One in the morning. Deep night.

The wide road was utterly silent, not a soul in sight. For creatures that lived in groups—whether human or Uma—being alone in such a place at night could only bring a sharp sense of danger and unease.

In the dark, a distant trash bin blurred into the shape of a ghost woman, blood dripping from her eyes. The billboard at the corner looked, at a glance, like some twisted long-necked monster.

Only the cold white light of the street lamps brought a sliver of safety to the world.

And into that eerie stillness, a figure in black pedaled a shiny new bicycle out from the shadows, stopping before the gates of Tracen Academy.

"Fi… finally made it… whew…" Mizuno huffed, sweat streaming as he pumped the pedals.

From the secret men's dorm to Tracen was not only long but winding.

Even with the skill of the school bus's old driver, the trip took ten minutes. Mizuno had needed an entire hour of desperate pedaling, draining nearly all his strength just to arrive here.

Normally, Mizuno would never dare ride a bike on the main road.

His presence was too faint. Even objects he touched became faint with him. Unless he constantly rang the bell to make noise, other vehicles would never notice him—and in one careless moment, he could be knocked flying.

Only now, in the empty midnight streets, did he dare ride.

"Huff…" Mizuno leaned the bike against the wall, caught his breath, and steadied himself.

Then he climbed up on the back wheel rack, reached for the top of the wall, and hauled himself over.

Ordinarily, for the sake of property and safety, Tracen had cameras at key points and security guards patrolling at night. And these guards were grown Uma—their fighting strength was high. For anyone to sneak in by night was supposed to be impossible.

That was why Tracen had never once had a theft or intruder.

Though such measures meant nothing to an "invisible" man like Mizuno, they posed a huge obstacle to any Uma trying to attend the black market.

But, as Broshi had told him, Tachyon had some arrangement with security. On the nights the market opened, cameras would "malfunction," and the guards would "happen to doze off," failing to "notice" anyone sneaking in.

And so, just as Mizuno landed inside, he saw a bizarre sight.

A young Uma in black night gear—without bothering to hide her face—stood openly in a lit patch of ground, looking down at a hand-drawn map, puzzling over which way to go next.

Ten meters away, a school guard patrolled by.

The guard glanced at her once—and simply ignored her, carrying on with a mock patrol as though nothing was wrong.

In fact, the young Uma, clearly a first-timer at the market, didn't even know the location. Seeing the guard pass, she didn't hide at all, but instead stepped forward politely to ask:

"Excuse me, do you know where the black market is being held?"

"Uh…" The guard blinked, then cheerfully pointed. "That way."

"Oh~ thank you!" The young Uma bowed.

"No problem." The guard smiled, waved, and turned to go.

But then she seemed to recall something, and glanced back.

"Oh right, tonight the market's got the newest Stamina Drink 2.0. Much stronger! Before, one bottle lasted a day. Now, one bottle keeps you going three days and nights! Tested myself—works. And it's cheap. Don't miss it."

"Three days and nights?! Really?!" The young Uma's eyes lit up.

"Perfect! My Trainer needs it badly!"

The two Uma exchanged long, meaningful smiles.

Watching this picture of cozy collusion between officer and thief, Mizuno nearly dropped his jaw. He couldn't help blurting:

"Huh?"

Just what had Tachyon offered the guards?! Not only pointing customers to the market, but advertising her products for her?!

Had Tracen's security become this rotten?!

If they dared to advertise now, would they soon be helping herd Trainers into traps?

"Damn it…" Mizuno clenched his fists in fury.

He decided: if he didn't find what he needed tonight, he would report Tachyon to Rudolf and have her black market shut down hard.

And if he did find it…

He'd report it anyway!

Justice for the suffering Trainers!

Click. Mizuno snapped a photo of the two Uma chatting, storing it as evidence for the report.

Still, he gave them some mercy, pixelating their faces in the shot—so when Rudolf's crackdown came, they wouldn't be dragged out at once.

A chance, at least, to turn back from the brink…

With that, Mizuno sank back into shadow, tailing the young Uma. He followed her steps into the silent teaching building—into one of the labs—where at last he found it…

[Tachyon's Black Market]