She is not an investigator.

Igris glanced at the people who had been staring at them and vaguely understood what was going on.

The journey ahead is unlikely to be smooth sailing. This incident has already attracted the attention of most people, and if there are indeed some people with ulterior motives among them, their most likely target is probably Igris.

The reason is simple: she knows too much and appears deceptively deceptive.

No one could tell from her excessively slender figure that she could kill her way through an entire train with a straight sword, from beginning to end, and even turn it over and kill it all again.

Once her weapons were confiscated and she appeared to have almost lost all power to resist, those who had been targeting her would most likely no longer give her the opportunity to tyrannize her in the car.

"This reminds me of an old friend who was often used as bait."

Igris had many acquaintances, but if she had to pick one who left a deep impression on her, it would probably be the gray-haired man who promised to write to her but then disappeared without a trace.

She had no doubt that the person's physique was strong enough to draw all dangers to her side, no matter where they might be.

"If you can understand, that would be even better."

Faced with Cecilia's smile, Igris sighed silently and pushed her away.

The instant Cecilia made that move, she raised the muzzle of her gun and pointed it at Igris.

"Igris?!"

Philina had been watching the two of them, and the moment Igris reacted, her exclamation rang out again.

This doesn't seem to be the first time this guy has made that sound.

Igris silently raised her hands and, under the threat of Cecilia's gun, stood quietly in place, letting Cecilia search for weapons on her body.

"The gun is on my right hip."

"I know, don't rush, I need to look carefully."

As Cecilia spoke, she reached her hand inside Igris's cloak.

"...Can you hurry up?"

"What's the rush? We need to be thorough in our search for weapons to ensure we don't miss any spots."

Igris felt that Cecilia was overacting; at least she didn't seem this serious when she was the train conductor.

"...Do you need me to repeat myself? My gun is on my right hip, but you've perfectly missed it three times already, and...stop touching my stomach, there's no way you can put any weapon there."

"Of course...of course."

Even though she readily agreed, Cecilia skillfully bypassed the weapon that was so close at hand, instead continuing to savor the slender curves of Igris's body.

“...If you continue, I won’t mind overturning all your previous plans right now and shoving a gun barrel into your mouth.”

"You're really fierce."

Igris felt she had been quite lenient. Normally, she would have shoved her gun barrel into Cecilia's mouth the second time Cecilia reached for her stomach.

Fortunately, Cecilia, whether genuinely worried that Igris would shove the gun barrel into his mouth or afraid that Igris would actually ruin the plan, did not continue her impolite actions, but instead took out the pistol tucked into her waistband.

This is probably the second time in a long time that Igris has lost this pistol.

The first time was when she lost her stomach in a bomb explosion.

Cecilia took Igris's pistol in her hand and looked it over with great interest.

"This thing... is really beautiful."

Igris thought so too, or rather, most people with normal aesthetic sense would think so as well.

This is why Igris has always treasured this weapon, not only because it is easy to use, and not only because it was Igris's first weapon, but more importantly because it is really beautiful.

It has the kind of exquisite beauty that makes it suitable for display in a museum.

"You'd better keep it safe; I don't want anything to happen to it before it gets back into my hands."

Igris was not only reminding Cecilia to protect the weapon, but also warning her not to even think about getting her hands on it.

This thing is almost as precious as the Mirror Demon.

If it were really lost, Igris didn't even dare to imagine how much her condition would worsen.

"Don't worry, I don't want to lose you as a friend either."

As Cecilia spoke, she tucked the pistol into her bosom and also put away the weapon she had been pointing at Igris.

The Gods' Fool - The Northern Train: Chapter Twenty-One, I Don't Like You!

"Igris!"

The moment Cecilia left, Felina, who couldn't contain herself any longer, rushed over to Igris' side. Before she could say anything, Igris' actions stopped her from speaking.

"Don't worry, it's a bit cold outside, let's go back to the car first."

"Uh...okay...fine..."

Although she was still a little worried, Felina listened to Igris and obediently returned to the car.

Constantine glanced at Igris, as if he had something to ask, but Igris simply put a finger to her lips and gently shook her head.

Constantine would understand what she meant; even if he didn't know the specifics of the plan, he would know that she had it in mind.

This could hardly be called a tacit understanding; it was more that the priest and Igris had known each other for quite some time, so they naturally understood each other better.

Upon seeing Constantine, she said nothing, then got into the car and turned her gaze to the unusually quiet old man, Anfer.

"...Aren't you getting on the bus?"

The inspection was over, and it was a good time to get in the car, but he didn't move. If he wasn't deliberately trying to stay out in the cold for a while, Iglesias guessed he probably had something to say to her.

“Those people don’t seem to understand what’s happening to them, and they’re not as united as one might imagine.”

"That's obvious."

Igris shrugged, wondering why he brought this up.

But what Anfer said next caught her attention again.

"Remember? They said they escaped from the same village, which means that a large part of them were neighbors. Even if they were not good at socializing, there shouldn't be a situation where everyone is wary of each other."

Humans are social animals. In relatively unfamiliar places, most people will subconsciously seek out familiar friends or relatives to huddle together for warmth. But these people seem to never have done this.

They were more like a group of complete strangers who, each with their own shared purpose, infiltrated this large, supposedly harmonious and united community.

"If this only happens to one or two people, it wouldn't seem so strange, but what if it happens to everyone?"

Igris couldn't help but have a very strange thought.

When something tries to infiltrate a group, it will try to resemble most of the people in that group. However, because imposters are inherently at risk of being discovered, these people naturally won't try to actively socialize or communicate with others.

As the number of imposters infiltrates this group, and the original members leave one after another for various reasons, the group will exhibit a different, eerie state.

That is, almost everyone is an imposter trying to infiltrate this group, and they are worried about being discovered by those around them for some reason. The original members of this group no longer exist.

What happens when a group of guys trying to disguise themselves as another group get together?

"...That's really something."

That's probably the only strange sentiment Igris could utter.

Of course, these were not things she needed to consider or care about. After all, the owner of the car was Cecilia, and if she knew what was going on, Igris wouldn't interfere.

Anfer seemed to know this as well, so he only reminded Igris of it and did not do anything else because of it.

The two returned to the warm train and sat down in their seats one after the other.

Seeing Igris return, Felina clearly had something she wanted to say to Igris, but before she could speak, Cecilia's voice came over.

"Everyone, please be seated. We're about to depart."

After so much had happened before even reaching the first station, Igris could finally understand what the train conductor meant when he said that it was already a good thing to reach the destination.

The body of the man who suddenly exploded on the seat has disappeared, probably disposed of, and the seat is now empty; no one wants to go near it anymore.

To be honest, Igris hasn't noticed anything unusual about these new passengers yet. Their demeanor, movements, and even the subtle facial expressions all point to the fact that they are indeed normal human beings.

If that's the case, then what happened to that man becomes even more incomprehensible.

Why did he suddenly explode? Why were his flesh and blood parasitized by blood vines? And why had he never shown any abnormalities before?

Because there were so many puzzles, even Igris, who was deep in thought, couldn't help but frown.

Although thinking about these things doesn't mean much to her, it might be something else to pass the time on this tedious journey.

“…Igris, Igris—”

Philina's low voice rang out beside Igris. The young lady was very insistent on having a one-on-one interaction with Igris, even though Igris had no idea what the point was.

When Philina saw that Igris was indeed looking at her, she excitedly moved closer to her and whispered something in her ear.

“I saw her take your weapon, but don’t worry, they won’t guess that I have a weapon too.”

"...?"

Igris hadn't expected it, but the thought that this guy would willingly get into the car made her feel at ease.

…But why did she tell Igris about this?

"In fact, even if they know you are carrying a weapon, they are unlikely to confiscate it."

“I know…I know, what I mean is, if you lose your weapon, you might run into trouble at some point, and I can help you, and I’d love to help you.”

Philina's tone was very sincere, and her expression was very serious. Coupled with her constant gripping of Igris's sleeve, Igris immediately had some uncomfortable thoughts.

Her concern was a bit excessive; they had only known each other for less than a day... Although Felina had probably heard about her past life when she was very young, that wasn't who she was now.

Do you like me?

So Igris simply said it out loud.

Felina's face flushed instantly, and her fingers gripping Igris's sleeve tightened abruptly as she stammered in response.

"What...what are you saying...I didn't, I just...uh, um..."

She wore her heart on her sleeve.

"Listen, I'm not interested in you, so you'd better not be interested in me either. It's better for both of us."

Igris was indeed traumatized by these things, so she rejected her with almost no room for negotiation.

Philina seemed surprised by Igris's comment, but...

"But I don't like you!"