My Secret Cult Life with Points Added

Chapter 44 Getting Closer to Science

The next morning, which was Wednesday.

Lucius arrived at the detective agency earlier than usual, and Charles and Eleanor were not there when he pushed open the door.

Oliver stood in front of the tea cabinet, holding his brass coffee pot, staring down at the pocket watch in his hand.

The aroma wafting from the coffee pot was from a variety Lucius had never smelled before, with a faint smoky scent and a caramel sweetness.

This is probably another new product from Oliver.

"Mr. Oliver, has the captain arrived at the detective agency?" Lucius asked with a smile as he walked up to the tea cabinet.

Oliver didn't turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the pocket watch. He simply replied:

"He's been in the office the whole time. He was on duty in the storage room for the deceased's belongings last night and didn't sleep a wink, but he seems to be in good spirits. I just made him a cup of black tea."

Lucius nodded, did not linger in the reception room, went upstairs, and knocked on Felix's office door.

"Captain, based on Oliver's advice, I'd like to learn from you how to become an equipment enchanter."

He didn't beat around the bush and directly stated the purpose of his visit to the detective agency early in the morning.

"Equipment enchanter." Felix picked up his teacup, finished the last sip of his black tea, and said:

"It seems you're making good progress in your mystical studies course and have already started planning your own skill set."

"I've been working hard to officially become a member of the detective agency as soon as possible," Lucius replied.

Felix smiled, but then said seriously:

"Learning only basic occultism is not enough; you also need to learn how to become a qualified police officer."

You need to learn to distinguish genuine occult elements from case files and how to handle encounters with esoteric practitioners.

"Looks like I still have a long way to go?"

Lucius was not discouraged; practice was not difficult for him, it was just a to-do item that had not yet been put on his schedule.

Felix didn't respond to that question. Instead, he hesitated for two seconds before suddenly asking, "How's your revolver shooting practice going?"

"My ten-meter target score is consistently above seven rings," Lucius reported on his practice results at the underground shooting range yesterday, then honestly added, "Of course, this was aided by my sequence ability."

After listening, Felix thought for a moment and gave Lucius a suggestion that surprised him somewhat:

"You could talk to Charles and Eleanor and ask them to include you when they analyze the case files."

"Captain, isn't this inappropriate?" Lucius could already imagine himself being a "third wheel" in the office.

"Aren't you trying to become a member of the detective agency?" Felix pointed at Lucius and said seriously.

"Our experience in handling all kinds of extraordinary cases has never come from flipping through textbooks."

In a real-life setting, in a basement where a Tantric practitioner begins chanting incantations, you only have a few seconds to determine the type of ritual being performed and the possible sexual orientation.

This kind of judgment comes only from repeated practice.

Charles and Eleanor, when they first joined, were just like you, sitting in the corner of the office listening to Oliver and me argue about case details. It wasn't until two months later that they started handling cases independently.

"Let's go," Lucius had no choice but to agree.

Once Felix saw that the matter was settled, he changed the subject back to Lucius's original purpose for entering.

"Regarding the equipment enchanter, go to St. Audrey's Church tomorrow morning. Our classes are held there. Lord Reiner will arrange for someone to take you to the enchanting workshop in the forge."

Lucius was immediately surprised. "Not here?"

"I happen to need to teach the blacksmithing apprentices at the forge how to enchant equipment. Your course and their course content completely overlap in the basics, so combining them will be more efficient."

Felix explained, then picked up his pen, dipped it in ink again, and gestured that he could leave.

After thanking him, Lucius turned and left the office, going down the stairs to the first floor.

Charles and Eleanor had already arrived in the drawing room, and they didn't seem to have been waiting long, as they had only drunk less than half of their coffee.

After the three finished enjoying Oliver's Marenza coffee, they left the detective agency and walked along Splin Street toward the Hull Police Station.

On the way, Lucius brought up Felix's suggestion that he join the case file analysis.

Aside from Eleanor being somewhat surprised by Lucius's improved shooting, the two of them didn't object to it, as Felix had taught them the same thing before.

Inside the special cases handling office, a police officer pushed in a trolley full of files, moved the files onto the desk, and then left.

Lucius looked at the large number of case files in front of him in surprise and said, "We're supposed to handle supernatural cases, right? These are all suspected cases?"

Charles picked up the top file, glanced at it, and then pushed it toward Lucius.

"Our work is much more boring than taking cat-finding jobs at a detective agency, like this one..."

Mr. Joseph, who lives on Albert Street, claims that he was struck by lightning yesterday while hanging out his laundry, and has since gained the extraordinary ability to not be burned by any water, no matter how hot it is.

He could drink freshly boiled water in front of his neighbors without batting an eye, and was thus hailed as the "Son of Thunder in Albert Neighborhood".

This is obviously fake.

"How did you figure that out?" Lucius asked curiously, leaning closer to look at the records in the dossier.

Joseph's account is detailed and dramatic.

He described how the lightning struck his left scapula, how it left him unconscious for two hours, and how he woke up to find that he had gained the ability to resist high temperatures.

The file also included three testimonies from neighbors, each confirming that Joseph did drink the boiled water in front of them and showed no signs of pain.

One account even described how, after the first cup, Joseph asked his neighbor to pour him another cup of boiling water, which he then drank in front of everyone.

"Because it was a sunny day in Hull yesterday," Eleanor added without arguing with Charles, without even looking up.

"...an irrefutable reason." Lucius closed Joseph's case file and set it aside.

He reached for the second file.

The first page contains a complaint form filled out by Mr. Winnie, who lives in an apartment building in the East District. In his complaint, he wrote:

The gas light in his living room, which he had used for three years, malfunctioned yesterday. It turned on by itself in broad daylight for no reason, and no matter how many times he tightened and turned it off, the light would not go out.

This cost him at least two pence in extra gas money, which he believed was revenge from his deceased uncle.

After reading it, Lucius smiled and suggested, "Perhaps we should have the police notify the gas pipeline company to conduct a full inspection?"

“That’s right.” Charles took the file and drew a line under the conclusion of the inspection report. “We will only officially begin an investigation if the gas pipeline company confirms after its inspection that it’s not their problem.”

"That makes perfect sense." Lucius found the process to be much more organized than he had imagined.

Every case file from a citizen must first rule out natural causes, mechanical failures, and human pranks.

Only after all conventional explanations have failed will an anomaly report be transferred to the Bureau of Crime Prevention's official case list.