The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 666: A Hasty Farewell

[Things are getting worse by the day.]

[I sought refuge, but the detective agency was empty. Neither you nor Mr. Lu Li were there.]

[My supplies are running out. I'm heading to the other side of the mountain, hoping there's something left at the Sentry Post.]

[I'll leave a mark on the window. If you come looking for me, you'll find my second letter there.]

The uneven handwriting showed that Aunt Mary had written in a hurry. The envelope was coated in a layer of dust, as if it had been lying here for a long time.

— She should be on the Lennon Archipelago, — Lu Li frowned.

Their ship, the Avitanis, had safely reached the Lennon Archipelago long ago. There was no reason for Aunt Mary to still be on the Allen Peninsula, let alone leave a letter.

— Maybe something unexpected happened, — Anna murmured, her ruby eyes turning to Lu Li. — Lu Li... I'm worried about Aunt Mary...

— We're heading to the Sentry Post, — Lu Li decided.

Aunt Mary was either there or had left a mark. Finding her shouldn't be too difficult.— Could it be a trap? — Remi asked thoughtfully.

An ordinary person, wandering freely through the streets of the old city, a place crawling with anomalies? It sounded ominous.

— Maybe the letter was put in the mailbox before Belfast fell to ruin?

— Maybe. But we have to go regardless.

Trap or not, Lu Li and Anna couldn't just ignore it.

— When are you leaving? — Remi asked Lu Li, who was pulling on his coat.

Lu Li opened a drawer, took out a flashlight, an oil lamp, and the Beacon.

— Now.

...

The grim sky looked as if it had been shaded in with a pencil, wrapped in shadows.

The maelstrom in the south of Belfast still churned. From above, it looked even more grotesque and terrifyingly alive.

Staring at it for too long, even without any anomalous influence, could lower one's Mind Level.

Anna transported Lu Li to the shore of Agate Lake, stopping briefly at the baroness's estate.

After expanding the cave shelter, almost all the books from the library fit inside. They were still here; Anna planned to take them to Watcher's Cliff when they returned.

However, as Lu Li was about to leave the library, an empty can rolled out from behind a bookshelf.

— Who's there? — Anna demanded coldly, as Lu Li's dark eyes pierced the gloom.

A hunched figure emerged slowly from the dark corner.

— A human? — Anna muttered quietly.

It was a hunched woman, wrapped in a filthy blanket. A large piece of her lower lip was missing, making her sunken jaw look monstrous.

— You... you are...? — she asked, her voice a strained lisp. The woman kept her head down, not daring to look at Lu Li or the cloaked figure of Anna.

— Just like you, — Lu Li replied.

The appearance of her own kind seemed to awaken hope in the wretched woman. Without a flicker of doubt at Lu Li's words, she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.

Lu Li expected Anna to stop her, but to his surprise, she did nothing, allowing the woman to bury her face in his chest.

Her body and shoulders were trembling — whether from agitation or from Anna's chilling presence.

Lu Li stepped back, freeing himself from the embrace, and, ignoring the dirt and bloodstains on his clothes, pointed to her lip:

— Your wound has reopened.

The wound on her lip was unlikely to ever heal. The woman was pale from blood loss, and it was a stroke of luck that infection hadn't already set in.

She paid it no mind. With a frown, Lu Li tore several pages from the nearest book and pressed them to her lip.

— Let's go upstairs and treat it, — he said.

After the incident with the Shadow Puppeteer, a first-aid station had been set up on the second floor of the estate. There should still be clean bandages and alcohol there.

Aileen had indeed kept the room intact. There were plenty of bandages, and a small vial still held some alcohol.

Lu Li disinfected the wound, then bandaged it.

The bandage might come loose if she moved too suddenly or tried to eat, but at least now they didn't have to worry about infection.

Once her wound was dressed, the woman told her story.

Her name was Selika Daler, a survivor from Belfast. She had encountered other groups of survivors, but various incidents had forced her to strike out on her own. The wound on her lip, she explained, had been inflicted by one of them.

Wandering in search of shelter, she had stumbled upon the estate a few days ago and had been hiding here ever since.

— Why didn't you leave Belfast? — Lu Li looked around the first-aid station. There were many things here that could be taken to Watcher's Cliff.

Selika Daler's voice trembled. — They say it's even worse elsewhere. Khimfast is full of monsters, and they broadcast lies on the radio about it being safe, just to lure people in...

— I don't know where you heard that, — Lu Li replied, — but there are no monsters in Khimfast. It's just a gathering of ordinary people.

— Really?..

— Yes.

Lu Li's gaze returned to Selika Daler.

— We're heading to the Sentry Post. Our path takes us past Khimfast. You can go there on your own or come with us.

— ...Thank you. I won't be a burden.

Lu Li introduced Selika Daler to Anna. Upon learning that Anna was a vengeful spirit, she only flinched slightly, showing no particular fear.

She was surprisingly resilient.

Taking Selika Daler and a roll of bandages with them, Lu Li and Anna left the estate and reached the Sentry Post by sunset.

...

Creak... Creak...

The rusty sign above the tavern swung in the wind.

The Sentry Post was desolate and ruined. Many survivors had already picked it clean, leaving chaos in their wake.

Luckily, they were only interested in looting, not wanton destruction. Only a few wooden doors and windows had been forced open.

A cold wind blew in the faces of the three travelers as they walked down the deserted street. Soon, they spotted a sign painted in oil on a second-floor window of the inn.

Lu Li had seen this symbol before — in Madam Anlei's Art Gallery.

— That was our family crest... — Anna said quietly.

Lu Li approached the inn's entrance and pushed open the door, which was already ajar.

Dust rained down, the particles dancing in the glow of the oil lamp. The creak of floorboards broke the hall's silence, but as the echoes of their footsteps faded, the stillness returned.

— Your heart is beating very fast, — Lu Li remarked, turning his head slightly.

In the silent hall, the frantic beating of Selika Daler's heart sounded like a faint, distant drum.

— I'm sorry, I'm still nervous... — she whispered, her head bowed. Her filthy, tangled hair hung like matted clumps, hiding her eyes.

Lu Li averted his gaze, went up the wooden stairs to the second floor, and found the room with the mark on the window.

Like most buildings in town, the inn had been picked clean by survivors. If the wood hadn't been so common and heavy, they probably would have dismantled even the beds and wardrobes.

However, Aunt Mary's letter had miraculously survived — it was lying right on the windowsill. Entering the room, it was impossible to miss.

The envelope was covered in dust. An invisible hand lifted it, brushed off the dust, and brought it to Lu Li.

Anna took the oil lamp from Lu Li and watched in silence as he opened the envelope.