Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 870 - 63. The Performance Ends

Chapter 870: 63. The Performance Ends

With the hype of "Lu Li’s legendary experience" and "Lu Li’s arrival to watch," many noblemen and wealthy merchants came to the Monte Theatre for the performance.

Evidence shown by the expensive ticket prices that are unaffordable for commoners.

However, their interest in Lu Li was greater than in the play itself. Requests to meet him privately reached the theater owner, who then brought them to Lu Li and others who had just arrived at the theater.

Unsurprisingly, Lu Li refused the proposal. The disappointed theater owner led them to a box on the second floor.

The stage lined by red curtains and the nearly full hall on the first floor were visible at a glance.

Dean Lawrence did not stay, leaving with the theater owner.

There were still twenty minutes until the performance began.

During the waiting period, a commotion sounded from outside the suite.

"Let me in! The Exorcist must be in there! Please, I have something very important!"

A young man was caught by guards and taken away from the door, struggling as he shouted.

Disturbed, the group came out of the box.

"What’s going on?"

The guards stopped upon hearing Lu Li’s voice.

"Are you the Exorcist, sir?"

A young man dressed unlike a commoner pleaded to Lu Li, "Please save my brother... he disappeared!"

"When did this happen?"

"Seven years ago..." The young man’s head bowed before he suddenly raised it again, "I dreamed of him so many times, he kept telling me he’s trapped somewhere, hoping I could rescue him..."

"Why haven’t you gone?"

Katerina asked. She was wearing a cloak, still not accustomed to dresses.

"Others in the church said some anomaly was luring me, and my brother is dead... Exorcist, do you think that too?"

"They are likely correct."

The young man left in the end, dispirited, having met the Exorcist but not gotten the answer he wanted.

"Actually, Mr. Luli, you could have lied to him, given him a kind lie."

Back in the suite, Puxiu, sitting at Lu Li’s feet, said.

"He wouldn’t do that." Katerina, having spent more time with Lu Li, knew how straightforward he was.

The performance was about to begin, and as time approached, the hall gradually became quiet.

The curtains slowly drew open.

The grand performance started.

A handsome young man with a black wig stood on a wooden boat in the center of the stage, wearing flamboyant and colorful theatrical costumes.

He was playing Lu Li.

Unlike Lu Li’s restraint and calmness, the stage actor was full of sunshine and ostentation, like a prince or hero from a fairy tale, full of justice, unafraid of power, and resolute in faith.

"Lu Li" swore to resolve the third calamity in a manner no ordinary person would speak.

Setting off on a journey, a female companion in a black robe followed him. Rumors had it that Lu Li’s companion was not the same person, but in the stage play, they were merged into one.

A bitter coincidence.

From the Main Affinity Continent to the Barren Lands, from Wildcat Town to Spinning City, "Lu Li" faced countless difficulties, encountering his biggest trouble soon after leaving Spinning City: a conflict with his companion.

The conflict concluded in separation. "Lu Li" continued the journey, the black-robed woman faded away.

In the second half of the stage play, "Lu Li" walked alone through the wilderness. The glamorous costume lost its brightness. Finally, when the battered "Lu Li" reached The Time of Silence, people finally breathed a sigh of relief for him.

It was a dead sapling, with a suspended figure swaying in the breeze on its largest branch.

"The Time of Silence, now——"

"Lu Li" drew out a Flintlock Pistol, shouting resolutely at the dead tree in front, "I declare your time has come!"

Bang!

The gunshot thundered from backstage, smoke rising from the muzzle of "Lu Li’s" Flintlock Pistol.

The Time of Silence retreated with miserable howls, "Lu Li" fell powerless to the ground as well.

"Did you really say that?" Puxiu raised his head to ask.

"The closer to The Time of Silence, the longer the inability to make sounds lasts." Lu Li calmly replied.

During the conversation, the lights on stage dimmed, soil fell from mechanisms above, gradually burying the fallen "Lu Li."

As the curtain descended slowly, just before concealing everything, a hand reached out through the soil.

The performance ended.

A patter of applause began, eventually growing to thunderous levels. The applause persisted, never fading away, because the hero of the story was right there.

"Mr. Luli, I... sob..."

Puxiu choked up, lifting his head with a tearful voice, "I didn’t know you had gone through so much..."

Katerina’s emotions were far more complex.

Her experiences growing up made her scoff at these beautiful stories. She knew they were false; otherwise, why had they never appeared by her side?

Why had no prince arrived when she curled up in sewers with rats? Why had no hero emerged when she was bullied by adults, crying and begging? Why was there no voice scolding when hunters stole her trophies?

Katerina lingered in darkness for too long, so much so that when light truly appeared, she couldn’t look straight at it, instinctively resisting and questioning its existence.

She knew she shouldn’t think like that.

Knock, knock, knock——

The knocking awakened Katerina.

Dean Lawrence and the theater owner arrived.

"I wonder which you liked more, the performance or you."

After some pleasantries, the theater owner made a request, "The backstage actors hope to meet you."

This time, Lu Li didn’t refuse, heading backstage to meet the actors.

Everyone was excited; the woman playing the "black-robed woman" was no longer young but cheered like a girl. A middle-aged man with a mess of hair murmured, "I wrote it wrong," "I shouldn’t have written it like that," speaking to himself.

They left the backstage and returned directly to the carriage. Lu Li and Katerina Puxius parted ways, returning to Klein Manifested University, while Lu Li headed to the City Hall to prepare for the afternoon’s reception banquet.

As they neared the City Hall, the carriage slowed down, with many people gathered outside.

The arrival of the carriage caused them to swarm forward, only to be blocked by the Knights Order.

"Mr. Luli, what do you think of Midnight City!"

"You are the people’s hope!"

"Mr. Luli——"

The clamorous shouts boiled at the City Hall entrance.

"The rest is up to you, His Excellency Lulian." Dean Lawrence said with anticipation.

Lu Li nodded lightly, stepped down the carriage, calmly climbed the steps into the City Hall.

The waiting reception personnel were subtly excited, leading Lu Li all the way to the guest rooms upstairs in the City Hall.

"Senator Sophie Shestren knows you don’t like hustle and bustle, so no one will disturb you." The reception staff said respectfully at the door, "He also said that if you need help, please don’t hesitate."

This was not mere courtesy; Lu Li’s position was enough for them to do much for him.

Just as he had done for the world before.

Entering the guest room, Lu Li lightly lowered his dark eyes and softly spoke.

"Help me find someone."