She is not an investigator.

"No one saw the real Tear of the Ocean at that banquet. What was displayed on the stand was the head of Raymond's only wife. He suffered from mental illness as a result and went mad. As a result, his son inherited the position of head of the family. However, because the impact of this incident was too great, the Noval family also ushered in its decline. No matter what the truth is, it did destroy a family."

Igris frowned slightly, her senses telling her that this case was likely more dangerous than she had imagined.

"Is it too late for me to regret this now?"

"Are you afraid?"

She repeated it again: at least Igris's appearance was indeed very deceptive; she was the kind of little girl who would be frightened by any scary or terrifying tale.

That is, assuming there isn't a 30-something-year-old investigator living inside her body.

“I just don’t want to go and die. Whatever the target of this mission is, this castle has obviously already been the case before.”

"The police have investigated everything and it was a suicide."

Igris seemed to have heard a very funny joke and couldn't help but laugh, and it really was quite funny.

"You mean, she cut off her own head and put it in that display case?"

Iglesias's opinion of Olivia has changed somewhat; at least she's funny.

"It wasn't her, it was her and their butler. They had been having an affair for a long time, and Raymond loved his wife very much, so she set her sights on the Tear of the Ocean and handed it over to the butler. She then prepared this surprise for him, intending to help him escape after the castle fell into complete chaos and run away with this treasure."

Olivia shrugged and continued.

"That sounds ridiculous, right? But that's what the police said."

"This isn't just absurd... this answer is completely illogical. Where's the gem? Has it been found?"

Olivia nodded.

"The gem wasn't lost or taken away. It was indeed still in that display case, inside the skull's mouth. To be honest... I already felt something was wrong when I heard this. The suicide claim was probably just something those policemen said to cover their tracks. I guess the Special Investigations Unit has already started investigating."

As expected, this kind of thing will definitely be assigned to the Special Investigations Department.

"So, Detective, what is our objective? To obstruct the Special Investigations Division's investigation, or to find the murderer?"

"neither."

Olivia gave Igris a meaningful smile, which made Igris shift her body slightly to the side, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"Our mission is to go and celebrate Nanko Noval's birthday."

The Gods' Fool - The Castle's Invitation: Chapter Two, The Specifics of the Commission

Igris didn't speak, but turned her head to look at the road outside the window, appearing very quiet, even a little bored.

I thought you'd be surprised.

"I thought you were joking."

“Listen to me, our mission is simple. In a few days it will be Nanko’s birthday, and many people will be attending, including Nanko’s brother, Buze. We will also play the role of guests in this mission, but that’s just on the surface. When the banquet starts, Nanko will show everyone the Tear of the Ocean, which is still kept in the castle. Our goal is to steal this gem and make Nanko lose face at his own birthday banquet.”

"You mean, he commissioned you to ruin his own birthday party, and even specifically asked you to steal a jewel that is extremely important to his entire family? Why didn't he do it himself? And what would be the point of doing that?"

"That's exactly the problem."

Olivia tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel and continued.

"The Tear of the Ocean is sealed in the castle's secret vault, which requires two keys to open. The key used to belong to Raymond and his wife, but it has now been given to Nanko and his brother Buze. In other words, Nanko cannot take the gem without Buze's knowledge. He needs help to steal the other key."

What's the point?

"Nanko doesn't want to be the head of the family. He has a great dream: to become a writer. But his family and brothers don't think so, so they've forced this burden onto him. He wants to embarrass himself in this way, to make everyone think he's an incompetent person who can't be trusted, so that the position of family head will be inherited by his brother, Buze."

Igris pursed her lips, wanting to say something but holding back, feeling it would be impolite.

"Don't you think there's something wrong with his head?"

"Since you've already said that, then it must be... So he entrusted you to steal his brother's key? Can you do it, Dad?"

At least Olivia doesn't seem like the kind of person with dirty hands, otherwise she wouldn't have been caught off guard when Igris took her wallet.

"No, we're not stealing the keys, we're stealing the jewels."

What's the difference?

If you can only steal the gem by stealing the key, then what's the difference?

"Buzer keeps the key very carefully. If it's stolen, someone in the castle will definitely find out. Once discovered, the birthday party will be in chaos and won't be able to get away unscathed. They'll definitely head straight for where the gems are stored. At that point, the thief will appear in their sight, leave clues, and then leave. What we need to do is use our detective identity to pretend to investigate, but actually switch the real gems with the fakes. The rest of the story will involve the thief being caught and the fakes being returned to Nanko. Then, at the subsequent banquet, the fakes will be shown to everyone, completely ruining his reputation."

This plan is quite rudimentary, with many major flaws. Whether it's how to steal the key, how to switch the gems without arousing suspicion, or the final return of the gems, if Buze had taken over, he would have had no reason not to see that they were fakes, thus completely exposing the plan.

"Was this his plan, or yours?"

Igris asked this question for a simple reason: she just wanted to know if this flawed plan was actually proposed by the detective beside her, which would depend on Igris's opinion and attitude towards her.

"Of course it was him. But it's not a big deal that the plan was exposed. After all, he originally hoped that his brother could take over this heavy responsibility in his place. If Buze really finds out that his brother went to great lengths just for this, he probably won't let him continue to act recklessly. It's a good result, isn't it? So we have more time to enjoy this banquet instead of focusing on the mission itself."

Olivia smiled at Igris, but Igris didn't reciprocate and instead turned to look out the window.

"But my gut feeling tells me that this won't be that simple."

"You were scared by the story I told, weren't you?"

Igris didn't want to talk to her; even a child wouldn't be scared by that kind of story.

“However, what you said is not without reason. The Tear of the Ocean is a very mysterious existence. The Special Investigations Department even took it away for investigation, but it seems that because the time was too short, they did not find anything and were forced to return it to them and seal it away. If the accident that happened at Raymond’s exhibition was really caused by that gem, then our operation this time does seem to be not so safe, and may even be somewhat dangerous.”

"Since you know that, why are you still planning to go and join in the fun?"

Olivia didn't answer immediately. Instead, she leaned on the steering wheel and tilted her head to look at Igris.

She always liked to stare at Igris like that, for reasons unknown, which sometimes made Igris feel uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I just went to join in the fun."

Olivia ultimately couldn't keep staring at Igris. She ruffled Igris's black hair with a hint of annoyance and continued speaking.

"But you know what? Nan Ke is actually my friend. So rather than a commission, it's more like a friend's request. No matter what the specific situation is, I will definitely help him. Even if there is danger, I will not want him to face the danger alone."

In some ways, Olivia was more emotional than she seemed. She seemed to care a lot about the concept of friendship. Iglesias could understand this, but she still felt that Olivia could actually have better options.

"Being your friend is perhaps a very lucky thing, after all, few people would go to such lengths for a friend, and might even risk their own lives."

"You're the first person to say something like that to me."

Olivia seemed very happy, perhaps because Igris had finally stopped communicating with her in that stiff and cold tone, or perhaps simply because she had been praised.

"up to you."

But actually, Igris was just being sarcastic, though she didn't seem to understand.

"Besides, it's not like I was completely unprepared."

Knowing that the Tears of the Ocean might pose some danger, any means of self-preservation would be necessary, but Igris still didn't think the girl in front of her could make any decent preparations.

After all, it was almost impossible for her to pull out an old print.

Are you an expert shooter?

Olivia pulled a handgun from the car's storage compartment. Iglesias felt the thing looked familiar, very much like the weapon Ling had used. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but it was also possible that Ling had secretly given it to the detective.

“I’m an expert in anything you can think of. What about you? This isn’t a weapon that can be easily mastered.”

Aside from a priest who relies entirely on luck to master accurate shooting on the first day, those who haven't received much systematic training are better off just pointing their gun directly at the enemy's head and firing, so at least they can be sure they won't hit their own teammates.

"I have received shooting training."

"I really couldn't tell."

Igris casually extended her hand, and under Olivia's somewhat puzzled gaze, the pistol that was just in Olivia's hand slipped into Igris's hand.

"You have to do more than just shoot; you also need to learn how to hold the weapon properly."

Igris spun the gun around and handed the handle back to Olivia.

"You speak in a way that sounds a bit like Passa."

Do you mean I look just as annoying?

"No... I mean you don't look eighteen."

"Thank you."

The Gods' Fool - The Castle's Invitation: Chapter 3, Perhaps... Raising a rabbit wouldn't be so bad?

"So how much longer do we have to wait here?"

Igris rested her head against the car window, looking at the withered grass and fallen leaves by the roadside, almost falling asleep.

It is currently late autumn. Although the weather is not particularly cold, it is certainly not warm either. The withered yellow leaves and the autumn wind make one appreciate the desolate and decaying scenery even more.

It would probably look better if there were farmland nearby, but the only thing nearby is dense forest, which is just a bunch of tree trunks that are almost completely bare, making it look even more desolate.

Although Igris quite liked autumn, she preferred the sight of forests full of maple leaves to this bleak and desolate scene.

"Be patient, or is it really that unbearable for you to be with me?"

Olivia seemed to enjoy chatting with Iglesias, perhaps because she liked her languidness, or maybe she just liked her voice.

"I just don't like wasting time on unnecessary things..."

They had been parked on the side of the road for at least half an hour, and even if Igris was very patient, she would still complain a little.

"I'm so sorry, I've never had a good sense of time."

"Then perhaps you should get a watch."

Olivia reached into her pocket, pulled out a bronze pocket watch, and waved it in front of Igris.

"Everyone says so, so I did it."

"...This is no use."

"It's really useless."

But Olivia herself never cared about these things; time was not a precious thing to her. This was probably due to the ideological differences caused by the evil class gap.

The saying "time is money" doesn't apply to her personally, especially to the guy in front of her whose time and money aren't particularly important to her.

"But may I ask, what exactly are we waiting for?"

"what."

Olivia exclaimed in surprise and looked at Igris, meeting her listless gaze.

"So... I didn't tell you?"