Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 253 - 253 One hundred and ten

253: One hundred and ten.

Anna’s Touch 253: One hundred and ten.

Anna’s Touch Lu Li didn’t think the letters sent to Raimy and Jimmy could be received by them.

Or to put it another way, they might receive the letters in some way and even respond, but they wouldn’t come to Belfast.

Lu Li did this only to make Anna relax and at the same time to test if the “Investigator’s Rookie Trial,” a grimoire, indeed had a way to restore Sanity Value.

However, anything could happen.

If Raimy and Jimmy really came…

Lu Li might have to reassess just how bad this world was in his heart.

As his thoughts sank deeper into his mind, Lu Li fell into a dream.

There was the sound of flapping wings outside the window, something landed beyond it, and the silhouette of a black crow cast upon the curtains, lingered for a while, then took flight.

The night was peacefully silent.

…

The next morning, the hazy, cool light pierced through the window curtains, creeping into the dim living room.

Anna woke up first.

She lifted the blanket, which retained not a trace of warmth, and stretched out her pale, translucent fingers to poke at it a few times.

As her fingertips sank into the soft, fluffy blanket, Anna hummed with satisfaction and glided off the bed toward the door.

She had just floated up when suddenly she remembered something, and her half-transparent figure fell back down, bare feet touching the icy cold floor.

But she felt nothing.

Her ten toes curled up, and Anna was slightly uncomfortable with the sensation of her feet firmly planted on the ground.

She swayed and took a step forward, then stopped, her figure wobbling unstably.

Still, she found a way to maintain her balance.

She slightly raised her hands for balance, then tiptoed quietly out of the bedroom, swaying left and right.

The oil lamp on the desk emitted a faint glow.

Anna clumsily walked to the desk, tiptoeing to extinguish the lamp, and then wobbled toward the couch.

Lu Li lay flat on the couch with his head propped on a pillow on the armrest, his body covered with a woolen coat, still asleep.

Anna couldn’t help wanting to hold her breath, then realized she didn’t need to breathe, and carefully tip-toed over from the couch, pulling back the curtains that blocked the window.

The couch had been moved under the window sill a while ago, not by Lu Li or Anna, but by the sculpture.

Although no one knew when it was done or why, both the living and the ghost of the Detective Agency had accepted the new arrangement.

Rustle—

The curtains gently slid aside, revealing the slight sound of rain and the moist windows filled with water trails.

Outside the blurry window, people bustled about, and the sounds of conversations and rolling wheels dimly entered the room.

Anna’s clear eyes narrowed with a curve, her mood brightening with the lively scene.

Suddenly, she shivered, her cheeks turning visibly red at a rapid pace.

She looked down, shyly gazing at the awakened Lu Li.

“How did you do it?”

Lu Li’s palm extended from beneath the coat, touching Anna’s waist.

Anna forced herself to stay calm, instead of turning into smoke and diving back under the covers of her bedroom, her face flushed as she stuttered, “It was yesterday…

erm…

I got angry and then seemed stronger, and I found I could cover my body with Telekinesis, then I could touch the things around me.”

As she spoke, Anna exhibited a troubled look: “But it feels really strange, not like when I was alive at all, as if there’s something separating me from everything?”

Lu Li didn’t answer, thoughtfully squeezing Anna’s waist.

“Um…

what, what are you doing!”

Anna jumped away, electrocuted, her cheeks crimson, steam seeming to rise from her head.

Lu Li pondered before replying, “The texture is different from skin, it’s like touching a balloon wrapped in a layer of smooth leather.”

“Don’t analyze things like that seriously!”

Lu Li sat up and looked at Anna: “Do you feel anything when you’re touched?”

“No!

I’m dead, how can I feel anything!” Anna almost instinctively shouted with embarrassment, but as she met Lu Li’s calm gaze, realizing she might have misunderstood, her voice involuntarily softened: “It’s just a layer of Telekinesis, touching objects wears it out, though I can keep replenishing it.”

“Like a layer of clothing?”

“Um…

roughly.”

“How long can you maintain this state?”

“For now…

a few hours?”

If Anna did nothing, she could continue outside activities for about ten hours, close to the normal human schedule.

Lu Li wanted to ask something else but was hurried along by Anna, whose shyness hadn’t lessened, as she pulled him up with telekinesis, “Hurry and buy breakfast.”

Lu Li put on the shoes under the sofa and rolled up his sleeves to head to the kitchen, “Not now; I need to go to the Investigator’s department.”

The inexplicable joy hidden in Anna’s eyes suddenly faded, and she looked somewhat sad, “Why do you have to go there…”

“The base has a library; I’m going to see if they have what I need.” Lu Li glanced back at Anna, those black eyes still calm, but Anna always felt as if there was…

some disdain in them?

“If you still remember continental history and geography, I could also ask you.”

Anna opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

After a while, she retorted defensively toward the kitchen, where water was running, “If you asked me how to paint a realistic oil painting, I’d know that!”

Shortly, the sound of water stopped, and Lu Li, having finished washing up, returned to the living room, took a towel to dry his hands and face, picked up the clothes on the sofa to shake out the wrinkles and put them on.

“Remember to come back early, and don’t forget to buy breakfast!”

As Lu Li reached the door and grabbed the umbrella, Anna called out from the center of the living room.

Every time she felt shy, Anna’s voice involuntarily rose.

“Mm.”

Bang.

The door closed, and Lu Li’s figure disappeared behind it.

Anna stayed in the pose she’d been in when Lu Li left, staring blankly at the closed door, her posture slowly relaxing.

Just then, the door was abruptly opened, and a figure peeked from behind it.

“Eh?

What’s up?”

Anna stared at Lu Li as he returned.

“Nothing.”

Lu Li withdrew and closed the door again.

This idiot thought I might secretly follow him?

So he can be wrong about things too…

Anna snickered to herself for a while, but as her smile faded in the quiet Detective Agency, a tinge of loneliness colored her cheeks.

“To become stronger is to stay by his side, to protect him…”

…

Snowflake District.

The Anres brothers’ loving and caring underground maintenance station.

Across the street, below the guardrail, stretched a few hundred meters wide stretch of dark brown beach.

In the thin, mist-like drizzle, one could vaguely make out the figures of people strolling on the beach.

Looking from the railings toward the distant lead-gray seawater and the much emptier harbor, Lu Li turned and walked into the shop that served as a disguise for the Investigator’s base.

Inside, a regular customer was being guided by an Alliance Personnel disguised as a shopkeeper, sporting a tank top and work clothes.

Noticing Lu Li’s entrance, the shopkeeper turned his head toward him with a nod and continued advising the customer, “Based on your home situation, I’d recommend considering the number two wrench…”

Lu Li went to the back of the maintenance station, pushed aside the curtain, and stood in front of the painting of the black-robed person and eagle that dominated the front wall from yesterday.

Lu Li looked at the outspread black wings of the eagle in the painting.

This might be a crow.