The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 979: The Shadow Behind

— I haven't forgotten what they did to my family, you disgusting heretics who worship non-existent false gods... I've returned, and I'll demand everything back from you!

— I will have my revenge. I've locked them in the basement, making them feel the same pain I once felt...

— Yeger, check the basement.

At Kiruet's command, Yeger approached the basement.

— All heretics will face the fire of my vengeance... just as they once made me suffer. Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance!

The words, filled with vengeance, grew increasingly incoherent until they were unreadable. On the back of the page, Lu Li discovered the cultist's final entry.

— They are victims too, aren't they...

— There's someone alive down there!

Yeger's joyful cry echoed from the basement.

The nun, who had been afraid to enter, rushed joyfully into the basement. Lu Li confirmed that there was nothing else in the notebook and that the cultist was indeed dead, then picked up an obvious ring of keys from the nearby table and followed them down.A damp chill and the metallic scent of blood, like rust, hung in the basement air. They saw seven figures bound to simple instruments of torture.

The cultist either hadn't had time to harm them or had snapped out of his madness... Aside from one dead believer, the other six were still alive, though two were seriously injured.

Yeger took the keys and helped the nun free the believers of the Cloud Lord's church.

— Once is a coincidence. Twice is not...

Kiruet whispered at that moment. Everything had been arranged. The dead killer, the notebook with its entries, the keys to free the believers... It was hard to tell if this act was born of goodwill or malice.

Behind it all was an act of assistance to the Holy Light Squad, but Lu Li's identity was unique, and this hidden goodwill didn't feel entirely genuine. Perhaps it concealed some kind of conspiracy.

Just then, the dim light filtering into the basement from above suddenly weakened, and a vague silhouette appeared in the doorway, letting out a piercing shriek.

— I've got you now! Admit defeat and say goodbye to the light!

The door slammed shut with a heavy thud, plunging the Holy Light Squad and the believers in the basement into darkness and despair.

A few seconds later, the door creaked open again, and a head peeked through.

— Heh heh, did I scare you? — Nasi, who had remained upstairs, chuckled.

— Would you mind if I beat up a team member?

Kiruet unfastened her buckler, her expression blank.

— Correction, it's discipline, — Yeger added grimly.

Lu Li's hand emerged from his pouch.

— I don't mind.

The outcome of the mission was quite satisfactory: the Holy Light Squad was unharmed, except for the beaten Nasi; most of the missing believers were alive, and the culprit, the cultist, had paid with his life.

It would have been even better if the truth hadn't been shrouded in fog.

The imprisoned believers told the Holy Light Squad they didn't know the heretic. Back at the church, a nun told them the truth.

The Church of the Cloud Lord once had a radical cultist who became a serial killer, sacrificing people to his deity. The heretic who carried out this attack was possibly a relative of one of those victims.

That radical cultist was eventually captured by knight-guards and sentenced to be hanged, while the unfortunate believers tortured to death by the other cultist, and the now-declining Church of the Cloud Lord, became his scapegoats.

— Besides us, has anyone else come asking questions? — Nasi mumbled, his face covered in bruises and bumps.

He felt a little wronged; Kiruet and Yeger had gone too far.

Kiruet and Yeger, however, didn't think so—neither that Nasi was wronged, nor that they had gone too far.

Unfortunately, the Church of the Cloud Lord knew nothing about it, and no one besides the Holy Light Squad had contacted them.

...

— In any case, we can't ignore the conspiracy behind this.

In the common room, Kiruet, now dressed in a loose robe, walked over to the fireplace. She had just showered, and the motion of tilting her head to rub her still-damp hair made her seem much softer.

— If this is a gesture of goodwill, there's no need to hide.

— But what's the point? — Nasi said indistinctly.

— Hold still, — Yeger whispered, applying a potion to him.

— Maybe it's to attack us the moment we let our guard down?

Kiruet tilted her head the other way, and her hair, warmed by the fire, dried quickly.

— Could we take on a high-difficulty mission to lure out whoever is behind this?

Yeger took out a curse-removing potion and told Nasi to apply it to the wounds himself.

In the process of beating... or rather, disciplining Nasi, Yeger had inevitably placed a light curse on him. While it wouldn't cause much harm if left untreated, it would sting like a bee for a long time.

— What if they don't show up? We won't be able to complete the mission, — Kiruet replied.

Failing a mission meant being restricted from taking new ones for a week, as well as a penalty of deducted team points—a measure to prevent teams from frequently taking on missions they couldn't handle and to protect the participants.

— We should... hiss... we should tell the professor about this, — Nasi sucked in a breath, then asked doubtfully:

— Why isn't the curse gone?

— I added a few curses of my own, — Kiruet said casually, looking at Lu Li.

— I'll ask Professor Kris, — Lu Li gave a slight nod.

Summoning the Merchant, Antoni, Lu Li wrote down the details of their two mission experiences and relayed them to Professor Kris.

— Sounds interesting. Why not continue accepting help from your little elf?

— Because it could be a conspiracy, — Lu Li replied.

— That's the thrill of being an exorcist... In that case, let's lure them out. Give me some time, dear.

Putting away Professor Kris's reply, Lu Li told his waiting teammates:

— It will take a few days.

— Then let's rest for the next few days, — Kiruet said.

For the next few days, Lu Li seemed to revert to the life of a junior student, no longer going out. He merely moved between the library, the dining hall, the lecture hall, and the common room.

It seemed that due to his celebrity status, students gradually flocked to any course Lu Li attended, disrupting the professors' lectures. Eventually, they had to lock the lecture halls after class began, barring entry.

Lu Li temporarily held off on taking the 4th level mysticism trials. These trials were typically similar in difficulty to the missions they had undertaken in Midnicht, but had to be completed alone. Lu Li would have had little trouble passing them, but there was still a chance of failure.

Kiruet's advice was to take the trials when he felt he was almost ready to pass them. Even if he failed, he could try again after 15 days.

Lu Li took her advice, continuing to accumulate experience until he could figure out who was behind everything. Only then would he begin the 4th level trials.

A few quiet days of life in the middle courses passed.

The shadow of Margaret's death had already faded from the Holy Light Squad, though late at night, one could faintly hear the suppressed sobs of Kiruet, lying on Margaret's bed.

On the fourth day of peace, the Merchant, Antoni, brought a message from Professor Kris: the web had been set, and the one behind it all was waiting to be caught in it.

It was a dim, dreary morning.

Lu Li and Kiruet headed to the mission hall, following the professor's hint to find the task Professor Kris had chosen for him.