The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 286: A Sense of Foreboding

A black crow landed on the windowsill outside.

Its dark eyes reflected everything around it.

Outside, people were securing their homes against the approaching rainy season. A mischievous little boy ran up to the window, trying to snatch the crow.

Noticing the child's reflection in the glass, the bird took flight, dodging his hands, and landed on the roof. The boy shot the crow a frustrated glare before running off.

The crow flew down again, and perching on the windowsill, it pecked lightly at the glass.

The two figures inside turned at the sound. One of them left the room.

Tilting its head, the crow looked at the figure still inside, then shifted its gaze to the opening door.

Lu Li emerged from the doorway, umbrella in hand. He walked over to the window and took the note from the crow's leg. In preparation for the rainy season, the landlord had diligently sealed the agency's windows to prevent leaks, making them impossible to open now.

This time, the crow didn't linger. Spreading its wings, it vanished into the rain.

Lu Li returned to the agency, note in hand. Anna lit a lamp as he sat on the sofa and unfolded the paper."Is it about the vengeful spirit from Himmfast?" Anna asked, setting the lamp on the table beside the sofa. Its glow illuminated a small patch of the room.

"Looks like it."

Lu Li shifted closer to the edge of the sofa to make better use of the light from both the lamp and the window, and began to read.

Anna's curious face leaned in quietly beside him.

[You have completed the mission: Cries for Help in the Alley]

[Mission Difficulty: None]

[Completion Rate: 111%]

[Total Time Taken: 1 day]

[Mission completion rate — 111%. Reward: 111 (completion rate) x 2 (multiplier for missions with no difficulty) = 222 investigation points]

[Detailed information follows]

[Anomaly — Female vengeful spirit (5%). When speaking, her head rotates clockwise (1%). Typically appears in dark alleys at night and draws approaching people into her ritual (7%). Any movement, including approaching or retreating, is considered a violation of the ritual (25%)]

[First, a cry for help is heard from the dark alley, presumably from the spirit herself (5%). Then, the spirit's head appears at the edge of the alley, allowing her face to be seen (5%). Several hands emerge from the darkness and drag the head back (5%). The cry for help turns into a scream of pain after a few seconds (5%), which subsides after about 30 seconds (3%)]

[If the person caught in the ritual does not move until this point, the spirit will show her face again at the edge of the alley and ask why they didn't help her (7%). If one answers at this moment, "Because you are not human," the spirit will reply, "I am human"]

The note went on to repeat Lu Li's conversation with the spirit that night. He skipped that part and looked at the information rating at the end, which was listed as (50%). This meant Lu Li had deciphered the vengeful spirit's ritual and could now avoid it. If he had destroyed the spirit, the rating would have been 100%.

A 111% completion rate was a very high score. It was just a shame that it was an ordinary mission, one without a "difficulty" rating in the investigator system, so the multiplier was only two. Lu Li had received just 222 investigation points.

That was about 2500 shillings.

Combined with the 600 shillings he'd received from the Trader, that brought his total to 3000 shillings.

Much better than running all over the city as an exorcist, solving other people's problems.

In truth, Lu Li could have earned even more. No one exchanged investigation points for shillings. Exorcists typically used them to purchase useful tools, Anomalies, or privileges, whose real-world value far exceeded the 1:10 exchange rate. Lu Li could have traded his points for those items and then sold them for a profit.

But Lu Li didn't have time for that.

It wasn't just because of the possible end of the world, but also because of the steadily rising price of Deep Sea Stone.

In any case, Lu Li now had the money for canned food and the services of a stonemason.

If the "Man-Eating House" case was upgraded to the "simple difficulty" category, a full completion would net Lu Li a large number of investigation points—enough to buy a fourth Deep Sea Stone.

A short while later, the grocer personally delivered two boxes of canned goods. When Lu Li mentioned he wanted another box of canned beef, the man happily assured him he would deliver it soon and even promised a discount on future purchases.

But not on this one.

Lu Li asked for the canned beef to be delivered tomorrow, since right now he only had investigation points, not shillings.

The shopkeeper agreed and, in high spirits, settled on a price of 1100 shillings—knocking 40 shillings off the total.

Having arranged for delivery the next day, the shopkeeper left the detective agency.

"So expensive..." Anna muttered, having picked up some of Lu Li's frugal habits.

Even at current prices, 57 shillings was enough for a family to afford a hearty dinner, while Lu Li had bought just a single can of food.

"But it's worth it."

Canned food lasted longer than any other.

Except for honey.

But in this world, there were likely no bees left. Plants had stopped growing, and bees would have been among the first creatures to go extinct.

That was one of the reasons Lu Li believed this world was heading for ruin.

He understood the importance of plants better than anyone.

Lu Li asked Anna to carry the three boxes of canned goods into the bedroom. Once the rainy season began, the bedroom would serve as his temporary shelter.

Having finished everything he could for the moment, Lu Li picked up the three morning newspapers and began to look through them.

There was no new news—or rather, any real news didn't make it into the regular papers.

The rainy season was forecast to start next Wednesday and was expected to last for about two weeks.

Besides the weather forecast, all three papers published an announcement that during the rainy season, they would only be printed twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.

Perhaps Lu Li was overreacting, but all of it created an oppressive sense of impending disaster.

He looked out the window. In the rain, the residents of the street continued to reinforce their homes.

At two in the afternoon, a stonemason arrived at the building, and the neighbors directed him to the detective agency.

Anna turned invisible. Lu Li let the stonemason into the agency.

The stonemason, dressed in overalls and a raincoat, was stunned when he saw the Deep Sea Stone. He told Lu Li he couldn't possibly handle a stone that large. He could cut it, of course, but most of it would be reduced to useless fragments.

After the stonemason left, Anna became visible again and looked at a pensive Lu Li.

"Hmm..."

But he would have to wait for the Trader to discuss the details.

Tomorrow was Monday. The Trader was supposed to bring the Deep Sea Stone and the issue of the Investigator Weekly that had upset Tesla so much.

That would be the time to sort everything out.