She is not an investigator.

Page 232

"..."

Could it be...?

Felina deliberately drew out her words, like a sly fox covering her mouth.

"Actually, it's you... will you have any reaction to my body?"

"...What are you talking about?"

Igris was truly surprised that she could say such a thing, but what she found even more unexpected was that she seemed unable to find an excuse to refute it.

On the contrary, if she admits it, it will be a good explanation for why he still refuses to have close contact with her.

Perhaps this is not a bad thing. At least for Igris, she now has a valid reason to refuse Felina and maintain basic social distance from her.

Perhaps she should admit it.

“You’re right, Philina.”

Igris took a deep breath, trying to make her expression look more upright.

"You're cute, even though you're a bit short. But you're right, I do have some inappropriate thoughts when I touch you... So, now that it's just the two of us, I'm willing to tell you that I hope you can stay away from me, that's all."

"It's okay."

"...?"

Igris was even prepared to be kicked out by Philina after she finished telling her all, but Philina's behavior seemed more ordinary than she had imagined?

Or rather, it made her even more uneasy.

"Oh, I meant it's okay, not that I don't mind your opinion."

As she spoke, Felina continued to tug at Igris's hem, trying to pull her from the corner to her side.

“I meant…” (The rest of the text appears to be a fragmented and nonsensical string of characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted or incomplete sentence.)

She hesitated for a moment, then, under Igris's suspicious gaze, gave a somewhat...shy smile.

"I won't mind what you do to me, or rather... do it!"

"..."

Igris wondered if she had misheard, or if her auditory hallucinations had worsened, which was why she heard Philina utter such incredible three words.

For some reason, Igris felt a strong urge to run away.

"…I'm going to go to bed."

In the end, she chose to pretend she hadn't heard anything, and lay down nonchalantly, pretending that she was too sleepy to keep her eyes open.

She's like an ostrich; when faced with danger, she just buries her head in the dirt and deceives herself.

This will obviously do no good; it will only expose her buttocks to Felina.

“Igris—”

"...I really need to go to sleep."

"It's okay, everyone's asleep. I won't mind what you do to me..."

"I wouldn't do anything..."

Felina pouted and simply crawled out of the blanket, pressing her slightly warm body against Igris's cold body.

This made her shiver, but she still didn't let go.

Igris couldn't help but open her eyes and look at Felina, who was pressed against her but still staring at her with wide eyes.

"...What exactly do you want to do?"

"Let's do it."

Is this guy in heat?!

"Actually, I lied to you. I don't like women."

Igris nudged Philina in front of her, but Philina grabbed her hand instead.

"What a coincidence, me too."

"?"

"Just kidding."

Philina eventually let go of Igris, although Igris couldn't be sure if she was really joking, judging from her somewhat regretful expression.

But she still took the initiative to drag her own blanket to Igris' side and cover her with it.

"Don't be shy. A cloak alone isn't enough to keep you warm, and this blanket might not be that warm either... but you can still hug me to sleep, my body is still quite warm."

So, that's Felina's real purpose.

She could tell that Igris was very afraid of the cold, but because of some psychological barriers, she was unwilling and did not want to get close to Felina, and even prepared to stay up all night and suffer from the cold.

Felina wouldn't allow that to happen, but if she forced the blanket on Igris, it would make it seem like she was pitying Igris.

People always think about a lot of random things, so Philina simply took the initiative to bring her blanket and come to Igris to snuggle up.

Isn't this a win-win situation?

"…Thanks."

Sure enough, Igris is not usually too resistant to other people's kindness, even if the other person was inviting her to do something strange just a moment ago.

This night won't last long, especially in this close embrace; it will probably pass quickly. - First post by Yue_Yi*@.

Even so, Philina still held Igris tightly, burying her head in Igris's neck, inhaling the faint... bloody scent emanating from her.

If it weren't for the smell of blood, it would probably be a very good experience.

"..."

The Gods' Fool - The Northern Train: Chapter 44, After That

The sun has risen.

But it should be relatively early, around six or seven o'clock.

Igris carefully pushed away Felina, who was practically wrapped around her, and only after confirming that she was still asleep did she slowly crawl out of the tent.

The carriage was still messy, dilapidated, and cold.

The spider poked too many holes, and they couldn't plug them all up, so naturally, the cold air from outside continued to seep into the train's interior.

Igris tightened the cloak that Felina had given her and silently walked toward the driver's seat.

The train kept moving forward, from before she fell asleep until she woke up, without stopping.

The sun slowly rose from the distant horizon, and the long-lost sunlight reappeared in the carriage.

Unlike the warm sunshine of the past, the sunlight at this time was cold and pale.

The driver's cab door was slightly ajar, not closed tightly.

Igris went inside, and a pungent cloud of smoke filled her nostrils, causing her to cough lightly.

It was this cough that made the figure in the very center of the smoke slowly turn his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Cecilia stubbed out her cigarette and slightly opened the car window to let the smoke dissipate.

Even so, the smoke accumulating in the cab still made people feel uncomfortable.

"How many cigarettes have you smoked...?"

"One night."

Cecilia touched her lips, yawned, and said.

"There's no other way. I rarely drive at night. If I don't, it's hard to stay alert."

The dark circles under her eyes were enough to prove a lot; it seemed she hadn't had a proper rest during the trip.

"Would you like to sit? I picked up that stool."

Cecilia pointed behind Igris, where a familiar little stool was placed.

Igris sat down without ceremony, after all, she didn't want to stand or sit on Cecilia's lap.

Your injury…

"It's not a big problem anymore, although it still hurts a little from time to time, or rather... it will definitely leave a scar."

She touched her chest, where the wound was the largest and most horrifying-looking.

However, she just smiled and didn't seem to care much.

"Fortunately, I don't have many wounds on my face, and I won't have any scars. As for the scars under my clothes, no one but you can see them anyway."

As she spoke, she winked at Igris.

But Igris wasn't in that good mood.

“Cesvia…”

"Come on, why are you looking so down first thing in the morning? What's wrong with you? Can't you be a little happier?"

“You know, I won’t stay in this car forever. Once we reach our destination, I’ll leave and probably never come back.”

silence.

The pale sunlight fell on the two of them, on Cecilia's expressionless face, and on Igris's anxious face.

Finally, she spoke up.

"So what?"

"..."

Igris opened her mouth, but couldn't say what she wanted to say.

She still feels regretful, and feels that she has made a mistake again.