The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 826: Parting

The vision before his eyes shattered like a soap bubble.

Lu Li set foot on Sea Gaze Cliff, approaching the young tree that had once been covered in green leaves but was now withered again.

His palm rested gently on the rough bark of the trunk, and a moment later, Lu Li calmly pulled his hand away.

Precious humanity flowed into Enni's trunk, but he could feel no trace of life.

Was a part of Enni present in the emotions churning above the forest?

— This is Sea Gaze Cliff.

Lu Li lit a kerosene lamp, the gradually growing light dispelling the surrounding chill as he entered the cave.

Katerina and Prusius, supporting The Fallen, followed him in silence.

They saw a wall of Deep Sea Stone at the back of the cave and a half-open door, also made of Deep Sea Stone.

Katerina took the kerosene lamp from Lu Li, waiting as he pushed the stone door open, revealing the furniture inside.The empty fireplace was dust-free. On the bookshelves, once filled with books, only flakes resembling rotten meat remained. The damp, black earth in the pots looked like a foul swamp, and the items along the edges were covered in dust as thick as sand.

Like the two huts outside, this place had not been visited for at least ten years.

A single kerosene lamp stood on the desk, buried under a layer of dust.

There was a letter inside.

The letter could have been preserved there for a hundred years, had the lamp remained unbroken.

Lu Li removed the old lampshade, took out the yellowed paper, and left dirty fingerprints on it.

"Dear Lu Li,"

"I heard some rumors from friends about the Wastelands. Was that you? I can't be sure, but you have indeed been gone for a long time."

"I sent a messenger for the Merchant, but the Merchant never came. Then I sent a messenger to contact you, but that messenger didn't return either. Jimmy said you might be in trouble. I don't know... I'm going to wait a few more days."

It was a letter from Remi.

There were a few blank lines on the paper, and then the writing continued.

"A month has passed, and my brother and I have decided not to wait any longer. What's happened with those verses that are spreading? It seems to be the ritual of the Rope of Descent."

"Amper will be with us. The children and the sculptures will stay behind. I left this letter in the lampshade so it would last longer. If you come back, have a messenger contact us. You don't need to look for us; as anomalies, it's not too dangerous for us to travel the land."

— Well?

Prusius asked hopefully.

— It's a letter from the former residents of Sea Gaze Cliff.

The sculptures and children were left behind, but there was no sign of them. Remi and her brother, who had gone looking for Lu Li, had likely never returned either, or else Lu Li would have found another letter.

— So the trail has gone cold again?

Prusius felt a surge of frustration.

— The trail we need to follow isn't here.

Even if Anna had been here, they wouldn't know unless she had left a trace.

The real trail lies in the ruins of Belfast, among the creatures that now occupy the city's districts.

Their former shelter was now in ruins, unfit for habitation and no longer able to offer any protection.

Lu Li opened the sealed basement. Although dampness had inevitably seeped underground, the stored supplies had mostly retained their original state from twenty-four years ago.

The rust-covered tools were useless, but the canned food might still be edible, even if its taste had likely become chaotic and strange.

The taste might not be good, but it would certainly meet the first standard of Terminus.

— Let's go.

Slipping the letter into his pocket, Lu Li picked up the kerosene lamp, which left an outline in the dust on the table, and walked out of the cave.

There was nothing here worth remembering.

— Where are we going now?

At the summit of Sea Gaze Cliff, Prusius gazed at the ruins where a glimmer of former greatness could still be seen. Now, the place was occupied by countless bizarre silhouettes of anomalies, and even Prusius didn't dare to look for long.

— There's something strange at the port!

The exclamation drew the attention of Lu Li and the others, but Prusius stopped them, warning them not to look.

Neither the enormous whirlpool at the far end of the ruins, which seemed capable of swallowing souls, nor the tumor-covered creatures clinging to the buildings were things people could look at without harm.

— It looks like a spine, and there's a lot of scaffolding next to it!

Using the port hut as a reference point, the spine was twenty meters long.

In life, it must have been a large creature, but nothing extraordinary. The skeletons in the City of Phantoms were measured in kilometers, with ribcages large enough to shelter a small town and provide a few kilometers of safe zone around it.

Leaving the cliff's summit, the two huts—symbols of bygone memories—gradually disappeared into the forest.

They all knew it was a sad moment, but the forest's cheerful and joyous mood prevented them from feeling it.

— Are there other residents on Sea Gaze Cliff?

It was still a long way to Elm Street, so Prusius took the opportunity to ask.

— Only a few.

They never learned anything more.

Lu Li never spoke of his past. Beyond the stories that circulated about him, they, his companions, knew no more than anyone else.

The Fallen's body was getting worse. Katerina said he now weighed no more than a dozen pounds.

His sunken features brought the word "old age" to mind.

— Leave me...

They had nearly exited the Elm Forest, and Lu Li could already see a broken axe beside a stump on the road, when a faint whisper came from The Fallen.

— My time is almost up... I can't go on with you...

— The Fallen...

Prusius's human face was shocked and saddened; if not for the forest's consciousness, he would have surely wept.

The Fallen gently pushed Katerina away. Of course, he didn't have the strength to actually push her; Katerina played along and lowered him to the ground.

— This is a good place. At least they don't hate me here...

The Fallen, leaning against the stump, sat down and waved to Lu Li. "You go on."

— We will remember you.

Sorrowful, Prusius sobbed silently, reluctantly following Lu Li.

The Fallen watched calmly as their backs receded into the distance, and then he quietly waited for death to come.

After walking in silence for some time, Prusius spoke:

— When The Fallen becomes an anomaly, will he remember us?

He kept looking back after every few steps.

The Fallen had given them a week to come to terms with his departure.

Lu Li didn't answer him, and neither did Katerina.

Unexpectedly, they soon heard footsteps and faint cries from behind and saw The Fallen catching up to them.

The Fallen declared in confusion that he had lost his memory after getting off the ship. He found no signs of an anomaly's attack, and more importantly, he no longer felt any pain or fatigue, nor did he suffer from contamination. It was as if his body was recovering.

Even Prusius was wary, suspecting that The Fallen had been possessed by an anomaly or had already become one himself.

— What's this? Your letter...

The Fallen doubtfully pulled a letter from his pocket. It was addressed to "Lu Li."

— Wai— Before Katerina could finish, Lu Li had already taken the letter and opened it.

The careless, faint handwriting seemed to convey the writer's weakness.

"This is my cursed blood."

"I will be reborn when I die, just once, for a time."

"The time from my memory loss until my death—that is the time I will have after my resurrection."

"Don't let 'me' find out about this."

"Remember the time. When the countdown nears its end, drive me away or stay away from me—as far as possible."