She is not an investigator.

Igris glanced at the corpse on the ground and said thoughtfully.

"Judging from the shape of this monster, its main body is most likely a plant, and it has a certain level of intelligence. During this time, it also attacked many soldiers... In other words, it may have appeared before everyone in the city was taken away."

What does this prove?

Igris shook her head and sighed in frustration.

"It doesn't prove anything. After all, it may have nothing to do with that attack. It just came out to look for food after the city was completely cleared out."

As for the soldier hanging on its body, Igris couldn't determine exactly when he died.

However, if this happened before the evacuation began, it would be unreasonable, since these soldiers rarely act alone, let alone be attacked if they were separated from their units.

Given its demonstrated capabilities, it would be virtually impossible for it to face an entire well-equipped squad without being completely wiped out.

Of course, there is another possibility.

For example, when that squad was fighting with something else, they suffered heavy casualties and didn't even have time to take away the bodies of some of the team members, which were then taken back by it as food.

But this is just speculation; there's no way to confirm whether the city truly harbors a danger of that scale, or whether other possibilities exist.

However, rather than pondering these issues, the most urgent task is to return as soon as possible.

"With so much stuff, we should have enough to live comfortably in this city for more than a week."

"Pretty much, but we won't stay here that long. A week is enough time for troops from other places to arrive here."

Igris shook her head and put her weapon away.

"If we could find a way to contact the outside world now, all the difficulties would probably be resolved."

……

In front of the police station.

Igris and her two companions quickly returned, but seeing the empty building in front of them, Igris's heart sank.

Where are they?

Simia frowned and pushed open the door, which wasn't even locked.

There was no one left in the police station at this moment, but no signs of a struggle were found.

They didn't encounter any battle, but there's no doubt that they've all left without even waiting for Igris to return.

They wouldn't have done this unless something truly dangerous had happened here.

Even if they knew Igris would return, they would at least have left some information, instead of doing what they have now.

"I'll go downstairs and take a look."

Simia seemed to notice that Igris's mood was starting to change, and she took the initiative to go to the basement to look for other clues, but Igris grabbed her wrist.

She shook her head, her eyes filled with indescribable confusion and bewilderment.

There must be a reason why they left. After all, without the supplies that Igris and the others found, it would be difficult for them to survive in this city for long. Moreover, they could not possibly abandon Igris altogether.

"The fact that the door wasn't locked from the inside means they did leave, and they didn't leave any other traces or information, indicating that they left without any worries."

Igris was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought of something.

She rushed out of the police station and looked at the snow on the road.

Sure enough, several shallow footprints, barely visible, spread out in another direction with remarkably uniform steps.

But apparently due to some other special reason, those footprints ended up only a distance of less than ten meters, and there were no other traces visible afterward.

Either they suddenly took to the air, or during that time, the snow on the street changed again.

It was indeed snowing, but snowflakes of this intensity could not possibly have covered up all the traces in the time she was gone.

Something took them away, and that thing was definitely not an ordinary creature.

Igris thought of the mimicry insect, but the camouflage of that creature shouldn't be able to easily deceive Constantine and Philina.

Constantine knew Igris very well, even her habits, fighting style, tone of voice, and so on. He could distinguish any subtle differences.

If they didn't leave voluntarily, how could they have left no trace at all?

"Tsk..."

irritable.

The inexplicable anger even caused Igris's low body temperature to rise, but she also knew that anger at this moment would not help anything other than making her behavior more irrational.

Helpless, Igris returned to the police station and sat silently in her office chair.

Vicatina sensed that something was off about the atmosphere and glanced at Simia beside her with some concern, hoping she would say something.

And Simia did not disappoint her expectations.

“Igris, don’t worry. You should know them better than I do. Even if they were taken away from here by something, it doesn’t mean they’re really in danger. They have the ability to protect themselves, you know that.”

"I know, of course I know."

Igris shook her head, rubbed her cheeks, and tried to make herself look better despite her fatigue.

She was indeed a bit stressed, but it's not her fault. An unexpected event in this situation can indeed have a significant impact on a person's rationality.

"We...we'd better not leave here right now."

Igris looked out at the street, let out a long sigh, and tried her best to keep her thoughts from becoming emotional in order to make a relatively rational decision.

The Folly of the Gods—Beyond the World: Chapter Sixteen, The Marvelous Creation

"Shall we stay here, or go to a more secluded place? Like, the basement?"

Simia meant that if this place had already experienced some kind of special event, then remaining inside the police station would greatly increase their risk of being exposed again, while hiding would probably prevent such a thing from happening.

But if that were the case, Igris's purpose in staying here would be meaningless.

"No need, we can just stay here. If any danger comes our way, we can respond immediately and also gather more information."

Igris's thinking was simple: in their current situation, the hidden dangers were more worthy of consideration than the direct attacks. If they could obtain more information by dealing with the frontal attacks, then she didn't need to hide; continuing to fight was the best course of action.

Incidentally, they could also take this opportunity to observe whether they could find any clues about Constantine and his group.

As Igris spoke, she reached into her pocket.

She rummaged through her pockets but couldn't find what she was looking for.

"...It's all gone."

She was looking for candy, but it seemed that she had already eaten it all without realizing it.

Igris actually had a lot of candy on hand to cope with her anxiety and emotional instability, but judging from how much candy she consumed, it was clear that her emotions were not really very stable.

Otherwise, she wouldn't always be looking for candy to eat.

“Vicatina, speaking of which, I don’t seem to have seen that… talisman weapon you mentioned?”

Unable to find any candy and finding herself truly bored, Igris turned her gaze to Vicatina.

The witch was sitting at a desk, holding a large package in her arms, which was mostly filled with food and drinks that they had brought from the store.

Upon hearing Igris's question, Vicatina shifted her body uncomfortably. After seeing Simia's scrutinizing gaze, she reluctantly spoke.

“You…you promised to take me away from here, right? I will definitely hand it over to you, but, but only if you can really take me away from this city. I need to be safe…If you really take it away, I don’t think I’ll have any use for you anymore.”

Igris didn't know whether to say Vicatina was cautious enough or pessimistic.

Perhaps it's because the image she projected for this witch wasn't exactly kind.

"But if it's really with you now, then if I want to take it away, I wouldn't really need your approval, would I?"

No sooner had Igris finished speaking than Simia raised her weapon, aiming at Vicatina, whose body suddenly stiffened.

Although Igris was just joking, Simia seemed to really be going to do it.

As long as Igris gives the order.

"You...you can't do this..."

Vicatina weakly held the package in front of her, feeling both sad and scared.

She was really afraid of death, but that was normal. After all, if she wasn't afraid of death, she wouldn't have traveled all the way from Byanka to this place, wouldn't have hidden here for three or four hundred years, and wouldn't have survived until now under these circumstances.

Igris didn't mean her any harm, but ever since Igris met Sharti, she's developed a little hobby of teasing witches.

Although she always felt that doing this would get her caught and whipped by the witches, at least for now no one could control her.

"So, take it out and let me see. If I were going to steal it, I would have done it already. I'm just a little curious about what you're talking about."

As Igris spoke, she gestured for Simia beside her to put down the weapon she was holding.

Vicatina looked at Igris's sincere and kind appearance, and although she was reluctant, she still reached her hand inside the cloak.

"...This is it."

"..."

A mysterious power emerges before you; you can sense the extraordinary nature of the weapon and the vast knowledge it contains.

Title Obtained: Power of Talismans

—When using a weapon enhanced by runes, you can replenish the rune's energy by consuming your own life force.

Note: This is a genuine talismanic weapon; its very existence is a rule of ritual. The number of people in the world capable of crafting such items exceeds the number of these weapons themselves.

The emotionless, mechanical voice still lingered in Igris's mind, but her gaze was now completely drawn to the strangely shaped object.

It was a spherical metal object with many special patterns engraved on it, making it impossible to discern its specific function.

Igris tried to decipher the patterns on them, but found that the symbols did not include those she recognized.

Compared to the original spell characters, it looks more like a special sentence composed of many characters pieced together.

But if it's a weapon, Igris really can't see how it could be used in combat.

Seemingly noticing Igris's confusion, Vicatina generously lifted it up and handed it to Igris.

"Just hold it in your hand and gently pat its surface."

Igris looked at the not-so-large sphere and, as Vicatina had instructed, gently patted it.

The next moment, an inexplicable vibration began to emanate from the sphere.

Just as Igris was about to say something, the sphere in her hand suddenly flew out and finally stopped in mid-air beside her.