Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 83 Midnight Festival
When the hunting party returned, the whole village was as lively as if it were New Year's Day.

The brothers Charlie, leading the way, strutted around with their chests puffed out and heads held high, carrying a thick wooden stick with a huge, jet-black beast tied to it. The others followed excitedly beside them, appearing quite thrilled and excited as well.

"That's the damn monster!"

The hunting party threw the monster to the ground and then shouted loudly.

"It's tall and imposing, but cowardly as a mouse! Perhaps it's a terrifying killer at night, but by day, it's just a rather ferocious wild beast!"

"Wow..."

The villagers screamed and crowded around, and Li Wei also stepped forward to observe the huge monster.

Its size was roughly as Levi had anticipated, quite large, requiring eight members of the hunting party to move it. Its appearance was somewhat of a hybrid of a gorilla and a wolf, with a robust upper body and a slightly slender lower body. Its head was long like a wolf's, and its open mouth revealed a scarlet tongue and sharp teeth.

But what concerned Li Wei most were the monster's claws. Its claws were large and wide, with sharp, dagger-like teeth. Judging from the marks and their shape, they did indeed match the wounds on the victim's body.

But... this is too fast.

Before we could even get any results from our investigation, they'd already caught the culprit?
"Hey, detective!"

At that moment, Charlie and Tommy also spotted Levi in ​​the crowd and shouted at him!
"This is the wolf that killed the Frazier family! Isn't it!"

"Um……………"

Li Wei stepped forward and carefully examined the giant wolf before him, especially its claws, before nodding slightly.

"Judging from the traces, they are very similar."

"Oooo!!!"

Upon hearing Levi's answer, the surrounding villagers cheered, while Charlie and Tommy, carrying their hunting rifles, looked at Levi defiantly.

"That's the end of your detective game, kid."

"Maybe."

Faced with the brothers' provocation, Li Wei remained calm. However, he then looked at the monster and said something.

"Sell me this monster."

"...Huh?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's sudden request, everyone was taken aback, and even the cheers subsided considerably.

"I'm saying, since you guys don't need this monster anyway, why don't I buy it and dissect it to see what it is? I'm quite interested in this monster."

"…………"

Faced with Levi's request, everyone involuntarily turned their gaze to Charlie and Tommy. After all, they were the ones who killed the monster, so naturally, the right to dispose of it lay in their hands. The two brothers exchanged a glance, and then the elder brother, Charlie, frowned.

"us……………"

"Ten pounds coin."

Li Wei didn't even bother to listen to their excuses and directly played his trump card.

When the villagers heard Li Wei's offer, they were all stunned. That was ten pounds of gold coins!

Indeed, this monster is very strange; many villagers have never seen such a bizarre-looking animal before. But this monster can actually sell for ten pounds of gold?!
Li Wei looked around to make sure the villagers were watching him before he spoke.

“I’ve always doubted whether such monsters truly exist, but now it seems they do live here. Therefore, I’m willing to buy this monster’s corpse and take it back for research. And…”

At this point, Li Wei raised his voice, causing the surrounding villagers to stop.

"I believe there might be similar monsters around here. If any of you have seen one, please let me know. I'd like to capture one alive. Of course, I'm willing to pay one hundred pounds for a live one! Even if it's just information, as long as it's confirmed to be true, I'll pay one pound as a reward!"

"———————!"

Upon hearing the words "one hundred pounds," the villagers erupted in excitement, even more so than when they had witnessed the monster. After all, a piece of news was worth a pound, and capturing another monster alive would net them a bounty of one hundred pounds!
As for whether Li Wei was just talking nonsense, no one doubted it, after all, that strangely shaped and seemingly expensive steam car was still parked in the village!
Someone who owns a car like that must be rich!
"Where is the body?"

Soon, someone shouted it out.

"Same, ten pounds."

Li Wei spoke with a smile, glancing at the Charlie brothers. Although they were still smiling, their expressions were somewhat stiff, as if they had only realized it was ginger when they put a chicken leg in their mouths.

Li Wei smiled slightly at the two brothers.

"I look forward to working with you again."

"There will be no more monsters."

Tommy, the younger brother, stared at Li Wei and said in a low voice.

“There aren’t that many monsters here, only this one. We’ve searched it, and it doesn’t have any cubs, so you’re going to be disappointed.”

"Then I have nothing to be disappointed about."

Li Wei held his cane and pointed at the monster's corpse.

"So, are you willing to sell it to me?"

"us……………"

Tommy was about to speak when Charlie interrupted him.

"We need to think about it."

"OK then."

Li Wei nodded.

"Now that things are over, I will leave first thing tomorrow morning. I hope to receive your reply before then."

After saying this, Li Wei reached out and touched the brim of his hat, nodded to the two brothers, and then turned and left.

Watching Li Wei disappear into the crowd, the two brothers remained silent, their expressions shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Clearly, this was not an easy decision for them.

Then, at night, the banquet began.

People sang and danced, jumping around the bonfire in the village, eating fresh roasted meat, and drinking beer in large gulps, creating a scene of revelry.

Li Wei stood on the balcony on the second floor of the tavern, watching the revelers below, remaining silent.

Li Wei had already heard the villagers boast about how the hunting party dealt with the monster. They came to the entrance of the cave where the wolf god once lived, and then they used a wild rabbit as bait to place at the entrance. After the monster appeared, they first set fire to block the way back to the cave, and then the others opened fire on the monster.

But the monster darted left and right, lunging at the Charlie brothers. The others fled in panic, but the Charlie brothers remained unfazed, standing there with their guns raised, aiming at the monster, and killing it with a few bangs.

That was really brave, and the whole process was... quite interesting, wasn't it?

In Li Wei's view, the villagers' accounts of the hunting process were quite interesting. "Knock knock."

A knock sounded on the door, and Li Wei spoke without turning his head.

"Come in."

The door opened, and then Little Red Riding Hood walked in.

"it's me."

The girl, still wearing her red cloak, slowly walked to Li Wei's side and whispered.

"are you OK?"

"Ok?"

"I mean... that..."

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry."

Li Wei waved his hand.

"Isn't it a good thing that the threat has been eliminated for everyone?"

"Then...would you like to come to the banquet with me?"

Little Red Riding Hood looked at Li Wei and invited him in a low voice. Her face was slightly flushed, and she kept rubbing the edge of her red cloak with her hands.

"Everyone's dancing down there, if you'd like..."

"I'm not really suited to be in this situation."

Li Wei watched the men and women singing and dancing around the campfire with a calm expression.

"Thank you, miss. But I'd like to be alone for a while now. Or do you have any information about that monster to tell me?"

"…………………Feel sorry."

"It's nothing, thank you for your kindness, it's just that I'm not very good at these lively occasions..."

Little Red Riding Hood lowered her head and was about to turn and leave, but just then, Li Wei called her back again.

"By the way, I haven't seen Mick. Where did he go?"

"Mick?"

Little Red Riding Hood paused, taken aback by Li Wei's question. Mick was the vagrant who had previously claimed Li Wei had stolen the wolf's head, but…

"Huh? Come to think of it, I haven't seen Mick either. That's strange, he usually loves this kind of lively atmosphere."

Little Red Riding Hood had a deep impression of Mick. Every village had a scoundrel like Mick, and it was hard for anyone not to remember him. Logically speaking, if there was a festival or party in the village, he would be more enthusiastic than anyone else, eating and drinking to his heart's content, taking whatever he could get, and always liking to take advantage of the girls.

But today... I don't think I've actually seen him?
Did he go to join a hunting party?

“Mick? No, he’s not that kind of brave person. He’s not in the hunting party.”

Little Red Riding Hood clearly didn't like this lazy, good-for-nothing scoundrel, and looked at him with disdain.

"Perhaps he, like me, is enjoying this festival in his own way."

Li Wei revealed a meaningful smile as he stared at the festival square. There, people surrounded the giant wolf's corpse, singing and dancing.

Seeing the expression on Li Wei's face, Little Red Riding Hood blushed even more. She hesitated for a moment and then whispered.

"Well, shall I go get you something to eat, Mr. Detective?"

"Thank you."

Having received a response from Li Wei, Little Red Riding Hood happily left, while Li Wei remained standing on the balcony, staring silently at the crowd not far away.

Behind Li Wei, a huge black shadow silently appeared on the roof, its dim yellow eyes staring fiercely at Li Wei.

Then, the dark figure leaped down and pounced straight at Li Wei!

Li Wei did not react to the attack from the shadowy figure, as if he had not noticed it at all.

The claws slashed downwards, aiming for Li Wei's back. One strike would kill him instantly, just like everyone else, without a sound or any pain...

However, at that moment, a strange thing happened.

Just as the claw was about to touch Li Wei, he suddenly disappeared!

This sudden accident clearly surprised the shadowy figure as well. Then it saw a black cat lying where Li Wei had been standing. The cat raised its head, stared at it, and then—its body instantly disintegrated.

"Whoosh—!"

The sharp blades that shot out from the black cat's body unfolded layer upon layer like blooming flowers, and the black shadow was unable to dodge in time, crashing headfirst into them!
Then, the petals formed by the sharp blades suddenly tightened like a carnivorous plant, biting down hard on the shadow!

"boom!"

The villagers, who were singing and dancing in the square, turned around in surprise. Then, they saw another huge black wolf monster suddenly fall from the tavern balcony and crash heavily to the ground.

The once bustling square instantly fell silent, followed by screams.

The villagers, who had just been enjoying the excitement and joy, were now screaming in terror and scattering in all directions. They had no idea that there was more than one monster!
"Detective!"

Little Red Riding Hood was also taken aback. She instinctively tried to rush towards the inn, but just then, a hand reached out from beside her and pressed down on her shoulder. Little Red Riding Hood turned around, surprised to see Li Wei had appeared beside her at some point.

"Hey? Detective? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine."

Li Wei remained calm as he watched the struggling shadow on the ground, then raised the Persuader in his hand.

His [Puppeteer] skill has been upgraded to LV3. In addition to having a wider range of manipulation and being able to control more puppets, Li Wei has also gained a special ability as a result.

【Teleportation】!
To put it simply, Li Wei can instantly switch positions with the puppet. For Li Wei, this means he has gained another life-saving skill. At least in this way, he will be more able to protect himself in similar situations.

Just like now.

"roar-----!"

The monster had broken free of the trap, and the blade, which was strong enough to cut through a human body, had only left a few bloody marks on its body.

He is really thick-skinned.

Li Wei silently loaded the bullets, then raised the muzzle of his gun and stared at the other man.

The latter also raised his head and stared fiercely at Li Wei.

Then, with a roar, the giant black wolf charged forward, rushing towards its prey!
(End of this chapter)