The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 864: Twenty Years Ago

The Andrea's captain's cabin had been the most meticulously renovated part of the ship.

The damaged walls, decorations, and furniture, which had clung to the ship like ugly barnacles on a whale, were completely replaced. In their place stood a stuffed giant deer brought from the mayor's office, a ship's wheel handcrafted by the carpenter-king Fittler the Third of the Kingdom of Zohan, and a desk that had been kept on the third floor of a museum, rumored to have once belonged to the head of the Exorcist Association.

It was said that they had even wanted to display an ancient mark of Master Prosius, but the excessive enthusiasm of the shipyard and the officials in charge was halted with a simple reminder: "This ship is an Anomaly too."

At that moment, Lu Li was seated in a leather armchair, another masterpiece of fine craftsmanship, calmly reading a newspaper from Vinnelag.

His black cloak was draped over the back of the chair. The sleeves of his new shirt were rolled up, and the bandages wrapping his arm accentuated the contours of his muscles.

His still-damp hair fell across his forehead, making his gaze seem even deeper than usual. In the dim glow of an oil lamp, his handsome face was like a sculpture carved from stone.

Katerina lay on her side on the soft bed, her eyes fixed on Lu Li, as if admiring a masterpiece.

She didn't claim to be an art connoisseur, but who couldn't appreciate beauty?

Suddenly, a charred, cracked body materialized before her.

— What are you... looking at? — came a hoarse, indistinct whisper.— It puts me in a good mood, helps restore my Mind Level.

Katerina rolled onto her back, staring up at the light brown ceiling.

— He's... my... beloved.

— If that woman finds out, she'll kill you.

— I'm not afraid... of her.

— Instead of being pointlessly jealous, you should think about how to help him. — Katerina turned her head, but unfortunately, the silhouette at the desk was blocked by the charred figure.

— Find... the Prophet.

— That's not what I mean. I'm talking about his current state.

Katerina lowered her voice so that only they could hear.

— Don't you think that since he's come back, he's become even more... emotionless?

Lu Li's usual calm was a product of his near-perfect rationality. He had emotions, but they were always kept in check by his powerful intellect...

But now, he had become indifferent, as if the few colors he possessed had been washed away completely.

The Lu Li from before would have helped ease Katerina's pain and checked Prusius for signs of contamination.

But now he did nothing, simply "reading the newspaper" out of habit.

— Learning... of the death... of a loved... one, of course... you change.

Katerina managed to hear a note of admiration in Ophelia's hoarse, distorted words. Clutching her head, she sighed.

— My head is spinning again... It's too painful to talk like this. Write it on paper.

Writing it down wasn't much faster than speaking, but it provided a coherent train of thought, which was easier for Katerina to follow in her current state.

But when Ophelia wrote a note and handed it to Katerina, she only glanced at it briefly before the words seemed to writhe and twist, forming the outline of the seabed.

— No, in my state I can't understand this... Wait, can I even read?

Katerina's mind was in turmoil, and she could no longer think clearly.

Ophelia waited until Katerina, enduring the pain with her eyes closed, slowly opened them again, her face slick with cold sweat, and then asked:

— Do you... have... any... way?

— No.

Katerina held out her hand, and when a damp towel was placed in it, she pressed it to her forehead, recalling the long, agonizing events of a few minutes prior.

— If we don't find that woman, we might never see him smile again... Dammit, hallucinations again, I have to—

Her voice broke off. Katerina closed her eyes, sinking into the overwhelming delirium.

Prusius, who had also been attacked, was slightly better off than Katerina. Besides losing more fur and his new tentacle-tails sticking to his old ones, his mind was still his own.

Or perhaps it was because they were heading to Belfast that the tempting entity no longer pressed down on them.

The night was quiet and still, the sounds of the waves and the touch of the fog shut out by the captain's cabin.

At some point, Lu Li put down the newspaper. His deep eyes fixed on the grandfather clock, narrowing slightly.

10:38, not yet midnight.

But to Lu Li, it felt like a very long time had passed.

— Where are we?

Elder Sister answered:

— We'll be on the Allen Peninsula soon.

Lu Li unfolded the newspaper again, realizing he hadn't finished the first page.

It was a difficult night for everyone.

Late at night, the Andrea quietly returned to Belfast, mooring in a bay right by the shore.

When dawn broke, the people sleeping on the ship would wake up and go ashore.

But everyone who had set foot in Himmfast and was then noticed by the heretic's "master" had the same dream that night, including Ophelia, who didn't need to sleep.

They dreamed that the ground beneath their feet softened, becoming viscous like a swamp, and then turned into seawater that engulfed them, pulling them down into the dark, deep, bottomless abyss of the sea—

When they woke from the nightmare, the anomalous fog had long since retreated, and soon the light mist would dissipate as well.

The Andrea would be exposed, visible to any creature that looked toward the sea.

But Katerina didn't wake up. She was running a fever, her sleep filled with delirious, incoherent muttering, and her Sanity Counter was ticking faster than anyone else's.

After the Merchant contacted Vinnelag, a message quickly came back identifying her condition as delirium. It occurs when one's Mind Level drops sharply in a short period or falls below a critical threshold. The message ended with an anxious question: had Lu Li shown any of these symptoms—

Katerina couldn't continue with them. She needed medical attention.

The Church of Twisted Vines couldn't help; they were more skilled at casting curses.

Learning that Vinnelag could treat delirium to some extent, they sent the Andrea with Katerina back to Vinnelag for treatment and recovery after they themselves had disembarked.

The comatose Katerina couldn't object, but as they were leaving the captain's cabin to go ashore, Elder Sister tugged on Lu Li's hood.

— She seems to be calling for you.

Lu Li, who was standing by the door, turned around. Katerina's posture had changed. Her arm had slipped out from under the blanket and was suspended in the air, as if reaching toward them.

— Get some rest. And come back.

Lu Li said before closing the door to the captain's cabin.

They took a small wooden boat to the shore and, through the thin fog, entered the Andreis brothers' repair shop.

The morning fog quickly dissipated, and the silhouette of the Andrea was no longer visible in the quiet bay.

They slipped into the repair shop, walked down a long corridor, and reached the True Library, as well as the Church of Twisted Vines.

First, they headed to the Church of the Vine, but the Eternal Dreamer had not yet woken up.

The Distorted Figure, aware of their arrival, sent a tentacled cultist to meet them. The cultist showed a strong hostility toward Prusius, but it was suppressed by reason.

— Do you know how to get rid of the contamination?! — Before Prusius could blurt out his impatient question, the bell on the watchtower sounded, deep and piercing.

Dong—dong—dong—

The tolling of the bell echoed as the members of the settlement emerged from their homes one by one. The open space gradually became noisy and lively.

The tolling of the bell signified the approach of a Calamity.

And now, Lu Li and the others could only wait.

Wait for the Prophet to awaken.

Wait for Katerina's return.

Wait for the Calamity to recede.