They weren't sure what they were more shocked about, the fact that Izoku had brought them to an Ant Hole, acting as if it were some sort of sanctuary for the shrunken students, or the fact that an ant had just spoken to them, in their own language. That big, ugly, scaley bug that stood in front of them, just as many other insects had stood before them, seemed to have other intentions with them than the ones before. Upon meeting insects, up to this point, the objective from them seemed to be hunting or killing or a mixture of the two. However, this ant had just spoken to them, as if offended by something.

“What poor manners! This is so much more than a mere “hole”. It is our beloved home of Ant Town!” It seemed that this ant was upset with them because they offended him and his home, calling it a hole. Of all the things they expected to happen from insects, as a reaction to their presence, this was the last thing. Hitoshi was looking at the others, the only one over the shock enough to speak. “...did that ant just yell at Sei? You know...in English, understandable?” Tarou kept his cool, getting a little inspiration was Hitoshi's words. He agreed with him, and tried to introduce himself to this ant.

“I believe it did, Hitoshi. This is astonishing! Sir, please allow me to apologize on my friend's behalf. We just...we weren't quite expecting this.” As soon as he finished his greeting, he leaned over towards Sei, whispering in his ear and advising him not to anger the talking ant. If it could talk, who knew what else it was capable of. For all they knew, it was about to get up on two legs and start swinging a sword towards them. They were here, where Izoku called a “safe” place, so they should at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

Izoku tried to confirm that they were safe, by speaking of his personal experience with Ant Town, and it's inhabitants. “The ants of this colony have been close friends of mine for years. You can trust their hospitality, I assure you. They have many skills that the giants outside are still unaware of.” It seemed that, according to Izoku, this place was a very safe place, indeed. An entire ant colony that was friendly towards the shrunken people, let alone communicate with them, was a nice thing, indeed.

Not pushing their 'welcome' to this place any further than it has to, another shrunken attendee of the academy came forward. He was a mage, wearing long, green robes and had spiked blond hair. He had a serious look on his face, and it didn't take them long to realize that they still had a lot to figure out, other than the fact that their sanctuary was a town full of ants. “Not to break up this warm welcome, gentlemen, but the teachers and Houjo-san have been waiting for you. We all want answers, and you are the only guys we can hope have any.”

Hearing Houjo's name surprised Hitoshi a little bit. Apparently, Masako had not only visited the academy, but the beach as well. She was a busy girl, that's for sure. She probably did that to him after the three of them had told her about his knowing about what was going on at the shrine. “Houjo-san is here? So, Masako got to him as well?” Izoku turned towards them and nodded, shedding light on his question. “Houjo was the first she went after. Your friend it right, though, Hitoshi. We should get a move on. We have much to discuss.”

The three of them were then led towards the back of the ant colony, still getting used to it being called by a property name, Ant Town. It was a fitting name, as they were led towards the back of it. As they were led through it, they could tell that many things within it were manmade, most likely shrunk along with people from the academy as Masako made her way through, either now or in years past. The town had everything that a town would need. There were beds, fashioned into an “Inn” of sorts, small shops that held shrunken items and weapons and equipment, and even a library filled with books.

Each of the shops had a wooden counter across it, the Inn filled with real beds, made of wood, sheets, and whatnot. There were large crated, cabinets, bookshelves, chairs, tables, and everything else you could imagine in this place. It was quite clear that the ants had probably not built this entirely on their own. It it likely that Izoku had assisted them in the building of this place over the past twelve years or so. After all, if you live in a place like this for twelve years and are alone, what else can you do?

The four of them came back to the final room, in the north-west corner of Ant Town, a lobby of sorts. There were five round tables, each with three seats around them. Within, they found many of the academy's professors, along with Old Man Houjo. They all watched their entrance, looks of both eagerness and frustration on their faces. It was clear that they were about to walk into what was likely to be a very serious and unfortunate conversation. The professors would obviously want to know everything that they knew so they could figure out what could be done, if anything.

As soon as they got to the back of the room, Izoku stood near a corner, by the professors, his back leaning against a stack of boxes. Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei stood by a tall dresser and began to explain their situation to the professors. Their tale was long-winded, but they began to tell them everything they knew. They spoke about heading to the beach, meeting Masako on the mountain, being sent to the Shrine, finding out that Hosoki had been killed, and more...