The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 728: New Calamities and Krot

Splash!

Water dripping from his body, Lu Li stepped out of the wooden tub, grabbed a dry towel, and wiped himself down before pulling on a pair of twenty-four-year-old trousers.

They were nearly worn out, the journey underground having taken its toll on them.

“Do you have a dagger?” Lu Li asked.

Katerina unclipped a short knife from her belt and tossed it to Lu Li.

Drawing the knife, Lu Li found the blade within the dirty leather sheath to be surprisingly sharp and clean. He simply rinsed it with the hot water from the tub and then carefully shaved off his beard.

After shaving, Lu Li rinsed the knife, slid it back into its sheath, and returned it to Katerina.

Katerina let out a casual whistle, her eyes tracing Lu Li's sharp features and his abyss-like eyes. “I should have done something while you were unconscious.”

Lu Li paid her no mind.

Katerina sat on the single bed, leaning against the thin wall, continuing to admire him. Suddenly, she snapped out of it and stood up. “No, you can’t look like this... Even nobles don’t look this clean. If you’re discovered, it won’t go well for me... or for you.”Katerina left the room for a moment and returned with a handful of foul-smelling silt.

“Smear this on your face.”

The foul-smelling silt, which had a faint scent of alcohol, made Lu Li wonder where Katerina had dug it up.

“It’s too obvious,” Lu Li refused. “Find me a black robe.”

Katerina considered it. “You’re right.”

No one was a fool; it was easy to tell the difference between deliberate and natural filth, especially in the Wanderer's Tavern.

Katerina opened the window, tossed out the silt, and the curses from the street below were silenced once she closed the window.

Returning to the tub to wash her hands, Katerina, who had only intended to rinse off the grime, touched the hot water and suddenly changed her mind, shrugging off her leather armor with wet hands.

Lu Li averted his gaze and looked up at the sky again.

The sounds of washing came from behind him. Katerina, having removed the last of her clothes, slipped into the tub with a contented sigh.

“I’d almost forgotten the last time I had a hot bath...”

Lu Li silently gazed at the fiery ring of lava. It hung in the southern sky, its orientation and outline seemingly matching the black ring that had once hung high above.

Was the change in the sky related to that black ring?

After observing it for several minutes, Lu Li lowered his gaze to the street below, where something was happening.

Passersby were pressing themselves to the sides of the road, their heads bowed respectfully.

Six worshippers in black robes, with indiscernible emblems on their chests, were carrying a palanquin, moving past in two winding lines.

“What does the deity of Mantistown look like?” Lu Li asked without turning around.

“No one knows.”

Katerina’s reply came from behind him, accompanied by the sound of splashing water.

“The deity’s name and appearance are a secret.”

“No statues?”

“Not in Mantistown. Someone has seen the deity’s form, of course, but only the believers know its name,” Katerina said.

“Then what do people call it?”

“The Deity of Mantistown, or Mantis,” Katerina shrugged from within the water. “Did you see something?”

“Six of Mantis’s believers carrying a wooden palanquin.”

“The believers are warning that a Calamity is approaching.”

The splashing in the tub grew louder. Katerina was no longer lingering in the hot water.

“A Calamity?”

“The Light Stealer, Silence, the Foggy Tide, and the like.”

“What are the Light Stealer and the Foggy Tide?” Lu Li already knew about Silence; it was a terrifying Calamity that had lasted for half a day.

“You would have known them before,” Katerina turned, but only saw Lu Li’s silhouette shrouded in faint light. “Shadow Stealing Fire and the Anomaly Fog.”

“Shadow Stealing Fire became a Calamity?”

“Yes, about ten years ago.” Katerina went on to tell Lu Li about the abilities of Shadow Stealing Fire, or the Light Stealer.

It steals the light from the sky.

When the Light Stealer appears, the sky ceases to be bright, and the world is plunged into an eternal night until it leaves.

Sometimes it lasts for a few hours, sometimes for several days. The longest was fourteen days, seven years ago—the entire world remained in darkness for two weeks.

“It’s not dawn yet, so it could be Silence or the Foggy Tide.”

Katerina said this before Lu Li could ask about the origin of the Foggy Tide.

The Foggy Tide is the same as the Anomaly Fog, but more turbulent than usual. It comes in like a tide every half-month or month.

Even cities can’t withstand the Foggy Tide, so when it arrives, they too are enveloped by the Anomaly Fog.

“By the way, Silence isn’t as terrifying as it was in your time. Now, it only kills those who speak.”

When Silence descends, people don’t need to suppress all sounds; as long as they don’t speak, nothing will happen.

“Have the other Calamities changed?” Lu Li asked.

“The Night of No Light and the Plant Blight? They’re the same as ever.” The sound of water suddenly grew clearer. Katerina, standing behind Lu Li, had stepped out of the tub. She dried herself off, and the rustle of her leather armor being put on followed.

After washing, Katerina looked no different—she hadn’t washed her face.

According to Katerina, a moderate amount of dirt made her look like an unapproachable hunter.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, stopping at their door. Katerina thought it was Krot, but outside stood only a four-legged woman enveloped in the sharp scent of perfume. Katerina ruthlessly sent her away and then waited a few more minutes until Krot arrived.

Before opening the door, Katerina quietly warned Lu Li not to discriminate against Krot because of his stature—he would get angry.

Krot was a short man who looked like a teenager, but he was actually a dwarf who couldn’t grow any taller. He wore dirty leather armor, and his voice was sharp and comical, like a circus clown’s.

This image made Krot naturally immune to suspicion, which was why he became a hunter who sold information, rather than a hunter like Katerina.

Lu Li remained silent, observing Krot.

Aside from his dwarfish appearance, his left eye was deformed.

Besides the normal eyeball, a dozen other eyeballs, ranging in size from a pearl to a grain of sand, were crammed into his left socket. They pressed against each other, misshapen, existing grotesquely within the orbit.

Whether by coincidence or something else, there were many people in Mantistown with deformed eyes. Katerina, for instance, Old Man Pit-Hyena, and Krot, who stood before them now.

“I want to know where the people from the shelter, the ones who were here a few years ago, are now,” Katerina asked directly.

“Fifteen shillings.”

The way Krot named the price reminded Lu Li of the Trader.

“That’s not worth fifteen shillings!” Indignation flashed across Katerina’s face.

“Sting, my information is always worth the price,” Krot replied simply.

Their previous dealings forced Katerina to suppress her anger at the high price. “If it’s really worth fifteen shillings, I’ll give them to you.”

“They’re in Vinnelag.”

“Wait... Vinnelag? Aren’t they in Midnight?”

Krot answered in his comical, piercing voice, “The church and nobles of Midnight don’t value pure-blooded humans that much. Vinnelag is different; they hope to one day return to the world before the apocalypse.”