Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 13: Inspector Lestrade’s Commission

Under Levi’s expectant gaze, the lift reached the top floor.

With a “ding,” the doors opened.

Then Levi saw the potbellied Inspector Lestrade walk in.

“……………So it was Inspector Lestrade.”

“Who else could it be but me?”

Hearing Levi’s words, Inspector Lestrade froze for a moment, but Levi did not say anything more.

“I thought there would be a client. Please, have a seat. Your wound has healed?”

As he spoke, Levi gestured for Inspector Lestrade to sit down while pouring him a cup of tea.

“Hahaha, just a minor injury. For us policemen, these wounds are commonplace. After all, I am now busy with official duties, how could I delay because of such a small matter?”

Looking at Inspector Lestrade sitting on the sofa with a spring breeze across his face, Levi raised his eyebrow slightly.

It was obvious from his appearance that the corpses of those monsters and that magic book not only fetched Levi a good price, but had also clearly brought this inspector considerable political benefit.

“By the way, this is for you.”

Inspector Lestrade looked at Levi with a grin and handed him an official document.

“This is?”

“Do you remember? The first time you came to me, you said you were willing to assist us in solving cases.”

“That did happen.”

“This is the official reply.”

Inspector Lestrade laughed heartily.

“As long as you accept, from today onwards, you will be our police station’s special consultant.”

“…………………”

Levi took the document and opened it, carefully reading it through.

The contents were simple.

The police had hired Levi as a special investigative consultant.

The requirement was that whenever the police had a case needing Levi’s help, he had to provide assistance.

“The police station will give you an annual allowance of 25 pounds. I think you are not short of such small money, but we can also install a communicator for you, so that it will be convenient for us to stay in contact.”

“Oh?”

At this, Levi grew somewhat interested.

In this era, communicators, similar to telephones, already existed, but they were not widely used.

The most common forms of communication were still letters and telegrams.

Communicators were still a luxury—just like telephones when they had first appeared, only the wealthy and powerful could install them.

Even if ordinary people could pay the money, the gentlemen at the Communication Bureau would not bother with them.

It could be said that unless you had connections, an ordinary person’s only chance to use a communicator was at the public communication hall in the post office.

Moreover, the cost of one penny per second was not something everyone could afford.

“Is this because of the Courtesan Killer?”

Levi was not a fool.

The City Council had already given him such a large bounty, and now Inspector Lestrade had come to recruit him again.

Other than this reason, there was no other possibility.

“That’s right.”

When it came to business, Inspector Lestrade put away his smile and nodded solemnly.

“You already know the inside story, so I will be straightforward. We now suspect that cases of this nature are likely not limited to just this one. Therefore, we are currently adding manpower to investigate those unsolved cases, or cases that have been solved but still have suspicious points.”

Just as expected.

Levi was not surprised by this.

Strictly speaking, this case had been far too surreal.

In Levi’s own world, almost no one would take such supernatural nonsense seriously.

But this world was different.

As mentioned before, with the advent of the Steam Revolution, humanity had developed a desire for ‘comprehensive advancement.’

Even spiritualism and black magic could appear openly in newspapers to be researched and interpreted.

So it was not strange for the police to treat such matters with special procedures.

However…………strange was still strange.

Levi looked doubtfully at Inspector Lestrade.

From his experience, in novels or games, rulers usually had departments specifically in charge of handling supernatural forces.

Such matters should have been under their jurisdiction.

After all, magic, sacrifices, and the like had existed for far longer than steam technology, which was only a few decades old.

Could it be that the royal family had no safeguards against such things?

Why let the police take charge?

“Couldn’t you just publish it in the newspapers, warn people of the dangers of such things, and advise them to stay away from this mess?”

“Of course not.”

Inspector Lestrade shook his head.

“If we publicly declare that the Courtesan Killer case was caused by some mysterious evil ritual, it will certainly cause considerable unrest among the public.

And at least until now, the popular studies of magic and rituals among the populace have not caused much trouble.

People simply regard them as a kind of entertainment or pastime.

But if we announce it………”

“All right, I understand. That really would be a headache.”

Levi understood.

At present, they had no effective means of countering such mysterious powers.

If they truly published a warning, then in a few days Mist City might erupt everywhere with black magic or cult rituals.

“But Inspector Lestrade, you did not come here just for this, right?”

“Of course.”

Hearing Levi’s question, Inspector Lestrade nodded, then his expression grew stern.

“Do you remember Doctor Doolittle’s magic book?”

“Yes. What is it? Did you uncover anything from the investigation?”

“That’s right. Look at this.”

Inspector Lestrade took a photo from his pocket and handed it over.

Levi reached for it and looked.

On the inner page of the magic book in the photo, a bold line of powerful words was written.

【Steel is a plague, machines are corruption, technology is a curse!】

“This is……………”

Seeing these words, Levi raised an eyebrow and looked at Inspector Lestrade, who nodded gravely.

“This is the slogan of Luddism!”

No wonder Inspector Lestrade was so tense.

Luddism had gone into hiding after harsh crackdowns, but that did not mean it had disappeared.

The authorities already classified Luddites as terrorists, since their goal was to destroy machines, overthrow civilization, and return everything to the idyllic era before steam technology.

They regarded this as noble, beautiful, and sacred.

But for everyone else………it was another story entirely.

If before the authorities had only seen the Luddites as simple terrorists bent on destruction, then the appearance of this magic book instantly raised the severity of the matter by several levels!

A group of terrorists who merely smashed and burned things, and a group of terrorists who practiced black magic rituals—those were two entirely different matters!

“The higher-ups take this case very seriously, so we hope you can investigate as a special consultant. You know, the identity of the police is often not convenient. A detective like you is much more suitable. Earlier we went to that church, wanting to investigate the parishioner who gave Doctor Doolittle the magic book, but they told us that such a person never existed!”

At this point, Inspector Lestrade was visibly angry.

No such person?

Did that bizarre magic book fall from the sky into Doctor Doolittle’s hands?

“This case is officially closed on the surface, which is to mislead the mastermind behind it. But because it is closed, we can no longer investigate further. So it is up to you.”

“All right, I understand. I will take this commission.”

Levi did not hesitate much.

After all, his life still depended on the system’s tasks.

For now, continuing to follow this lead was the most likely way to extend his lifespan.

Hearing his answer, Inspector Lestrade let out a sigh of relief and extended his hand.

“Pleasure working together.”

“Pleasure working together.”

The two shook hands.

Then Inspector Lestrade stood up.

“I should return now. Fletcher will handle the follow-up matters.”

Saying this, Inspector Lestrade walked to the lift entrance, then stopped.

“Oh, by the way, what about Miss Katie? Have you seen her again?”

“No, I am looking for her as well. I do not know where she has gone.”

Levi shook his head.

But he guessed that the young lady had most likely been confined at home.

Running around the slums and brawling with monsters at crime scenes were two entirely different levels of danger.

Still, that young lady was truly bold, and her fists were truly hard………at least Levi himself did not think he had that ability.

Hearing Levi’s answer, Inspector Lestrade laughed heartily.

“I think the two of you make quite a good pair. By the way, Mr. Levi, I suggest you hire a servant to help manage things. Doesn’t every household now employ a servant?”

“Thank you for the suggestion. I will consider it.”

Watching Inspector Lestrade’s short and stout figure disappear into the lift, Levi sat down again and looked around.

A servant, huh……………

He really had not thought of it before.

But Inspector Lestrade’s reminder did make sense.

Levi now had plenty of money.

Hiring a servant to help tidy up, cook, and do the laundry was reasonable.

As for how to hire one, that was easy.

In this era, there were specialized servant schools, and newspapers often carried advertisements for talent exchanges of that sort.

Incidentally, the demand for maids was much higher than for male servants.

The reason was not romantic like in anime, but practical.

In the late Age of Silver, the Empire had been in constant disputes and wars with neighboring countries, requiring large numbers of men for the army.

Therefore, legislation imposed an extra ‘Servant Tax’ on households employing male servants.

In contrast, maids required no tax.

Because of this, most households chose to hire maids to avoid additional taxes.

Yes, it was a very practical reason.

However, being a maid was not easy.

Just like the courtesans Levi had encountered before—why would they rather be courtesans than maids?

The reason was simple.

Being a maid was far more exhausting.

Becoming a senior maid was indeed comfortable, but it was not easy.

Senior maids had to be literate, know all sorts of housework, and even possess extra skills.

In this era, only women from well-off families could achieve that.

Those who had been laid off from textile mills due to the Industrial Revolution and left to wander the streets did not have such skills.

Even if they became maids, they could only do the hardest and dirtiest drudge work.

Sometimes they even had to care for entire households’ daily needs, making it the very definition of low pay for much work.

By comparison, being a courtesan was actually more comfortable.

His place did indeed need some managing.

Whether he hired a part-timer or a servant, he would see later………it depended on the situation.