The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 434: Remi and Jimmy

[Dear Lu Li,]

[My brother and I received your letter. We're in Belfast. Yes, we were able to get through; the soldiers aren't checking the carriages.]

[We found your letter after visiting the detective agency. At the Night's Watch headquarters, they told us you had left just a little while ago. It's a shame we just missed each other. It was because of my brother—if his other body were lighter, we would have arrived in Belfast sooner and might have been able to help you.]

[I'm writing this letter and will ask the Night's Watch to slip it under the door of the detective agency. We'll head to the shelter you mentioned, the one on the cliff in the Elm Forest, right? We'll be waiting for you there.]

[If we don't get lost, of course.]

[Wait, my brother wants to say something to you. He'll write it himself.]

The handwriting changed at this point, becoming a scrawled, uneven mess, filled with mistakes, smudges, and the faint stains of blood.

Perhaps Jimmy couldn't write well, or maybe his condition simply wouldn't allow it.

[Lu Li, my sister and I are so grateful to you... You know, I've always felt guilty. I deceived you and hurt you... back then, in the ruins—or rather, in the story.]

[And yet, what did you do?][You helped me regain my senses and went into the ruins yourself to save Remi. You never looked down on us as monsters, and even after learning we could leave the story, you helped us make it happen.]

[Remi is telling me to rest, but I'm not finished yet.]

[You gave my sister and me a new life. Being a monster isn't exactly pleasant, but... at least we're alive, aren't we?]

[Hope... Don't you lose hope, either. A good person deserves a good ending.]

[— Your friend, Jimmy.]

[— And Remi.]

A light breeze drifted into the carriage, stirring the page held in a ghostly hand.

"My impression of them is much better now," Anna remarked, carefully folding the letter along its creases and slipping it back into the envelope. "Perhaps we can entrust Enni, the statue, and the shelter to them."

"Enni won't need looking after for much longer," Lu Li replied, holding the reins. The carriage swayed gently as it moved along the muddy road through the Elm Forest. "The collective consciousness of the elms that make up the forest is watching over her. Once Enni recovers, the forest will help her grow strong quickly."

Then she would become the uncrowned queen of the entire forest, much like the Mother of the Swamp.

"It's a pity we won't be able to see it for ourselves..." A flicker of sadness crossed Anna's crimson eyes, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by Lu Li's reflection and her usual coldness.

For Lu Li's sake, she was ready to sacrifice anything.

"Will Remi and Jimmy be able to reach the cliff? The Elm Forest isn't very friendly to outsiders."

"They aren't that weak," Lu Li answered, recalling the contents of the story. Jimmy had two bodies, one of which resembled a night demon of incredible strength, but it also had a fatal weakness—his true body. As for Remi... she appeared to be a ghost, but Lu Li didn't think that was all she was.

In the story, Remi's escape from the altar was only mentioned in passing, but looking at the event on its own, it seemed very strange: a weak ghost escaping from an altar where the consciousness of an evil god was awakening.

In Remi and Jimmy's relationship, it was Remi who clearly took the lead.

Whatever the case, they could be trusted, because they considered Lu Li their friend.

"What... what do they look like? Is she like me?" asked Anna, who was sitting beside Lu Li.

"Remi is a lot like you, and she seems more like a living person, aside from her cold skin and completely white eyes. I think she's undergone some sort of change that has made her even more human-like."

"So, the brother and sister managed to get from the mainland to the Allen Peninsula without any trouble. And Jimmy..."

...

A rough, grayish-brown substance covered its tough hide. Bulbous growths jutted out like sharp rocks in shallow water, interspersed with strange black stripes, like the lethal pattern on a venomous spider's belly. Its protruding jaw resembled the snout of a bloodthirsty hyena roaming the wildlands. Lipless, it bared sharp, terrifying teeth.

Powerful claws could wrap around a human waist as easily as a person holds a cup. And the slender figure attached to the end of its powerful tail gave the horrifying creature an even more ghastly appearance.

An emaciated young man, looking like a prisoner from a dungeon, stood at the end of the tail. His legs were fused to the monster's tail, as if he were a parasite living on it.

Jimmy's condition was worse than Lu Li had described.

Anna regarded the "pair" with indifference. She had hoped to be friendlier toward Lu Li's friends, but she found it difficult to feel any emotion for anyone other than him.

Besides, the fact that they were characters from a story gave Anna a sense of unreality.

Lu Li, like Anna, observed Remi and Jimmy.

Lu Li knew Remi and Jimmy only through text, and they knew him the same way. It was as if pen pals were finally meeting in person. A feeling of unfamiliarity mingled with familiar traits, creating a new impression.

"Mr. Lu Li, we've finally met," Remi greeted him, a little shyly. Her eyes were no different from a human's, only her skin was a shade paler.

She looked into Lu Li's dark eyes. Though the man's appearance and demeanor were different from what she had imagined, his gaze held none of the fear or disgust she had expected to see.

Remi gradually relaxed and, like any ordinary girl, offered a modest smile. "Thank you for your help. We're here now."

"Hello... Lu Li," the emaciated Jimmy rasped, struggling to raise a hand in greeting.

"You don't look well," Lu Li observed.

The gaunt Jimmy looked so weak it seemed he could fall asleep at any moment and never wake up.

"Not... so bad..." Every word was an immense struggle for Jimmy.

The monster, standing motionless beside him like a knight, raised its terrifying paw and patted Jimmy on the back with surprising gentleness.

That's how it looked from the outside, but for Jimmy, it was like patting his own back.

Remi looked at her brother with a pained expression and explained to Lu Li, "He's been like this for a week. We were afraid he wouldn't make it to Belfast, but thankfully, he's gotten a little better."

"He's very weak and spends most of his time in the carriage. I bring him books, and now he fancies himself a poet."

Meeting Lu Li's gaze, Jimmy struggled to stretch his lips into a grotesque smile.

"You can tell me more when we get to the shelter. I'll try to think of something," Lu Li said.

The image of Lu Li before them gradually merged with the one they knew from the letters.

"Thank you..." Remi murmured involuntarily.

Lu Li untied the horses. As he led them toward the shelter, he commented casually, "You say 'thank you' far too often."