Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 548: Crazy Story, Unanswered

{Oh, let me check.}

The middle-aged man on the other side of the phone didn't waste much time, doing as he was told.

Although he didn't actually know he was talking to Aurora, the kind police officer was one of May Nova's personal acquaintances.

"Thank you as always, uncle."

Back in the day when May had just awakened, she used to pay constant visits to the police station closest to her home.

Since she had no support back then, and wasn't even known by the most enthusiastic Hero Fans, May had to pave the road to herself.

These visits were exactly for that. She would go there and pretend to be doing community service until the officers there got used to her, and once everyone got used to her presence, she took the chance to do some secret heroic outings.

After she threw a couple of helpful hints back, the police officer just gave May his private number and told her to call him if she was curious about a certain case.

He wasn't a stickler for rules, and he was lazy just as he was kind, so he didn't mind giving her some information in exchange for some extra help.

'This really isn't the time to feel nostalgic.'

Scolding the foreign thoughts that were especially crazier today, May focused on the topic at hand. These weren't exactly bad memories, but it wasn't the days she was most proud of.

The more May used her ability, the more she hated sneaking around. Being forthright was still the only way Aurora could be at ease.

{I got it. Let's see…}

The uncle only took a minute before finding the case, his voice disappeared as he read the case, but he seemed to take too long for a skim read.

"Hello? Are you still-"

{Woah, May! How did you get this Case Code? It just received an update over a few minutes ago.}

"Oh?"

To not only be confirmed by a police officer but even be updated… Let alone being something fabricated to look like a Case Code, this one belonged to an active case!

{Did that mysterious Hero friend of yours give you another piece of information?}

Whether it was the hints that she provided or the cases that were mysteriously solved, May always stuck it to having a secret Hero friend. A very plausible situation in this current day and age.

{Ah, It seems like they won't need to act after all, this case is already more or less solved.}

"Solved?"

May turned to Gene who looked back at her with worry. Would this girl be here if the case was truly closed?

"Can you read me the case details just in case?"

{If it's for old times' sake… Well, it's just an open-and-shut case anyway.}

Just as usual, the uncle spoke as if he was having a hard time making a choice, but was quick to compromise in the end. He took another minute to summarize the thing in his mind before recounting it.

{Apparently, some newly awakened kid was kidnapped about a month ago. The missing person's report was put aside since not too much time had passed at the time, but the kid's parents made a big fuss. So…}

The uncle seemed to enjoy recounting stories as he explained everything there was to know about the case, even going as far as to read the leading detective's case notes.

{They were still shrugged off as the officers pretended to comply, but once three weeks had passed, they could no longer stay still. They started canvassing…}

Truly, he was a good information source, but a really lousy detective…

{Eventually, nothing worked out, the station's Captain even had to give out an apology, promising to ask for help from the Association, but yeah, this was just lip-service for 'We gave up on this case'.}

So far, the details were consistent with the story, but the half mentioning Gene's journey was completely unmentioned. Making May wonder if she was being misled.

{Normally, this case would have been left unchanged, completely forgotten without a year, but just half an hour ago, the missing kid entered the police station on his own.}

This was yet another event that the papers predicted… No, orchestrated? May wasn't sure what to think of this whole thing, but what mattered right now was still Gene.

"Was there a mention of any other child besides the boy?"

{Geez, why are you in so much of a hurry, the climax is almost here. The kid claimed to have been kidnapped by a mad scientist who wanted to experiment on him because his useless Special Ability was in fact, 'very special'.}

The uncle was obviously more interested in storytelling than giving precise information, but at this point, May's patience was already at its limits.

"Please, I need to know if there was another child."

{Ah. Sorry, yes. The kid mentioned that another awakened girl was already there when he was taken. He said she was very obedient to the kidnapper, but he also told the officers that they no longer had to worry about her.}

Hearing May's sharp voice, the uncle instinctively skipped the following lines and rushed to the part she wanted to know.

{Apparently, his savior also 'saved' her from the mad scientist's control, and took her someplace better. Crazy, right? The kid obviously wasn't in his right mind, they are probably testing him for accidental drug ingestion right now.}

"And the girl?!"

{What girl? The kid made up half the story. There were no missing reports of anyone suiting the kid's description even going a year back. One kid might have been ignored, but if two Special Ability users were kidnapped at such a close time frame, someone would have already noticed.} 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Who was it?"

The messy details sounded like a child's made-up story, but the fact that it perfectly coincided with the story that May just read couldn't be a coincidence.

{Who? What do you mean who?}

"The savior, didn't the child mention the person who saved him?"

{Eh, was my storytelling that good? Fine, I will tell you. According to the kid, he was saved by a secret Hero who goes by the name of Ca-}

The phone call suddenly turned silent, making May even more annoyed.

"Ha? What happened? Why did you stop?"

{Ah… This is strange, the case file's full encryption was turned on just now. I can no longer access anything.}

After being brought to the edge so many times, Aurora's most important question was still left unanswered.