Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn

Chapter 60

It took time to gather the various elements of the Spider Gang in one place. Jaune hated the name. Miss Malachite likely had her reasons for calling it that and taking on the arachnid motif, but those reasons didn't exist for anyone other than her. Even had her own daughters taken over, the name would have lost any meaning.

"Is this necessary?" he whispered to Cinder. "I'd rather push on and help Chae-young."

Ha-rin, too, he didn't say, as he was still unsure whether or not he truly forgave her. The woman had sabotaged his student to protect her from her father, but it had still been sabotage. The woman could have come to her daughter in confidence and explained things but chose to take on the role of the bad guy instead. Jaune didn't think he was equipped to untangle that family drama, but it was obvious she felt as powerless as her daughter. Because no matter how civilised the head of the family acted, he was still a crime lord.

"This is necessary," she said. "There may yet be disloyal elements of the gang ready to move against you. Better to nip that in the bud now."

Cinder had gained a level since he'd last seen her. Jaune could only assume she'd hunted some especially dangerous Grimm in her spare time. It must have been nice to be able to go out and gain levels at will like that. He could, if he fought Grimm, but his stats really weren't up to it.

Even though his level was a lot higher than it had been before, the stats weren't aligned to combat. Unlike a typical RPG system his stats didn't rise on their own, meaning that his Strength, Dexterity and other combat stats were as low as they had been when he started out. That was embarrassing, though he'd played enough games to know specialisation was usually a good idea.

Now I just need a tank, dps, healer and oh wait – I'm the useless bard.

In combat, anyway. His stat allocation was working well for life outside that of being a huntsman, which he was quite content to remain as. Would his Semblance have given him the same quests if he'd gone another route? Probably not. He wouldn't even be here in Mistral if he'd committed to combat and tried to get accepted into a school. Vale was closer to home.

Jaune sighed and sat back on his "throne". It was a plush and ostentatious chair that Lil Miss Malachite had likely used for much the same purpose – to remind others of their place. He sat, with Cinder stood on his right, at the far end of the VIP lounge, waiting for the lieutenants of the spider gang to arrive.

"Has there been any news about Lil Miss Malachite?" he asked. "I'm surprised she's stayed quiet."

"None yet," Cinder said. "No news is good news. Maybe she's left Mistral."

"I hope so. Are you sure you don't want a seat? It feels weird to make you stand."

"This better shows you off as being in command."

"I get that, but it feels wrong to imply you're beneath me like that. You're more than my equal. Without you, none of this would have worked in the first place."

Cinder obviously appreciated the sentiment, given her smile, but she remained standing. "It's just a show," she said, "Put up with it. You're going to have to get used to acting haughty if you want to convince Chen's father to listen to you."

Jaune didn't bother correcting her on the name. Cinder just couldn't keep Chae-Young's name in her head. In her defence, she'd never met the girl and probably had a lot of other plates spinning. Mercury let himself into the room and signalled to them that the lieutenants had arrived.

"Ready?"

Jaune rubbed his thumb and fingers together, feeling the roughness of the gloves. This was to be a case of intimidation. Raw and powerful. Cinder being beside him should spare her the effect of it this time. "As ready as I'll ever be. Bring them in."

Four men entered. Jaune wondered at that, given Malachite was a woman. Had she seen it as a powerful feeling to lord it over these men? Or had she perhaps feared women more than men? Or maybe it was just happenstance, and these were the best the gang had. They differed in appearance quite drastically. One was tattooed from head to toe in leathers and chains, another in a hoodie and jeans with bruised knuckles, the third thin and anorexic with bloodshot eyes and the last… the last looked like a banker or an accountant, back straight, crisp suit, friendly smile.

The four of them regarded Jaune suspiciously, and without much in the way of respect. That was to be expected since he'd done nothing to earn it from them, but far more worrying was the lack of fear.

Jaune stood. As he did, he masked the act of his finger snapping.

Discordant Note activated, aimed toward them, and the four men suddenly stood a little straighter, eyes widening. He did it subtly this time, more of an injection and less of the buckshot he'd unleashed in Miss Malachite's face the day before. It was subtle enough that they didn't realise how unusual it was.

Subtle enough that they believed there was good reason to be afraid of him.

"Kneel," Cinder said.

The men all bowed down on one knee. He hadn't asked her to do that, and it seemed to be more a test on her part than any plan. Even so, she looked especially pleased with how quickly they obeyed.

"Ahem. I am Jaune." No need to give a last name and incriminate his family. "Some of you may know me as the one Miss Malachite tried to blame the drug shipment loss on. I played along to repay her for that, only for her to try and betray me. Lil Miss Malachite is gone now. Here, I stand as your new leader." Jaune paused and gently tapped his finger and thumb together to cast out a fresh wave of unease. "Does anyone dare challenge that? Or me?"

Three of the men looked to the one in the hoodie. He must have been the muscle. The man stared at Jaune, then quickly shook his head. With him giving in, the other three quickly followed. Perfect. Their names and levels flashed through his mind – and none were special. Again, they weren't huntsmen, just thugs, so while they may have been "tough" in their own minds and among their own people, they were nothing compared to people like his father, Cinder, or even to students like Nora and Ren.

Though they could easily have killed him given his lack of stats, they might not be a threat to him either. His Charisma was so high and Discordant Note worked based off of that. It didn't matter what they could do to him if they got their hands on him, because they'd never get their hands on him in the first place. He could drop them to their knees with crippling fear long before that.

"Introduce yourself briefly and what you do. There may be changes in the gang's organisation." They looked tense. "I don't intend to leave anyone high and dry. If your operations change, you'll be given a new role of equal value."

That seemed to calm them. They were criminals, but they were also employees in a sense. Except that losing their jobs might also mean losing their lives, giving double reason for him to avoid that.

The man in the hoodie spoke first in a gravelly voice. "Trapper," he rumbled. "I handle the muscle and keeping our territory safe. Keeping other gangs from hassling shopkeepers and businesses in our area. They pay protection to us and I make sure they're protected. If I'm gone, they'll suffer."

Protection rackets. Ugh. Jaune didn't like the idea of it, but he figured life wouldn't be fixed for anyone if he got rid of it. The other gangs did it as well, so removing Trapper and his people would just mean those businesses would get harassed by another group.

"Your role will stay."

Trapper nodded, pleased.

"I'm Michael from accounts," said the suited man. "I handle money laundering, financial crimes, our own finances and shipment. Admin, basically. I'm actually just an accountant, but every gang runs on money."

"Fair enough. Your role will stay."

The tattooed man spoke up next, a little more confident since the other introductions had gone well. "Fixer." It must have been a nickname. "I work with boys on the street to keep us aware of things. We do hit and runs on other territories to weaken their gangs and prove they can't protect their people, and I look after the gang's entertainment. We shift a lot of our produce through clubs and bars."

"Launder money through them as well," Michael added.

"And what do we sell there?" Jaune asked.

"That'd be my role," said the last. "Doc. I'm head of drugs and narcotics." He tensed a little when Jaune frowned. "We mostly dabble in harmless stuff."

"Define harmless."

"Well… not as harmful as others. Okay, it's not harmless but the Lil Miss didn't like us dealing in the heavy-duty stuff in our area. Most of my stuff is sold off and shipped out, either to other gangs or other kingdoms."

"How many deaths?"

"None."

"None?"

"He's not lying, sir," the accountant spoke up once more. "Deaths due to drugs in any of our bars or clubs would see them shut down for an investigation, and that would be very bad for business. I don't doubt patrons are taking hard drugs, but they don't come from us."

"They're not worth it either," said Doc. "Sure, they sell for more, but they're harder to make and need more facilities. And the money in the long run isn't good because users end up overdosing and dying or being driven into ruin." He shrugged, obviously not too bothered by the moral implications. "Michael always says the financially destitute don't make the best clients. He's not wrong, either. I used to sell hard drugs when I was younger and the worst addicts would soon as stab you for their fix. Better to sell recreational drugs to nervous teens and stressed adults. At least they're less likely to pull a gun on you."

Jaune sat back and hummed. This was a lot more… well… tame than he'd expected. He'd come expecting to peel back operations and make the gang less evil, and instead found it was already fairly relaxed. Again, he thought, they're not huntsmen. They can't really afford to get into battles with the police and their own customers, so it makes sense they take lower risks.

"I suppose there's not much point cutting drug operations down, is there?"

"Not much, sir," Michael said. "Other gangs would pick up on it and sell in our territory, and we couldn't guarantee the quality of those drugs. They wouldn't care to either, since any deaths would be seen as our fault instead of theirs. They might even sell tainted drugs just for that purpose."

Jaune grimaced. "Continue, then. What about shipments like the one I almost died on?"

"Those are kind of an extra," Fixer said. "The boss would take on jobs from other gangs to ship their goods. That was what that was. Our boys were basically couriers on that ship. Smugglers. The drugs weren't ours, which was kind of the problem since they sank and all."

"We can shrug off the loss of our own drugs," Michael said. "But losing someone else's is bad for business."

"I see."

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"That's it?" Cinder asked, mirroring his thoughts but sounding a little disappointed by it all. "That's the extent of your operations. Where's the assassination? Where's the information gathering? Where's the grand theft?"

The four men looked among one another awkwardly.

"Assassination is hard and barely pays," Fixer mumbled.

"Cars are a pain to sell," Trapper said. "And most of the banks are paying protection fees."

Michael raised his hand. "I keep abreast of stocks and shares if that's what you mean by information."

Cinder groaned into her hand.

Jaune smiled. "I think we're done here. Or close to. The Spider Gang is something that was related to Miss Malachite. Now that she is gone, I don't see the need to keep the name. Does anyone disagree?"

"Fine with me."

"Don't even like spiders."

"Oh fuck yes. Let me get a tattoo that isn't a fucking spider. I beg you."

"Right…" Jaune couldn't help but pause at how relaxed they all were about it. "So, I was thinking a new name for a new group. Something to relate to us." Something musical came to mind. Bards would fit but might clue people into his Semblance. That's why he'd come up with something related but not as obvious. "From now on we are the Concert Cartel." He paused. "Any objections?"

No one had any. They didn't care what their name was so long as they were being paid.

"Good. You're all dismissed. Except you, Fixer," he said to the heavily tattooed man. "I have an important task for you."

The man gulped as the others left. "Y—Yes boss?"

"Fixer." Jaune looked the man up and down. "I have a job for you that I think you'll be uniquely suited for."

"Yeah? What is it, boss?"

"I need the name and address of a good tattoo removal place."

"Ah." The man relaxed. "Yeah, that tracks. I know a good place."

/-/

Guitar Cutie had stayed out of the limelight since her actions in Vacuo with the orphans. Her videos kept releasing, but she hadn't livestreamed since Vacuo for fear of bringing those people who tried to chase her before down on Mistral. No one seemed to mind too much. The usual rumours and questions of where she was were abound, but as long as new videos kept being released, no one suspected anything unusual.

That was for the best. Jaune inspected her face in the full-length mirror of her hotel room, turning her body sideways as she tried on the long coat and mask Pyrrha had gotten her. It was a white gauze mask that some people in Mistral wore when they were sick.

It didn't look so bad.

Jaune grunted in a masculine voice just to remind himself he was a he and not a she, even if she – he – kept using the wrong pronouns in his own head. At some point it ceased to really matter. Jaune knew who he was, but thinking of himself as a woman helped him fit the role and since this was for Chae-young's happiness, she'd damn well think of herself as a woman to make her day.

Chae will already be feeling miserable after losing to her father. I'm not going to ruin this day with an identity crisis. I'm Guitar Cutie. I'm that girl's idol. And I'm damn well going to give her the best day out of her life!

He texted her a few messages from his scroll – Jaune Arc's scroll, that was, since he had a burner for his identity as Guitar Cutie now. Almost losing his scroll in Vacuo and being exposed by the thief had taught him a valuable lesson. If someone pickpocketed him today, they'd end up with a scroll that had no mention of his male identity.

Chae-Young responded quickly enough and that she would be allowed out the compound for a few hours. He'd never really asked her about it before, assuming she was always locked in, but that might have been a conscious choice on her part given the deadline she had to perform. The girl must have had a life outside it as well. With his messaging done, Jaune hid his real scroll under his bed and pulled up her hoodie. It was a garish pink number that Pyrrha had said would draw eyes to it and away from her face.

And Pyrrha knew how to slip by people unnoticed since she was famous as well. The trick, apparently, was not to try and blend in, because people's eyes naturally gravitated to faces. The trick to avoid those eyes was to make people look down.

Which would have been easier if she had real breasts but, in the absence of that, a neon blue skirt, knee-high red and black striped socks and an obnoxiously pink hoodie would do a perfectly good job. She was a walking eyesore with a boring face and white mask that wouldn't draw much attention. The hoodie covering her hair helped even more.

Still feels weird wearing a skirt, but these socks are surprisingly warm…

Maybe women had something going on there – and at least she had pockets on the hoodie to push her hands into, since the skirt had nothing.

And I'm delaying. Chae-young needs this. Time to man up and be the best woman I can be!

Slipping out the hotel wasn't difficult and the streets outside weren't so busy. Jaune kept her head faced down and hands in her pockets, walking like an angsty teen who didn't want to be talked to – and that worked for the most part. A few people looked her way, but they were struck more by the visual assault that was her outfit, and they never met his eyes when he looked over. It was working better than he could have hoped.

Chae-young was waiting for him outside a music shop. The girl wore a black hoodie of her own with black trousers and boots. She'd always carried her guitar with her before, but that was gone now and she looked all the unhappier for it. There was a defeated slump to her shoulders.

You didn't fail, Chae. You were set up from the start.

Time to cheer her up.

Jaune marched over and stood next to her, and for a moment she didn't realise. Chae-young's eyes slid over but, like so many others, didn't make it higher than her neck. She went back to her scroll, looking over the last message Jaune had sent from his other one. Biting back a laugh, since Guitar Cutie couldn't speak, he instead bumped his hand against Chae's elbow.

The girl mumbled an apology and took a step away.

Jaune followed and nudged her again.

"Can you not?" Chae hissed, finally looking up. "I'm waiting for some—" Jaune tipped the white mask down and grinned, winking. "—one… oh my lord…" Chae's eyes lit up. "It's—"

Jaune pressed her finger to Chae's lips before she could shout it out. Pyrrha had taken far too much pleasure in painting Jaune's nails a pale blue. Nail polish was a no-no for huntresses apparently, due both to the lack of nailcare due to constant training and the smell that could alert Grimm. That had left Pyrrha all the happier to be able to do it for someone else.

Chae-young stared down at the finger on her lips and then up again. "Is it really you…?" she asked, quietly.

Jaune slowly took her finger away, pulled her mask back up, then held the same finger over where her lips were, and winked once more. It was enough. The girl squealed and lunged, hugging her around her waist.

"Eeeeeee! So cool! I can't believe he managed this! My teacher is so cool!"

Sweet, sweet ego. Jaune preened a little at the praise.

"Is… Is this okay?" Chae asked, pulling away. "I'm not being weird, am I? I'm being weird, aren't I? I'm sorry, I—" Jaune drew the girl into a hug. He'd always wanted to but had never felt safe doing it what with all the security guards. But no one would see it as unusual for two girls to hug. Giving into temptation, he began to stroke the girl's hair. "Haaaaa…" the girl breathed, slipping her arms around Jaune's waist. "I'm being hugged by Guitar Cutie. No one is going to believe this."

Technically, she was being hugged by her male music instructor who was cross dressing as a means of getting ton hug his female, underage student without it being seen as creepy.

Which sounded really damn creepy now that he thought about it!

But what was especially awkward was not being able to talk. Chae-young filled the silence with conversation but she soon started to taper off, awkwardness setting in as she began to wonder if she wasn't being a burden. Jaune made hand gestures, smiled, winked and even wrote out some cheerful messages on her scroll, but Chae-young started to fall back into her depression.

Not even a day out with her idol could stop the tears.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I was really excited for this but now all I can think about is how I'll never be able to play again, and after my instructor worked so hard to teach me. I've let everyone down!"

It was all he could do to rock the girl and stroke her hair again. The usual method of solving problems involved getting out his guitar, but that'd just be salt in the wound for her. Instead, he knelt and held onto Chae-young until she stopped crying, and then took out her scroll and typed out a message.

Trust in your teacher, she wrote. He has a plan.

That made Chae's face turn pale. "No. No, he can't. You… You can tell him to stop, can't you? You know him. Tell him to leave me and go. If he tries to interfere, dad will hurt him!"

Jaune shook his head.

"He will! You don't understand! Dad is terrifying to his enemies. He'll kill Jaune! I can't be responsible for him dying! It's fine. I can still listen to music. M—Maybe my future husband will let me play a little. I'll be – snff – I'll be okay." Her voice cracked. "I don't want the only person who had faith in me to die for it."

He wished he could explain to her that her father wasn't that big a deal. That he was a bigshot in Mistral but, compared to people like Pyrrha and Cinder, he was mundane. That he had accidentally killed a huntsman on his own and could easily kill her father if the man crossed him. But Chae still called the man "dad" despite her fear, so he wouldn't. As terrible as he could be, he'd given Chae a fake opportunity to go against his wishes.

It'd been doomed from the start, obviously, but he could have denied her even that. He could have backhanded her the moment she expressed interest in the guitar, beat her with a belt, and refused to let her even touch an instrument. He could have refused to let her even experience it. Sure, it was like saying a murderer wasn't as bad as a serial killer because they killed fewer innocent people, but he had to keep it in mind because all of this was to make Chae happy. Killing her father wouldn't do that.

Instead, she winked at Chae-young and wrote out another message.

Trust in your instructor. He's more capable than he lets on.

Chae bit her lip. "My daddy is a crime lord," she whispered. "He's killed people."

Your instructor saved me from a slaver, she wrote back. It was technically the truth. He killed a professional huntsman to save me from being enslaved and used against my will.

The girl's eyes widened. "Jaune did…?"

He nodded.

"Wowww… I… Is that how you're friends? Because he saved you? It was in Vacuo, right? When you were kidnapped." He nodded again, and Chae looked awestruck. "I can't believe my music teacher was that cool. I mean, he's great at music and really nice, but he always looked a little lame."

Erk.

"And I guess he's handsome, but he's sort of plain—" Jaune flinched. "—and he has this big brother vibe that's really nice but it makes me think he'd never be able to get a girlfriend because he'd see girls as his friends first."

Jaune closed her fingers over and below Chae's lips, silencing her. His self-esteem depended on it. There wasn't enough Constitution in his Semblance to help him survive this brutal dressing down.

"Swwwyy…" she mumbled, and Jaune let go. "I guess he's cool if he saved you from bad people. I never said he wasn't cool – I just said he doesn't look—"

Jaune pinched her lips again.

His cute student was much too cruel.

"Hey babe. Is this seat taken?"

A voice that oozed innuendo reached Jaune's ears. Chae-young glanced to the side and her eyes went wide as saucers. Jaune turned, for a moment worried his disguise had been seen through, but taking some comfort in the lack of screaming and cries of Guitar Cutie being thrown out.

The man who approached their table was as tall as he was, with short, blood-red hair and stark green eyes. He had swept back, thick – almost feminine – lashes and an angular face. His hair was lengthy, but tied up in a high ponytail with messy, spiked bangs down his face.

A loose, sleeveless shirt had the top buttons open showing a tight black vest and just the top of bandages wrapped tight beneath those. Black pants, clad tight to lithe legs, finished off the ensemble, along with a bunch of black belts studded with silver that gave him a rocker edge. One that apparently very much appealed to Chae-young, as she girl went bright red and began to stammer, hiding behind Jaune and peeking out at the handsome man.

A man whom Jaune could read the status of. Including the name.

Pyrrha Nikos.

What the hell is going on…?

"So, this is Chae-young is it?" Pyrrha asked, her – his? – tone just a little lower. He – she, damn it – slid into the seat next to Jaune and swept an arm around her – his, damn it – waist. Jaune was too shocked to resist as Pyrrha pulled him in against her side. "I've heard so much about her and wondered if we'd ever get to meet. Hello."

"H—Hi…" Chae squeaked, flaming bright red. "Y… You… Who? Why? How?"

"Pyre. Pyre Nathan." With a wink, the boy leaned in and kissed Jaune's cheek. "This beautiful girl's boyfriend."

Chae-young squealed eagerly.

Jaune's horrific blush probably didn't help his case. His eyes were wider than Chae's had been over the edge of his mask, and he shrunk down in his seat as people around them looked over and cooed at the cute couple.

As if life wasn't complicated enough!

Next Chapter: 2nd March

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