She is not an investigator.

"The third question."

Igris ignored her words and slowly asked the third question.

"What exactly is the use of this watch?"

The Gods' Folly - The Rainstorm: Chapter Twenty-Two, Rain

In the dark street, the two people bound together stopped talking at the same time and turned to look at the sky.

Igris's question remained unanswered, but a cacophony of sounds arose from the surrounding silence and darkness.

The sound of raindrops falling on the ground.

"It's raining."

A drop of rain fell on the back of Igris's hand. The cold sensation made her pause for a moment, but then an unprecedented sense of strangeness and unease welled up in her heart.

The flow of time seemed to slow down around her, or even begin to regress.

"...We need to find a place to take shelter from the rain."

"why?"

Isabella seemed not to understand why Igris cared so much about the rain, even interrupting their crucial conversation, but she was still ruthlessly dragged by Igris, handcuffed, to the nearest eaves.

"Timely rain".

Igris looked up at the rain that showed no signs of abating and frowned deeply.

It's unclear how long this rain will last; hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen.

Seeing Igris deep in thought, Isabella squatted down and pulled off Igris's handcuffs as well.

Igris's thoughts were interrupted, and she turned to look at Isabella, who was squatting on the ground.

"I think I still have a question for you."

"do not know."

"You'd better answer properly, or I won't hesitate to throw you in the rain. Who knows what strange things might happen?"

"..."

Isabella looked at Igris, probably thinking that she would do this, and reluctantly whispered.

"This pocket watch has the function of temporarily stabilizing time. As long as it continues to run normally, the chaotic flow of time will naturally calm down."

Can't understand.

But Igris had a vague feeling that it was indeed a pretty impressive thing.

"So, what kind of reward did he offer you that made you go to such lengths to steal this pocket watch from me? I know you, you're not short of money at all."

"...You know what a watchmaker does, right?"

She looked up, her gaze towards Igris becoming somewhat complicated.

Igris didn't understand the deeper meaning in her words, and asked back with some uncertainty.

"A watch repairman?"

Igris couldn't see anything special about the old man, nor did she know why he needed such a thing, but if he was willing to talk to Igris properly, she might be willing to sell it to him.

But instead of doing so, he chose to let a thief try to take away what rightfully belonged to her.

"...So I have nothing to say to you. Even if I tell you everything, it won't change anything. You will still send me to the police station, and I will still escape."

Igris sighed, unsure how to explain it to her.

She never felt that what she did was wrong; she always had excuses to comfort herself, but stealing is wrong.

Igris didn't want to argue with her, simply because she felt it was unnecessary.

Given her condition, all Igoris could probably do was take her to the police station.

"But you still won't tell me anything, and I've said before... I might not completely reject you."

Igris knew she wouldn't accept defeat. Even if Igris could defeat her head-on, she would only think that she lost because she wasn't good at direct combat.

Such people often have a lot of excuses.

"To be honest, when I caught you, I did think about whether I should beat you up... send you to the hospital or something."

Isabella paused for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.

“But you didn’t do that, and I don’t want you to be lenient because of my true appearance.”

"Of course not. I am not sexist. To me, there is no difference between men and women. I just thought about it and realized that even if I vent my anger on you, I won't really get much out of it."

"..."

“I’ve heard about what you’ve done. You’re a chivalrous thief, a Robin Hood-like figure, and also a guy who loves to perform, loves being in the center of the stage, and loves the feeling of being fawned over by everyone.”

Igris also squatted down, looking at Isabella with some curiosity.

"So what is your purpose in doing this? You are not short of money and you have the ability, yet you keep doing these illegal things."

"Self-satisfaction".

For the first time, Isabella answered Igris's question seriously, softly uttering a word that Igris recognized very well.

"People always have goals they're willing to strive for and fight for. You are, and so am I. Everything I do is for self-gratification, whether it's things I claim to do that are righteous, or..."

She looked at Igris, a strange smile curving her lips.

"It's still what I'm doing right now... I won't tell you more, because you'll find out sooner or later, but at that time, you'll probably make the same choice as me."

“But you could have chosen some gentler approaches instead of being so radical.”

"so what."

Isabella took a deep breath, and the slightly chilly air filled her nostrils, which invigorated her a little.

"This is my chosen way of self-satisfaction, and it is a way that belongs only to me. You think everything I do is incomprehensible, simply because you cannot understand me, nothing more."

"I am not attacking your position, Miss Phantom Thief."

Igris looked at the rain outside the eaves and said to herself.

"Whatever your true purpose is, whatever all the things you do, whatever the real reasons are, and whatever your process and rewards for self-realization are, what really matters is that you should not hurt anyone, including me, because of it."

"You're quite the smooth talker..."

Even if I could communicate with you properly, I still wouldn't be able to understand you or forgive you.

Igris sighed helplessly and looked at the rain that seemed to be gradually stopping.

"But I seem to be able to sense that, even though you've been unwilling to tell me, what you've been doing seems to go beyond just self-gratification... Don't rush to deny it, it's just my intuition, a kind of inexplicable sixth sense."

"I must say, your intuition is pretty accurate, but that's all I can tell you. Knowing too much won't do you any good, and you won't be of any help either."

Igris didn't say anything more; she had heard too many people say such things, but she could always help.

"So, would you mind if I took you to the police station for a chat?"

"If you can do it."

Isabella stood up, holding up the handcuffs that had somehow been unlocked.

"You can't convince me, just as I can't convince you. I hope that next time we meet... you won't hold back."

Isabella silently turned around, preparing to walk into the still-rainy scene, but was stopped by Igris.

"At least, let's wait until the rain stops before we talk about it."

The Gods' Fool - The Rain: Chapter Twenty-Three, Past and Future

The rain stopped, and Isabella's figure disappeared at the end of the street.

Igris now has a card in her hand, on which are her last words to Igris.

We will meet again.

Many people have said this to Igris, and she can hardly remember who they are.

At least, Igris doesn't particularly want to see her right now.

As Igris walked back to the office, the puddles on the ground splashed up with each step, making a clear sound.

The streetlights along the roadside continued to flicker, with only a few lights in the distance remaining bright and burning continuously.

The rain didn't seem to take anything away, but as for whether it brought anything...

Igris stopped and looked at the figure standing quietly in front of her.

One of them, a figure she seemed to have seen somewhere before.

"..."

“Beautiful lady, why are you wandering alone in this rainy night? Oh… the rain has stopped, so you should probably leave now, shouldn’t you?”

The man slowly walked towards Igris and raised what he was holding.

An umbrella.

"I don't know how to describe the excitement I feel when I see an old friend again, but I think... you probably won't be very happy to see me."

Did that rain bring you here?

"Yes...yes, I seem to appear in every corner of the world. Sometimes I want to look down and see if it's still my own face under my mask, if it's still a human face. But I don't want to do that...I guess no one will remember my original name anymore, but I like the way people call me now."

He bowed slightly, propping his black umbrella on the ground, and greeted Igris.

“You can call me Jack the Ripper.”

"..."

Igris silently drew her sword hilt, the blade springing out and slowly pointing at the figure before her.

"You shouldn't be here."

"People always have no choice, but I... I don't want to be your enemy, at least not right now."

Jack was holding an umbrella, not a weapon, and he never showed any aggression towards Igris.

He should have come from the past, but the rain falling from above brought this gift that did not belong here.

His consciousness should have been blurred, and he should have been buried in the soil, becoming part of the grave.