Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 183 Waiting for me here
The tailor shop called "Knight's Armor" is located in the Upper Town of the Fog City. From the outside, the tailor shop is unremarkable and has nothing special about it. It is just an ordinary shop.

Or rather, it's just an ordinary shop.

Li Wei drove his long-unused Phantom and, guided by Katie, arrived here in no time. The two got out of the car, and Katie, as excited as a little deer, skipped and jumped to the door of the tailor shop and then pushed it open.

"Jingle Bell."

Accompanied by the crisp sound of a bell, the two entered the shop. The tailor shop didn't look very big. Several suits and evening gowns hung around the perimeter. Li Wei curiously glanced around before turning his gaze to the elderly man with gray hair standing behind the counter.

"welcome."

Hearing the bell, the old man looked up, nodded at the two of them.

"Ah, Miss Katie, it's been a while since I've seen you."

“You still look so well, Mr. Roland.”

Katie smiled and lifted her skirt, bowed to the old man, and then looked at Levi beside her.

"I've come here today to ask you to make a suit for Mr. Li Wei to wear to a banquet."

"Ah, the New Year's banquet, it must be around this time."

The old man chuckled and then looked at Li Wei.

"He's a very energetic young man."

"Hello, sir, my name is Li Wei, and I'm a detective."

At this moment, Li Wei also stepped forward, removed his hat to greet the old man, and then extended his hand.

“My name is Roland, and as you can see, I am a tailor.”

With a smile, the old man Roland took Li Wei's hand, while curiously examining the clothes Li Wei was wearing.

"Hmm, this suit looks very nice. Which shop made it? I don't remember there being many shops in Chongqing with such good craftsmanship."

"I brought it from my hometown."

Li Wei wasn't lying. After all, this was the outfit he wore when he first transmigrated to this world. It was probably a gift from the system, and Li Wei got used to wearing it as everyday clothes. He wasn't the type of person who needed to change his clothes every day.

Of course, Li Wei also bought some clothes at a tailor shop in the foggy city for changing, but men don't care much about clothing brands; as long as they're wearable and comfortable, that's enough. Besides, with Li Wei's physique and looks, he looks like a model in any clothes, so he basically doesn't care about these issues.

"Oh, I see. This outfit is really nice. Um, do you have any requests?"

"Nothing special... If I had to say something, it would be best if it were easy to move around in and relatively sturdy."

Although the New Year's Eve dinner shouldn't go wrong, Li Wei has hardly experienced anything without problems since coming to this world. He's even encountered murder cases and the Devil's Forest while taking a train. He's given up hope of getting through the whole year peacefully in this world.

Li Wei now hopes that if something happens, his clothes will be strong enough to withstand his movements. Otherwise, if he rolls over and his buttocks rip open with a "rip," he'll be dead, if not completely.

From a social perspective

"That's a rather strange request."

Upon hearing Li Wei's request, the old man raised an eyebrow in confusion, while the former smiled slightly.

"There's nothing I can do about it, it's an occupational hazard."

"Heh, it seems being a detective isn't easy. Most clients just want things to be more beautiful, more glamorous..."

As he spoke, the old man carefully examined Li Wei.

“Indeed, you don’t need to. Your appearance and figure are perfect, so I don’t need to consider how to make any improvements. I can just focus on making a suitable outfit. As a tailor, this is indeed a bit too easy. Adding a little bit of an outrageous request would be just right. Please come with me, I’ll take your measurements.”

Soon, the old man led Li Wei to the changing room next door and began to take his measurements.

Regarding the style, are there any other requirements?

"If possible, I would prefer it to be simple and not too fancy."

"What about the color?"

"Black, I guess, since I'm already used to it."

"There are really no special requirements. When I saw Miss Katie bring you here, I thought it would be a bit troublesome."

"Is that right?"

"Haha, that young lady always liked to cause trouble for people, it's rare that she didn't cause trouble for this old bone of mine this time."

The old man made a joke, then carefully measured Li Wei's dimensions again and meticulously recorded them.

"Okay, that's settled. Please come on the 15th of next month. I'll have the full dress ready."

It takes that long.

Hearing the old man's answer, Li Wei was somewhat surprised. No wonder Katie had brought him to have his clothes made so early; if it had been delayed until the end of the year, it probably wouldn't have been ready in time. Speaking of which, this dress would take more than a month to make—that seemed far too long…

Of course, despite the complaints, Li Wei didn't really care. It was just an outfit, and he wasn't short of money. Besides, judging from Katie's demeanor, she seemed quite familiar with these kinds of banquets and ceremonies, so listening to her was definitely the right thing to do.

At least they wouldn't harm me, would they?
"How's it going? Not bad, right?"

As Katie walked out of the sewing shop again, she looked at Levi with a smug expression and asked him a question, to which Levi nodded.

"Indeed, you've been a great help." "Hmph, you really should thank me, otherwise, I don't know how flustered you would have been before the banquet."

Katie puffed out her chest and laughed non-stop, but just as Levi got back into the car, the young lady suddenly leaned over.

"By the way, if you want to thank me, how about you do me a favor?"

"What's the deal?"

Investigate an incident!

"Well…………………"

So, you were waiting for me here, young lady.

Li Wei looked at Katie speechlessly.

"What incident? MI7? Or Inspector Lestrade's?"

"No, no, no."

Katie shook her head vigorously.

"It's a mysterious incident I discovered before! I haven't told anyone yet, but I was hoping you would come back and investigate it with me."

"…………………"

Li Wei sighed helplessly, then made a gesture.

"Come up."

"hey-hey."

Hearing Li Wei's greeting, Katie cheered and got back into the car.

"So what kind of mysterious event is this?"

"ghost!"

"oh……………"

Li Wei immediately understood why Katie was afraid to go alone.

If it were a monster, she might have already killed it and brought the corpse to show off to herself.

But ghosts...

"Let's talk as we walk..."

Li Wei also gave up resisting. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, he might as well see what this ghost was all about.

So Levi drove off again, and Katie started chattering away in his ear.

According to Katie, the haunted place is the cemetery in the upper town, which is mainly where nobles and royalty are buried. However, at some point, a story about a "Lady of Death" began to circulate there.

The story itself is actually quite simple. One night, the gravedigger was patrolling the cemetery when he suddenly saw a woman wearing a long black dress and a black veil walking by in the distance. The gravedigger initially thought she was a relative of the deceased coming to pay respects, so he hurriedly chased after her to inquire about her situation.

But to his surprise, the woman seemed to be walking slowly, but the gravedigger ran for his life and still couldn't catch up. In the end, the woman even disappeared.

When the gravedigger came to his senses, he found himself in a desolate cemetery, and terrified, he turned and ran. He ran for an unknown amount of time until he collapsed from exhaustion. When he awoke, he found himself lying prone at the entrance to the cemetery.

After that, the gravedigger fell seriously ill, told his friend about it, and then died.

Out of curiosity, his friends also took people to the cemetery at night. Some of them saw the woman, or rather, some saw her, but some didn't. Some even pointed and said the woman was right there, but the others still saw nothing.

Strangely, after that, all those who claimed to have seen the woman died, some from sudden accidents, others from illness. Only those who did not see the woman in black survived.

Therefore, everyone believed that the woman in black was Death, and that anyone who saw her would surely die. And so, the story spread.

That woman was thus known as "Lady Death".

After hearing this story, Li Wei's reaction was...

"I think I'll just go home and go to sleep."

"No, you promised to investigate this incident with me!"

"Trading a life for a dress, that's a bit too expensive."

"Huh? But if we report it, I think the most likely outcome is that we'll be the ones investigating."

"...That's true."

Li Wei thought about it. If something like that really happened, the old butler would probably still come after him in the end. After all, if a case like this were real, it would obviously be difficult to solve. And since he was on MI7's radar, who else could he turn to?

That's what he does, isn't it?

"...Never mind, let's go take a look first."

To be honest, Levi was also a little curious about the "Lady of Death," wondering if it was really true. Of course, in his opinion, it was more like an urban legend based on hearsay. Actually, the story itself was a typical urban ghost story, but... anyway, Katie wanted to have some fun, so he just went along with her.

(End of this chapter)