Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 40: Joint Operation

Levi had often seen this kind of scene in movies and games: a group of people knew that there was a ghost inside the house, yet they still insisted on going in to search for it.

After a pile of them died, the surviving protagonist finally decided to burn down the house and completely destroy it.

Whenever he saw such a plot, Levi always had one thought—couldn’t they just skip all those boring middle steps and go straight to burning the house down in one go?

Unfortunately…………

“We can’t do that.”

The Old Butler looked at Levi, his face full of exasperation.

“Why not? That house is unowned now, right? Besides, we already have enough evidence to prove its danger. Can’t we just set a fire and burn it down, then say it was an accidental fire and be done with it?”

Levi sipped his tea calmly as he spoke.

By the way, Katie had gone home to rest.

Tonight’s experience had clearly been a serious blow to the young lady’s spirit—well, Levi could understand.

In his opinion, if she had crossed into the world of Resident Evil, she might have been able to spar with a Tyrant.

But if she had been sent into Sadako’s world, she’d probably be shivering in front of the television.

To be honest, Levi also felt a little uneasy inside.

Like Katie, he wasn’t bothered by problems that could be solved physically.

But those that couldn’t be solved physically… that was another matter.

So things like murderers or vampires—Levi wasn’t afraid of them at all.

But curses, ghosts, and the like… hmm, Levi thought that in such matters, it was only right to follow one’s heart.

After all, he wasn’t some lone dog without support—he had the state at his back, a position, and an organization.

Why should he solve problems like he was grinding mobs in the wild?

“At present, that house still belongs to a certain family.

They simply don’t plan to live there anymore.

From the perspective of authority, we could indeed do this, and we also have reason to do it, but clearly, we cannot.”

The Old Butler spoke in circles, but Levi still understood what he meant.

In short—it wasn’t allowed.

“Then I hope you can dispatch a team to act with me.”

Since he had an organization now, Levi naturally intended to follow the principle of “better them than me.” Anyway, he wasn’t going in alone.

With more people, there would be more hope of survival, right?

If it were just gathering intelligence, Levi preferred to act alone or with Katie.

But this was no longer mere investigation—it was like entering a dungeon to fight a BOSS.

So what Levi had to do was pull people together for a team.

“No problem.”

“And also, I think the operating procedures for these investigation teams should be standardized.”

“Standardized?”

“That’s right.”

Through this investigation, Levi had realized that this newly-founded department had many problems—for example, nobody knew exactly what they were supposed to do, so they just acted based on personal experience, however they pleased.

If their opponents had merely been gangs or foreign spies, granting some autonomy might have been fine.

But clearly, the enemies they faced now were not ones that could be solved by guns alone.

So Levi had been thinking.

On the way here, he had adjusted the process once.

Now he took out his notebook and handed it to the Old Butler, who carefully began reading it.

“………First, gather rumors, determine the target’s value, then submit a report. The core department assesses the target’s danger level, then an action is carried out………”

“Exactly.”

Levi nodded.

“From what we’ve seen so far, the existence of these mysterious events seems strongly related to people’s inner impressions of them. That means, by collecting local rumors about mysterious incidents, we can roughly grade the danger level of our targets. If there are no deaths, just some pranks, then the danger is low. But if there is enough evidence proving that not only have people died, but many people have died, then we should consider sending reinforcements, or handing it to a higher-level investigation team.”

“So, the more deaths, the greater the danger?”

“From what we’ve seen so far, yes, that’s the conclusion. That’s why I think this incident might actually be more dangerous than the Courtesan Killer or the Vampire. After all, those two cases didn’t claim many lives. But regarding the ‘House of Death’……… just the officially recorded deaths are already in double digits, not even counting the missing.”

“Indeed.”

The Old Butler’s expression became serious.

He carefully went through the official records, his face tense.

“Hmm, yes. Because too much time has passed, it wasn’t taken seriously. But if we limit it to this particular house……… it really does seem problematic.”

“So, can we burn it down directly?”

“No, Mr. Levi.”

Levi smiled again as he made the request, and the Old Butler smiled again as he refused.

“All of this is still your speculation and deduction, without concrete evidence. That’s why you need to go personally to investigate, and preferably bring back some proof. That will help us later persuade other departments to assist us in carrying out some———large-scale destructive actions.”

“All right, though I already guessed you’d say that.”

Even though the Old Butler had rejected his request again, Levi wasn’t particularly discouraged.

He knew the Old Butler wasn’t making things difficult for him.

Bureaucracy simply worked that way.

Especially for MI7, a newly established organization with authority far beyond the norm.

As the Old Butler said, they had to bring back some “solid evidence” to make sure other departments truly had the will to cooperate with them.

Of course, issuing orders directly by authority wasn’t impossible either, but………… well, perfunctory compliance or deliberate foot-dragging were also common symptoms of bureaucracy.

If you wanted people beneath you to work wholeheartedly, rank alone wasn’t enough.

“I understand.”

The Old Butler thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Give me two days.”

“Of course, no problem.”

Levi was happy to have another two days to slack off.

It was like a final exam—the later it came, the better.

Even a single day’s delay was good.

However, the final exam would come sooner or later.

So two days later, Levi once again came to MI7 to meet the Old Butler.

This time, however, there were more people with him.

Katie……… well, Levi already knew her, no need to mention.

When she saw him, her eyes lit up, and she waved in greeting.

It seemed that the psychological shadow from that night had already vanished—or perhaps she simply had a big heart.

“Hello, Mr. Levi.”

Next to greet Levi was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, who looked a little younger than him.

He was dressed in a flashy, fashionable way, and his looks weren’t bad—though, compared to Levi, still inferior.

“I’ve long heard of you. I’m Anthony Blunt. This time I’ll also be joining you in this investigation.”

“Hello, Mr. Anthony.”

Levi shook hands with the young man before him, who smiled slightly and stepped aside.

Next, a burly, broad-shouldered middle-aged man in military uniform stepped forward.

“Hello, I’m Henry Cast, of the Royal Marines.”

“A true soldier. I’m glad to have you with us, Mr. Henry.”

Levi was quite satisfied with Henry—he needed this kind of big, tanky man who could draw aggro.

And the last one……………

“G-greetings, sir.”

A woman in a nun’s robe quietly stepped forward, holding the All-Seeing Eye and bowing politely to Levi.

“I’m Elizabeth Delaney……… from the Puritan Sect………”

“…………………Hello, Miss Elizabeth.”

Hearing her introduction, Levi froze for a moment.

Since arriving in this world, he had read many books about the Empire and knew its history well.

That naturally included religious history.

This world’s mainstream faith was the Holy Lord Church.

Yet, as time went on, like in any religion, various divisions had appeared.

The Puritan Sect was one of them.

And it all had to be traced back to the Holy Lord Church itself.

At first, this world followed the “divine right of kings” system.

Just like the old legend of salvation, every king’s coronation had to be recognized by the Pope of the Holy Lord Church.

But as mentioned before, the Empire had gone through a long decline, while the Francis Kingdom had risen.

And the Holy Lord Church had played its own part in that.

The Church’s headquarters was in an independent territory, a neutral nation.

Every time an Emperor or Queen of the Empire ascended, the Pope would personally attend the coronation ceremony.

But during the Empire’s decline, the Pope skipped several ceremonies, citing ill health, and only sent an Archbishop instead—while personally attending coronations in the Francis Kingdom.

Naturally, this made people feel that the Empire had been abandoned by God, while the Francis Kingdom was the true chosen nation.

Later, the Empire’s lands fractured.

It was hard to say this wasn’t part of the cause.

To say the Empire held no grudge against the Holy Lord Church—impossible.

Especially now, with the steam engine and difference engine fueling the Industrial Revolution, the Empire was fiercely trying to reclaim its former status.

Revenge was inevitable.

So the Empire chose to strike the Holy Lord Church from within.

They chose the Puritan Sect.

Strictly speaking, the Puritan Sect was more of an ascetic sect.

They believed that since the Holy Lord had created the world with His own flesh and blood, then each of us was His child, spiritually connected to Him.

There was no need for the Church to meddle, no need for Bishops to impersonate divine will.

Thus, the Puritan Sect advocated abolishing the Bishop system, reducing religious festivals, and held that everyone could pray freely—there was no need to go to church at all.

As the saying goes, taking away one’s wealth is like killing one’s parents.

Naturally, the Puritan Sect’s doctrine enraged the Holy Lord Church.

If no one went to church, then who would they collect money from? Where would their authority lie?

Originally, under suppression from the Holy Lord Church, the Puritan Sect had nearly disappeared.

But just then, the Empire intervened to support it.

Now, the Empire had become the Puritan Sect’s stronghold.

Nearly two-thirds of its citizens were believers.

The reason was simple—people didn’t need to waste time going to church; they could just pray at home to the All-Seeing Eye.

And the Puritan Sect’s arguments were reasonable and convincing, giving people the sense that not going to church really didn’t matter………

So now in the Empire, churches were rare.

Only a few places kept them symbolically.

In some large cities, churches had even been converted into train stations or other public spaces……………

This infuriated the Holy Lord Church, but they could do nothing about it.

The current Queen of the Empire was no soft-hearted girl who liked dolls, but an iron-blooded ruler.

The Holy Lord Church had tried to incite believers to resist this heresy, but the Bishops either disappeared or died unexpectedly, and their protests failed in the end.

The Queen’s title of “Iron-Blooded” was thus proven not to be an exaggeration.

Now that this nun appeared here, it meant……… uh, forget it, what did it have to do with him anyway?

Levi silently pushed such thoughts aside.

Life was short—enjoy it while it lasted.

Matters like this were for Her Majesty and the bigwigs to worry about.

As a detective, all he needed to do was his job.

At that moment, Levi also understood why the Old Butler had needed two days.

This was going to be a joint operation, a big production!