The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 721: Sean's Diary

Silence filled the small hut, nestled deep within the dark, underground shelter.

Lu Li silently raised a hand to his face, feeling nothing but coarse stubble.

If he had truly spent twenty-four years in this subterranean world, his hair would be long enough to weave into clothing, his beard would reach his waist, and his face would be etched with wrinkles.

Recalling something, Lu Li pulled off his linen shirt. A sticky, dark patch of dried blood stained his chest, making the shirt unwearable. He had no choice but to shrug on his coat for a little warmth.

His hand slid into his coat pocket. The diary he had found in the shelter was still there.

Lu Li opened the diary, but the childish scrawl was difficult to decipher in the gloom.

Tossing aside the moldy blanket, Lu Li slipped off the bed and padded barefoot to the table.

Under the woman's bewildered gaze, he settled onto the wooden chair. He placed the diary on the table beside the candlestick and, by the faint light of the candle, began to read.

[September 16. Mom said this is a place where I can write down my secrets, the ones I don't want to share with anyone else].

[September 17. I don't want to go to Mrs. Ilin's class, her voice sounds like a witch's].[September 17. I hate Jones, he always steals my mashed potatoes and calls me a potato man, says I'm as round and fat as a potato].

[September 17. Mrs. Ilin stopped him. She doesn't think so. She says it's wonderful to be plump].

[September 17. I guess Mrs. Ilin isn't so bad after all...]

Having just received the diary, the child was full of enthusiasm, jotting down a flood of thoughts each day.

Lu Li skipped past these trivial entries.

[October 23. Mrs. Ilin told us about the surface again today. It sounds so wonderful...]

[January 3. We started geography lessons, everyone is really happy about it. But we don't like botany. Why do we need to learn how to grow plants?]

[May 1. Dad became "Shelter Dweller of the Month"! He gets to go with an exorcist to the place closest to the surface, and he might even get to see it!]

[May 2. Dad came back. He let us smell his clothes. I couldn't smell anything, but it made me feel really good].

[March 18. I'm ten years old. Dad, Mom, and the neighbors told me that I'm officially a resident of the shelter now].

[March 19. The new lessons are scary... We didn't hide underground because of a flood, but because of those horrible monsters, invisible monsters that drove us down here].

[March 25. I learned more...]

[March 30. Father told me not to get lost in sadness. Every child who grows up in the shelter learns about it. I asked him, "Everyone?" He said, "Yes." Don't be sad, don't despair. We are the tinder, we are the hope. We till the soil in darkness, and when the flood recedes, we will rekindle the flame of human civilization].

His father's words had a profound impact on the diary's author. From that point on, the entries grew less frequent, the revelations fewer. And then, one day, the boy had grown up. His handwriting was no longer that of a child, nor his words so naive.

[December 12. If it wasn't for the "Shelter Dweller of the Month" award, I wouldn't have even remembered how old Mercer won it last time. You would've just kept gathering dust under my bed].

[December 13. Everything really is different... I don't know if I'm just imagining it or what, but I've never wanted to see the surface this badly].

[January 9. Who would've thought Dasha would turn out so pretty? I should have made a move sooner].

[January 1. I have to write this down... January 1st, the fifteenth year since the shelter was sealed. The Council has passed the "Tinder Act." We're going to try and make contact with the surface! I've been waiting for this day, waiting for us, the tinder, to finally reclaim our home!]

[January 2. What did they mean when they said there are still survivors on the surface? Aren't we the only ones?]

[January 3. Other shelters... People abandoned on the surface... What have we done...]

[January 10. Rumor has it the first group of exorcists who came back from the surface got sick. I know why. The people up there live side-by-side with monsters, facing death every day, while we've been hiding in our safe little shelter, just watching...]

[July 1. My turn. Let's go see what's happened up there].

[July 10. I'm back].

The entries stopped on that day. The next one didn't appear for another six months. It was as if the author couldn't bring himself to remember what he had seen on the surface.

[October 6. The mantises have overrun the mines, they've built their nests there. We have no way to deal with them; our only choice is to head for the settlement].

[January 1. The fourth year of the Tinder Act. The shelter is getting more dangerous, and the Council has decided that next year, on the twentieth anniversary of the shelter's founding, we will permanently relocate to the surface].

[I don't understand... I can't understand... Is it just because we're the only pureblood humans? Either way, I support the decision].

[March 21. My parents didn't come back...]

[September 9. Jones didn't come back either...]

[December 3. Dasha spent too much time with the heretics, and she started showing mutations... They're holding her in custody now, waiting for the Council to decide what to do].

[December 5. I'm glad they just exiled her, but she cried so hard. I tried to comfort her, telling her that we'd be leaving next year too, and we'd see each other again. I told her to take care of herself and wait for us].

[January 1. I thought it would happen today, but too many things aren't ready yet].

[March 15. Dasha's gone... People disappear all the time in the wastelands. Maybe it was monsters, or heretics, or even our own kind... I have to assume she's dead. That's the law of the world on the surface].

[May 13. The mantises attacked the shelter. We drove them back, but the losses were horrific. So many of the elderly and the children died. A lot of residents are demanding the Council either speed up the evacuation or deal with the mantis problem right on our doorstep].

[A bunch of clowns... All they care about is their own survival].

[June 5. They set the date: September 17. The very same day I started this diary, the people of the shelter will leave this place. I've decided to leave the diary behind. There won't be time for writing on the surface. And if I die, at least something of me will be left].

[If you've found this diary, my name is Sean. It doesn't matter if you remember me or not. I just hope my diary helps you in some small way].

[September 17. "Don't be sad, don't despair. We are the tinder, we are the hope. We till the soil in darkness, and when the flood recedes, we will rekindle the flame of human civilization." What a load of crap... We naively thought we were going to save the world, but we're just pathetic insects who abandoned our own kind and couldn't change a thing. Worthless and pathetic].

[Time to go. This is all I can write. I hope you've heard of me. I hope I'm still alive by then].

[Goodbye, shelter. My home].

[I have a feeling... our reckoning is near].

[We brought this on ourselves].