The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 687: The Stop

The wooden boat had run aground on the shore.

Swish... swish...

The tide lapped at the pebble beach, the sound like some great beast drinking from the shore.

Several figures appeared from behind a nearby hill.

"There's someone in the boat!" an astonished voice cried out.

Abiloki muttered, "You fool, there can't be anyone alive in there. It's a monster. We need to get back immediately."

"You're the fool," Dzhils retorted stubbornly. "This is where we get our water. Do you want the whole town to die of thirst? The monster isn't moving. We should take this chance to destroy it."

Abiloki didn't argue with Dzhils, who was acting like a child. Instead, he looked at the silent woman. "Elder Sister, should we go back and get the townsfolk to help?"

"It might be too late for that."

Tightening her light brown ponytail, the sturdily built woman—who bore a centipede-like scar from the corner of her eyebrow to the corner of her mouth—crested the hill, spear in hand. She approached the pebble beach with the silent grace of a leopard until the wooden boat was within throwing distance.Abiloki and Dzhils followed, spears raised, ready to follow their Elder Sister's lead.

But after a few moments, Elder Sister lowered her hand. "Lower your spears. I think it's a person."

"Could be a monster that looks like a person."

Dzhils reminded her, winking at Abiloki.

They bickered constantly, but it never affected their understanding of one another. Abiloki gave a slight nod and took a few steps forward, shielding Elder Sister.

"Dzhils, have you forgotten you were still wetting the bed at eight?" Elder Sister smirked. "I'm not under the monster's influence. Stand down."

"Do you remember what happened three years ago?" Dzhils asked, his eyes fixed on her.

"How dare you bring that up?" Elder Sister's tone turned to ice, and the veins on the tan hand gripping her spear bulged.

Dzhils let out a breath of relief. It was still their Elder Sister standing before him.

"We were just afraid the monster had gotten to you," Abiloki said, backing away sheepishly, worried Elder Sister might lose her temper and beat them both.

"You two can keep your wits about you, but I can't?" The centipede-like scar on her face twisted, and an unfriendly smile spread across her lips.

"Of course, of course..." Dzhils also gave a dry smile and backed away.

The three of them approached the grounded boat. Just as Elder Sister had said, a figure was curled up at the bottom, dressed in the kind of cloak and shirt only worn in the big cities.

"He has black hair..." Dzhils subconsciously tightened his grip on his spear.

Elder Sister, meanwhile, was looking at his calm, handsome face. "He might be a survivor," she said. "It'll be dark soon. We should take him with us."

Abiloki didn't object. Dzhils felt something was off, but he could see the man's chest rising and falling beneath his shirt. He was definitely human.

Wary that the First Dead might be prowling the shore, the three of them dragged the boat further from Lake Legkogo Zerkala. Then, as if hoisting a sack of grain, Elder Sister slung the unconscious man over her shoulder.

"What's this?" Abiloki picked up a holster that had slipped from the man's belt and fallen onto the pebbles.

"I know what that is! In the big cities, they call it a gun. It's more powerful than a bow," Dzhils exclaimed. He showed Abiloki how to open the holster and reached in to pull out the Spirit Gun.

Slap!

Elder Sister slapped his wrist and took the holster. "Don't touch other people's things."

"More powerful than a bow?"

Abiloki touched the longbow slung across his back.

Helentown was a place where news traveled slowly, and most of the local youth had never left.

"At least, that's what the ones who've come back say," Dzhils admitted, sounding a little hesitant himself.

He'd thought a gun would be about the size of a longbow, but this thing looked tiny...

"Alright, the old man is waiting for us in town," Elder Sister cut in. "Grab my spear."

"You get it."

"No, you get it."

"I got it last time."

After a bit more bickering, Abiloki finally picked up Elder Sister's spear, and they left the pebble beach, heading back toward the town a few miles away.

Helentown.

Like most villages and towns in the Wastelands, it was remote and poor.

However, thanks to Lake Legkogo Zerkala, Helentown and the few surrounding villages were slightly better off than many inland settlements. While the lake didn't have as many fish as the sea, there were enough to feed a town of a few hundred people.

Until the First Dead took over the lake.

Helentown began to face the same problem as most inland villages: a shortage of food.

They were barely getting by. The First Dead rarely appeared during the day, and as long as people stayed away from the center of Lake Legkogo Zerkala, they usually weren't attacked.

But what had happened just a few hours ago had terrified the locals, who feared the agitated First Dead would cut off their last source of food.

They would have no choice but to abandon their homes and head for the coast.

So when the trio who had gone to the lake returned with an unconscious man, claiming they'd found him alive in a boat, the old town mayor thought he might know something.

"Let him rest. Elena, take the survivor to Aunt Susan's place. She used to live in a big city and knows how to talk to outsiders."

Elena nodded and, with Abiloki and Dzhils, walked over to Aunt Susan's two-story wooden house.

"Little Elena! And little Loki, and little Dzhils, what brings you here... Quick, put him down... What do you mean, a survivor? There's a spare bedroom upstairs."

After a brief flurry of activity, the unconscious man was settled onto a single bed. They removed his shoes, socks, and coat, then covered him with a clean blanket.

"Is he hurt?"

Before they covered him with the blanket, Abiloki had noticed bloodstains on the man's shirt.

"It's probably someone else's. Didn't you see all the blood in that boat?" Dzhils said dismissively.

"Of course I saw it! I was just worried he might be hurt too!" Abiloki retorted loudly.

Elena frowned and unceremoniously shooed the bickering pair away. "You two, shut up and get out."

Abiloki and Dzhils ducked their heads and obediently went downstairs to the cramped but cozy living room.

Aunt Susan was lighting the fireplace.

The two of them huddled together, whispering quietly.

"You think Elder Sister has a thing for that guy?"

"Who?"

"The guy we rescued."

"No way. He's not built enough. Elder Sister only likes men who look like beasts."

"But you saw his face... Compared to him, that guy Mike looks like a shard of a broken wine bottle stuck in a pile of dog crap."

"I'll agree with the last part, but Elder Sister wouldn't be shallow enough to fall for him just because of his looks, right?"

"What do you mean, shallow... Fine. But didn't you see how... gentle she was when she was taking off his clothes and shoes?" Abiloki felt a chill just using that word to describe Elder Sister. "And I bet it's the first time she's ever tended to anyone like that."

After a short silence, Abiloki asked again, "If they get together, you think their kid will take Elder Sister's family name or his?"

"Forget that, shouldn't we be wondering about the kid's hair color?"

"Probably black... Elder Sister's hair is brown."

At that very moment.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Lu Li was slowly regaining consciousness.