She is not an investigator.

The two men dropped their weapons at the same time and grabbed each other by the collar.

Although this resulted in the two people being closer together, it had almost no other effect.

"What bad luck... How come you look exactly like me... Even our weapons are the same."

"Weren't you the one imitating me? Why am I the one who's the imposter?"

"Huh? You're not? Then who am I?"

Just as the two were about to start fighting again, the sound of a baby crying suddenly rang out in front of them.

They were silent for a moment, then looked at each other for a long time, and finally uttered the same sentence in unison.

"Your child?" ×2

Finally, silence fell once again.

The baby's cries rang out again, but this time, the two stopped arguing and attacking each other. Instead, they each picked up their weapons and aimed them at the source of the sound.

The crying grew louder, clearer, and closer.

finally.

They saw it.

On the edge of the tall building, a soft hand rested on it.

The skin on the palm was tinged with red and had a sticky liquid on it, like that of a newborn baby who hadn't had time to be washed.

"Waaah—"

The baby's cries grew louder, and the two of them simultaneously stepped back and aimed at the figure trying to climb the tall building.

Finally, after a series of cries, the creature that had been lying on the edge of the rooftop got up and revealed its true form.

It was a baby, a huge baby.

Its skin was incredibly delicate, an extremely strange pink color all over, and covered in a slime of unknown origin.

The baby was probably over five meters tall. Although its eyes were not open, it still crawled forward resolutely when facing Simia, who was so close.

However, less than a second after it climbed to the top of the building, two gunshots rang out.

The deafening roar caused both of them to glare at each other with complaints, but before they could say anything, bullets powerful enough to pierce rocks struck the giant baby's head one after the other.

As the sound of a bullet piercing flesh rang out, the baby's screams instantly echoed throughout the city, and the force of the bullet sent the baby crashing off the roof.

Soon, its cries and wails faded away and disappeared without a trace.

Silence returned between the two, creating an awkward and tense standoff.

Until one of them finally couldn't hold back and spoke up.

"It seems to have died from the fall."

"Actually, I feel that even if it hadn't been killed by the fall, its head would have been blown off by that bullet on the spot."

The two looked at each other with very strange expressions.

It feels like talking to a mirror, but a mirror that doesn't learn your movements.

"So... what exactly are you? You're exactly like me..."

As Simia spoke, she pinched the cheek of her other self, only to have it slapped away.

"What...what is it? I'd like to ask you what you are, that you can disguise yourself as me, and do it so convincingly..."

After saying that, she grimaced slightly, probably thinking of some strange plot.

"But I am the real one."

"You say you're who you are, but how can you be sure you're real?"

"Then how can you be sure you're real?"

"What a joke! Why wouldn't I dare? I remember my own life perfectly clearly. How could I be fake?"

"What you're saying is hilarious. I've grown up from a young age too. How come I'm fake and you're real?"

"Identity can be faked, but what about experience? If you're real, then you should put the evidence in front of me to prove that you are indeed real."

"Evidence? The weapon in my hand is the evidence!"

"Your weapon is exactly the same as mine, how can that be considered evidence?"

"That's fake!"

"You're talking nonsense! Yours is the fake one!"

"Woooo..."

"What, you start crying when you can't win an argument?"

"Who's crying? Are you dreaming?"

Immediately, their argument stopped at the same moment.

The crying did not come from any of them.

"That guy..."

"It climbed back again?"

The two men exchanged a glance, looking at the baby who had barely managed to climb back up, but whose body was covered in wounds and had a large crater on his head. They raised their guns again.

"Woooo..."

boom--!

The deafening gunfire rang out again, and the giant baby's head was once again blown apart by the bullets fired one after another. The kinetic energy carried by the bullets sent it flying again, and it fell off the building.

Its cries quickly faded away, and the rooftop returned to silence.

"..."

"..."

"Still making noise?"

"Do you think I want to argue with you? If I didn't not know how to get down here for the time being... I would have gone to find Igris already."

"Isn't that what I should be saying...? What, you're even imitating her liking for her?"

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? What does this have to do with imitation? You're such a weirdo..."

"Hmph, getting angry now, huh? An imposter is an imposter, all you can do is mindlessly imitate everything about the real thing. But you'll never know why I like her, and you never will!"

"...because she is actually Aaron."

"How could you possibly know this?!"

"Isn't that the question I should be asking you?!"

The two fell silent again without prior agreement, and after a moment's hesitation, they sat down on the ground together, gazing at each other.

"...You seem to know more than I thought."

"You are too... I'm even starting to wonder if you might actually be another version of me in the world."

"...How did you know I thought the same thing?"

"..."

The Gods' Fools - Beyond the World: Chapter Twenty-Seven, The Dark Gray Priest

"..."

The darkness receded from his body, and as he regained consciousness, the shadows that had surrounded and protected him vanished.

He opened his eyes and looked around at everything.

Pale rubble, dilapidated streets, damaged pavement, and towering buildings.

The city was more prosperous than it appeared, but it was lifeless.

Constantine bent down and picked up the weapon that had fallen beside him, his short-barreled shotgun.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't be here, since he was in the church and his weapon was left there.

But at this moment, he appeared here, along with his weapons.

As for why, he didn't know, but he needed to find the others and reunite with them.

But the moment he took his first step...

"Ughh ...

A scream came from above his head.

He looked up and instinctively took a step back.

thump.

Smoke billowed as the falling figure crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"My back..."

Her screams turned into low moans of pain and frustration. As the smoke cleared, Constantine's gun was pointed at the mysterious witch in front of him.

"you…"

"Ah! Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot! I'm a good person! Waaah... Igris—come save me..."

It seemed that Constantine's appearance was too frightening, or perhaps it was his severed arm, or the gun barrel in his hand that successfully intimidated the witch in front of him, making her appear overly panicked and terrified, and even causing her to subconsciously cry for help.

"...You mean, Igris?"

"..."

She fell silent, her earlier look of terror vanished, replaced by an appearance of... extraordinary heroism.

"I didn't say that."

"You know her?"

"I don't know him."

"..."