Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 607 - 607 One hundred twenty-six

607: One hundred twenty-six.

Another story.

607: One hundred twenty-six.

Another story.

The fantastical and bizarre trials were deeply impressive, especially the second one.

For that city truly existed.

Olivia, who sought help for her son with severe asthma; Arthur Green Pierce, who killed to save his daughter; the Nameless Girl who stole money for her asthmatic neighbor and then went into hiding; Ole Peters, a weak brother willing to cover up and bear the guilt for his sibling; Jonah Peters, who fell into evil because of an ancient book, yet deluded himself with the desire to save a person;

And Mary, the daughter of Viscount Rivis, who ultimately altered everyone’s fate, except that of her own.

Were these fictional characters or real stories that had not been disturbed by Lu Li, following their original paths uninterrupted?

Tafeng City, it was like those ancient towns spoken of in stories passed from mouth to mouth.

The towns with city walls were generally only seen in the Main Affinity Continent.

Before human wars ceased, walls once served as the best defense against foreign invasions.

Then the bizarre arrived, and war disappeared under the mediation of the Exorcist Association.

The no-longer-needed walls at most offered a false sense of security to the residents within the city, and…

oppression.

Hence, in the centuries that followed, most towns no longer had time-consuming and restrictive walls.

But now the narrative was different.

With the bizarre invading en masse, the old walls’ purpose became clear and vital again.

The sense of safety they offered was second only to one’s own home.

So even though Tafeng City was just a small town of tens of thousands of people, it still managed to prevent its residents from fleeing while welcoming the inhabitants from nearby towns during such times.

Under the city walls, busy with the to-and-fro of horse-drawn carriages, a strange pairing entered Tafeng City, pushing a wheelchair.

Unlike the bustling chaos of Himfast, Tafeng City was relatively orderly, though the sound of hammering and construction could be heard drifting over the buildings.

The tavern was a good place to gather intelligence.

However, for Lu Li, the Police Station was more befitting his identity.

As Anna pushed Lu Li into the Police Station, the officers’ eyes, not too busy with work, gathered on her black robe.

It wasn’t until Lu Li took the initiative to speak up about his identity and inquired whether a young man named Jonah Peters had been arrested recently.

The officers were baffled by the question and called the Deputy Chief, who was equally clueless.

So Lu Li changed his approach, asking if there had been a killer in Tafeng City recently known as the Gut Cutter.

The Deputy Chief’s complexion changed and he confirmed that indeed there was a Gut Cutter, then immediately asked Lu Li if the Gut Cutter was a monster and if he was the Exorcist sent to deal with it.

This was all before anything had happened.

Or perhaps the trial had only mingled the real with the false.

“Sort of,” Lu Li said noncommittally.

He then asked the Deputy Chief for the location of the church and, declining his offer to stay, left the Police Station for the church.

In memory, the church, consumed by flames, stood intact beyond the low walls.

Anna pushed Lu Li into the church.

The early morning church was shrouded in a light mist, the light streaming through the stained glass windows casting a sanctified and solemn hue on the statues.

The serene and soothing sound of the organ echoed through the empty church, instilling an instinctive sense of awe and compelling a hushed tone in its visitors.

Lu Li’s gaze fell upon the confessional booth that appeared the same as in his memories.

It seemed as if a figure sat behind the latticed wooden partition or perhaps not.

As Anna also looked towards the booth, Lu Li shifted his gaze to the priest organizing at the church’s pulpit and the radio on the table.

“Let’s go to the bench,” Lu Li said.

When they reached the bench, Lu Li seemed to be waiting for something, turning through the books he brought in his suitcase to pass the time.

This made the priest at the pulpit curious.

Just as he considered approaching to ask some questions, a commotion of footsteps came from outside the church.

Several figures pushing wheelchairs appeared at the door and headed straight for the benches in the front row.

The priest smiled wryly, stepping forward to converse with the middle-aged man leading the group.

“This is…”

Anna’s gaze fell on a girl in a wheelchair—she looked dreadful, her face as if it had been scorched by fire, monstrous and grotesque, her legs missing below the knees, and even one of her eyes was gone.

“Yes.”

Lu Li watched the scene unfold.

Everything was happening.

The girl in the wheelchair looked curiously at Lu Li, who found himself in a similar situation, also seated in a wheelchair.

She nodded lightly in greeting, wandering aimlessly through the church and taking in everything, including the confessional.

Only Lu Li, Anna, and the girl Mary noticed a piece of paper fluttering out from the window of the confessional and landing on Mary’s lap.

In the distance, the argument between Viscount Rivis and the priest was escalating into a quarrel.

Meanwhile, Mary at the confessional began to communicate with “Lu Li.”

After a while, the argument neared its end, and Mary’s conversation with “Lu Li” was also drawing to a close.

“Can you talk?” the girl suddenly asked.

[No]

“Then, do you have a cigarette?”

[Why do you ask?]

“I’ve always wanted to try.

I see those who smoke seem to temporarily forget their troubles.”

[I don’t smoke.]

“Goodbye, Father.

I will try to do as you said…

if they really happen.”

The girl wheeled herself to meet the approaching Baron and the others.

The enraged Viscount and Mary converged and left the church.

The church returned to silence.

The priest, watching their retreating figures, shook his head with a bitter smile and, hesitating slightly as he saw Lu Li, also turned to walk away without approaching him to speak.

Before long, only Lu Li and Anna were left in the church.

“Push me in front of the confessional,” Lu Li said.

Anna pushed Lu Li to the front of the confessional, but no paper floated out.

“It seems like the one inside cannot sense you,” Anna said with a mix of wonder and amusement in her voice; she found the situation fresh and interesting.

“That’s normal,” Lu Li replied.

Then, he returned to the bench and resumed waiting.

The story continued, and with time, Olivia, Arthur Green Pierce, the Nameless Girl, Ole Peters, Jonah Peters, and the priest successively arrived at the confessional, receiving enlightenment and new conundrums.

When the priest left the confessional and passed by Lu Li, he finally took the initiative to ask, “Are you perhaps confused?”

“I am the only one without confusion,” Lu Li calmly replied, aware of everything that was about to happen.

The priest was momentarily stunned, with disbelief suddenly flashing in his eyes.

“Before nightfall, the truth will be revealed before your eyes,” Lu Li stated, not intending to disrupt the sequence.

The priest could only suppress his puzzlement and shock before leaving.

Afterward, Lu Li re-experienced “things that had happened” from the perspective of an observer.

Everyone received redemption, except for Jonah Peters, who felt he had been betrayed.

Because of Lu Li’s hints, the priest did not, as in the trial, find out what had happened only at the end—he actively inquired about everything that happened.

When the priest returned to Lu Li with a complex expression, Lu Li took the initiative to ask, “Father, do you have any cigarettes?”

“You…

I don’t have any…” the priest didn’t understand why Lu Li was asking this.

“Could you take me to a store that sells cigarettes?” Lu Li asked.