I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 399 - 399 398. Prohibition Order_1

Chapter 399: 398. Prohibition Order_1 Chapter 399: 398. Prohibition Order_1 After leaving a simple record with the police, as the sun set in the evening, Detective Tryst, Lu Ban, and Shia left Doctor Howes’s clinic.

“Someone’s watching you?”

In a restaurant by the roadside, Tryst recounted what he had felt in the underground chamber.

What surprised him was that neither Lu Ban nor Shia had felt it.

It seemed as though the entity was coming for Tryst specifically.

“Could it be that you really learned something terrible, and they want to silence you?”

Lu Ban picked up a hot potato, peeled off its skin, sprinkled some salt and pepper on it, and took a bite.

“There’s something in that room, I didn’t dare to say it when I was inside.”

Tryst sighed and stirred his meat soup with a spoon; compared to the vegetable meat soup from Black Street, the restaurant’s soup at least had real meatballs, and its flavor was much richer.

“But Lu Ban and I didn’t sense anything, and that shouldn’t be.”

Shia spoke with her mouth full, in front of her, a chicken leg had been devoured bones and all, and only a few crumbs remained of the large loaf of bread. The meat platter and vegetable broth were only spared their inevitable fate of being polished off because Shia was speaking.

“…Could it really be just an illusion?”

Tryst was well aware that Lu Ban and Shia, one being not quite human and the other beyond ordinary, if neither of them felt anything, most likely there was nothing there, and it was all in his own mind.

“Let it be, let’s look at the next targets for our investigation, the suppliers in touch with Doctor Howes, and the two patients he had seen. Oh yes, I might need to drop by Lady Martina’s tomorrow morning; after all, it’s best not to keep certain things on oneself.”

He patted his chest, where the medical records were tucked inside the inner pocket of his long coat.

“Is it possible that the relatives or friends of those who were killed by the gang’s ladies want revenge and are planning to kill accomplices like Doctor Howes?”

Lu Ban asked again.

“That’s possible too, I’ve recorded the names and information of the deceased, and I can go investigate them tomorrow.”

As a detective, Tryst had that level of instinct.

“You two should sleep at my detective agency tonight, I’m a bit worried that other strange creatures have appeared due to the influence of the Silent Lands.”

“Yay!”

Lu Ban let out a joyful cry.

“Are monsters a common sight in the Abandoned Capital?”

It seemed that apart from the last mission involving The Madman’s Rant, Shia hadn’t come to the Abandoned Capital again and therefore wasn’t too familiar with the situation here.

“Not many, to tell the truth. Having traveled through so many Foreign Domains, I think the most dangerous thing in the Abandoned Capital is not the monsters, but the humans,”

Tryst said with a bitter smile.

After dinner, the three of them walked through the streets.

Grey Alley, just as its name implied, was located at the intersection between the rich and poor. Under the streetlamps stood many call girls, dressed in flamboyant attire but looking pallid. With money, one could spend a splendid night with them; there were also beggars, their eyes numb, void of any will.

The only thing that was less common on the streets were drunkards, because the Abandoned Capital was still under Prohibition, so those who relied on alcohol to numb themselves didn’t appear on the streets. But did the crime rate truly decrease?

Lu Ban was skeptical.

“So, because of Prohibition, some doctors might distill their own alcohol to sell. Could Doctor Howes have this hobby?”

He had seen wine in the secret chamber, and in this Prohibited Foreign Domain, such a thing was quite risky.

“It’s possible, but at least the liquor in his secret room wasn’t brewed by him. I recognize the labels on those bottles; they are produced by the Catania Family. At certain high-society gatherings, this alcohol is provided for guests to taste in private rooms. That must have been a gift from Lady Martina.”

Tryst explained.

The law of Prohibition is strict for those on the lower rungs of society, but naturally more relaxed for those at the top.

Lu Ban looked towards the wealthy district, which even at night was splendid and brightly lit, illuminating the roads of the poor district better than the streetlights here, and was more dazzling. In those houses, members of what is called high society partied night after night, and fine wine surely wouldn’t be absent from these banquets.

But due to Prohibition, they couldn’t drink openly or at social gatherings. Thus, many people would go to restrooms in banquet halls, where they would taste wines and discuss business.

A small group of people passed by the roadside, wearing ragged clothes, grimy and covered with stains that were either paint or coal and hard to wash off.

“These are workers from over there, they start their work at seven in the morning until nine at night, working six days a week. The money they earn is only enough for two people to eat. The pollution from those factories—I’m talking about the exhaust and the like—is severe, especially in recent years. A worker can last at most three years before they can no longer work, or else they die.”

Tryst said quietly to Shia and Lu Ban.

“Many of them are farmers from the wilderness outside the Abandoned Capital, dismissed by the wealthy landowners due to the adoption of new technologies, forcing these people into the Abandoned Capital. Illiterate and unskilled, they can only enter the factories, continuing to be exploited by the rich.”

“Why don’t they go to other cities, or further out into the wild?”

Shia didn’t understand.

In the Night Country, there is no such exploitation and oppression. If one cannot go to Gray Tower to study magic, they could still till the land, raise livestock, chop wood, or fish—always able to sustain oneself.

“Outside the Abandoned Capital lies barrenness, even Bounty Hunters are unwilling to waste their time there. Further away, as we experienced last time, requires a long journey and is also dangerous. Many people can’t even afford the fare.”

Tryst lit the tobacco in his pipe, inhaling the pungent scent to relieve his fatigue.

“Moreover, even if they went to another city, they might still be exploited by the power-holders there, no different at all. At least the Abandoned Capital offers more opportunities. If you’re physically fit and lucky enough to get into a Gang, you could even become an enforcer.”

“That’s terrifying.”

Shia couldn’t help but exclaim.

“That’s why I said, people in the Abandoned Capital are more terrifying than monsters. Monsters will only kill you, at least when they eat you, you won’t feel it. But this city, it makes you feel like you’re slowly being devoured by death, with the suffering lasting until you take your last breath.”

Tryst led them expertly through the streets, returning to the Trieste Detective Agency, also located at the junction of wealth and poverty.

As they opened the door, a fat Orange Cat was sitting on the couch, lazily looking up at the doorway. When it noticed Lu Ban, it suddenly sprang up, warily watching this way, then scurried off somewhere in a flash.

“I’ll go borrow two blankets, find any comfortable spot on the floor for yourselves.”

Tryst said, pointing to the cluttered ground, then headed downstairs.

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