"Go, Ill!" Egrer yelled.
"Beat the crap out of that idiot!" even Yort was screaming something encouraging.
"Ma-jes-ty!" Magenta had somehow gotten her hands on a banner with their team name. "Ma-jes-ty! Ma-jes-ty!"
"R-W-B-Y! R-W-B-Y! Kick his ass, sis!" Ruby was waving a huge sign around too. Where do they even get this stuff? And where were they hiding it before?
Illmond did a backflip, dodging Yang's punch. In mid-air, he cracked a Gravity Dust whip, and the spot where the blonde had been standing a second ago erupted like a small bomb had gone off. His left arm was hastily wrapped in strings of Lightning Dust, serving as a shield, since Yang fights with her fists, and touching something carrying a live voltage is a very bad idea.
Glynda Goodwitch stood at a distance, watching them closely and making notes on her scroll-pad. Today was their first combat training class, and a quick duel awaited every first-year student so the teacher could gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Each duelist was given a simple task—drop your opponent's Aura into the "red zone" within three minutes using any means necessary. It's incredibly hard, but that's exactly why everyone went all out, pushing past their limits. Nobody wanted to lose; even Illmond, who had grown cold toward the Huntsman trade, fought tooth and nail.
He was no slouch in close-quarters combat, which Yang learned the hard way right at the start. Real life isn't a video game where different classes have preferred playstyles, specific weaknesses, and strengths. In reality, Dust mages are completely OP, effectively fighting both in melee and at range. How are you supposed to punch someone who's wrapped themselves in electrified threads? Or who's hopping around the arena like a madman because Gravity Dust is his best friend? Or who can weave a cannon out of thin air and blast you with ten times the force of a real one?
This realization cost Yang a huge chunk of Aura, but she wasn't an idiot and quickly changed her tactics. Now she was shooting more than swinging her fists, but Illmond was no fool either. Free from the threat of close combat, he could spend more time preparing more destructive shapes out of his Dust threads. Even if he could hold his own up close, he still felt much more confident keeping his distance from the enemy.
You could tell Illmond was breathing heavily and totally worn out from the fight, while Yang was still fresh and full of energy. Say what you will, but he really let himself go after Sanctum. If the fight had gone on for even a minute longer, he most likely would have lost.
"Time is up." Goodwitch flicked her riding crop, and the students slid apart to opposite sides. "Ms. Xiao Long, your weapon is not suited for mid-to-long-range engagements. You should either learn to shoot more accurately or modify the design of your gauntlets. In a typical scenario, this isn't an issue for you, as you are capable of closing the distance rapidly, but as you can see, that isn't always a silver bullet."
"Got it, ma'am."
"Mr. Kitse." The professor turned to Illmond. He'd be making a colossal mistake to ignore the advice of a fellow Dust mage, especially one so strong and experienced. "You should start taking care of your physique. Physical conditioning to improve your stamina and muscle mass will only benefit you. Just because you prefer long-range engagements does not mean your opponents will be kind enough to accommodate you."
Illmond simply nodded and went back to his seat, while Ms. Goodwitch gave her riding crop another flick. The stone shards haphazardly scattered across the arena flew back into place, craters filled in, and cracks sealed shut. Everyone had heard rumors about her Semblance, but Egrer was still amazed by how much Lien Beacon saved on maintenance. Telekinesis is badass, especially when you don't just bash two rocks together, but seamlessly fuse them into one.
Once finished, the professor called the next pair down to the arena.
"Nice going, Ill, you almost had her." Egrer patted his friend on the shoulder, but the guy clearly wasn't happy with himself.
"Almost..." he echoed, sitting down next to him. "Everything has to be perfect, or it shouldn't exist at all."
"Oh, come on, Yang's been training her whole life, and you took a long-ass break after Sanctum. Don't be such a perfectionist."
"Just excuses. People only remember the winners. Don't even try to argue," Illmond added, catching the disagreement in his friend's eyes.
"I will argue. Second and third places are honorable too, and they get rewarded."
"Do you know who Pyrrha Nikos is?" Sarcasm practically dripped from his voice, along with an obvious desire to end this conversation as soon as possible. "Four-time champion of the Mistral regional tournaments, maybe you've heard of her. Ever watched her matches?"
"I know who she is, and I haven't watched all of them, of course, but I've seen most," Egrer replied peaceably, trying not to piss Illmond off even more. He didn't fully understand why the guy was getting so worked up. "Yort, what about you?"
"Seen every single one," he nodded, watching the duel below.
"Then answer me this: who took second place during her second appearance in the tournament? Hmm? That was the year she became a two-time champion and truly started her climb to the top." It was clearly a trick question, and try as he might, Egrer couldn't recall the name, the face, or even the weapon or fighting style of that person. Illmond patiently waited a couple of minutes before continuing. "If people actually remembered more than just the winners, you'd know that I took second place that year."
"Y-You?" Egrer asked in shock.
"I wasn't arguing with you, quite the opposite—I agree." Yort didn't look surprised, even though he couldn't remember either. Maybe he hadn't even tried to. "Only winning matters."
"Why did you lose?" Magenta asked, having listened to their conversation in silence up until now.
"I don't want to make excuses; I just wasn't good enough."
"And yet?" Illmond sighed and raised his hands, clenching them into fists. His gloves creaked as hundreds of tiny mechanisms, resembling insect legs, brushed against each other with a quiet rustle.
"The Spider Weaver broke at the deciding moment," he finally said. "I pushed it too hard and it just jammed. My mistake."
"You fixed it though, so that it won't happen again in the future, right?"
"Yes, but—"
"That means next time you'll win for sure!" Magenta declared confidently, pumping her little fists. Illmond smiled sadly, but the words definitely made him feel a bit better.
"Not anymore. Eg had a point; I took way too long of a break after Sanctum. And Pyrrha wasn't just sitting around twiddling her thumbs during that time... Right now, I don't stand a chance against her."
"Yort?" Egrer called out.
"Twenty-one percent." He caught the hint perfectly. "Two and a half percent higher than that blonde chick."
"See? You've got a chance, and a solid one at that! Basically, every fifth fight is yours." Illmond just let out a heavy sigh at those words. Egrer scratched the back of his head in confusion, trying to figure out what he'd said wrong. It took a few minutes of intense brain-racking before he let out a silent groan, realizing his own stupidity.
How could he say, "You've got a whole twenty-one percent, good job!" to an absolute maximalist and perfectionist? That might cheer up a normal person, but Illmond wasn't normal—he hated those odds. As he'd said just a moment ago—everything has to be perfect, or it shouldn't exist at all.
The match in the arena ended, and Goodwitch called up the next pair:
"Egrer Peleni and Cardin Winchester."
Shit. Alright, Ill, we'll revisit this later. You need professional help, Egrer thought grimly as he got up from his seat.
"That's the moron with the mace," Yort perked up. "Give him a good smack for me."
"You got it." They bumped fists. If only they had this kind of unanimity all the time...
"Hold up, though." The giant looked incredibly surprised; he'd obviously just used his Semblance. And he was surprised not so much by the side effect of his ability, but out of genuine shock. "Why are your chances of winning only one in a hundred?"
"What?!"
"Mr. Peleni, do not keep us waiting," Goodwitch commanded in a tone that brokered zero disobedience. Egrer flinched and skipped several steps to get down to the arena as fast as possible. He felt a reverent awe toward her, second only to what he felt for Ozpin (until recently), and the absolute last thing in the world Egrer wanted was to get on her bad side.
Cardin was already waiting. He was twirling his mace cockily, fancying himself an impregnable fortress and a mighty warrior. His plate armor had plenty of exposed spots: shins, stomach, neck. Only someone completely confident in their strength would leave that many vulnerabilities open. It was an obvious trap, and Egrer wasn't going to fall for it. Cardin was clearly incredibly cunning and deceitful, judging by his smirk. Nothing good ever comes from a face like that.
Who the hell is this guy?!
Egrer had fought other Aura users his whole life, but in most cases, he either just hauled ass or hit them with a cheap shot, relying on his fast legs and stealth. So he didn't have a ton of experience in face-to-face brawls, but for him to have only a one percent chance of winning... Does Beacon really house such incredible opponents? Yort's prediction had demoralized him so badly that he was already thinking about throwing in the towel. Is there any point fighting someone you literally have zero chance against?
The duelists synced the Aura gauges on their Scrolls with the arena's tech, and their bars popped up on the massive monitor near the ceiling. Egrer, already bracing for defeat, plainly and without any flair activated Needle-Punch. Two long needles... or rather, one...
Why is there only one?!
"One sec, please!" he was burning with shame, but he couldn't fight with a broken weapon! Egrer tapped the casing and pressed the button two more times, but the second needle never popped out.
Oh, I am so stuuuupid... He remembered. The second needle was left stuck in the Death Stalker's eye. He forgot to pull it out after the fight.
"Are you experiencing a malfunction?" Goodwitch asked.
"Um, n-not exactly. I-I forgot my second needle."
"The fight hasn't even started and you already lost half your weapon somewhere?" Cardin laughed, and soon the rest of the room followed suit. Egrer bristled.
"Not 'somewhere'! It's stuck in a Death Stalker's body, for your information!" Most of the students stopped snickering, and to solidify the effect, Egrer kept going. "And there was also a Nevermore flying around nearby, so I was a little too exhausted to worry about minor details like that."
"You're full of shit." Cardin didn't believe a word of it.
"Hey, it's true!" Jaune shouted, standing up from his seat. "We were all there."
His team chimed in with agreement, Nora being the loudest, threatening to break Cardin's legs if he didn't believe them. Team RWBY joined the commotion next, with Yang being the loudest this time; she was also throwing out threats, though hers were a bit more creative. And, of course, you couldn't forget his own team. Madge was waving her banner around and shouting rhymes she'd literally just made up detailing his heroic feat. The rest sang along, each to their own beat and in their own weird way.
How nice it was to realize so many people had your back!
"Silence!" Ms. Goodwitch snapped, slamming her crop against her desk. It felt like cotton had been shoved in everyone's ears, so sharp was the contrast to the recent hubbub. "Mr. Peleni, while I can sympathize with your situation, leaving a part of your weapon on the battlefield is far too irresponsible. Return to your seat."
Egrer obediently trudged back.
"You're such a loser."
"Shut it, Yort. Tell me this instead: if I had both needles, what would my chances of winning have been?"
"I can't tell you what would happen 'if,' only what's gonna happen if Goodwitch threw you two at each other right now. But don't sweat it, that moron's percentage was even lower than yours."
"Then where the hell did the other ninety-eight percent go?"
"Draw. Which is exactly what happened," he shrugged. That meant it had nothing to do with Cardin being a badass, but was entirely due to Egrer's cowardice. He could've wrecked him even with just one needle!
Meanwhile, Goodwitch was contemplating who to pit Cardin against next.
"In that case, Mr. Winchester will fight," she glanced down at her scroll-pad, completely missing Yort's raised hand, "Jaune Arc."
"Tch. Zero chance there, only zero-point-five percent."
"Whoa, RIP to our guy." Egrer made a religious gesture. "May the God of Light rest his soul, and may he avoid the maw of the God of Darkness."
Jaune walked to the battlefield in total silence; nobody dared to make a peep anymore. Giving his team a hesitant wave, he drew his sword, and his scabbard unfolded into a shield with a metallic rasp. Cardin looked him up and down with a mocking smirk.
"Hope you didn't forget anything, at least?"
"I don't think so." Jaune patted his pockets and gave himself a quick once-over. It looked like he thought the question was completely genuine.
Glynda Goodwitch gave the signal, and the fight began. Poor Jaune couldn't even swing his sword properly; Cardin either casually tanked the hits on his armor or batted them away with his mace. But the counterattacks he threw back were massive; even with his shield, Jaune was barely staying on his feet. Two minutes later, the match was over, the blonde's Aura dropped into the red zone. It was the first actual defeat of the day. Not even Nikos had wrecked her opponent that fast, although it was glaringly obvious she had just taken pity on him.
It seemed this was all a cunning plan by Goodwitch; she was getting payback for Jaune causing that ruckus earlier!
"Mr. Arc," she began, barely holding back some very unflattering words. "Abysmal. You possess absolutely no technique. I don't even know what else to add; perhaps you should consider retaking a prep school combat program. And you, Mr. Winchester, rely far too heavily on your armor. Had your opponent been swifter, he surely would have exploited that. You may return to your seats."
The duelists went back to their seats. A few more matches went by, and each one left a distinct impression. Most of the students had Semblances, which they weren't shy about using to wow the crowd with sudden shifts in the tide of battle. Blake, for example, made clones; some guy could turn invisible; and there was a buff blonde dude who could freeze time around himself for a solid seven seconds. The more enterprising hustlers even set up a betting pool, from which the completely guileless Yort managed to rake in a decent profit. Egrer also took part in the fleece, simply placing bets on the favorites chosen by their personal pocket-oracle.
Snickering at those supposedly smart guys, Egrer was nonetheless jealous that almost everyone here had some incredible abilities, while his team was stuck at the bottom of the barrel. Predictions were incredibly useful, sure, but they didn't come with any badass special effects like burning hair or explosions. Instead, Yort's face just stretches out like he caught Port and Goodwitch making out.
On the flip side, they had Magenta, and that made up for everything. During her duel, the entire class watched with their jaws on the floor as tongues of flame born from Earth Dust slowly stacked on top of each other, forming a small hill and burying her poor opponent underneath. Not to mention a completely unnatural phenomenon like wet fire, which she also showed off.
The class wrapped up with a fight between Weiss and Ruby. It was pretty heated, and not just because both were burning through Dust on an industrial scale, but emotionally as well. They fought unnecessarily brutally, like they were trying to prove something to each other. Weiss was definitely trying to say something like, "You aren't worthy of being our team leader, I am!", while Ruby, in turn, was screaming, "I am worthy, you just refuse to accept it!"
All in all, they beat the stuffing out of each other without holding back, but neither managed to secure a victory in three minutes. Even though Ruby lost more Aura, she still hadn't dropped into the red zone.
Also, Egrer noticed that Ms. Goodwitch hadn't praised a single person today. Even when Pyrrha fought, she found something to nitpick and gave the champion a thorough dressing-down about her improper stance and hand positioning. The professor was right, of course—there's always room for improvement—but she could have tossed out a couple of kind words.
"Class is dismissed," the teacher stated, and a second later, the bell rang.
***
After classes, Egrer made a beeline for the workshop. Most of the machines in here he'd only seen in sci-fi movies. He didn't even know how to approach them. Fortunately, he didn't need any highly advanced tech, just a 3D printer. A collapsible needle was an incredibly simple design; you didn't need any complex calculations or even Dust—it was just a piece of metal you used to poke people. The absolute perfect fit for a poor orphan who had neither the Lien nor the know-how to build anything more complicated.
Without breaking stride, Egrer tossed his collapsed Needle-Punch into the air, caught it, and tossed it up again.
At first, he'd fought with a simple needle that he even had to unfold manually; later it got a rudimentary handle and a retractable mechanism, and eventually, Egrer just jammed a second needle into the other end. Cheap, cheerful, functional, discreet. Back then, it had been enough for him, and later on, he simply got used to his weapon, even getting the hang of using it as a tool. In certain scenarios, it helped him hook onto things, like in the Emerald Forest, or jam a mechanism, like on the airship ride to Beacon. It had tons of non-combat applications, especially since combat was exactly what Egrer tried to avoid with every fiber of his being.
The material was quite simple too—stainless steel, no exotic stuff like Dust-coating or alien metal alloys. He actually had a bit of trouble finding something so basic in the supply room; it took a while to locate the steel cartridges for the 3D printer. Someone had tossed them into the furthest corner, where they had laid for years until this very moment.
Egrer blew the dust off one of them and dragged it to the workshop. But the machine he needed was already occupied—a familiar face sat looking bored on a tall stool that resembled a bar chair.
"Hey, Ruby." The girl jumped in surprise and got into some clumsy parody of a combat stance in front of him.
"Oh, it's you." She recognized him and grumbled something else sounding offended, turning back to the machine.
"I thought you said you weren't scared of my voice," Egrer chuckled. She mumbled something incoherent under her breath again. "What're you printing?"
"Ammo. I burned through way too much today." He peeked over her shoulder into the translucent window. A nimble metal arm was building some kind of cylinder, layer by layer.
"Isn't it easier to just buy them?"
"I use a custom caliber; you can't find these anywhere."
"Alright." Egrer shrugged. "Do you know if there are any other machines like this in here? I need to build something too."
"A needle?" Ruby guessed, remembering his botched duel. She started trying to stifle a giggle.
"Hey, don't laugh. It happens to the best of us."
"I-I'm sorry, that's not why!" she waved her hands in a panic, as if terrified that Egrer was genuinely offended. "I just remembered how the whole room went dead silent when you said it was stuck in a Death Stalker. They'd be terrified to get within a mile of a monster like that."
"And I don't blame them. I wouldn't have gone near it myself if I hadn't thought Madge was in there with you guys."
"So you risked your life for her?"
"You say that like we're a couple." Egrer wrinkled his nose. "Madge is sweet and kind, sure, but I wouldn't wish dating her on my worst enemy. She's just my friend, and you gotta have your friends' backs."
"Heh-heh." Ruby sheepishly scratched the back of her head. Only now did he notice that she had modified her uniform in a similar style to Illmond, but didn't just stop at a hood, donning an entire cloak instead.
"So anyway, haven't seen any other 3D printers around?"
"Unfortunately..." She seemed genuinely bummed that she couldn't help.
"Then I'll just wait. Are you going to be long?"
"About ten minutes. I can step aside if you're in a hurry."
"No-no, I'll wait."
What was Weiss even trash-talking her for? She's not that bad, quite the opposite, she's polite and friendly, Egrer thought in surprise. Honestly, upon running into Ruby, he had already braced himself for the worst and just wanted to bounce and come back tomorrow. He hadn't heard a single positive word about her from Weiss, and even treating her words with a healthy dose of skepticism, he'd still formed a bit of a bias. Sometimes, she was overly generous with rich descriptions of all the horrors she was subjected to because of her leader. And frankly, some of those details were hard to believe.
But you can't forget that first impressions are often the most deceiving, even if someone looks cute and innocent like Ruby, or solid and serious like Ozpin. It was entirely possible she really was an "insufferable orangutan miscarriage," because as ancient wisdom dictates—it's always the quiet ones. He had to get to know her. And at the same time, it wouldn't hurt to fish for more details about her beef with Weiss. Just out of curiosity, to see if she was truly that awful.
"Listen, Ruby, is it hard being a leader?"
"Yeah," she admitted easily. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just that my team's leader is struggling too." He didn't bother clarifying what exactly those struggles were, or whose fault they were. "How are you handling it?"
"Without Yang, I would've thrown in the towel a long time ago. Blake helps out too, but she's not so much pro-me as she is anti-Weiss. It's complicated." She scratched the back of her head. "And then there's Weiss... she hates me. It's probably all because of our first meeting, I kinda... ahem." Ruby trailed off, unsure if she should continue.
"Blew her up," Egrer finished for her, failing to bite his tongue in time. "She told me."
"You guys know each other?"
"Well, 'know' is a strong word..." He started fishing for excuses. Ruby couldn't find out about the Order! "We ran into each other near Port's classroom. She needed something from the prof, but he was busy telling another exclusive story to Madge. She didn't want to join them, and we ended up chatting by the exit."
"She's difficult, isn't she, tell me I'm right," Ruby pleaded. It was as if knowing she wasn't the only one who thought so was incredibly important to her.
"I have a ton of experience dealing with difficult people, so I can manage." The Malachite sisters alone, whom Weiss heavily resembled in personality, were proof of that. Actually, come to think of it, Egrer didn't have any normal friends; they were all difficult people to some degree. With the exception of Jaune, but he only recently had his Aura unlocked—who knows what kind of crazy baggage he might develop in a year or two. "Weiss and I were just venting to each other about life back then, nothing more."
"Do you have problems with your leader too?" she suddenly asked, but a second later frantically waved her hands. "D-Don't tell me if you don't want to! I'm sorry, I'm overstepping."
"It's fine, you just spilled your team's dirty laundry to me." Egrer shrugged. "I don't want to trash Madge, it's complicated for us too. See, the four of us were together even before Beacon, and I was the one giving the orders."
"Oh..." Ruby uttered, catching his drift.
"Yeah. Plus, Madge really isn't suited for the leader role; if you met her in person, you'd know what I mean." He barely stopped himself from listing off all of Magenta's flaws; that would definitely be overkill. Besides, Ruby would subconsciously side with her, purely out of solidarity. Just like Egrer did with Weiss. "Let's talk about something else instead. The topic is way too personal and touchy."
"Like weapons!" Ruby perked up. Though it wasn't clear if her voice held more joy from changing the subject or from the opportunity to nerd out about guns with someone. She unhooked her scythe from her belt, which in its collapsed state didn't take up much space. It could definitely fit under a chair. "This is Crescent Rose, a high-caliber sniper-scythe. Slices perfectly, shoots accurately, looks awesome. I'd unfold it, but there isn't enough room around here."
"Don't bother, I've already seen it in action. And this is Needle-Punch," he pressed a button and one needle shot up toward the ceiling, "it punches holes in things. As you know, it's missing its second needle."
What an incredibly un-epic presentation, just awful...
"Can it do anything else?" Ruby wasn't impressed, but she kept hoping his weapon had some hidden annihilator mode.
"It can shoot." With those words, Egrer aimed down and pressed the other button. With a quiet thwip, the needle embedded itself a couple of inches into the concrete floor.
"But then you lose half your weapon..." She stared at the needle, as if hoping it would either explode or drill several yards into the floor on its own. "And you only get two shots, after which you're left holding just the handle."
"Which is why I don't do that. I have no idea why I even bothered making that a feature..." Egrer returned the needle to its place. "Actually, I wanted to rebuild it into a proper needle-gun at some point, where you shoot one needle and another pops out right away... But I just never got around to it."
Ruby didn't know what to say; her silver eyes clearly reflected pity for the owner of such an underwhelming weapon. Compared to her sniper-scythe, honestly, any weapon was underwhelming. It was a fucking high-caliber sniper-scythe! Which, on top of everything, could collapse down to the size of a pizza box folded in half.
"So you built your Rose yourself?"
"Of course!" Ruby was insulted by the mere possibility that he thought otherwise. "At Signal, everyone forges their own weapon. Well, my uncle might have helped me a little bit, but only with the minor stuff!"
"Of course," Egrer nodded.
"I memorized the schematics of my little Rose by heart! And I can strip and reassemble her blindfolded, if you don't believe me."
"I believe you, no need to prove anything."
"Can you do that with your Needle-Punch?"
"Only the stripping part." Before she could drill him any further, Egrer decided to throw out a comment of his own. "You're a massive gun nut, I noticed."
"A weapon is a part of who we are, an extension of our soul. Show me your gun and I'll tell you who you are," Ruby proclaimed importantly, twisting a well-known saying.
"Here, then." Egrer held out Needle-Punch, expecting her to get flustered. On the contrary, she took it in her hands and began to inspect it meticulously.
"A very simple design. Don't think I consider that a bad thing, just stating a fact," Ruby began to justify herself, but he waved her off reassuringly. "Ahem, there's absolutely no Dust in here. So it's economical, too. Are you sure you want me to tell you who you are?"
"Who am I?"
"I have two theories: either you're lazy and stingy since you didn't bother coming up with something cooler, or you slapped your Needle-Punch together from whatever was lying around, and then just got used to it." Egrer let out a surprised whistle.
"The second one. You really do know your stuff." She immediately puffed up importantly and tilted her nose into the air.
"When it comes to weapons, I'm the best there is. I'm an expert." What a sudden transformation. Before the topic shifted to guns, she'd been stuttering and acting completely insecure. "Ask me anything!"
"How do you make wet fire out of Water Dust?" Ruby instantly lost her spark and reverted back to her usual self.
"Well... I need to think about that." She started whipping her head around, as if the answer was hiding somewhere on the ceiling or behind the machines. "It's... you see, when Dust... well, Dust is like that, if you... um, sort of..."
"Just admit it's impossible."
"It's impossible. But she somehow pulls it off... Ah, I got it!" Ruby suddenly became the expert again and crossed her arms. "It's her Semblance."
"That's a lazy explanation. You can literally explain anything away like that." Egrer was not impressed. But he hadn't really expected to learn the answer anyway, having already accepted the mystery.
"W-Well, what else could it be?" Ruby was Ruby again. "According to every law of nature, wet fire cannot exist. It just can't!"
"So you're not that much of an expert after all." In response, she mumbled something under her breath and blushed. Suddenly, the 3D printer behind her beeped and opened a small hatch at the bottom. A little box of ammo slid out, which Ruby immediately snatched up.
"I won't keep you any longer, bye!" She activated her Semblance and bolted off at nearly the speed of sound. Rose petals swirled in the air, and Egrer caught one of them.
"Cool special effects," he muttered, then popped the petal into his mouth and chewed. "Tastes real..."
I didn't just do something messed up, did I? That wasn't a part of her body, right?
(T/N: Wait, that's actually a valid question, though.)
A good question, which popped into his head a little too late. Egrer could only hope that nobody had seen him do that. At least to an outside observer, it should have looked normal—he just ate a petal. Well, maybe not entirely normal, it's not every day you see some random guy munching on foliage, but still.
Egrer tried to push those thoughts out of his mind and get to work. And also to ponder another question, a much more pressing and serious one. Namely: what to do about Ruby? She was a decent person, and Weiss had obviously talked trash about her out of spite, or to ensure she swayed Egrer to her side. As the Supreme Chairman of the Order of the Seat-Snatchers, it was his duty to decide whether Ruby Rose should become one of the Order's targets. Because if not, Weiss would definitely walk, and throwing sand in her eyes wouldn't work for long—she wasn't stupid. But he couldn't forget that Egrer only knew Ruby from a couple of brief encounters, and their only normal conversation had happened just now.
And anyway, Weiss was his ally; they shared the same problem and were brainstorming a solution together. So the answer was obvious.
Sorry, Ruby, but if I don't help Weiss overthrow you, she won't help me overthrow Magenta. Nothing personal, just politics and a dash of solidarity with a sister in misfortune.