Chapter 4

[Roman Torchwick]

He looked through the papers Junior presented him with and found himself unimpressed. Sure, there were some nice pieces of information for possible heists but… Nothing that really jumped at him. Nothing that would truly be worth the hassle and it wasn't like Roman actually needed the money.

After a long and successful career of robbing increasingly more valuable stuff, he'd reached a point in which he just stole for fun, really.

"Kind of shoddy work, Junior, I gotta say," Roman commented because he'd worked with the man for a while already and the "club" owner had never failed to provide something good. "Are you getting old or something?" he asked jokingly.

"I've just had… my hands sort of occupied lately," the man said and he certainly looked tired. That was odd. Few people were as high up in the underground world as Junior and Roman himself were. What could possibly push the man in any way at all? The only thing that could do that…

"Are the other Kingdom's acting up again? I thought we'd smacked Vacuo hard enough to send them away for good," Roman said, narrowing his eyes. "At least for our lifetime."

"Nothing like that," Junior waved off before sighing and leaning back against his seat. It must have been serious if the gang leader was affected enough to show it like that. Roman was getting increasingly more nervous just by how the conversation was going. "Now, can you please go? There are some new people in the city now that I really don't want to piss off and they could drop by at any time. I want to be available if it happens."

"How dangerous?"

"I don't know," Junior replied, and that was a red flag if Roman had ever heard one. Junior knew everything, or at least he had some damn good educated guesses at best. Roman wasn't sure if he'd ever heard the man say those three words together, ever. "But I really don't want to-"

"Junior," one of Junior's aura-powered guards, the red twin, interrupted from the door she'd just opened. Surprising, but judging by the look on her face and the way Junior straightened… "He's here."

"Fuck," the man across from Roman cursed under his breath. "Roman, I have to take this call, you can see yourself ou-"

"No need to kick the man out on my account, Hei," a new arrival said, strolling into the room like he owned the place. Long black hair, black eyes, pale skin. The clothes he wore didn't tell much, except for the cloak. Everything seemed to be brand new except the worn-out, leather piece. A valuable thing, at least sentimentally speaking, Roman was sure. "I'm sure you have what we asked for ready?"

"I told you a week-"

"But you already have them ready," the man stated this time, instead of asking. He seemed very amused by something as he took the seat in between and to the side of both Junior and Roman himself. "I know you do, so why beat around the bush?"

Junior didn't answer, instead turning towards the twin at the door, who hadn't moved at all, and nodding. The girl vanished instantly, closing the door behind her. Somehow, Roman felt like he'd been caged with something. The fact that he didn't know what that something was only made things worse.

"Was there a rush? I don't remember you being in any hurry," Junior said, doing a damn good job to appear calm and in control. Roman knew better though, what with years of working together.

"I just felt like dropping by. I'm Vincent Blackwood, by the way. Nice to meet you," the man introduced himself as he faced Roman.

"Roman Torchwick, a pleasure," he replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as the other man was in the face of such an unknown. For the moment, he'd have to work with what little Junior had given away to decide how to act. It should be enough, Roman was sure.

"So, Hei," the man started then, twirling something in his hand. Something that made Roman freeze. "You deal with information, mainly, right?"

"I do," the gang leader replied.

"My associate wants to open a shop, a weapons shop. And we sort of need a place to stay more… permanently,"Vincent commented idly, still twirling that in his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. "You know any good places?"

"What do I look like? An estate agent?" Junior asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"No, but I just want to make it clear that everyone in this city is my bitch now," the man said casually, with a friendly grin on his face as he turned towards Roman and pointed at him with that. "Aren't you?"

Roman said nothing, just staring at the object and still trying to make sense of why it was there.

"Why the umbrella?" Junior asked, apparently just noticing.

"It's a parasol, Hei, please," Vincent replied, as one would while scolding a child. "And a really nice lady lent it to me. Wasn't she nice?" he asked, turning back towards Roman again. The thief himself, for his part, was frozen in place still.

Neo was supposed to be invisible. Not even Junior was supposed to know she was there. How had this man…? Who the fuck was this man? Was Neo ok-?

"Oh, no need to panic, my new friend," Vincent reassured, waving his free hand in the air. "Your sneaky friend is fine. We just had a little chat and she agreed that she'd let me pull a little prank, right?" he asked this time, turning to a corner of the room.

An empty corner.

One that wasn't so empty, as the sound of glass breaking filled the place.

There stood Neo, and she was alright, Roman noted with relief. Physically speaking, at least. He was sure he'd never seen the girl look so… terrified, in the whole time he'd known her. 'Well, Junior had reason to be afraid, it seems.'

"So, about that information, Junior?"

"... I'll see what I can find. I'll have something in a few-"

"Tomorrow."

"... Tomorrow."

[}-o-{]

[Tukson]

"Coming!" He said as the bell he placed at the front desk rang while he finished organizing the small stack of books for a future sale to a regular client and friend. It took a bit of time to gather them all. While his collection might be surprisingly large, most of the books were stored in the back room, leaving the more popular titles for clients to see at the actual store. Tukson would be the first to admit that his slogan might be a little misleading on that front.

Even so, when someone desired a particular book or collection that he currently didn't have, he did his very best to acquire it. Even if the shipping cost ate most of the profit he could have made from the sale. It was enough for him to see a satisfied buyer. It was what he'd always wanted to do even if things were made difficult because of his situation as a Faunus, never mind his past.

The particular collection that he was organizing was a little bit more difficult to obtain than most, not because of the shipping, but because of its more risque themes. Definitely not his… first choice when it comes to reading materials, but he wouldn't judge anyone's preferences. Even if he did wonder if the girl wasn't a bit too young to be reading something like this.

So, as he finished packing the collection of books for his fellow feline faunus to pick at a later date, he left to attend the front desk.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under-," he didn't manage to finish his greeting before his whole body froze at the sight in front of him.

'A Schnee?' he couldn't help but think. But, no. It couldn't be. As eerily familiar the traits were, this man was not any of the Schnees he knew about. While most of the file and rank of his previous occupation wouldn't even bother to know who their enemies were other than having white hair and blue eyes, Tukson did make an effort to learn about the main cause of Faunus racism in the world.

Tukson shook his head, getting rid of the memories of his younger and ignorant self for the moment.

"I apologize, I thought you looked like someone I know. Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun, how may I help you?" As someone who believed that nobody should be scorned because of their appearance, it wouldn't do for him to judge others either. It'd be hypocritical to hate the man, whoever he was, just because of his hair and eye color.

"Greetings, and there is no problem. I have already grown used to the glances and pauses of people around here," the not-Schnee said. A bit of shame and pity grew on Tukson. He imagined that not all faunus were as informed as him when it came to the Schnee family. Most of them probably wouldn't even care if he was one for that matter. It was easy to default to hate just because a human looked similar enough. As if the world didn't have enough of that going around.

"Either way, my name is Silver. A pleasure to meet you. I am quite new to Vale and I would like to get a few books that could help me fill my knowledge of the place, if you would recommend some of them for me?" the man said then, breaking him away from his thoughts.

Tukson smiled. It was always a pleasure for him to guide someone that was willing to learn. If there was anything he could respect, it was the endeavor of understanding through knowledge

"Of course. Any topic you are interested in, to begin with?" he asked his client, already walking around the counter and pulling some books of different topics to show the man.

"If possible, I would like to have some about the Kingdom's history and important figures. Ah, also some about Dust and Aura, if possible," Silver said, a small smile growing as he looked at the book presented.

An interesting choice. While he could understand the first two for a new citizen, knowledge about Aura and Dust was a bit rarer. Not enough that the common civilian would know nothing about them, but most of its advanced uses tended to be a lot more restricted.

"Sure thing. Please give me a moment, I can get you some of my personal favorites on those subjects from the back. Still, you will need to show your Huntsman license personally at Beacon's library to get access to most material about Dust uses and Aura," Tukson responded. He didn't know why he came to him for that kind of knowledge. For how the man looked and the way he moved, he knew that he had to be quite the huntsman. Then again, it could be a personal quirk, all of them seemed to have certain peculiar personalities.

"Beacon, huh?" the man said as he retired to the back of the store to gather the books. Tukson was happy for yet another sale that day and it was even shaping up to be a good one. If things kept going that way, he might even have to open a second store soon!

[}-o-{]

[Perry Foster]

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me right, buddy," Mr. Blackwood replied, grinning widely, very obviously aware of how bizarre his order was. "Burger, fries, and a beer, that's my order."

"Uh… Of course, sir," Perry mumbled, nodding. Internally though, he couldn't wrap his head around that order. Who in their right mind went to the Crystal Castle and ordered a burger and a beer? Sure, they were on the menu but… Perry had never known of anyone that ordered them. He wasn't even sure if they actually had the stuff to prepare that.

"Thanks, Dog Boy," the man said, still grinning before he waved him off. "That'll be all," he added.

"His name is Perry," the waiter heard the boy across the huntsman mumble as he turned and left to inform the kitchen of the orders.

"Your point?" Mr. Blackwood asked.

If Perry hadn't seen the man defend him against a racist, he'd have thought the huntsman was one himself. From just the several nights where the man or some others of their group had made an appearance at the Crystal Castle though, meals in which Perry himself was usually the one that waited at their table, the Faunus was reasonably sure that the man just liked to mess with people. Evidently, he was a bit of an asshole, but…

Mr. Blackwood was certainly better than Miss Valkyrie.

The girl had been banned from the place for a reason, after all.

'I'll never be able to look at syrup the same way again,' Perry thought, shuddering then.

Troublesome as the group was, however, they were VIPs in the Crystal Castle. This might have something to do with the fact that they'd given a ridiculous amount of money to the manager. On top of that, they were very clearly the best tippers that regularly visited the place. 'Or the best tippers period, really,' Perry thought to himself as he continued working.

Which said a whole lot, considering how rich the people who came to eat at the restaurant were. They were also nice even if they were weird. As long as one could roll with the punches a bit, especially when Mr. Blackwood was there. Mr. Lie and Mr. Astra, for their part, were much more… normal.

Compared to most of the other customers that visited the restaurant though, they might as well be saints. Especially for Perry, who usually had to deal with racism that went from mild to nightmarish. From Mr. Blackwood's group though, there was literally nothing to worry about.

As long as nobody said anything stupid, that is.

Tanner had almost lost his job when he made a comment regarding how ignorant Mr. Lie seemed to be in regards to the finer dishes of the restaurant. It hadn't even been that bad, if the man hadn't lied when he'd explained his side of things. Regardless, Mr. Blackwood had looked a step away from just destroying the place. Be it metaphorically or literally… Or both.

"Damn animal lovers," Perry heard then, breaking him out of his musings and almost making him stumble. Turning slightly to see Mr. Bronzewing looking with disdain towards Mr. Blackwood's table. Suddenly, the waiter found himself very relieved that the latter was present because he really would rather wait at his table than the Bronzewings'.

While not quite as bad as the Winchesters, they were one of the most racist clients the Crystal Castle catered to, that was for sure.

"Perry!" he heard someone call loudly, making him freeze. More out of who it was than anything else. Leaving what he was doing for later, he made a sharp turn towards the table that had called for him.

"Yes, Mr. Blackwood?"

"I've told you to call me Vince… Vincent, if you must," the man said, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him. To that, Perry shifted a little on his feet.

"I couldn't possibly-"

"Do I need to leave bigger tips for you to call me what I want? Because I will, Dog Boy. Don't think I won't," the man threatened. Although, could that even be called a threat, actually? Perry found himself rather confused by that.

"Ah, that's not necessary, sir."

"..." Mr. Blackwood stared at him in silence for a long moment before sighing. "Anyway, can you check with your manager and see if I can make a deal with him? I want those people, I think you know who, to get… less than the best service," he said, suddenly showing an expression that made Perry be very glad to know that it wasn't directed at him.

It wasn't too drastic a change, really, but it was striking. Mostly because the last time he'd seen that look of mild annoyance was with the Tanner incident. Perry very much doubted that the manager would have anything to say against the request once he heard about that part.

"I'll see what I can do, sir."

Perry was going to have some interesting things to say whenever he had to make a report for Adam, that was for sure.

[}-o-{]

[Lie Ren]

"Do you do it on purpose?" he asked the man across from him when they saw the waiter go away.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Mr. Blackwood answered, grinning in a way that told Ren he knew perfectly well what he meant. "Of course I do it on purpose. You can't be an asshole by accident, man. It takes effort."

Ren remained silent, making the huntsman roll his eyes.

"You are no fun, has anyone ever told you that?" the man asked.

"Repeatedly," Ren replied flatly. If he had a Lien for every time Nora had told him that, they'd both be rich by that point.

"No wonder," Mr. Blackwood mumbled, regarding him with an unimpressed expression. "Anyway, taking people off guard can be helpful too. I don't only do that to mess with people, even if it's hilarious to do it," the man explained then with a lazy grin. "If you do something others don't expect, then they are more likely to react strongly instead of in a controlled way. That plays in your favor, especially if you are a newbie when it comes to reading people. I don't need to do that anymore, but…"

But he still did it, just for shits and giggles. Ren had long since pieced that together, but he'd almost hoped for a different answer. Still, the lesson there was something that he'd take to heart. He wasn't sure what reading people would afford him when all he wanted to do was hunt Grimm, but still-

"Huntsmen don't only go after Grimm," Mr. Blackwood told him, reading him like a book. It was more than a little unnerving when the man did that. Ren wondered if he'd be half as perceptive when he got to the same age as Vincent. "Granted, that's the main job, but there are other things to do. Sometimes you gotta deal with criminals, bandits, and terrorists. It's not on the job description, but all jobs have that shit that they never tell you about until you actually gotta do it."

"I'll remember that," Ren replied simply, drawing a hum from Vincent. Then, the huntsman's eyes moved to the side, slowly regarding the other people in the restaurant. After a moment, he jerked his head to the side, signaling something to Ren.

"The table to your right, the one with the pretty blonde," Mr. Blackwood pointed out and with a glance, Ren picked up who he meant. "Look at them, study them, see what you can piece together. See it as a training exercise."

With a nod, Ren set out to do as the man asked without asking quest-

"Don't just stare, kid. Geez," Mr. Blackwood chastised. "Be discreet. A glance here and there, a subtle movement that looks natural enough. If they catch you looking, don't turn away or have your eyes dart away. Instead, look at something behind them or close by. It looks less suspicious. You gotta be more careful after that though, obviously."

Ren nodded again, doing his best to commit to memory everything that the man said. He was still not sure how useful a skill reading people would be for huntsman work, but one never knew. It certainly didn't sound like a useless skill to have, at least, so even if he couldn't use it for his goal, it could still be nice to have.

"Your girlfriend isn't the thinking type. That means you gotta think for her," Mr. Blackwood told him then, idly. "Thanks, Perry," he said as their waiter dropped by to leave their drinks and then left again. "Anyway, so, she's not the planner type, so you gotta do the thinking for her. That means you need all the information you can get."

Now that sounded like a good reason… Still, Ren didn't appreciate Mr. Blackwood calling Nora an idiot. The man must have noticed something on him then, even though Ren was sure he hadn't so much as twitched, because he rolled his eyes.

"I'm not saying she's an idiot. Your girlfriend just… doesn't think things through too much. She improvises, she is an in-the-moment kind of girl. There's no checking the facts and finding a good route with her, she just rushes forward, in a straight line to wherever she wants to go," Mr. Blackwood explained. It was almost scary that the man used that example in particular, considering it had actually happened… Several times. The smile the huntsman gave him was more than a little unnerving.

How did the man even-?

"Anyway, with that in mind, you have to be the one to do that for the two of you," Mr. Blackwood continued his little lecture. "Any little piece of knowledge, no matter how asinine it seems, can be valuable. That means you gotta learn to pick up information everywhere at all times."

"I understand," Ren replied when it seemed that Vincent was finished. There was nothing else said. No mention of how his response was short, or how he didn't seem very enthusiastic, or anything like that. Instead, the man across from him simply seemed to take what he said at face value and roll with that.

"Just because I act the way I do, doesn't mean you'll have to do the same if you want to get information," Mr. Blackwood commented after a long, silent pause. "I just said that it helps to catch people off guard. I don't think you'll have to work too hard to find your own way. The unflappable attitude should work well enough, I think."

To that, Ren nodded. That was good. He didn't think he could act like Mr. Blackwood did even if it turned out to be useful. It just wasn't the kind of person he was, and he didn't think he could act the part if it came to it. Now, finding his own way should be, as his mentor said, easy enough. Off the top of his head, Ren could remember a number of times when people had been caught off guard by the way he carried himself and spoke. If he could hone that into a more effective act, then maybe he could make better use of Mr. Blackwood's teachings.

"Picked up anything?" the huntsman asked then.

"She's not interested in the man," Ren started with, frowning to try and connect more dots in his mind so as to not miss anything. "I think she's with him for the money. That dish she ordered is one of the most expensive ones here, and she paid more attention to that than her date. Same with the wine. She just doesn't like him. She is trying to hide that. A gold digger, I think."

"And you are right… sort of," Mr. Blackwood confirmed, with an amused smile. "Good job. I honestly didn't expect you to pick up that much. What about him?"

"He's very wealthy and very confident. He doesn't seem to even consider the fact that maybe she doesn't like him. He's racist, but not overly so. He dislikes Perry, but not enough to actually do something about it besides, maybe, a comment here and there," Ren recited, wondering how much he was missing. Probably a whole lot, he supposed.

"Good job, very good," Mr. Blackwood told him, and he allowed a smile to form on his face. "You might just be a natural, huh? I'll have fun training you, I think."

[} Chapter End {]

Arc: Poor Silver, being called a Schnee when he clearly isn't one of them and has nothing to do with them in any capacity whatsoever.

Adrian: No Schnees here, no sir. Pinky promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. Other promise rituals I don't know about… Er… Anyway, Vincent is still having a whole lot of fun all around, but he has reasons!... They might even be good reasons!... Maybe… Probably…

Arc: He is trying to transform Ren into a mini-me right now. This is not going to end well.

Adrian: It's going to be amazing… for Vincent, at least.

Arc: Anyway I think that is it for this chapter. A few new characters were introduced and that gives the groundwork to slowly start expanding this world and see more of the ripples Vinny's and Silver's actions will cause across Remnant.

Adrian: And on that note, we close this and hope that you've had a good read. Do remember to leave us a comment or two, yeah?

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ