The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 123: Hidden Observation

The mysterious man picked up an oil lamp and, without a word, started up the wooden staircase at the side of the hall. His figure vanished around a turn, the lamplight and the sound of his footsteps slowly fading into silence.

— A strange traveler, isn't he?

The old woman shifted her gaze away from the stairs and turned to Lu Li.

— Why can't we look out the window? — Lu Li asked, meeting her eyes.

— Now that's a proper traveler's question, — the old woman said, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. — But it's gotten quite late.

An ordinary person might have been disappointed and left. But Lu Li, having navigated countless similar exchanges with Gades, knew exactly what the old woman was after.

— That's no problem, — he replied. — I haven't eaten yet, and I'm in no rush to sleep. You can prepare a meal, and we can talk while I eat.

The old woman's smile turned genuine. — We'll let you know when your meal is ready.

— Good.

Lu Li took an oil lamp from the counter and headed for the staircase.A narrow corridor stretched before him, dimly lit by the oil lamps mounted on the walls. They were spaced far apart, leaving the second floor far gloomier than the brightly lit hall below.

Lu Li took the key from where it hung on his oil lamp—a small tag read "203". He stopped before the door and heard footsteps from behind the thin wooden wall, followed by the groan of a bed being moved.

The mysterious guest was in the room next door.

The key slid into the lock. A soft click, and the door swung open with a groan. Lamplight spilled into the dark room.

Directly across from a window that framed the twinkling lights of the town, the shapes of furniture stood as dark silhouettes.

Lu Li stepped inside. The air was thick with the smell of damp and rotting wood.

The room was simple enough: a low, single bed in one corner, a small table, and a coat rack behind the door. Nothing more.

Lu Li set the lamp on the table by the window, then walked over to the bed and felt the sheets. Fortunately, they were dry.

Creak...

Lu Li turned. The door was slowly swinging shut on its own, and as it closed, Anna's form materialized behind it.

— Are we going to eat here? You don't think the food will be... tainted, do you? — Anna's voice was a mere whisper, as if the room itself muffled all sound.

— This is a town, Anna, not a den of evil spirits.

Lu Li tried to reassure her, sensing she was becoming paranoid after their recent ordeals.

— But that woman... she seems strange, — Anna insisted, still uncertain.

Lu Li looked at her and said, — If you really feel that way, we can find another inn.

— Um... no, it's alright. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, like Sakocche, — Anna faltered, deciding she didn't want Lu Li to go to any trouble.

Sakocche was a nobleman from a century ago, immortalized in history for an incident at a royal ball. Convinced one of his rivals planned to murder him that night, he cowered in a corner, avoiding everyone. Just then, a lady with a broken heel approached, stopping to remove her shoe. Her cast shadow on the wall looked for all the world like a figure raising a dagger, and Sakocche promptly fainted, making himself the laughingstock of the court.

It was their world's version of "once bitten, twice shy."

Lu Li didn't comment.

He had left some of their things in the carriage. After a quick survey of the room, Lu Li picked up the lamp again and headed downstairs to retrieve them from the backyard.

Twilight was deepening outside, and the Bloody Tentacle merged invisibly with the growing darkness.

A kerosene lamp hung from a post near the stables at the far end of the yard, casting a dim circle of light.

Animals, too, had to be kept in the light after nightfall. They had it easier than humans, though; for them, the darkness only increased the danger, it wasn't an automatic death sentence.

Still, it was enough to make wild animals and insects a rarity.

Lu Li speculated that the slow growth of plants might be connected to the disappearance of certain insects. But the science of biology in this world was not yet advanced enough to understand such an ecological connection; they still had a long way to go.

He approached the carriage parked beside the stables and patted the horse's head. Seeing it had fresh water and hay mixed with beans in its trough, he left the animal in peace and climbed inside to retrieve a half-eaten loaf of bread and a few of Anna's books.

As he lifted the canvas flap to get out, a flicker of movement in a dark corner, beyond the reach of the lamplight, caught his eye. Whatever it was, it quickly ducked behind the wall.

Lu Li's head snapped up, his eyes fixed on the corner now shrouded in deep shadow.

— Did you see something? — Anna's voice came from the darkness, her attention caught by his sudden stillness.

— Do you sense anything? — Lu Li asked, keeping his head down as he climbed out of the carriage.

— Mm... no. Nothing.

Once on the ground, Lu Li glanced again at the dark corner. He paused for a moment, then said in a normal voice, — I must have imagined it.

While Anna was still puzzled, she heard his voice again, this time a swift, low whisper.

— Stay alert. You were right, something is wrong with this place.

Back inside the tavern, the bright light of the main hall seemed to soothe Anna's nerves. Invisible to everyone else, she drifted around Lu Li, occasionally floating closer to a painting on the wall to inspect it.

A faint aroma of cooking wafted from the partially open kitchen door, drawing her attention. She floated over to the door behind the counter and peeked inside.

Inside, a meat stew with oval, green fruits bubbled away in an open pot.

— What's cooking? — Lu Li asked from his table, as if on cue.

The old woman, who was wiping down a table, replied, — That's a specialty of the Shadow Swamp. Lightfruit. It only grows in parts of the swamp that get a bit of sun. It's absolutely delicious with rabbit.

— A shame there hasn't been any proper sun for so long, — she added. — Nothing grows well, so Lightfruits have become terribly expensive. Only an outsider like yourself could afford such an extravagance.

Lu Li hadn't ordered the dish, but since it was already being prepared—and smelled decent enough—he didn't object.

— It won't be long now. Another half hour and it'll be ready, — the old woman said, glancing at a clock on the wall above the counter.

— Perhaps while I wait, you can tell me what you couldn't earlier, — Lu Li suggested.

— My, you are an impatient one, — the old woman chuckled. She set down her rag, walked around the counter, and sat down across from him. — But before we get to that, why don't you tell me what brings you to our town?

Lu Li offered a half-truth. — I'm a detective. I've been hired to investigate a disappearance in the Shadow Swamp.

— So it's the Shadow Swamp you want to know about?

— Yes.

— Going into the Shadow Swamp... — The old woman's gaze grew distant, as if lost in memory. — Before I say anything else, let me give you a warning: don't venture too deep into the mire. As long as you stick to the edges, you'll usually be fine.

— What kind of problems are we talking about?

— Quicksand you can't see until you're in it, bottomless mires, and... certain things that live out there.