Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 128 Dark Night Murder

For the passengers, this unexpected duel became their best topic of conversation to pass the time.

For Li Wei, this seemingly pointless duel was not entirely without its rewards.

"Hmm... Just as I thought."

Looking at the open suitcase in front of him, Li Wei chuckled.

According to dueling tradition, the winner is entitled to everything the loser owns. Therefore, it was only natural that all of this passenger's belongings were personally delivered to Li Wei's room by the train conductor.

As for the body, it will be cremated by the priest of the Holy Bishop and then sent back to the homeland as ashes.

Naturally, Li Wei also thoroughly searched the corpse.

Levi didn't care about pocket watches or wallets at all; instead, he was looking for something else, and... he actually found it.

"It's exactly what I expected."

What Li Wei was holding at that moment was a scrapbook, something practically extinct in the modern world, but quite common in this one. As the name suggests, a scrapbook is a collection of newspaper clippings pasted into a notebook for safekeeping.

After all, there is no internet in this world now, and no computers to store data. If humans want to search for and collect data, they still have to rely on their own hands.

The contents of this guy's clippings were quite intriguing, filled with numerous reports about the Empire and news clippings about the Empire and Melesia.

Well, as a Franciscan, he was quite concerned about the situation in the Empire and Melisia.

If the newspaper clippings only proved that the man was suspicious, then something else proved his identity.

It was a secret letter, sent from Francis and written by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Franciscan Republic. Its contents concerned the military trade relations between Francis and Melesia. For example, in this letter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs offered a very tempting condition: they could lend Melesia a loan to purchase weapons to fight the Empire, and then repay the loan gradually.

So this guy's identity is now quite obvious.

Just as Levi had predicted, this guy was indeed Francis's spy.

From the moment Li Wei first saw this man, he sensed something was off. Aside from his Franciscan identity, although the man acted frivolously, his every move exuded a trained chemistry. Even his gait and movements didn't resemble those of an ordinary playboy; instead, they were remarkably steady and graceful.

Just from his demeanor and actions, Li Wei judged that this guy was definitely not an ordinary playboy.

The current situation between Melesia and the Empire is highly volatile. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Melesia is ultimately just a territory of the Empire, and a relatively underdeveloped one at that.

They have no airships, no warships, no mechs, and no fully armed soldiers. How can they possibly fight against the Empire?

But what if Melicia has the support of the Franciscan Republic?

The two sides had trade relations as early as the Seven Years' War, and the Franciscan Republic could easily transport military equipment to Melesia via merchant ships. Hmm… perhaps this is the reason for the Empire's blockade of Melesia's maritime trade? Or does Francis have other ways to transport equipment?
What Li Wei couldn't understand was that, judging from what he saw, this guy should be carrying an important mission, so why would he be so bored as to chat up girls on his journey and even challenge him to a duel for it?
Are Franciscans really that unrestrained and free-spirited?
The last few pages of the clippings answered Li Wei's question. They contained stories about the Arctic Star and the sea monster, as well as Li Wei's photo. In the photo section, the person had even drawn a circle on Li Wei's face with a pen. Plus, in that news article, Annie was standing right next to Li Wei…

...In other words, he wasn't unaware of him, but rather he came specifically for him from the beginning?

Good heavens, this is really something.

Upon reaching the last page, Levi finally understood. It was obvious this guy had discovered he was also on the train and wanted to get rid of him. That's why he staged that whole charade; after all, it was common knowledge that Franciscans were passionate and unrestrained, and duels were a regular occurrence for them.

The male peacock was clearly quite confident in its own strength, since killing Levi in ​​front of everyone under the guise of a duel would obviously be beneficial to Francis.

Unfortunately, Li Wei was cheating.

Otherwise, it's really hard to say who will emerge victorious.

In other words... all those things that happened to the Holy Bishop were indeed the work of the Franciscan Republic.

Although I had guessed it long ago, it was still reassuring to have evidence to prove it.

You can take this letter back.

Li Wei silently put the letter into his pocket, intending to give it to the old steward later; that would surely bring him some amusement.

As for the other items, Li Wei looked them over and found they were all useless. So he set them aside, intending to return them to that unfortunate fellow the next day, along with his ashes, and send them back to Francis.

"Dong dong dong."

Just as Li Wei finished packing up and was about to rest, there was a knock on the door. Li Wei stood up and opened the door.

And standing outside the door was none other than Miss Anne.

Good evening, Mr. Li Wei.

Anne remained expressionless and calm. In truth, she wore this expression most of the time; Levi remembered the only time she had shown any joy or excitement was when he allowed her to dissect the sea monster's carcass…

"Good evening, Miss Branson. May I ask what brings you here?"

"I've come to thank you. Thank you for risking your life to help me today."

"Oh, you're welcome. Actually, strictly speaking, this isn't your responsibility..." "?"

"In short, you don't need to go to such lengths, Miss Branson."

Li Wei, of course, wouldn't tell Annie that the harassment was most likely directed at her, so she quickly changed the subject. Annie didn't ask any further questions, simply nodding. She then curtsied to Li Wei, lifted her skirt, and turned to leave.

I must say, this young lady is quite interesting.

Watching Annie's departing figure, Levi chuckled. Of all the girls Levi had ever met, Annie seemed to be the least interested in anything around her. The only things that interested her seemed to be animals and prehistoric creatures; everything else seemed to hold no meaning for her.

Well, on the other hand, there's Katie. This young lady is curious about everything. It's a pity she can't leave the Fog City, otherwise it would be very interesting to take her to Melicia.

Eileen is a good maid, but unfortunately, Levi wouldn't risk her life. Katie and Olivia both possess special skills and aren't afraid of danger. Eileen, however, is just an ordinary girl from an ordinary family. If she gets into any trouble, she can't even take care of herself, and if something happens to her, it will be even more complicated.

So Li Wei had no choice but to let her look after the house—while also helping him make dolls and maintain the Phantom.

With that thought in mind, Li Wei pulled himself out of his thoughts, closed the door, and went to bed.

Tomorrow is another new day.

"Boom!"

The rain fell in torrents.

The man lay prone on his horse, staring at the dark railway tracks before him, letting the torrential rain lash his face. Beside him, several other masked men, carrying weapons, stood watching their surroundings.

"Boss, is the intelligence accurate? Will they really take this route?"

"of course."

Hearing his subordinates' doubts, the leader snorted coldly.

“I’ve already inquired about it. Their train encountered a herd of bison and stopped for three hours. This is our opportunity.”

"If it weren't for this damn rain, we could have just blown up the tracks and avoided all this trouble."

Another person muttered a complaint.

"That detective is really something, insisting on choosing this day to go out, I don't know what he was thinking."

“This is not something we should be concerned with. The client made it very clear that the guy’s head is worth five hundred pounds! And all the other income is ours!”

At this point, the leader revealed a smug smile. On the surface, they were a group of bandits, but in reality, they were mercenaries secretly allied with the Continental Council. They had repeatedly disguised themselves as bandits to attack the Empire's vehicles and transport convoys, plundering many valuable items for the Continental Council and thwarting numerous Imperial plans.

This time, the other side was very generous, offering five hundred pounds for a head. This tempted the mercenaries, but unfortunately the weather was bad; otherwise, they could have waited for the train to pass, blew up the railway, and then searched for the person at their leisure.

But now...

"Okay, I got it."

The mercenary leader steadied himself and looked at his men again.

"Just like before, the train will slow down when it rounds this bend. We'll take that opportunity to rush onto the train. Akka, you guys take control of the driver and conductor. John, you guys seal off the carriages. The rest of you come with me to find that detective. Remember, shoot him directly. He only wants heads, not alive!"

"Don't worry, boss."

Upon hearing the mercenary leader's words, the mercenaries behind him burst into laughter.

"We promise we'll get that guy's head!"

"Remember, be careful. This detective seems to be quite capable. Also, after you're done, blow up the entire train to prevent anyone from tracking you down."

"The people in that car..."

"Of course, we won't leave any survivors."

"clear."

No one was surprised by the mercenary leader's answer; it wasn't the first time they'd done this, and they were used to it.

"Rumble—Rumble—"

Just then, a beam of light pierced through the rain and shone ahead. Upon seeing this light, the mercenary leader tightened his grip on the reins.

"Now's the time! Let's go!"

With a command from the mercenary leader, dozens of mercenaries shot out like ghostly cavalry in the night, rushing towards the train not far away.

(End of this chapter)