The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 812: Eyes

"Mr. Exorcist, did you find what you were looking for?"

Barry looked at Lu Li with curiosity.

Much like Prusius, who had grown used to calling him "Mr. Lu Li," Barry had also adopted the address.

"There's nothing here."

Lu Li replied calmly, closing the notebook that had belonged to Naslam Alaya, a victim of the underground, and lowered his gaze to it.

Crack!

The wooden chair beneath Barry suddenly fell apart, and he crashed to the floor with a cry of pain that drew everyone's attention.

"Hahaha!"

"Pfft!"

Prusius and Elder Sister couldn't hold back their laughter. A comically pained expression was frozen on Barry's good-natured face.After putting the notebook away, Lu Li offered a hand to Barry.

Barry waved it away, grinning good-naturedly as he rubbed his backside and got to his feet.

"Ah... my apologies, the town is very poor..."

The priest said, embarrassed, and beckoned a parishioner to bring Barry another chair. But Barry didn't dare sit down again and scurried over to stand beside Katerina. She watched him with her arms crossed and a half-smile, which elicited a few more chuckles.

The heavy atmosphere lightened a little, and they waited quietly for the Merchant's return.

Clang, clang, clang!

The tolling of a bell rang out, piercing the walls and echoing over Wigtown.

Katerina glanced toward the door, frowning, and asked the priest,

"What's happening?"

"I don't know..."

With a grave expression, the priest called a parishioner over to go and see. The young man threw open the door but recoiled in fear as a large pack of feral cats flooded into the hall, as if fleeing from something.

Staring at the swirling darkness outside and the distinct toll of the bell, the young parishioner was too terrified to step out.

"The Lord is watching you."

The priest's whisper came from behind him. Remembering that the Flowing Cat was there, the young parishioner mustered his courage and walked out of the church.

His slender figure, holding an oil lamp, was instantly swallowed by the darkness. Not another sound was heard.

"Meow!"

The Flowing Cat raised its slender neck.

"She says there is danger."

"Meow."

"Don't rush? I don't understand..."

When the young parishioner failed to return, Katerina rushed to the door, slammed it shut, and threw the bolt.

Retreating to the center of the hall, she braced herself warily for any approaching danger, turning her head to look at the Fallen.

The Fallen's nostrils flared; he could sense the malice around them.

They had to get out of here. But with the source of the danger still unknown, hiding anywhere was a bad idea.

"Leave this to me, Mr. Exorcist," a determined expression appeared on Barry's good-natured face as he addressed the others.

"You all leave through the back door. I'll hold them off."

"How long can you last?" Katerina asked, her tone sounding more like sarcasm than a genuine question.

Having made his decision, Barry clenched his fists.

"I can use that!"

Katerina suddenly remembered Barry's origins; if that was the case, he really could hold back an anomaly for some time—

"But Lu Li won't agree," Katerina shook her head.

"Mr. Exorcist? Please, trust me..." Barry said to Lu Li.

Thump, thump!

The door was suddenly pushed from outside, but the bolt held it fast.

Everyone looked up at the door. It didn't seem to be the wind. They waited for the sound to come again.

"I don't sense anything," the Fallen whispered. The slit on his face had opened almost completely, a horrifying sight.

"It is the Merchant."

After a moment of silence, the Merchant's voice came through the door.

"Meow!"

"She says there is no danger."

Katerina was still hesitant, but Lu Li had already walked to the door and drawn the bolt.

The door creaked open, and the Merchant stepped into the hall.

"Did you bring the items?"

The Merchant answered with an action, pulling an exquisite jewelry box from his pocket. Inside lay "the needle used to sew the most expensive doll."

"The thread from a little girl's most cherished doll" and "two buttons from the clothing a mother had been in contact with the longest" had yet to be delivered, but the bell continued to toll, and the town was still shrouded in an unknown danger.

In any case—

"You don't have to worry anymore, Barry... Huh? Barry...?"

Prusius turned to speak to Barry but couldn't find his good-natured figure. He froze, then shrieked, tucked his tail between his legs, and scurried behind Lu Li.

"He's appeared again!!!"

"Barry" hadn't left; he was still following them.

The Fallen hadn't noticed his appearance, and neither had the Flowing Cat.

Barry's nature could be confirmed: an evil spirit or a powerful spirit of defilement.

Lu Li raised a hand; the notebook with the words "Barry is an evil spirit" was in his pocket.

Recalling everything that had happened, he realized Barry had altered his memory of the notebook, then used some kind of trick to prevent him from seeing the words.

With his memory and perception distorted, he would have had no reason to doubt Barry's existence.

Unless...

The swinging door snapped everyone out of their thoughts as the young parishioner returned with his oil lamp.

"There's no danger outside?"

Katerina was stunned; she had thought he was dead.

"Danger? With our Lord's protection, the town is safe," the young parishioner first bowed respectfully to the Flowing Cat, then looked up and announced,

"The bell is a countdown to the Severe Winter."

"The Severe Winter..." The priest's brow furrowed with worry, as if a disaster far more dangerous than any anomaly was approaching.

"What is that?" Katerina asked.

"The Main Continent's anomalous winter."

It was a long Severe Winter, a time when even the air froze over. The locals had grown accustomed to calling it the Dreadful Winter.

It never appeared in the Wastelands, only on this "blessed" land of the Main Continent.

This was why Vinnelag would become a shining star in the age of anomalies—it was the only port that didn't freeze over before the dreadful cold set in.

Before the Fallen could explain further, the parishioners sent to find the other two items returned to the hall, bringing the thread and buttons.

With the three items ready, Elder Sister instructed them to prepare an empty room and allowed only Lu Li to enter.

Click!

The door closed, shutting out the noise from outside.

Elder Sister leaped onto the dining table.

"Sew on my eyes..."

Her two doll-like hands removed the twisted, skeleton-like mask, revealing a featureless face beneath.

The thread passed through the needle's eye, the needle through a button, and the button was fixed where an eye should be.

Gradually, the buttons became Elder Sister's eyes.

"Our powers are linked to the body..."

Elder Sister's doll-like hands pressed tightly together as she spoke softly.

"I am Mother's favorite child, and I can sew on more power than the other children..."

"This is my final embroidery. It will give me the power to understand emotions."

A steady, slender hand held the fine needle, guiding the thread through the button. Lu Li's voice broke the silence.

"Thank you."

"Hmph."

The embroidery took several minutes. Soon, two symmetrical buttons appeared on the blank burlap, lending it a spark of life.

With eyes now, Elder Sister no longer needed the twisted mask to cover her face. Her doll-like hands patted the mask, turning it to smoke that dissipated. Then she jumped onto Lu Li's shoulder and climbed into his hood.

Setting down the remaining needle and the small piece of thread, Lu Li walked out of the room.

The waiting group looked at him, and their gazes seemed to fluster the unmasked Elder Sister. She shrank into the hood, not daring to peek out.

"Meow!"

The Flowing Cat meowed softly at Lu Li.

"Tell me, where is Anna?"

Lu Li said, waiting for Elder Sister to relay the Flowing Cat's words.

"Meow."

There was a brief pause from within the hood, then Elder Sister spoke.

"She says Anna left here recently."