She is not an investigator.

But in the future, he seems to awaken again and be taken back by the rain to the past, to an era that he left behind but did not belong to him.

"What was that rain? I really want to know the answer."

Jack looked at the puddles on the ground, stirring them with the tip of his umbrella, which also stirred his face, which was obscured by the streetlights.

"It seems to never stop, never cease, from the past to the past, from the future to the future. What is its end, its source?"

Jack stopped what he was doing and looked at Igris, who still hadn't put down her weapon.

"Will you know, ma'am?"

“I’d be happy to answer your questions, but you should also know what you should do yourself.”

Igris raised her longsword and said in a low voice.

"Come on, tell me, what are you searching for?"

"...Haha, this is truly an unexpected turn of events."

Jack's umbrella fell to the ground, and a sharp scalpel slowly emerged from his fingertips.

"Then let me answer you..."

Jack twirled the small blade in his hand with his nimble fingers, muttering to himself.

"The answer to everything? Or... self-acceptance?"

He shook his head and slowly took a step towards Igris.

"But in any case, it seems I only have one choice, right?"

"Kill me, or be killed by me."

Igris pursed her lips and chuckled softly.

"You already knew, didn't you?"

……

For humankind, the secrets of time seem to be traced back to a very, very long time ago.

Past, present, and future.

They are like a long, straight line that stretches forward continuously and never intersects.

The beginning is the past.

Time comes from the past, arrives in the present, and moves towards the future.

And right at the very center is the present moment.

It is a point on this expanding timeline.

It will follow the footsteps of the future, leaving the past behind.

Therefore, it too can never reach an end.

The future is an endless, ultimate end.

It extends, stretching the distance between itself and the past, and never ends.

A magnificent display of order.

Until the line began to bend.

At this moment, the one-way street was also reversed and changed.

The torrential rain connects the past and the future.

The past is the future, and the future is the past.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment, even as the sun rose in the east and set in the west.

Even as spring and autumn come and go.

People's perception of time is constantly changing without them even realizing it.

But no one will ever be able to sense that future that can never be reached, or the past that is gradually disappearing.

The future engulfs the past, and the past influences the future.

And now, everything has been transformed into a circle.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"You let her go?"

"She ran away on her own."

Igris sat in the chair next to Alex and spoke very naturally, without even feeling that anything was inappropriate; her emotional stability was frightening.

Alex didn't understand. Igris had said she was going to beat her up and send her to the hospital, so why was she letting her go so easily now? Surely she had taken a liking to her.

"What does that guy look like?"

Igris looked at Alex and replied nonchalantly.

"She looks a lot like you, also with red hair, but looks a bit younger than you, and is quite pretty."

He actually started describing her like that? Could he really be interested in her?

"However, there is more important matter to discuss."

Igris tapped the table, drawing Alex's attention back from his reverie, and he looked at Igris with feigned composure.

“Last night…? It was raining.”

"I can feel it, there's standing water on your streets today... So what happened?"

"It was raining at that time."

"But no losses were incurred."

Alex couldn't possibly be completely indifferent; she did have some understanding of the specific situation in the city.

But clearly, last night's rain didn't bring much.

It's even quite possible that only Igris encountered it.

"But when will this rain stop, and why is it raining in the first place? We haven't had these kinds of questions before."

"I'm sorry, but based on the information we have at the moment, the torrential rain is almost becoming a natural disaster. We only know that it will disappear naturally after a period of time, but no one knows exactly how long."

Alex shrugged, looking rather helpless.

In this situation, there's probably not much you can do except try to avoid the rain and hope for better luck.

"Finally... do you know what a watchmaker is?"

"..."

Alex was silent for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

Instead of answering immediately, she began to scrutinize Igris, making no attempt to conceal her gaze.

Just as Igris was about to protest, she looked away and explained with a relaxed expression.

"Personally, I don't really recommend that you get involved in this matter... but since you've already found out to this extent, I guess there's no need for me to keep it from you any longer."

"?"

"So, let's start again with [the torrential rain]."

The Gods' Fool - The Rain: Chapter Twenty-Four, The Clockmaker

Alex said a lot, but Igris didn't fully listen. She only managed to understand a few things from a bunch of complex words that were almost impossible to describe.

First of all, while seasonal rainfall is a natural phenomenon, the conditions under which it occurs can be controlled by humans.

The occurrence of intermittent rain is often foreshadowed; the more chaotic the space and time, the higher the probability of intermittent rain, and the heavier the rain will be.

The longer the Shihuiyu (Time-Returning Rain) lasts, the greater its impact will be, and the higher the possibility that something will be sent to it.

And most importantly, seasonal rain is not entirely the same as torrential rain.

Although heavy rain and intermittent drizzle are essentially the same, intermittent drizzle is like light rain that happens occasionally and is not particularly severe, compared to heavy rain.

And the torrential rain is exactly what it sounds like.

Every real rainstorm brings irreparable disaster. When such a genuine natural disaster occurs, ordinary people have little ability to resist it.

Of course, torrential rain doesn't happen all the time; at least according to current records, the last time there was a torrential rain was almost thirty years ago.

Therefore, Alex was not too worried or nervous about it, as the harm and disaster that the simple time-returning rain could bring was really limited.

Watchmaker is not actually a title for one person.

Watchmaker is a profession. Although this statement may seem like a truism, the profession that watchmaker represents is not what most people imagine.

Their job is actually to repair and adjust the timing to minimize the occurrence of torrential rain and reduce intermittent rainfall.

Every watchmaker is a valuable talent, so they are also the focus of police protection.

In other words, the watchmaker represents the protective umbrella that shields the city from the ravages of torrential rain.

The recent phenomenon of intermittent rain in Molkens is actually understandable, since the blood worship ceremony held in this city did indeed tear through space and time, allowing the embodiment of that being to appear.

So during this time, the watchmakers were probably also repairing the city's time and space to prevent more frequent time-lapse rains.

"But what does he want my pocket watch for?"

"Who? The watchmaker?"

Igris nodded, and said somewhat sullenly.

"If he really intended to use it for something important, then I could sell it to him... but why didn't he tell me, instead of having someone steal it?"

Igris felt he was going a bit too far, even though she didn't seem like such an unapproachable person.

"Who knows?"

Alex wasn't very close to the watchmaker, not even as close as she was to Igris.

"But you can ask him when you have time. Anyway, there's no need for you two to keep having conflicts."

Alex stretched and lazily lay down on the table, seemingly preparing to take a nap.

Igris quietly moved to the side and said with some disdain.