The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 627: News from the Four Lands

Life atop the cliff in the Elm Forest was everything one could hope for: a place untouched by anomalies, a warm and dry shelter, neighbors to remind you that you weren't alone, plenty of food and water, and books to while away the hours.

But it was all just an illusion. Like the brilliant sky just before nightfall, the calm before a sea storm, or the sudden silence that descends upon a bustling forest.

A veil of illusion concealed reality.

"Engraved bullets. More effective against incorporeal anomalies," the Trader announced, introducing a new item for the first time. He held a single copper bullet on his thick, worn leather glove.

The bullet's surface was covered in engravings, turning it into a work of art. The price reflected its greater effectiveness compared to silver-plated bullets: twenty investigator points.

By pre-disaster standards, this single bullet was worth over a hundred kilograms of black bread.

But it could also increase an exorcist's chances of survival during an encounter with an anomaly.

Lu Li bought twenty-five of the engraved bullets, then asked, "I need today's newspapers from all the lands. The Allen Peninsula, the Main Continent, the Fallow Lands, the Lennon Archipelago... and the Arable Lands."

The last name was a small test for the Trader.

The Trader paused, as if in thought or listening to something, and replied to Lu Li, "There are no newspapers in the Arable Lands. The rest will cost an additional ten investigator points."In this day and age, that was practically a bargain.

Having arranged for a delivery of fresh newspapers two or three times a week, Lu Li concluded the deal. The Trader's tall figure vanished among the shadows of the trees.

Watching the Trader depart, Lu Li looked up. More green buds had appeared on the withered branches, as if the trees, awakened from their winter slumber by a gentle spring breeze, had come back to life.

The day Enni would live again was not far off.

However, the weather was growing colder, even though the Lord of Time had only just entered autumn... This worried Remi; a further drop in temperature would make the soil unsuitable for growing crops.

Anna returned from her hunt in the afternoon and, as usual, took a walk with Lu Li along the clifftop to visit their tree-neighbors. Changing their condition would take time, but Lu Li had plenty of it, and the walks were a good way to stretch his legs.

Besides food for Jimmy, Ampere, and the children, Anna had found some forgotten black tea in a looted store. Thus, the residents of the cliff now had teatime.

The time for it was fluid, but it usually coincided with whenever Anna or Remi brewed the tea.

They would gather in front of the cave during the day or inside it after dark, talking and reading.

Although only Lu Li and Jimmy could actually drink the fragrant tea.

Three days later at dawn, the Trader arrived on the clifftop, bringing four fresh newspapers: one each from the Allen Peninsula, the Main Continent, the Fallow Lands, and the Lennon Archipelago.

The Allen Peninsula's paper, the "Allen Peninsula Investigators," focused on Khimfast: [Anomalous Fog Crosses Sugard Mountain, Reaches Outskirts of Khimfast Last Night!]

The article, seemingly unafraid of causing panic, built an atmosphere of dread, frankly describing the strange phenomena encountered by Khimfast soldiers who had ventured into the mist: the tolling of bells, silhouettes moving in the thick haze, the clanking of chains—as if the reporters had witnessed it all with their own eyes.

The report concluded by asserting that Khimfast was fully prepared.

Almost the entire issue was dedicated to events in Khimfast. After all, in a sense, Khimfast was now the only city left on the Allen Peninsula.

And because the newspaper's editorial office was located there.

Construction in Khimfast was nearing completion. Though throngs of refugees were crammed into longhouses, at least no one was sleeping on the streets anymore.

Khimfast, its population now nearly equal to that of the former Belfast, was facing a food crisis. However, the paper assured its readers there was no need to worry: the city government had already built a fishing port in a bay fifty miles to the south, and a steady supply of fresh fish was flowing into the city.

But the catch included mutated, grotesque fish: some with hind legs, others with putrid, cloudy scales, or several eyes crammed into a single socket.

The paper reported that exorcists had examined them and found that, aside from their grotesque appearance and their ability to inspire revulsion and fear, there were apparently no ill effects from eating them.

Of course, to avoid causing panic by having mutated fish appear in the markets, they would be sent to canneries and processed into fish conserves.

The Main Continent was no longer mired in the sorrow of losing Ellen Royal City and other towns. The "Southern Daily Gazette" celebrated that rain clouds, having crossed the mountains, had reached the dandelions ravaging the Plain of Tranquility and extinguished them outside the cities.

The contents of "The Radical" from the Fallow Lands were similar to those of the "Allen Peninsula Investigators": the plant calamity was forcing the already sparse settlements to relocate—either by leaving the Fallow Lands entirely or by heading toward former oasis and coastal cities.

Although it had not yet suffered a full-scale invasion of anomalies like the Allen Peninsula or the Main Continent, reports had already emerged of a strange fog spreading from the depths of the sea.

Combined with the new scourge brewing there... the fate of the Fallow Lands was sealed.

While the first three regions were shrouded in depression and despair, the Lennon Archipelago boasted a completely different atmosphere... one similar to Belfast before the anomalies appeared.

Their news was still filled with entertainment and boastful articles.

[Lennon Archipelago: The Most Desirable Region in the World, Bar None!]

It seemed there was no need to worry about Aunt Mary's and JoJo's safety. For now.

After reading the four newspapers, Lu Li handed them to Jimmy. Accompanied by the heavy footsteps of his monstrous double, Jimmy carried them to his sister to have her read them aloud.

Anna returned from her hunt, this time with half a sack of spices.

She was always bringing something new to the clifftop.

Sometimes it was books scavenged from the ruins of Belfast, other times jewelry or toys for the children; once, she even hauled back an entire bookshelf.

Their temporary, makeshift shelf had been retired, though it still stood beside the new one. The clifftop book collection would soon require a second bookshelf.

In addition to new items, there was also news.

Fresh tracks had been appearing daily on the beach, and Anna had finally found the right word to describe them: "swirling."

The longer a track remained, the more tightly it curled, like a singed hair. The toe and heel would draw closer together, eventually forming a circle.

But that wasn't the end of the changes. They continued to spiral endlessly inward, forming tracks that resembled whirlpools.

These spirals, like seashells, littered the beach. If one hadn't witnessed their gradual transformation, no one would have ever connected them to footprints.

However, these strange tracks couldn't affect the Elm Forest, separated as it was by an entire city. The atmosphere on the clifftop grew warmer; Anna, no longer so cold, quickly befriended Remi and Adamfiya.

Only Lu Li calmly observed it all.

He knew this idyllic peace wouldn't last.