Pitedo Street, Unit 4-6
Mewww
"Hihihi"
The playful, innocent giggle of a little girl echoed through the room, accompanied by a soft purr that, despite the noise in the room, could still be heard.
Purrr
The black cat buried her nose in the little girl's cheek, followed by a lick just below her eye.
Susan could only laugh even harder at that.
"Madam Dolly, stop! Hihihi. That tickles!"
The well-mannered cat didn't even hear her owner's request; she just kept licking energetically. She even stepped up her attack with a purr so intense it made her visibly vibrate.
It almost seemed as if she were scolding the little girl, saying, 'Where have you been all this time? Do you have any idea how much I missed you? I could only eat half as much as usual because of you!'
Watching her granddaughter with a teacup in her hand, Analia smiled softly, murmuring to herself. "Sigh. That girl—the first night she was out, she wouldn't stop asking me if Dolly would miss her and not forget her…"
She shook her head twice.
Truly, the wonders of childhood.
The elderly but still lively woman turned her attention back to the sofa in front of her. Her smile widened slightly and took on a wiser look.
"Once again, thank you so much for looking after Dolly, Detective Moriarty."
"It was no trouble at all," Sherlock Moriarty replied politely, a cup of tea in his own hands.
Normally, he would have declined the offer, not wanting to bother the woman who had just returned from her short trip. But that same woman had proven to be very persuasive.
Taking a small sip from his cup, Klein sighed at the warmth that filled his body.
'Truly, there's nothing better than hot tea in weather like this…' Controlling the muscles of his face, the corners of his lips curved slightly, "What did you want to talk to me about, Mrs. Analia?"
Although he'd decided to stay out of respect for an elderly person's request, another reason he hadn't walked out the door the moment the grandmother and granddaughter crossed the threshold was that the former had said she had something else she wanted to discuss.
With a potential job so close at hand, how could he say no?
Although he now had money thanks to his dealings at the Tarot Club, he knew how quickly it would disappear as soon as he needed ingredients or artifacts, so it was always better to make a little extra.
As they say, the grind never stops.
Analia exhaled deeply; her cup touched its saucer with a soft clink.
"As you'd expect from a detective, straight to the point." The woman's face lost some of its youthful glow, leaving only the specks of age.
With her hands now free and resting on her knees, Analia looked at the detective.
"I have another job for you. One that, if anything, requires more of your expert eye than your hands…" Pausing for a moment, the older woman looked at her granddaughter.
"Susan, dear, could you give the detective and me some time to talk?"
"Okyyy." Still holding the purring cat in her arms, Susan nodded and, running toward her room, called out one last thing. "Thanks again, Mister!"
Tap tap tap tap… Click.
The sound of the little girl's feet, as well as her giggle, faded down the hallway, abruptly cut off by the soft but still somewhat excited click of a door closing.
Faced with her granddaughter's behavior, Analia could only shake her head with a small smile as she recalled her own long-gone childhood.
"Hehe. When I was her age, I would have made the house shake from how hard I slammed the door…"
Klein watched her without saying a word, letting the lady have her moment. A part of his mind was wandering a bit.
'She looks good for her age, but Ms. Analia is already an elderly person. When you reach that age, it's hard to stop talking once you open your mouth. My old boss was like that… That old man…' Lamponing a bit while listening attentively to the woman in front of him, Klein took another sip of his tea.
He wasn't in any particular hurry, so he could wait a little.
Two minutes later, realizing she had strayed a bit from the topic and apologizing for it, Analia returned to explaining why she had asked him to stay.
"I'd like you to investigate a place, Detective. I hope it's not too much trouble for you."
"Could you tell me a little more? I need more information before I make a decision."
"Of course," Analia nodded, taking a brief breath before continuing.
"When I was still a child, I lived in the Oldeah District, in the 6th village, Meruiem. I had a neighbor who was a good friend of mine back then, a nice girl named Morga.
"Together with another group of children, we would go to the Lumea Forest and play at its edges, even though our parents didn't want us to.
"Back then, there was a horror story that parents always told their children to keep them from going near the forest at night…" Closing her eyes, the woman assumed the same posture her mother had once used to tell it.
"If you're inside the Lumea Forest on nights when there isn't a single cloud in the sky, and the full moon is out, a whistle will be heard throughout the trees and shadows.
"If you hear the whistle nearby, it's because the one whistling is far away… But if you hear it from far away, it's already too late. He has seen you, and he will put you in his sack where you will join the bones of all those who dared to pass through his forest."
Opening her eyes again, Analia sighed.
"The Lumea Forest, while relatively safe at the edges, is very easy to get distracted in and wander too far, getting lost before you even realize it. That's why the story exists—to keep children or anyone else from venturing too deep and getting lost. Which is exactly what happened to Morga…"
Pausing, Analia's gaze clouded over, and an invisible weight seemed to settle on her shoulders.
Clenching her hands into fists that were surprisingly strong for someone her age, she murmured to herself, her voice barely a whisper.
"They were supposed to be just stories…"
"Mrs. Analia?" Not wanting the woman to get lost at such an interesting point in the story, Klein intervened at just the right moment.
'Luckily, the teapot is here,' the detective thought without taking his eyes off the woman, and he casually poured himself his third cup.
"Ah, excuse me," inhaling softly, Analia continued, "one night, when Morga and I were 12, we snuck out at night to play with other kids from the village in the woods, just like we used to do.
"It was our little escape; our parents were pretty strict and wouldn't let us play until we finished our homework. Other kids joined us, and we formed a little group.
"We did everything—hide-and-seek, tag, cops and robbers, or picking berries," Analia smiled wistfully, "those were good times."
Suddenly, the smile faded, and her expression turned bitter. "That night when we were 12, the sky was clear, and the moon was full—without the city lights or buildings getting in the way, it's truly a sight to behold.
"We always heard the same story from our parents about the whistles, but we never believed it. They were just stories, like the one about how if you don't drink your orange juice quickly, the vitamin escapes from the glass—I'm getting off topic again."
Closing her eyes and gathering her thoughts, Analia continued, her gaze drifting away for a moment, "That night went on like any of our other escapades. We'd been out under the full moon before, so it wasn't anything new…
"We were in the middle of a game of hide-and-seek when the whistling started."
A chill ran down Klein's spine. The rim of his cup brushed against his lips, and the smooth liquid trembled slightly.
'A reminder of my spirituality? Is there something supernatural about this?' The man's interest spiked, but his expression showed no reaction.
Unaware of what had just happened, Analia lowered her gaze to the floor.
"At first, we all froze, not believing what was happening. The whistling was so close that even if it had been night and there hadn't been a full moon, we would have seen who was doing it…
"But there was no one there.
"Instead, the whistling only grew louder. Naturally, we ran. The whistle just kept getting louder, no matter how fast I ran, and before I knew it, I was already at the edges of the forest along with the rest…"
Silence filled the cozy living room once more, but this time it was accompanied by a strange, heavy aura, broken by a voice on the verge of breaking.
"Everyone except Morga…"
Klein listened intently with a calm expression. Halfway through the story, he had pulled out a small notebook, filling its pages with notes and observations.
Although he could later recall the details of this conversation with the help of dream divination, he wouldn't do that. Playing the role of Detective Sherlock Moriarty, he had to stick to the part. The last thing he wanted was to ruin the name he had chosen.
'Besides, if that guy finds out I did it, he won't let it slide…' Controlling his expression slightly, Klein nodded.
Finishing writing down what the woman had just said, the detective looked up, his focused gaze meeting Analia's lost one.
Without raising his voice or losing his calm, Klein asked, "What happened next?"
"The whistling was still ringing out just a few steps away from us, so we ran to our homes and called for help. Only when we left the forest did the whistling stop…"
There was a seven-second silence, but soon Analia continued recounting the events of that night.
"Morga's parents immediately went out to look for her along with other adults armed with knives, while others went to get the police.
"She wasn't found that night."
TapTapTap
Raindrops pounded hard against the unit's window. It almost seemed as if they would shatter it, yet they always fell just short.
With a distant look in her eyes, Analia ended her story with a silent sigh.
"Two hours later, a search and rescue team had already been formed. It took 10 days, but we managed to find her… 15 kilometers from the deepest part of the forest where she disappeared, one of the search dogs found her sleeping among the roots of a tree."
'They found her?' Klein watched all this with a slight frown. The woman's demeanor contradicted what she was saying.
'If Morga was rescued, then why is she talking about her as if she had died? Did something happen to the girl while she was lost? Did she come back different?'
Without wasting a second, he asked, "What condition was Morga in when she was found?"
"As if she'd just stepped out of a beauty salon."
"…"
"The rescuers had the same look on their faces when they saw her. Heh heh," Analia couldn't help but laugh under her breath, "The only injuries she had were a few scrapes; she wasn't even thirsty or hungry."
"How is that possible?" Klein didn't try to hide his disbelief.
He had seen how dense the Lumea Forest was. That a child had not only survived ten days alone in there, but showed no injuries or severe dehydration, made no sense.
Without needing to ask such an obvious question, Analia replied.
"She said that 'The Spirit' took care of her."
'Where is this going?' Feeling his eyebrow twitch, Klein noted what was said without expression.
Not much information came after.
Morga answered several questions about The Spirit, but none of the answers made sense to the adults and Analia was unable to repeat them after so much time had passed since the incident. After spending a few days in the hospital to ensure there were no issues with her, Morga was discharged and went on with her life as if nothing had happened. She eventually started a family about 20 years later.
Pausing his writing to scratch his cheek, Klein sighed.
"What does what you just said have to do with the place you want me to investigate?"
"No matter what they say, the Morga who came out of the forest wasn't the one I knew." Analia wasn't fazed by the question; she just frowned.
Lowering her gaze, she added, "She was… different."
"…" Klein didn't respond immediately; he just looked calmly at the woman in front of him.
After 10 seconds of silence, he revealed his thoughts on the place she wanted him to investigate.
"Is it the place you want me to investigate—the 6th village, Meruiem?"
"…That's right." Looking up again and taking a deep breath, Analia nodded.
"We might be moving to that village by the end of this year because of her father's work. I want you to investigate whether the stories about the Spirit still exist or if there have been any other cases similar to Morga's. I don't want Susan to go through what I went through."
With that, she took some yellow bills out of her small purse and slid them toward him.
"This is the payment for the consultation."
Without changing his expression, Klein silently took the money and put it in his vest.
"May I use your bathroom for a moment?" he said suddenly.
"Ah, s-sure. It's at the end of the hall, second door on the right." Analia stumbled over her words at such a sudden question.
Still expressionless, Sherlock Moriarty gave a polite nod and rose from his seat, heading toward the bathroom. Watching his back, a thought crossed the woman's mind.
'Mr. Moriarty really loves tea. Though he should watch how much he drinks if that's all it takes to send him to the bathroom…'
Locking the door behind him, Klein could only sigh in frustration.
He really needed to come up with a better excuse…
Putting that aside, the man raised a wall of spirituality and, after taking four steps counterclockwise, ascended to Sefirah Castle.
Taking his place in the seat of honor, the detective extended his left arm, and a topaz pendulum hung from it.
The reaction of his spirituality, combined with Analia's story, made it obvious that the place he was about to see was no ordinary place. And since it was the sixth village—which also meant it was one of the oldest places in all of Lenburg—it raised the possibility of hidden danger.
A divination was necessary before doing anything else.
Closing his eyes and entering a semi-meditative state, Klein repeated seven times in his mind.
'Investigating the Meruiem village is dangerous… Investigating the Meruiem village is dangerous.'
On the seventh repetition, the detective opened his eyes.
The pendulum was swinging at a decent speed in a clockwise direction.
'There is danger, but it's manageable… Preparations are necessary.' With a plan of action already forming in his mind, Klein made another divination.
'I must accept this request… I must accept this request…'
When he opened his eyes once again and looked at his wrist, the pendulum was swinging in a clockwise direction, even faster than before.
'Positive…'
Lightly tapping his armrest, Klein took a moment to consider his next move.
Meruiem brought danger, but it also brought something that would benefit him—the recent divination proved it.
'Even if there's a possibility of treasure, extreme caution is necessary…' Finally reaching a decision, the Fool closed his eyes and simulated the sensation of falling, leaving this palace.
Although he could obtain much more information if he used Joa's seat as fuel to boost the power of his divination, he preferred to save that for more dangerous cases. Besides, the seat still needed recharging after its last test.
Tap Tap Tap
Returning to the room and apologizing to the woman for his sudden departure, the detective took his seat in front of her again.
"I'll take this job. I'll bring you news in two weeks at the latest."
He still had the matter of the possible Card of Blasphemy to deal with. Everything else could wait. In any case, if it really was there, obtaining it would make this assignment much easier.
"Sigh. Praise be to Knowledge." Visibly more relaxed, Analia nodded, "All right. I'm not in a hurry for answers.
"How much would this cost?"
The detective thought about it for a moment and, after a quick calculation, nodded.
"Considering the trip as well as the time this might take, 9 sassem would be enough," Klein replied casually.
One of the woman's eyelashes fluttered for an instant.
That was a bit pricey.
Analia considered whether she should haggle for a lower price. But remembering that night again, she could only grit her teeth and accept.
After the woman checked her savings and paid him the agreed-upon amount, Klein turned to a page in his notebook. The tip of his pencil was freshly sharpened.
"Could you tell me a little more about Morga?"