Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 397 - 397 254

397: 254.

Sara’s Book of Death 397: 254.

Sara’s Book of Death [Guests were moving between the hall and the manor.]

Dark silhouettes lingered in the hall, swept by cold winds, and the manor lit by frequent flashes of lightning.

[The bright and lively atmosphere accentuated the evening’s festivities.]

Chandeliers swayed on the hall’s ceiling, clattering as they cast flickering light, highlighting the eerie dark silhouettes.

[Guests conversed in hushed tones, occasionally glancing towards the evening’s protagonist—a handsome, slightly slender noble youth.

Another protagonist, Sara, was about to arrive.]

Indecipherable, incomprehensible sounds, almost like secretive whispers, filled their ears amidst the howling wind.

The Baron, Lu Li, and others observed the unexpected guests in the hall and the manor.

Each dark silhouette behaved as though they were indeed human beings.

[Sara shone like a morning star among the stars, and more and more guests noticed the beautiful figure heading toward the hall.

The Viscount, who was speaking softly with Earl Fran’s youngest son, upon seeing his daughter, said, “Ladies and gentlemen, as you all know, the true purpose of this dinner is the engagement of my daughter Sara to Franz Francis, the youngest son of Earl Fran!”]

“Its naming is terrible, sounds like a stutterer speaking.”

The Baron, dressed as a maid, muttered quietly by the door.

Lu Li and the others were just spectators; this part of the event didn’t concern them.

[Sara’s face wore the perfect smile taught in etiquette classes, as she approached her father through the path cleared by the guests.

An uncomfortable gaze from the side, from Francis, made her feel like prey.]

[After the Viscount announced their engagement, Francis wrapped his arms around Sara’s slender waist.

Sara’s momentary panic was obscured by a round of applause and well-wishes.

“Is Adam coming back?” Looking at the faces of the guests, Sara suddenly felt a bit lost.]

[“How wonderful it would be if it were me in Francis’s arms,” thought Maid Irene from a distance, not noticing that servant Irene was silently watching him.]

The Baron instinctively turned his head, meeting Lu Li’s gaze.

“Tsk,” David clicked his tongue softly, waving his hand near his nose.

The obscure, ancient sound ceased temporarily, as if …

it was occupied with something else.

It was quite a while before the obscure, ancient sound resumed.

[“You two go and chat, Francis, I leave Sara in your care,” the Viscount said amiably, like a father.

“Very well, Viscount,” Francis bowed slightly, taking Sara to a corner of the banquet.

Maid Irene, without thinking, started to follow, but she was seen and stopped by the Viscount, who then asked Irene and Lu Li to attend to the guests.]

[For some reason, a wave of sadness and unease suddenly welled up in her, as if something bad was about to happen.]

The Baron and the exorcists exchanged glances, scattering but ensuring they weren’t too far from one another, moving around the banquet, pouring drinks into the dark glasses held by the dark silhouettes.

The obscure, ancient sound ceased as Sara and Francis quietly left the banquet.

Perhaps Sara was about to lead Francis to a secluded spot and then kill him.

Lola, holding a tray with glass cups, thought to herself.

The heavy rain and darkness obstructed their vision, and soon they lost track of Sara and Francis.

Lightning tearing through the dark clouds lit up the torrential night as if it were day, standing in the cold rain, their clothes drenched instantly, the temperature rapidly stripped from their bodies.

But for the dark silhouettes, this was a lively banquet held on a cool night in midsummer.

In the manor, the light from the street lamps struggled faintly in the heavy rain, emitting a faint glow.

Unknowingly, Lu Li approached a path near the bushes.

In the rainy night, only blurred silhouettes could be seen.

But at that moment, an obscure and ancient sound arose in Lu Li’s mind.

[Sara tried to push Francis away, but even the slender Francis possessed strength that Sara couldn’t resist; he controlled her, his originally handsome face contorting as it drew near.]

Lu Li looked around, the heavy rain obstructing his vision, and he saw nothing.

[Sara wanted to scream, but a hand firmly covered her mouth, her struggles not reaching the banquet just meters away, as tears of despair slid down Sara’s cheeks.]

Lu Li frowned, he intended to say something, but coughed a few times instead.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

“Let’s head back to the hall,” Anna’s concerned voice came through the void.

This much rain could easily cause illness.

Lu Li didn’t speak, his dark eyes slightly narrowing as he looked around.

Because the obscure ancient sound suddenly changed.

[“Cough, cough, cough…” A cough sounded like thunder from not far off in the bushes, causing Francis to stop his actions, warily looking towards the source of the sound.

Sara widened her eyes and suddenly bit down hard on Francis’s hand, a muffled cry of pain escaping as Sara broke free and ran out of the bushes, lifting her skirt.]

[“Damn it!” Francis cursed under his breath, looking down at his bleeding hand, reluctantly watching the panicked figure run away.

“Never mind,” he thought, there would be many other opportunities to be “intimate” with his fiancée.]

Having silently heard everything, Lu Li returned to the hall, blocked Petra, who was pretending to be a waiter holding a tray, and whispered, “Francis tried to take advantage of Sara.”

Petra’s gaze sharpened.

“Wait a sec,” he said to Lu Li, stepped away for a moment, and called David Lola and the Baron, before asking, “What happened?”

Lu Li briefly recounted what he had heard, saying, “He was scared off by my cough in the end.”

David looked up at the ceiling, saw no black mist or withered claws, and said to Lu Li, “It sounds like you saved Sara this time; she might be very grateful to you.”

“She doesn’t know who coughed,” Lu Li answered.

Unless he ran up to Sara and claimed he had helped her, but it wouldn’t make sense.

“Is she in her room now?” David asked.

“She should be, let’s continue playing our roles,” Petra said, holding the tray and walking towards the shadowy figures.

Lu Li and the others then dispersed.

…

In the deserted bedroom, the story slowly progressed like cogs in a machine.

[Sara stumbled back into the bedroom, her hair disheveled, her shoes missing one somewhere along the way.]

[Fortunately, Sara could soon escape all of this.]

[She took off her remaining shoe, walked barefoot onto the balcony, and suddenly froze.]

[The sheet she had tied to the balcony railing had snapped, leaving only a small piece hanging on the rail.]

[Dazed, Sara walked to the railing and looked down.

Boundless fear engulfed her, that figure surrounded by bushes was so familiar.]

[A bright red liquid spread underneath Adam, the vitality disappearing from his body, his eyes as clear as stars now devoid of all color.]