The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 630: A Party Before the Storm

Remi, clutching a board, scrambled onto the roof of the hut, patching up the gaps that were usually unnoticeable.

The patchwork repairs all over the structure made it resemble a mangy lamb, but for some reason, it inspired a sense of calm.

"Do you need to rest at night?" Lu Li asked unexpectedly as Remi climbed down.

"Not usually, only if I've used up energy to recover... Did something happen?" Remi looked at Lu Li in surprise.

"If you can, stay close to Anna these next few nights."

Lu Li didn't explain why, but Remi guessed the reason: Anna had changed profoundly, and something must have happened that she didn't know about.

Remi thought for a moment. "Maybe we should have a party?"

A party... In her long existence as a spirit of defilement, Sara had attended only a handful of them. A party wouldn't trigger any of Sara's unwanted memories.

"How?"

"Leave it to me and my brother. I'll go talk to Anna about it now. When do you want to have it?""Before the storm."

"So, tonight," Remi understood. She set down her hammer and headed toward the cave.

One of the children was clumsily helping a friend brush clumps of dirt from his scorched skin. Remi walked past them, found Anna, and told her about the party, making sure to mention that it was Lu Li's idea.

Anna was sure to guess his intentions.

The girl, who was holding a book, tilted her head slightly. She did indeed understand Lu Li's plan. "Now?"

"Later," Remi said, looking at Anna and Lu Li's relationship with a touch of envy. This clumsy display of concern was far more romantic than anything in her books.

"Hmm... In that case, I'll go to Belfast to get some provisions and wine," Anna announced. She closed the book she hadn't finished and walked out of the cave to Lu Li. "I'm going to Belfast to find a few things for the party."

"Be careful," Lu Li's voice was as calm as ever.

"I will."

Anna raised her hand, stood on her toes, and ruffled Lu Li's hair, tousling the black strands before disappearing into the Elm Forest.

Just then, Jimmy emerged from behind the hut with an armful of freshly cut planks. After greeting Lu Li, he glanced up at the sky in surprise. "Is the wind already picking up...?"

Remi returned to her work. After finishing their own hut, the siblings helped Adamfiya fortify her home, and then the children's little shelters as well.

Anna returned by four o'clock. From somewhere in the mansion's cellar, she had procured a case of red wine, a crate of canned swan meat, and some silverware that would likely go unused.

Jimmy stayed on the clifftop to build a bonfire, while Remi, Lu Li, and Anna went down to the reefs to pull up the trap.

Three fish, each the size of a rat, thrashed in the net, gasping desperately for air. A few shells clung to the wire mesh.

An invisible hand lifted the struggling fish toward Anna—they were ordinary, with no strange growths.

After setting fresh bait and lowering the trap back into the depths, they returned to the cliff.

Remi gutted the fish, tossing the entrails to Jimmy for a snack.

"I know I'm omnivorous, but..." Jimmy stared at the guts lying in the sand and grumbled at his sister, "Could you show your brother a little respect?"

"If you don't want them, I'll give them to Enni for fertilizer," Remi retorted without looking back, busy skewering the fish on sticks.

On any other day, Jimmy would have simply devoured the entrails with his monstrous alter ego... But tonight, he had roasted fish to look forward to.

"Give them to Enni," he said, picking up the guts with a clawed hand and burying them at the base of the tree.

The rustling of leaves was Enni's reply.

Bonfire parties were best in the evening. People would gather, chat, and roast food, enjoying the atmosphere.

But on the clifftop, a fire was too conspicuous, and it wasn't safe to be out in the anomalous fog after dark.

So the residents of the Elm Forest gathered before five in the evening, intending to disperse before the fog rolled in.

The warmth of the bonfire enveloped them. They had dragged Ampera to the edge of the circle—its massive body shielded them from the damp sea wind.

Remi, having taken on Lu Li's task, tried to lighten the mood. Anna listened in silence, only occasionally turning the fish over the fire and sprinkling it with spices that sent sparks flaring into the air.

"Remember the town of Innsmouth? I think I've figured out what was wrong with the people there." Inevitably, the conversation turned to anomalies.

"Their consciousness was infected by some entity," Remi said, tossing another log on the fire. "Over time, not just their perception, but their very 'self' began to belong to it, just like with heretics."

"In that case, you were probably carrying something that attracted this entity. The infected consciousness made the residents instinctively want to seize you."

"How do you know that?" Jimmy asked, confused. "You've been on the cliff this whole time."

"Don't forget my 'scholar' power," Remi said, lifting her chin proudly. "After being freed from the story, the evil god no longer controls me, but my role remains. Before, knowledge came from the connection to his aura; now, it comes from the aura of the In-Between."

Jimmy only caught half of it, latching onto the phrase "the evil god no longer controls me," since the same was true for him. He glanced at Lu Li, hoping for an explanation.

"It's like fish that left the water, grew limbs, and became land animals. They didn't suffocate; they just learned a new way of breathing."

But the others were less interested in the explanation than in Lu Li's metaphor itself.

"Animals came from fish!?"

"Are animals actually fish?" the brother and sister asked in unison.

Anna, who had been about to hand Lu Li a cooked fish, froze, waiting for him to continue.

"...Perhaps," Lu Li's answer was evasive.

Could it be that the theory of evolution didn't exist here? Or had they simply never heard of it?

The sky grew darker, the shoreline becoming a faint outline. The wind began to rustle through the Elm Forest.

Perhaps because of the approaching storm, the anomalous fog never rose from the dark waters.

"We're tired, it's time to rest," Remi said, sensing that Anna wanted to say something to Lu Li. She dragged a reluctant Jimmy away to their hut.

After the siblings left, a quiet stillness settled over the fire.

"I remembered a dance," Anna said, her eyes reflecting the flickering flames. "Do you want to see it?"

"Yes."

Lu Li watched as Anna rose to her feet.

A howling sea wind swept across the cliff, whipping through her hair and dress.

Her dance was starkly visible in the shadows. The flame, swayed by the wind, cast its light on her dancing form, illuminating the sleepless camp.