She is not an investigator.

Although she no longer remembers what the person looked like, his name, or even his gender.

But she still remembered what that person had said to her.

What she should do is not to hunt and survive like a wild beast, nor to slaughter and destroy like a monster.

The prerequisite is that she must find what she needs, what can help her, something she doesn't even know what it is.

And so, guided only by her intuition, she left Frostville, traversed the icy wilderness, and witnessed the arrival of spring.

Now, she finally sensed that it was not far away.

But what exactly is she looking for?

If there's no target, even if you break in, you probably won't find any clues.

"Looks like you haven't made up your mind yet."

Wade stroked his mustache again; he really liked this gesture and he really liked his mustache.

"Would you be interested in becoming my subordinate?"

The Bizarre Stage Play – The Book of Secrets: Chapter Seventeen, Little Red Riding Hood

"Hands, down?"

The girl blinked, repeating in confusion the words the other person had said, words she could hardly understand.

“That’s right. As a sheriff, if you want to protect your town, then manpower is essential.”

Wade stroked his mustache again and said with a proud look on his face.

"Although I alone am usually enough to protect this town, the more people the better. In my opinion, you are quite talented and completely different from those lazy bums. With proper training, you can definitely become a legendary police officer second only to me."

"I…"

The girl wanted to refuse, but she didn't know how to refuse, and she hadn't really thought about whether to refuse or not.

Perhaps this isn't a bad idea for her. She needs to reintegrate into human society, and if she doesn't want to continue living as a monster, becoming a vigilante here would probably be a good idea.

Thinking about this, she no longer felt so eager to refuse.

"But, can I really do it?"

The girl looked at her scorpion-like tail and then at her claws. It was clear that she was somewhat different from humans. It was unlikely that everyone would accept someone like her as a vigilante.

"Hmm—let me see your hands."

"..."

The girl cautiously extended her claws.

Although it's called a claw, in terms of its general shape, it still belongs to the hand of a primate, only with some sharper bony structures.

It's hard to say exactly what kind of animal it is, but judging from the researchers' approach, they must have included anything powerful they could think of.

Although she may look somewhat unrecognizable, it must be said that she always maintains a high position in the food chain in the wilderness.

"If you can hold a gun, you'll be fine, but you'll probably need some time to get used to it."

Wade nodded in satisfaction and pulled a slightly faded police badge directly from his pocket.

"Take this. From today onwards, you are my subordinate, and also the sheriff of this town. Your duty is to protect the safety of the other townspeople, understand?"

"How hasty..."

The girl eventually accepted the police badge. It was definitely quite old; it was faded and dirty.

The stains on it look like...blood? It's probably been washed, but not completely clean.

However, this also makes the badge look more special; compared to Wade's gold badge, this red one looks more suitable for her.

"I think you should change your clothes, but unfortunately, I don't have any spare police uniforms here, and it would probably be difficult to buy one in town..."

Wade stroked his mustache, pondering, then simply shook his head.

"Never mind that for now, let's go into town together and get to know everyone here... Also, what's your name?"

"Uh...name..."

She has no name. Perhaps she did have one before, but she doesn't remember it. After her consciousness was born, she lived in a laboratory. Even her common sense and the rationality that belong to humans were probably stuffed into her by those guys.

In a sense, is she also a man-made human?

“I understand. Strange guys like you usually have a tragic past. They either don’t want to reveal their past names and just use a fake name, or they don’t even know their own names. I guess you’re the latter? Do you need me to give you a name? My naming skills are as good as my marksmanship.”

After the girl decided to become a sheriff, Wade became much more talkative. Perhaps he was always a talkative person? At least now he didn't seem hostile at all; on the contrary, he was quite lazy and didn't seem particularly capable.

"I do not have my own name."

"Then you shall be called Little Red Riding Hood."

"...?"

The girl blinked, looked around, and then looked behind her. Only after confirming that he was really giving her a name did she force herself to ask, despite her discomfort.

"Why…"

"Because your clothes and cloak are red, I think this name is quite good, memorable, and easy to remember."

"...Can I refuse?"

"Of course, Little Red Riding Hood."

She could certainly refuse, but whether her refusal would be effective was probably up to the sheriff.

After all, he could most likely tell the name to everyone in the town in less than a day.

So whether or not her real name is Little Red Riding Hood, she is now.

"Don't just stand there, Little Red Riding Hood, come on, let me introduce you to our big family."

Wade stroked his mustache again and led her slowly into the town, which looked very dilapidated and ancient.

Even the roads here are still dirt roads, and you can see the whole town at a glance.

As the two walked along the roadside, a man dragging a sack also saw the unfamiliar girl and cast a curious glance at her.

"That guy's name is...uh, hey, what's your name again?"

Wade, who had originally intended to introduce the man, forgot his name at that moment and could only stop in his tracks, instead calling out to the man and asking.

The man turned his head and casually put the sack he was holding on the ground.

"Get lost, I don't use this name much anyway, I'll just forget about it. I'm going to give myself a new name, something cool."

"Come on, you don't even know as many words as I do."

Wade waved his hand dismissively, then spoke to the girl.

"This guy's name is Guncao. He used to be a scavenger. He saved up money for a long time and ended up buying a house here. He's also a cleaner here. See what he's carrying? It's full of garbage, scrap, and even corpses. Don't open it unless you have to, or it'll make you throw up your dinner from last night."

"...corpse?"

"Of course, where do you think this is? This town isn't just full of these kind townspeople; there are some much more outrageous guys out there too."

Before Wade could finish speaking, a gunshot rang out in the street ahead.

"look."

Wade shrugged, and the girl looked toward the source of the gunshot.

On the flat street, the two lay face to face on the ground, motionless, surrounded by a group of somewhat disappointed people.

"What is that...?"

"A duel? These lunatics will do this if they don't like each other. One bullet, someone will die. The sanitation workers will take these two bodies away and sell them for a good price."

The Bizarre Stage Play – The Book of Secrets: Chapter Eighteen, Welcome to Deadeye

"Selling...corpses? Why would anyone buy a corpse?"

Nothing in this world is surprising.

Wade stroked his beard and patted the pouch at his waist.

"Some people are different from those desperados. They are just a group of thrill-seekers. Often, those people also have their own families. When they die for various reasons, their families will most likely be willing to spend a little money to take the body back. Of course, a body without family members will not be fed to dogs. There will always be people who need the body to do some strange things."

He counted examples on his fingers.

"For example, it can be used for cooking, for raising monsters, for sacrifices, it has many uses. If you ask me, whether it's a living person or a dead person, it's truly a treasure from head to toe."

"..."

The girl's expression was not good. When she was in the laboratory, she thought that the researchers were already outrageous enough, but she did not expect that similar things would happen here as well.

I don't know whether to call it wild or chaotic.

"Those guys, the ones wearing hats, those are cowboys. There aren't many good guys among them, but most of the time they're pretty well-behaved, just drinking and stuff. So if you can, you'd better not go near that bar during the day. After all, they're all armed, and you can't guarantee what they might do when they're drunk."

At this point, Wade suddenly smiled.

"Of course I can, because I'm better than them all, which is why they have to behave themselves."

"..."

The two continued on their way, and the girl soon noticed a middle-aged woman hanging clothes out to dry.

She was dressed like a typical housewife, with a fierce expression, frowning and muttering curses, probably in a very bad mood.

"That guy's name is Jenny. I advise you not to mess with her. She's a widow. It's said that her husband promised to take her to live in a big city, but he gambled away all their savings in one night. So she tied her husband to a street lamp and whipped him all night. He died a horrible death."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Of course, otherwise she wouldn't be here. She dated other men after that, including a pretty boy who turned out to be a tuberculosis patient, supposedly from inhaling smog, and died young. Then she dated a mine owner who turned out to be a drunkard who liked to beat women... Guess what happened to him in the end?"

The girl shook her head.

"He was killed right here."

Wade pointed to the streetlights in the distance, then to the front door of Jenny's house.

"That guy got drunk, and when he got home, he was ready to beat her up, but she beat him up and broke his leg. He dragged his broken leg all the way from the door to the street lamp. Everyone in town knew about it and saw her chase after him with a clothes hanger and smash his head in."

"..."

"Anyway, she hasn't dated a man since then. Of course, even if she wanted to, probably no one would dare to agree."

Wade shrugged and waved to Jenny, who was hanging up laundry.