She is not an investigator.

Except for Igris.

She has a grudge against the sea.

"Let's talk about it if there's a chance. At least you're still here... which makes me not hate this city so much."

"My pleasure."

Igris put her hands in her pockets, turned her head slightly, and looked at Alex beside her.

"Would it be convenient for you to walk with me? If you're on a mission, then forget it."

"Of course, no problem."

Alex smiled at Igris with pleasure, but just as she took a step, an uninvited guest who had been hiding in the shadows rushed up to her.

"Sister! Work is more important! You can't forget your responsibilities because of your personal feelings!"

"Get out of here!"

It's Dizai.

God knows how long this guy secretly watched after he discovered that Alex had come to find Igris.

Faced with her younger brother's advice, Alex did not hesitate to show the street style that once belonged to her.

Didi wanted to say something more, but Alex kicked him to the ground, and he scrambled away.

After this little incident, Alex turned around, revealing that gentle smile that shouldn't belong to her again, and looked at Igris.

"let's go?"

"I think you'd better go back to work."

Igris looked at Dizi, who had been squatting to the side and staring at her since she was chased away, and said with a somewhat conflicted expression.

"Your subordinates seem quite unhappy with your dereliction of duty... You go ahead and get busy? If we have a chance later, we can go out together and I'll treat you to a meal."

Igris waved her hand, ignoring Alex's attempt to say something, and quickly left.

She didn't want this originally powerful and dignified woman to become criticized or even pointed at because of her own actions.

Although if someone actually did that, Alex would most likely sew their mouths shut.

"Dizi! Get over here right now!"

Watching Igris's light-footed retreating figure, Alex, filled with resentment, decided to vent his anger on his poor little brother.

Dizai, being sensible, pretended not to hear and turned to run away, but was kicked to the ground again by Alex who had caught up with him.

"Who told you to talk back! Haven't you had enough of being in the hospital?!"

"Stop hitting me, big sister! I was wrong! I just didn't want you to be seduced by women! I'm doing this for your own good, big sister!"

"It's none of your business!"

Alex kicked him twice more, but seeing Dizi lying on the ground groaning, she finally gave up on the idea of ​​sending him to the hospital again.

After all, Igris is gone. Even if she could really beat him into the hospital, Igris wouldn't come back.

I was already feeling resentful from working overtime, and then I finally ran into Igris and was even invited to go for a walk together, but this whole thing just fell through.

If it were Alex with his temper from a few years ago, Didi would probably be buried in the ground by now.

"...I can smell it."

Suddenly, a white thread wrapped around Alex's neck, causing her to tilt her head slightly and look at Emilyda walking behind her.

She looked around, her brows furrowed deeply, as if she had discovered some incredible clue.

They originally came out to look for clues about the watchmaker, and now it seems they've made some discoveries.

"What do you smell?"

"...The taste of Igris."

“I sent you out to find the watchmaker, not Igris.”

"Oh."

The Gods' Fool - The Rainstorm: Chapter Thirty-Six, The Cat's Temptation, and the Witch

The nights in Molkens are relatively quiet. Although the city is quite large compared to bustling metropolises, it is rare to see many people who are willing to stroll around.

The others either had their own things to do or were preoccupied with something shameful.

Perhaps the city's security will improve slightly after the riots caused by blood worship, but that does not mean that the city's dangers are only those of cults and terrorists.

Even in the relatively densely populated city of Molkens, anomalies appearing in the city or on the streets are very rare, or even almost nonexistent.

But Igris was still lucky, and happened to run into one again.

And, an acquaintance.

"Cat Lure, an extremely dangerous anomalous creature, mostly lurks in the dark streets at night. Its tongue looks exactly like a cute cat, and it makes a meowing sound to attract people to it. When the target tries to pet the cute cat, it swallows it whole."

Igris reached the streetlamp, pulled back the little witch who had bent down to hug the cute cat, and drew her sword hilt.

The little witch stared blankly at Igris, puzzled as to why she was there, and particularly concerned about what she was saying.

"you……"

"Although I know that even if you are swallowed, you will most likely find a way to escape, I am still willing to help you to avoid unnecessary trouble and for the sake of your clothes."

Clang!

Igris suddenly drew the blade from the hilt of her sword and turned to look at the slightly stunned little witch.

"What do you say?"

"...You want it!"

Igris raised her sword and, without hesitation, slashed down at the adorable cat lying under the lamplight.

The little witch instinctively tried to stop her, but Igris was faster, cutting her in two.

A piercing meow rang out, and the enormous creature lurking in the darkness pounced on Igris without hesitation.

However, these unusual creatures, which rely almost entirely on camouflage for prey, generally do not have particularly high combat strength in their actual form, except for their many different appearances.

However, the Thousand Faces is a rather special type, since once its disguise is seen through, it will no longer attempt to launch an attack.

Cat Temptation was clearly not among them, so when faced with its seemingly ferocious attack, Igris didn't even move an inch.

It looks like a huge, four-limbed furball with an exceptionally large mouth, but no teeth. So its hunting method is very simple: it rolls people into its belly, traps them tightly, and then melts them with the acid inside its body.

Its claws were raised high, pulling its heavy body as it slammed towards Igris.

The little witch finally reacted and subconsciously raised her hand, but a crisp sound of gears and the firing of a pistol rang out, instantly deflecting her attack.

Because it is made of flesh and blood, bullets can easily penetrate its body, causing it to stagger.

Igris did not attempt to fire a second shot. Instead, she gripped her straight sword tightly and plunged it into the head, where the neck was almost invisible.

The sword pierced into flesh and blood, then was pulled out again, from which strange purple blood slowly flowed. Its massive body then collapsed to the ground, its death gruesome.

Igris flicked the blood off the blade with some disgust, then helplessly rubbed it against the blade to clean away the disgusting blood.

For Igris now, this level of aberrant creature was clearly no match for her, and she could barely last a single round.

Although it wasn't very obvious, Igris was indeed becoming more and more powerful.

Because of the gunshot, nearby police officers would soon arrive at the scene, and Igris politely turned to the little witch who was still standing there in a daze and made a suggestion.

"To avoid being questioned about your identity by the police officers who arrive later, we'd better leave here and find somewhere to hide."

"...Yes, you're right...we need to hide..."

She finally snapped out of her daze and hurriedly pulled her hat brim down, but then she realized what she had done and frowned as she looked at Igris.

"Why did you help me cover it up...? No, why did you help me...? No, that's not right either... How, how did you know that cat was fake?!"

The little witch is most likely a fairly diligent and studious child; at least she has a lot of questions, one after another.

"Let's leave here first."

Igris tucked the sword hilt into her pocket and walked slowly into the depths of the street. The little witch glanced at the huge corpse lying on the ground and had no choice but to follow in Igris's footsteps.

Finally, Yi Linqi and Si F Qiwu Liu stopped at a street corner. There was only one street lamp, which was flickering and looked like it might go out at any moment.

Igris leaned against the wall in the shadows, which prevented the light from reaching her and also prevented the little witch under the light from seeing her face clearly.

"You should thank me, otherwise you probably wouldn't have been able to keep the clothes you were wearing."

The little witch looked down at her robes, but still couldn't help asking the question.

"How do you know that cat is fake...? It looks almost identical..."

"Because I've spent almost more time dealing with these things than you've studied them."

It's fake. It's just that this kind of creature hides in the shadows, and Igris happens to be able to see through everything and the existence in the darkness.

If she couldn't see such a huge monster in front of her, she'd have to consider getting her brain checked.

"...Then why did you help me?"

"Because I'm not interested in you being naked."

If swallowed by that monster, the first thing to be corroded will definitely be the clothes, not anything else.

Igris stepped in to help so that I wouldn't catch a cold in this cold weather because I had no clothes to wear.

She's always been a good person.

"What I mean is, you could have just waited for the police to arrive, and then..."

"Send you back?"

She nodded, glancing at Igris in the darkness, trying to discern her expression, but she couldn't see anything clearly.

Igris didn't think much about it, and just said to herself.

"Because I promised you I would help you find your crow. If you really value it that much and consider it family, you probably wouldn't let it go even if it was sent back, right?"

The little witch silently clutched her cloak. She found it hard to believe that such words came from Igris's mouth, and even harder to believe that she would actually care so much about a witch, and even be concerned about her feelings.

Finally, she released her grip on the cloak, sighed, and looked at Igris, who was shrouded in darkness.

"…May I have your name."