She is not an investigator.

Their bodies began to melt and dissolve, eventually turning into puddles of mud that melted into the snow.

"What...is this?"

The Gods' Fools - The Northern Train: Chapter 54, The Frostville Anomaly

"Your name is Angelo, right?"

"...Yes, yes..."

The boy's attitude improved considerably, and his previous emotions instantly turned into fear.

He couldn't imagine what he had been traveling with for so long, nor could he believe that those incredibly familiar people were actually fake.

It was... an imposter.

"It looks like you've been wandering around in this place for quite a while, but you're lucky, at least you're still alive."

He was really lucky. After everyone else in his group was killed and replaced, he remained completely unaware and continued traveling with them for an unknown period of time until he was discovered by Igris.

"So, how did you figure that out?"

The man who lost his cloak began to undergo drastic changes, turning into a puddle of black mud.

Igris was very familiar with these things; of course she was, after all, she had spent most of her life dealing with them.

But as for how she distinguished them, there were indeed some rather special reasons.

"Your disguise is never based on appearance. Even if you can distort everyone's senses and perceptions to the point that the disguise appears more real than ever before... naturally, if a person's senses and perceptions are already distorted, then your disguise will be useless."

As Igris spoke, she looked at the creature in front of her with some curiosity; it resembled a large black slime.

"But why are you here? And... you're much smarter than when I first met you."

"As living beings, we are also evolving. The masters of this world have never been humans. Sooner or later, we will reach new heights that you can never understand."

As it spoke, its body began to slowly melt.

Once it loses its camouflage, this creature will have no chance of survival. Even if no one attacks it, it will quickly lose its vitality as soon as its camouflage is exposed.

At least that's what Iris knew in the past.

For this reason, they give people the feeling of being more like parasites, hence their name.

Mimicry insects.

Even though its true form looks like a black slime.

Watching the mimicry insect completely disappear, Igris turned her gaze to Angelo standing to the side and clicked her tongue softly.

"What, are you still going to rob us now?"

"..."

He shook his head, not daring to say a word.

Forget about robbing him, he's only worried that Igris might dislike him and kill him too.

Of course, Igris wouldn't do that.

"Get in the car, Yiqi VI2 Erjiu A, I have something to ask you."

The bandages on Igris's face quickly came off, and she put away her weapon as well, then walked toward the train.

Although Angelo hesitated for a moment, he quickly followed and entered the train carriage.

After all, he has no other choice now.

……

"...Hello everyone."

"Welcome, robber."

Anfer walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and teased him with a smile.

But Igris wasn't in the mood for joking at that moment.

“Angelo, right?”

"……Correct."

Igris nodded and asked with a serious expression.

"Where are you from? Why are you in a place like this?"

“Frostville, that’s where I escaped from.”

escape.

This character is eye-catching and thought-provoking.

Naturally, and as a result, Igris had even more questions.

"Why did you run away from Frostville? As far as I know, even if the environment there isn't great, it's still much better than the wilderness. Why would you risk everything to escape from there?"

"..."

Clang—!

Igris's blade sprang out, and she stared intently into his eyes with a serious expression.

"You had better explain yourself. You've seen what I'm capable of, and you know I won't show you any mercy."

"...There's nothing wrong with talking about it, it's just that something happened in Frostville."

Angelo remained silent for a moment, seemingly pondering where to begin, appearing somewhat conflicted and confused.

"It's been like this... for a while now, there's been a military presence in that city, and everyone's gotten used to it, but then one day..."

He pursed his lips, seemingly pondering how to describe the scene.

“I…I was in class when the alarm went off and everyone was running. I ran with them. Then I saw soldiers. They were wearing uniforms I’d never seen before and they were holding guns and shooting at people in the school.”

"them…"

"Shhh."

Igris interrupted Philina, who was about to say something, and gestured for Angelo to continue.

He nodded and continued.

"I survived, even though most of my classmates died... They arrested me and locked me up like in a prison. They gave me food and water on time, but never allowed us to leave... I don't know what happened, but there were many other people locked up with me, although..."

He took out a key, a silver key.

“Most of the people locked up with me committed suicide, but one person gave this to me before he died. He told me that the city had fallen and I had to escape or I would die. After he died, those people took his body away, but they didn’t lock the door… so I escaped.”

His expression became somewhat dazed, and he gripped the key tightly in his hand.

“I was walking down the street, running, when suddenly someone pulled me into an alley. I knew them; they were my neighbors, and there was a local police officer and his family… the family of three who were killed.”

“They told me that there was a rebellion in the city and that someone wanted to overthrow the rulers there… but I didn’t think so. I didn’t know, so I could only run away with them and hide from the soldiers patrolling the streets. I saw with my own eyes that they would shoot anyone who appeared on the street, leaving no one alive.”

"Finally, we escaped there, and in the days that followed, we lived temporarily in the wilderness, trying to get as far away from Frostville as possible, fearing that the soldiers would catch up... We lived in the wilderness for seven days, and finally found some buried explosives near the tracks."

"Those must be what was left over from last time."

At this moment, Cecilia added thoughtfully that she didn't know why those things hadn't been lost after so long.

"so…"

Igris considered his words and then said thoughtfully.

"Has something really happened in Frostville?"

She wasn't just repeating herself; she was telling it to others.

This car frequently travels to and from Frostville, so they would know if something were really going on.

Unexpectedly, Cecilia shook her head.

"It's a pity that this is our first trip to Frostville this second half of the year. If it weren't for that priest's friend, we probably wouldn't have gone there."

She was probably not referring to Igris, but rather to the relationship Constantine specifically found for Igris.

However… this also shows that they really do know nothing about that city.

Of course, he could be lying, but…

"Could you show me that key?"

The Gods' Fool - The Northern Train: Chapter 55, Voting

"Of course... in fact, I don't know what this key is for either."

Of course he didn't know, because even though Igris had seen the key, she still didn't know what it was used for.

But she had indeed seen it.

"strangeness…"

Igris didn't think Talia and the others would go to Frostville, or rather... she really didn't think they were the ones who handed this over to Angelo.

But the origin of this key is that strange ability... If this key did not come from Talia, then would the person who gave it to her have some special knowledge about the key's specifics?

Igris examined the key, took it in her hand, looked it over, but still couldn't find anything unusual.

Perhaps this key really is used to open something, but that thing itself is also unknown and unnoticed by the public.

"...Since that person decided to give this to you, there must be a reason for it. Anyway...it's back to you."

Igris returned the key to Angelo, but now the questions and choices once again fell on everyone's shoulders.

"And if, as he says, something really has happened to Frostville, and he's become extremely dangerous..."

Igris didn't continue speaking, but looked at Cecilia, the train conductor.

Cecilia understood what she meant. Their train was very likely to encounter some kind of accident when it passed through Frostville. The most likely scenario was that the train and its passengers would be imprisoned, just as Angelo had said, and that they would be treated like criminals with no idea when they would be able to leave.

Of course, there could be other situations, but in any case, it's not good news.

So naturally, they also had a second option.

“I respect everyone’s decision, but as the train conductor, I still want to exercise my rights here a little. Let’s vote on this matter.”

As Cecilia spoke, she raised her hand.

"Those who agree to continue can raise their hands; those who disagree do not need to raise their hands."