She is not an investigator.

If she's always on edge, she'll probably have a mental breakdown sooner or later, even if nothing happens.

Before the sun had completely set, Igris began to stroll along the road leading to the main gate of the castle.

It seems that because the area is not entirely within the castle's maintenance area, the surrounding weeds are quite tall, the kind that makes you want to light a fire.

Although it's unclear just how difficult it is to prevent fires in such places, by the time the fire department arrives, the surrounding area will probably already be burned to the ground.

Iglesias also noticed a rather conspicuous stone tablet in the weeds not far away. At first glance, it looked like a tombstone, but she guessed that no one would actually put a tombstone in front of their own front door.

Igris leaned closer and looked at the words carved on the stone tablet.

"Mobius strip... what does that mean?"

Igris's language learning was not very good, just like her archaeology and psychology, which were only at a very mediocre level. In fact, after so many years, she had forgotten many things, so she had not made any progress in these areas at all.

While it's possible that what's written on this stone tablet is related to the castle—for example, it might be another way of writing Noval, or it could be the castle's original name—it's still a possibility.

In any case, judging from the marks, this stone tablet has definitely been here for a long time. Not only is it covered in dust, but the inscriptions on it have also been almost completely worn away. If it wasn't someone deliberately trying to make the inscriptions disappear by constantly rubbing them away, then it was most likely caused by external factors such as weathering or rain to become what it is now, and it must have been there for quite some time.

She didn't actually need to stare at a stone tablet in a daze, but Igris was inexplicably drawn to it; it was a rather strange feeling.

Iglesias did not doubt how the fin-shaped feeder was dirty, and it seemed similar to the situation she had encountered when she was researching information in Maulkenson, but there were still some differences.

If she had to put it into words… she always felt like she could think of something, and looking at this stone, she would always have a strange sense of déjà vu.

But it was indeed her first time here, and the first time she had ever seen this word.

"You're still here."

Just then, Olivia, who had already parked her car, walked over and also looked at the stone tablet in front of Igris.

“Mobius strip…”

"What does it mean?"

Iglesias, who pinned her hopes on Olivia, asked with some curiosity, but the detective only frowned slightly and shook his head with some difficulty.

"I...I'm not quite sure, but I feel like I've seen this word somewhere before, though I can't quite remember..."

That's normal. After all, Olivia has read a lot of books, and she might just happen to glimpse the word by chance, so she might have some impression of it.

"So, now that the car is parked, you should tell me why we made a special trip to get here at this time, right?"

Putting the stone tablet aside for the moment, Igris posed a new question to the ever-mysterious Olivia.

"Ah, of course, but before that, I have a question for you."

Olivia clasped her hands together and looked expectantly at Igris, who was equally puzzled.

"Problem? What problem?"

Do you believe in ghosts?

The Gods' Fool's Play - The Castle's Invitation: Chapter Five, The Spirit Communication Ritual

Do you believe in the theory of the soul?

"No, no, what I mean is... do you think ghosts exist in this world? Like the remains of a dead person?"

Igris thought for a moment, then nodded somewhat uncertainly.

"I've never seen one, but I guess they probably exist. Do you know about the Thousand Faces? Those creatures have always been considered to be created by piecing together the souls of countless people. If souls really exist, then ghosts aren't anything special, are they?"

Igris' understanding of the world is far superior to that of ordinary people. Similarly, this means that she can easily accept things that seem incredible or even potentially overturn her understanding.

This is a form of self-protection, and an extremely rare ability to feign stupidity.

She wouldn't try to analyze things she couldn't understand at all, nor would she be too attached to them. Even the strange and indescribable fears that appeared in her eyes would be greatly blurred and filtered by her, and her impression of them would be changed to everything she was truly familiar with.

In other words, her mind can deceive her, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

This meant that she rarely experienced mental shock or pollution unless she directly confronted some unspeakable great fears or certain deities that should not be mentioned. This habit was formed after she understood what the investigators were dealing with.

"If you can understand, that would be great, so this is what I'm going to do, I want to show you something."

She mysteriously led Igris to an open space nearby, patted herself all over, and finally fixed her gaze on Igris.

"Do you smoke?"

Do I look like someone who smokes?

"Oh...that's true."

Olivia's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. It seemed she had forgotten to bring what she needed to prepare, but if she went back to the car now, it would probably waste a lot of time, since Igris didn't seem to have much patience.

"What do you need, smoke or fire?"

"fire."

Iglesias casually tossed the lighter from her pocket to Olivia. It was the one that Pasa had given her before, and Iglesias hadn't seen Pasa since, so she didn't return it.

Although Igris never intended to return it to him; it was just a lighter.

"So if you don't smoke, why do you carry a lighter with you? Who gave it to you as a gift?"

"In a sense, that's true."

Olivia took the lighter and examined it, then looked at Igris with some curiosity.

"It's been used for a long time, could this be a token of love?"

"If so, I will throw this thing away."

Igris glared coldly at Olivia, who was spouting nonsense while holding a lighter, while Olivia nonchalantly lit the lighter.

An orange flame was lit on the lighter, but as Olivia chanted strangely, the color of the flame slowly changed.

A ghostly blue flame replaced the flame on the lighter, making the surrounding darkness even thicker, almost tangible.

"Do you want to continue? This looks dangerous."

"Fortunately, this is just a psychic ritual."

Olivia flicked the lighter in her hand, extinguishing the flame. Everything around her seemed unchanged, just as before.

Olivia returned the lighter to Igris and, under Igris's questioning gaze, gestured for her to turn around.

As Igris turned her head, a sudden figure appeared behind her. The tattered clothes and decaying face made Igris take two steps back almost instantly, and she drew her pistol.

She hadn't heard any footsteps at all; when did this thing appear behind her?

"Don't be afraid. It's probably a servant who died accidentally in this castle. It won't attack, but perhaps we can try asking it some questions?"

As Igris listened to Yue Aoliwei's rambling words, she slowly put her pistol back into her waistband and looked curiously at the creature in front of her that looked like a corpse dug out of the ground. She tentatively touched its body.

Surprisingly, it does have a physical form, but it doesn't seem to react at all, and I don't know if others can see it.

Igris had always thought that souls were the kind that didn't have a physical form, so this was quite an eye-opener for her.

And... she had never seen this type of psychic ritual in most churches.

This means that Olivia may have simply understood this knowledge from some existing ancient texts and successfully communicated with such things through some actions that seemed to have no special effect whatsoever.

In a sense, Olivia is quite remarkable.

"What questions do you have?"

Iglesias looked at Olivia, but the detective shook her head.

"This is your chance, and not every psychic session will be successful. I've successfully psychiced three times in the castle, but it took me a whole year."

You live here?

"No, but my father treated Mrs. Noval like a nanny, and would leave me here whenever he had free time."

Olivia spoke calmly, but you could tell she was full of resentment. That was probably why she met Nan Ke and became friends with him.

"Okay, let me think about it."

Igris hesitated for a moment, then realized that she could ask Olivia directly about most things concerning the Noval family, and there was no need to specifically ask this dead ghost.

So could she try asking something more meaningful?

Do you know what the "Mobius strip" on the stone tablet means?

In response to Igris's question, the waiter, who had been motionless just moments before, suddenly turned his head, a simple movement that nearly caused his body to fall apart.

“Mobius strip…”

He opened his mouth and made a strange sound as if a large stone was stuck in his throat, and repeated the word.

Yes, you know that?

"..."

He opened his mouth, first looking at Igris, then at the castle gate.

Finally, he slowly lowered his head, gently warming himself with his umbrella, and looked down at the earth beneath his feet, or perhaps at his own decaying body.

Then it collapsed to the ground.

Scattered into the ground, it couldn't utter a single word, nor could it give Igris the answer she sought.

"So, is this normal?"

"It's obvious that it doesn't know."

Olivia shrugged, then took Igris's arm.

"This is just a spirit communication ritual. We've only summoned an ordinary servant. It won't know everything, which is normal. There's no need to worry about it anymore. Our friends who are waiting for us might be anxious."

Iglesias looked at Olivia grabbing her shoulder, her expression turning somewhat unpleasant. Although she didn't say anything, Olivia noticed.

"You don't really like physical contact?"

"indeed."

Olivia quickly released Igris's arm and raised her hands in front of her chest.

I'm sorry.

"It's not that serious. It's not a psychological barrier or a trauma. It's just that I don't like it."

Izzy Lisel thought that Olivia might have been mistaken for someone else, although her behavior did seem to suggest some kind of stress response.

"Oh, I see. I understand."

Olivia did not try to touch Igris again, but instead put her hands behind her back and led the way in front of Igris.