Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 498 Under the Night
Through observation, Li Wei narrowed down the search area, but this didn't mean the entrance would be easy to find. Even more problematic was that the location wasn't high in the mountains, but rather deep within the mountains, meaning others could easily find it as well. And even more critically, not far from this location was a Krant army camp, where they had set up camp, clearly intending to use it as a base for their search.

The exhaustive search method is so useful! If Li Wei had that many people, he wouldn't want to do any reasoning; he could just send people out for a thorough search.

But what are we looking for?
Li Wei shifted his gaze back to the doll-like bird. From the air, he could clearly see the mountain range, which resembled a blooming flower. Its center was here, but Li Wei found no trace of man-made structures nearby. All he could do now was lead Jeanne on a thorough search of the area, hoping that Jeanne's memories would once again play some predictable role.

Unfortunately, nothing was discovered about Jeanne's memories.

Is this the entrance to the castle?
Li Wei looked around, somewhat hesitant. This place was hundreds of meters away from the mountaintop. What kind of castle could be built so high?
This does answer Jeanne's question. She once said that building a castle high in the mountains is extremely difficult because transporting manpower and materials up the rugged terrain is almost impossible. However, this problem is clearly solved at the foot of the mountain. Assuming the entrance is indeed here, the saint's construction team only needs to cross this forest and transport the supplies to the hillside; there's no need to traverse the mountains at all.

But where is the entrance?

Li Wei figured the entrance must be sealed off; otherwise, the animals would surely have used it as their habitat. They were now frantically searching the stone wall, but found nothing. The wall was very smooth and covered with no vines or moss, forcing Li Wei to admit with dismay that there were no murals here.

So where else could it be?
Li Wei looked up again, shifting his perspective to the center of the "petals," the stamen. But all that remained was a stone wall and a gentle hillside, with the damned Krant military camp in the distance.

The stone wall is very smooth, without any gaps, and looks like a single piece.

Think carefully, what other clues are there?
Li Wei stood up and looked around at the terrain again. He decided to disregard the complicated legends; the truth was often simple. Just like solving a case, the culprit's motives might be shrouded in mystery, and their methods might be incredibly ingenious, but what they did was ultimately quite simple.

Just like a murder case, no matter how bizarre or unimaginable it may be, its essence is still that one person kills another person by some means.

So, getting back to the basics, how would the saint build a castle? Where would all those materials come from?
Li Wei looked at the forest. There were no roads here; perhaps there once were, but thousands of years are enough to erase everything. Fortunately, the changes in the land weren't so rapid. Gentle slopes were more conducive to transportation, so the goods must have come from the south and been transported to this area…

Li Wei took a few steps back, trying to examine the ground more closely. But just then, his foot suddenly stepped into a dent, causing him to involuntarily fall backward onto the ground.

"Mr. Li Wei?"

Jeanne, who was busy working next to the stone wall, heard the noise and turned around to see Li Wei sitting down on the ground.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, I just tripped a little... um..."

Li Wei reached out and touched the ground, then his expression changed slightly.

He felt that the ground here was not flat, and even a bit uneven... Li Wei lowered his head again and carefully examined his feet.

He didn't see anything useful; it was as if there was only soil and grass, no different from anywhere else.

etc……………

Li Wei reached out and touched the ground again, then he looked up.

"Miss Jeanne."

"What's wrong, Mr. Levi?"

"Bring me a shovel; we can do some heavy lifting now."

Li Wei disliked doing manual labor, but often, he couldn't simply refuse to do it just because he didn't like it.

Just like now.

He and Jeanne were digging at the ground with shovels, one shovelful at a time. Fortunately, after a while, the shovel made a heavy thud as it hit something hard.

"This is it, keep digging."

The two dug through the soil, and then Li Wei saw a pattern.

The lily pattern, seemingly carved into the stone, had always been hidden beneath the soil. Looking at this pattern, Li Wei couldn't help but think of the coffins unearthed in the cemetery. Perhaps they were currently standing on top of a coffin, only this one was far too large…

"Should we dig this whole place up?"

Jeanne looked at Levi with a puzzled expression. Her puzzlement was not without reason. The two of them had only dug out a small area, but that was enough to prove that the pattern was quite large. You know, what appeared in front of them now was only half of a petal, and even this half of the petal was larger than where Levi was lying.

If they were to completely clear this area, they would probably need to clear an area nearly 100 meters in diameter, which is definitely not something two people could do.

But Krant's military camp is nearby, which is really troublesome...

Li Wei pondered for a moment. In movies and games, similar missions often appear. To avoid alerting the enemy, the protagonist needs to act cautiously, sneaking into key locations right under their noses. But generally, this is futile. Because the enemy will eventually discover what the protagonist has done and surround them, and all the protagonist's efforts are merely paving the way for the villainous boss.

He solved the puzzle, avoided the trap, and opened the sealed door.

Then the BOSS obtained the treasure.

So you see, trying to take shortcuts never ends well.

This place is so large that clearing it would take a long time, and more importantly, if it were to activate for some reason, it would certainly make a huge noise. Levi didn't believe that these Krant soldiers were deaf and completely oblivious to these sounds.

Then there's only one way.

“Miss Jeanne, would you mind if we did another job?”

"what's up?"

"Let's go and destroy that Krant camp."

Li Wei put down the shovel and picked up the gun.

"If this thing stays here, it could easily pose a danger to us."

"However, this is not easy. You should know that the location of this camp is to provide support for other exploration teams."

Jeanne may not have regained her memory yet, but her military experience is clearly very substantial.

"If we launch an attack here, the nearby exploration teams will likely know that something has happened."

"Therefore, we need to act when it gets dark. I don't think those exploration teams will act recklessly in the dark."

Li Wei gripped his cane tightly.

"Furthermore, I don't know if you've ever heard this saying, Miss Jeanne."

"What?"

"As long as you kill everyone, no one will know you were here."

“…………………” Upon hearing Li Wei’s words, Jeanne paused for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes a lot of sense, but…”

"but?"

"We can't do it."

Jeanne gazed at the distant military camp. It was already dusk; the sun had moved to the other side of the mountains, casting a huge shadow over the depression. The camp was brightly lit, searchlights illuminating the surroundings, and soldiers could be seen moving about.

There were about a hundred people there, and only two of us.

"Yes."

Li Wei nodded.

"But they didn't know there were only two of us, and... it's very dark in the mountains at night."

"That's true."

Jeanne understood what Li Wei meant, but she still looked at him curiously.

“Mr. Li Wei, I don’t understand why you’re helping me. It doesn’t seem to do you any good.”

"I am a knight of the Empire. The Twelve Knights are subjects of Emperor Arthur. Protecting the Empire is my mission."

Li Wei answered while checking the cane gun in his hand.

"Besides, Krant is an enemy of the Empire, so I certainly don't mind giving them a little trouble."

"at last……………"

Li Wei turned his head, looked at Jeanne, and winked.

“A beautiful lady is always entitled to some preferential treatment.”

Jeanne rolled her eyes silently at Li Wei's words, then looked away.

"So, does the Empire want to annex Francis?"

"It's a withdrawal."

Li Wei corrected Jeanne's choice of words.

"Francis has always been the territory of the Empire, since ancient times, understand?"

"But that was a long time ago."

Jeanne shook her head.

“The Franciscans will not agree to this.”

"And what about you, Miss Jeanne?"

Li Wei looked at Jeanne and asked her.

"Will you side with the Empire, or with Francis?"

"………………………"

When asked by Li Wei, Jeanne did not answer immediately. She closed her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

"I don't know, at least not for now, I'm not sure whose side I should be on. You and the Empire helped me, certainly not out of altruistic kindness, right?"

There is no such thing as unconditional kindness in this world.

Li Wei chuckled.

“Every choice has its price. Men show gentlemanly manners to women more often in order to win their favor. If he is sure that no matter what he does, the other person will not be interested in him, he will not be so gentlemanly. Similarly, when people meet a beautiful woman, they naturally expect a romantic relationship to develop. At least I believe that the relationship between you and me is very clear and straightforward, it just depends on whether you accept that.”

Jeanne nodded silently. Indeed, the relationship between her and Levi was clear. Levi's help in finding the saint's castle and investigating the saint's background was all in preparation for the empire to legally annex Francis again. She knew this, so whether to cooperate was her choice.

But what about Francis?
Looking back on everything she had experienced, Jeanne found it hard to imagine what kind of expectations the Franciscans had for her.

She told Li Wei that she would protect the people of this place, but for what reason?

Is it because they are their own people?

So, I am Francis's lord?
Francis's lord was the lord of the empire.

So, in the end, she was still with the Empire?
"To be honest, I don't know."

Jeanne finally confessed.

"Perhaps when I fully regain my memories, I will give you an answer."

"Then I can only say that I hope it will be an answer that satisfies both of us."

Li Wei looked at Jeanne calmly. He didn't say the rest of his sentence, but Li Wei was certain that Jeanne understood what he meant.

If one of the Twelve Knights were to rebel against the Empire, she would no longer be a symbol of the Empire's legitimacy in possessing Francis, but would instead become an obstacle to the Empire's conquest of Francis.

Politics is ruthless, cold-blooded, and cruel; by then…

Li Wei didn't think any further. He also hoped for a good ending, but... no one knew what the Holy Maiden herself was really thinking.

Jeanne didn't speak; she simply turned her head and looked towards the distant camp.

"Let's deal with the immediate problem first."

Then she spoke.

(End of this chapter)