The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 789: The Tide

The Prisi Caravan.

A long line of wagons had gathered at the bay of the Port of Storms.

There was still some time before the nightly high tide, and people were gathering around the caravan, gazing at the Port of Storms in awe.

"Don't expect him to come back," Barthos scoffed, leaning against a cargo crate.

"Though I do admire his foolishness."

"Lu... he won't die!" Prusius protested loudly.

"No one is immortal. Even a divine being will one day be torn to pieces," Barthos had no intention of arguing with the little one, his gaze fixed on the distant World's Spine mountains on the horizon.

"But you brought us along because you think he will come back," Katerina remarked with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.

Barthos, who seemed so quick-tempered and unapproachable, remained silent.

After a little more time had passed, a knight from the edge of the caravan ran up to Barthos and reported that they had spotted something approaching."It must be Mr. Lu Li coming back!"

Prusius eagerly rushed forward.

Katerina followed, concealing the worry deep in her eyes. I hope it really is Lu Li returning... otherwise, with every day spent in the wasteland, his chances of survival diminish.

"Lu Li?" Barthos whispered the name Prusius had let slip, his brow furrowing.

The approaching black shadow caused a stir of panic within the caravan.

Word of what was seen through the spyglass spread quickly: a gigantic, tree-like anomaly was heading toward them.

Barthos and his knights maintained order, shouting loudly, "This is a safe zone! The anomaly won't dare set foot here!" to keep the caravan from descending into chaos.

Just in case, several wagons of the Prisi Caravan threw back their tarps, revealing hidden ballistae and anomalies with powerful auras, all warily watching the approaching treeman.

It drew closer and closer, and just as its silhouette became almost discernible, the subordinate with the spyglass ran to Barthos in a panic. He reported that there was a man standing on the hand of the treeman anomaly.

...

"Stop."

Lu Li stood in the palm of the Guardian.

As stubborn as a tree, the Guardian ignored Lu Li and continued to carry him forward.

Only when they reached the caravan and saw the panic on people's faces, as well as Barthos standing before the ballistae surrounded by his knights, did the Guardian halt its heavy steps and gently set Lu Li down on the ground.

"Welcome, to home, as guest."

A low rumble, like thunder, rolled through the air.

Having been set down, Lu Li turned to face it.

"I will be sure to do that."

The Guardian rose and turned, disappearing into a cloud of rising dust.

"We should have kept it," said Elder Sister from inside his hood.

"Then no one would dare bully us anymore."

"No one dares to now, either."

Averting his gaze, Lu Li looked at the assembled caravan and the hyena that came bounding toward him, its tongue lolling out.

"Mr. Lu Li!"

It circled Lu Li's legs, wiggling its hindquarters, its tail spinning so fast it nearly became a steamship's propeller.

Unlike a man who had turned into a hyena, or just a regular hyena, he behaved more like a pet dog.

Katerina approached next, her expression a mix of astonishment and bewilderment.

"That was an anomaly? And it was actually helping you..."

"He's Mr. Lu Li!"

Prusius had unconditional faith in Lu Li.

Of course, he had been a little worried when Lu Li hadn't returned all day.

"Is the problem solved?"

Katerina relaxed as well.

"She won't pursue us anymore."

Lu Li replied, lifting his gaze to Katerina, who stood behind him.

Barthos ordered his knights and servants to stand down, then approached them himself, his face grim.

"Who in the hell are you?"

"Lu Li."

"The exorcist from the rumors?"

"Yes."

"...I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Barthos finally decided to ignore it.

He was just the leader of this caravan; he shouldn't know too many secrets, nor could he afford the price of knowing them.

"I take back my previous words of invitation."

He was glad of one thing: when he had allowed Katerina and that hyena named Prusius to follow him, they hadn't resorted to forceful methods.

"Wait," Lu Li stopped Barthos, who was about to leave.

"Have you seen the escaped... slave?"

"The slave? That live bait... he didn't come back." After uttering the offensive words, Barthos, who had previously seemed so reckless, caught himself just in time.

A slave suffering from heavy blood loss and reeking of it was unlikely to survive in the wasteland. Or perhaps he wasn't foolish enough to return to the caravan and become a slave again.

Hopefully, it was the latter.

Upon returning, Barthos told his subordinates that Lu Li was the guest of a nobleman and warned them not to disturb him and to be friendly.

In truth, Barthos's warning was unnecessary. Anyone who had seen Lu Li delivered by the giant anomaly didn't dare approach him.

Under secretive gazes, Lu Li returned to the caravan.

"What about Carolina?"

"She's already gone..." Prusius's highly raised tail drooped.

"We wanted to stop her, but we couldn't."

"What happened?"

Lu Li frowned.

Prusius told Lu Li what had transpired.

"I kept telling myself that Vinnelag is our dream, and I must carry her dream there, but I can't leave Bera here alone..."

Leaving behind those words and her thanks for their help, in her last moment of clarity, the blind old woman walked off into the wasteland alone.

A sad end.

Lu Li walked to the edge of the bay and looked at the dozens of stone pillars standing within it. They were almost perfectly straight, hundred-meter-tall columns with tops parallel to the ground. Buildings were crammed onto the narrow peaks, which were only a few dozen meters in diameter.

Some bridges connected the central pillars, but most of the outermost ones did not have that privilege.

These pillars were the Port of Storms, and its inhabitants lived on top of them.

Once, the Port of Storms had clearly not been like this, but after the catastrophe... the old city sank, leaving only these dozens of stone pillars behind.

Lu Li looked down at the bottom of the bay, where there was nothing but white-crested waves crashing against monstrous rock formations.

"How do the residents get down from up there?" Lu Li asked.

Without ropes or ladders, how were these almost isolated pillars connected to the outside world?

Prusius told Lu Li that after nightfall, the high tide would fill the bay, and they could board a ship to reach Midnight.

A tide a hundred meters high?

Lu Li glanced at the distant coastline, unable to comprehend it. But considering the Prisi Caravan and several others were waiting before the bay, and ships were anchored on the water beyond it, that seemed to be the only possible explanation.

"Why don't the locals leave?"

The Port of Storms didn't look like a safe place at all.

"A divine being," Prusius's voice involuntarily dropped to a whisper.

"A divine being protects this place."

That was why the Prisi Caravan and the others remained here, waiting for night to fall.

Time passed, and at five in the evening, the anomalous fog rolled in from the sea, only to be stopped by the divine being of the Port of Storms.

Night completely enveloped the Wastelands.

The caravan lit its oil lamps and fluorite lanterns, forming a glowing arc along the edge of the bay.

Starlike lights also began to twinkle atop the pillars of the Port of Storms, growing brighter the closer they were to the center.

Gradually, Lu Li heard the distant sound of waves growing clearer.

"Everyone, back up a bit!" a knight on horseback shouted as he rode past.

Aside from the astonished passengers eager to peer into the darkness, the caravan workers, who had experienced this countless times, were already beginning to unload their goods.

After a short wait under the light of the oil lamps, a damp chill washed over them.

The tide was coming in.