The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 558: No Debate on Morals, Good, or Evil

The Prolin District.

Only a single street separated this place from the slums. Instead of elegant ladies and gentlemen, the streets were filled with common folk and the poor, hurrying about in simple clothes.

The carriage stopped at the very edge of the district. Hungry passersby stared greedily at the vehicle, their gazes shifting to Lu Li as he stepped out onto the street.

Anna led Lu Li to the door of one of the houses, knocked, and then stepped back, taking her place discreetly behind him.

Uncertain footsteps shuffled from behind the door, followed by a frail voice:

“Who’s there?”

“Investigator Lu Li. I was sent by... Rolan—Her Highness,” Lu Li replied.

A brief pause followed. Then, the lock on the wooden door clicked softly, and the door opened a crack, revealing the wrinkled, wary face of an old woman. Her eyes appraised Lu Li.

“Princess Rolan?”

“Yes.”“Ordinary people don’t know about my bloodline...” Lilia muttered to herself. With a barely perceptible nod, she stepped back, opening the door wider. “Whoever you are... come in, young man. I hope you don’t have any ill intentions.”

The wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the narrow doorway, so Lu Li had to move himself out of it and enter the old house on his own.

Anna, the last to enter, was about to close the door, but Lilia quietly reminded her, “It’s not safe here, and the price of food keeps rising.”

Anna froze for a moment, then left the door open, keeping the carriage visible from the street.

A clever old woman: if the strangers had come with ill intent, a scream would be easily heard by the neighbors outside.

“Well, tell me: why have you come? As you can see from where I live, my family has nothing left,” the old woman asked cautiously.

Anna surveyed the modest surroundings. Her gaze lingered on a photograph on a table near the entrance.

The picture showed a beautiful young woman.

Could this be the Mother of the Swamp as she once was? Anna, who had never seen her before, pondered in silence.

“As I said, I was sent by Princess Rolan,” Lu Li reminded her.

Hearing the name again, Lilia’s expression turned pensive for the first time, the anxiety in her eyes fading slightly. “Did you bring something from Her Highness?”

“Not exactly. In a sense, I brought Princess Rolan herself.”

Lilia, who had expected a simple conversation about inheritance, could never have imagined hearing such a thing. The old woman froze, then suddenly recalled how Lu Li had introduced himself, and grew visibly agitated.

“You’re an exorcist...? Her soul truly remained in this world?!”

Her agitation was so noticeable that even passersby on the street peered into the yard with interest.

“To some extent,” Lu Li replied, not wanting to delve into the nature of anomalies. “For certain reasons, she has forgotten almost everything, and I’m trying to help her recover some of it. That’s why I came to find you. Do you happen to have any family records?”

“Of course, of course... we never forgot the past of the Toyalagons...” Lilia whispered weakly, tears glistening in her cloudy eyes. “Could you take me to her?”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Lu Li said, shaking his head. “She’s in the Shadow Swamp, and it’s dangerous for her and anyone around her to venture there.”

Unless the old woman agreed to become a servant of the Mother of the Swamp, but it was unlikely the Mother would want that.

Even if a sliver of humanity had appeared within the Mother of the Swamp, she wouldn’t turn her last living relative into a new anomaly.

“I’m not afraid. I have nothing left to lose, my whole family is gone... At least let me serve my lady, if there’s still a chance...” Lilia’s voice was filled with such longing and hope that it was nearly impossible to refuse her.

Lu Li didn’t answer right away, instead glancing over at Anna.

“One more person won’t slow us down,” Anna said without hesitation.

Lu Li nodded, then said to Lilia, “We’re here for the exorcist council meeting—it’s the day after tomorrow. As soon as it’s over, we’ll take you from here. If the Mother of the Swamp doesn’t allow you to stay, or if it proves to be unsafe, I’ll take you to Khimfast.”

“Thank you so much, but... wait a moment.”

Realizing Lu Li was about to leave, she stopped him. She pulled an old, patched suitcase from under her bed, took out several books, and offered them to Lu Li.

“Here—these are all our family heirlooms. They’ll be safer in your hands than with me...”

Lilia now trusted Lu Li unconditionally. Who else would want the family archive of a destitute old woman?

“It’s not safe here, is it?” Lu Li asked, catching the undertone in her words.

Just then, the sound of a horse neighing came from outside.

A couple of local thugs had surrounded the carriage parked by the house and were about to lead it away.

“I’ll handle this,” Anna said curtly and went outside.

The old woman didn’t hide the truth. “Lately, the royal authority’s control over the city has weakened. The Harless Gang has already set its sights on this district; they could take over everything here at any moment...”

“Those men at the door are probably from the Harless Gang. Hurry and help your friend—that gang is trouble. Maybe your name will scare them off...”

As long as the gangs kept an eye on the authorities’ mood and left the main districts alone, the elderly and the solitary were easy prey. They could take everything from someone like Lilia—her food, her belongings—and leave her to die of starvation, alone, extinguishing the last spark of the Toyalagon line.

“Gather your things. We’ll take you to a hotel.”

With that, Lu Li headed for the door.

Anna wasn’t comfortable using her powers on humans, so she had only issued a silent, cold threat to the men. As Lu Li came outside, she helped him and said, “They say they’re from the Harless Gang.”

“We just need something from you...” one of the thugs began, but their leader, a young man in a bandana, quickly cut him off. He had noticed the strange symbol on Lu Li’s coat.

“You’re an exorcist?”

“Yes.”

The young leader didn’t hesitate for a second. “Our apologies, Mr. Exorcist! We didn’t mean to offend you—we’re leaving!”

He had barely finished speaking when a powerful gust of wind suddenly swept down the street, knocking one of the men who had been trying to steal the horse off his feet and slamming him against the wall of the opposite building. He collapsed to the ground with a cry.

The frightened horse began to thrash about, but an unseen force immediately calmed it.

Silence fell for a second, then shouts erupted as people on the street scattered in terror. The panic quickly spread through the area.

A cold sweat broke out on the young leader’s forehead. He backed away quietly and hastily with the others, and then they all scattered.

Anna’s cloak slowly settled. She whispered in a muffled voice, sounding slightly guilty, “I’m sorry... I apologize.”

“It’s not our fault,” Lu Li remarked, ignoring the fleeing crowd as he approached the man who had been thrown to the ground.

The man, barely able to move, clutched his chest and scrambled away from Lu Li on all fours, clearly terrified.

Just then, a shilling landed beside him, momentarily halting his escape.

“Go see a doctor. And think about why you’re doing all this,” Lu Li said calmly before turning to leave.

“We’re just trying to survive!”

A desperate cry came from behind him—followed by a sound of genuine despair, as if something inside him had broken.

It’s pointless to speak of morality to the poor—that is a luxury for the well-fed and wealthy.

Lu Li didn’t try to lecture him. He silently helped Lilia into the carriage, got in himself, and slowly drove away from the street.

Only a quiet voice lingered in the young man’s ears: “The people you harmed were also just trying to survive.”