The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 987: Time in Solitary Confinement

If this were the junior courses' solitary confinement, the door would be an elegant, carved wooden one. There would be soft, plush beds, a bookshelf for reading, clean notebooks, and rays of light filtering through a narrow window like the morning sun.

But in the middle courses, the cramped space behind a closed iron door held only a single hard bed, a fluorite lamp on the desk, and a wooden bucket in the corner, scrubbed clean of any odor.

One could only imagine that the senior courses' confinement would be as grim as a prison cell.

And Lu Li was to spend a full month in such an environment.

Fortunately, solitary confinement only prohibited leaving, not "entering."

Lu Li summoned Antoni the Merchant and sent him to the confinement cells of Fudot and Yeger.

The Merchant's appearance was a pleasant surprise for them. As expected, Fudot and Yeger asked for a change of bedding, another fluorite lamp, and a few books. One needed something to pass the time in solitary.

While the Merchant went to fetch the supplies, Lu Li searched his own cramped cell.

The areas around the bed and the wooden bucket were bare. When he pulled open the desk drawer, there was a metallic clang, revealing a crude iron key lying alone inside.

Lu Li picked up the iron key and tried it on the confinement cell's door—it looked like it would fit.The iron key slid easily into the keyhole, and with a turn—

Click.

The sound of a mechanism engaging echoed from within the iron door.

Now, a slight push was all it would take to open the iron door of the cell where Lu Li was being held.

Lu Li guessed the purpose of the iron key, removed it from the lock, and placed it back in the drawer.

Soon, Antoni the Merchant returned. The extra fluorite lamp made the confinement cell feel less gloomy. Lu Li changed his bedding, then had Antoni take it to Fudot and Yeger, along with a few extra eyeballs.

With a creak—

Lu Li sat down on the wooden stool he had pulled out, moved the fluorite lamp closer, and opened the notebook on the theory of humanity that Antoni had brought from the lounge.

For the next few days, having found a moment of peace, Lu Li focused on perfecting his theory of humanity.

Food was delivered three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—and, as expected, it was cold and hard.

Thanks to Antoni the Merchant, Lu Li was not cut off from the outside world like the other students in solitary. In addition to the daily morning and evening newspapers, he received updates on the current situation in the Land of Light and Winnelag.

The second batch of survivors had already landed in the Land of Light. The Distorted Figure and the Church of the Vine were overseeing the construction efforts, but their work was confined to the area around Agate Lake.

The sunlight falling on the Land of Light made many anomalies uncomfortable, causing them to leave. However, even more anomalies remained in the ruins of Belfast, and others were arriving from lands shrouded in primordial darkness. They hid in the shadows or in hazardous zones—like the Place of the Whirlpool, which had expanded even further in the past two months.

Although Lu Li was the lord of the Land of Light in name only, he and his allies only controlled the vicinity of Agate Lake and the temporary road the Andrea had used to arrive. They could barely fend off incursions from anomalies and were unable to spread their influence outward.

The Distorted Figure and the Church of the Vine, along with their people, were waiting for the day Lu Li would return, having mastered his power.

The appearance of a new Merchant had stabilized the supply situation in Winnelag, though this was partly because the number of inhabitants in the underground shelter had dwindled to a certain level...

Winnelag's situation was not promising. There were still two months left of the harsh winter, there were no underground caverns beneath the frozen earth, and deprived of a deity's protection, they faced daily incursions from anomalies. The survivors were forced to huddle together in the overcrowded central district to pass the time.

With no other distractions, Lu Li nearly completed the theory of humanity on the fourth day of his confinement, a task he had originally expected to take about fifteen days.

There was still a small part that Professor Kris had intentionally left for him, warning him not to complete it entirely.

Knowledge was a curse, and the burden of the completed theory of humanity was something Lu Li could not bear—just as Professor Kris could not.

There was no need to worry, however. The Academy of Giant Trees had already found a way to deal with the curse of knowledge. The final few sentences would be completed by a death-row inmate, who would die in their stead.

The glory would go to Lu Li, while the inmate would receive death and redemption.

Antoni the Merchant took the notebook, which now only lacked its conclusion, and soon returned carrying Professor Kris's wine glass.

"Have our little ice cubes melted yet?" Professor Kris's lazy, elegant voice drifted from the glass.

Many students had seen the gatekeepers escort Lu Li to solitary confinement, so the news was impossible to contain. The truth quickly spread—Kingard had been ambushed by Lu Li and his companions upon his return.

Any news about Lu Li was a sensation.

There was no doubt about it. Even with the relative isolation of the Academy of Giant Trees, the information had still leaked out and, as expected, appeared in the newspapers a few days ago.

Many lamented that Lu Li had been assimilated. But for those who knew him and had interacted with him, it seemed that Lu Li was quietly changing...

Kiruet waited. Before, her teammates had waited for her to recover; now, she was waiting for her teammates' confinement to end.

"How many academic points will the theory of humanity get me?"

Lu Li didn't elaborate on the topic.

A sigh emanated from the wine glass.

"I think academic points no longer matter for you. You could graduate and leave at any time."

Now, Lu Li was only concerned with mastering the release of his Cursed Title and its prerequisites: the 6th and 7th levels of mysticism and the 3rd level of alchemy.

Once he reached the 6th level of mysticism and the 3rd level of alchemy, Lu Li could leave the intermediate middle courses and advance to the senior courses for the final step.

"That poor girl from the Lince family... she gave up an elite course promotion to follow you to the middle courses, only to be thrown into solitary for a month the next day. And when she gets out, you'll be off to the senior courses... Darling, sometimes I think you're truly ruthless."

"After my confinement is over, I'll take the 6th-level mysticism trials. Do you have any advice?"

Lu Li once again dodged Professor Kris's topic.

"When you get out, have the Holy Light Squad choose the most difficult mission available. That will be the content of your 6th-level trial."

"And what about the 3rd level of alchemy?"

"That shouldn't be a problem for you, darling... Oh, I have to go back now."

Before the wine glass was taken back, Professor Kris left him the titles of several books that would be useful to him.

Antoni the Merchant carried the wine glass away and returned several minutes later with the books Lu Li needed.

The confinement cell fell silent and dim once more. On the third day, Lu Li saw in the morning paper that he had made the front page again.

This time, it wasn't for the disgraceful "brawl" from before, but for the theory of humanity, which had almost completely filled in the patterns of anomalous activity on behalf of humankind.

Meanwhile, the Hunting Lords had returned with their spoils.

They say they even confronted the gatekeepers, demanding Lu Li's release, but were ultimately stopped by the arrival of senior course instructors.

Without Lu Li, and in desperate need of restoring their humanity, they were forced to wait, temporarily keeping the evil god and their other spoils at the edge of the Forbidden Zone's Safe Zone. However, no one doubted that Lu Li could restore them—thanks to his reputation and the best example of his work, Kain.

At that moment, Lu Li had 23 days left of his sentence.