The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 178: The Letters from Remi and Jimmy

A seemingly ordinary letter lay on the table next to today's newspaper.

Hanging his coat back on the rack, Lu Li walked over to the table and picked up the letter.

On the front page of the newspaper beneath it, the name of Baroness Joseph flashed into view. Lu Li glanced at it briefly before looking away, tearing open the envelope to pull out the letter inside.

[Dear Lu Li!]

[It has been a long time since we last met.]

[My brother and I are traveling through the Allen Peninsula and are currently in Arumbed County. Just as you said, the air here is filled with the wonderful scent of the sea. It's just a shame that the plants aren't blooming this year, so we can't see the sights you described.]

[My brother is doing much better. Although he's only conscious for a few hours a day, his condition is no longer worsening, and the monster has stopped attacking strangers who approach him.]

[A few days ago, he asked me about you, but it's difficult to contact the mainland from the peninsula, and we haven't had a chance to write. Fortunately, after reaching a town in Arumbed County, we can finally send you a letter!]

[My brother asked me to write to you regularly. I plan to send a letter from every town we visit. What do you think of that idea?]

[By the way, we heard you've run into some trouble. If your Mind Level has dropped significantly, please try to get more rest. My brother and I will visit you when we get to Belfast. I might have a way to help you.][See you soon, Remi and Jimmy]

Lu Li thoughtfully lowered the letter, turning it over. The back was blank.

He looked up at Anna, who was watching him. Lu Li handed her the letter and sank into contemplation.

Anna could see this wasn't the work of the "Door." A practical joke, perhaps? The handwriting was unfamiliar, and Lu Li couldn't identify who had written it.

Only Tesla, who told the story, and Old Man Pick, who listened to it, knew about Remi and Jimmy. It was unlikely that a respectable gentleman and an elderly laundry owner would play such a prank.

Two characters from a fictional story appearing in the real world—it was incredibly strange.

"Who are Remi and Jimmy?" Anna asked after reading the letter.

"The Mitsler siblings," Lu Li replied.

Lu Li hadn't shared the details with Anna when he returned home yesterday. Mitsler was the surname of two monsters, a brother and sister, from a book he had recently bought. In that fairy tale, the protagonist gets lost in a sinister forest and escapes with the help of the Mitslers.

Just like Lu Li in his own story.

Anna seemed to grasp some of it, but not all.

Lu Li briefly recounted the tale for her, and Anna gasped in amazement, as if the letter had been addressed to her.

"Characters from a book appeared in reality?!"

Anna was astonished.

Lu Li remained silent, lost in thought. He remembered asking Tesla after the story whether it was true or fiction. Tesla had replied cryptically, "Both... you will understand in time."

Perhaps Tesla had known about this all along.

Lu Li didn't think Tesla meant him any harm. This meant it was either a coincidence or... a normal occurrence.

The strangeness of this world was beyond Lu Li's comprehension. He could only go with the flow, trying to find some semblance of logic in the events unfolding around him.

Tesla was supposed to contact him in the coming days for the third trial, and Lu Li hoped to meet with him before Remi and Jimmy arrived in Belfast.

Then he might get some answers to his questions.

Arumbed County was in the northwest of the Allen Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Inner Strait. To its south lay Hill County, where Tenebrae was located.

Since the Shadow Swamp did not connect to the mainland, Arumbed County often served as a stopover for travelers moving between the mainland and the Allen Peninsula.

If Remi and Jimmy were in Arumbed County, they must be in the port of Zenster on the western coast, separated from the mainland. It was the only way onto the Allen Peninsula for those who didn't want to cross the Shadow Swamp.

Anna was a little worried, but Lu Li wasn't overly concerned. His current situation was a perfect example of the saying, "it never rains but it pours." Compared to the "Door" and the "Bloody Tentacles," a brother and sister who seemed to bear him no ill will didn't pose much of a problem.

Realizing that the approaching siblings weren't enemies, Anna calmed down a bit. In fact, she was even a little curious to meet these characters from a story.

As it neared ten in the morning, Anna went into the kitchen to cook. Lu Li picked up the newspaper from the table and returned to the sofa, where he could see a part of the kitchen. If Anna decided to toss something inedible into the pot, he would notice immediately.

First, Lu Li unfolded the Valsen Gazette and looked at the front page.

[Baroness Joseph Presents Stunning Evidence, Overturning the Case!]

[The hearing was held in a closed session, with only the judge, plaintiff, defendant, and jury present. It is reported that Baroness Joseph presented "astounding" (in the words of one juror) evidence that led to an unexpected turn in the case. According to inside sources, the plaintiff may lose the case and could even find himself on the defendant's bench, facing charges of slander.]

"Hm? Where did the salt go?" a puzzled voice came from the kitchen. Anna floated into the doorway and turned to Lu Li. "You scatterbrain, did you accidentally throw it out with the trash?"

The newspaper slipped from Lu Li's hands as he looked calmly at Anna.

Where did she get the nerve to call him a scatterbrain?

"In the wooden box next to the cutting board," Lu Li answered.

Anna dubiously returned to the kitchen, and soon her muttering reached Lu Li again.

"Oh, there it is... the salt looks almost like flour... Wait a minute, what have I been putting in the food for the last two days...?"

An indescribable horror washed over Anna. Staring at the water boiling in the pot, she had no idea how she was going to face Lu Li.

A pair of transparent eyes appeared on the wall, stealthily watching as Lu Li picked up the newspaper again.

Lu Li sensed the gaze and turned his head slightly in its direction before focusing back on the paper.

The second page of the Valsen Gazette featured an article about Hurricane Arthur, a name the Council of Elders had settled on after three days of deliberation. The storm's influence was gradually waning.

[Hurricane Arthur, which battered the Allen Peninsula and the mainland, dissipated last night in the Inner Strait.]

[Hurricane Arthur, after striking Belfast and traveling for two days across the Shadow Swamp to the mainland, returned to the Inner Strait, where it finally dispersed...]

The damage assessment was still underway, but it turned out to be less severe than expected. The scale, wind speed, and duration of the hurricane were within tolerable limits. Even in Belfast, which had been caught off guard by the storm, the destruction and casualties were minimal.

However, talk of the hurricane didn't cease. Its appearance was too strange, and it seemed to have brought something unusual with it to the land.