Chapter 33

Aizawa made his way down the streets, weaving past crowds of people and on goers, before hanging a left and entering a beverage shop, where he saw Officer Palau sitting in the corner.

"Hello Officer."

Aizawa approached him before sitting down and looking at the man, who was sipping hot coffee. Officer Palau met his gaze before putting his mug down and looking Aizawa up and down.

"How'd you know I'd be here?"

Aizawa paused 

"Just my intuition."

Officer Palau nodded, folding his hands on the desk.

"Why did you come looking for me at this time?"

Aizawa ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, I'm hoping to gain more insight on the case, I heard the bullet used to almost kill Oboro was taken for investigation?"

Officer Palau nodded, sipping his coffee loudly.

"Yeah, soon they'll give me the data, then I'll give you the data as well."

Aizawa thought of something he didn't think of earlier.

"I thought you guys wouldn't have the type of technology for biological analysis."

Officer Palau's expression softened.

"Well, the seekers of Routeways a play major part in investigations, most seekers below order 4 take part in jobs, using their abilities to accelerate investigations that would usually take months."

"Seekers?"

Aizawa questioned, Officer Palau only nodded.

"Those who get into the Routeway system, it's the only way people can get mystical abilities. Oboro got involved in the Routeway system, but I'm surprised he didn't use his abilities to heal himself, our forced surmise it was a nullifying bullet."

"A nullifying bullet?"

Officer Palau nodded slowly.

"These billets are crafted with a metal found in the Cardigon Mountains which could penetrate low Order Seekers, high Order Seekers would easily deal with that sort of weapon."

He sipped his coffee again, in the way he did it, it made him look like he was questioning something.

Aizawa then got a thought, and cleared his throat, making Palau turn towards him.

"Why did Isaac turn so hot?"

He fell silent before letting out a little gulp.

"Well...the kid drank a Routeway potion of an unknown one, only the high Order seekers would help divine an answer."

"...he did what now?!"

Aizawa's voice became a low growl, as he slammed his fist onto the desk, causing Officer Palau's coffee to spill onto the table

"But he'll be ok as long as he has the control serum, I was gonna pick up another batch for him."

Aizawa stopped him in the midst of his sentence.

"Well, I've already sent him and Shinso to buy the ingredients in the market."

Officer Palau let out a low chuckle, causing Aizawa's brow to furrow.

"Golly, you wouldn't find any of those ingredients up there, but rather in the dark market in the market underworld."

"Market underworld, why haven't the police dug into that? Sounds dangerous."

Officer Palau chuckled again.

"It's simply not worth our time, nothing illegal is going on, maybe a few unsolicited items here and there but as long as no one's dying I don't see why we should let them be."

Aizawa let out a low growl, digging his nails into the table.

"So I see the police here are a complete joke."

Officer Palau simply leaned back.

"I know, I'm not on the police y'know, but rather on a criminal investigation society designed for the supernatural."

Aizawa leaned in closer to Officer Palau, his red eyes flickering with interest.

"Well then, why haven't you dealt with the underworld market?"

Officer Palau grabbed Aizawa's shirt sleeve before leading him into the bathroom and taking him into the stall.

"Well, I didn't want people to suspect anything with my affiliation, so I decided to talk down to the regular police force to derive any attention."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, still curious.

"So the police are still fools?"

Officer Palau nodded "no".

"Not really, they have low Order Seekers on their side, but the organization I work for had higher level Seekers to deal with more powerful and dangerous threats that lie beyond our usual senses."

"So I suspect you and the regular police force are teaming up to find the criminal with the nullifying bullets?"

Officer Palau nodded.

"Yeah, that's how you know this case is gonna be serious."