The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 792: Arrival in Vinnelag

Exorcist Lu Li Soon to Return to the Main Continent

A soft rustle...

A hand lowered a newspaper bearing a bold headline.

With a trembling hand, he lifted a cup of coffee, sending ripples across the surface. A sudden gust of wind snatched the newspaper and swept it out the window.

A hand shot out, grasping at nothing. The current had already caught the paper, carrying it higher and higher.

Wooooo...

A steam locomotive belched thick smoke, its cars rattling behind as it chugged farther down the tracks.

The grim clouds hung low, threatening rain. The newspaper drifted over a forest, carried by the wind toward a sprawl of factories.

Day and night, noxious smoke billowed from the chimneys in waves. The newspaper was swept high among the smokestacks of the industrial zone, vanishing and reappearing within the man-made clouds, like a gull soaring toward a distant city.

On a bustling street, a small boy in patched canvas clothes looked up, his eyes following the newspaper. He called to his friends, and they gave chase, weaving through pedestrians, carts, and steam cars. But their pursuit ended in disappointment as the paper came to rest on the chimney of an apartment building.The previous day's rain had left the city damp. The paper stuck fast to the chimney, turning translucent with moisture, its flight finally over.

"Meow." A grimy stray cat scampered along the eaves.

Finding a new source of amusement, the children gave chase with renewed glee.

The newspaper lay silently on the chimney. Below, a woman carrying a basket of coal ascended the steps.

Thump.

The wooden door slammed shut, and a corner of the newspaper plastered over the chimney fluttered up.

It lay there in the morning stillness until smoke from a cooking fire began to drift up the flue. The moisture receded like an ebbing tide, and the heat dried the paper again.

Stuck fast, the paper wasn't dislodged, and thick smoke began to back up in the flue.

A wooden ladder was propped against the eaves, and a young head peeked over the roofline.

The teenager climbed onto the roof, carefully made his way to the chimney, reached down, and peeled the newspaper away, tossing it aside.

Thick smoke billowed unobstructed from the flue. A gust of sea breeze from the bay caught the discarded paper, sweeping it away like a wave.

The newspaper drifted into a desolate, ruined quarter, where the wind funneled it down a dark alleyway.

"Squeak, squeak." Rats scurried through the alley. A figure crouched in the stench; the sight of the tumbling newspaper made them look up and reach for it, but it danced away, just brushing their fingertips.

The paper tumbled out of the alley, quickly leaving the slum quarter behind.

It soared on the air, and the city below began to transform. The buildings grew newer, more elegant. The clothes of the pedestrians were clean and tidy, and the gentle strains of music drifted from storefronts.

The newspaper almost reached the shoreline. Losing the wind, it fluttered down onto a steam-powered automobile parked by the road, near the bustling port.

A driver in a tuxedo hurried over and plucked the newspaper off, noticing a smudge it had left on the gleaming paint. He was about to wipe it clean when he heard footsteps approaching from the nearby steps.

The driver hastily pulled on his white gloves. The wind caught the newspaper again, sending it skittering along the ground and into the distance.

The coastal wind was erratic; the paper flew only a short distance before settling again, this time draping itself across a brightly polished boot and shin.

The man bent down, picked up the paper, and walked with it into the building.

...

A man with chestnut hair, dressed in a white shirt with his tie loosened, stood by an arched window.

The window offered a panoramic view of the entire coastline.

Knock, knock, knock.

A servant's voice announced from the other side of the door, "Mr. Box from the Maritime Bureau is here."

"Come in," the man with chestnut hair called, turning from the window.

"Is it about that exorcist again?" he asked, his gaze landing on the newspaper in Box's hand.

"The papers have been going on about him for nearly a week. Haven't they had enough?"

"What can you do? People love to read about it," Box replied. "If there wasn't money in it, the papers wouldn't be printing it."

Box gestured with the newspaper, pointing to the black-and-white photograph on the front page. "Just look at him. More handsome than a stage actor, more elegant than an aristocrat, a noble exorcist... and to top it all off, he's from the old era everyone's so nostalgic for. He's practically the hero of this world."

"The hero of this world isn't human."

The man with chestnut hair shook his head and sank onto the sofa.

"What does it say?"

"You didn't buy one?"

"Not the one you have."

"I didn't buy this one either," Box said with a shrug, unfolding the paper. He read aloud, "Exorcist Lu Li Soon to Return to the Main Continent. First stop expected to be Vinnelag. Let's see... is this the Daily News? Their information is a bit dated."

"You have more recent news?"

"My sources tell me the exorcist appeared in the Port of Storms last night and caused quite a stir."

"The Port of Storms? I thought that place was empty."

"But it's a deep-water port."

"Are you saying..." The man with chestnut hair paused.

"He'll be arriving soon?"

"Not that quickly. There's the strait to cross. And he's arriving with an anomaly."

"What? What do you mean he's arriving 'with an anomaly'?"

"All anyone knows is that he was seen boarding the body of an anomaly. I don't have any more details than that," Box said with a shrug.

"There's no point speculating," the man with chestnut hair said, gesturing for Box to take the seat opposite him. "Let's get to the point."

Box folded the newspaper, placed it on the table, and was about to say something.

Suddenly, the urgent peal of bells echoed over the port.

The two men in the office exchanged a look. That frantic peal could only mean one thing.

An anomaly incursion.

...

All ships in the harbor were ordered out.

Battleships formed a defensive line for Vinnelag, their broadsides turned and every cannon aimed at a decrepit ship approaching from outside the bay.

These were no ordinary munitions. From the cannons to the shells themselves, everything was inscribed with spirit-destroying runes, powerful enough to obliterate an anomaly as easily as they could demolish a house.

The battleships and cannons were the backbone of Vinnelag.

To the distant cheers of the crowd, the fleet's flagship, the Giant Haigrus, emerged slowly from the shipyard. Its colossal size and the thirty-six enchanted cannons lining its broadside were the very spine of Vinnelag's defense.

As if in answer, the great, rusted ship on the horizon sounded a long, low horn, announcing its arrival to Vinnelag.

The coastal fleet stood ready. The confrontation with the anomaly was imminent.

"Hold fire! All ships!"

The first mate of the Giant Haigrus suddenly burst onto the deck, shouting to the signalman in the watchtower, "Relay the order! All ships are to hold their fire!"

The signalman relayed the command to hold fire.

The first mate strode to the rail, took a spyglass from an aide, and trained it on the approaching vessel.

He could faintly make out a lone figure on the other ship's deck.

"Could it be...?" The first mate's hands trembled with excitement.

The situation took a bizarre turn. First, the sailors were ordered to hold their fire, then they were told to hang streamers. On the Giant Haigrus, dozens of crewmen were even commanded to scrub the deck with all possible speed.

But soon, word began to spread about who, exactly, was aboard that decrepit, rust-covered vessel.

The standoff had turned into a formal reception—albeit one where the cannons remained loaded.

A young officer in a crisp naval uniform waited at the docks. He asked, his voice filled with anticipation, "May I ask who you are, sir?"

The figure who stepped onto the pier lifted his dark eyes.

"The exorcist, Lu Li."