Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 54 Tradition
Li Wei walked into the restaurant and looked at the dining table. He noticed that six people were already seated in the eight seats on both sides that could seat a total of sixteen people.

Two of them were people Li Wei knew, the newlywed couple. They were sitting together, and when the wife saw Li Wei, she waved to him excitedly. The husband next to her looked a little unhappy, but didn't say anything.

Opposite the couple, on the side, sat an old woman. Her attire was somewhat strange; she wore a black veil and a black dress, her thin body huddled in the chair, giving the impression of a shadow. At this moment, she simply lowered her head and remained silent.

Separated from the elderly woman in black veils by one seat were a family of three: a husband, a wife, and their four- or five-year-old daughter. The little girl had blonde hair and was dressed like a doll; her bright blue eyes blinked curiously at everyone, full of life. The wife beside her clearly doted on her child, occasionally turning to whisper and laugh with her. The husband, on the other hand, had a serious, unsmiling expression and sat smoking nearby.

Li Wei nodded to everyone as a greeting, then sat down opposite the family of three. The little girl, who had been watching Li Wei curiously since he came in, smiled broadly and waved at him when she saw him sitting opposite her. Li Wei smiled and waved back.

Then Inspector Lestrade sat down next to Levi, waving and grinning at the little girl. Startled, she quickly turned away and buried her face in her mother's arms. She stole a glance at Inspector Lestrade before turning away again.

"…………………"

Inspector Lestrade's lips twitched slightly as he looked at Levi.

"Do I look ugly when I smile?"

"The way you looked just now was like you saw your prey and were planning to eat it raw."

Levi gave his answer without hesitation, while Inspector Lestrade sighed.

"Hey, after being a cop for so long, I've forgotten how to smile. I used to think that every time I smiled at those guys, they would confess everything. I thought it was because my smile was so approachable."

Looking back now, it's a miracle they didn't scare anyone to death.

The two exchanged a few words, and then the middle-aged woman from before, and the girl in the maid outfit, came in and began serving dinner to everyone.

There's a saying in Li Wei's world that foreigners don't eat animal organs much, they only eat meat, and they don't even eat hooves or heads.

Li Wei didn't know if this was true, after all, he knew that foreigners also ate dog meat, horse meat, and snails—by extension, if they even ate snails, it would be a bit dishonest to say that he didn't eat internal organs.

But at least in this world, Li Wei found a bit of the feeling of "making the most of everything" that he had in his own world.

Although it's called a hotel, it's really more like a guesthouse, and guesthouses naturally rely on the resources of the mountains and rivers. This estate is surrounded by mountains and forests, with lakes and streams nearby, and it even has its own horse farm. Even if a biohazard outbreak occurred, people here wouldn't starve.

What's served today are all local specialties.

The appetizer was veal head soup, accompanied by grilled fish with celery cream sauce.

The appetizers were fried shrimp cutlets, veal jerky, and herb-flavored bacon.

The main courses were stewed chicken, cold-cut ham, and a vegetable salad.
In addition to serving as lemon milk jelly, as well as desserts and ice cream, it looks quite substantial.

Li Wei naturally enjoyed the meal immensely, his only request being that the aperitif be replaced with a cup of rose tea.

"You don't drink?"

Inspector Lestrade was quite surprised to see Levi drinking tea. Drinking was practically a daily habit for people in this era. Seeing someone not drink was like seeing someone eat dumplings without filling—it made people wonder if they had something wrong with their brain.

"Drinking alcohol is bad for your health."

Li Wei calmly replied, "Drinking a glass of wine takes away thirty minutes of your life. Who wouldn't feel heartbroken?"

Although there are high-end and low-end alcohols, they all shorten one's life, the difference being whether it shortens it by ten minutes or an hour.

Li Wei didn't like drinking much before he transmigrated, and now he doesn't drink at all.

"You can't hold your liquor, can you?"

Inspector Lestrade, however, didn't seem to care, watching Levi with a grin. As a policeman, he'd seen plenty of people. Some could drink a whole barrel of liquor without getting drunk, while others would forget their place after just one sip. In Inspector Lestrade's opinion, Levi probably belonged to the latter, which made him chuckle, as if he'd finally found a small weakness in Levi.

"That's about right."

Li Wei didn't take it to heart. In this era, if a man questioned his drinking capacity, he would have to down three large bowls of liquor to prove them wrong, otherwise he wouldn't be a man. But Li Wei was too lazy to fall for it. Besides, wasting his life on such useless pride... that would be incredibly stupid.

Inspector Lestrade teased him for a while, but when he saw that Levi wasn't taking the bait, he lost interest and stopped teasing him.

Just as everyone was about to finish their dinner, the middle-aged woman and her maid reappeared. However, this time, a middle-aged man dressed in a formal suit and with a rather trendy appearance was also present in front of them.

How trendy is it? — Wearing sunglasses in a restaurant late at night is trendy enough.

"Hello, guests, I am Cohen, the manager of Red Moon Hotel."

The man walked to the end of the table and bowed slightly to everyone.

"Welcome to Red Moon Inn. Are you satisfied with tonight's dinner?"

Unless someone is an idiot or looking for trouble, they won't express their dissatisfaction.

"Thank you everyone."

The manager smiled again after receiving the answer.

"However, please don't rush off. After dinner, we'll have a small entertainment program for you." "Entertainment program?"

The newlywed wife looked at the manager curiously, and he nodded.

"You may not know this, but our Red Moon Inn was once the residence of a distinguished person."

Upon hearing this, Levi and Inspector Lestrade remained outwardly calm, but in reality, they had already quietly perked up their ears.

"That esteemed guest had a tradition of hosting a themed banquet on every holiday and inviting guests to participate. So we have also inherited this tradition. Of course, we won't take up too much of the guests' time; we will just have a small themed entertainment program after dinner."

"So, what are we going to do?"

The newlywed husband asked the question, and the manager smiled slightly.

"Yes—it's a psychic."

"……………???"

At that moment, the way Li Wei looked at the manager was quite telling, "If you want to die, go jump into the river."

Don't be fooled by the fact that in modern horror movies, psychic communication is often used as a death trap opening scene. In this world and this era, psychic communication is actually a kind of amateur science. People would take a psychic plate in a dark room, sit around a table, put their hands on the plate, mutter some mystical words, and then play a game of suspense... It's a relatively low-cost, haunted house-like entertainment option in this world.

But aside from other things, Li Wei knew that someone had actually died in this house!

Furthermore, the ring he's wearing now comes from this place, and who knows if there's anything wrong with it? Under these circumstances, are you trying to hasten your demise by playing this game?
"I think it's better to change to another one."

Li Wei quickly voiced his opposition.

"Why, sir?"

"This kind of thing is too stimulating; I don't think it's suitable for people like us."

Li Wei pointed to the elderly and weak people sitting around him.

"With elderly people and children around, playing this kind of game under these circumstances is a bit too stimulating, isn't it? I think we should just play cards instead."

"Please don't worry about that, guests."

The manager looked at the old lady with a grin.

"This is the medium I specially invited. With her here, I guarantee the entire psychic session will be foolproof."

"…………"

Is this some kind of insurance policy, designed to ensure one's own demise?

"Of course, we can understand if our guests are unwilling. But tradition is tradition, and even if there are no guests and it's just us, we still have to complete this ceremony."

You just mentioned a ceremony, right?

Li Wei silently placed his hand on his waist, considering whether it would be impolite to draw his gun now.

Hmm, can I use my charm to convince everyone that this guy is actually a ruthless wanted criminal after we shoot him? Besides, based on Li Wei's experience watching so many horror movies, he's 90% sure this guy might be up to something. Should we skip the process and just go straight to the point?
Levi glanced at Inspector Lestrade, who shook his head helplessly.

Okay, I guess it won't work.

Li Wei silently lowered his hand, but clearly he didn't intend to stop there.

"We're going upstairs to rest."

The mother, on the other hand, seemed more reliable. Hearing this, she helped the girl to her feet and spoke a few words to her husband. However, the husband seemed to intend to stay, so the mother had no choice but to take the girl upstairs to their room to rest.

The newlywed wife, overhearing this, wasn't very interested either. She tugged at her husband, indicating she wanted to go upstairs to rest, but...

"Don't worry, darling, nothing will happen."

The newlywed husband seemed to sense his chance to shine. He glanced at Li Wei provocatively, then turned to his wife.

“We’ll stay here, I promise you, it’s a lot of fun.”

"This... is..."

The wife glanced at Li Wei, then at her husband, and finally obediently stayed.

"We're ready."

The manager gestured for everyone to proceed.

"Please come to the recreation room."

(End of this chapter)