dmims Chapter 205 Between Intersections
Chapter 205 Between Intersections
Chapter 215 Between Intersections
As it approached four o'clock in the afternoon, parents began to gradually gather near the school gate.
There are also more vehicles and Pokémon riding them parked along the roadside, arranged in neat formations along the street, just like the armies that children randomly assemble in sandbox games.
Having just jumped from the school's clock tower, she changed into a more mature-looking outfit in a light blue dress at a nearby restaurant's restroom, and naturally mingled among them.
This time, she squeezed to the front of the crowd and tried to strike up a conversation with the security guard standing at the entrance of the preschool.
"It seems like there aren't many staff or teachers at this school. Considering the number of students, the underground parking garage under the playground should be quite small, with probably not many parking spaces, right?"
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the detective noticed that the security guard seemed rather bored, so she immediately posed a question.
It's unlikely that any security guard in the world would be so bored as to measure the depth of an underground parking garage, but since they had nothing better to do, instead of waiting with anxious parents for their children to get out of school, they might as well chat with the staff for a bit to gather information.
However, when faced with Bilan's question, the security guard shook his head with a very serious attitude—
"The garage here also serves as a refuge and security system for nearby residents, so it is designed to be very spacious and can accommodate dozens of private cars. When the garage was first built, many nearby residents would park their cars in the kindergarten at night, until the school revised its admission rules."
"Huh? Doesn't that mean the garage is completely empty now?" Azure pushed up her disguise glasses and asked with great interest.
"We do use it a few times during school sports meets, but it's mostly idle the rest of the time. But it's still better than the children not being able to find a place to take shelter when a natural disaster really happens," the security guard replied matter-of-factly.
The ancient Unova Kingdom was once destroyed by two legendary dragons, and ancient texts record in black and white the scenes of divine fire descending from the sky and thunder ravaging the earth. Dynasties that lose their ideals are doomed to perish, and kingdoms that abandon reality are bound to collapse—in a sense, all the current inhabitants of Unova are survivors of that catastrophe.
At the end of the myth, the world-destroying monsters have only fallen into a deep sleep, not completely extinct. No one can guarantee that they will not awaken again and punish the current United Alliance.
Therefore, compared to other regions, the city designers of the United Alliance are more aware of potential crises and have even tacitly established an unwritten rule: "Instead of having all future Alliance politicians uphold ideals and respect reality, let's build more air-raid shelters."
After all, besides legendary Pokémon, some rampaging Pokémon can also attack cities, so being prepared is crucial. Furthermore, the possibility of terrorists using helicarriers to launch large-scale laser attacks on cities cannot be ruled out…
“I happen to be studying a related topic in university, so I’m a bit concerned about it. If it’s intended as an air-raid shelter, shouldn’t the garage have at least two entrances and exits?”
Azure recalled the building codes she had seen while looking at sewer maps in the past. While concealing her motives, she shifted the conversation to the structure of the garage.
The security guard gave the girl in front of him a deep look: "You seem to know quite a lot, but it's not a big deal. It's okay to tell you. Besides the slope next to the main gate, there's another exit behind the playground."
"Is it near that clock tower?" Azure was somewhat surprised because she hadn't seen the other exit of the garage during her previous investigation.
"Inside the clock tower, there's a safety passage for people to go up and down using stairs." The security guard glanced at his watch, saw that there was still some time before school ended, yawned, and continued, "The stairs and the route up the clock tower are different, and even most of the teachers in the school don't know about it."
The staircases that are misaligned are probably because the original steep staircases of the clock tower did not meet current standards, so they were set up to be separate.
Azure sincerely complimented, "You know so much!"
“I was working here as a security guard before the school playground was renovated. I watched the garage being dug up day by day and smelled the dust and dirt all summer long, so I knew it very well.”
It's surprising that a security guard at the school gate could provide so much information. Questioning those involved is indeed an important part of the investigation.
"By the way, security guard, do you know how many meters the ceiling of the underground parking garage is from the ground?"
"More than two meters, at least that thick was the cross-section we saw during construction. What's wrong?"
A two-meter-thick solid barrier meant that even the most powerful "teleportation" couldn't move the child on the other side. Furthermore, almost all psychic moves couldn't penetrate this thickness of concrete, and Ghost-type moves were barely effective...
Azure, with mixed feelings, rejected the possibility of the super-powered spirit manipulating children underground, while replying with a smile—
"No, it's nothing. I was just planning to take my relative's child downstairs for a walk later. Is that alright?"
Previously, Bilan had contacted the young client's parents, who agreed that a reliable detective would escort the boy home from school, giving her the opportunity to enter the school for the second time.
The security guard waved his hand dismissively, indicating that the next period was when parents could freely enter the school, and that it would be perfectly fine for them to stay near the underground parking garage.
The detective chatted with the security guard for a few more minutes, trying to learn about the school's history. However, the security guard's knowledge of the school's history was far less than his knowledge of the garage he had witnessed being built. After a short conversation, he found himself clueless about everything, and the girl had no choice but to give up.
.
The kindergarten has finally let out.
The great bell that once shook my azure eardrums rang out again, and this time I finally didn't need to stuff cotton in my ears.
The guardians, who had been waiting for a long time, began to stir.
The security guard pressed the button, and the school gate slowly opened. Parents, like a school of small fish swimming in the water, poured into the school and went to their respective classrooms to claim their children.
This is, after all, a preschool, and even for a short period after school, the school doesn't dare let the children run around freely on campus. Therefore, each class has a teacher present, who doesn't leave the classroom until all the children have been picked up by their parents.
Azure arrived at the class where her client was. Among the children, she saw a familiar little boy—and his friend Sachiko beside him.
"Detective... Big Sister!"
Before Azure could wave, the boy spotted the acting detective, abandoned the little girl, and ran over to her.
Before Azure could even remove her disguise glasses, the boy had already found her.
"Your parents have some urgent business to attend to today, so they entrusted me with the task of escorting you home from school. They asked me to come and pick you up."
Bilan felt a bit like a kidnapper abducting a minor, so she patted the boy's head in a friendly manner and explained her purpose to him in a voice that the teacher could just hear from a distance, in order to prove her innocence.
"Is that Sachiko you mentioned before?"
The detective pointed to the little girl she had seen at the clock tower that morning and asked her client for confirmation.
The girl kept her head down, still looking as introverted as ever. Compared to the morning, she was wearing an extra white coat, and the jewelry on her chest was covered up.
She was looking in this direction at that moment.
“That’s right, that’s right, big sister, listen to me…” the boy said to Bilan excitedly, “This morning, during activity class, Sachiko went missing again.”
"Huh?" The acting detective tilted his head, puzzled. "Do you have two activity periods in the morning?"
There's no way a disappearance could have happened during free play on the playground. Since the boy said that, there must have been another disappearance afterward, right? The Pokémon that caused this incident really knows how to seize any opportunity...
"No, there was only one activity period in the morning. We were playing hopscotch in the classroom when Sachiko suddenly disappeared."
Is there only one activity period in the morning?
Azure raised an eyebrow, sensing something was amiss.
"I didn't disappear!"
Turning around upon hearing the voice, Azure found that the girl named Sachiko had also walked to her side. This was the first time the acting detective had heard a girl's voice.
The girl was a little shy and didn't face the blue-green light, but instead spoke to the boy—
"While you guys were playing hopscotch, I traveled to a parallel universe and went to the playground with you guys from that parallel world for free time. Well... I didn't do much activity, I just sat in a chair the whole time."
"A parallel...parallel universe? So, you're here today too?" The young client turned around and looked at Sachiko in surprise.
"Yes, on the playground, I talked to you from a parallel universe for a long time. Although it was mostly you who started the conversation."
The girl and boy started whispering to each other, describing the scene when they traveled through time.
Azure looked around with a headache; one parent after another was leading their child out of the classroom. In this preschool classroom where everything seemed smaller than it actually was, the world seemed subtly displaced—
Why did the girl Sachiko disappear from her class?
Where did the girl go after she disappeared?
What was the "parallel universe" she was seeing?
What did Azure see from the clock tower?
Who caused this whole incident and for what reason?
Inhale.
Exhale.
Amidst her tangled thoughts, Azure took a deep breath, then asked the boy one last time—
"Did none of your students leave the classroom this morning?"
"Yes... if we don't include Sachiko, then that's how it is. She traveled through time, so I don't know if that counts as leaving the classroom," the boy answered honestly.
Traveling through time and space.
Did I also "travel through time" with Sachiko?
Hmph, what an interesting case.
This is truly the perfect first case for the Azure Detectives.
The bespectacled female detective smiled slightly.
He slowly raised his right hand, his loosely clenched fist placed in front of the boy.
Then, he snapped his fingers with a "snap".
"So that's how it is. The fog has lifted. I have completely solved all the mysteries of this case."