Chapter 41

"How is the situation on the frontier, Angelo?"

"Bad. The Grimm Horde destroys at least five medium-sized villages. The town near Mt. Glenn also gets destroyed because of the Grimm coming from the mountain. That is the rumor I heard on our journey."

"I see. I already sent someone to check all the villages and towns on the frontier. Let's hope it was only five villages and one town."

I can see Ozpin release a tired sigh before messaging his forehead.

"How is the army? I hear they start moving the army to clear the horde of Grimm coming from the north of Forever Fall forest."

"Tch. There are too many casualties. Those idiot councilmen decide to send an underequipped and undertrained soldier to their death. If not for a competent huntsman that comes with them, they all will be dead."

Yeah. I heard about this. Vale's army is a joke among the four kingdoms. It was used not to protect the kingdom but rather for the high-ranking politician to gain more power. It was used as a stepping stone for them by sending their son and daughter to gain high rank from it.

The councilman also cut down the budget for the army's equipment by seventy percent and then put it on the salary for the higher officer. This scheme is something that makes the Army of Vale kingdom become the breeding ground for corruption.

"How many casualties?"

"Hundred and fifty soldiers died in the battle, and seven veteran huntsmen died trying to rescue as many soldiers as they could."

"And the Grimm?"

"They can't exterminate all of the Grimm, but they are able to take a good chunk of them."

"But the news says otherwise. Why? Ah! I see."

"Yes. We cannot risk another negative energy burst happening. The constant attack of Grimm already damaged some part of the wall."

"I see. What do we need to do with the rest of the Grimm in the Forever Fall?"

"That is why I called you here. I want you and your 'daughter' to thin the Grimm before they arrive here slowly."

I look at him with one eyebrow raised before saying.

"How do you know?"

"Common sense. The Elizabeth you bring with you on your mission is the same Elizabeth that appears inside my office."

"Ah, I know I should change her appearance."

"I will not ask you how you made her a body that looks even better than project P.E.N.N.Y., but I want you to promise me that she will register as a huntsman from Beacon when she is ready."

"Of course."

"Anyway, I want you and your daughter to take the Grimm one by one until they are low enough for the army to wipe them out."

"You want the army to wipe them out? Why?"

"Morale reason. There are at least three hundred people that know about this incident. Those three hundred will spread the news to the other. Can you imagine how much negative emotion it will release?"

"Too much."

"Exactly. This mission will be an S-rank mission, and your reward will be huge. Not only that, I will grant you a Type-A restriction. Meaning that you will be the equivalent of a General if you are in the army."

"... I'm grateful for it, but why? I did not do much."

"Not much? In the past month, you not only rescued eight villages and three towns, you also healed more than three hundred people for free. You successfully rescued one ton worth of Dust two weeks ago. A week later, you successfully rescued a group of stranded Atlas Soldier that was helping us. Three days ago, you helped a fight against a dozen Goliaths with the Atlas Soldier. If I do not grant you this position after that mission, the public will burn me alive. You want me to list more reasons why I need to grant you this position?"

"No. I get it. I just hate it when I get that high position. I like my freedom, you know?"

"And you will keep it. Remember that you are a huntsman. As much as I hate to admit it, we are more of a mercenary. We can take the mission that we want to take. Even with your new position, you will still have that freedom. You will have a new obligation, but it was more of a formality than anything."

"Yeah. Yeah. You don't need to say more."

"Good. I will send some of the students with you."

"Are you sure? This is an S-class mission. This is a dangerous mission."

"I don't want them to go with you to the frontline. No. I want them to exterminate the one that passes your defense.

"Cleaning team."

"Exactly."

"But even then, the danger in this mission is bigger than a regular mission."

"I know, and they know about the danger. They already sign a waiver in case they die on a mission. Even when they are still students, they are a veteran Grimm hunter."

"... Very well. When will the mission start?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|3rd P.O.V. |

Velvet took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, but it did not work.

"Come on, Bunbun. You need to calm down. He is just one man."

"Yes, and he rescued more than five hundred people in a span of one month! He is the most famous Faunus in the world! His huntsman record is something that many hunters and huntresses envy."

Velvet continues to rant about how amazing her idol is. Velvet is a shy individual and rarely talks, but when it was about her idol, the White Wolf, Angelo de la Luna, she became the most talkative individual in Beacon.

She admires how Angelo does whatever he does for free. He did not need to heal these people and only needed to finish the mission. However, he did not do that. He will always heal the people in need, help them rebuild their homes, and even give them some food.

Without him knowing, the public started to trust Faunus more, and it was more effective than what White Fang was doing. He is doing it differently than what White Fang is doing. White Fang wants to spread an idea to the public. An idea that the human and Faunus race can live together as an equal by protesting and even raiding a bigotted human.

Angelo, on the other directly helps people while putting his life on the line. People appreciate this action more than shouting in the middle of a plaza and raiding/stealing from rich people even when that said rich people are bigoted individuals.

People did not see the one that got raided as a bigoted individual. They see them as people, and the others are afraid that their house will also get raided. They did not think that they would not get raided if they did not do anything bad to a Faunus.

However, when they see a Faunus willing to help them while putting their life on the line, they appreciate it more and will remember it for their entire life. They will always remember someone who saved their life by healing them. They will remember someone that rescued them from Grimm.

This is the reason why Velvet admires Angelo. He is doing something that White Fang cannot do, making people believe in Faunus.

"You are doing it again, Bunbun."

Velvet snapped from her rant and blushed at the smirk on Coco's face. Her team leader really likes to tease her for her fangirling on Angelo.

"I'm sorry, Coco. I'm just so excited to meet him."

"Heh. Don't worry about it, Bunbun. You are cute doing it."

"Coco!"

Both women continue bickering while their other teammates prepare their equipment for the mission. A few minutes later, their professor Glynda Goodwtich arrived, and coming with her was a familiar White-Haired man. This man is Angelo.

"Team Coffee, this man is Angelo, and he will be your leader for this mission."

Angelo smiles at them before saying.

"Good morning."