Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 493 Amnesiac Girl
The blonde girl stepped out of the house, looked up, and stared blankly at the sky. A moment later, Li Wei's voice sounded behind her.

"Krant and Francis's soldiers will be here soon; it's time to leave."

"leave?"

Hearing Li Wei's words, the girl gave a bitter smile.

"Where can we go if we leave here?"

"Perhaps we could find a place to have a cup of tea and then chat?"

Li Wei took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and then gestured to the girl.

"It's almost time for afternoon tea."

"………………………"

The girl didn't answer, so Li Wei took it as a yes.

"Then, come with me."

Li Wei turned and walked toward another street, while the girl followed behind him in silence, like a lost soul.

The sharp whistles of sirens, the shouts of soldiers, and the sound of running could be heard all around. Of course, thanks to the "aerial drones," Li Wei was always able to evade the soldiers' reckless and aimless searches. However, this gave off an unusually eerie feeling. Walking in the quiet, deserted alley, one could hear lively sounds coming from behind a wall—cursing, shouting, yelling, and commotion. This easily gave one the illusion that they had left this world and entered another.

Li Wei arrived at another apartment, opened the door, and led the blonde girl inside.

The luxurious decorations inside caused the girl to react somewhat. She looked up, surveyed her surroundings, and asked in confusion.

"Is this your home?"

"Of course not, miss, I'm just staying here temporarily."

As Li Wei spoke, he went to the kitchen to boil water and make tea. A moment later, he returned to the table with a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"Please try it, I think it should taste pretty good."

"Thanks……………"

The blonde girl hesitated slightly as she accepted the teacup from Li Wei.

“You… don’t seem like the kind of person who would do something like this.”

"You mean brewing tea? Usually, someone brews tea for me, but in this situation, it's obviously not so easy, right?"

Li Wei smiled slightly and answered, while the latter took a sip of tea before looking at Li Wei.

"You're not Franciscan?"

"Let me introduce myself. I am Li Wei, an Imperial Earl, and also a detective."

Li Wei bowed slightly to the girl, then sat down in the chair. The girl was taken aback for a moment, then looked up at him.

"You're that... Imperial Detective?"

"Looks like I'm quite famous in Francis?"

"of course."

When this topic came up, the blonde girl finally smiled.

"Many young girls talk about you and the cases you've solved. They all like you a lot, and many dream of becoming your lover or secret lover..."

"Hmm... I appreciate the kind offer."

The fact that a secret lover has become one of the identities that young girls in this country yearn for is truly remarkable, Francis is amazing.

Li Wei silently thought to himself, "No wonder the Imperials think Francis is naturally promiscuous." Then he looked at the girl.

"Have I not yet asked your name?"

"I……………"

The girl hesitated for a moment when Li Wei asked her question.

“I think my name is Jeanne Darc.”

Why "believe"?

"Because I have amnesia."

Perhaps because of Li Wei's identity as a "detective," Jeanne still revealed her background.

"I don't know who I am, I just... remember this name, that's all."

"Oh?"

To be honest, upon hearing this, Levi immediately became interested. He had been curious about the resurrection of the Saintess of the Dark family, and now it seemed he would be able to witness it firsthand.

"If you don't mind, could you explain from the beginning?"

Perhaps Jeanne also wanted to distract herself from the pain of being betrayed by her companions, so she told Li Wei about her experience.

Jeanne's story isn't actually very long. According to her, her first memory was waking up to find herself lying in a grassy field, dressed in village clothes. At that moment, her mind was blank; she had no idea who she was, where she was, or why she was there.

To find out what had happened, Jeanne stood up in confusion and walked along the path in the grass, hoping to find someone to help her figure out what had happened to her.

Then Jeanne arrived at a small town, which was under attack by the Krant army at that time.

Jeanne didn't know what was going on either, but that's what she said.

“I walked up the hill and looked down. I saw a small town, a town on fire, where the villagers were desperately resisting. And not far away, a group of soldiers with strange monsters were attacking them. Strangely enough, those monsters looked terrifying, things I couldn’t even imagine in my nightmares. But when I saw that scene, I wasn’t afraid at all. On the contrary, I felt a surge of anger inside me… as if… I was furious…” Jeanne paused for a moment.

"No, I don't know how to say it. This anger wasn't the kind you feel when you see innocent people being persecuted, but rather a sense of responsibility. I felt I had to protect the residents of those towns and eliminate the attackers. I don't even know what I was thinking at the time; I just rushed over... those monsters, those soldiers, and the weapons they were carrying. Surprisingly, I didn't feel afraid at all. It was as if... as if I were an adult, and they were just a bunch of three-year-olds with toy swords. In my eyes, no matter how much they resisted, they couldn't defeat me."

"Is this how you feel?"

Li Wei looked at Jeanne with interest and asked her a question, but she shook her head.

"It wasn't just a feeling, it was reality. Later, I actually eliminated those invaders and drove them away."

"Then you're really amazing."

Levi could imagine Jeanne facing a group of fully armed Krant soldiers and chimeras, and maybe even beastmen, all by herself, and managing to defeat them all in one fell swoop... Well, okay, Levi could do that too.

Katie is also an option.

But this is definitely not something an ordinary girl could do.

"and then?"

"Then those people ran over, surrounded me, cheered and stuff, and then they asked me what my name was. That's when the name Jeanne Darc came to my mind, and then I told them that name."

What was their reaction?

"Um... their reaction was strange. The older people all knelt in front of me, saying things like 'the saint has appeared.' Later I found out that my name is exactly the same as that of a female hero in the Francis legend, but I can't be her, right? You see... those are stories from hundreds of years ago?"

At this point, Jeanne herself hesitated.

"But can't you be sure you aren't?"

"……………Yes."

"Why? There must be a reason."

"Because I sometimes dream."

Jeanne honestly confessed to Levi.

“In my dreams, I have charged ahead countless times, annihilating the enemy. Sometimes I would stand on a hill, holding a battle flag, with thousands of elite knights before me, all waiting for my command. And I was certain that if I gave the order, they would fight to the death for me.”

"So you suspect that these dreams might be memories from your past?"

"Perhaps, it could be a past life? Of course, I'm just speculating... After all, wasn't that saintess in the legend burned at the stake? But I've never dreamed of anything like that, and I don't have any strange fear of fire... If it were really me, being burned to death would be very painful."

"That's true."

Li Wei nodded, acknowledging that Jeanne had some merit to her argument.

"So I think I might have some connection with that saintess... maybe blood? But I still don't understand why I'm here, and why I have no memory of what happened before..."

"And then what happened?"

Li Wei didn't stop there; he curiously raised another question.

"Everyone wanted me to lead them against the Krant, and I felt it was the right thing to do, or rather, I felt I should do it. I started commanding them in battle almost without hesitation, and we defeated the Krant's attacks several times. However, our troops mostly hid in the forest, since we were very familiar with the local terrain..."

"Are you very familiar with the local terrain?"

"Yes."

Jeanne nodded.

"It's strange, isn't it? Even when it's my first time in a forest, the moment I step inside, a vivid picture of that forest appears in my mind—where the rivers are, where the cliffs are, where the hillsides are, where the dangers are—I know it all perfectly well. I know how to cleverly evade the Krant army's search by using those little-known paths, and I also know how to predict their marching routes..."

"Hmm...that's interesting indeed."

"But such a battle was really disadvantageous to us, especially after news of the surrender came from Huadu. Everyone thought the battle was over. Many people felt that since the government had made its decision, there was no point in continuing to fight. Only some young people did not see it that way. They believed that those traitors had sold out the country's interests just to protect everything they had."

Yes, that's true.

"So, the rest of us made a decision: to infiltrate the capital and assassinate the acting president..."

At this point, Jeanne gave Li Wei a speechless look.

"Actually, we didn't want to assassinate General Krant. We just wanted him to witness the death of the acting president and let him know that the Franciscans' will to resist was firm and would not disappear because of the hypocritical statements made by those politicians... at least that's what they said."

At this moment, Jeanne seemed to recall her previous experience, and her expression became somber.

"But I never expected them... I really never expected them, they were so enthusiastic at the beginning..."

"Sometimes, the more excited you are, the easier it is to get discouraged. After all, many times, what we need is not a surge of passion, but long-term perseverance..."

Li Wei poured Jeanne another cup of tea.

What are your plans next?

"I do not know."

Jeanne shook her head.

"The resistance has disbanded, and the remaining people have betrayed me... I... I don't know where to go from here."

"Then let's do this."

Looking at Jeanne, Li Wei's heart stirred.

"Let's investigate your background first."

(End of this chapter)