The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 608: The Great Ficus of Tuka Village

Lilia's frail health made it impossible for her to travel with Lu Li. Avalon Montes informed him that they would take her to Typhoon, where Lu Li could pick her up later.

In the morning, as the clock struck seven, the estate bustled with activity. The sorrowful survivors, huddling in their clothes against the morning chill, packed their wagons, loading them with luggage and anything useful they could carry. Like the other refugees on the plains, they were preparing to leave during the relative safety of daylight.

One wagon was left for Lu Li. Avalon Montes hadn't found the horse Anna had mentioned, but upon learning that Lu Li needed it, he set aside a cart for him.

Webb, Ivo, and the other residents of the royal capital whom Lu Li had rescued came to thank him one by one.

"How can we find you?" Before parting, a deeply moved York wanted to embrace Lu Li, but under his calm gaze and Anna's cold stare, he abandoned the idea.

"The Elm Forest, north of Belfast. If you can't find a suitable settlement, you could try to make a home there."

Of course, Lu Li's supplies and his small research post wouldn't be enough for everyone. If they decided to come, they would have to find other ways to secure food.

"We'll definitely come," the middle-aged professor said gratefully before rejoining the caravan assembled on the estate's grounds.

The caravan was ready to depart. The exorcists, York, Webb, and the others waved farewell to Lu Li and slowly moved away from the estate, heading south.

Typhoon awaited them there."Shouldn't you rest?" Anna wheeled Lu Li's chair toward the house, noticing his fatigue, her voice tinged with concern.

It was Anna who insisted on the chair. Although the full portion of Humanity he had acquired in the royal capital had improved the compatibility between his body and soul, Anna insisted on the wheelchair under the pretext that he "hadn't fully recovered," relishing the opportunity to dote on him.

"We'll have time. First, let's deliver the prototype anomaly detector to Tuka Village," Lu Li said, pulling up to the blazing fireplace.

"I'll hitch the wagon," Anna replied. She draped a blanket over Lu Li's legs and left the house, calling for Ampere from beneath the ground.

The house, so recently bustling with the sounds of women and children, was now empty. Only dust motes danced in the cold light filtering through the window.

Lu Li leaned back by the crackling fire, enjoying the rare moment of tranquility.

In the silence, the roar of the sea churned up by the Dry Claws and Prada's final cry echoed involuntarily in the depths of his mind. That roar seemed to carry a note of grief and unwillingness to submit... Had Prada been aware of her own end?

The echo of the roar faded. Lu Li's eyes snapped open, and he looked toward a corner. There, peeking out from behind the doorframe of a dark storage room, was a translucent, mangled child's ghost.

Anna hadn't sensed it?

Lu Li wondered as he studied the ghost. Its tattered clothes—a brown linen robe—were typical for farmers.

It must have been one of the former inhabitants of this estate.

Lu Li's gaze seemed to embolden the mangled ghost—or perhaps it simply awakened its instinctual greed. It lunged at him.

An invisible barrier stopped it in its tracks. An incorporeal hand seized the ghost. The mangled soul twisted like a crumpled ball before finally disintegrating.

Anna, having hitched the wagon, returned to the main room. The ghost had been too weak for her to feel the desire to destroy it with The Atonement.

"Where did that come from?" Anna was surprised as well. She had only sensed the ghost once it was already inside the house.

"It was probably hiding somewhere and was drawn out by my aura."

That was the only explanation for why it hadn't attacked when the house was full of people, but instead appeared in the morning to lunge at Lu Li.

Lu Li possessed a powerful attraction for anomalies. At this moment, he was like a piece of fried chicken to someone who hadn't eaten in days.

Fortunately, Anna's aura could conceal this peculiarity as long as she was near.

They boarded the wagon, and the obedient Ampere pulled them toward their destination.

Tuka Village was on the opposite side of the royal capital, allowing them to keep their distance from the caravans fleeing the plains. At the closest point, they passed only a few hundred meters from the city; through its wide-open gates, they could see ruined houses and the sparse silhouettes of people.

Not everyone had left. Some, whose relatives had remained in the city and who couldn't accept that no one had survived, were taking the risk of entering the capital to search for their loved ones.

The sprawling walls concealed the city's horrors. Lu Li looked away and took the opportunity to doze off for a bit.

Half an hour later, Anna woke Lu Li. The outlines of Tuka Village were already visible in the distance.

"There's no one here," Anna said, her gaze sweeping over the deserted streets as they entered the village. Like most settlements on the Main Continent, it was one of the abandoned ones. Only the elderly, unwilling or unable to leave, hid behind curtained windows.

But it was hard to say which was safer—a city or a village. Though remote villages were subject to anomaly attacks, they rarely attracted the attention of powerful entities. Cities, on the other hand, gathered large numbers of people, making them too conspicuous and liable to attract formidable beings, yet neighbors provided an irreplaceable sense of security and protection from common anomalies.

The great ficus tree Albert had mentioned stood in the center of the village; or rather, the village had originally grown up around it. Its trunk, which would take several people to encircle, and its sprawling branches, even withered, gave an idea of how lushly it had once grown.

The centipede-drawn wagon stopped at the edge of the ancient ficus. Lu Li, carrying the prototype anomaly detector, and Anna disembarked.

Anna, reasoning that "most of the people from the three organizations died in the royal capital, so this could also be a trap," accompanied Lu Li into a hollow in the tree that was taller than a person. But after just one step inside, they came up against an unexpected iron door.

Lu Li knocked. A moment later, a heavy, metallic breathing and a voice sounded from behind the door:

"Who are you?"

"Senior Investigator, Lu Li."

"State your business."

"I've come at the request of a scientist named Albert to deliver his invention. A prototype anomaly detector capable of picking up the specific frequencies of evil spirits and issuing a warning."

Silence fell behind the door, followed by a click—a chute opened at the bottom.

"Please place it inside."

Lu Li glanced at Anna and placed the prototype into the chute.

The chute closed, swallowing the device.

"...Your identity has been confirmed. Thank you for your contribution, Mr. Lu Li." After a few seconds, the voice behind the door lost some of its metallic coldness, and a hint of warmth entered it. "When we have perfected the evil spirit detector, we will provide you with the first model. Please provide your permanent address."

"Elm Forest, Belfast," Lu Li answered after a slight hesitation. Out of caution, he didn't give a more precise location.

"The mailbox by the hollow elm at the entrance," Anna added, then whispered to Lu Li, "We can set one up there when we get back."

"Very well. We won't keep you."

Having fulfilled Albert's last wish, Lu Li and Anna exited the ficus hollow and returned to the wagon.

However, when it came to where to go next, they had a disagreement.