Though District 7 was primarily known for its middle and high schools, that didn't necessarily mean there were no elementary schools here at all.
Perhaps there was a small, unknown elementary school nearby.
Just as Natsume Sonoko was pondering these trivial thoughts, a drink can came rolling and clattering to a stop right by her feet.
A little girl, rushing to retrieve the escaped beverage, failed to mind the shopping bag in her hand.
In her slight panic, she loosened her grip, causing even more items to tumble out of the bag. Various things scattered and rolled everywhere, creating a rather chaotic scene.
"An alcoholic drink?"
Natsume Sonoko blinked in confusion, looking closer to make sure she wasn't mistaken.
In Academy City, where parents were absent, the notion of a child buying alcohol for a parent simply didn't exist.
Therefore, only one truth remained, and Natsume Sonoko felt she had silently seen through it all.
For some reason, Natsume Sonoko felt a spark of irritation. This little girl in front of her, who was a good head shorter, had no business drinking something like this.
"Thank you, Miss."
The little girl with pink hair, wearing a pink dress with white sleeves, let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the much taller girl standing before her.
She took the Milk from one of Natsume Sonoko's hands, but as she reached for the alcoholic drink in the other, she noticed the girl with the twin buns was curiously studying her, bent at the waist.
"I see," Natsume Sonoko thought. "My initial assumption might have been flawed. Besides buying alcohol for a parent or secretly drinking it oneself, there is a third possibility."
It suddenly occurred to her. In the Railgun series, there was a character suspected to be the result of an anti-aging experiment, the so-called 'Legal Loli,' Komoe-sensei.
She carefully compared the girl before her to the image in her memory. The resemblance was striking.
She looked so much like an ordinary elementary school student that Natsume Sonoko hadn't made the connection at first.
But if this was indeed Teacher Komoe, then buying alcoholic drinks was perfectly understandable.
"Despite how I may look, I am actually an adult. Thank you for retrieving my drink," the pink-haired girl said, sounding a bit huffy as she noticed Natsume Sonoko's intense scrutiny.
"My apologies, here is your drink," Natsume Sonoko replied hurriedly, snapping back to reality and handing over the beverage.
"No matter how you look at her, she appears to be a twelve-year-old girl. Could the legendary experiment to inhibit cellular aging actually be real?" Natsume Sonoko found herself muttering aloud.
"Ahem, nothing of the sort exists," the little girl immediately refuted in a sweet, slightly cloying voice upon hearing the muttering.
Before her transmigration, she'd only found the concept of an 'aged loli' to have a huge gap moe appeal. But seeing one in the flesh made her mind involuntarily jump to a certain urban legend.
Something that so blatantly defied the laws of human growth fascinated Natsume Sonoko. Did the mythical anti-aging experiment truly exist?
"Student, my name is Tsukuyomi Komoe. Everyone calls me Komoe-sensei. I have acquired my teaching license and am a full-fledged teacher," the pink-haired girl declared seriously, even producing her teacher's license to prove her identity, her face adopting a suitably authoritative teacherly expression.
"My name is Natsume Sonoko, a first-year middle school student," Sonoko responded promptly, seemingly intimidated by Komoe-sensei's sudden display of authority, her own introduction becoming very formal.
"Sonoko-san, that uniform... it's from Tokiwadai Middle School, isn't it? That's quite a distance from here," Komoe-sensei remarked after finally gathering all her scattered belongings, now able to look at Sonoko properly. A frown creased her brow.
"Have you run away from home? If you need a place to stay, this teacher can offer you temporary accommodation," she added, her voice laced with sudden concern.
"Eh? No, that's not it! I'm just here looking for something," Sonoko quickly denied, startled by the assumption.
"Is that so? Does this student require my assistance?" Komoe-sensei asked, nodding thoughtfully.
"Would that... be alright?" Sonoko asked hesitantly.
"Of course! Helping students is a teacher's duty."
Sonoko handed over the photo her senpai, Maeda, had taken. Komoe-sensei studied it for a moment, her brow furrowing in concentration.
"I believe I've seen these two before," Komoe-sensei said after a moment's recollection, confirming it with certainty.
Sonoko's spirits lifted immediately. Finally, an eyewitness! This supported the theory that her friend, Saten Ruiko, might be correct. Could today be the day they cracked the case?
"Although, I can't quite recall where I saw them. But don't you worry, Sonoko-san, this teacher will keep an eye out for you," Komoe-sensei stated with firm determination.
Since one of the shopping bags had torn, Sonoko carefully helped Komoe-sensei carry her things, cradling them in her arms, all the way back to the teacher's apartment.
The journey was short, only about three hundred meters from the park.
Komoe-sensei resided in a very old apartment building, its apparent age roughly matching that of Academy City itself.
The roof was made of corrugated aluminum sheeting, green moss crept up the walls, and the external iron staircase looked rusty and perilously unstable.
"Wait a moment," Komoe-sensei suddenly said, stopping Sonoko from proceeding further.
Looking up, Sonoko saw a newspaper salesman in the old apartment building violently pounding on a resident's door. After receiving no response for a long time, he moved on to the next unit.
"Those persistent newspaper salespeople again. I really need to find the time to reinforce the main door," Komoe-sensei sighed, watching the salesman leave before looking worriedly at her own door, which seemed on the verge of giving up entirely.
"I may smoke, drink, and drink Musashino Milk, but I'm a good woman," Sonoko found herself thinking after sitting in Komoe-sensei's apartment for a while.
Even though Komoe-sensei had hastily tidied up, the lingering scent of smoke and dust still hung in the air. Open beer cans and various alcoholic beverages were scattered about.
The only semblance of order came from a few textbooks neatly placed on the bedside table and a meticulously organized wardrobe.
--+--
Happily, today's investigative outing had yielded some results. They had basically confirmed that the bicycle robberies were happening in this general area.
Walking back, Natsume Sonoko held a set of high school chemistry problem handouts gifted to her by Komoe-sensei.
Passing by a pet supply store, she remembered to purchase the vacuum-sealed frozen mice.
However, when she saw the frozen mice, she couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine. Especially seeing twenty packs—sixty frozen mice—laid out before her. The sight made her scalp crawl.
"Thank you for your purchase. Here are your items, please take care," the clerk said. As Sonoko took the bag, her arm dropped sharply from the unexpected weight.
The frozen mice were quite heavy. But after using her [Temperature Control] ability to reduce some of the load, it became manageable.
Since she couldn't deliver the mice to Kongou-senpai until tomorrow, they needed to be kept cold overnight. However, Sonoko didn't own a refrigerator. The best she could do was find a basin of water to try and keep them frozen.
Before she even left the pet store, Sonoko heard a commotion of loud voices outside. A large crowd had gathered, seemingly around some incident.
'What's going on?' Sonoko wondered.
"Please wrap this up for me," a somewhat faint, timid voice reached Sonoko's ears just as she was about to leave.
Turning, she saw a girl with long twin tails, wearing a uniform from the private Shidarezakura Academy, placing a bag of cat food on the counter to pay.
Seeming to sense Sonoko's gaze, the girl from Shidarezakura Academy glanced up slightly. After finishing her payment, she took her cat food and melted into the dense crowd.
The moment Sonoko stepped outside, she could feel the tense atmosphere within the crowd. Peering through the mass of people, she saw a somewhat overweight man lying in a pool of blood, apparent gunshot wounds on his body.
"Someone's been shot! Call Anti-Skill!" Panic erupted from the crowd, several people shouting the alarm.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.