He said, motioning for them to follow.
Ruby sighed, and cast one last, longing glance at her breakfast.
Farewell, my love. Duty calls.
And this wrap up chapter 32. Another busy week on my end. First, I had to paint three rooms, alone. It took me five days to finish. I thought I'd be able to catch up with writing on the weekend - but then it turned out I had to drive my sister to her friend's wedding, and back.
The result is another short chapter, with not much action. But don't worry, stuff will get more interesting next time. I just hope next week won't be as busy… (I just jinxed myself, didn't I?)
If you like my writing, please consider donating on Cr00cy
See ya next week.
END