"It won't be that troublesome. We can just travel there directly. The nearest interstitial point [Gap between worlds] is..."
Facing Ren Amamiya, who had trailed off mid-sentence, Hare tactfully moved on, not pressing him further.
She gently pointed a slender finger into the empty air before her.
With ripples spreading outwards, a dreamlike, circular purple portal materialized right in front of Ren.
"This is... Ah, truly impressive, Hare."
Ren's eyes widened as he watched Hare conjure a portal with a mere point of her finger.
An image flashed through his mind: Morgana transforming into the cat bus with a poof. Then, he imagined an upright rabbit swaggering over, munching a carrot, drawing a circle on a wall with its hand, and casually stepping through it.
As expected of a cognitive world, Ren mused. Cats can turn into buses, and rabbits can draw portals anywhere. It all makes perfect sense, totally psientific! [Cognitive Psience]
Stepping through the purple portal Hare had created, Ren found himself in a secluded, quiet, dark place. It felt as if only he and Hare, who followed close behind, existed in this entire space.
As the purple portal slowly faded into motes of light...
The dark space around Ren began to ripple like the surface of water. Like paint mixing into water, the darkness was gradually replaced by vivid, vibrant colors.
Along with the changing scenery, the noisy, lively chatter of a crowd reached Ren's ears.
The distorted picture within the spatial ripples finally solidified. Ren looked around and realized he had left Mementos and returned to the real world.
He was currently standing deep within an inconspicuous alleyway belonging to a grand, luxurious-looking school. Through the alley's opening, Ren could see scattered students in uniforms passing by—uniforms identical to the Chiba Academy ones he had worn earlier.
In other words, this was Chiba Academy.
Confirming he was back in the safety of the real world, the tension Ren had constantly held finally released.
As his mind relaxed, his Phantom Suit instantly disintegrated into a shower of blue sparks, the white spirit bird mask vanishing as well. Standing there once more was the seemingly ordinary, slightly curly-haired boy in a Chiba Academy uniform.
Ren wasn't too bothered by the automatic disappearance of his Phantom Suit. From his perspective, it was perfectly normal for the Phantom Suit to vanish upon returning to the real world.
"I will find the whereabouts of a Palace as soon as possible. To make contact easier, let's exchange contact information first."
Just as Ren was spacing out slightly, looking down at his uniform, a gentle female voice from behind caught his attention.
"—Hare? You actually..."
Ren turned towards the voice. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the beautiful purple-and-white-haired woman standing gracefully behind him, waving a small, delicate smartphone in her hand.
Ren had half-expected Hare to transform into a cute bunny upon entering the real world, similar to how Morgana became a black cat. He hadn't anticipated she could maintain her human form here.
Though, thinking about it, he reasoned, both Teddie from P4 and Lavenza from P5 could maintain human forms in the real world. The only one who couldn't was Morgana, who never had a human form to begin with. Ren had simply defaulted to thinking of his closest feline companion, subconsciously assuming Hare would also become a rabbit sidekick.
"Are you surprised? I am a Stigmata Crystallization, after all. Being able to do this isn't really that shocking."
Despite saying it wasn't surprising, seeing the astonishment on Ren's face still brought a faint, charming smile to Hare's pale features.
Theoretically, Stigmata Manifestations from Stigmata Spaces shouldn't be able to interfere with the real world. Hare, as a Stigmata Crystallization, was a miracle among miracles, which allowed her to enter the normally inaccessible reality. However, due to the Schariac curse, Hare couldn't stay in one place for too long, or it would trigger large-scale casualties.
"True. But what surprises me more is that you actually have a phone. That makes contacting each other much easier."
Ren took out his phone, and they fumbled slightly as they added each other as contacts.
Using phones for chat groups like the Phantom Thieves did in the original story was full of security holes, Ren thought wryly. A group of victims from various incidents banding together was already suspicious enough, constantly discussing Phantom Thief business in chat. Before Futaba Sakura, the world-class hacker, joined, anyone could have busted them just by checking their phone logs.
However, Ren hadn't attracted the attention of any individuals or factions yet, so he wasn't worried about using his phone to communicate with Hare for now.
"I should probably return to that world soon. I'll contact you if I find anything. If you need me, just send a message. I'll pop into the real world a few times each day to check and reply."
After adding Ren, Hare quickly put away her phone. To avoid spreading the Stigmata's curse within Chiba Academy, she bid Ren farewell.
"Okay, see you tomorrow then. If you haven't found a Palace by then, we'll continue exploring Mementos."
Ren nodded his farewell to Hare, confirming their plans for the next day.
Without the MetaNav app, Ren currently relied entirely on Hare, the native inhabitant, to enter Mementos. With his own power, Ren could only sense that this alleyway had a strong connection to Mementos; he couldn't actually use that connection to travel there himself.
Fortunately, his newfound partner Hare, for whatever reason, was not only gentle and agreeable but also remarkably cooperative with his plans and actions. Otherwise, Ren would still be bumbling around the labyrinthine Mementos like a headless fly, relying purely on luck.
Hare was being a huge help.
To ensure their partnership remained stable and long-lasting, Ren resolved that if Hare ever needed his help with anything, he would absolutely step up without hesitation! Although he didn't know yet what Hare might need from him, he believed that by continuing to interact and cooperate with her, as her "Confidant Rank" increased, he would eventually understand her true heart and genuinely be able to help her.
Hare smiled and waved at Ren, then her figure quietly vanished, returning to the other mysterious, unpopulated world.
"Hare's working hard searching for Palaces. I need to step up my game too. Can't stop leveling up and getting stronger, even in the real world!"
Ren stretched his limbs, then slowly walked out from the depths of the alleyway connecting to the otherworld, stepping into the bright sunlight bathing the grounds of Chiba Academy.