Chapter 58

"Things have been peaceful lately." I said with a hint of disbelief in my voice. "Save for the occasional ruffian and purse snatcher, of course."

"But isn't that a good thing?" Asked Nejire as she tilted her head. She called me over for a video call catch up a bit and that she just finished her 'Girl Talk' with Kuroko just before calling me. "Oh, right! Ryuku taught me about this! It has something to do with pooling resources, right?"

"Normally, yeah. But the usual delinquents and repeat offenders that were taken out almost on a schedule, suddenly stopped."

"Stopped? How so?"

"They just... Stopped." At her still-confused expression, I continued. "They don't normally attend school anyway so their records are abysmal, if any. The stores they usually harass are left alone. The areas they normally loitered around in are abandoned now." It's starting to dawn on her. "The victims are relieved, of course, so we didn't really pay attention at the beginning. But it kept happening. Once is a happenstance, twice is a coincidence, thrice "-is a pattern."" She said at the same time.

"That's not good... That's not good at all. Did you investigate too?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I even sent some data about it to someone I trust-" i.e. Nedzu. "-but when the clues and puzzles were put together, it lead us to the more remote prefectures."

"And they were caught? Was it a drug factory? Or an arms factory?"

"What? No." I shook my head. "We ended up with an unrelated case instead. Corrupt Heroes that used their quirk and authority to rule over an area. Severe heteromorph discrimination. There was even an case of a pheromone-user leading his own cult. Stuff like that were cases that make you glad that they were dealt with but the original objective was lost because the only leads we had were dead ends."

"That sounds rough..."

"Not really." I grinned. "It's not like I did any of the investigating anyways."

"No, I meant the corruption part." She said. "It's sad to know that there are heroes who take advantage of their position like that. It's... It's..."

"Disgraceful?" I nodded. Nejire is a witch with a good --And perhaps even noble-- background and yet she chose to be a hero. This might sting more for her. "I get ya. But the allure of power is something else. I don't think anyone can just brush it off. Especially since the ones that did it were lower ranking D-List heroes. They're probably the type that thought they were invincible once they got their licence and got hit with a heavy dose of reality as soon as they debuted."

"That's mean. I bet that you're right, but still." She raised a skeptical brow. "You sounded a bit into it there. Are you speaking from experience?"

"Hm? Nah. Of course not." I denied. "That's just ridiculous." I wasn't like I was projecting a similar experience in my past life or anything. That's silly.

"You do know that you sound suspicious, right?"

"I- well... Academy City is a lot more than I expected?" It's a decent excuse but it's also the truth. I probably struggle for a bit at the beginning because of scheduling difficulties but once I got a hang of it, going along a study schedule went like a breeze.

"... That's fair!" She believed it! "I never went to a middle school before, much less a mundane one. In fact, I was homeschooled! I was pretty stumped when I had to cram for the entrance exams myself!"

"That's right, That's right." I nodded eagerly. "But the modern stuff you learn is pretty useful too. It shed a lot of light on some unknown aspects or obscure niches."

"I know! Like this one time-" *Ding* "-Oops! That was Ryuku. Gotta go! Catch you next time, Kuzuki!"

"Sure- and she's gone." I chuckled. "A whirlwind of energy, that one."

~~~~~~~~~~

"She said is was fine..." I said while looking over at the card again. "I guess there's one way to find out."

Using a newly bought burner phone, I dialed the number on the card and waited. Nanna only found rumors of whatever this Inkfall Society is, and they were either pretty conflicting or pretty nonsensical. When I kept prying Cen for some information about it, she just said that it was fine to not worry about it.

I have my doubts but it wasn't the bad kind. It felt more like she was pulling a prank on me, if anything.

As I was thinking along those lines, the call connected. "Oh, hey, hi! I called because I was wondering this whole secret art society you guys have and I'd appreciate if you can tell me more about it." So far so good. Direct yet friendly and casual, just like a normal person having a regular conversation.

.

..

...

Or not. "...Hello?" The person on the other side wasn't saying anything. I know this because I can hear a faint rustling.

I felt something shake in my hand and looked down to see the card grow insectoid appendages --From a distance, it looks vaguely similar to a roach-- And I threw it to a wall.

I was planning on burning it by old habit, but as soon as it hit the surface of the wall, the card lost the legs, flattened and expanded.

I began circulating my energy for a Danmaku just in case. The only surface fractured, and collapsed inwards to reveal a tall --Don't tell me the society is full of tall people?-- individual on the other side. They wear a black trench coat, slim pants, and shoes. They are holding an elegant walking cane that was brimming with power and a white fluffy scarf along their neck. But the most noticeable characteristic of this individual is their head, or lack thereof. Instead, they have a large single eyeball in place wearing a tall top hat.

The individual gave a slight bow and motioned with his hand for me to enter. He kept his pose even as I was just staring at him.I scanned him and the 'entryway' with my senses and it came up with no I'll intent. The bell wasn't even making a fuss either for that matter.

Figuring that it might be fine just as Cen told me, I entered.

I walked along a dark corridor. The entire place was the same onyx black save for white lines running along and highlighting the edges of the 'corridor'. The walk only lasted for about a minute or two before I find another fractured side of what I assumed is the ending.

I didn't know what to expect of the other side, but what I had in mind wasn't anything like what was in front of me. I was expecting dusty mansions or graveyard forest or even a creepy ritual hall with shady people in cloaks surrounding a summoning ritual.

Instead, what greeted me was some kind of Workshop/Exhibit/Comic con combo.

My mouth was open in shock and disbelief. All that caution and mysticism for this? At firsts glance, it's barely different from a gathering of nerds and geeks for a weekly session of an TRPG.

No wonder Cen was laughing...

The corridor behind me reverted back into a flat surface before folding itself into a bangle. I blinked as I looked down at the new accessory on my wrist before I noticed that I was stepping on what appeared to be puddles of ink on the floor. Looking around, I noticed that puddles would randomly form and disappear for no apparent reason, even the stains on my shoes disappeared along with the puddle it came from.

Other people and beings noticed my arrival and upon meeting their gazes, they simply gave me nod and returned back to what they were doing.

Seeing that there was no map, manual or guide to this place, it would look like I was thrown directly into the thicket to wander and learn on my own. And, as such, I donned on the skills that Sekibanki taught me and began to wander around and asking a bunch of strangers a plethora of questions.

In the end, this place really was no different from a nerdy yet artistic get together. There is a bartering system along with a regular currency system so people can buy from each other, non-heroic themed manga and the like, music from both the current-day and pre-quirk era, there was even doujin going around at certain stalls. What really stole the cake was that I found Cen's stall where she features and sells her handmade metal statues and statuettes. The smug look on her face when she saw me gawking at her was a bit irritating but I admit that chuckled immediately after. She pulled a good one on me.

Looking around, the place offered plenty of variety of items and services. There are also plenty of beings in here: Humans, Wix, Half-breeds, Youkai, Spirits, Oni, monsters, I'm pretty sure I've spotted a few fairies and pixies going around.

This place is a goldmine of opportunity.

As a location where artist gather, naturally there are also people here who sells materials and ingredients for all sorts of things. And because of the bartering system, there are even stuff like grimoirs lying around, I guess magic technically counts as an art form for some so it kinda makes sense for stuff like this to be here... I guess?

I have high suspicions that this place is some sort of pocket reality or at least a subspace. I went from the wall I came from and tried to go to the wall on the other side to try and grasp the size of the large 'room' but the space just loops back to where I started. Although this is one large 'room', there are still walls that partition and divide different location based on theme and the like. Even if the colour of the walls is a dull grey from corner to corner, there are orde of light of differing colours floating around so it isn't dim or dreary at all.

There might also be some micro-space manipulation happening because no matter how matter beings with varied physiques are going around, not once did I even bumb, brush shoulders or squeeze past somebody. Like, everyone has some form of personal space bubble that can only be breach if you wanted to interact with somebody. It's minor on the surface but with the sheer amount of people here? It's a subtle show of force and control.

Meaning that similar to the Kisaragi Station, this place is run by another powerhouse.

Honestly, the only complaint I have of this place is that the randomly appear puddles of ink are a slip hazard.

With my premilinary investigations done, I decided to enjoy my time here. 'Since there are Humans around, does this mean I can bring a plus one? Kuroko might like to around and see what this place has to offer too. ' I thought with a smile as I glanced at the bangle at my wrist.