Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 32 It's truly a good product, only cheap...

"Bella isn't here... Detective Mouse Number One isn't here either..."

Afra rested her chin on her hand, a book with a gold-embossed cover lay open on the table, its pages being repeatedly hooked and put down by her slender fingertips.

Lately, it seems like Detective Mouse Number One is getting busier and busier. Every morning, he runs to the stone house and disappears in a flash, so much so that Afra, who secretly followed him to investigate his secrets, didn't find anything.

It wasn't appropriate to knock and go in, since the Sherlock detective didn't seem to want to meet.

After what happened with Zell, she came to understand these detectives a little better. As a profession that requires investigation, tracking, and infiltration, even just having a job at an agency can make one vulnerable to retaliation. It's quite normal for them not to want people to know their true appearance.

Afra got up and changed her sitting position. Looking at herself in the dressing mirror, her fingertips unconsciously reached towards her temples. The stray hairs that she had just secured with pearl hair clips had somehow slipped down and tied a small knot around her fingertips.

"But you don't need to be so cautious with me. I just want to meet you."

She raised her hand and scratched her hair with some annoyance. The silver hair clip clicked and loosened by half an inch, and a few strands of golden-brown hair immediately broke free and hung down in front of her forehead like a messy little curly head.

"To meet, to meet... a psychic ritual?"

Afra suddenly remembered a ritual Tamara had mentioned that could predict the future, and a thought that had been buried in her mind suddenly rose up and could no longer be suppressed.

She had just walked to the French windows and looked in a certain direction when her fingertips touched the cold window frame. She turned around abruptly, quickly straightened her messy hair, and rushed downstairs, excitedly waving down.

"Tamara, come up, come up."

Tamara was half-squatting at the top of the stairs, holding a damp linen cloth in her hand, wiping the edge of the table with her thumb against the cloth. Hearing this, she looked up in surprise and asked, "What's wrong, Miss?"

"It's alright, it's alright, come up and chat with me first." Afra lifted her skirt and hurriedly ran down, grabbing Tamara who was working and leading her to the room.

"Sit here and talk."

Afra pressed Tamara down onto the velvet stool, then turned and sat in the high-backed chair opposite her, straightening her back and carefully smoothing her skirt.

She placed her hands on her knees, the pearl bracelet on her wrist sliding down to her elbows, revealing her slender, fair wrists, as if she were ready to listen attentively.

Tamara's apron was still covered in soap suds. She rubbed her fingers on the hem of her apron several times before remembering to pick up the rag that had fallen on the floor. "Miss, I haven't finished wiping the table yet..."

Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted. Afra leaned forward and said with great interest:

"Never mind that for now! Someone else will handle it. First, tell me what kind of divination you mentioned earlier about that spiritual ritual? For example, if I want to ask if I can see someone, can that be divined?"

Tamara, somewhat embarrassed, smoothed the hair stuck to her forehead and glanced around the room before speaking.

There was a book lying on the table, as if someone had just been reading it. Bella wasn't in the room. Then there was a gray mouse chewing on a scone, which tilted its head when it saw me looking over.

Tamara withdrew her gaze and slowly said, "This psychic ritual was taught to me by a psychic I knew in Baker City. He said it could predict some simple fortunes and even have a slight effect on changing one's luck. I only tried it once when I was most confused."

Afra asked curiously, "When?"

Tamara looked embarrassed: "It was when my sister was seriously ill, and I only had a meager income in Baker City, and I still had my parents to support, that I felt like the sky was falling."

Then my psychic friend performed a ritual for me, telling me I would soon be out of trouble. And indeed, not long after, I started working at the manor. Of course, more than the psychic ritual, I was grateful for the young lady's kindness.

"Is it really that amazing?" Afra didn't seem to care much about Tamara's compliment; instead, she looked pleasantly surprised.

"Is that ritual complicated? Does it require a professional psychic, or can I try it myself?"

“It’s very simple. My psychic friend told me that I can try it by myself next time. As long as I don’t explore the future too frequently, it won’t cause any problems if I do it a few times. If you want to try it, I can buy the materials for you.”

Afra unconsciously drew circles on the armrest with her right index finger, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Then I'll trouble you. Tell me how much it costs in a bit. Thank you for your hard work."

"It's alright, it's alright." Tamara bowed slightly and took her leave.

Afra breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a squeak sounded behind her. It turned out that Detective Mouse Number Two had finished his scones and was raising his paw in greeting. "Oh, right, and you too." Afra quickly lay down on the table, resting her chin on it and staring at the adorable Detective Mouse Number Two. "You're the most obedient one. You never go anywhere, just sit here with me all day."

"Don't you also think I'm a bit strange? I've recently started to believe in this kind of superstitious stuff."

……

——System Panel——

Lord: Lu Ran

Race: Rat
People: 500/500
Happiness level: Good
领地天赋：群体智慧lv4（智力+4）、群体体质lv1（力量+1、敏捷+1）

Enlightenment: Magic (In progress, 3 gold pounds already consumed, estimated total cost 250 gold coins)

Faith: Not unlocked (can be unlocked by interacting with miracles)

Wealth: £289 (excluding units below the gold pound)
Lu Ran had just received the money, and before even the butler Philip outside had left, he had already quickly selected Magic Enlightenment on the system, while also communicating with the butler outside.

"This commission is indeed far too generous."

The butler outside the door explained, "After all, the clues provided by the detective are far more detailed than we requested. Otherwise, it might have caused even greater losses and impacts."

"Ok?"

Lu Ran was somewhat surprised. What loss would it be to arrest an old man, or did they run into and fight with the church members while arresting him?

"Isn't this a missed opportunity? Lu Ran has always wanted to see a clash between the world's government forces and the superhumans."

Looks like I'll have to ask the novel's rat what happened.

However, he maintained a calm and composed demeanor: "You're too kind. But Mr. Philip didn't seem to be showing up before, so why is he here this time..."

The butler said, "There's a good business opportunity I need to discuss with the detective in person. I wonder if you'd be interested."

Lu Ran was counting the money: "Please speak."

"With the steel tycoon's downfall, a number of his factories are being sold off at low prices. I wonder if you, Detective, would be interested in buying one?"

"Ok?"

Lu Ran was stunned, caught off guard by the sudden surprise, and tried his best to suppress the trembling in his voice as he tentatively asked.

"How low is the price?"

The steward said, "The cheapest option is the Black Gold Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant. The entire plant is worth around 3 gold pounds, but we're selling it at a low price of only 2 gold pounds."

"Ahem, twenty thousand?"

Lu Ran gave a dry laugh, "That's indeed cheap, it's just a pity I don't know much about these factories and such..."

"Of course, if the detective is interested in this factory, as long as he agrees to help with another case, Earl Qian can advance this part as an interest-free loan."

Lu Ran swallowed the rest of his sentence.

"What commission?"

"Zel has run away, and I need your help to find Zell and the person behind him."

Lu Ran was astonished: "You mean the people from the Holy Land of Abundance?"

(End of this chapter)