thefictionvixens Chapter 217 The Solution - A Sweet Nightmare Like Sugar
Chapter 217 The Solution - A Sweet Nightmare Like Sugar
Chapter 218 Resolution - A Sweet Nightmare Like Sugar
A woman dressed in a plain-colored robe, who seemed to have just been performing a spirit communication ritual, appeared at the school gate, called out Sachiko's name, and quickly walked towards the crowd.
"Are you the detective from yesterday?"
She glanced uneasily at Sachiko, who seemed to ignore her, then walked straight up to Aoi, clearly recognizing the voice from the phone call the previous night. "You called me to the school and had my husband, Sachiko, and me get together. Does that mean the investigation has made progress?"
"That's right, I'm the detective you hired over the phone, Azure from the Hugo Detective Agency."
Holding the unconscious Mengmengshi, Bilan looked directly into Madam Kuribayashi's eyes and nodded generously in response: "The investigation is about to enter the reporting phase. Being able to resolve the case within twelve hours of accepting the commission is an unprecedented opening bonus."
"But—" the woman opened her mouth, then turned her head to Sachiko, who had a blank expression, "my daughter is still like this—"
"Yes, this phenomenon is indeed a difficult problem. Although I've heard about it many times, seeing it with my own eyes is still quite disheartening—"
The female detective sighed and said regretfully, "The human brain is easily deceived by external phenomena, and trying to correct this error..."
But it will require a disproportionately large amount of effort. I can immediately unravel and eliminate the source of this misfortune, but as for how to correct the illusions in Sachiko's mind, besides my part, we will need the cooperation of your whole family.
"Does this mean that Sachiko still has hope for treatment?"
The woman's tone became somewhat excited, and even Mr. Kuribayashi, who was standing next to her, looked at Azure expectantly.
However, the detective shrugged and said, "I'm not a doctor, and your daughter isn't a patient. But if the mystery is solved properly, the strange phenomena Sachiko is experiencing will surely subside naturally."
"Detective, it may seem a bit unreasonable to ask, but could you please address the root of your problem immediately? I believe it's best to act quickly in these situations, even if it's just for a second. We don't want our daughter to continue being affected by things that distort her cognitive development."
Mr. Kuribayashi, who was standing to the side, spoke up, while looking for his wife's opinion with his eyes. She nodded in agreement.
"Well." Azure glanced at Sachiko's original class.
Through the security bars on the windowsill, it was clear that the kindergarten classroom was completely dark. All the children had left, and the teacher had checked the attendance sheet to make sure that every child in the class had been picked up by their parents before closing the door and leaving get off work.
This is the perfect opportunity to use "Rapid Rewind" to return to the classroom and start the investigation again.
"Well, that's good, it's almost time."
After saying that, Bilan led the four people involved—two adults and two children—to the classroom.
"To be fair, and also to avoid any oversights, I would like to ask everyone here a few more questions. I hope you will answer them freely and without reservation."
On the way, Azure said to the people behind her, "First of all, the original client, the little boy from the Air Combat Family." Azure called out his name.
"I'm here," the boy answered timidly.
"In your initial account, Sachiko's mysterious disappearance occurred inside the classroom while the children were playing together; she suddenly vanished. Similarly, her later disappearance during an assembly also happened indoors, with 'several teachers guarding the perimeter of the classroom'—that's what you said at the time. Since the teachers were surrounding the classroom, the students, as the objects of their protection, must have been inside. Is that correct?"
The boy thought about it for a while, glanced at Sachiko again, and finally nodded in agreement: "It seems so."
"That's natural, and it matches my prediction."
Ahead lay a flat, empty corridor. Azure turned gracefully, walking backwards, and said, "If Sachiko frequently disappeared while playing on the playground, even the most oblivious teacher wouldn't treat a student's disappearance as a prank; they would at least notify the parents. However, that didn't happen. The only explanation is that whenever Sachiko disappeared, she was always inside the enclosed classroom. Therefore, setting aside the students who witnessed her disappearance, the teacher at the podium didn't see anything pass through the door and naturally wouldn't be alarmed by the number of students missing from the class."
"Similarly, in the initial game, the reason the students were able to immediately conclude that Sachiko had disappeared rather than hiding somewhere unseen was because everyone was in an enclosed space, making it easy to count everyone's numbers—just like this morning's indoor activity class. Am I right?"
The little boy fell silent and did not object. This indicated that, from his perspective, Sachiko had indeed never disappeared outside the classroom.
"So that's how it is."
Mr. Kuribayashi nodded softly, seemingly acknowledging Azure's abilities to some extent, and the deep-seated doubts that had been ingrained since their first meeting dissipated somewhat.
"And then there's the second question, Mr. Kuribayashi. I remember you just said that you 'tried everything you knew' in order to cure Sachiko's strange illness, right?"
"That's right." Seeing the topic suddenly turn to him, Kuribayashi, holding his daughter's hand, nodded calmly.
"Although the two parents are just actors playing people with superpowers, they must have accumulated a lot of relevant knowledge as preparation for the performance. When faced with their daughter's illness, they naturally couldn't ignore amulets and other talismans that are well-known in the field of mysticism."
The detective, who was walking backwards, moved in front of Kuribayashi, who was holding his daughter's hand.
"Most of these magical items only work on Pokémon, with minimal effect on humans. However, some do have the effect of calming the mind and repelling Ghost-type Pokémon. The protective item you gave Sachiko is something like that, right?"
Before the parents could reply, Bilan knelt down in front of Xingzi. "Xingzi, may I see the amulet you're wearing around your neck?"
"it is good."
Although she didn't know the specifics, the little girl obediently and carefully took out the ornament hidden in her white coat.
It was a pale green stone carved with intricate patterns, with fluorescent light flowing between the patterns, and the whole stone exuded a soft and smooth luster like jade.
"So the raw material really is that one—"
The moment Sachiko took out the amulet, Mengmeng Shi in Bilan's arms stirred, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, startling the amulet's owner, who took two steps back.
"Don't wake up on your own." The detective girl added an impatient chop, causing Mengmengshi to fall into an even deeper sleep.
At this point, Mr. Kuribayashi explained, "Detective, this is a talisman carved from moonstone. It was recommended to us by the psychiatrist who was treating Sachiko when she first started exhibiting hallucination symptoms. As you said, this talisman is said to have a calming effect. We also found a real psychic to carve inscriptions on it to ward off evil spirits."
"Just as I expected. Okay, now we have all the final clues."
The detective sprang back to her feet like a spring, turning gracefully around behind her.
At this moment, everyone had arrived at the door of Sachiko's classroom.
This is the place where the little girl mysteriously disappears day after day.
"There's nothing valuable inside, yet it's locked. But that's understandable; the school is the most familiar place for children besides their homes. It would be terrible if a runaway child hid inside. This school must have encountered such situations in the past, which is why they pay so much attention to managing student access."
While muttering to herself, Bilan tugged at the padlock hanging on the classroom door, but the sturdy metal lock didn't budge.
That's when you'd have to show off your unique skills as a private investigator—or so I'd say.
"Eevee, Iron Tail!"
The reliable Pokémon partner leaps out of the ball, swinging its metallic tail, and lands simultaneously with the severed iron lock.
She's not Hugo; she can easily rely on Pokémon, so she doesn't need to go through the trouble of helping herself.
The door, now unlocked, was pushed open by Azure without hesitation.
As expected, the classroom was empty.
"Miss Azure, what exactly is the answer to the mystery you mentioned?" Mrs. Kuribayashi, who followed Azure into the room, asked the detective eagerly, "Is it something in this classroom that's causing Sachiko's strange behavior?"
"But there's nothing in here." Mr. Kuribayashi looked around in confusion.
The podium, desks, activity area, hygiene corner, and picture book shelf are all typical scenes in a preschool classroom. Apart from the fact that all the items are made to fit the small size of children, there is nothing out of place.
"This kind of routine is exactly the troublemaker's specialty disguise."
Azure smiled happily, and a Poké Ball had appeared in her hand without her noticing.
"Show off the results of your training, Archaeopteryx, 'Clear the Fog'!"
The fossil Pokémon with dead fish eyes was released from the ball, and in an instant, a huge gust of wind began to echo in the room as it flapped its distinct yellow and blue wings.
"Clearing the fog" is a skill that Archaeopteryx mastered after it was resurrected from a fossil. After several changes of trainers, this move, which does not require any power, became its main training program.
Azure firmly believes that the key to Pokémon moves is quality, not quantity. Even a Pokémon that is proficient in just one support move can play an irreplaceable role in battle.
Therefore, she doesn't need Archaeopteryx, whose talents are sealed by itself, to become an all-around jack-of-all-trades. Since its "weak" characteristic makes it difficult for its attacks and special attacks to reach their full potential, she can simply shift her focus from offensive moves to becoming a supportive disruptor. As for initiating attacks, she can confidently leave that to the trainer and other Pokémon.
At this moment, after a long period of specialized training, the wings of the Archaeopteryx, which could originally only produce a gentle breeze, can finally stir up a raging storm like a warrior eagle.
Inside the classroom, plastic desks and chairs were blown over in large numbers, picture books were scattered all over the floor, and the classroom windows, which had been closed, began to whistle mournfully.
As the "clearing of the fog" was successfully performed, something different began to appear inside the classroom.
"That's it!" The little boy's eyes widened as he looked in surprise at a corner of the ceiling.
"As you can see," Azure said with satisfaction, clapping her hands together, whether it was because the correctness of her reasoning had been verified or to celebrate the successful release of Archaeopteryx's skill.
"This Pokémon is the culprit that gradually distorted Sachiko's fantasies."
What everyone saw was a light pink head and a pale purple back. The creature's eyes were closed, and it had three short black eyelashes. Its body was spherically compressed, and its pointed snout, like that of a tapir, was wrapped around its limbs. A barely visible purplish-red smoke rose from the top of its head.
The second one is Dreamy Eclipse.
However, it was much smaller than the one that Azure was holding in her arms.
"Mengmengshi, are you prepared to come down yourself, or do you want to be beaten up and captured by me like this senior?"
While everyone was wondering what was going on, Azure called out to Dreamy Eclipse, who was hiding in a corner of the ceiling.
Previously, it had been curled up and floating in that spot, concealing its form with the colorless and odorless dream of everyday life.
Using a fog of vague cognition to conceal its tracks is not optical cloaking, but rather a conceptual cloaking based on psychology and neuroscience. Seeing its companion's miserable state, the second Dream Eater trembled with a deep sense of loss. However, when it realized that Azure was approaching step by step, it was so frightened that it dared not move.
"ha!"
The detective gave a low shout and stomped her foot sharply, making a loud, blunt sound.
Then, witnessed by four people involved in the incident, the small Dream Eater fell to the floor with a "plop" and passed out with mosquito coil-like eyes.
"Miss Azure, are you an Ability User?"
Despite having countless unanswered questions, Mr. Li couldn't help but ask Azure this question as soon as he spoke: "No, I just startled it. This Dream Eater was actually already exhausted. It's probably because of its 'synchronization' characteristic that it felt differently about its companion's experience, and therefore, under immense pressure, it had a mental breakdown and fainted."
Azure stepped forward, picked up the second Dreamy Eclipse, and held it in her arms, one on each side, in response.
This was both to control the Pokémon in time and to prevent the two parents from acting impulsively and retaliating against the Pokémon that caused their daughter's misfortune.
Fortunately, even when Mengmengshi is unconscious, she can still provide buoyancy with her energy, so Bilan doesn't have to struggle while holding the two huge pink balls.
"Now let me tell you the whole story."
Azure hooked a chair in the classroom that remained upright even after somersaulting a few times, and leisurely sat down.
"Although this may be the willful words of an outsider, to be honest, I really understand the reason why this Dream Eater devours Sachiko's dream."
"What exactly happened?" Sachiko's mother asked.
"In short, it's about emergency evacuation. Mengmengshi is trapped in this classroom for some reason and can't leave."
That's why you had to devour your daughter's dream reality. Because of the cold war you two had a year ago, Sachiko divided reality into two separate worlds, and has been immersed in this dreamlike self-deception for a long time, becoming someone who can dream even with her eyes open.
Azure reveals the final truth: "It is for this reason that Sachiko became the only food that the Dream Eater could come into contact with in this classroom."