Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 712: Have you conducted an in-depth investigation?

After an awkward silence, Miss Gloria coughed a few times and calmly changed the subject: "Anyway, let's talk about the guests' requests first. Is there anything I can do to help?"

She looked at the guests with an expectant look, and Linger's answer was decisive and firm: "No."

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who led us here. Now you ask us what we want. Don't you think that's contradictory?" The young man pointed out calmly, "I think you probably want to ask us for help, Miss Gloria?"

"oops."

The detective blinked her grey eyes and said, "You can't say that. I do need your help with something, but it is also related to your commission. In general, I am still helping you, right?"

Linger frowned slightly: "I've already said that we don't have any commissions that require your help."

"No, no, no, there must be one. If not, you wouldn't be here. Come on, don't worry about me leaking your privacy, just tell me what's bothering you. Is your cat missing? Is there a third person in your love life? Or do you need me to provide some evidence against your enemy?"

Gloria enthusiastically introduced her business to the guests, but Lingge was indifferent and noncommittal: So, in the end, he is just a third-rate detective who helps people find cats, catch mistresses, and even sneaks in to take photos. Compared with the great detective in the novel, he is really far behind...

"Or--"

"!!?"

"Indeed, and it's really unfair that I've already introduced myself. So, now it's your turn, why don't we start with you, Mr. Ling?"

Gloria saw that her reaction was more of a guilty conscience than a self-proclaimed innocence. After a long silence, she tilted her head slightly and gave Lingge a helpless smile: "How should I put it, Miss Alice is really a... sentimental person."

Gloria's voice suddenly paused. She leaned forward slightly, hiding half of her face in the darkness, revealing only the other half of her beautifully curved profile. Because she was facing away from the window, the dim light mixed with dust and turbid air that shone in from the alley enveloped her entire body, adding a bit of mysterious charm to her already unfathomable and deep gray eyes. Her tone also became intriguing, as if she was a nightmare demon that could see through people's hearts. She spoke out the secrets that the guests thought they had hidden well, word by word: "Do you need me to help you investigate that mysterious... witch society?"

Gloria raised the corners of her mouth and extended her hand in an inviting gesture. To the guests, that smile seemed to represent provocation and ridicule.

You can just say she is simple-minded, she has always been like this anyway.

As soon as the words fell, Ling'er's pupils suddenly contracted, Saint Shallia opened her mouth in surprise, and Alice, who had just laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, jumped up from the floor. "How do you know this? No, no, that's not right. What nonsense are you talking about! We don't know anything about the Witch Society, and we've never heard of it! You're just a third-rate detective who can only tell stories, don't say these nonsense in front of us anymore!"

wrong! ?
Ling'er's eyes became sharp. "How do you know our names? If I remember correctly, we haven't introduced ourselves since we entered this firm, right?"

What a bad-tempered guy.

Ling'er's eyes were cold, Alice was rubbing her hands together, and the detective girl was sitting steadily behind her desk, leaning leisurely against the back of her chair, blowing into her pipe from time to time, and asking her assistant Mr. Peanut to come out and show up, looking fearless.

The next moment. "Is that enough?"

A calm voice sounded, flowing through every corner of the room like clear spring water, dispelling the tense atmosphere. Saint Xia Liya took a step forward and quietly looked at the gray-haired girl behind the desk. Her eyes were calm and tolerant, and she was not angry at the other party's impolite behavior. It was like looking at a naughty child, knowing that she just wanted to get everyone's attention, not really enjoying playing pranks: "I believe that Miss Gloria brought us here not to quarrel with us. If you know something and are willing to share it with us, I will be very grateful to you. As for self-introduction, why not start with me first? Will you be satisfied with this, Miss Gloria?"

The smile on Gloria's face disappeared. She put down the pipe in her hand, pushed down the monocle on her nose, looked at Saint Shalia seriously for a while, and suddenly sighed deeply: "Alas."

Saint Charia was caught off guard by the sudden sigh and was stunned for a moment, while the detective shook her head: "I really lost to you, Miss Saint Charia. That's why people like you who are serious are really not interesting at all. Mr. Ling and Miss Alice's reactions are more interesting. Of course, I don't hate this kind of personality either."

"No need to introduce myself, because I know the identities of each of you, not just the three of you, but also Miss Ieta, Miss Leticia, and Miss Olvera. I know about the summoning ceremony that took place in the Saria Fields, and I also know about the raging fire on the Shiqilia Peninsula. I know a lot of things, as for why I know these things, that is a serious topic, and serious topics also need a serious environment to discuss, so -"

She suddenly pushed the chair away and stood up. Linger didn't know what she was going to do, and instinctively raised his vigilance. But the detective girl seemed not to notice his hostile gaze, and walked to the only window in the room, closed it, and pulled the curtains with a "swish". Suddenly, the room fell into darkness, and only the gas lamp on the short rectangular table was automatically lit without being controlled. The faint blue fire provided a precious light source for the room, but also set off a mysterious atmosphere.

Gloria nodded with satisfaction: "So, this environment is more suitable."

Alice also nodded deeply: "Yes, I think so too."

Ling Ge: “…”

It's a sad thing that after Lorena, there is another person in the world who shares the same bad taste as the golden-haired maid.

Saint Xia Liya also didn't quite understand the meaning of their persistence, but she didn't raise any objections. She asked softly: "So, can you discuss serious topics with us now, Miss Gloria?"

"Yes, of course." The detective lady, whose presence was even less noticeable in the darkness, greeted enthusiastically, "Please sit down first. Standing is not convenient for conversation, and it is not the way to entertain guests. By the way, what would you like to drink, black coffee? Grape juice? Or black tea? You don't want to drink any of them? Okay then."

Miss Gloria felt deeply sorry, but did not force it. She used the red crystal hot stove on the table to make herself a cup of boiling black coffee. After taking a sip slowly, she leaned back in the velvet recliner and said comfortably, "For a detective, this is the most wonderful enjoyment and the trick to keep your attention. The great detective's method is to use illegal drugs, but I don't have the courage to break the law."

Linger said coldly: "You have touched something more dangerous than that."

"Are you referring to the Witch Society, Mr. Ling?" Gloria blinked, then sneered with a complicated meaning. "That's true. If I hadn't investigated it in depth, I would have found it hard to imagine that in the world we live in, there is actually an organization that is so mysterious, so powerful, and so terrifying that it runs through the entire history of human civilization."

"look deep into?"

As expected, Lingge was not surprised. Instead, he took advantage of the opportunity when she was finally willing to talk about business and asked, "So, you are a member of the Thirteen Hermits, Miss Gloria?"

"Ah?" In the darkness, the girl replied in confusion: "What is that?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)