The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 1028: The Return

"From love comes sorrow, from love comes fear; he who is free from love knows neither sorrow nor fear."

"What does that remind you of...?"

"Your approach is wrong. The previous tournaments are worthless."

"Why do you say that?"

"The nature of each stage of the Tournament is different because it's never been organized by the same person."

"But we can still find patterns. For example, the first stage is easier."

"Seven years ago, at the Tournament of the Five Powers, the first stage eliminated eighty percent of the participants."

"Emotions."

"So, you suppress your emotions?"

"I always have.""If we go further north, we'll approach the trial zone for the Cursed Title. Maybe we should try our luck?"

"A foolish idea. You outsiders don't understand the horror of the Forbidden Zone. Every year, thirty people die in the lower levels of the Swamps."

"Thirty people?"

"I think she meant thirty percent, but either way, it's a terrible idea. Tovani, what do you think?"

"I don't know... uh, perhaps His Excellency Lu Li has a solution?"

The group, their discussion having yielded no results, turned their attention back to Lu Li.

"The Alliance of Bloodline Families knows what the exit is," Lu Li recalled, remembering the tone of the young man he had spoken with.

"They stayed in the mining district for the Hunt."

"They're the prey themselves," Heinz Ellis remarked, not bothering to hide his scorn for those more arrogant than he.

"Are you planning to go back while they're unprepared?"

"The Swamps are full of their eyes. To get close, we need to find a way to be more discreet," Pasha Rivas mused, lost in thought.

"Wait, gentlemen, I have a better idea!" Keit suddenly exclaimed, his face flushing with excitement like a young boy's.

"We can return to the mining district through the flowing mud! They'll never expect us to suddenly appear inside!"

"Assuming the underground dwellers haven't informed on us."

"We can confirm that."

The Merchant Antoni arrived when summoned, contacted the mining district through the Underground Trading Guild, and obtained favorable information: the abandoned mine tunnel had not yet been discovered. Considering the volume of trade conducted through the Merchant in Winnelag, the underground, and the Land of Light over the past few months, they could be trusted.

Before returning to the mining district to show those arrogant youths who was in charge, Lu Li asked the Merchant Antoni to contact Claire, Kiruet, and Margaret.

Claire was the first to respond. Lu Li asked about the exit, but unfortunately, she knew nothing.

"But I've eliminated twenty-three people, one of whom was that disgusting scion of the Monck family."

Unlike Lu Li, who was still in hiding despite their alliance, Claire was like an invincible heroine from a chivalric romance.

But he couldn't reach Kiruet, Margaret, or even Fudot, Yeger, and Nasi.

This meant they either didn't have a locating eyeball, or something had happened to them.

Hopefully, it wasn't the latter.

...

The members of the Alliance of Bloodline Families didn't expect them to return. And even if they did, it wouldn't matter—the bloodline power of the two Aztec families made them the uncrowned kings of the Swamps.

However, they were still troubled by how Nunes and the others, who had originally been imprisoned, had escaped the mining district.

Following the tracks that only Heinz Ellis had noticed, they returned to the flowing mud. Pasha Rivas went in first again, this time without removing his armor.

Then Keit, Ida, Tovani, and Lu Li entered the mire one by one, emerging in the abandoned mine.

When the last of them, Heinz Ellis, emerged from the curtain of flowing mud, they started back through the mine tunnel.

In the shifting interplay of light and shadow from a swinging miner's lamp, Pasha Rivas suddenly stopped, clutching a clump of mire squirming out from the gap between his gambeson and armor.

"I've been marked. Tot, what about you?"

Clutching the mire as if it were a living thing, Pasha Rivas looked at his comrade.

Tot frowned, unfastening his pauldron. A strip of mire, like an earthworm, was crawling across his gambeson.

"Me too."

Tot turned the pauldron over, intending to wipe off the mire.

"They'll notice," Pasha Rivas said, shaking his head to stop him.

To avoid any surprises and save time, Lu Li and the others didn't stop. Pasha Rivas and Tot returned to the flowing mud to deal with the marks out of sight before rejoining them.

Leaving a miner's lamp and a fluorite lamp behind, Lu Li pressed on.

Without the metallic clang of armor, the abandoned mine tunnel fell silent. The light from the miner's lamp merely skimmed along beside them, brightening as they approached and fading as they passed.

After passing a fork, and before they even reached the central area of the mine, they were hit by another tremor. A distant shudder rolled up from the depths of the earth. Debris and sand rained down, kicking up dust that blinded their eyes and filled their nostrils, forcing them to halt. Unlike the sensation on the surface, here they were deep underground in the mining district, closer to the source. A low rumble echoed through the narrow tunnel, like a moan rising from the bowels of the earth.

After several dozen seconds, the tremor gradually subsided, the falling debris ceased, and the lingering dust began to settle.

Lu Li glanced at his four companions. They too were lost in thought, pondering the sound that had seemed like a moan.

Come to think of it, a tremor occurring every ten-odd minutes didn't really seem like some method for breaking rock.

It was too frequent... and too prolonged.

Whether it was the work of the underground dwellers or some secret of the Swamps, it wasn't their concern. Quickening their pace slightly, they reached the exit of the abandoned mine tunnel a few minutes later.

They could already hear the sharp arguments of the underground dwellers echoing from the subterranean hall of the mining district, their disputes as unique as their appearance—

"...could only have escaped through the mine tunnel."

"If I said I didn't see them, then I didn't see them!"

"...humans... entered..."

"You cursed mining slave! You'll get no food today!"

The offended mining slave scurried into the main tunnel.

Nearby, in the abandoned mine tunnel that no one paid any mind, darkness stirred in the shadows.

"Still not confessing?" Derek MacAllister said coldly.

"If I didn't see them, I didn't see them!"

The underground miner adopted a stance of complete denial.

"The MacAllister family and the Underground Trading Guild have always worked together, being a deep-level..."

The shadows stirred. Lu Li returned to his waiting companions.

"Ida, can your webbing restrain enemies?"

"It'll get everywhere, and you won't be able to get it off."

"That's fine. This is a mine tunnel, and they are enemies."

...

Even mentioning the family name couldn't make the underground dwellers talk. Derek MacAllister realized this had to do with that 'Legendary' one.

According to the rumors, that 'Legendary' one was as rich as an entire kingdom; all the nobles of Midnicht combined weren't as wealthy as him...

A sudden blow from behind sent MacAllister sprawling forward. When he came to his senses, he found himself stuck to the ground as several figures slowly approached.

"On the territory of the underground dwellers, it is forbidden to—"

"I am Lu Li, a core-level client."

The sharp cry suddenly turned into fawning obsequiousness:

"Do you require ropes, esteemed guest?"

Everything went more smoothly than expected.

Lu Li stopped in front of Derek MacAllister, lowered his gaze, and looked at him calmly.

"Tell us the location of the exit."

"The family will bow to no one, not even the 'Legendary'," Derek MacAllister sneered, staring at Lu Li.

Ida, her emotions getting the better of her, was spoiling for a fight.

"What about an interrogation?"