Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 14 The scapegoat

The sewers are enclosed spaces, so the so-called houses don't need to consider foundations or shelter from the wind and rain. The structure is more like a simple combination and assembly of building blocks. The mice are very efficient at disassembling and moving things. Large amounts of wood are piled onto wheelbarrows, which are then pushed and transported by individual gray mice in an orderly manner.

However, not every place along the relocation route was as pleasant as the vicinity of Lu Ran's territory – there was sewage, feces, and even chemical metal slag near the factory, which greatly affected transportation efficiency.

Lu Ran gazed at it, and suddenly felt melancholy.

"Money-grubber, when do you think we'll be able to openly own a piece of land on the surface?"

The money-grubber tilted his head: "Would humans allow that?"

"What if? I really look forward to the day when I can walk openly in the sunlight, bask in the sun and do some gardening."

"But we can go out and sunbathe right now! As long as we find a place where there aren't many people."

Seeing the earnest money-grubber's face, Lu Ran's emotions, which had just surged up, instantly collapsed, and he said with disappointment.

"Did I come here to sunbathe? You're so stupid!"

The language enlightenment process is considered complete, but Lu Ran feels that these mice are no longer easy to fool now that they have brains, unlike before when they blindly cheered for him as their lord.

Lu Ran also designated the day that the language enlightenment ended—March 20th—as the Mouse Culture Memorial Day, instructing all the mice to remember it.

Culture, systems, technology...

Lu Ran will push forward with each one.

The system showed that the territory's gold pound balance was currently 156 pounds. In addition to the expenses of enlightenment, Lu Ran also spent a small amount of money to buy some books and technological samples such as mechanical gunpowder for the tech mice to study on their own, hoping that they could develop weapons that were suitable for the mice's body size.

We should always try to see if the mouse can figure things out on its own without relying on the system. After all, the system has indicated that providing relevant items can speed up the enlightenment process, which shows that the system's efficiency is related to reality.

So what if the church possesses extraordinary power? They're all just shoulders with heads. Lu Ran didn't believe these guys could get shot in the head and be fine. If it weren't for his size preventing him from using it, he would have already spent money to get one for self-defense.

As for the recent purchases, Lu Ran didn't go through Anthony either. Instead, he forced the purchases, took the items, and left the money behind. Since he was going to move anyway, he figured he might as well do this one job and not be afraid of being caught red-handed again.

Lu Ran glanced at the firm in front of him one last time, still feeling a little regretful.

It was, after all, my first decent little nest in human society.

"Goodbye."

……

Friday morning.

A middle-aged man hurried in and, guided by a gray squirrel, pushed open the door and entered. The room was incredibly simple, with nothing but a huge pneumatic mechanical device.

"What about people?"

The middle-aged man sensed something was wrong and sniffed the air, discovering a strong smell of gasoline.

"Mr. Sherlock, are you there?"

The middle-aged man took two steps back, his eyes quickly searching for the gray rat that had led him in. The next moment, he saw a small creature with half its body huddled in a hidden hole, struggling to strike a match.

The middle-aged man's face changed drastically: "No!"

boom!
The next moment, a raging fire spread instantly, and the middle-aged man was forced to scramble out of the office before he could even see anyone.

Just then, Sheriff Edwin, who had received a letter from Detective Sherlock, arrived at the scene and witnessed the arson case, in which the perpetrators were caught red-handed.

"Don't run!"

"Damn it!" Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, the middle-aged man, knowing he wasn't clean, instinctively quickened his pace and ran away when he saw the police chief chasing after him, cursing under his breath.

"Sherlock, what the hell are you doing?!"

the other side.

Afra was still on her way when the carriage bumped along the middle of the street. She twirled the tassels of her silk parasol with her fingertips, and the fragrance of irises lingered in the carriage. Today she was wearing an apricot-colored tulle skirt with delicate rose patterns embroidered on the hem. This was an outfit she had specially prepared for her visit to Detective Sherlock.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Afra lifted the curtain of the car window, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns of light on her gloves.

The coachman's voice came from ahead, slightly out of breath: "Miss, after crossing that stone bridge, we'll reach Gray Street. The agency should be at the end of the street."

Before she could finish speaking, Afra suddenly smelled a pungent odor. She frowned and looked up, her gaze passing over the roof of the carriage. In the distance, a thick column of black smoke was rising into the sky, and exclamations of surprise came from pedestrians on both sides.

"Where is the fire?"

"I gonna go see."

The coachman, naturally, dared not lead Afra any further towards the fire. So he stopped the carriage by the roadside and jogged ahead to gather information. He soon returned, panting and sounding somewhat nervous.

"The First Detective Agency, which we're going to, is on fire. It looks like it was set on fire. A sheriff is chasing the arsonist."

"what!"

Afra suddenly pushed open the carriage door, her crinoline caught on the narrow footboard, causing her to stumble and jump off the carriage.

"how come?"

"Miss, let's hurry back. This firm may have offended someone. Let's not stay here any longer."

The coachman looked around nervously, even worried that the fire was targeting the noble lady in front of him; otherwise, what a coincidence!

"Are there any casualties?"

After calming her slightly rapid breathing, Afra gripped the hem of her skirt tightly with her fingers.

The coachman was taken aback and said uncertainly, "It seems there's no one in the office, otherwise that officer should have prioritized saving people."

"Go and take another look."

"Well, Miss, quite a few people saw you after you got off the carriage." The carriage driver didn't dare to go out to find out anything this time. He was thinking about how to persuade the young lady in front of him when he suddenly noticed that she was looking in a direction by the roadside with a look of astonishment.

The coachman followed the gaze and saw a group of adorable gray squirrels holding up a sign with only one line of text on it—

Remember to keep an observation journal!

The coachman was certain that this was definitely not one of those roadside ditch rats that you could find anywhere. It wasn't afraid of people, and its fur wasn't covered in mud; instead, it was fluffy and had a kind of adorable, plump look.

Even more amazingly, Miss Afra lifted her skirt without hesitation, quickly stepped forward, picked up the mice, and took the playing card. Sure enough, there was a short message written on the back.

"Although something unexpected happened here, I couldn't possibly break my promise to a beautiful lady. The gray mouse has been delivered; see you next time if there's a chance."

—Sherlock Holmes.

The letter was not written in the usual format, and the notes seemed hastily written, but Afra seemed to see a learned yet humorous detective in the text.

Afra paused, pursed her lips slightly, and then happily ruffled the heads of a group of gray squirrels: "See you next time."

(End of this chapter)