Owl Detective

The banquet was held in a magnificent manor.

After getting off the carriage, William first touched the owl with closed eyes on his shoulder soothingly, and then raised his eyes to observe the building in front of him.

From the information he could find out, the original owner of the building was an old gentleman who seemed to want to gain some say in politics recently. In order to please the Queen, he gave up the ownership of the manor for the royal family to hold banquets.

It is unknown what the effectiveness will be, and perhaps it will only be revealed in the next parliament.

"call--"

William adjusted his tie, took a deep breath, took out the invitation from his pocket, and walked towards the guard at the door.

But none of this has anything to do with him.

As an ordinary person in the East District, he was invited only because of Mr. Owl.

My only small expectation is to be able to communicate with a certain member of parliament and ask him to give some suggestions on security in the East District during the next parliamentary session.

In addition, what he had seen and heard in the factory before made him concerned about the treatment of the workers, and he hoped that this could be noticed as well.

As for making friends with nobles and royal families, he never even thought about it.

However, what made William at a loss was that those who took the initiative to talk to him before the banquet began were all nobles.

"Ah! What a cute owl."

"From what I've heard, it can solve cases, like a detective."

"Really? I want to get one too!"

"It's better not to do that. Those people said it could hurt people. The scene was horrible, even worse than the hanging scene under the tower."

"Oh my goodness."

The young masters and young ladies in gorgeous clothes gathered in a circle and chatted among themselves, while William, who was left aside by them, felt a little helpless.

He had no intention of making extra friends with these nobles, but since they came to him on their own initiative, he could not refuse them rudely. He could only let these young masters and young ladies look at him awkwardly, chuckling from time to time.

And because all the nobles were here, those parliamentarians in formal attire also tacitly toasted and chatted in another area, which was completely contrary to William's initial expectation.

The young man was anxious and worried inside, but he didn't dare show it on his face, and his whole body was a little stiff.

He had to find a reason to leave...

As soon as this thought came to William's mind, he felt his shoulder lighten. The owl that had been standing steadily on his shoulder suddenly opened its wings and flew straight to a corner.

"Mr. Detective!"

William was so surprised that he didn't bother to talk to the young nobles who were looking out from behind their fans in confusion over the change. He said sorry and hurriedly chased after them.

He thought the owl would fly very far away, or to some place that was particularly hard to find.

But in fact, he only ran a few steps before he found the owl under the cabinet in the corner. He called out, and the big bird returned to his shoulder, as if the previous movement was just an accident.

"Eh? Why did you leave? Should we follow?"

"Forget it, I've seen it before, it looks like an ordinary bird."

"It looks so cool when you spread your wings and fly...but you didn't clip the feathers?"

William stood in the shadow of the corner and saw the nobles who had gathered in a circle dispersed in boredom. He turned to look at the owl and whispered:

"Thank you for helping me out, Detective."

Owl: "Coo."

The furry detective raised his head in response, then lowered his head to comb his feathers that were raised by the short flight, with an elegant posture.

You’re welcome.

It also feels noisy.

Narrator:

"This banquet can be regarded as a microcosm of high society. The guests who came and went were not only dressed in luxurious clothes, but at least they were well-mannered."

"But the free-spirited great detective never cared about these things. Even at a banquet like this, he was still casual and didn't even change his clothes. When greeted, he just answered according to his heart."

"When the partner falls into a suffocating social dilemma, he/she takes the detective away from the social situation and hides in a corner to rest without caring about the other party's identity."

[Okay, okay, that makes sense. What's wrong with the Owl Detective not changing his clothes and ignoring people? He's not a human being!]

[It's so funny. I thought the lights in the room were too bright. No wonder the owl kept its eyes closed almost the entire time. It must have felt uncomfortable.]

[Hahahaha, I don't know why I feel like these two partners have a bit of social anxiety, hiding in the corner and observing secretly. ]

【Thoughtful detective! Someone said they really need one! 】

Standing alone in the corner, William was still considering whether to talk to the congressman.

However, most of the congressmen were chatting under the brightest lights, and considering Owl's feelings and the difficulties they had encountered in communicating just now, he finally decided to stay in the corner.

"Many people may have said those things, so I don't need to say anything more." William stroked the feathers of the eagle owl, as if trying to convince himself, "What can I change by myself? Am I right, Mr. Detective?"

The eagle owl closed its eyes, opened its mouth and gently bit the human's finger without even looking, as if to express denial, or as if simply expressing surprise.

Given the detective's usual temperament, William thought the latter was more likely.

He smiled, "Would you please relax, Mr. Detective? If you are hungry, I can feed you secretly now."

The owl cleverly opened its mouth, cooed, and then kept its mouth slightly open, staring at William with its head tilted.

But just as William was about to take out food to feed him, someone came.

"Hello." The man who suddenly came to the corner took the initiative to extend his hand to William, with a gentle expression, "You are the police officer William, right? My name is Charles, and I am a member of parliament."

William subconsciously raised his hand that was reaching into his pocket and shook hands with Charles: "Hello, Charles."

After greeting the detective, Charles looked at the owl on his shoulder with great anticipation: "Is this the legendary owl detective? He looks so handsome and impressive. May I have the honor of shaking hands with you?"

He held out his hand tentatively.

The eagle owl turned its head to look at him, stared at the slightly rough big hand quietly for a few seconds, and suddenly attacked, raising its sharp claws to hit him.

“Ah, it hurts!”

"terribly sorry!"

Almost the next second after the owl scratched someone, William apologized in panic, and subconsciously moved the shoulder holding the owl back to avoid being attacked by the man.

But to his surprise, although there was a blood mark on the back of his hand, there was no anger on Charles' face.

"It's okay, it's okay." He took out a handkerchief and pressed it on the back of his hand to stop the bleeding, and comforted William with a smile, "Its reaction is normal, I won't be angry."

He said something that puzzled William: "On the contrary, I am delighted that it can react so naturally."

Next, Charles asked William some questions, mostly about his daily interactions with owls, such as whether he trained them with food or tools.

Of course none of this happened.

In the process of getting along with Mr. Owl, William has always been very respectful of the other party's wishes and would consult the other party before doing anything. As for food, even during that brief cold war period, they were always fed with meat. Something like a piece of meat in a cage... God, I dare not imagine it at all.

After all, Mr. Owl was the partner he invited. Regardless of the feelings that had already been developed, that kind of attitude should not be used to treat a partner as an equal!

"Yes! That's it!"

Such remarks unexpectedly touched Charles' heart. He suddenly became excited and praised repeatedly: "I have always believed that this is the attitude that should be taken towards animals."

Thinking of something, his voice became a little deeper: "The cruel domestication, trapping wild animals in prison to kill each other, and taking pleasure in their blood and wailing, is really not what a civilized society should have. Those who are obsessed with this are simply a group of uncivilized barbarians!"

Although he had never known about it before, William accepted these remarks well. He nodded thoughtfully, savoring the remarks, and suddenly realized Charles' identity.

As a member of parliament, it is natural for him to put forward various proposals concerning all aspects of the country.

Different MPs focus on different aspects of the issue, and Charles is a member of the House of Lords who is committed to calling on the whole society to eliminate animal abuse.

But unfortunately, every time he proposed a proposal, there would be various controversies. It was either rejected in the House of Lords or defeated in the House of Commons, and he was unable to implement the legislation.

After going back and forth like this several times, even William, who knew little about it, had heard of the reputation of this animal congressman who had fought again and again despite repeated defeats.

The other party's famous quote during the debate, "This country is simply a hell for animals," was also eye-opening, and the whole street was discussing it during that period.

"It is true that people's ideas are still stuck in the last century, but it sounds so harsh." Charles shook his head in disappointment when he mentioned this. "In this powerful empire, the lives of animals are so miserable. It is really sad."

At first, when Charles learned that there was an owl detective attending the banquet, he thought that someone had tamed the owl to entertain the nobles, and he felt heavy-hearted about it.

However, he had just witnessed with his own eyes an owl spreading its wings and flying away without a care in the world. The bird had neither leg chains nor broken wings, which completely changed his mind.

When he got closer to talk to him, he found that the owl still had a bad temper towards strangers and would even attack them. Although the wound on the back of his hand was aching slightly, he was very happy.

It retains a certain wildness and freedom, can move freely in human society, and can even voluntarily assist humans in work. It is simply a model example of how humans and animals get along in civilized society.

Well, I can use this as an argument to argue with those barbaric-minded guys for three days and three nights.

“Hmm!”

Charles was thinking about it, and was about to ask William about his experience with owls, when suddenly his eyes went dark.

Just now, a large ball of soft and tough fur hit him on the forehead mercilessly. Its two sharp claws hooked the few remaining hairs on his head and pulled them straight up, causing him so much pain that tears were about to come out.

By the time he reacted, the culprit had left behind a long "Gu——" and quickly escaped from the windowsill into the garden.

"Ouch, my hair..."

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

Charles frowned and touched his head tentatively, and found that a clump of hair had fallen out. Turning his head, he saw William's panicked expression, took a deep breath, and comforted him with the generosity of an elder: "It's okay, I don't care about this at my age. You know, all men in this country will have this day, it just comes one day earlier."

"But what happened to your partner? Did he discover another case? Like those praised in the newspapers?"

He made a joke.

William: ...

William was not sure about this.

Seeing this, Charles went to the garden with William to look for birds on the pretext of sobering up.

Then they found a body in the garden, right where the owl was circling.

The owl has been waiting with its mouth open since William said he was going to feed it. After waiting for a long time, it still hasn't eaten meat: ... I knew that in a place like this, you have to do some work to get food! (Swearing) (Grabbing a handful of bald heads to vent) Right here! (Detective pointing the way) Dig.