novelraw Chapter 245: Almost a Date
Chapter 245: Almost a Date
The price of the Investigator Weekly, one hundred shillings per issue, was steep enough to give anyone pause.
Especially now, when Lu Li was short on money.
But this was not an expense he could cut. The timely and relatively safe information from the weekly allowed Lu Li to stay informed. Moreover, he planned to buy old issues from the Trader to understand how the world had been changing in recent times.
He needed to know if the world was drifting downward like a feather, at a steady, predictable pace, or if it was more like a ship that had struck an iceberg—lingering on the surface for a moment before plunging violently into the abyss.
So, to the list of necessities on his sheet of paper, he added old newspapers and Deep Sea Stone. The latter was essential for building a shelter.
“Did the Trader stop by while I was away?” Lu Li asked Anna.
Anna shook her head.
“You’re holding that book upside down,” Lu Li remarked, folding the Investigator Weekly and setting it aside.
Anna hastily flipped the book right side up, her blushing cheeks hidden behind its cover.
Lu Li took out the list of assignments tucked inside the weekly, glanced over it, found nothing new, and put it back.A look at the clock told him it was nearly one in the afternoon. The Trader wouldn’t be coming today; he usually visited in the morning.
The results of his Mind Level assessment after the incident and the final outcome of his previous trial were unlikely to be announced this afternoon—after all, Lu Li had only returned to Belfast this morning.
Deciding he had some free time, Lu Li prepared to go out. The telephone bill was pinned to the door. He had seen it that morning upon his return but had forgotten to pay it because of what had happened with Anna.
He rarely forgot anything.
Slipping on his new wool coat, Lu Li turned his head.
Anna was sitting on the sofa with the book, holding it the right way up this time, though it was pressed almost to her face. Her clear eyes peered over the top of the cover.
Noticing Lu Li’s gaze, she hastily hid her face behind the book again.
A moment later, the book in Anna’s hands began to lower, revealing first her smooth forehead, and then her clear eyes.
Seeing that Lu Li was still looking at her, Anna hid her face once more.
“Let’s go together,” Lu Li said, tying his black necktie.
...
The telephone exchange was on Commerce Street, just two blocks from City Hall. Tall, handsome stone buildings lined both sides of the road.
Passersby were neatly dressed: men in sharp suits, women in elegant dresses. The wide, bright street resembled a bustling business metropolis from the pages of a novel.
Banks, shipyard offices, law firms, embassies—all the establishments absent from Sailor Street were located here.
The ordinary bakeries and clothing shops found in other districts were replaced here by confectioneries and tailor’s ateliers.
Selling dark bread and canvas clothes here wouldn’t even earn you enough for rent.
Compared to this place, Sailor Street, where Lu Li lived, felt like a derelict suburb.
Men, women, the elderly, children, shopkeepers, police officers—these ordinary people had no suspicion of the other reality churning just beneath the surface.
Lu Li didn’t wander the streets. After asking a passerby for directions to the telephone exchange, he headed straight there and paid the bill.
There was little kerosene left at the agency, and none was sold on Commerce Street. So on the way back, Lu Li bought two liters of it, carrying it in an aluminum pail that cost him an extra five shillings.
Passing a bookstore, Lu Li paused, looking at the books in the window display and his own reflection, then pushed the door open and went inside.
“Choose something,” Lu Li said quietly to Anna, who had followed him in.
Anna now had three states: invisible, when she submerged herself in the In-Between; normal, when she suppressed her aura; and combat, when she unleashed her aura and her mental projection appeared.
The difference between these states was slight, and Anna could switch between them at will.
Inside the quiet bookstore, Lu Li’s black hair stirred slightly—Anna must have drifted away from his side.
Lu Li approached the old shopkeeper, took a book from a shelf, and began to flip through it, calmly answering the man’s occasional questions. Meanwhile, at the end of the aisle, invisible to the old man, books seemed to lift from the shelves and turn their pages all on their own.
One drew attention while the other acted—it felt a bit like shoplifting, but Lu Li was simply trying to conceal Anna’s actions.
After a few minutes, Lu Li’s hair stirred again.
He put down the revenge novel and, following Anna’s guidance, walked over to another bookshelf.
“These three...” Anna whispered in Lu Li’s ear.
On the shelf, three books were sticking out halfway.
In the quiet bookstore, any sound was clearly audible, even a whisper. But the old man was hard of hearing. He sat in his armchair, a blanket draped over his lap and a biography resting on top, enjoying the peaceful afternoon.
All he was missing was a cat and a cup of coffee.
Lu Li took the books Anna had chosen: “Survival on a Desert Island,” “The War Chronicles of Princess Sayred,” and “The Lost Land.”
Judging by the titles, they were science fiction, a historical novel, and an adventure story. After glancing at the table of contents, Lu Li realized they were all written from a female perspective and featured a romantic subplot.
It seemed Anna had developed a taste for romance novels lately.
After paying for the books, Lu Li returned to his apartment with the package of books and the pail of kerosene.
On the way, he ran into his landlord and asked how much his flat might be worth. The landlord thought for a moment and replied, twenty-three hundred shillings. If he wasn’t in a hurry to sell, he might get around twenty-five hundred.
About as much cash as Lu Li had on hand.
Back at the agency, just as he set his things on the floor, Lu Li heard Anna’s voice. “You want to sell the agency?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Anna, slightly surprised and with a hint of regret in her voice, asked, “Why?”
Lu Li looked at her calmly. “You know what happened to me at sea.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve read the Investigator Weekly.”
“Mmm... yes.”
“Did things like this happen often when you were alive?”
“...No,” Anna answered after a brief pause. A shadow crossed her eyes.
“Is losing contact with the entire Fallow Lands a coincidence?”
Anna pressed her lips together slightly, understanding where Lu Li was going with this. “You still think the world is on the brink of collapse...”
Lu Li nodded. “The situation is deteriorating before our very eyes. We need to prepare as soon as possible.”
“Then I’ll listen to you. After all, as long as there’s...” Anna coughed strangely and changed the subject. “You’ve found a safe... a shelter, right? You’ve found a safe shelter?”
“I’m still thinking it over. When I have a concrete plan, I’ll tell you.”
“Okay,” Anna replied obediently, stealing a glance at the paper-wrapped books on the edge of the table.
Noticing her gaze, Lu Li picked up the package and handed it to her.
“Hehe,” Anna giggled, snatching the books and flopping onto the sofa. Not a trace of her former aristocratic bearing remained.
Once settled, Anna peeked shyly at Lu Li, who was taking off his coat.
“You could almost call that a date...” she thought, and her eyes began to sparkle.