This is it? Looks pretty plain, Alistair thought as he stood before a nondescript coffee shop.
The storefront was only three meters wide, with pitch-black windows that blocked any view of the interior. Alistair sensed the subtle layers of "Repel" and "Notice-Me-Not" magic woven into the door frame.
Ding-ling!
The bell chimed as he entered, drawing eyes from the few patrons inside.
"New meat? And a big one too. Hey, kid, how about an introduction?" a drunken older man shouted, waving a bottle of liquor.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Jotaro Kujo?"
A professional-looking woman approached Alistair and bowed politely. Alistair nodded. This was the contact Hwa had mentioned.
"Please follow me. Lady Hwa has been expecting you."
"Tsk, look at the muscles on that one. Quiet type, eh?" the drunk mumbled before face-planting onto the table and snoring.
"Must be someone special if Hwa is waiting for him," whispered a long-haired youth at a nearby table. "She doesn't even show that much respect to the elders."
Alistair followed the woman past several patrons. Despite the small exterior, the atmosphere felt heavy with the presence of 'Exorcists.'
"A bit chilly, isn't it?" Alistair adjusted his shoulders. They walked to the back, where the woman opened a large industrial refrigerator. Behind the milk and soda was a hidden staircase leading down.
The basement was massive—far larger than the shop above. After a maze of corridors, they reached a lounge where Hwa was lounging in a chair, scrolling through her phone.
"Finally. What took you so long? I've been waiting days," Hwa said. She looked up and paused. "Oh, right. You can't talk. Use the paper."
Had some business to settle. Why is it so empty here? Alistair wrote. There should be hundreds of 'Weapon Users' in this district.
"They're all on sorties," Hwa explained.
But Spirits aren't active during the day. Why the full deployment?
"Who knows? I don't care," Hwa shrugged, her apathy on full display. "I just keep my aura on and wait. Nothing affects me anyway."
Must be nice. I feel like my power is eroding me, Alistair wrote, touching his lips. The runes on his tongue felt like they were slowly rewriting his biology.
"That's the price," Hwa said nonchalantly. "Your power has almost zero cost per use, but the 'erosion' is the trade-off. Though, I don't know what it's turning you into."
That's why I'm here. I need to see your best Weapon Smith.
"Our best? That would be Ichito Aokawa. But he's at the inner base, deep in the Demi-Human zone. I don't know him personally, so I can't just call him up. He's the guy who keeps the 'Mystery Items' flowing, so even I can't boss him around."
Alistair frowned. He'd never heard of the guy.
"Also," Hwa sat up straight, her face turning grave. "Remember that old man who tried to kidnap me?"
Alistair nodded.
"He's missing. Officially 'lost,' but everyone knows he's likely been butchered. But it's not just him. Two other high-profile hunters disappeared too. To take all three down without leaving a trace... it has to be a Demi-Human. Even Aokawa couldn't kill them that cleanly."
Without a trace? Then how do you know they're dead? Alistair wrote skeptically.
"The organizations they belong to leaked the info. No one claimed the kills, so we assume Demi-Humans. But..." Hwa leaned in, whispering in Alistair's ear, "it feels like someone wants us to think that."
It's too convenient. If Demi-Humans wanted to start a war, they'd leave the bodies as a warning. This is a mess.
"Exactly. But there are no humans capable of this, so who else do we blame? Some people are pushing for conflict." Hwa gripped Alistair's arm. "And watch out for the 'Goddess Cult'—the Feishen... They've started moving openly. They have church tattoos; they're easy to spot."