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"Among other things…?" He couldn't help asking as he accepted the man's handshake and, at a wave, sat down with Cardin standing just behind him.
"Now isn't that a complicated question?" The old man chuckled, taking a long drink from his cup and setting it aside. He traded it for some papers that he read as he talked. "I suppose quite pressing is that I am a sort of… Facilitator of actions."
What that meant was, mostly, obvious to him and Jaune nodded, "Because you train people here, and help the Orders with recruitment?"
"Among other things, both involved in what you describe and not." The Headmaster chuckled, waving Jaune off when his brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm referring mostly to how I handle the duties you mentioned. I do not merely teach people how to swing a sword or thrust a spear. You understand, yes?"
"I… Think so." He nodded. Deery had served half of what he assumed the Headmaster meant - education outside of warfare. Math, history, culture, etc. But that seemed somehow too obvious. Why would he mention that at all? It'd be like explaining what a railing was to him. Instead, he thought and said, "You… You mean who you suggest to who, don't you?"
"How do you mean?"
"Who you recommend to which commanders." Jaune shrugged, "Which cohorts, which Orders. That's why I'm here, too. Isn't it?"
"My oh my, but my dear Oobleck was right. You're quite quick, aren't you?" Jaune blinked at the mention of the man's name. At the memories that it drummed up, and all the little questions that surrounded them. But the older man moved on before Jaune could say anything about it. "But yes, you're quite right. You see, my Lord, I tend to find that more like-minded individuals tend to perform better as units. So, in their education here, I… Well, test the waters, to speak."
"Test the waters…?" He repeated the strange phrase, piecing what it meant together as quick as he could and asking, "You mean you've been testing the students here for… Opinions?"
"Opinions, beliefs, preferences for how or where or even, to an extent, when and what to fight…" He nodded, smiling, "Even diet. Not all of it applies as often as other parts, but… The information has lead to some success."
"I suppose it would…"
"Yeah?" Cardin chuckled, "Me, I find that fighting together does more than anything else."
"You're not wrong." Ozpin chuckled, leaning back in his seat and sighing wearily. Gesturing at the larger man, he said, "I know well your ideas and ideals, Lord Winchester, and I know enough to know they contrast against your Brother here."
"Yet we're as thick as blood." Jaune grunted, smiling as he thought and went on, "But… You've heard that before. Haven't you?"
"More times than you can count, with more nobles and scribes than you could count as well." The Headmaster chuckled quietly, "Believe you me, my Lord, but I have spent more hours on this argument than any man, woman or child at just about anything else. I'm not disregarding your perspective, of course, I merely…"
"Have your own." Jaune nodded, "And have the consideration I, frankly, lack in mine. I take no offense."
"Indeed, and very well put at that." The man smiled, slowly turning to open one of his little leather bound and hinge-backed note books and scratching something into it. Jaune almost wanted to ask what - the timing couldn't be a coincidence - but he held his tongue and the headmaster sat up and sighed. The journal stayed open, though, with the quill and ink fountain beside it. "With that said… Customarily, at least for those who have not graduated from this Academy, I prefer to do a short sort of interview when prospective recruiters come to me."
"An interview?" Cardin scoffed, "We're here for men and women. Not to help you write a damn-"
"Cardin." He grunted, cutting the man off with the quiet word. Jaune turned just a bit to meet his gaze and smiled thinly. "I appreciate the sentiment, but… This is his school. His students. He seems a man who wants to know as much as he can before making a decision, so how could he be comfortable surrendering the students he has come to know so very well to a stranger like me?"
"But…"
"I'm an unknown." Jaune shrugged, turning back to the headmaster and nodding gently, never taking his eyes off of him now that he had a feel for him. "And that must terrify you, in a situation like this."
The Headmaster was actually quiet, for a long while, eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit and lips pursed. Finally, though, he just smiled, nodded, and made another note in his journal. "I do believe I was wrong earlier, my Lord, and must apologize."
"How so?"
"I said Oobleck had the right of you, but clearly he did not." Ozpin explained, smiling warmly, "You, my young man, are brilliant. Impressively so, for someone raised a peasant. Tell me, do you think that makes you unique?"
"Excuse you-"
"I don't mean any offense, Lord Winchester." Ozpin waved him off, never bothering to even look his way. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on Jaune's. Eye to eye. What he was seeking, Jaune didn't know, but he held his gaze anyways and cocked his head to the side. "What I mean is plain. Do you think others around you would stand as well as you do in your circumstance?"
For a moment, he considered the question. The obvious, safe answer would be 'no'. That would guarantee his own position, and raise no eyebrows in Vale itself, and he knew to consider that after having talked to Cardin about it. But…
He would live only one lie.
"I think anyone can be smart." He answered simply, "They just need the tools. The Gods blessed me with much, and that is all which sets me aside."
"Aside?" Ozpin hummed, "Not above?"
"No." He chuckled, thinking quickly and adding as a joke, "I'm only above someone when I'm on horseback."
"Ha." Cardin snorted, muttered, "Smart arse."
"Better than a dim one." He countered, flicking the man a look as he thought over the phrasing, and what it implied. But Cardin only chuckled and, sure that he had taken no offense, Jaune went on. "Does that satisfy you?"
"On this subject, yes." Ozpin nodded, waving at Cardin and explaining in answer to what Jaune was sure had been an obvious question on his face. "I have long advocated that education among the peasantry would uplift them, and help the Kingdoms as a whole. Lord Arc here is a demonstration of the truth in that."
"His prestige is blood borne." Cardin grunted, armor shifted and crinking as he crossed his arms. "Whether he likes it or not."
"Or believes it, apparently." Jaune sighed, chuckling and waving for Ozpin to go on. "It's a matter of perspective. We should just move on."
"Very well." Ozpin nodded, "You are willing to do my interview then?"
"If it gets me what I need, I see no reason not to." He answered evasively. Truthfully, he was more than a bit leary of doing it. Who knew what he would ask, or how his answers could be construed? Already, the headmaster had shown both an ability and a willingness to read into his words. Hedging, he added, "However, I will refuse to answer anything I deem… Inappropriate."
"Of course, of course. Though…" Ozpin frowned, "If you do, then it will affect how well I can serve you in turn."
"Of course." Jaune smiled in return, "I will have to weigh that myself."
Another moment of silence passed as the headmaster seemed to… Weigh him, somehow. But, eventually, he just snapped his fingers and after a second a Chastened emerged from the door they'd come in through. She was thicker than others, with scarred, dark skin corded in lithe, powerful muscle, but carried herself in a very gentle sort of way. She set two trays in front of them, each made of well-shined silver that glinted in the light, and Ozpin gestured at the three cups.
"Water and simple biscuits." He chuckled, "I thought you might enjoy the refreshment while we talk?"
"Sure." Jaune smiled, "Why not?"
After a few more moments to drink and eat a biscuit apiece, the Headmaster spoke up once more. Quietly, he asked, "Would you… Be willing to speak about Ansel?"
He blinked, confused, and stammered, "A-Ansel? What would Ansel have to do with any of this?"
"I don't know, My Lord." Ozpin smiled, taking a moment for another drink of water and chuckling quietly. "But… I confess that your early life is something of a mystery to us all. An errant child, bastard born and peasant raised? You would already be a mystery. But with Ansel gone, your past is even more opaque."
"I…" He hesitated, for a moment, before he sighed and said. "Ansel was… Nice, I guess? We weren't the richest place, but…"
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They talked for a while after that, and mostly about what it was like simply to live as a… Well, as a peasant. He'd never really considered any of it, back in Ansel, or even up until then, but it was the name for what he'd been. And something that seemed incredibly, almost oddly, interesting to the silver-haired Headmaster, too. But he was an oddity, he understood, and people were wont to lose themselves in looking at oddities.
That much he'd more than come to understand over the weeks and months.
"And in the evenings, after the work was done and we'd cleaned the anvil and hammer of any ash or soot, we'd sit down for a stew." He finished, chuckling quietly, "When I was nine or so, I remember suggesting we simply set the stew over the smelter-furnace to keep it hot while we cleaned up."
"Efficient."
"Yeah." He snorted, "Until it tips and spills your supper into the furnace's airway."
"That is… Less efficient, yes." Ozpin chuckled, "Was it troublesome to deal with?"
"Oh, it was horrible!" Jaune chuckled, shaking his head and reaching for another biscuit as the Chastened from earlier came back to trade the empty tray and cups out for fresh. Shaking his head, he sighed and said, "He tanned my hide and had me clean it myself. Took me hours… And you could smell burning garlic for weeks! Which was honestly the worst part of the whole ordeal."
"I… Suppose it would be a rather staying issue. Wouldn't it?" The man cleared his throat, frowning in… Some kind of sudden discomfort Jaune couldn't place. He moved on before Jaune could think much on it. "Now… After your proverbial ascension, you made an Oath, no?"
"I've… Made a few." He nodded, "Which do you mean?"
"Your Oath of Vengeance, in Ansel." Ozpin nodded and Jaune returned the gesture, seeing his meaning. "Do you feel it satisfied?"
"I…" He paused, thinking over the question for a moment, and then frowned. "In truth… I-I know that I should, yes, but I do not."
"But you met your obligation."
"And then some." Cardin grunted, turning in the seat he had been brought and taken. He laid a hand on Jaune's shoulder and nodded, mail shifting and scraping as he did. "When you saved Patch and killed the Grimm there, you honored your word. And your fallen."
"I could have scarcely said it better myself." Ozpin hummed, drumming a finger on the table in front of him and pursing his lips. "Yet… Unlike other Knights, other Lords and Ladies who I have seen make similar oaths and similarly satisfy them, you seem rather… Burdened."
"Killing the Grimm doesn't raise the dead." He answered simply, "Port, Rosa, Par- Everyone in Ansel is just as dead as they were before my Knights and I put the Grimm down. I envy anyone that feels their weight just… Vanish, because they killed a beast."
"You don't see it as justice?"
"Justice is for the thinking." He answered without any thought, which he knew was more than a little ironic. Even so, he went on, "The Grimm are… Beasts. Evil, true, but they don't have intention. Desire. They just… Are. Killing them is a need, and avenging Ansel was justice, but killing a handful of Grimm? It's…"
"Not enough." Ozpin nodded, understanding edging into his voice. "You've considered this more than I thought, my Lord Arc."
"Only when I have nothing else to think about." He smiled. Truthfully, he was busy enough often enough that he couldn't find the time. But… "That kind of time… I've had a lot more of it since I came to Vale."
"Peace reigns in the city." Cardin snorted at the words and Ozpin sighed, smiling ruefully. He waved a hand at the man but turned to look out at the distant wall and the city they all knew was behind it with a thoughtful expression. "At least, of a sort. There is conflict aplenty, of course. But… Most of it is political. And while politicking is indeed a battlefield, it is an altogether different beast to what you are accustomed to."
"So is smithing." Jaune chuckled, hands curling and uncurling in front of him. "You know, once I… Never thought I'd set my hammer down. Stop being a smith. I imagined I'd… Work the forge, when Port grew too old."
"Perhaps, one day, you might find the time and means to take it up on your own." Ozpin suggested, "No?"
"Maybe." He could dream, he supposed. But what would he even make? Swords for fun and shields for leisure? It felt like a waste. But then, who would even want what he could make? He was no master smith, so they wouldn't be worth much practically, and he didn't have any skills in aesthetics for it.
All he was good for was mending and more… Simple forging.
He shook the thoughts off, finally, and forced himself to focus on what they'd come for. "As nice as the conversation has been, Sir, I… Do need to get to work."
"Of course." He smiled, quickly picking up a dozen of the smaller stacks of paper he had and setting them in a neat pile. Tapping them with a finger, he said, "Please, take some time to peruse these and get back to me in the morning."
"The morning…?" Jaune blinked and turned and, sure enough, the sun had already begun to dip towards the horizon, casting the first ruddy oranges and reds of sunset. "How strange, it… Didn't feel like so long."
"I… Have been told I have that effect on people." Ozpin chuckled as Jaune turned back to him. He stood and Jaune and Cardin did, too. Cardin took the papers while Ozpin smiled and paid them the slightest bow. "Please, enjoy the evening. I've rooms set aside and will send food and drink along momentarily."
"Yeah." Jaune nodded, quashing the sudden, strange unease as he turned and paid Ozpin a nod of farewell. "Good night, Sir."
"Good night."
Jaune stepped through the door a moment later and frowned, "It really didn't feel like that long… Did it?"
"Time flies over good conversation." The big man shrugged, "Come on. Let's get settled for the night."
"Yeah…" Jaune nodded, "Yeah, let's."
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