The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 959: The Real World

The afternoon sun was soft and warm.

Light and shadow spilled into the assembly hall, mingling with the steam rising from the food on the long tables to create a fantastical haze.

Chicken legs were piled high on platters, colorful pastries were arranged in neat patterns, and exquisite blood wheat bread and pies were lined up in rows. The delicious food awaited its eager audience.

"I thought it was still daytime..."

"Look at all this food..."

"How did they create this sunlight?"

Quiet conversations merged above the hall, forming a low murmur, like the sizzle of a flame.

Dogmeat's eyes shone with an almost tangible light. He followed the crowd into the hall like a man in a trance, only the way his head swiveled to follow the food indicating he was still capable of thought.

The students settled into their seats. Dogmeat managed to restrain himself from reaching out—two hours of etiquette lessons at the Academy of Giant Trees had helped him overcome some of his baser instincts.

Once all the students were seated, the professors stood, preparing to announce the start of the New Year's banquet.Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang—

A harsh, chaotic tolling of a bell suddenly rang through the hall without warning. While the professors and students were still in confusion, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor outside.

Cold and imposing gatekeepers appeared, their voices ringing out with indifference, "The Hour of Silence has begun! All will remain calm!"

After their announcement, their figures vanished from the hall's entrance as quickly as they had appeared.

"Prefects of all departments, confirm that every student is present!" Professor Reckless Meiven's shout echoed through the hall.

The prefects at the heads of the long tables hastily left their seats to count the students.

The noisy and lively assembly hall plunged into a dead silence.

The prefects moved swiftly through the hall. Amidst the New Year's banquet, interrupted by the Hour of Silence, came the only piece of good news: not a single student was missing.

At that moment, an old professor lifted a silver vessel, tapping a table knife against its rim.

Ting—

To that clean, melodic sound, like a tiny bell, the old professor set the vessel down. He then picked up his knife and fork and began to cut into the sauced steak on his plate.

One by one, the professors began to eat, and the students followed suit.

Beneath the soft sunlight, the clatter of knives and forks and the sounds of chewing restored a limited sense of life to the banquet.

The New Year here was a quiet one.

Dogmeat once again demonstrated his talent: eating silently and quickly.

Fudot ate slowly and gracefully. A small piece of food on her fork required long, quiet chewing, and the chicken legs that had to be eaten by hand were not even part of her meal.

The assembly hall, filled only with the sounds of eating, continued this way for some time, until the silence was broken by footsteps from the corridor.

The door swung open again. A gatekeeper remained outside while an elder entered the hall, his gatekeeper's cloak making him look like a brown bat gliding and soaring through the room.

He raised a goblet clutched in a withered hand, and the sloshing liquid within spoke with the lazy voice of Vice Dean Kris: "Professors, bring the children to the senior courses."

The professors frowned, but the Hour of Silence prevented them from voicing any objections.

But Professor Kris had made her decision...

The old professor waved his hand, ordering the prefects to lead their groups, and left his seat to follow them.

As Professor Ruberhro passed Professor Haig, who remained in his seat with a grim expression, he patted him lightly on the shoulder.

He could probably guess what Professor Haig was thinking... Haig had always disliked Lu Li leaving the Crown Level for the dangerous Trunk Level. Professor Kris had already provoked his disapproval by arbitrarily giving Lu Li a badge for free passage, and now, during the New Year's banquet, all the junior students were being sent to the Trunk Level—

The gatekeepers, exuding a cold aura, escorted the first-years.

In the Academy of Giant Trees, shrouded by the Hour of Silence, the students and the Night's Watchmen were indistinguishable in their shared silence.

After descending a long spiral staircase from the Mixed Zone and then taking an elevator, they entered the Trunk Level within minutes.

The prevailing darkness and sinister influence affected the students, who were entering the Trunk Level for the first time. With a mix of curiosity and tension, they walked down the deserted corridor until they reached an archway leading to the surface.

Before they exited the Giant Tree, Professor Haig stepped in front of everyone and silently stared at the elder of the Night's Watch.

"Haig, let the students pass," Professor Kris's voice resonated from the rippling liquid in the goblet.

Professor Haig reluctantly stepped aside, allowing the students to follow the Night's Watchman out of the Giant Tree—

"...Retract your auras. Don't frighten the little ones."

Listening to Professor Kris's voice, the students stepped onto the gnarled roots of the Giant Tree. An invisible shield enveloped the wide platform under their feet, which was still dozens of meters from the surface.

Winged eyeballs floated in the air, their pupils emitting a fluorescent glow, slightly brighter than fluorite. They swarmed like shards of the moon veiled in tattered clouds.

The senior courses don't have sunlight? Why don't they use oil lamps?

These were the thoughts of the first-years. Soon, they were unnerved by the figures standing around the platform and the mixed, chaotic, and indistinct auras they emanated.

Like frightened chicks, the first-years huddled together, avoiding the gazes that felt almost physical.

A great many of those gazes were fixed on Lu Li.

The goblet in the elder gatekeeper's hand sprouted four thin legs, leaped to the ground, scurried across it, and then jumped into Professor Kris's palm.

Thanks to this, the junior students saw the Vice Dean, who resembled a small giantess, sitting at a long table, and next to her...

"Since Dean Asamons has not yet returned from his trip, I will be hosting tonight's banquet," Professor Kris said from her seat at the head of the table, gesturing to the figures beside her.

"So, gentlemen, won't you introduce yourselves to our lovely little ones from the junior courses?"

"Professor of mysticism for the senior courses. You may call me Helmund," said a lean silhouette in an ancient and elegant musketeer's uniform, doffing his hat.

"Professor of divination, The Immortal," said a pale, decadent man with the melancholic air of a poet, who sat beside Helmund. He detached his own head, revealing gruesome wounds and centipede-like stitches beneath.

"Wild Lion, Ray, professor of combat arts," a man as muscular as a lion, with golden-brown fur, said in a low voice from the edge of the table.

"Not going to demonstrate your divine abilities?" Helmund chuckled quietly.

"For junior students? I'm not a circus clown," Ray snorted coldly.

Lu Li saw the expression on Professor Reckless Meiven's face grow complicated as he looked at Ray.

"...I... am... Mont... mis..."

The students tilted their heads, listening to the whisper that drifted from the darkness.

"That is our professor of combat arts. He is protecting this place from the encroaching darkness and holding back the Calamity of the Hour of Silence."

As soon as she spoke, the glowing eyeballs scattered, revealing the true scene in the empty area—beyond the shield, the clotted darkness crawled and swarmed.

Vweeeeee—

The trembling sound of a fingernail sliding along the rim of a glass drew the attention of all the students.

"Though many students—those on missions on the surface, those fighting in the Old Sewer, those undergoing trials in the Forbidden Zone, or those who have perished—will not hear these next words, I will say them nonetheless... Do you see the world outside? This is the real world, not an illusion. And this is the world we intend to change. Remember the purpose of the Academy of Giant Trees, remember the meaning of your existence... Do not go gentle into that good night."

Professor Kris, suddenly feeling out of sorts, stopped speaking and raised her goblet. "And now, the New Year's banquet officially begins. To our comrades, to the gods, to the Academy of Giant Trees, to Dean Asamons..."

Her narrow, slightly curved, pale-golden eyes came to rest on Lu Li.

"To the exorcist."