The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 655: Love is Worthless at the End of the World

Sensing the mood growing heavy, Remi changed the subject. "Don't you think Amper is different from us?"

"In what way?"

Remi's gaze drifted to the silhouette blending with the cliff face outside the shelter. "My brother and I don't crave humanity, because we came from stories. Sister Adamfiya is still weak. The children see us as family. But Amper is a foreign anomaly, yet he stays here on Watcher's Cliff without any trouble. He doesn't crave you, and he doesn't harm anyone else. It doesn't match his terrifying appearance at all."

"Watcher's Cliff" was the name that had been born along with the shelter. They couldn't just keep calling the place "the ledge" forever. A home needed a name.

"Is it because of Anna?"

"Obviously not. If that were the case, he'd have no reason to restrain his nature when Anna isn't here, since only my screams can hurt her."

"Perhaps he's like livestock, like the cows or sheep we've domesticated," Remi ventured.

It was reminiscent of the process of domesticating wild animals: a show of force in the Kingdom of Ellen, followed by feeding, constant proximity, and living conditions far better than before.

Remi continued, "I don't know if it's a coincidence, but isn't it strange for an anomaly to behave like a common animal?"

"You think it was raised by some other creatures?"Taming wild beasts takes generations. Amper was docile, showing no signs of wildness. If one were to apply the theory of domestication, his species must have gone through many generations of selective breeding.

But that was a scientific approach. The bizarre power of anomalies was simpler, yet more unfathomable.

Remi mulled over the idea, an angle she hadn't considered. "When Anna gets back, I need to get a blood sample from Amper."

She was worried that Amper's creators might discover Watcher's Cliff.

They had to wait for Anna, because only she could keep Amper in check.

...

Selika Daler trusted no one. Except herself.

Since the night the disaster struck, the twenty-year-old woman had endured countless horrors—most of them at the hands of other people. As for the anomalies, one rarely survived an encounter.

Selika remembered that half-month with perfect clarity.

The fog blazed like fire. Wails drowned out the sound of church bells. The acrid smell of something burning hung everywhere. Terrified people scrambled through the streets.

She had been one of them, but she was smarter, or perhaps just colder. Instead of running and screaming, attracting the anomalies, she had taken refuge in a stone house that wouldn't burn.

Now, Selika often berated herself for it. If only she had hidden in a shop or a tavern, she might have avoided the nightmares that followed. But at that moment, her choice had seemed the most logical.

The owners, an elderly couple, had let her in. Unfortunately, the anomalies soon broke in. Selika was the only one who managed to hide in the cellar. At dawn, when the creatures had left, she emerged.

The streets were in ruins. Starving, she searched for food and stumbled upon a group of suspicious-looking survivors. They were amazed at her luck—anomalies were still prowling nearby, yet she had managed to cross half a block unharmed.

Selika joined their group, which was planning to cross Sugard Mountain to get to the other side.

But they were attacked before they even left Belfast. Selika was separated from her group. She got lucky again, running into another band of survivors.

This new group wasn't in a hurry to leave. At first, they all stuck together. The women, children, and elderly hid in a shelter while the men went out to scavenge for food. Every trip out could be their last. After a while, the men began to grumble: why should the freeloaders get a share of the food?

Selika had no choice but to join the scavenging parties. Luck didn't always provide food, but she always returned in one piece.

Soon, however, she noticed the men's gazes growing more and more predatory. She left before the worst could happen.

After that, there were two more groups, both clinging to life in the ruins.

The first worshipped anomalies, offering them all their food in exchange for protection.

Selika pretended to be a follower, but escaped during their nightly prayer. Shortly after, screams echoed from the house.

The second lived by a brutal law: the useless became food.

Selika watched as a strong man, the one who brought back the most supplies, was suddenly tackled and strangled—all because a falling beam had broken his leg during a scavenging run.

Selika didn't look for any more groups after that. Perhaps there weren't any left.

A week ago, an uninvited guest had burst into her shelter.

He was a boy her age, with a frightened face. Selika waited for him to leave, but he decided it was safe here and stayed.

She had to come out of the cellar to drive him away. But his desperate pleas made her heart waver.

That moment of weakness would become her eternal regret.

Danger brings people together quickly. Despite the problems... like the lack of food.

Mak was terrified of going outside. The food Selika brought back wasn't enough for two. Whenever she managed to find a can of something, Mak would devour it all without restraint, as if preparing for his own death.

Soon, hunger set in. Then, for several days, Selika couldn't find any food at all.

Starving, Mak showered her with curses. Their relationship soured.

That night, he hugged her and tried to kiss her. Selika thought he was trying to make up. But a hellish pain flared in her lips.

She shoved Mak away. His mouth was bloody; he was chewing on her severed lip like a demon.

In the end, she killed Mak. The next day, she dragged his body outside and buried it.

Selika could have eaten him—her instincts screamed at her to. But she didn't want to become so... filthy.

How is a cannibal any better than an anomaly?

Even if she had already become a rat, hiding in the darkness.

Now, whenever she drank or ate, her exposed gums reminded her of the bitter price of trust.

[...Ksssh... Himmfast... ksssh... safe... silence... maintain silence...]

Fragments of a broadcast crackled from the radio.

Selika scoffed and turned it off.

Who knew if it wasn't a trap set by traitors, luring victims to their pet gods?