Professor Arc

Chapter 31

The stench of blood was the first thing Jaune smelled when they all crowded into the small building. It pervaded the place like a thick miasma, enough to make him hack. The students bore it well, though Pyrrha's face turned pale and Ren grimaced. Tai and Bran followed behind, the latter having met them at the building once he'd heard the news. Any hope that there might have been a survivor fled in an instant. Nothing could smell like this and still live. It would have been too cruel.

"Marcus?" Velvet called, "Marcus, we're here!"

There was a loud banging from the left, followed by a low curse. Instead of the upstairs door like the last time, it was a thickset wooden door on the left of the room that opened.

"In here," the man sighed and waved them forward. "I didn't expect you to bring so many, so it might be a little crowded. I'd advise you to hold your noses but..." he shrugged at their already disgusted expressions.

Jaune and the others followed after him, ducking beneath the door as they filed into the room. It was dimly lit, with a single lamp overlooking a flat table. On it lay what might once have been a young woman. Much of the face was unrecognisable, thanks to the huge claw-marks across her skin. There was blood everywhere.

"Two members of the militia dragged her in an hour ago," Marcus said, "I'm not sure where they found her. They wouldn't say."

"What do you mean they wouldn't say?" Jaune asked.

"It's exactly what I said. Came barging in shouting for me, dumped her on the carpet and told me to do what I had to do." He rubbed his forehead, "I made sure to ask what they knew, but the two just looked at each other and said it wasn't for me to know."

"That doesn't sound normal..."

Marcus laughed, "You're telling me? It gets even stranger... when I asked how I was going to notify the family they said I didn't have to. How it was a homeless woman who didn't have any. They then told me that on the mayor's orders, I wasn't to make anyone aware. He doesn't want any panic."

"So they're just going to pretend this never happened?" Velvet sounded horrified, but the expressions on Tai and Bran's face were just grim. "They're going to just act like this girl didn't matter?"

"Mass panic isn't going to help anyone," Tai said. "The people would either live in fear or try and hunt the beast themselves. Both of which might make our job harder."

"It's not right," Bran added – likely before any of the team could speak up, "but it's how the world works. All we can do is try an' make sure the thing that caused this dies before it takes anyone else."

"The thing is..." all eyes turned back to the doctor as he spoke, "We're outside the walls. Things are different out here. We don't pay as much in taxes, we don't get the support of free medical care or police. And you're probably the first Hunters we've seen in years. Everyone's used to dealing with problems on their own since there's no time to hope Vale would send anyone. In a place like this, being the mayor is more akin to being king. Whatever decisions he makes are pretty much law – and everyone knows to follow them."

"Does Vale know of this?" Ren asked.

"It's the same everywhere," Tai sighed. "You need to be able to react fast to a threat, and most of the colonies outside the walls are made up of those either too poor to live in the city or those who have reason not to. Sure, there are plenty of retired Hunters too. But something like 70% of the population of the Kingdom is within the city of Vale itself. Even on Patch, you don't call Vale for help, you call someone you know – or Signal."

"Pretty much," Marcus said. "I know you all probably don't agree, but panic really is what the mayor's trying to avoid right now. The people might react by forming a mob and trying to hunt down the Grimm themselves. Not the best idea when you guys are here for that."