The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 736: The Caravan, Numa, and the Cursed Title

"They figured you out?"

Katerina had noticed the way the cultists of Levitan addressed Lu Li.

"Mm-hmm."

And it seemed they had discovered more than just his "purity."

After all, being a pureblood alone wouldn't have been enough to warrant such an invitation from the church.

Katerina was the most pleased by this. With the church's endorsement, Lu Li's status as a pureblood was now undeniable.

"They don't seem overly interested in you," Katerina remarked pointedly, opening a pouch and glancing inside. It held a jumble of coins and small bills, probably amounting to two or three hundred shillings.

Katerina tied the pouch shut, satisfied. The coins jingled with a clean, pleasant sound—the kind no one could dislike. But carrying them was both a burden and a beacon for unwanted attention.

Katerina approached the counter and tossed the pouch of money onto it. "This is the fee the faithful gave me personally. I'd like to exchange it for larger bills."

Two minutes later, Katerina emerged from the tavern, adjusting the leather armor across her chest. She and Lu Li then headed for the caravan at the end of the street.A man from the caravan was waiting for them at the entrance. He introduced himself as the "caravan keeper" and, while leading Lu Li and Katerina toward the wagons, explained that they would need Numa's permission before they could depart.

"A caravan keeper is someone who tends to certain... 'pungent' anomalies. Their nature is usually docile and controllable, harmless to people... Their scent can mask ours, so anomalies in the wasteland won't attack the caravan..."

Katerina whispered to Lu Li, then asked aloud, "Who is Numa?"

"Our good child, the one who protects us from incursions in the wastes," the keeper replied, leading them past wagons being loaded and unloaded, toward a massive vehicle covered by a tarp.

"Once inside, no shouting or loud noises. It'll frighten her."

Taking an oil lamp from the edge of the wagon, the keeper turned to give one last reminder, then lifted the tarp and climbed inside.

"Should be fine..." Katerina murmured, slipping under the tarp first.

Lu Li followed, nearly bumping into Katerina as she came to an abrupt halt.

A deep, wet inhalation sounded from ahead. Lu Li craned his neck and, by the light of the oil lamp, caught sight of a massive form.

It was a strange creature with a flat, elongated body and long whiskers, resembling a colossal catfish. Its smooth, gray-black skin glistened in the lamplight.

The creature was confined within an iron cage three meters wide and nearly seven meters long. This explained why the wagon looked as vast as a longhouse from the outside.

The keeper's movements became slow and deliberate, not from fear, but from a desire not to startle the creature. He picked up a bundle of long, damp plants from beside the cage and offered them through the bars.

Numa behaved nothing like the anomalies Katerina was used to. She ate meekly, like a farm animal, even taking care to avoid the keeper's hand.

The sight was familiar to Lu Li—Amper had been much the same.

As the oil lamp drew closer, Lu Li could make out Numa's forelimbs, which were about the size of a human arm. But on her massive body, they looked as thin and malformed as an infant's.

The limbs were clearly too small for locomotion, unless she moved by some mystical means.

After the feeding, the keeper's next action made Katerina flinch. He pressed himself against the iron cage, leaning so far in that his head nearly passed between the bars. He put his ear to Numa's catfish-like maw, listening intently.

Lu Li could vaguely hear something, but the sounds were too faint to decipher unless he pressed his head to the cage as the keeper had.

After a long moment, the keeper pulled back from the cage and gave Lu Li a strange look. "Numa thinks you smell delicious."

Katerina tensed instinctively, and Lu Li added, "I doubt 'delicious' is a sign of friendliness."

"You should be pleased. It means your contamination is very low," the keeper said, then glanced at Katerina. "Your companion, on the other hand, is a bit... 'ordinary.'"

Ordinary, in this case, meant common, average—neither high nor low.

So for Katerina, the news was neither good nor bad.

The keeper considered for a moment, then told Lu Li, "You should stay close to Numa. She can mask that fresh scent of yours."

"She won't get any ideas, will she?" Katerina asked, not keen on the thought of Lu Li ending up as a meal.

"Numa is a good child," the keeper said, chiding Katerina for her lack of faith.

Just then, a gruff shout, laced with profanity, echoed from outside the wagon.

"Move it, you bastards! The Count of the City of Phantoms needs this shipment, and we have to get it there by sunset!"

"I damn well know it's the Eternal Night, you bloody idiot, Tom! Watch that mouth of yours!"

Sensitive to the noise, Numa shook her massive head, making a low, gurgling sound.

The keeper had to soothe Numa again.

"I've heard of him," Katerina whispered to Lu Li. "The Count of the City of Phantoms isn't a real count. Rumor is, he was a knight before the Age of Anomalies. He became a ghost by accident after he died and has been 'living' ever since. Eventually, he accepted an invitation from the church in the City of Phantoms and moved there..."

"Alright, let's go," the keeper said once Numa had settled down, leading Lu Li and Katerina out of the stuffy wagon.

"Have you ever traveled by caravan before?" he asked.

"Er... no."

Katerina had always been a loner and had rarely left Livitown, let alone had the luxury of traveling with a caravan.

"Right. Memorize these rules," the keeper said, glancing at the workers bustling around the caravan. He recited the rules he had clearly repeated countless times, his voice crisp and fast.

[You are attempting to leave the safe zone]

[You are moving away from safety and comfort]

[And you may never return]

[If you are sure you wish to embark on a long journey, the unknown awaits]

[You will encounter many things, and most of them will be bad]

[It will make you grow, but it may also drive you mad]

[Monitor your Mind Level. Do not let it drop, no matter what.]

[Remember]

[The more you know, the faster you die]

The rules sent Katerina drifting into memory; it felt as though someone had told her the very same thing long ago.

She quickly snapped out of her reverie and followed the keeper with Lu Li to a wagon at the rear of the caravan. This was to be their place.

"Once we leave the city, do not exit the wagon. Use only the fluorite for light, and never, ever show a bright light in the wastes," the keeper added as a final warning. "Our leader possesses a Cursed Title. You don't need to worry about getting lost."

"A Cursed Title?"

"It's called 'Survival Instinct'... You probably know it already."

The keeper's tone was heavy with meaning. As he spoke, something strange manifested in the minds of Lu Li and Katerina—a sensation that was part text, part sound.

[Survival Instinct]

[Mankind lives on an island of ignorance. Those who set sail will wander ever farther down their chosen paths. Go too far, and you may forget where you came from. Fortunately, you remember. Your mind always knows its point of origin. No matter where you are, you can recall its location, its direction—for only there lies safety.]

[Your consciousness will point to the location and direction of the city you have left.]

[Hunters often die in the jaws of their prey. Fishermen, in the end, drown in the depths of a dead sea.]