She is not an investigator.

She didn't know if she would find it, but when it came to unexpected events, she was never wrong.

"Hmm... a bad place."

As a wanderer, she had been to many places, including their destinations.

She could live quite comfortably in many places, but Frostwell was clearly not one of them.

Of course, this wasn't something she needed to worry about, since she wouldn't choose to stay there for long; she was just staying temporarily.

"Of course you can choose not to travel with us, and..."

Igris looked at her swaying legs and frowned slightly, feeling a little awkward.

"Are you hurt or not?"

"...Ah, ah...it hurts so much..."

Simia suddenly hugged her legs and screamed, but unfortunately, her acting was far too fake.

“Tell me the truth, why did you come with us? I don’t think you chose to travel with us because you’re having trouble getting out of this snowfield.”

Igris never doubted her abilities; she only doubted Simia's motives. But from another perspective, she didn't seem to have any reason to harm them.

So it's clear she has something else in mind, but what exactly is she looking for?

"Perhaps... I'm just very sensitive to the cold?"

Simia patted the train beneath her seat and said leisurely.

"Sitting on a train is always warmer than walking in the freezing cold, isn't it?"

Indeed, if the car hadn't been so riddled with holes.

"as well as…"

For some reason, she glanced at Igris again.

The look in his eyes was strange, as if he were looking at her, yet also at something else entirely, as if his gaze pierced through Igris's body and looked into something deeper.

Igris felt a little uncomfortable with that look, but she quickly looked away and continued to rest her chin on her hand, shaking her head nonchalantly.

"Just pretend I don't exist. Anyway, I won't cause you any trouble. In fact, I might even help you solve some problems. You're really short of helpers, aren't you?"

She did know something.

While Igris was still struggling with her decision, crisp footsteps came from inside the carriage.

"Welcome aboard my train, miss."

Cecilia appeared behind Simia, her fatigue gone, and although her injuries were still terrible, she looked much better.

Simia turned her head, met Cecilia's gaze, and then fell silent.

She neither greeted nor answered Cecilia's question, seemingly lost in thought, but her eyes remained clear and sharp.

She finally looked away when Cecilia spoke again.

"We will reach our destination, and no matter what happens along the way, as the train conductor, I also have an obligation to make every passenger feel comfortable."

Cecilia waved to Anfer and the others in the distance.

"Come back, it's time for us to set off again."

The Gods' Fool - The Northern Train: Chapter 49, Troubles

The train departed again, and finally, there was one more passenger on board.

Or rather... a passenger standing?

"Don't you have seats on your train? And what's that canvas overhead?"

Upon entering the carriage, Simia was immediately captivated by the flamboyant and unique interior design of the first carriage. From the perforated canvas overhead to the bullet holes and scratches on the walls, the entire carriage exuded a beauty that seemed to have just been unearthed from an ancient tomb.

She didn't really care about the decorations and facilities on the train, but at the very least... she needed a place to sit.

"You did remind me."

The train conductor nodded and turned to look at Constantine standing to the side.

“Come on, let us bring some seats over. Alvin and Amber have gone to cook, but it will probably take a while, since not many of the kitchen utensils are still usable.”

"All right…"

The two quickly walked towards the second carriage, but no one answered Simia's question.

This is indeed a difficult question to answer, since they can't exactly tell Simia that a giant train engine spider stormed into the carriage and smashed everything to pieces.

This sounds unrealistic, even if it actually happened.

"Let's be quiet for a while. If you're really free, you can go and help them carry a few seats back."

Igris spoke without turning her head, her gaze still fixed on the scenery rushing past the car window. Perhaps she was in a bad mood, or perhaps it was for some other reason, but the atmosphere around her was noticeably tense.

Simia naturally wouldn't provoke Igris; she wasn't the type to invite trouble. So she turned her gaze to Felina, who had been staring at her ever since she got on the bus.

Simia had no interest in Felina, but the latter seemed to have a deep prejudice against Simia, and even her eyes no longer looked like Simia's.

She really wanted to find an opportunity to chat with Felina alone, or find a secluded place to bully the little girl, but she figured she'd have to tell Igris, and she couldn't find such an opportunity anyway.

If there's one thing she cares about most right now, it's probably the train conductor, Cecilia.

"……never mind."

But actually, she didn't really care, since she wouldn't stay here for long; she was just hitchhiking and would leave once everything was over.

boom--!

"...?!"

Explosion sound.

Was it coming from the back of the carriage?

Simia almost instinctively raised her weapon, while Igris turned her head to look at the carriage behind them.

Not long after, Constantine and the train conductor emerged, carrying four seats.

Seeing everyone's tense expressions, the train conductor put down the seats he was holding and explained.

"Don't worry, we're just handling food. It might have been a bit noisy, but don't take it too seriously."

It's hard not to care about that.

After all, Simia really couldn't imagine what kind of food she was handling that would cause such an...explosive sound.

She increasingly felt that this car was even more amazing than she had imagined.

…………

At noon, after eating rather dubious food and questioning the taciturn chef three times to confirm that the stuff really wasn't monster meat, Simia finally came to Igris's side.

She planned to kill some time and also digest her food.

"what are you doing?"

"As you can see, he's staring blankly out the window."

Igrid deliberately placed the removed seat next to the car window so that she could sit there and enjoy the scenery along the way.

Simia also looked out the window, but apart from the white wasteland, she couldn't see anything worth mentioning.

Don't you want to... talk to me?

"That's not my job."

Igris sighed, turned her head, looked at Simia who was trying to move a chair over so she could sit next to Igris, and said with a slight frown.

“Cesvia has already agreed to let you on board, so there’s no more suspicion between us. We’re both passengers on this bus now, nothing more… Besides, I’m really not in the mood to chat with a stranger.”

"..."

Simia, unusually, did not answer, but nodded and then, like Igris, turned her gaze to the window.

Maybe? Igris wasn't sure; she might also be staring at Igris's chin.

"Could you give me some space to be alone?"

"This is exactly what confuses me."

Simia shook her head, and for some reason, she pursed her lips, looking somewhat annoyed.

"You seem to be in a really bad mood, an extreme one. You seem to be constantly thinking about something, but you're not displaying the rationality and wisdom that you should be showing. Instead, you're just confused... In other words, you're overthinking things. Your brain is constantly active, but it's just sending you junk information."

She said a lot, as if she was trying to figure out Igris's psychology, or as if she was simply stating a self-evident fact.

Igris's gaze became more scrutinizing as she looked at Simia in front of her. Compared to when they first met, Simia seemed somewhat different now.

For example, he was somewhat emotional, somewhat anxious, and somewhat uneasy.

Strange person.

Stop trying to guess what I'm thinking.

“I didn’t, but everything you’ve shown certainly is.”

Igris clicked her tongue and turned to look out the window again, unwilling to pay any more attention.

But then Simia's voice came through again.

"What are you worried about? Have you discovered some difficulties, or have you had some premonition, or something else? About this journey, or something deeper beyond the journey."

The way she spoke reminded Igris of someone—a guy who liked to be mysterious.

It was somewhat uncomfortable, and somewhat annoying.

But Igris is indeed worried about these issues.

Besides excluding these, Iglesias also had to consider another problem.

Those were the hardships encountered during this journey, which had only covered a third of the distance.

They are there, as if placed in front of everyone, waiting for this fixed track to guide everyone to arrive and approach them.

Igris used to believe in the existence of accidents, but now, real accidents are much rarer to her.

Spiders? Or a crowd?

Her journey continues, and the road ahead is still long, but the train had already become dilapidated long before that.