Author's Note

Ugh...I completely failed in my desire to update quickly as I promised in my last chapter, but...well, life happens. Part of it is also my fault, I've rewritten parts of this chapter countless times and I'm still not quite happy with some aspects. Oh well. I would like to offer my sincere apologies, and hope you all are willing to forgive me. I decided I won't be making any promises here, but I do hope I don't take as long for the next one.

By the way, I was re-reading some Mushoku Tensei, and jeeeeez! RUDI IS A GRADE-A PERVERT. I mean, I knew that, but holy cow, from infant to adulthood the guy was thinking with his third leg half the time. I might not be doing that aspect of his personality justice. But at the same time, I'm sure he would've mellowed out throughout the course of an entire lifetime, right? Not to mention he's gone through having a family. Eh, I don't really know.

MINOR NOTE: I dunno if this is gonna bother anyone in particular, but I wrote most of this way before finding out what was under Adam Taurus's mask. As a result, the way he gets branded (or if I even choose to keep it a brand, specifically) is my own, not the RWBY canon's. This won't be coming into play for a while though, so...

Anyways, here comes the chapter. The Vale trip is going to be two chapters, just a heads up. I'm having trouble with the second half so I decided to split it up to give you guys something to read and me more time to think.

Yet Another World

Chapter 3: Juvenile Period - Welcome to Vale!

Adam Taurus wasn't sure what to make of the human kid named Rudi Lovac. He'd heard about him, of course. Everyone was talking about the heroic human boy that risked his life to protect a faunus girl, one of their own.

What a load.

Adam would watch him very, very carefully, that's for sure. Especially since the kid somehow got permission to travel with the Fang. A human boy! Ridiculous. What's worse, the girl he saved was Blake Belladonna, everyone's favorite little girl. Adam also conveniently forgot that their original purpose in coming to Glade included picking up human supporters, but he was too focused on this upstart to care.

'Oh no,' he thought grimly. He would not let this upstart kid in so easily. He'd approached Blake on the way to that lonely little hovel of a village, and they'd managed to hit it off pretty nicely. He'd planned over the course of the trip to become best friends with the daughter of their leader, and while the human boy didn't interfere with that, he was an unknown factor. Adam hated those.

The bull faunus prided himself on his charisma, a skill he definitely didn't inherit from his parents. He adored them, of course, but they could really stand to be more subtle in their approach to faunus liberation. Then they wouldn't get in trouble all the time. Adam himself was a good example, he was well-liked among all parts of the White Fang, even their moderate leader Ghira Belladonna had at least a good impression of the eleven year old kid.

But that's not the point. No human was going to infringe on faunus (his) territory, on faunus (his) property, and get away with it.

He would see to that.

It's not hard for me to recognize hostility. Even if they try to hide it. I've had to play politics before, and due to my...cowardly nature, I wielded deception as one of my main weapons during those times. In combat or in conversation, I've become quite good at that twisted game.

I suppose it's not something to be proud of, but I'd go to any length to protect those I love.

Anyways, it's now the morning of our departure from Glade. I was currently approaching the airship alongside Ghira and Blake Belladonna. Apparently the two of them had been invited to stay with an older couple who's grandson had been protected by Ghira during the Grimm attack yesterday.

We were greeted by pretty much every White Fang member as we walked by, most of them working on loading the ship and getting ready to leave. It was then that I noticed a young boy (well, he's older than the current me) of around middle-school age who must be Adam Taurus.

And even though he smiled and waved, something about him set my teeth on edge instantly.

And no, it wasn't because his bull horns and red hair reminded me of a demon (I honestly don't know whether I like those beings or if I'm terrified of them after all I've been through).

What alerted me was his eyes. Just slightly, there was a cold, calculating gleam in those ice-blue irises that instantly put me on edge. He's pretty damn good at hiding it though.

Still, I mean, I worked with Orsted, the current Dragon God. The guy expresses about as much emotion as a brick on most days, but he's also one of my most valued companions. Or as some would put it, my dear old boss.

"Blake! I didn't see you at all after the Grimm attack yesterday!" Adam called out warmly once we were close enough. Ghira had broken off to go talk to some of the other adult White Fang, so it was just us kids in the immediate vicinity. As we closed in I took in the boy's appearance in more detail. He was already quite tall, both Blake and I only reached his chest, and he carried himself with a sort of natural athleticism. I had no doubt that this boy trained himself, and if he'd been in my last world, probably could've at least reached my previous father, Paul Greyrat's, level. Aside from his physical features, his expression also oozed friendliness, as if trying to disarm whoever was looking at him.

"Adam!" Blake returned his call with a smile, but it was quickly replaced by a worried expression, "Um...are your parents okay?"

There was a flicker of what could only be described as burning rage in his eyes, but once it was gone his face was a perfect portrait of remorse, "Yeah, they're good. I'm more worried about the human they attacked. They really need to calm down..."

Blake could only nod uncertainly in response, it was obvious the topic of yesterday's faunus-human fight made her uncomfortable.

Adam then turned to me, "So, you're Rudi, huh? All the adults are talking about you!"

He sounded excited, but once again I was struck with a feeling of unease. Still, I continued on naturally.

"Ehh? Really?" I acted surprised and sheepish, "I hope they're saying good things about me..."

I could swear that in response to my words it seemed like he suppressed a snort of disgust, but I couldn't tell for sure.

Either I'm imagining things, or he's an amazingly good liar at his age...if he's hiding his real thoughts then that's just a little worrisome...

"They said you fought some Grimm to protect Blake here," Adam explained with a grin, no trace of any underlying emotion, "Pretty cool, if you ask me."

"It was nothing..." I rubbed the back of my head, keeping up a humble appearance. Something told me that despite his amiable approach, the faunus boy didn't like me very much. That something in the back of my head was usually right, but it wasn't like I could just act on a hunch.

"It wasn't nothing!" Blake suddenly leapt forward, into the conversation, "Adam, Rudi was amazing! He just knew what to do no matter what happened! And even though the Grimm were so scary, he didn't give up!"

Oi, not sure those words are gonna help me here. I appreciate the sentiment though. I'll make sure Dad always gives you cookies whenever you come by.

"Is...is that so?" Adam's smooth voice faltered a little bit, smothering a sound that somewhat resembled a snarl.

His eyes had also flashed with a certain raw emotion, briefly. At first I thought I thought it was jealousy, but upon analyzing it further, I realized it was possessiveness.

Towards Blake? That's unnerving, a kid shouldn't have eyes like that...

"Yeah, and his dad makes the best cookies I've ever had...!" Blake continued on, her declaration marked with sparkling eyes.

Her sudden segue into my dad's cooking prowess threw both myself and Adam for a loop, and for a moment, the invisible tension between the two of us lessened slightly.

"Huh. Cookies." Adam blinked incredulously, "...I kinda want to try them now."

"Ah here, I brought some. A little bit for everyone." I gave a wry smile and reached into my backpack, taking out a neat little bag of cookies and passing them out among the three of us.

As we began munching, I went over my short-term impression of the boy in front of me. There were a lot of warning signs I was picking out but...there's only so much a kid could do at his age. And I mean I just met the guy too. First impressions don't always last. Still, a voice in the back of my head told me I was right to be suspicious.

Ugh, this is starting to hurt my stomach.

"They are good..." Adam was nodding as he munched on the sweets, before he shot me a smug smirk, "Heh, does your dad wear an apron too?"

...What?...Really? We're gonna go there? Guess that's all I can expect from a middle school aged kid.

"Nope." I shrugged nonchalantly, I briefly thought about retorting with my own witty jab, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. Instead, I turned to Blake, "Is it still good?"

"It's sooo good." Her eyes were shut in contentment as she ate.

"Hey, what else is in that bag anyways? Looks real heavy." Adam pointed at my backpack, a curious tone in his voice.

"Oh just extra clothes, along with some more books just in case Blake wants to read them." I replied casually. The cat girl's ears immediately perked up.

"Yes! Thank you, Rudi" Blake smiled happily, before becoming embarrassed, "Um...you see...I actually already started reading yesterday..."

"Say no more, I totally understand," I displayed an understanding expression and gave her a short headpat. She squirmed a bit, but didn't shy away from the touch.

Adam, who was concealing a fairly noticeable frown at Blake's interaction with me, took notice of the training sword at my hip.

"That your sword?" To my mild surprise, there was no hidden undercurrent to his voice this time. He seemed to be genuinely interested in the weapon, "Looks good, but why's it so dull?"

His change in attitude surprised me, but I figure he probably likes weapons like most young boys on Remnant (or any world, if you think about it). It surprised me though, because my sword wasn't anything special; utilitarian would be the best word to describe it, and it far resembled the blade of one of the knights from my past world than anything like the high-tech weaponry commonly seen here on Remnant.

"Mom won't let me sharpen it, she said it's too dangerous." I explained.

"It's more dangerous that you had to fight Grimm with a dull weapon." The bull faunus scoffed, shaking his head, "I guess you get to bring it along without anyone getting mad though. I had to leave my training weapon behind, since it's a real sharp one. "

His voice took on a bloodthirsty tone that I don't think he even bothered to try to hide, sending chills down my spine. My wariness towards him shot up, but I hid my reaction and kept my composure.

"Hmm...you have a katana, right?" Blake tilted her head, trying to remember what Adam had said he used.

"Yeah, it's pretty plain." Adam's voice returned to normal, "But I'll forge my own one day, and if not, I'll design it at least."

"Ah, that's right! I heard huntsmen and huntresses design their own weapons!" I said cheerily, as we'd reached a topic I genuinely enjoyed, "I can't wait to see what that's like!"

Apparently I'd said the wrong thing, as Adam's expression instantly curled into one of veiled disdain. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he had some kind of grudge or aversion against the Grimm hunting profession.

I pretended not to to notice and continued the conversation naturally, "Do you want to try becoming a huntress, Blake?"

The cat girl took on a thoughtful look, "I don't know, there's no schools at home...but...I think it's a good thing to fight Grimm!"

I nodded in agreement at her words, smiling at her obvious admiration for the profession, but then Adam decided to interject harshly, "You won't have time for the White Fang if you become a huntress."

"Oh..." Blake's ears drooped, her smile fading, "You're right..."

Apparently huntsmen were a touchy topic for the bull faunus, as he was now doing little to keep up his earlier friendly demeanor. In response to his words, Blake looked so dejected that I couldn't help but want to cheer her up.

"But you can still support your parents even if you can't go to all the White Fang events, right?" I pointed out, giving Adam a dirty look. Blake blinked as she thought about my words, her spirits lifting a little.

"Hmm..." Blake pursed her lips ponderingly.

But Adam very noticeably suppressed a scoff as he replied, "Oh yeah, huntsmen go to the events, but not to help out, they go to arrest us!"

"Really?" I frowned, "Why would they do that?"

I know some things about civil rights movements, but I wasn't sure how much of it applied here in Remnant. If the faunus were actively being suppressed by the various governments then things were worse than I previously thought.

But at the same time there's always two sides to this kind of issue, in this case: aggressively bigoted humans versus defensively belligerent faunus. Either one could cause unnecessarily heavy crackdowns due to riots or fear of riots. If there's anything I've learned, becoming too polarized didn't do any good for anyone. And Adam seemed very polarized at the moment. As if proving my point, Adam continued on.

"Because humans don't like us!" Adam stated, glaring at me like he just remembered I was human.

I briefly noted that Blake was beginning to look alarmed at Adam's true face underneath the charismatic facade he first approached us with. But as for me, I was mainly beginning to get irritated at being looked at like I was some kind of evil, yet somehow inferior, being.

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed on my behalf, "Rudi's not like that!

"And there're faunus hunters and huntresses too..." I added, tilting an eyebrow at him.

"They're just trai-" Adam stopped himself, grimacing at his obvious slip-up, "They're just mislead! It proves we can't trust huntsmen! They lie and they're selfish!"

I could feel myself growing angrier, but did my best to quell the feelings down, "You know both of my parents are huntsmen right?"

"Then I don't trust them either! They don't really care for us at all!" Adam growled, waving his hands rudely in a dismissive gesture.

My temper flared hotly at that. I already knew I definitely became sensitive regarding my family, but before I could stop myself I found that I was replying to him with the most biting tone I could manage, "They're the best parents I could ask for, unlike some others, it seems. Maybe if those parents didn't assault innocent people, they wouldn't get arrested and locked up."

I immediately regretted the words after I said them, but the damage was done. Adam gaped at me, while Blake frantically switched between giving the both of us shocked looks.

Way to go, me. Great job getting riled up over a middle schooler's words...

I took a deep breath.

"Look, I didn't-" Before I could finish my apology, Adam abruptly wheeled around and stormed off. We made no move to stop him, watching as he disappeared into the airship as a few of the other White Fang members shot us curious looks.

Blake and I stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do or say.

"Ahh, I messed up..." I groaned. I had had too many things running through my head, and then I lost my cool. Somewhere along the way I forgot I was just dealing with an 11-12 year old kid. How could I expect a logical attitude and answers from a child?

"Why did Adam get so mad...?" Blake's eyes were filled with surprise and confusion, and just a little bit of anger, "He said really mean things to you..."

"Still, I did the same thing." I pointed out, cracking a small bemused smile.

"Well, he did it first! So it's his fault." Blake huffed, puffing her cheeks out. Her cute expression along with her simple perspective instantly cheered me up.

"I think I'm still gonna say sorry though." I smiled, "But do you know why he got so mad?"

"Eh? Um, no...I heard sometimes the police and huntsmen are unfair to us, but I heard that from the adults, not Adam." Blake replied with a frown.

"Hmm." I rubbed my chin as I reviewed my impressions and thoughts of Adam Taurus, before a sudden thought occurred to me, "Ah, sorry...he might be mad at you too since you helped me out."

"Hmph, I don't care!" Blake folded her arms, "If he's going to be mean to you, then I won't be his friend!"

"Come on," I laughed, "Don't stop being friends for a new guy like me. Mom says boys like us fight sometimes, it's no big deal. I'll just say sorry later."

Actually, I didn't think the fight was small or insignificant, but that was because I was also trying to analyze Adam. From a normal kid's perspective, this wasn't really too bad of a spat. I think.

"Okay..." Blake frowned thoughtfully, then gave me a puzzled expression, "Um, but I just met Adam too. A few days ago on the ship...he came up and started talking to me."

I briefly froze, my mind racing. I'd thought they were childhood friends or something, since that was the impression that Adam had been giving off.

But...he only just met Blake?

My first impression was that Adam was an intelligent boy, enough so to understand and manipulate people with his charisma. Like how a kid might make themselves look better for the adults by twisting various truths, or on the opposite spectrum, being especially obedient and polite. Not an uncommon thing for kids to do.

So it seems like a minor thing, but I got worried for a couple of reasons.

First comes the age gap between Adam and Blake. As a general rule, most kids would try to make friends around their age group, and there were plenty of other teenagers among the White Fang as far as I could tell. Teenagers also tended to find younger kids annoying (not that Blake was even close to annoying), just because of perceived childishness or other similar minor issues. Of course, Adam could be a kind soul and reached out to Blake due to perceived loneliness, since she appeared to be the only child around 5 years of age in the group. But as I now know, his kindness is probably a well-created facade. Which brings me to my next issue.

Adam reminded me of several power-hungry people I'd met during the course of my last life. In summary, he seemed like a charismatic person with sociopathic tendencies. Charismatic manipulators act to become friends with the few people they genuinely like, or people that they can take advantage of. And while Blake is very likable, I strongly doubted that someone with Adam's disposition went out of his way to befriend a much younger child out of affection. In fact, given that Blake is literally the daughter of the leader of the White Fang, a large organization with considerable influence, it only made sense to be suspicious.

But...could a kid already thinking of things like that at his age? Maybe his parents put him up to it? Or is it something else? Of course, I could also be reading into this too much. Honestly, my tendency to over-analyze causes a lot of unnecessary stress.

If it comes down to it, I'll just warn Ghira since his daughter is in contact with Adam. Somehow. It'd definitely have to be indirectly, since the words of a young boy have little weight; especially when compared to the words of a (seemingly) friendly and trustworthy boy more than twice his age.

And I definitely don't want to endanger Blake on accident, seeing as she'll be around Adam for much more of the foreseeable future than me as they're both White Fang.

But at the same time...if I'm too passive and he turns out to be a really bad guy, he'll be a bad influence on her, as young children are very impressionable...

Just wait and see, me. Nothing you can really do at this point when it's just all guesswork.

A little later, Blake and I were settled into our given seats for the ride. According to Ghira, we'd be arriving in Vale in the late afternoon, settle in for a night, have the rally the next day, and leave for an overnight return trip. I should be back home on the morning of the third day.

Unlike yesterday, where we'd huddled together to read, we were now each focused on our own activities. Normally, I would've eagerly been reading or chatting with Blake, but my attention was occupied by a gift/safety device my parents had given me: my very own small-sized scroll!

Essentially the same thing as a smartphone from my first life, I'm currently getting to know the ins and outs of using the device. I've had some experience with my parent's scrolls, of course, but I never really had the chance to explore the available functions thoroughly. I was never a major smartphone user (except for gacha games), but scrolls had quite a few more features than the average smartphone. I registered myself in its system so now I can view my aura levels, and even see my location (though I heard the reception can be bad depending on distance and obstacles between the user and the CCT towers).

I took a moment to divert my attention away from fiddling with the scroll to see what Blake was doing next to me. As expected, she had her nose deep into one of the books I'd brought along.

Unlike the happy smile she'd sported when we read together yesterday, she wore a serious, thoughtful look as her eyes scanned the pages. Perhaps that was her normal reading expression? Every once in awhile her ears would twitch in an extremely cat-like manner, only adding to her image as a cat faunus. It was almost too cute for my old anime-loving self to take.

Apparently she noticed my staring because she looked up from her book, her face changing into a smile, "Rudi, are you done with your scroll?"

"Yeah, for now at least. I think I learned everything I need to. I feel like there're more functions for me to access, but I probably need to have some auxiliary devices that I don't own. I heard something about interface capability with surveillance hardware too..." I replied absently, in a more detailed manner than I intended as I put the scroll carefully back into my bag.

"Uhh..." Blake blinked in confusion. I realized my mistake too late, but to my relief she just shrugged it off. Maybe she already considers me an odd person? "Well, if you're done do you want to read with me?"

"Hm? Were you waiting for me? I'm sorry." I frowned, perhaps I should've offered to hang out with her before jumping into my own activities.

"N-No, I wasn't!" Blake flushed slightly, "Well...a little bit. The other kids at home don't really like to read much...so I was just hoping..."

"Ah, I got it." I scooted over closer to her, "What're you reading anyways?"

"It's this story called Between the Snowy Mountains" Blake explained, "It's about a huntsman ran away from Mantle, in the Kingdom of Atlas, with his lover because she was being chased by everyone."

Oh it's that story...the one that gave me the hint on how to unlock my aura.

"Hey, I really like that one!" I grinned fondly, "What part are you at?"

"He just left to go find food since she sprained her ankle." Blake's expression morphed into an anxious one, "I hope everything will be okay..."

I knew instantly what part she was at and we settled in to read. Of course, I didn't spoil the story for her, but I was a little surprised to see her so in tune with the fictional characters in the story. Not that I didn't know the feeling, even as my old useless self I got emotional when reading or watching sad stories. Still, there was something more pure about the emotions that played across a child's face as they read rather than someone like me who'd been using entertainment as an escape.

"..." I wordlessly handed her a tissue (the airships are well prepared, huh?) as we got through one of the more tragic parts of the tale. That is to say, the end. In the final battle the huntsman suffered a fatal wound against the Grimm, but these Grimm had been attacking a village, and he couldn't just ignore that. His lover went with him, with no regard for how the villagers might treat a street criminal, and at the end was welcomed into the village.

"...That wasn't a happy ending at all." Blake sniffled.

"Well, I believe it shows how strong we can be, since the lover has the resilience to try to live a better life, not just for her sake, but for the huntsman who protected her all that time." I explained, "Maybe one day she'll find someone new and live a happy life."

Blake looked vaguely horrified, "But...what about the huntsman?"

I guess kids don't really think about the fact that most people don't actually marry and live out the rest of their lives with their first lover/partner.

"I...think he'd want her to be happy. No one would want the person they love to be alone if they passed away." I explained, "I know it's weird for a fairy tale to have that kind of ending but I don't think it's a bad one."

Blake went quiet, lost in her thoughts.

Honestly, it did strike me as odd that this story was for children, as there were other aspects and nuances that kids wouldn't understand...except that it totally wasn't aimed at children! I had just grabbed it from my dad's library before, and Ros never really thought about the intended age group of the books he read me. It's like he somehow knew I was more mature than I let on. He probably already suspects that something is different about me, considering he had no problem reading or giving technical manuals or encyclopedias to me.

His perception is on par with Lillia's...and that maid was a former assassin.

And dang it, I didn't check whether the book was suitable for kids. I know the story didn't say outright that true love doesn't always work, but the idea of it has been contradicted in Blake's eyes now...I feel like I might've just told her Santa wasn't real...

At least she looked thoughtful about it, not disillusioned.

"Oh, are you Rudi?" An adult faunus who'd been walking by stopped right next to us, it took me only a quick glance to determine that his animal trait was a bushy husky's tail.

"Yes, that's me Mister." I answered dutifully. I immediately noticed Blake shrink back a little, her face becoming more wooden.

I was beginning to recognize this behavior as her clamming up around strangers, which gave me a small warm feeling from the fact that she already considered me someone trustworthy.

I mean, I wished that fighting some monsters was enough to earn the trust of some people back in my last life...

"I heard about what you did for young Blake here," The man gave a short nod to the young girl, "Not many people would've done that for our kind. I hope you keep it up, young man."

"I only did the right thing, sir." I answered honestly. The thought of abandoning Blake hadn't crossed my mind in even the slightest of ways.

"That does my heart good to hear," The man smiled briefly, clasping my shoulder for a moment before leaving us.

Surprisingly (or not?) enough, he wasn't the only visitor. Several more adults came over whenever they saw me, expressing the same sentiments. From our brief conversations I really got the feeling that they were genuinely surprised and happy that a human child helped a faunus child. It was almost difficult for me to imagine how much hatred some humans must have for faunus despite the two being even more similar than most of the wide variety of races on my previous world.

I'd already figured that racism was a problem, but the attitude and number of people that came by with the same sort of thoughts caught even me off guard.

One of the more tactless well-wishers even directly quoted some bigot he'd heard and told me that he wouldn't have been surprised if "I had just left the 'filthy faunus girl' behind to die, since humans don't give a damn about us."

His words had a sobering effect on me, but I could tell they had shocked Blake even more. After a nearby woman shot the tactless man a glare that could melt steel, he apologized sheepishly and shuffled away.

"No matter what happens, I'll always be your friend, Blake." I patted her hand reassuringly afterwards, "I've never left home before, but if anyone treats you badly, then I think they're in the wrong, not you or your friends or family."

I must've said something right, as Blake smiled happily in response to my words.

Feeling good, I was about to suggest we go back to reading when we received the most unexpected visitor yet.

"Hey." Adam Taurus kept his eyes lowered as he approached us. Almost instantly, I could feel Blake tense up, hackles raised in a most feline manner. I stopped her by grasping her hand firmly, letting Adam continue, "Sorry about earlier. Wasn't really cool of me to talk bad about your parents."

Hmm. He sounds sincere, but that's pretty easy to fake. Also, it wouldn't look good if the five year old kid was the first to apologize, so this could easily be just to keep up appearances. We'll see.

"...Me too." I replied, my face morphing into one of childlike repentance. It was an expression I used quite a bit in my last world, so I was confident in its soundness, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those mean words."

The two of us were silent for a moment, eyeing each other neutrally.

"That's good!" Blake gave a little cheer, though even I could tell she wasn't particularly enthused, "Fighting's bad!"

Apparently picking up on Blake's discomfort, Adam finished up his business, "Yeah, I guess it is. I'm gonna go sit with some friends, but if you have any questions or need anything let me know."

"Got it." I gave a cordial nod and watched as the older boy walked off. Not wanting to linger on the awkwardness I quickly changed focus, "So, what do you want to read next, Blake?"

The idea of reading more instantly cheered the young cat girl back up, and she eagerly picked out another story to enjoy. The atmosphere returned to normal, and we passed the rest of the trip uneventfully.

One heck of a skyline, huh...?

I'd seen all kinds of architecture in my past world, and my home world definitely had construction that would boggle the mind, but Vale still managed to be unique in my eyes. Maybe it was because of the gothic-looking castle at the top the mountain overlooking Vale, which I later learned was actually Beacon Academy, as the rest of the city, while modern, wasn't anything I hadn't seen before.

Still, it'd been awhile since I last saw a modern-looking city, so I absorbed as much as I could to compare against my knowledge of modern earth later. Blake, standing next to me, was much more wide-eyed than myself.

"So tall..."

"Yeah, it looks pretty cool." I commented, earning a nod of agreement in response.

We'd offered to help with any unloading or preparation, but the adults waved us off so we were simply sitting on some crates at the edge of the dock looking at the city itself. It was at least mildly interesting for me, as I got to see all kinds of vehicles, workers, and technology on display at the airship dock, but Blake soon grew bored of the scenery. The small cat girl began shuffling in place, kicking her feet idly as her eyes wandered. Strangely, her gaze seemed to linger on me for a few extra seconds whenever I entered her line of sight. She seemed curious, her expression a mix of thoughtfulness and mystification.

"Bored?" After about five minutes of silence I finally gave her a wry smile that caused her to flush in embarrassment.

"N-No..." Blake looked away, ears twitching. Once again, I marveled that only a previous lifetime of experience with beastmen and hanging out with Blake these past few days managed to keep me from suffering a heart attack each time her ears did that.

"Eh, watching the adults work is pretty dull. They're just carrying stuff." I turned to call out to a passing White Fang member, "When are we going to the rally grounds, mister?"

"Maybe in about an hour or so, kid. Workers have to set everything up before the participants get there." He answered succinctly, focusing on his current task.

An hour, huh? That was quite a while in child-time, so I guess I should find something to keep Blake occupied. I scanned the dockside stores, looking for anything of interest. Sure enough, closer to the commercial landing zones there were a lot more shops for tourists and the like.

"Wanna go check out the shops over there?" I pointed at the commercial plaza.

"Um, alright!" Blake stared at the shops for a moment before nodding eagerly.

"Okay, first we need to let someone know." I looked around for an adult and spotted Blake's father talking to some other white fang members near the ship, "Wait here."

I made my way over and waited patiently until he finished talking before getting his attention.

"Hello Mr. Belladonna!" I waved cheerfully at him.

"Rudi? Heard about you from some of the others. They're impressed, you've got good manners, lad." Ghira grinned before turning inquisitive, "So, what do you want?"

"Ah, thank you." I inclined my head politely, "There's a bunch of shops over there. Can Blake and I go take a look?"

Ghira turned to observe my destination of choice, "Hmm...only if you go to the dockside shops where we can see you from here. No going further down the streets."

I was surprised he accepted without issue, even more so that he didn't assign an escort. It must've shown on my face because he chuckled.

"I always have someone at least keeping an eye on Blake. He's got pretty good eyesight, mind you." Ghira frowned, "That Grimm attack blindsided us though. Can't blame him for losing track of her when he's being charged by ursas and beowolves."

"Oh, I see." I nodded in understanding. We stood silently for a few seconds as we remembered the sudden chaos that had struck my village.

"By the way, you got any money?" He asked curiously.

"Yes sir, I was thinking about getting some snacks for the both of us."

"Good. Then go ahead. And be back in half an hour." He clapped me on the back.

I nodded and returned to Blake.

"We're good to go, Blake!" I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. She returned the smile and hopped off the crates to follow me.

It was actually pretty crowded at the dock's shopping district, so I went ahead and took her hand so we wouldn't get separated. Blake blinked in surprise, but didn't seem to mind the gesture, squeezing my hand tightly.

"Where to?" I asked, scanning the names of the shops around us. There were all kinds of places from cafes to souvenir shops, but since I'm already pretty knowledgeable and well-traveled (in spirit), I decided to let Blake lead us.

"Hmm..." Blake's brow furrowed as she attempted to take in everything. Before she could decide, though, her stomach gave off a small rumble. Her face flushed in embarrassment, "Ah...um...maybe we could go there?"

She pointed towards a bakery on the corner. It was a pretty quaint, lively place with a lot of customers, and it was in plain view of the loading/unloading areas of the docks. Seeing no reason to deny the suggestion, I nodded to her and we both entered the establishment. Upon entering we were both bombarded by an array of tantalizing scents. Almost like an echo, my stomach immediately growled as well, making me frown but getting a stifled giggle from Blake.

"I have enough money for both of us, so pick whatever you want." I told her. After a bit of mulling around, she decided to stick close to me and just point whenever she was interested in something. As it turns out, the bakery both had sweet items like a patisserie, and savory items such as sausage rolls. The majority of said items were new to Blake, and I had to explain or describe a good number of them to her.

We were both in the mood for sweets, so I settled for a nice chocolate coronet while Blake decided to get a warm cinnamon roll.

There was a small line at the register, as it seemed the bakery was run by one man. The owner looked middle-aged and just a little overweight. I had my doubts that he made everything himself, it seemed like his product lineup was a mix of locally made and outside-sourced goods.

I mean, that didn't really matter, it was just something I noted while scanning the room. But another thing I'd noticed but kept completely to myself was the lack of faunus customers. There were plenty of faunus outside walking about, but none in the bakery aside from Blake. I didn't think she noticed, being too preoccupied with food, but she'd also been getting a few stares. Nothing overtly hostile, but there was some discomfort here and there. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were some customers that looked they found the small faunus adorable as well, but the atmosphere was a bit off at the moment.

As I processed these thoughts and information, the line moved steadily until I was at the very front. Blake was still semi-hiding behind me, sticking close and shielding herself as much as she could from the views of others.

"Hello," I greeted the owner politely.

"Hey there, kid." The owner gave me a quick glance, eyeing the two pastries in my hands, "That'll be 800 lien for both."

Lien was similar to yen in my eyes, and that price sounded acceptable to me. At least he wasn't the type to cheat a kid. I handed over the money without fuss, gave Blake her pastry, and turned to leave after getting a slight nod from the owner. As we turned, though, he caught sight of Blake's ears.

"Wait a sec." His voice was a low growl now, "I didn't know you were with an animal. I don't serve animals."

Blake's eyes widened in shock as I immediately pushed her behind me again.

"Animal? Where?" I asked innocently, my mind working at a furious pace. I was still unfamiliar with how faunus were really treated, but I was at least confident there wasn't going to be violence. The other customers took notice of what was going on too. Some were neutral, but most looked either uncomfortable or sympathetic. To my relief, there were few hostile glances. Hopefully this ratio could be projected onto the population as a whole?

"I'm talking about the little beast behind you, kid." The owner straightened up, glaring all the while, "Not gonna let her eat some of my goods, that's for sure."

I forced down my own glare. Blake's just a kid, she didn't need to hear this or be treated like this. The girl was beginning to shake a little, so I gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Blake's not a beast, Mister. She's my friend!" I kept up the confused and innocent facade and gave him an imploring and sorrowful look, any anger I felt completely invisible to anyone else.

"I don't give a damn if she's the Queen of Vale. Give me back my food." The owner didn't seem to care.

"Eh? But I paid for these..."

"I'll give you the money back, but I ain't gonna let her eat my food!" The owner held up the lien I'd just given him, before he got an idea. With a terribly obvious smirk he suggested something unnecessarily nasty, "Tell you what. You can keep your food, but you have to give me her's. I'll give you the 400 lien back for that."

I briefly entertained the idea of listening, and then just splitting or giving my treat to Blake as a way to spit in the man's face, but that didn't seem like it would be enough payback for me. A brief glance over the crowd showed many of them were getting more and more uncomfortable or even disgusted at the scene.

Perhaps I could gamble a bit here.

"No, if you're gonna be a big jerk to me and my friend, I don't want your stupid food!" I tossed the treats at him, lightly enough that he dropped the lien on instinct to catch the food. He fumbled in surprise, earning a few chuckles from the onlookers, but managed to not drop any of the treats. I grabbed the lien and turned to leave abruptly, knowing he'd get at least a little angry at my disrespect.

"You little brat-!" He took a step towards us, coming out from behind the counter.

I turned back to him, my eyes widening in a near perfect caricature of surprise and fear. Of course, I made sure to keep Blake in a safe position, shielded by me.

"Hey, that's enough!"

"They're just kids!"

As expected, the potential use of force against children was too much for some of the onlookers, who immediately protested. The baker halted, perhaps realizing what he might've attempted to do in the next moment.

I didn't bother waiting around though, I needed to keep up the act. With noticeable anxiety I pulled Blake urgently towards the front and we both exited the shop. As the door shut behind us I made sure to confirm the baker had returned to his original position (still scowling, of course) behind the register. I let out a small sigh of relief, which Blake interpreted as us no longer being in danger.

"Th-That was really scary..." Her voice was nearly a whimper.

"Yeah..." I agreed, still squeezing her hand tightly, before cracking a broken grin in defeat, "Aw man, that food looked so tasty..."

"I'm sorry...i-it was my fault..." Blake murmured, eyes glued to the ground.

"Nope!" I reacted immediately, it wouldn't do to have her get the wrong idea. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me, "It's not your fault. It's his fault. Being born the way you are, with a certain skin color, body type, or faunus feature, is never going to be your fault. Only angry, mean, people like him will say that. And they're wrong."

Blake blinked, listening to my words intently.

"You might not understand now, but the loudest people aren't always the right people. And most people aren't like them. Remember that. For me, okay?"

"Um...okay." Blake nodded in response and gave me a smile, before tilting her head curiously, "You...know a lot, Rudi."

Well, I'm just trying to keep her from going down an undesirable path. She's young, impressionable, and trusting. And people can take advantage of that. In a way, I'm taking advantage of that by influencing her right now.

"Haha, Dad thinks I'm pretty smart, but I dunno..." I scratched my cheek wryly. I don't think I could ever be considered a prodigy. I just have an unfair starting advantage.

"But I-" Blake's reply was interrupted when the both of us noticed a slightly older girl of about 9-10 approaching us.

"H-Hi...I saw what happened in the shop." She spoke with some slight hesitation at first, but warmed up as she continued, "My best friend is a faunus, just like your friend. What that guy said was really mean and wrong...So...I got these for you both!"

She presented us with a bag of warm donuts. Blake looked surprised but elated, while I let out an inward sigh of relief that my gamble paid off.

"Thanks!" "Th-Thank you..."

We accepted the gift graciously, the well-wishing girl smiling widely in response. Standing a little farther back was a woman with a proud expression who was most likely the girl's mother. Good, by this point I could safely rule out that the enmity towards Faunus had not reached the level of "literal advocating of genocide" that the anti-demon faction of my past world had reached.

It was looking more like the civil rights movement over in the United States of America. I'm starting to wish I'd studied that more, but hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. There hadn't been any reason for a Japanese NEET for me to do that unless it was out of personal interest.

Withdrawing from my ruminations, I was once again pleasantly surprised when a well-dressed older gentleman stepped out of the shop and headed towards us. Blake withdrew a bit, her shyness returning in full force, but she didn't look panicked at least.

"Well, I see I'm a bit late. That's quite a few donuts there." He had a gentle expression, which calmed Blake down more, "I suppose I'll give you some of these then."

He held out some vacuum-sealed sweetbread rolls.

"Save them for later. And hold your head up high, little missy." He nodded at Blake, "Don't be ashamed of who you are."

"Ah...thank you, sir..." Blake took the bags from him.

"See?" I patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah..." Blake flushed happily, a small smile present on her embarrassed face.

The young girl and older gentleman waved goodbye before returning to their own business, which the both of us returned (one a bit more energetically than the other).

It was at this point, most likely planned, that the villain of the hour decided to make a return. He'd waited until the coast was clear, of course. It was fairly obvious that anyone who didn't side with him had left quickly, including our well-wishers who had only bought those small items that they had immediately gifted to us. The rest of the people who stayed either agreed or were apathetic to the racism he displayed, and now they were the only ones around.

Now, normally I would've taken Blake and we would've cleared out along with our sympathizers, but I'd spotted something interesting, so I decided to take another gamble.

"You little pieces of-" The baker looked positively enraged, but before he could even finish the first statement of what was most likely a rather blistering tirade (and maybe some intention of physical confrontation), he was interrupted by a grim voice.

"Is there a problem, sir?" A stern faced blonde man with thin stubble that gave him a rougher appearance spoke up. He wore casual clothing, but it was obvious to even a child that he was trained and dangerous. Even if you couldn't recognize it from his body language his casual clothing did little to hide that he was lean and muscled, and a showdown between him and this overweight baker would be a foregone conclusion.

"...Tch!" The baker turned around the stormed back into his business. It honestly felt pretty good seeing the prick foiled twice in a row now.

The blonde man watched him go, before turning around with a rather...fatherly expression? I actually blinked in surprise, I hadn't been expecting to see that kind of expression on a stranger. Maybe he's a dad himself? Or seeing kids in trouble triggered that response or something.

"Are you two alright?" He looked us over worriedly even though the baker hadn't even come close to us before he intervened.

"We're fine, mister." I answered cheerfully, with Blake nodding along in agreement. I had spotted him observing the shop on the way in and on the way out, so I figured he might be there for a reason. His body language screamed "huntsman", and I knew that while not perfect, Vale was pretty open-minded towards faunus in both attitude and law. Second to Vacuo, in fact.

"That's good." He gave us a warm smile, "I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, nice to meet you two."

"B-Blake Belladonna." Blake bowed her head respectfully.

"Rudi Lovac." I grinned, noting that Taiyang seemed to recognize both of our names.

"Ah...I got it now. The daughter of the White Fang leader. And you're Ros and Kuroi's son then," the older man nodded, more to himself than to us, "Your parents sent me a message that you'd be dropping by Vale for the rally."

"You know mom and dad?" I let my eyes widen as I internally confirmed my suspicions. My parents probably called in a favor to have a fellow huntsman keep an eye on us.

"We're old friends." Taiyang suddenly gave my back some forcefully encouraging smacks, "They told me all about how their little boy was a hero in the making! You did good!"

"I-It was nothing..." I rubbed my back gingerly.

He gave a sly smirk in response, "I don't think rescuing a girl and fighting a horde of Grimm is 'nothing, y'know?"

"We were just running away the whole time..." I pointed out.

"You fought a pack of creeps."

"They were just creeps."

"You're five years old."

"...I have my aura unlocked."

"Haha! I like you, kid. You remind me of...well, a dusty old crow I know. Maybe not as cynical."

"Thanks...I think?"

"Well, I'm technically on patrol at the moment. You two should head back to the White Fang." Taiyang gestured at the docks, "I'll see you around. They have me on duty for the rally to make sure..."

He trailed off and gave Blake a sheepish look.

"To make sure the party doesn't get too loud..." He finished lamely. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Of course there would be hunstmen or police presence at a civil rights rally, but Blake probably didn't understand the implications yet. He gave us both reassuring pats on the shoulder before wandering off. He continued to look casual and unassuming, but even I could see his eyes were sharp, on the lookout for trouble.

Overall, I'd have to say my first impression of the huntsman was a blunt and honest man. Not too loud, but not one for propriety. That last part seemed to be a bit of a trend, something more common in modernized society that I had forgotten about since living in a feudal fantasy society for so long. I mean, when you're acquainted with royalty, you do learn to pick up manners quickly.

Deciding to follow his advice, Blake and I reunited with the White Fang at the docks just in time to meet up with Ghira Belladonna.

"Quite the haul there." He eyed the pile of baked goods in Blake's arms, "Don't eat them all at once, okay sweetie?"

"Yes papa," Blake answered obediently, wiggling in slight discomfort as her dad ruffled her hair and ears.

"We're getting ready to start the rally. You kids will be standing near the front with some of the White Fang guards." Ghira explained.

I nodded, seeing the logic. Blake is the daughter of a controversial political figure, and I'm the guest of said figure, so it made sense to have some security with us. The car ride to the rally site was uneventful, I passed time by chatting with Blake about the various sights we saw through the windows.

It was both nostalgic and jarring to see a modern city after being away from one for so long, and it really reinforced the fact that I'd found myself in a third world during my third life. Pretty crazy, once you stop and think about it. The lack of electricity was what broke the nostalgia for me. Dust technology, while resembling Earth's technology, was noticeably different in many ways. Less wiring, and I knew if you broke open most of devices you wouldn't find as much circuitry, and there would probably be a crystal or two instead.

As we exited the car at the rally site, I got my first look at the growing crowd. Both to my surprise and satisfaction, there was a good number of human attendees along with faunus within the wider audience sections. Of course, the White Fang section near the front and below the podium platform was filled with faunus, but it made me glad that Vale was living up to its reputation thus far.

To my knowledge, the rally would open up with several speeches from both White Fang and Vale officials or leaders, followed by a break, then some kind of debate/discussion round-table conference. I hadn't done anything like this before in my previous lives, so I was interested to see how the rally was organized and executed. I did get the feeling that Blake might get a little bored though. Hopefully she can stay awake throughout.

Blake and I stood next to each other, flanked by some White Fang guards with armbands that denoted their affiliation. I'd overheard some talk about getting uniforms or even basic body armor, but Ghira was currently against that because it could be perceived as planning for an escalation.

One of the guards gave me a rather warm and familiar smile for someone I'd never seen before. It was then I noticed his faunus feature. Hawk-eyes. Or maybe some other bird of prey. Perhaps this is the lookout that Ghira assigned to Blake? Did he see what happened at the bakery? It's a little embarrassing, knowing I'm being watched like that...

Shaking it off, I turned my attention to the stage. Ghira's speech and the subsequent speeches were nothing out of the ordinary for what I expected out of a civil rights rally. Talk about hard-working citizens, family, national pride regardless of race, so on. Some of the specifics caught my interest though; one speaker talked about the current state of laws protecting faunus in Vale which seemed advanced but were not always followed, according to him. Another speaker mentioned better relations with the Faunus island of Menagerie, hoping for more trade and services to be made available to strengthen the economy there. That would require less tariffs and more exports on Vale's side, if my half-assed knowledge of economics could be applied here. Both speakers were a bit dry, but the crowd's attention was actually higher than before due to discussion of specific issues rather than lofty goals. At the very least, most of the people looked thoughtful as the speakers came up one by one.

I could tell Blake had lost interest after the first few lofty speeches and was instead curiously looking around the rally grounds. We were set up in something that looked like a city park, but away from the grass and trees. The presence of an actual stage and podium that looked permanent rather than temporary probably meant this was an area meant for speeches or other congregations of people.

Soon enough, the speeches were finished and it was time for a short break. People milled about, chatting animatedly about the points brought up by the speakers. There were even some food and drink stands setup nearby. They were probably regular sellers at the park that are taking advantage of the large crowd. I looked over at Blake and found her reading another one of the books I lent her.

Did...did she have that on her this whole time?

I blinked bemusedly at the scene, but decided not to bother her. Instead, I began doing some basic aura manipulation exercises. I didn't want to make scene so I focused on internal manipulation. Even though I'm already way above average in terms of aura size and skill for my age, call me impatient, I wanted to know what my semblance is. I mean, c'mon. It's literally a superpower under a different name.

The exercises I performed were a set of Mistralian techniques devised for this very purpose. It emphasized using your aura naturally until you discovered your semblance by first focusing on your internal manifestation of aura (useful for finding things like strengthening or augmenting-type semblances) before trying external manifestations (for pretty much anything else).

About a week before the White Fang arrived, I discovered an odd sort of compulsion when it came to using my aura to augment my senses. I haven't yet isolated which ones, but either I'm good at using aura for reconnaissance or my semblance might have something to do with one of my five senses. I haven't yet figured it out.

I fell into a routine meditation, or trance, as I went though the motions. Probably not the best idea, as I was startled when a passerby accidentally bumped into Blake and she yelped in surprise. It was just a minor push, but in my surprise I let my aura flare for a brief moment. This was immediately followed by an intense, burning pain behind my eyes.

"Rudi! Rudi! Are you okay!?" Blake's voice was calling out to me. I blinked, realizing that I'd apparently doubled over in pain, my hands over my eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I stood up carefully, shooting her a wide smile, "I think something flew into my eyes..."

"O-Okay..." Blake didn't look convinced, but my smile seemed to reassure her. The White Fang guards around us relaxed as well, having approached at the sound of Blake's shouts.

"I should probably splash some water on me, " I shook my head, still remembering the sudden and blinding pain, "Anyone know where the nearest restroom or fountain is?"

"There's one between that warehouse and business building." One of the White Fang members pointed it out for me.

"Thanks." I nodded and turned to Blake, "Be right back, 'kay?"

"Alright." Blake watched me carefully as I walked casually over to the restrooms. I looked back a couple of times to give her a reassuring wave or two, and soon enough she returned to reading her book, content to wait for my return.

Now...what was that?

I looked at my face carefully in the mirror. Nothing seemed off, before I noticed that my eyes seemed like they were now different shades of color than my natural green. Disbelieving, I rubbed my eyes for a moment and looked again. They were back to normal.

Hmm...

I did a quick run through of my aura exercises again, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. As I did a second run to make absolutely certain, I heard something interesting when I enhanced my hearing. There was some muffled thuds and a rather liberal amount of cursing coming from beyond the wall, towards the interior of the building I was currently in.

The restrooms I was in were empty aside from me, and were attached to a warehouse near the edge of the rally grounds. Curious, I exited the restroom and looked at the warehouse from the outside. It was an ordinary brick structure, a little rundown, but nothing nearing dilapidation. The only issue was...the front had tape all over it saying "closed for repair".

Isn't that suspicious?

It was a trivial matter for me to return to the alleyway near the restrooms and find a good spot to scale the walls. I wanted to look in without anyone seeing me. Looking into the warehouse I could see several men moving boxes around. They were dressed in working clothes, a mix of human and faunus men being directed by a rather large and bulky faunus with a reptilian tail, most likely alligator or crocodile.

It seemed innocent enough, but they didn't look like construction workers. And the warehouse was supposedly closed. Before I could enhance my hearing to find out more, one of the workers slipped up, dropping a box and causing the leader to curse liberally at him. On closer observation, all of them were quite tense, and it seemed like the dropped box was due to sweat and a lack of proper gloves.

The next thing I noticed was far more jarring and immediate. Some devices had fallen out of the damaged box. Pipe-like design with some kind of electronic interface attached. Said devices were lined with glowing dust crystals with more inside (I assume).

These men were carrying explosives.

Pipe bombs, to be exact.

Parting Note: DUN DUN DUNNNNN. There will be action next chapter, I promise. Till then, thanks to all you very patient readers of mine!