Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 52 almost turned into a whole roasted dog

Anthony was overly friendly and warm during their first meeting.

Tamara's death at Afra's hands was too hasty.

The flower shop owner was also unexpectedly caught off guard by his own shot.

Lu Ran admitted that he had indeed started to disregard the so-called Church of Abundance, to the point that he made such a basic mistake.

It seems that the power that can be suppressed by firearms is just like that?
"This isn't some fake god trying to mystify things; it's something real."

As Lu Ran recalled that power that sent shivers down his spine, more and more questions arose in his mind.

If that's the case, then what gives this government, which is still in the steam age, the right to try to suppress the church? It seems that the church can completely ignore the resistance from ordinary people.

If the Sanctuary of Plenty does not want humanity to develop industry, can't it simply suppress them with force?

Is it that it's impossible to do, or that it's not something that can be done...?

Lu Ran rubbed his head.

And then there's that final scene of the ritual where Anthony appears, with your perspective right in the center of the ritual. So, without a doubt, it must be the lost sacred relic, the Seed of Abundance, that Anthony mentioned. But why would this thing choose a dying gray rat from a bunch of animals?

In particular, something with the prefix "abundance" actually helped it avoid the backlash from abundance?
It feels like the more you know, the less you actually know.

"I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out."

Lu Ran felt like her cerebellum was about to overload.

"My lord...my lord?"

Lu Ran was only brought back to his senses by the timid voice calling his name. He looked at the nervous mouse beside him and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare."

"You can dream even if you don't sleep?" the mouse asked curiously.

“This is a unique ability of a lord.” Lu Ran casually made up a story, then looked around but didn’t see Sheriff Edwin or even Bella. He was stunned.

Where is the big white dog?

The mouse paused, then pointed to the corner directly ahead: "It looks like it ran that way."

"They ran away?" Lu Ran's heart tightened.

"That stupid dog."

He cursed under his breath, not having time to think about those miscellaneous questions anymore. He hurriedly followed the corner of the wall in that direction, and as soon as he arrived, he smelled an invigorating aroma of meat.

"grass!"

Lu Ran recalled the attitude of the workers towards Bella and was seriously worried that the girl would be captured and roasted. He ran on all fours following the smell, his legs were smoking before he finally stopped in front of a house, where Bella's pig-like screams came from inside.

"Awoooooo... Waaaaah..."

"The rich man's dog is really strong, huh? I'll lock the door and see how it runs away."

“I think the nameplate looks like it belongs to Earl Biden’s dog. Is it inappropriate to do this?”

"What's wrong with that? Who cares about any title? Even if I chop it up today, who will know it was me? The bigger the commotion, the better. Isn't our goal to cause trouble?"

Lu Ran was anxious. He looked around outside the door, then suddenly jumped up and grabbed a rough spot on the wall. He climbed up several times and stood on top of the wall to look inside.

Inside, it appears to be a multi-story row house structure, consisting of several rows of brick and stone houses enclosed by each other. The houses are low and crowded, with peeling paint on the walls.

In the middle of the courtyard, the tin trash cans had been knocked over, and several of the tightly strung clotheslines had broken. The aroma of meat coming from ahead was from a makeshift barbecue grill set up on the ground. Bella was frantically trying to escape through the narrow gaps like a headless fly, letting out terrified and high-pitched screams.

"what?"

Lu Ran was about to make a move when he suddenly stopped.

At first glance, Bella seemed to be surrounded and captured by three or four people, but her reaction was surprisingly fast. She managed to squeeze through the gaps between people and buildings, narrowly avoiding danger each time, just like a big eel.

It looks like it would have run away long ago if the door hadn't been locked.

"I refuse to believe we can't catch them!"

One of them was the tallest, but slightly hunched over, wearing coarse cloth overalls whose original color was almost unrecognizable. His bare arms were muscular, the color of which suggested either sunburn or coal dust. The man angrily spat twice into his palms. Then he was frantically moving a tattered wooden crate, trying to block Bella's last escape route to the corner, cursing viciously, "Damn it! Block that way! Quickly!"

Seeing this, Lu Ran had no intention of continuing to watch the show. Thinking that this silly dog ​​should have learned his lesson, he directly used his deception magic.

"caught you!"

The tall man, with a cruel expression, picked up a stick and struck his subordinate hard.

"Still trying to run? I'll show you what running is like, I'll show you what running is like!"

……

Taking advantage of the brief moment when they were happily staring at the air, Lu Ran quickly jumped down from the wall and then leaped onto Bella, who was still running around aimlessly, grabbing her fur.

"Stop howling and get to the door."

Bella stopped abruptly, only then noticing that the burly men chasing her had stopped moving at some point and were now excitedly sharpening their cleavers, their hands seemingly pressing down on something as if they were grasping at thin air.

Clang—Clang—

Bella was startled and immediately ran towards the door as Lu Ran had instructed. Lu Ran stood on Bella's head and forcefully pushed the rusty iron latch on the inner door outwards.

rustling --

With a slight metallic scraping sound, the iron latch was slowly pushed out. Lu Ran directed Bella to bite the wooden door and pull it open forcefully.

"Hurry up, hurry up, I'm getting dizzy from having three people at once."

Lu Ran urged her on, and Bella's eyes widened. She quickly squeezed her body towards the door and finally dashed out.

The next moment, three people behind the door exclaimed in surprise.

"Where's the dog?"

"What the hell? The dog just vanished into thin air!"

"You're holding the dog down, don't you know?"

"And you were just slitting a dog's throat with a knife."

"Hey, doorman! Why is the door open?"

Lu Ran rode Bella away in a flash. The door creaked open behind him, and the tall, burly man rushed out. His face first showed surprise and confusion, then turned to resentment and regret.

Originally, we could have secretly killed them all when we found the opportunity, and if something happened, the investigation would have focused on this area, so we could have shared the blame.

Now that Bella has escaped and is out on the street, with so many people watching, they still wouldn't dare to kill the Earl's dog so openly.

"Have you learned your lesson? Going into someone's house just because you smell meat?"

Bella looked completely innocent: "I'm hungry, so hungry."

"Forehead……"

Lu Ran touched her stomach, feeling a little embarrassed upon hearing this.

Indeed, I've been running with this guy since morning without eating anything, and I brought Bella to this dangerous place myself.

Speaking of that conversation between the three people just now—it's better if it blows up.

So, their goal is to cause trouble? Could it be that there are already signs of a man-made riot?
Lu Ran suppressed his doubts, but suddenly his eyes lit up and he thought of a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

"Wait a minute, Bella, don't rush. I'll take you somewhere to freeload a meal right away."

Lu Ran first went to the nearby rat hideout and asked Sheriff Edwin's address, only to find out that it was also on Gray Street.

After thinking for a moment, he took Bella directly to the hideout where he had previously contacted Zell on Grey Street, and then took out paper and pen from there, writing a letter in Sherlock's name.

In short -

It's been a while since I've seen you, Sheriff Edwin. I heard you seem to be having some trouble lately. Do you need any help?

(End of this chapter)