Detective Agency of the Bizarre

The translucent ghost drifted gently into the couch and sat down with a noble posture—perhaps not perfectly, but it sufficed to deceive Lu Li.

Behind the desk, Lu Li calmly recounted the events that transpired after daybreak.

After sitting for a while, Anna felt uncomfortable because she couldn't actually touch the surrounding objects; sitting was just an illusion, so she floated back to the front of the desk.

"In the end, I returned to the Detective Agency with your portrait and sculpture."

Lu Li put an end to his narration.

Beneath the oil lamp, Anna leaned forward toward Lu Li. Her face, as delicate as a doll's, showed a hint of blush, and her clear eyes sparkled as if a myriad of stars twinkled within, conveying a message, "So it was you who bought me?"

"Strictly speaking, it was to settle a debt," Lu Li answered, perhaps without noticing the change in the atmosphere.

Or perhaps he noticed it but didn't care.

"I thought you would act like you really wanted to return to the gallery."

"It's not too bad," Anna said, her attention easily diverted, realizing she was too close to Lu Li and retracting to the other side of the desk. It was unclear if the flush on her cheeks was from the oil lamp's glow or something else.

"The gallery isn't my home; besides, it's so empty there, with all those scary ghosts."

Anna didn't realize at all that she was part of the "scary ghosts" she mentioned.

"I've dealt with the ghosts in the gallery; it's safe there now," Lu Li replied as expected.

Anna, mistaking this for a sign Lu Li didn't welcome her, hung her head down, her face falling into shadow, her expression unclear, yet one could still catch the faint sound of her sobbing, hovering on the edge of perception.

Lu Li, still poker-faced, said, "No... I mean, you can stay here."

Anna quietly lifted her head.

Lu Li continued, "But I might need your help for a long time going forward. To put it simply: I'm going to employ you. And the job of an Exorcist like me is bound to be dangerous."

In a cautious tone, Anna asked, "Will I get paid then?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Can you spend money?"

"No... I guess not..."

"So why should I give you money?"

"Right, right... oh..."

Having it put that way by Lu Li, Anna also felt it might be a bit much to ask for a salary.

Lu Li leaned forward, his arms resting on the desk, hands crossed and placed in front of his lips in quiet contemplation over how to arrange things for Anna.

Despite having a ghost as a new staff member at the Detective Agency, he didn't plan to do anything special. Lu Li was casual and free-spirited; he didn't like creating rules, including forcing Anna to follow his orders.

He began, "Firstly, I want to apologize for bringing you here. In any case, it was wrong of me not to ask for your opinion as the person involved."

"It's not a big deal..." Anna interrupted with a scratch of her head and a silly laugh, midway through Lu Li's apology.

"I detest unnecessary trouble and complicated rules. So, I won't impose restrictions on you. You can stay here freely, or even outside, do whatever you want, except commit crimes. However, it's best not to stray too far from me. After all, there are many Exorcists like me in this world, but not all are as easy to talk to as I am," Lu Li's calm gaze fixed on Anna, undisturbed by the emotions on her face, he continued.

"If a new assignment comes up, I'll ask if you'd like to accompany me instead of forcing you. In other words, you are actually free. I wouldn't bother about what you'd like to do unless I was worried it would cause trouble. With that said, how does this sound to you?"

It took Anna a few dozen seconds after Lu Li's question before she snapped out of her reverie, "Uh... is that okay?"

"Although I brought your portrait with me, we're not in a superior-subordinate relationship," Lu Li said, leaning back into his chair. "If I had to describe it, we're more like friends who, due to various reasons, need to live together but aren't quite familiar with each other just yet."

"Living together..."

Adolescent girls tend to fixate on strange words, twisting their intended meanings.

But speaking of which, this proposal was good for both parties.

Anna gained the novelty she desired, as well as life. Lu Li got a ghostly assistant without the need to pay wages.

A win-win.

With Anna's living situation resolved, what remained were some questions about the nature of ghosts.

"Can you feel the restrictions the portrait imposes on you?"

Anna hesitated, then nodded, and shook her head again, "Your question is too general."

"Then I'll break it down. First, can you only appear after nightfall?"

"I think I can come out at other times too, but I've never tried… The gallery has employees and visitors during the day, I don't want to scare them."

"Does the daylight or a bright environment cause you harm?"

"Brightness doesn't, but I don't know about the daylight… After all, I only come out at night."

"How long can you come out each day?"

"Usually for an entire evening… I get tired by morning and have to go back into the painting to rest."

"Tired?"

"It's like feeling sleepy when I was alive."

"Resting?"

"It's similar to sleeping… When I wake up, I don't feel tired anymore."

"So, other than having your days and nights flipped, you're not much different from ordinary people?"

"Um… That's right."

"Can you use any abilities?"

"Huh? What abilities?"

"Special abilities of ghosts, like Asina's… gut attacks, or Lucy's visual shielding, and making the surroundings untidy."

"I always feel like what you say about Daisy is a bit off… Let me try."

Clap—

"Wow, it actually works."

"Next time, you can try with an empty cup, water on the floor will reduce its lifespan."

"Oh."

"So, your ability is similar to telekinesis."

"What does telekinesis mean?"

"Taking the literal meaning, it's the power of thought, which can manipulate things around based on one's ideas."

"Oh~"

Wipe—

"Huff… huff... this chair is so heavy."

"So, your current maximum ability is just to move the chair a little?"

"Er…"

"That's not too bad. So does using your ability consume anything, like physical energy?"

"It seems so, I feel a bit tired."

"And when you're tired, you go back to the painting to rest, right?"

"Yeah!"

The round of questions came to a temporary close, and Anna also asked some questions, such as what an Exorcist is, and why the gun Lu Li carried could harm ghosts.

At two in the morning, Lu Li asked Anna to go back into the oil painting to rest, to come out after daylight and try if ghosts could move about during the day.

As Anna returned to the painting, the Detective Agency fell back into dead silence, the sculpture by the door remained still, still not awakened.

Was it because she left the gallery, or some other reason?

Time gradually passed.

At 5:00 AM, a hint of white light began to show on the horizon, and people started to appear on the streets.

At a certain point, Anna drifted out of the oil painting, inevitably drawn to the dim scene outside the window screen, floating to the window, her fingers brushing the light curtain.

The hustle and bustle of the cobblestone road and its pedestrians crashed into Anna's mind, and for a moment she felt alive again, no longer belonging to the night.

She turned her gaze, staring at a figure behind the desk.

"Good morning, Anna."

He said calmly.