Chapter 58: Where the hell is that Academy?
Marty looked at Zac from head to toe. "Do you honestly believe this dress will make you look less attractive?"
"Wait, don’t even answer. If anything, this dress only gives you even more main character vibes."
"Can we stop talking about my appearance and start thinking about where the academy actually is?"
"Wait, you didn’t know? I thought you said your family lived here."
"I was just a toddler when we left."
"Fine. Let’s ask around."
The first person they approached was a middle-aged man walking down the street.
"Good day, sir."
"Yeah, good day to you too."
Marty shook his hand and asked, "I was wondering if you could help us with something."
The man raised an eyebrow. "You need money?"
"No, no, no. You see, it’s our first time in Central City, and I think we are kind of lost, so could you tell us where the New Dawn Academy is?"
"Are you a new student?"
"Yes! No, technically no, but soon we will be."
The man scratched his head. "Congratulations on that, but sorry, kid. I don’t think I know where it is."
"Oh! Okay."
The man looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that."
"No, no, it’s fine. We’ll ask someone else."
And so, they did. For the next sixty minutes, they asked everyone they could find.
Starting from a child, shopkeepers, and guards, but no one knew where the academy was located.
"I can’t believe this," Marty complained.
"How can one of the most well-known academies in the world have its location unknown to the people living in its very own city? Isn’t that ridiculous?"
"It is."
Zac smiled and asked the system. "You know the location, right?"
[I do.]
Then tell me where it is.
[One hundred points.]
What?!
[Don’t sound so shocked. Information is wealth and wealth means money.]
"Okay, first tell me how many points I have left."
[One hundred and twenty.]
"And you want a hundred just for an address?"
[Yep.]
"Forget it. I’ll find it myself."
[No! This is what’s going to happen; soon you will come running to me with a face of a puppy that lost its mother in a rain.]
"Do you think I can’t do anything without you?"
[Ask it yourself. Do you think you can’t do anything without me?]
Zac clicked his tongue and ignored him.
A moment later, something crossed his mind. "You know what? I think we’re asking the wrong people."
Marty frowned. "I don’t understand."
"Come with me." Hearing that, Marty followed after him. "So where are we going?"
"The street we passed three turns ago."
"You mean the place where all the homeless people are?"
"Yep."
Marty looked even more confused. "What do homeless people have to do with this?"
"You see, New Dawn Academy was the first academy ever built. Most of the people living in Central City today relocated here from other parts of the world."
Marty nodded. "So if the academy’s location is intentionally hidden, the average citizen probably won’t know where it is."
"And the homeless people do?"
"Maybe," Zac smiled. "They walk all over the city. They stay in the darkest corners and sometimes right in the busiest streets."
"They hear conversations they weren’t supposed to hear and see things people don’t pay attention to. People in power don’t take them seriously, so they get away with almost everything."
Marty’s eyes widened. "Like the Beggar Sect from those novels."
"Yeah, exactly." Zac pointed ahead. "And I bet the oldest bone among them knows something."
Marty grinned. "That’s actually a pretty good idea."
After another twenty minutes of walking, they finally arrived near the area where the homeless usually stayed.
Zac suddenly pulled Marty into a nearby alley. "What are you doing?" Marty asked.
Instead of answering, Zac started taking off his new clothes and changing back into the old worn-out ones he had worn when he first arrived in the city. After that, he rubbed dirt all over them to make them look even worse.
Marty stared at him. "And why exactly are we doing this?"
"Because they hate rich people," Zac said.
"Hate is a strong word."
"Not really. If we walk in there dressed like wealthy young masters, half of them won’t even bother answering us."
A few minutes later, both of them had changed into older clothes and headed toward the homeless colony.
They spent the next half hour asking around with all the people. Most of them either didn’t know anything or simply shrugged and sent them to somebody older.
That somebody older sent them to somebody even older. Eventually, they found themselves standing in front of an old man sitting on an overturned wooden crate.
His beard was completely white and reached almost to his chest. "Excuse me, sir," Marty said politely. "We’re looking for a man named Donovan."
The old man snorted. "I’m not dead yet, so yes, I’m Donovan. What do you want?"
"Nothing much, sir. We’re from another city and we’re trying to find New Dawn Academy."
The old man’s eyes narrowed. "New Dawn Academy, huh? Interesting." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Didn’t your recruiter tell you the location?"
Zac let out a sigh. "Let’s just say she’s not exactly the type to explain things."
"Oho..." The old man’s eyes gleamed. "So it’s a she. Is she beautiful?"
"Aren’t you a little too old for that?" Zac asked.
"A man’s eyes don’t retire just because the rest of him gets old." He leaned forward. "So? Is she?"
"Trust me, old man. You definitely don’t want anything to do with that woman."
"So, do you know where the academy is?" Zac asked.
"I did."
Both boys blinked. "You did? What does that mean?"
The old man shrugged. "A few decades ago, I could’ve taken you right to the front gate. But now I can’t remember a damn thing about where it is."
Zac frowned. "You’re serious?"
"As serious as these old bones can be." The old man tapped his temple.
"I still remember the streets around it. I remember the weather that day. I even remember what I had for breakfast."
"But the location?"
Marty exchanged a glance with Zac. "That’s... weird."
"Not weird," the old man replied. "It’s intentional."
"You think somebody mangled your memory?"
"I know they did." The old man leaned back against the wall. "Every now and then, somebody around here figures out where the academy is. A week or two later, the memory of it will somehow disappear."
Neither Zac nor Marty spoke. The old man laughed, looking at them. "Judging by your faces, that’s not the answer you were hoping for."
"Can you tell us anything that’ll help us get there?" Marty asked.
The old man thought for a few seconds. Then he shook his head. "Nope."
A few seconds later, they walked away.
Marty sighed. "Well, that was a waste of time. Now what?"
Zac stayed silent. Inside his head, a familiar voice chuckled.
[See?]
Zac rolled his eyes. "You know what? Fine. You win."
[I know. I always do.]
"Just take whatever points you want and tell me where the damn academy is."
The system laughed.
[Beg me.]
"What?"
[...]
"Fine. Pretty please."
[Is this what you call begging?]
"That’s the best I can do."
[-100 Info Points.]
[Okay, before I tell you the location, let me warn you. You’re not gonna like what you see.]
"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?"
Zac immediately pulled out his phone.
He pretended to scroll through the screen for a few seconds before putting it back into his pocket. Then he turned toward Marty.
"What?" Marty asked.
"I know where the academy is."
Marty raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. A forward message?"
"No! Miss Armani just texted me."
"My sister," Marty corrected automatically.
"Yeah, yeah. My sister and the vice principal finally texted me the location."
Marty let out a relieved sigh. "That’s good news. It would’ve been even better if she sent it a few hours ago, but I’ll take it."
Marty looked at him. "So where is it?"
Zac pointed ahead. "That way, are you coming?"
Marty stared at him. "Of course I’m coming. What else am I supposed to do? Set up a tent here and have a sleepover with the homeless?"
Zac laughed. "Fair point."
The two of them left the district and started walking in the direction the system had pointed out.
