Owl Detective
In the camera, the child's face was full of surprise, as if stars were scattered in his eyes, and even his little face, which was originally pale due to malnutrition, turned red.
“This, this is…”
He was almost incoherent. He wanted to say something, but was afraid of disturbing the owl in front of him, so he could only suppress his words and speak in a whisper, his lips trembling so much that they were about to take off.
So close at hand, the fairy-tale owl messenger tilted its head and hooted urgingly.
The boy's heart was beating like a drum. He held his breath and tentatively pinched a corner of the envelope. After making sure that the owl had not had an attack, he gently pulled it.
The messenger loosened its sharp beak, cooed at him a few times, then spread its beautiful and mysterious dark brown wings and disappeared into the night. Even though the boy immediately opened the window and leaned out to check, he could not find the owl in the inky night.
But this did not affect his excitement at the moment.
He retreated back into the room, carefully opened the envelope, slowly took out the beautiful invitation letter, looked at it, and his already bright eyes became even brighter.
It was made of the same material as the one the teacher showed them! It was an invitation to the Mysterious School of Magic!
Look at the text above...
The boy, who had always hated studying, now had his brain working at high speed. He frantically recalled the classes he had taken at school and tried hard to understand the words on the invitation letter.
Perhaps the writer was considerate, all the words here were taught in the course, words he could understand, and the content was interpreted as -
The magic academy is holding a late night party here! And he is invited!
After understanding it, the boy hugged the invitation letter and felt that he was the happiest child in the world.
The camera freezes on the boy's silly smile as he leans against the window sill. The narrator, who has been silent for a long time, begins to speak leisurely:
"The follow-up treatment of the victims is indeed difficult, so the detective asked for help from a very famous and exceptionally smart detective."
"This is the first time he has helped to deal with something unexpected in a case."
"Well, it looks like it worked well?"
The barrage of comments in the live broadcast room had stopped when the owl knocked on the window.
Until now, after watching the whole process of dreams coming true with bated breath, and hearing the narration's summary, the barrage of comments exploded.
【Ahhh, I'm so jealous, I'm so jealous, ahhhh!!】
[It’s a messenger owl! It’s a magic owl! Ahhh, who knows the value of these words combined together!!]
[Why didn’t I get the invitation to attend school that I dreamed of? Why didn’t an owl messenger come to give it to me? Give it to me…! ]
[Everyone! Calm down. We have watched the entire plot and know that there is no magic element in this live broadcast room. This development should just be to comfort the children.]
[Wow, even so, I’m still excited! I love it so much, I love it so much…]
[Completely crazy! Completely crazy! I put myself in the shoes of these lucky kids! Immersive experience! Even if it's just a midnight fantasy, it's worth it! ! ]
[What kind of psychological shadow could this be? This is absolutely the most dreamy childhood memory...]
“Gugu——”
Late that night, owls flew all over the East District and, with the help of humans, delivered the invitations, which were originally intended to be sinister, to the children on the list.
After finishing the last household, it slowly landed on the shoulder of William who was waiting downstairs, looked at the human, and blinked its searchlight-like eyes, as if hinting at something.
William understood and immediately offered the best quality raw meat.
This meat was provided by Jon. The quality is much higher than the raw meat sold in the ordinary market. Just looking at the texture and color of the meat makes people hungry. If other people see that such meat is only used to feed birds, they will probably scold them.
However, it was all worth it in William's heart.
If we can resolve the psychological crisis brought to the children by this incident in a gentle way, spending a little more money is nothing.
What's more, when he learned that there were problems with the follow-up handling, Jon also generously provided material assistance, the extent of which did not even require William to use the small treasury he had accumulated.
Well, this is for the best.
Seeing that the last invitation had been sent out and the owl had eaten its fill and began to preen its feathers, William suppressed his excitement and left with the owl.
"Coo, coo, coo."
The mount began to sway, and the eagle owl paused in preening its feathers, adjusted its posture and nestled back in place. Just as it was trying to take advantage of the time to clean itself before going to bed, it unexpectedly discovered that this road was not familiar to it.
Coo coo?
This is not the way home!
The detective looked suspiciously at the police officer who looked calm, but after thinking for a while he put away his puffed up feathers and looked at the unfamiliar road with his round eyes.
As it looked at it, it tasted a sense of familiarity.
Isn't this the place where it beat up that human last night?
Gu, why did I bring it here?
Tilting his head, unable to figure out what his little brother wanted to do, the owl could only suppress the impending sleepiness of the early morning and keep his eyes wide open, alert at all times.
Soon, it entered the familiar factory with William.
There were quite a few people in the room, and the noise was quite loud. When they heard someone else coming, they all turned their heads to look at the door.
"Coo-coo!"
The owl frowned, and its well-tended feathers fluffed up again, and it entered a state of alert.
However, to its surprise, this group of humans showed extreme respect and docility to it:
"Are you the legendary detective?"
"Good day, Mr. Owl, I hope you have a good day."
"Everyone, be gentle. Mr. Detective needs to rest during the day!"
While speaking these considerate words, they also tried not to look the eagle owl in the eye, doing their utmost to demonstrate their harmlessness and gentleness.
Eagle Owl: ...coo-coo-coo?
It stuck its head out and looked suspiciously at these humans who were more humble than its younger brothers. It blinked and suddenly landed on a table among them, causing a burst of exclamations from the people.
“Oh my God!!”
"Sorry, sorry! Did we do something wrong?"
"Please give us a chance to improve, please!"
People did not try to attack the owl that suddenly attacked, but just retreated and dodged out of reflex, forming a vacuum zone that belonged to the owl alone and continued to expand as it moved.
The blinking of those golden eyes gradually slowed down, and the detective realized something.
This group of people are so afraid of it, even more than I was at that time.
So they are not in any danger, but are just a group of backup brothers.
"Goooooo!"
With its ear tufts erected in excitement, the eagle owl padded back and forth on the table, enjoying the human exclamations while also wondering why such an effect occurred.
After a moment, it figured it out.
Goo, it must be because it beat that guy.
It is very majestic and powerful, so this group of people came specially to follow it.
"Mr. Detective...?"
Hearing a familiar call, the eagle owl turned its head and looked at the detective who was somewhat at a loss. After thinking for a moment, it flew back to the young man's shoulder and flapped its wings.
Peace of mind.
It doesn't need many minions at the moment.
However, it still enjoyed being pursued by humans very much, so it did not leave William and go home. Instead, it flew freely to the highest point of the factory and closed its eyes to rest, and occasionally flew down to scare humans for fun.
"Detective-san hasn't left yet... Did he agree to cooperate tonight?"
William looked up, a little surprised.
But the other people at work were different from William. They just felt a darkness before their eyes.
They came as professionals to set up the venue.
Previously, they served the nobles and were quite professional in arranging evening parties. They were adept at handling this simple commission, but they never expected that when they entered this remote factory, what they would see was twisted and splattered dried blood all over the floor.
The struggling handprints, the painful faces reflected on the ground, the tables and chairs stained with dark marks...
Oh, this is a murder scene!!
I have never seen such a bloody scene even at the gallows!!
When he asked his employer in a panic, the youngest master of the Lance family, who had the strangest temperament, just scratched his face and said that it was probably the mark left by a fugitive being injured by the Owl Detective, and it should not be difficult to remove.
Staff: …
Oh my god, do you want to hear what you are saying?!
Although they later accepted the commission with a price they could not refuse, they were still trembling with fear and were extremely alert to the legendary owl, vowing not to anger it.
Fortunately, fortunately, we can leave after setting up a small mechanism...
They mentally humiliated themselves, and sped up their preparations, always on guard against the vicious owls that were eager to fly down and scare them.
William also found Anne and John behind the scenes, and the three of them were discussing something in a low voice.
The adults worked diligently, making elaborate preparations for the upcoming midnight party;
The children who received the invitation have been excited all day.
“This is the first time I look forward to the sun setting… Go down quickly!!”
"What should I wear? Do I need to look good to be chosen?"
"I don't want to eat! Stop calling me!"
"Go away, go away. I don't have time to play with you. I have important things to do!"
The world of these child laborers has always been simple.
From the time they gained a little ability, they have been working, working, and working non-stop.
They don’t know what the future will be like, they don’t know where hope lies, they don’t understand why they should go to school, and they don’t understand the meaning of school. They are like flowers sprouting in the dark, without any light or heat, without any upward consciousness, and just barely survive by instinct.
Then, teacher Danny showed up.
He was like a reliable elder who listened to the neglected hearts of children, weaved all kinds of beautiful fairy tales to comfort them, and then left a seed of hope, saying that the secret revealed at midnight could help them.
So the kids will look forward to it.
And just last night, they actually received that wonderful invitation.
The scene was even more fantastic than they had imagined.
An owl hooted late at night, carrying the invitation in its beak, and knocked politely on the window to deliver the message to them.
After receiving the invitation and looking at it all night, they thought it was a dream for a while, until their parents knocked on the door and they saw the intact invitation in their hands, and then they realized what they had experienced last night.
“…Magic, magic!”
As a lucky one, Lucy was as distracted as her friends.
She was excited all night and started preparing a suitable dress from early morning.
The strange mother's whereabouts have been erratic these two days. She has not been seen since yesterday afternoon. She has no time to care about it. After all, having money on the table is enough for her to use.
That day, she just stared at the invitation letter in a daze, grinning foolishly, and occasionally looked around as if she was afraid that the invitation letter would be snatched away or suddenly disappear.
After waiting and waiting, the sun finally set.
But it was not yet the appointed time, and the clock hands had not yet pointed to midnight.
Lucy stood at the door, ready to go.
When the clock pointed to eleven, she would open the doorknob like a happy little deer and step into the night without hesitation to rush to the party.
To her surprise, yet not quite surprise, she met familiar companions on the road.
"Haha, what are you wearing?"
"Wow, Lucy you're so beautiful!"
"Hehe, I guess this must be in line with the style of magic."
"Hurry up, hold hands and run together!"
The children wore their best clothes, held hands, and ran together to that familiar yet strange place.
They were afraid that if they were a step slower, the midnight magic would disappear.
But they arrived just in time.
The moment they pushed open the door, the originally dark room began to light up in layers, and the mysterious blue light revealed countless unfamiliar facilities inside. The scene was so dreamy and gorgeous that it exceeded the imagination of the child laborers. They all opened their mouths and stood stunned at the door.
Wow, so beautiful.
They tried their best to pick out the most beautiful clothes in their wardrobe, but it still seemed like they couldn't compare to what was here...
"Come in, children."
An elegant yet slightly playful voice echoed in the house. The children looked around in surprise and anxiety, and finally walked into the house cautiously at the voice's urging again.
The door closed silently as the last child entered the house.
The child turned his head subconsciously, but did not see anyone closing the door behind him. This realization made him excited all of a sudden.
Wow!
It's magic!
Just as he was about to share it with his companions, he saw another magical scene -
The beautiful stools flew towards them and selected the children one by one. Two of the chairs even bumped into each other in mid-air to compete for a girl, which made the others marvel.
Oh my god! The chairs are flying!
After a while, when they all sat down in their chairs obediently, a bunch of small cakes floated in the air, stopped precisely in front of each child's table, and then fell down with a plop.
Oh my god! Cakes can fly too!
Just when the children thought they would stop yelling like they had never seen the world before, they heard the same voice that had greeted them in the first place -
"I guess you were all excited about the invitation and maybe didn't have dinner."
There was a hint of teasing in the voice, like a joke between friends.
"Of course, the same thing would happen to me."
"So, eat something first. I don't want you to talk to me when you're hungry. I'll be accused of child abuse if you do that."
The children opened their eyes wide.
What surprised them was certainly not the content of the words, but the existence that they froze after identifying the source of the sound.
An owl.
The beautiful and majestic brown bird stood on the sculpture right in front of them. If they hadn't looked up, they would have even ignored each other's existence.
And now, they followed the sound, but only saw it.
"Mouth Owl has spoken!!"
More than one child exclaimed, they were all shouting that.
The eagle owl on the sculpture tilted its head and looked at them.
"Don't be surprised, everything is normal in this world."
The voice continued, "How about we all enjoy dessert first?"
"OK!"
The children responded in unison and then ate the cake obediently.
As soon as they took a bite, their eyes lit up. They had never tasted pastries with this texture before. Even for the most extravagant birthdays, they could only buy slightly softer and sweeter bread. They had never tasted a cake with such a rich filling.
Some children looked away, and they were eager to take the cake home.
“You can’t take it away.”
As if magic could see through everything, the voice stopped it in time: "After midnight, the magic will disappear, and the cake will not fall."
All right……
All that had happened before had made the children completely trust this magical world. The ones who originally wanted to take the cakes away could only eat them up with great care.
But because it was really delicious, the disappointment was outweighed by the satisfaction, and the children were filled with bubbles of happiness after finishing the meal.
Behind the scenes.
Jon quietly peeked in and saw this scene, feeling mixed emotions.
In a city with huge class differences, the pastries that the nobles can enjoy at any time are seen by the children in the East District as wonderful pastries that can only be enjoyed in the magical world. Even though he has a certain understanding of it, he is still touched by this concrete difference.
But if that weren't the case, they couldn't fool the kids with all the fancy decorations and give them a midnight party that lived up to their fantasies.
Seeing that the children had finished their pastries and began to chatter, Jon also retracted his head, knowing that it was time to get to the point.
Phew, I hope Mr. Owl will continue to cooperate.
He looked up at the owl on the sculpture with a subtle mood.
But in this situation, it really becomes more and more mysterious.
I feel like it wouldn't be strange even if Mr. Owl really spoke the next second...
After shaking off these terrifying thoughts, Jon rubbed his neck, found the right voice, and spoke -
"Everyone has finished eating, what are the reviews?"
Oh! Mr. Owl is asking them!
The children answered in unison:
“Delicious! Super delicious!”
“It feels like it’s gone in one bite…it’s sweet.”
“Will I ever be able to eat something like this again?”
The owl blinked, and the voice gave an unexpected answer: "Well, maybe it can."
Suddenly, the children became more excited.
They thought of the invitation letter and what the teacher had taught them. Their hearts were pounding and they were extremely excited. Finally, someone spoke up: "Yes, is it because we can become part of the magical world?"
The voice gave a negative answer: "No, it's not the enrollment season yet. I invited everyone here because there is a bad guy causing trouble."
The children looked at each other and saw that their companions' faces in the dim candlelight were as confused as their own.
Eh?
Bad guy?
"Well, so I came here specifically to solve this problem..."
Through the voice of an owl, Jon behind the scenes described Danny as a villain in the magical world, and by the way, he tactfully rejected the children's applications for admission to the magical world. In the darkness, he nervously poked his head out to identify the children's reactions.
“Eh…”
Surprisingly, the kids took it pretty well.
After all, what really attracted them was the world created by Danny, not this person, so it didn't matter if the teacher was a bad guy.
Moreover, characterizing the other party as a "black magician who sucks talent" made some children complain boldly with indignation:
"Wow, he must have sucked away my talent when he touched my face, bad guy!!"
"Ah! Have you been touched before? I was wondering why he hugged me at that time, it was too much!!"
"I-I-I don't even dare to say it, what a bad guy!!"
The children were more angry than afraid. After they realized what was happening, they immediately asked:
"Mr. Owl, the talent that was sucked away will come back, right? You didn't lie to us, did you?"
"I will be back, don't worry, we have caught the bad guy."
That voice had a soothing power: "The cake just now is compensation. Do you feel much better after eating it?"
The children felt it and were surprised. They nodded repeatedly: "Yes!"
Not long after I settled down and rubbed my belly contentedly, another child couldn't help asking:
"Mr. Owl, can we still enroll in school later?"
"Yeah, yeah, when is the, uh, enrollment season?"
"Does it require a noble bloodline to be able to do this?"
Hearing the last sentence, Jon's face behind the scenes twisted, and he immediately guessed how Danny had deceived these children.
Those twisted doctrines that are designed to satisfy the desires of people like them, saying that blood can only be passed on after deep intimacy...ah, bastards.
So his answer to this was categorical:
"We never value blood, kid."
"We only look at your talent, and then add a little bit of luck."
The children who were gathered in a circle were chattering and discussing, and they seemed a little disappointed.
But they had no luck at all.
Besides, they were never smart kids.
As if seeing through the children's thoughts, the voice suddenly softened:
"You are very lucky children to be here tonight."
"Even if it's not the enrollment season, I can still give you a lot of effective advice. Even if you don't become a magician, knowledge can allow you to achieve effects comparable to magic."
"The threshold for acquiring knowledge is even lower. The school you are attending now is an opportunity."
The children looked at the owl on the sculpture with wide eyes and curiosity.
The same goes for Lucy. Although these words are similar to those said by her mother, the effect coming from the mouth of an owl that can speak human language is different. The other party's words seem to have some kind of magic that makes her unconsciously convinced.
Just as she was about to remember the other party's words, she unexpectedly heard her name from its mouth:
"Lucy, good girl, you step up to the front."
Eh?
Lucy stood up with a confused look on her face, and under the astonished gazes of her companions, she almost moved forward at the same time and stood in front of the sculpture.
“Chirp, chirp~”
Suddenly, a bird's cry was heard in the air, and all the children subconsciously looked up, ignoring the movement of the pulley on the ground.
When Lucy looked down again, she saw that there was suddenly a small table in front of her, with bottles of familiar-colored liquid on it.
Her pupils trembled.
Isn't this the magic trick that her mother performed for her before? !
As if hearing her thoughts, the voice said slowly:
"Magic cannot appear casually in reality. It will drive people crazy."
"So some magic will disguise itself as magic, and when human knowledge is sufficient to explain its existence, it will appear suddenly."
After speaking a long paragraph that made the children dizzy and half-intelligible, it began to encourage the girl standing in the front.
"Lucy, I believe you can do it, just try."
She, can she?
Can she really do it?
Lucy bit her lip, her heart beating fast.
When her mother explained the knowledge to her in the form of revealing magic, she soon got bored of it. She didn't want to know anything at all. She only knew that pouring certain colors into certain colors would cause strange big noises.
Such a crude explanation even made her hate her mother's magic. After all, children like mystery, but her mother explained everything clearly, which was not cool at all.
But if Mr. Owl says so...
The girl's hands were shaking slightly, but she managed to steady herself instantly while pouring the liquid, pouring it in without leaking a drop.
“Wow——”
Almost in the next second, white mist rushed out of the bottle.
Children below: Wow!!
Next, after finishing, a large amount of foam emerged from the bowl and climbed outward as if it had life.
Children below: Wow!!
Then, suddenly, there were bricks that formed beautiful crystals.
Children below: Wow!!
After the display, Lucy was in a daze, her heart beating fast, and for the first time she understood why her mother was obsessed with these things.
It was like magic, just as Mr. Owl had said... except her mother could explain it to her.
"Lucy is very talented, she did a great job."
The voice praised, and then turned to the children whose jaws almost dropped to the ground: "Do you understand? So knowledge can also achieve this effect."
"As for other magic..."
Its voice sounded full of smiles and a hint of anticipation.
"It depends on you to study hard and crack it."
The children looked confused: Oh...
Seeing this, the voice added a few more words:
"As for the enrollment season, we open it irregularly, so maybe the next time we send a letter, it will be an acceptance letter."
"Even if it doesn't work out, you still have a special experience tonight and you are lucky and special children."
"Well, knowledge is really useful in the human world. Even magicians have to learn everything again when they come to the real world."
After the last sentence was spoken, the room was silent for a while.
Just when the adults behind the scenes were a little worried, the children suddenly burst into a chorus of responses:
"I understand! I will study hard!"
"I will study hard. I like those magics."
"Idiot, magic is what has been cracked! Magic is what we have to crack!"
"I know, I know. I'm learning!"
"Mr. Owl, you must come to see me. I will always be waiting for you!"
The response was enthusiastic.
Just when Jon thought he might be able to end the conversation and let the children play, he heard Lucy's cautious inquiry: "Mr. Owl, are you the nearest owl detective?"
Lucy speculated this through her own mother's experience of recommending Owl.
She was now both nervous and excited, because she discovered that her mother, whom she had always disliked as strange, was actually connected to that mysterious world.
Ah, that explains it all at once!
As the children watched with bated breath, the owl on the sculpture tilted its head and paused for a long time before speaking helplessly:
"Huh? Were we discovered?"
"Okay, I hope everyone can keep my secret. After all, after the magic tonight wears off, I will just be an ordinary owl..."
“Not ordinary!”
One child retorted subconsciously, and then all the children began to chatter:
"You're a great detective!"
"You caught a lot of bad guys!"
"You protected us, so we dared to go out alone."
"Even without magic, you are still a super awesome Mr. Owl!"
At this moment, the owl that had been standing on the sculpture suddenly moved.
It spread its wings and landed on the children's table. After the initial surprise, the children rushed to touch it carefully, muttering things like "Owls are great detectives", "They are awesome detectives", "I like owls".
The owl, who was treated like this, never spoke again, but just nodded reservedly occasionally, and moved among the children, feeling like the moon surrounded by stars.
Is Mr. Owl shy?
Mr. Owl is so cute!
Mr. Owl's fur is so soft!
Interacting with the detective from time to time, looking around the beautifully decorated venue, and being amazed at the various flowers they had never seen, the children were almost immersed in the midnight surprise, with the corners of their lips raised almost all the time.
It was not until the bell rang and Mr. Owl spread his wings and flew back to the sky, and the children heard the other party's slightly reluctant closing speech, that they realized that midnight was almost over.
Don't want to leave...
But they already had absolute trust in Mr. Owl, and under his repeated urging, they could only leave, looking back every few steps.
The door closed behind him, and there was already a faint light in the sky.
The magic of midnight is over.
After saying goodbye to her companions, Lucy chose to walk home alone.
Thinking about what she had just experienced, her steps became faster and faster, and lighter and lighter, like a deer that would escape into the woods in the next second.
Looking at the sky that was gradually turning white, she suddenly had an impulse.
She wanted to record everything.
Alleys, owls, magic, detectives... I really want to write them all down.
The girl danced gently on the road, her carefully prepared skirt swaying like a blooming flower.
She wanted this night to leave some trace in this world.
At school, she has learned a lot of words and is no longer the child who needs her mother's help to read the newspaper.
Lucy blinked and smiled.
...Well, maybe this is the meaning of learning?
Owl's perspective
Oh! It's its little brother who wants to follow it! Tease it!
Hmm? Why are there a bunch of young humans here again? Let's wait and see.
Very good, I am your younger brother too!
It’s so noisy, let’s see if it doesn’t come and punish us!
Very good, all very sensible, coo coo coo.
Wow, I got censored... I had finished writing it at one o'clock.
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