Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 410 - 410 Lacking the Fourth Person

410: Lacking the Fourth Person 410: Lacking the Fourth Person “How is it, I told you it was a terrible idea.” Vinson raised a bottle of rum toward Lu Li, the liquor swirling inside, as if he was a drunkard starting his day early with alcohol.

“Are you still planning to go through with your plan?” Lu Li looked at Petra.

His cheeks did not show much disappointment—perhaps because the emotions had already been vented out that morning.

“Not for now,” Petra said.

The Shadow of Puppetry suddenly made the mansion’s secondary characters come to life, obviously filled with malice.

If The Shadow of Puppetry had its own consciousness.

“So, have you encountered a similar situation before?” the Baron, elegantly slicing some foie gras, asked Vinson.

“No, the last time we were in a wrecked sailboat, we were the main characters, no one else.” Vinson briefly summarized.

It was the first time he mentioned the contents of the last ritual, even the generous reward offered by the butler upon his arrival had not made him speak up.

“Then, could this change affect you all?” the butler Lulu asked everyone.

Petra thought for a moment and said, “Change implies new scenarios, that’s certain.

But we have more initiative now—at least we’re not just reacting to side characters as they’re mentioned in the story.”

Lu Li sat down at the long table, the maid brought a double portion of breakfast in front of him.

Picking up the knife and fork, Lu Li ate his meal, listening to the butler Lulu organizing the information they had gathered: the black silhouettes were characters from the Viscount’s Mansion, background characters like chefs and gardeners.

They could be touched but not communicated with, perhaps because the plot had not started yet, or the plot was not focusing on them.

Their contacts hadn’t explored deeper, such as whether they could cause harm.

Lu Li chewed his food silently, his dark eyes fell on the two dark figures in the corner.

They seemed to be servants, engaged in wiping the windows, their movements making no sound, occasionally, the lightning piercing the clouds highlighted their eerie and horrifying figures.

Lu Li thought of something, looked around the long table, saw no new faces: “What about the new members?”

Yesterday the butler had mentioned continuing to invite new exorcists.

The sounds of cutting and chewing in the dining room suddenly ceased, only Vinson continued to pour alcohol into his mouth.

Petra resumed moving and sighed, “He’s dead.”

Lu Li slightly furrowed his brows, “Have the rules changed?”

Sara woke up, foreigners were only pulled into the ritual when the chapter began.

There was still half an hour till the start.

Butler Lulu continued the conversation with Lu Li, “It has nothing to do with us, the exorcist died at the hands of something strange, earlier when we contacted him, the police station told us he was missing.”

Petra nodded, “I used a messenger to check, the poor guy encountered a resentful spirit last night, then he disappeared.”

Being a bit optimistic, perhaps the exorcist was just missing rather than dead—unfortunately, optimism wasn’t suited for exorcists, at most they could find humor in the dire situation: look, at least it was only a resentful spirit and not a malevolent one.

“In Belfast?” Lu Li’s brow did not relax.

“In Belfast.”

Lu Li noted silently, planning to summon a messenger later during his free time to check for new incidents in Belfast.

“Don’t worry, Belfast is a big city, there are many powerful demon slayers protecting it,” Petra noticed some of Lu Li’s concerns and consoled.

As the words fell, a mocking voice came from Vinson.

“‘Don’t worry, Belfast is a big city, there are powerful demon slayers protecting it,”‘ Vinson mimicked in a mocking tone: “Hey!

The tens of thousands of citizens of Zenster City thought the same at the beginning.”

Petra fell silent, her expression turning ugly.

Lu Li quietly observed, the pessimism in Vinson’s words made Lu Li think he was like himself, but the next moment, Lu Li noticed the same pessimism had appeared on Petra’s face.

Suddenly, it seemed like everyone had lost hope for the future.

Did this mean…

the apocalypse was extremely close to this world?

“Enough.” The butler stopped Vinson’s sarcasm, although she disliked his personality, his experience was essential for everyone.

“As you wish, madam butler.” Vinson stood up, bowed exaggeratedly, and then plopped back into his chair, “However, I think there’s no need for you to fuss over a dying man, right?”

“You have a terminal illness?” Lulu frowned and asked.

This wasn’t in the information she had found.

“No, I’m perfectly fine.

I can handle a few more bottles,” Vinson swayed the nearly empty bottle.

“I was lucky to survive the last ritual of this damned thing.

There’s a saying in my hometown, ‘If you don’t carry respect, the same river will drown you twice.’ Frankly speaking, I’m not like you, possessing many naive fantasies because of ignorance.

I clearly know that this ritual will be the end of my life.”

Vinson took a big gulp of liquor, speaking in a drunken slur.

It was hard to tell whether his outburst was because he wanted to vent or was simply drunk.

Perhaps he was similar to Lu Li, always preparing for the worst-case scenario in everything.

After all, he had once faced the terror of The Shadow of Puppetry.

“You’ve drunk too much,” Petra took away the empty bottle from Vinson’s hand, saying helplessly.

“No, my mind is very clear—staying alert and calm at all times is a watcher’s principle,” Vinson retorted.

“It’s the same for an investigator,” placing the empty bottle on the dining table, Petra said.

The butler glanced at the mantle clock and said, “We’re one person short; I’ll fill in.”

“No,” Baron Joseph immediately rejected.

“Most people have only heard of the bad deeds of Baron Joseph, but they haven’t seen.

If I die at its hands, you’ll be the next Baron Joseph, continuing the legacy of The Joseph Family.”

Influenced by Vinson, pessimism was also evident in the baron’s tone.

“Now is not the time to talk about this,” the butler didn’t want to continue this topic.

Everyone waited for Lu Li to finish breakfast; they changed clothes and waited in the bedroom.

The baron specially locked the bedroom door to prevent the butler from barging in and joining the ritual.

Boom—

A muffled thunder echoed among the clouds, an obscure and ancient sound slowly emerging.

[Chapter Eight: The Twisted Revival]

Every day began with the calmest scenario, and today was no exception.

Sara woke up in the bright weather without any sinister inner monologue, everything seemed normal.

Until Petra was separated from the group.

[As servant Petra walked along the corridor to the dining room, suddenly, he saw a familiar figure at the corner ahead—it was Lola!]

The lightning flashed and thunder roared outside the window, a deluge pelted down, a dark figure appeared in Petra’s sight.

It poked half of its body around the corner and raised an arm, gesturing gently towards him.

[Seeing his dear friend return, servant Petra ran happily towards Lola.]