The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 1005: Anna's Dream

"Mr. Lu Li... Mr. Lu Li?"

At the psychologist's call, his black eyes slowly came into focus.

The ink-stained nib of a pen touched the paper.

"You may speak now, Mr. Lu Li."

Lu Li gazed out the window. Belfast, shrouded in mist and awash in cold tones, looked bleak.

The Emerald Dream was not a continuous slumber.

Lu Li lowered his gaze and, to the psychologist's surprise, walked out of the clinic.

"Da Vinci Street."

After hailing a rented carriage on the street, Lu Li began the jolting journey to Madam An Lei's art gallery.

His second encounter with Benjamin happened a little earlier this time. The slacker, who served as both employee and guard, was standing in front of the empty gallery."Sir, you've come just in time. We're closing in half an hour, so the gallery is quiet. Nothing will disturb your enjoyment of the art—"

"I'm an exorcist, here to investigate the haunting at this gallery."

A mixture of relief, concern, and doubt flickered across Benjamin's face as he asked cautiously:

"And your fee...?"

"There is none."

Benjamin observed Lu Li. His slender figure was accentuated by an expensive black coat and shirt, his hair and eyes were a striking black, and his bearing was more enigmatic—and somehow more trustworthy—than that of any nobleman.

Impressed by the man before him, Benjamin put his trust in Lu Li and handed the gallery over to him completely—as its owner, he was, of course, well aware of the collection's value.

Waiting for Benjamin to leave, Lu Li walked deeper into the gallery, his footsteps echoing, until he reached the oil painting titled "The Daughter of Madam An Lei."

Before night could fall and Anna awaken, Lu Li took the painting from the wall and turned to leave.

Before he left, Lu Li remembered to lock the gallery door. He then climbed into the waiting carriage with the painting and returned to the Sailor Street district.

It was difficult to classify the act as an exorcism, a theft, or a kidnapping.

...

Cough—

A child's cough echoed from the next room, followed by the gentle murmur of a mother's comfort.

Sizzle—

The sound of sizzling food and the aroma of fried fish drifted in from the corridor.

Slam!

The floor shuddered as a door slammed shut, drowning out the sudden start of an argument.

The flame in the oil lamp's glass chimney wavered slightly, and the light in the living room trembled with it. In time, the shadows slowly steadied.

Outside the window, the streetscape was hazy in the darkness.

Lu Li sat quietly at his desk, eyes closed, waiting, as if he had merged with the stillness of the room.

At some point, the colors in the oil painting brightened, and a figure gradually emerged from it—

Lu Li, who had been dozing, opened his black eyes and turned his head to look at Anna, frozen in the act of climbing out of the frame.

Anna blinked. She made a grabbing motion with her spectral hands and contorted her face into what she hoped was a ferocious grimace.

"Wooooo-oooo-ooooah!"

"Do you need help?" Lu Li replied, his voice calm and gentle.

"Ahem..."

Flustered, Anna awkwardly composed herself.

"I am the spirit of the painting, um... human," she began, then, feigning the poise of a lady, she spoke in a clumsy, overly formal 'noble' dialect:

"So, you are the one who purchased this painting?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Mm-hmm... Human... do you... have a wish? No, that's not it... Do you desire—"

Anna stumbled over her words, trying to make up the rest.

"You're a ghost, aren't you?"

Lu Li's calm words successfully rescued Anna from her predicament. Then, just as he'd expected, seeing that her spectral nature didn't provoke fear or disgust, the friendless Anna began to pour her heart out to him.

The street outside the window was now empty of pedestrians, and the conversations from the next room had faded into faint snores and murmurs of sleep.

"Mm... it's so late. Are you tired, Mr. Lu Li?"

When Anna glanced at the clock, she saw it was only three hours until dawn.

"No."

Even though Lu Li had heard Anna's stories countless times before.

But the considerate Anna didn't believe him. She bashfully suggested he go to sleep, averting her eyes and whispering:

"Besides, you've already... bought me..."

Lu Li didn't refuse this time. He gave a slight nod and said:

"Good night. Sweet dreams."

"Good night."

Anna watched Lu Li return to his bedroom and lie down to rest, leaving the door ajar. Then, she too drifted back into the oil painting.

Lu Li wasn't asleep, for he was already inside a dream.

In the silence of the night, he quietly reached out for the presence of his Cursed Titles.

The unrelated titles, 'Bloodied' and 'Treewhisperer,' were beyond his reach. 'Beacon,' which originated from the Emerald Dream, was also difficult to perceive. Strangely, however, his 'Dreamwalker' title detected a chaotic cluster of light in the fog.

It was Anna's location.

Do ghosts dream?

Lu Li drew closer to the faint glimmer and merged with it.

The soothing, pleasant sound of musical instruments filled the air. A warm sun, a long-unseen luxury, streamed down onto the lawn beside a grand church in Himmfast, where Anna, dressed in a tailcoat, held hands with Lu Li, who wore a white wedding gown.

"Do you take this gentleman to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the priest asked a warmly smiling Anna.

"I do."

"And do you take this lady to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the priest asked 'Lu Li', who was concealed beneath a white veil.

"I—"

"My princess, the woman you are marrying is a monster!"

A sharp, masculine cry cut him off. An uninvited guest in knight's armor stormed onto the wedding lawn, his face obscured by a blur of mist.

"I'm not..."

Anna shook her head in a panic, her ponytail whipping around, and tried to explain herself to Lu Li. The next moment, her spectral hand passed right through his palm.

"Princess, I've come to save you—"

While Anna stood stunned, the uninvited guest charged through the celebration, ran up to Lu Li amid the commotion, and swept him up into his arms.

The mist suddenly dissipated, revealing a clear face: it was Anna.

As the farce continued, Lu Li slipped unnoticed from the chaotic dream and submerged himself in the dimmer clusters of light nearby.

The deep of the night was silent.

In the morning, Lu Li woke Anna.

It might have been his imagination, but Anna's gaze seemed a little guilty and unusual. Then, when Lu Li announced he was taking her to the beach, she lit up with happiness.

...

The carriage stopped before a railing in the coastal district.

It was quiet here, near the edge of the Elm Forest.

Anna no longer needed to hide, and she rushed excitedly toward the beach.

Lu Li followed quietly behind Anna, enjoying the sound of her joyful cries.

After running for a short distance, Anna turned gracefully. Her clear eyes seemed to sparkle as she asked in surprise:

"How did you know I love the beach?"

"Of course I know."

"Oh..."

A blush crept up to her ears. Anna turned back to the sea, picked up a seashell half-buried in the sand, and held it to her ear to listen.

"They say if you hold a shell to your ear, you can hear the ocean..."

"You won't hear it if you're not near the ocean."

"Mommy, why is that lady see-through?"

A child's voice suddenly carried on the sea breeze. Anna gasped and vanished into the In-Between, the seashell falling silently onto the sand.

The mother nearby glanced over and saw only a black-haired man bending to pick up the shell.

"Don't talk nonsense," she said, patting her child on the head. A flicker of unease prompted her to pull the child along, hurrying away from the beach even as the little one kept looking back.

Once the mother and child were gone, Anna slowly reappeared beside Lu Li.

The waves lapped at the shore. Anna gazed out at the bay, her hair stirring gently as if touched by the sea breeze.

The two figures stood side by side.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu Li..." Anna said softly, mustering her courage.

The sea breeze blew through the empty space beside Anna. The seashell lay silent on the sand.