The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 820: The Way Back

Barry returned to the campfire, the hand clutching a charcoal pencil stained black.

Gurgle...

A thick, churning sound emanated from the Swarm of Sufferings near Lu Li.

"Mister Lu Li, the evil... Was Madam Anna really here?"

Barry lowered the charcoal pencil.

Katerina and Prusius looked across the fire at Lu Li, who was sitting in the corner.

"Yes."

The resurrections that occurred in Wigtown and Scarecrow Village had also happened here, in this nameless settlement.

"Are we continuing south tomorrow morning?" Prusius asked.

"We'll wait for the Trader to return."The information he brought would decide whether Lu Li continued south.

"Mister Trader is going to chase me away again..."

Barry huddled miserably by the fire.

Prusius recalled how the Trader had tormented Barry on their journey and spoke up sympathetically:

"Mister Lu Li, can't you make the Trader and Barry reconcile? Otherwise, Barry will be driven away."

Katerina whispered, "The Trader really goes too far sometimes... We don't need him to follow us, do we? If we need a deal, we can just summon him."

Prusius, pleased that Katerina felt the same way, looked up and asked the Fallen:

"Mister Fallen, what do you think?"

"Neither of them should be following us," the Fallen sneered, then added after a brief pause:

"A Barry who's willing to work is better than a Trader who just follows us around doing nothing."

"...Mister Lu Li, can you figure out a way for them both to stay? At least... let Barry stay," Prusius said sheepishly.

He liked the bustle and having companions on the team.

Lu Li considered this calmly. The Fallen was right; the ordinary Barry and a Trader who lacked his own motivation had no reason to follow the group.

But Barry had nowhere else to go and was adamant about following them, so it seemed the only option was to let the Trader leave.

Why was the Trader following them?

Lu Li recalled the moment he had asked the Trader to follow them and felt a vague sense of unease—

Gurgle...

The thick, churning sound returned, this time continuous.

The Swarm of Sufferings crept toward the door.

Lu Li stopped pondering, picked up a stone, and tossed it at the Swarm of Sufferings.

The stone struck the body of the Swarm of Sufferings, bounced to the ground, and rolled to a stop. The writhing mass paused, then returned to Lu Li's side.

Prusius cried out in alarm, half-expecting Lu Li to be devoured.

"Why won't you let it leave..."

Prusius watched anxiously as the Swarm of Sufferings pressed in close to Lu Li.

"If it leaves, the Poison of Knowledge will return, and whatever is in the fog will draw near as well," Lu Li replied calmly.

Before they left this place, letting the Swarm of Sufferings follow them was clearly a good idea.

Provided they could overcome their fear of the evil spirit.

A tall silhouette slowly materialized inside the hut. The Trader had returned.

Driven by a sense of justice and a desire to maintain team morale, Prusius stepped forward and raised his head with righteous indignation:

"Mister Trader, I'd like to talk to you about Barry."

The full truth about Barry suddenly flooded his mind. Prusius froze for a few seconds, then whimpered, tucking his tail between his legs and shrinking back against Katerina.

The charcoal pencil Barry had used lay quietly by the fire.

Lu Li's dark eyes fell upon the wall; the clue, which had been distorted into an ancient mark, had reverted to its original state after Barry's departure.

It wasn't the mark itself that had been distorted, but their perception of it.

"Why can't the evil spirit drive Barry away, but the Trader can?"

The flames licked at Katerina's face, casting it in alternating light and shadow.

She had even defended Barry, wanting to send the Trader away.

"Dispel the illusion," the Trader said.

Lu Li's Cursed Title, Beacon, could do the same, but it had no effect on Barry.

"Barry is trying to drive the Trader away," the Fallen whispered.

Everyone fell silent.

Barry's methods had changed from before; he had realized the Trader was the only obstacle and had begun trying to get rid of him.

Fortunately, his attempt had been cut short by the Trader's return.

But next time, Barry might act more aggressively.

While Katerina and the others fretted, Lu Li asked the Trader for his findings.

The Trader handed Lu Li a letter.

Lu Li took the letter and unfolded it; the hasty handwriting and smudged ink suggested it had been written recently.

"We investigated for two days and, following the clues you provided, found traces of the Church of Shadows. They worship a Shadow God capable of 'resurrecting the dead'."

"We are not certain if this Shadow God is the one you seek; the Church of Shadows has never appeared in the main city, and the trail of its followers is faint. We are continuing our investigation."

The message was brief, but it finally offered some leads.

The Church of Shadows...

It wasn't surprising that the black cat had its Church of the Flowing Cat, and Anna had her Church of Shadows.

Unfortunately, there was no more information.

The spread of information in places untouched by the railway was slower than expected.

Rustle!

Lu Li took out a map, marked the location of the nameless village with charcoal, and then traced a long finger down from Wigtown.

From Scarecrow Village to the nameless village, across the Serma Mountains, the Serene Plains, to the other side of the Main Continent.

The Allen Peninsula was there, Belfast was there, and Sea Gaze Cliff was there.

"Where are we going now?" Katerina asked, watching him.

"At dawn, we're turning back."

"Turning back?"

Katerina was stunned.

"We're not going to look for Madam Anna?" Prusius asked, momentarily forgetting his fear of Barry.

"I know where she has gone."

Lu Li calmly folded the map.

"Where?"

"To Belfast."

There was no longer any need to risk crossing the wilderness to the south.

Lu Li only had to go to Belfast and wait for her to arrive.

Belfast...

Katerina knew Lu Li was from there, but she had no idea what the situation was like now.

"I know! Belfast, the brightest star of the Allen Peninsula, like Vinnelag is now. It's the setting for the famous 'Love on the Peninsula' and 'The Belfast Detective Stories'!"

Prusius was talking about old, long-outdated things.

"It was destroyed long ago," Lu Li said.

Prusius fell silent. Katerina asked:

"Is it just ruins now?"

"Not entirely. Some beings have established settlements there," the Fallen said, emphasizing the word 'beings,' clearly implying they weren't all human.

"Don't get your hopes up. It's a place of chaos."

Belfast had all the infrastructure, and it was large enough. If one could solve the problems caused by the anomalies, it would be easier than building a settlement in the wild.

Worried about Barry and the journey ahead, the group, exhausted from the day's events, gradually fell asleep.

...

Creak!

The wooden door opened, and the morning chill swept into the hut, making Katerina shiver involuntarily.

Down the misty street, the dozens of corpses of the villagers were already gone.

The creatures in the swirling fog had "cleaned" the street.

Lu Li and the others left the nameless village, heading back the way they came.

The return journey was faster than the trip out, not only because they didn't want to linger in the wilderness for too long, but also because the nameless village was a day and a half's journey from Haughtown, and Scarecrow Village, where they might have stopped for the night, had been consumed by fire.

And also because of the Swarm of Sufferings following them.

Lu Li was using the Swarm of Sufferings' ritual to keep it close, driving away any other anomalies in the vicinity.

No one ever did this, for the grim aura of an evil spirit would contaminate both mind and body.

Before darkness fell, the outline of Haughtown appeared in the distance.