Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 78 Departure
An army marches on its stomach; for Li Wei, the first thing to do was naturally to gather intelligence.

After some investigation, Levi finally discovered why Her Majesty the Queen was so interested in the Baskerville family.

The reason is actually not complicated: the Baskerville family are descendants of one of the twelve Knights of the Round Table who once served Emperor Arthur.

No wonder then.

The origins of the Knights of the Round Table are quite legendary. When Emperor Arthur first emerged from seclusion, he desired to unify the world. Realizing he couldn't achieve this alone, he sought out the twelve most famous heroes of the time, recruited them, and brought them under his command.

As for the process, it's similar to an RPG—the hero needs companions to defeat the demon king. The hero finds companions, but the companions are unwilling to join for various reasons. Then the hero solves the companions' problems, and the companions are moved and join the hero's ranks.

That's basically the process.

The same is true of Emperor Arthur and his twelve knights. He eventually succeeded in gathering twelve heroes and knighting them, and then embarked on the great feat of unifying the continent.

This ancestor of the Baskerville family was also said to have been abandoned in the mountains as an infant, raised by wild beasts, and eventually became the king of the forest, commanding all the wild animals. After hearing these tales, Emperor Arthur went to find him. After a series of contests, the Baskerville ancestor confirmed that Emperor Arthur was stronger than himself, and thus submitted to him, becoming Arthur's loyal knight.

After Emperor Arthur unified the continent and established the Mecaron Empire, he granted the region of Delicat to the Baskervilles.

Incidentally, of the twelve Knights of the Round Table under Emperor Arthur, six currently have their family fiefdoms within the Empire. The remaining six knights' fiefdoms are either currently located in other countries or have long since declined and disappeared into the annals of history. For the current Empire, maintaining the existence of these six knightly families represents the legitimacy of the Empire's inheritance from the Mecaron Empire. If any one of them were to disappear, it could very well shake and endanger the legitimacy of the monarchy.

No wonder the Queen entrusted Levi with solving this problem.

After gathering intelligence, Li Wei drove his new car and sputtered off.

Eileen did want to come along, but Levi considered that these missions were very dangerous, and Eileen didn't possess the same formidable attack power as Katie, so he ultimately decided to leave her at home. Besides, if Levi discovered anything there, he could use Eileen to investigate in Fog City.

In the end, Li Wei drove off alone in his brand-new steam car, chugging along the road.

Although the windows were manually operated and the seats lacked adjustment, Li Wei's vehicle was undeniably eye-catching. Driving along, it attracted the attention of many onlookers. After all, steam-powered vehicles of that era prioritized functionality over aesthetics. Li Wei's vehicle, however, clearly prioritized style over comfort; regardless of user experience, its fashionable appeal was undeniable.

Even in modern times, if you drive a Hongqi (Red Flag) and a three-wheeled motorhome, even if the former is a hundred times more expensive than the latter, people will definitely look at the three-wheeled motorhome first.

Putting everything else aside, it's rare.

As for the Hongqi? No matter how understated and luxurious it may seem, to outsiders it's just a square black iron box, with nothing particularly noteworthy about it, right?
Seeing the admiring, surprised, curious, and envious glances others cast at his car, Li Wei felt quite pleased. Although he often encountered similar situations on the street, especially from girls, to Li Wei, it was simply because he was born with it; he hadn't made any contributions, and what he already possessed was not worth mentioning.

On the contrary, this car, no matter what, was designed and manufactured according to his own drawings, so it is meaningful to receive praise and recognition.

Although Levi really wanted to drive around the entire Fog City, he suppressed his excitement and left through the southern gate of Fog City, embarking on his journey to the Delicat region.

"Put-put-put, put-put-put..."

While supercars in movies are depicted as high-speed monsters capable of accelerating to 120 km/h from a standstill, unfortunately, Levi's car, despite its supercar-like appearance, lacks supercar speed. Strictly speaking, this car is essentially an old-fashioned mobility scooter in a Ferrari shell; it's undeniably cool, but its speed... well, it only reaches a maximum of 100 km/h.

Of course, this doesn't mean steam cars can't reach higher speeds; some steam cars on the track can even reach 200 km/h. But Li Wei is using it for daily driving, not racing. Plus, given the current road conditions and the lack of traffic laws, he's worried that if it goes too fast or too low, it might end up exploding like that unlucky guy who couldn't turn. That would be quite interesting.

"Put-put-put, put-put-put..."

There were hardly any cars or people on the road, and Li Wei drove forward at a rapid pace, soon getting a little bored. There was no radio in this era, so naturally there was no broadcasting. The only thing to pass the time in the car was a cassette player. Li Wei had bought a few cassettes, but they were all classical music, making him drowsy.

This is really a bit boring.

Levi gripped the steering wheel, staring blankly ahead, his mind adrift. Bored, he began recalling the newspaper reports about Sir Baskerville's disappearance.

According to newspaper reports, on his thirty-eighth birthday, Sir Baskerville invited many prominent and influential guests from Delict to the event. These guests were well aware of the Baskerville family's influence and perhaps attended the banquet hoping to witness the spectacle firsthand. The estate was packed with people, and local police deployed dozens of officers to guard the entire estate, effectively surrounding it from the inside out.

The banquet lasted until late at night, and most of the guests took their leave and went home, but a few of Sir Baskerville's old friends stayed behind to play cards with him in the recreation room.

Then at dawn, Sir Baskerville wanted to go to the restroom, and two policemen accompanied him while the others waited at the card table.

However, they did not see Sir Baskerville return. Half an hour later, the guests, feeling something was wrong, went to find Sir Baskerville and found the bodies of two officers in his study. Sir Baskerville himself had disappeared without a trace.

After that, the group immediately called the nearby police officers on guard, but the officers said they had been on duty all night and had not seen anything.

The reporter who wrote this report clearly didn't believe it. He thought the officers must have been negligent, most likely asleep, and therefore hadn't noticed. After all, the entire estate was guarded only by the police, so it's understandable that they wanted to quickly absolve themselves of responsibility… The rest is pointless emotional venting…

"squeak-----!"

Just then, Li Wei suddenly slammed on the brakes, and the "Phantom" (this was the name Li Wei ultimately gave to his car; it was good enough that it wasn't called Death Horse) let out a low growl and came to a quick stop.

Not far in front of the car, a girl wearing a red cloak and carrying a basket was sitting on the ground, looking at the steel behemoth in front of her with fear and unease.

Li Wei stepped out of the car, his hand resting on the handle of the gun at his waist, while quickly glancing around.

Highway robbery is not unique to this world; it also existed in Li Wei's world twenty years ago. One method involved pretending to need help, luring the driver out of the car, then having others swarm in, beat the driver to death, sell the car, and steal the valuables. These were common occurrences in the past.

However, Li Wei scanned the surroundings with [Soul Vision] and did not see anyone else lying in ambush nearby.

Hmm... Could it really have been an accident?

“Excuse me, miss.” Li Wei stepped forward, lifted his hat, and nodded to the girl in the red cloak before him.

"Did it scare you?"

"ah……………"

Upon seeing Li Wei, a blush immediately appeared on the girl in the red cloak. She quickly lowered her head shyly, then took Li Wei's outstretched hand and stood up.

"Are you injured?"

"No, no, it's nothing. I'm sorry, it's my fault... I shouldn't have suddenly come out..."

"No, it's my fault for getting distracted."

Actually, the girl in the red cloak wasn't wrong. Li Wei saw her suddenly emerge from the intersection, which is why he quickly slammed on the brakes.

Li Wei helped the girl up and carefully examined her. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with brown hair and a rather cute appearance. She was wearing a long dress often worn by farm girls, with a red cloak draped over her shoulders. Judging from the calluses on her hands, she must have been a frequent farm worker. She fit the typical characteristics of a rural girl.

…………………Um?

Why does this look like I've seen it somewhere before?
"Speaking of which, miss, what are you doing here all alone?"

Li Wei glanced around and asked, "Although the national highway is indeed unobstructed, this place is far from any village or shop. It is very rare for a young girl to appear here alone in this era."

"I was just about to go to the village ahead, I'm so sorry about earlier..."

"If you don't mind, how about I give you a ride?"

"Huh? Is that okay?"

The girl was clearly quite surprised by Li Wei's invitation.

"Of course, I'm going to Delicatus anyway, so it's just on the way."

"Really?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's answer, the girl smiled with delight.

“That’s great. The village I need to go to is in the mountains near Delicat. Could you please give me a ride?”

"of course can."

As Li Wei spoke, he opened the car door and gestured to the girl, inviting her to sit down. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at the seat before cautiously taking her place.

Then, Li Wei got back into the car and set off again.

On the vehicle, the girl was clearly quite curious about it. She held the basket in her arms and kept looking around, as if everything here was strange and wonderful.

"Wow... sir, is this a steam car?"

"That's right, have you seen it before?"

“I’ve seen them a few times on the roadside before, but they don’t seem quite the same as your car…”

"Hehe, this is the latest release, so of course it's different from the previous ones."

Hearing the girl's sentiments, Li Wei chuckled. Sure enough, it was more interesting to have someone to talk to on the road.

Driving alone is so boring.

Do you go there often?

“Sometimes I go, but it’s too far. If you hadn’t taken me, I probably wouldn’t have gotten there until dark.”

"That's very dangerous. By the way, what are you going to that village for?"

"Ah, I'm going to visit my grandmother."

The girl spoke happily.

“My grandma lives there. Actually, I want to live with her too, but my parents work at the forest farm here, so I can only visit her when I have time, bringing some food and wine. Grandma is so good to me; this red cloak was sewn for me by hand!”

"Yes, that's wonderful... um?"

As Li Wei was speaking, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

Why does this sound so familiar?

(End of this chapter)