The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 749: Dirt Cheap

The hyena-headed creature crouched down, a grumble escaping his freckled face. "Some idiot down here for the first time must have pissed off the Weaver."

"The Weaver?"

Lu Li looked at the hole in the ground. The terrifying tremors hadn't stopped, and clouds of dust were rising into the Old Sewer.

"She's the creature down there. We also call her the Stationmaster of the City of Phantoms."

Lu Li glanced at his left hand, wondering if he was the cause of the Weaver's rage.

The hyena-headed creature continued, "I can smell you, mister. You're very... fragrant. Are you from the surface?"

"Yes," Lu Li nodded.

Katerina said nothing. She was on edge, unsure whether "fragrant" referred to his humanity or if the fact that Lu Li was a pure-blooded human had somehow been discovered.

"Awesome... I've never been to the surface."

Hearing the confirmation, the boy's face on the hyena's body lit up with genuine excitement and anticipation, hoping Lu Li would keep talking."Why?" Lu Li, knowing little about the Old Sewer, didn't mind a conversation.

"Because they wouldn't let me into the surface cities... Despite how I look, I'm human. My name is Prusius King. You can call me King or Prusius."

The hyena-headed boy spoke very quickly.

"Human?" Katerina asked doubtfully.

"Yes!" Katerina's challenge made Prusius raise his voice, clearly protective of his human identity. "I still remember where I was born! The town of Keith, twenty miles east of the Twisted Forest."

Prusius offered the details as if afraid Lu Li and Katerina wouldn't believe him.

"I know that place," Katerina said.

"Is this your first time in the Old Sewer?"

"What are you getting at?" Katerina grew wary.

"D-don't worry," Prusius's freckled face looked alarmed. "I just thought you might need a reliable guide."

"A guide?" Lu Li asked.

Prusius turned his face toward Lu Li. "Even though we're in the uppermost, most outsider-friendly section of the Old Sewer, it's still full of dangers... Most people who come down for the first time without a guide never return to the surface."

Lu Li recalled the tall woman they had met on their way down and glanced deeper into the Old Sewer. Could she be a guide, too?

"The one who stopped you, she's a guide too. We call her Model..." Prusius said, noticing Lu Li's glance. "She's very strong and can protect her clients, but you can't trust her. She often eats them..."

"So you're a reliable guide, but you can't protect us," Katerina summed up.

Prusius looked embarrassed.

Though his appearance cast doubt on his words, they did indeed need a guide.

"How can we be sure you're a good guide?" Katerina asked.

Prusius straightened up, his tail wagging like a dog's. "Our young pathfinder squad, the 'Children of the City,' can find out anything you need!"

"Children of the City" was the name of Prusius's humble organization, which consisted of two other weak anomalies like himself who were unable to leave the Old Sewer.

"My two comrades are a squirrel and a rat. They became this way because of a curse, just like me," Prusius explained.

"Is that her?"

Lu Li looked at a figure passing the hut.

The fury from the hole gradually subsided, and before the dust could even settle, the creatures of the Old Sewer swarmed toward the entrance. They moved as if they had done this countless times before, silently dividing the newly available space among themselves through threats and scuffles.

It was an anomaly that looked like a sturdy man. With every breath, its chest swelled like a balloon, stretching the skin until it was nearly translucent.

Writhing worms were visible inside.

It seemed the worms were controlling the man. The corners of his lips were torn, and his mouth was stuffed with something he chewed on thoughtlessly. A fist-sized head dangled near his mouth, bobbing in rhythm with his chewing.

The chest swelled again, revealing more details—bits of flesh or blood trickled down its throat and into the worm-riddled chest cavity, feeding the writhing mass within.

"Daisy! Oh no..."

Following Lu Li's gaze, Prusius tucked his tail, flattened his ears, and let out an anguished moan. That was his friend.

But Prusius didn't dare go any closer, knowing the same fate would befall him.

"Gentlemen, will you hire me?" Prusius looked at Lu Li, his voice pleading.

"We want to get to Midnight," Lu Li said.

"Thank you so much..." Prusius was so excited he almost stumbled over his words. "I mean, you... you want to go to Midnight, right? I know a relatively safe way to get there."

"How much do you charge?" Katerina suddenly asked.

"Ten shillings... no, eight would be fine, too," Prusius said, carefully watching Katerina's expression.

"Alright, eight shillings. If we're unsatisfied, we'll deduct..."

Katerina trailed off, stopping abruptly when she saw Lu Li hand Prusius ten shillings.

Prusius stared greedily at the old bill, barely resisting the temptation. "No... Mister Lu Li, according to the rules, I'm supposed to get... you... to your destination before I receive payment."

Lu Li started to take the money back, but Katerina intercepted it.

"You can't carry money on you, it's too conspicuous," she explained.

Prusius tore his thoughts away from his dead friend and said, "We need to get going, before Model notices us."

At the entrance, order was gradually being restored now that the "Weaver" had calmed down. Figures came and went from the Old Sewer, bustling around the hole.

Among them, a familiar silhouette appeared to Lu Li and Katerina.

The worker from the "Cape of Good Hope" tavern came down carrying a bucket of slop and the man who had tried to rob Katerina. The man was unconscious, draped over the top of the bucket.

A middle-aged man who had recently settled in the area approached the tavern worker. A mantis with yellow-green markings emerged from behind his back, menacing the other figures gathered around. Eventually, it won the right to make a deal and stepped up to the worker.

"Where's old Olein?"

The tavern worker spoke calmly to the anomaly.

"Dead. Just now," the mantis-anomaly replied, its voice slightly muffled.

But looking at its face alone, no one would have connected it with an anomaly.

"The Weaver's rage? Unlucky. Heard she just spawned," the worker shrugged and patted the bucket. "Bucket of slop. Fifty shillings, as usual."

"Of course."

The mantis-anomaly agreed to the price.

Finished with that piece of business, the worker gestured to the bound, unconscious man, clearly more interested in this deal. "And this one? A loser who angered the boss. How much will you give me for him?"