The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 780: Journey to the Great Tree

The Great Tree.

The locals were accustomed to calling it "Temimas," which meant the World Tree.

The Midnight Lady protects the people, and Temimas teaches them to wield weapons.

Just as every child in the old days dreamed of becoming a sailor, an artist, or a lawyer, here every child dreamed of attending the University of Claire.

But unlike the dreams of becoming a sailor, artist, or lawyer, which were often shattered by harsh reality, the people's yearning for the University of Claire never faded.

Temimas towered high, and the mysterious University of Claire was located at its apex.

There, on Temimas, was the highest point in the Gloom Wastes.

There, on Temimas, you could obtain everything.

Knowledge is woven into beautiful verses.

Power, like a beautiful maiden, beckons to you.There, in Claire.

This song, common throughout the Gloom Wastes, spoke eloquently of the University of Claire's importance.

But it was no ivory tower, cut off from the rest of the world.

The mortality rate at the University of Claire was only slightly lower than that of the Order of the Ring Knights. In its early days, however, it had been much higher.

"Vinnelag provided some assistance, but deep interaction with anomalies inevitably comes at a price. Until we begin to understand them, to comprehend them, we must pay for knowledge. The University of Claire is like Temimas: only when strong branches grow can birds land on them and build their nests."

Lu Li and Professor Ernie Hamilton Wayne stood in a suspended basket, listening to the professor's account of the Great Tree.

He was also the vice-chancellor of the University of Claire.

Being so close to Temimas, one could feel its majesty even more intensely.

The suspended basket rose slowly, carrying Lu Li and Professor Wayne away from the ground.

"I received a book, and some strange phenomena occurred afterward," Lu Li said, referring to the "Anomaly Bestiary" given to him by Professor Nuno.

"If you read more slowly, the visions won't appear, but the contamination of your Level of Reason is the price one must pay to acquire knowledge."

A strong wind blowing high above the Gloom Wastes rocked the basket slightly, but as they neared the treetop canopy, the wind gradually subsided.

The basket reached the top of the canopy and stopped at a wooden platform where other baskets were gathered. Lu Li and Professor Wayne stepped out and surveyed the treetop.

The main branches, wider than city streets, stretched in all directions, and wooden houses lined the boughs, stacked one upon another.

Professor Wayne pointed to a signpost in the center of the platform. "Where would you like to begin your tour?"

Department of Mysticism.

Department of Alchemy.

Department of Botany.

Department of History.

Department of Divination.

A living spirit-bird sat atop the signpost, occasionally tilting its head and preening its wings.

These faint spirit-creatures had vanished back in the old era.

"It's a mechanical creation. Their motto is: craftsmanship, focus, reason, and a little bit of soul," Professor Wayne replied to Lu Li's observation.

"Are you interested in mechanics?"

"The reason for the disappearance of the Midnight Church's parishioners."

Professor Wayne smiled knowingly, just as he had the day before.

"The Department of Mysticism, correct? ... Please, follow me."

Leaving the platform, Professor Wayne led Lu Li along the thickest branch of the Great Tree.

The Department of Mysticism was the most popular at the University of Claire. It offered what people yearned for in the Age of Anomalies: the power to resist them.

But it came at a terrible price.

"Humanity's inability to resist anomalies is a law of nature."

Walking along the main branch, Professor Wayne explained slowly, "In the old days, exorcists used anomalies to fight anomalies. All those artifacts, spirit pistols, holy water... But we ourselves remained vulnerable, never able to shed our reliance on tools."

"But what if we ourselves become anomalies?"

Students passed by on the branch-street, many in black robes. Those not wearing robes resembled the Contaminated or Inhumans, their bodies possessing features not native to humans.

As they passed Professor Wayne, they would bow, their eyes filled with curiosity as they studied the legendary exorcist.

Professor Wayne nodded to the students and continued.

"Not to passively accept contamination and turn into Inhumans or Outsiders, but to actively embrace it, cutting away the harmful parts and keeping only the beneficial ones."

"That is the purpose of the Department of Mysticism."

They passed a wooden house where a professor was lecturing, holding a book with his left hand, which resembled a three-lobed octopus tentacle.

"And also the price."

"Have you succeeded?"

"We don't speak of success or failure. We say, 'We are on the path'."

Standing by the window, Professor Wayne gazed at the lecture hall. "And we have already come a certain distance. By studying anomalies, by using them, many people have gained their power. This power often comes at a terrible price, but it grants us a natural immunity to anomalies."

"At the very least, we are no longer like children lost in a forest, driven to tears and a mental breakdown by every rustle in the leaves..."

Leaving the building and continuing on their way, Professor Wayne said, "The power of anomalies that follower of Megi used stems from her faith, from her belief in the Midnight Lady. Compared to our methods, faith in a deity seems like a shorter path to acquiring such power, but you must understand why we do not take it."

A crowd of students had gathered in front of a wooden house built on a branch and entwined with vines. A sign by the entrance, obscured by their silhouettes, had something written on it.

"A few days ago, an unfortunate resident transformed into an anomaly. Students from the combat division of the Department of Mysticism found her and contained her until reinforcements from the Ring Knights arrived to bring her here, to the Great Tree."

"Because of contamination?"

Professor Wayne shook his head. "Because of a 'blessing'."

The word sounded ironic.

The investigation department had pieced together what happened: it was a family of three, living in the commoners' district.

Some time ago, the wife, Lora, began to show signs of contamination. Her husband, desperate to cure her, made a deal with an anomaly: he would write a work it desired, and in return, it would heal his wife.

In the end, the husband, Eugene, wrote until he had nothing left to give and died. The anomaly, as promised, healed Lora. But a fragile human body could not withstand such a blessing, and it twisted into a curse...

There was only a sliver and a half of good news: the child survived, and Lora retained her sanity.

"We will study her and search for a cure. Several students from the Department of Alchemy are also working on it," Professor Wayne said.

Afterward, Professor Wayne guided Lu Li through the remaining four departments.

Strictly speaking, the other four departments, all closely related to mysticism, could also be considered part of the Department of Mysticism—they were more like its branches.

Before he left, Professor Wayne arranged for Lu Li to meet someone.

The heretic who had participated in his capture.

"Why did you reject us... We only wanted to build a city..."

Locked in a cage, a figure shrouded in a black robe whispered hoarsely.

Professor Wayne waved a hand, and the man was taken away. "You're heading to Vinnelag, correct? Be careful of those people. You can keep your distance from us; they aren't very fond of us."

"Different views?"

Lu Li had heard about this from Professor Nuno.

"Yes," Professor Wayne smiled, looking down at Midnight City beneath the canopy.

"Then again, we aren't fond of them either. In the end... we must first survive before we can dream of a future."

"Perhaps we are on the wrong path."

"But we have no other choice."