Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 601 - 601 120

601: 120.

Ghost Wife 601: 120.

Ghost Wife “I’m delighted to hear from you.”

“I learned from a merchant that you’re still alive and have hidden yourself in your own harbor, hoping it’s safer than a refuge.”

“I apologize for disappearing abruptly before, but it was a mandatory check to enter the refuge, to prevent those heretics from slipping inside… I suppose you must have had some contact with them, right?”

“Stay as far away from them as you can.

On some level, the heretics are far more difficult to deal with than the uncanny, at least they won’t understand you like former humans do.”

“I could fill three pages with complaints about the heretics… If you encounter them, stay as far away as possible, and do not interact with them, even if they seem friendly to you.”

“You should know, and must know, that servants and followers are equal to the eyes of the Evil God.

Regardless of whether you’re hostile or friendly to them, it will draw the attention of the Evil God.

Avoiding them is the best choice.”

“The sanctuary inspector is urging me again.

It’s stricter here than I imagined, restricting outings, even sending letters.

Your identity is ‘clean’ enough, or they wouldn’t have allowed this letter to reach you.”

“I suspect the severity of the refuge might have something to do with the ‘Spark Project’.”

“I am ordered not to disclose the contents of the project, but I think the clever you can guess something from this term, right?

I always thought you were more suited for this project than I, but I don’t want you to suffer the same pain and sorrow as me.

If I could, I wouldn’t want to part from my wife either…”

“Sorry, I’ve said too much—it’s another story.”

“By the way, I’ve inquired the headquarters about the corruption that haunts you, but they have no recollection, only remembering another matter, capturing a guy named Richard.

This is strange, I suggest you ask what really happened.”

“I can’t write much more to my other friends, so if you see Rachel and Tristan, remember to send my regards.”

“I hope there will be a chance to meet in the future, take care, my young friend.”

“——Michael Tesla on the eve of destruction”

Having quietly read through Tesla’s letter, Lu Li refolded it and leaned back in his armchair, gazing out at the leaden sea.

Tesla’s letter had revealed much.

Some things known, others unknown.

The known was that the headquarters of the investigators indeed lost “door” memories related to the handling of the event, and Tesla, because he only knew about Lu Li’s curse, happened to escape the result of memory alteration.

The unknowns were the troublesome nature of the heretics, which, like a hive, once you get involved with one, you get marked by all; the fate of Tesla’s ghostly wife; and the “Spark Project”.

Just as Tesla praised, Lu Li indeed guessed the true purpose of the refuge just from the term.

The leftover spark of the world named after it is about to extinguish, there’s no need to consider what the spark signifies.

What really made Lu Li think were matters that seemed unrelated to him: Tesla’s ghostly wife.

Tesla mentioned his wife many times in front of Lu Li, and his affection and pity were genuine.

But in the letter, he wrote about her too calmly.

As if he mentioned her in passing and abruptly changed the subject.

This was unlike Tesla—he was always keen to solve questions, not create them.

And Rachel and Tristan had a clearly closer friendship with Tesla than Lu Li.

Rachel was currently retreating with the residents of Watch Town to the only lighthouse on Ailen Peninsula, Himfast.

That place was far more suitable to receive the letter than Elm Forest.

So why was the letter given to himself instead of Rachel?

What was Tesla trying to remind him of?

Withdrawing his gaze, Lu Li looked down and unfolded the letter again, gently caressing the surface of the paper.

The ink marks had long since dried, with only wetness making the paper somewhat damp.

As his finger swept from the inscribed words to a blank space, and slid to the bottom right corner, Lu Li’s hand paused.

Scratch-scratch—scratch—

“Ah!”

After eating the last piece of food scrap, the crow let out a piercing cry, its echo reverberating through the cave before it flapped its wings and vanished.

At this moment, Lu Li once again reached for the bottom right corner of the letter.

The uneven texture felt as though someone had written something with a feather pen without ink.

Lu Li asked Anna for a piece of charcoal left over from the fireplace and had her cut a piece of parchment thin enough so that, when laid over the letter, he could gently rub the charcoal on it.

A leaden shadow spread across the corner of the letter, revealing a line of Tesla’s handwriting slowly.

[Shadow Town Church Basement]

“Wasn’t Shadow Town destroyed a long time ago, along with the collapsed church?” Anna murmured.

“That’s why it’s the safest place to hide something.”

“What did he hide?”

Lu Li looked up at Anna, calmly delivering the answer he had obtained, “His wife.”

This was the only reason Lu Li could think of why Tesla would send the letter to him and not someone else: he had a ghost wife, and Lu Li had Anna.

They were natural allies with a common cause.

“But the Mother of the Marsh is there…” Anna still didn’t understand Tesla’s approach to keep his wife so close to danger.

“That’s why it’s the safest place,” Lu Li repeated what he had said earlier.

Because of Lu Li!

Anna suddenly realized.

Tesla was one of the few who knew the inside story of the Shadow Swamp incident; he knew the Mother of the Marsh was different from other Evil Gods, and he was aware of the cooperative relationship between the Mother of the Marsh and Lu Li.

“Do you plan on going to Shadow Town?

The journey is not safe, but I will do my utmost to protect you,” Anna said with a depth of feeling and earnestness in her eyes that made it difficult for Lu Li to meet her gaze.

“Hmm, it coincides with the Exorcists’ Council meeting.”

The meeting was to start in five days, and the original plan was to depart three days from now, which would take them past Shadow Swamp.

It seemed they could leave a day earlier, setting out the day after tomorrow at dawn.

He decided to inform the Jimmy siblings.

They planned to have Raimy follow, while Jimmy and “the kids” would stay behind to watch over the house.

Anna refused their proposal.

Taking Raimy would slow them down, whereas if it were just her and Lu Li, they could arrive at Arlen Kingdom before noon without pause.

And she wanted to be with Lu Li alone, without anyone else.

Moreover, this journey was not straightforward—Lu Li would first head to Himfast, then go to Shadow Town to find Tesla’s ghost wife, then cross the Shadow Swamp and Falling Leaves Mountain Range, stopping briefly at Tafeng City a few dozen miles from the Royal City before reaching the Exorcists’ Council meeting location—Lu Li wanted to verify some things.

Whether the experiences in the Confessional truly existed and what its original, unaltered trajectory was like.

So taking Raimy would actually make it difficult for Lu Li to appear in cities.

“How will Anna hide?” Raimy asked with concern.

“She can disguise herself like the Heretics,” Lu Li replied.

It was another new idea from Tesla’s letter.

She merely needed to don a black cloak, and people would only wonder and be wary of Anna.

Even if an Exorcist sensed Anna’s presence, they would back off because of the Senior Investigator badge on Lu Li’s chest.