She is not an investigator.

—You are not afraid of the temperature of the flames; burning yourself will only make your injuries heal faster.

Note: You seem to be around 7 years old and are probably the first person to give up. It's likely that you need to consider changing to a more stable job. After all, once you start, you'll start again, and once you start again, you'll start again.

……

The cage of flames slowly dissipated, and Pasa's figure reappeared in front of Igris, looking at the flames on her fist that had not yet been extinguished.

What did you do?

"I saved myself, and incidentally beat it up."

Igris flicked the flames off her hands, extinguishing them completely, and looked at Pasa with a hint of reproach.

"Did you abandon me, or did you never even consider protecting me?"

"I just didn't expect you to be able to solve it yourself."

Pasa waved his hand, seemingly holding a portable fire extinguisher, which looked like it belonged to someone. He probably brought it from somewhere by the roadside, but this did make Igris feel much better, since this guy hadn't really decided to abandon her.

However, this title seems even more impressive than expected. The father is not afraid of flames and can even recover from injuries in flames; perhaps Igris should consider becoming a firefighter.

This is probably the most impressive title she has ever received, but the conditions for it are indeed a bit special.

Repel the flames? That concept itself is probably hard to understand.

"Since everything's alright, let's not just stand there, we'll be there soon."

"Is your nighttime commute really this dangerous?"

"Today is an exception, perhaps because I have an extra burden by my side."

"I hope you have an internal complaint system."

"Yes, there are, but that's my responsibility."

"No wonder."

The Fools of the Gods—The Worship of Eternal Night: Chapter Nine, Let's Talk About Intelligence

The two arrived at the police station safely, and nothing else happened on the way. It was probably because Igris's appearance in repelling the flames was quite frightening, so no one dared to approach her again.

Upon entering the police station, Ilya Li ng (eight) 罒斯无柳格丽斯 also saw an acquaintance.

"Mr. Derain?"

"Oh, what a coincidence, Miss Igris, you've come too."

Derain sat in a chair with an unlit pipe in his mouth, saying he was surprised, but he seemed to have anticipated Igris's arrival.

"So what's going on? Can you explain it to me?"

Igris wasn't surprised that Derain was here. After all, he was first and foremost her boss, and secondly, he was the first person to find Krisuna when she went missing. Pasa had also mentioned Derain before.

“It’s simple. Krisuna’s disappearance is not simple, and you are the prime suspect. Even though we know you can’t be the murderer, we need your help.”

Just then, another policewoman walked over, casually tossed a stack of documents onto the table in front of Igris, and extended her hand to her.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Ling, and I am an agent from the Special Investigations Division."

Igris did not answer or shake hands; instead, she turned to look at Pasa.

"Are you short-handed? Or is there something remarkable about me that makes you value me so much that you're resorting to such slanderous tactics to drag me down?"

"Watch your words, miss. You are still the prime suspect in this disappearance case. There is no such thing as a frame-up."

The policewoman, who identified herself as Ling, tapped on the table and reminded Igris in an unfriendly tone.

"And who is this middle-aged woman?"

"A...Auntie...?!"

Ling, who had just managed to maintain some politeness, suddenly lost her temper, but Passa interrupted her and took the lead.

"The intelligence team of the Qunter Research Division, Lingchan, P, who is good at collecting and organizing intelligence reports, is responsible for the collection and organization of information about Krisuna during this period. The information in front of you is all the relevant intelligence about Krisuna during this period."

Then, he glanced at Ling behind him casually and whispered something in a low voice.

"Don't call her 'auntie,' even though she's 26, she still cares a lot about it."

"I'm only 25! I haven't even had my birthday yet!"

Unfortunately, the intelligence agents had excellent hearing; they even heard Passa's deliberately lowered voice.

“Okay, officers, I came here to cooperate with your investigation as you requested, but now you’re telling me that I was actually brought here as a suspect to help you solve the case? I guess I have the right to refuse, right?”

Igris resisted this because she didn't like being forced to do anything, especially when her freedom was used as a bargaining chip.

"Don't worry, Miss Igris, this is precisely why I'm here. We'll take this commission."

At this moment, Derain spoke up, interrupting Igris's protest with a smile, seemingly lost in thought.

“Detective, if I may be so bold, this is not a good idea.”

"We will pay you."

Ling spoke up calmly at this moment and added something.

"Ten gold coins."

"Let's talk about intelligence."

Igris casually picked up the paper documents in front of her and dutifully began reading.

She's short of money, so you can't threaten her, but you can try to bribe her.

No one wants to have too much money, and Igor is no exception; in fact, she always felt that she didn't have enough money to spend.

"...According to our investigation, Krisuna's flower shop has been open here for three months, during which time she commissioned Detective Derian for a case."

Ling looked at Derain, who then took over the conversation and continued speaking.

“Miss Krisuna once told me that a strange old man often appeared in front of the flower shop. His clothes were tattered and he was filthy. He often appeared near the flower shop in the square, but he would only look from a distance and never go in. If you talked to him, he would run away and you would not get any response. I took on this case and began to investigate this man. I eventually found out that he was the father of the former owner of the flower shop. However, due to memory loss and mental illness, he mistakenly believed that it was still his son's house. He appeared there every day just to look for his son.”

At this point, Passa added further.

"After our search, we found that his son had left the city and was intentionally abandoning him, not intending to fulfill his filial duties. The old man was surviving on rotten food from garbage cans every day. He has now been sent to a welfare institution and is expected to be euthanized in a year."

Given his mental illness, it was entirely predictable that he would be abandoned by his own children. Most families would not be aware of the need for mental health treatment, nor would they have the funds. In addition, he was already very old, so even if he were sent to a welfare institution, his illness and physical problems would not be addressed. Euthanasia would be the best course of action as soon as possible.

"Besides, because of Krissuna's beautiful appearance, people often wander into her flower shop. However, as far as we know, not many people actually buy flowers. In addition, Krissuna has a peaceful personality and rarely gets into conflicts with others, so the possibility of her enemies attacking her is very low. Most importantly, Krissuna's identity is not simple. Her father is a famous painter who became a very wealthy man with his painting "City of the Sea and Sky". This shop was bought by him as a gift for Krissuna, but he himself is not in this city, so he does not know Krissuna's current situation."

Why not tell him?

Igris tapped the table and said seriously,

"A wealthy and well-connected painter is never short of helpers. Or are you planning to keep this a secret to avoid being implicated, even if Krissuna is likely in danger?"

"Use your brain and think about it. If our cover-up really puts Krisuna in danger or even causes her to lose her life, do you think the consequences of doing so would be lighter than if we told her directly?"

Pasa didn't hesitate to rebuke Igris for talking nonsense, but Igris was already used to it and was just waiting for an opportunity to get her revenge.

"So why not tell him?"

“It’s not that we don’t want to notify him, but his situation is not optimistic at the moment. Due to mental health issues, he is currently receiving treatment at a specialized institution. Any stimulation could worsen his condition, so he is currently under complete lockdown, and our people cannot send the message over.”

Ling explained very patiently, but Igris snorted coldly, and for some reason, she wanted to laugh.

Wealthy people often have some degree of mental health issues. Sounds absurd, doesn't it? But let's consider why these people are wealthy in the first place.

"...Krisuna is religious?"

Looking at the documents in her hand, Igris noticed the contents recorded on them and looked at Ling with some curiosity.

“She doesn’t believe in God or Jesus, and there’s no church in the city for her to visit.”

"So she's a heretic, but what exactly?"

Ling shook her head.

"There are no detailed records, and she didn't talk much about this belief. What we can roughly understand is that this belief largely stemmed from the family atmosphere, that is, her father. But unfortunately, we were unable to contact her father."

Igris nodded thoughtfully, but her gaze remained fixed on the document containing the information, as if it possessed some kind of magic, constantly drawing her attention.

Slowly, the black characters mixed with the ink in her hand began to move, wandering around like irregular lines, which was annoying.

But the next moment, the two black lines suddenly became neat and orderly, arranged like an artist, and slowly settled on the umbrella paper (forming a string of characters).

Faith, church, invitation.

"...an invitation."

Igris's vision suddenly cleared, and everything that had just been in front of her disappeared.

Is today a special day?

Igris looked at Ling again. Ling, who clearly noticed the change in Igris' tone, thought for a moment and frowned slightly.

"…today…"

"Today is the Flower and Leaf Festival."

Passa answered Igris's question and explained.

"This is a festival unique to this city, a custom that no other city has. Plant lovers from all walks of life gather together and share and compete with each other by showcasing their best work."

"If there's any festival that Krissuna would be interested in, it's most likely the Flower Leaf Festival."

Ling also felt that this made a lot of sense, but it wasn't that they hadn't thought of this aspect.

"Unfortunately, according to our investigation, the Flower and Leaf Festival ended at noon, and according to those present, they did not find Krisuna there."

Passa I poured cold water on the situation, making the already unpredictable clues even more confusing and the case even more perplexing.

The Fools of the Gods - Eternal Night Worship: Chapter Ten, Gathering Intelligence

"So, she didn't go to the festival at all, but she invited me, probably to go to the festival together. But because I spent too much time at the bar, she decided to leave me a message and go to the event herself in advance."

Igris continued.

"However, she didn't finish writing her message, which means that something might have happened while she was writing it, forcing her to leave without finishing the letter, which may be the biggest reason for her disappearance."

Most importantly, the inspiration I just had was definitely not a coincidence. Since the keywords mentioned faith and the church, this matter must be related to the church.

"Why did the Flower and Leaf Festival end so early? The annual festival only lasts for less than half a day?"

"This was an accident."

Pasa explained.