She is not an investigator.

Igris shook her head and put down the gun.

"It's okay, because I feel the same way you do, but please don't touch my body suddenly anymore. Sometimes my bullets are faster than my reaction."

Igris wasn't joking, especially since she was almost completely tense. Touching her casually would only trigger her alertness instantly, causing her to instinctively retaliate.

"I understand……"

Hearing this, the princess could only nod and followed Igris anxiously to her side.

But after taking only a few more steps, a bustling crowd suddenly appeared not far ahead.

The group of people stood in the middle of the road, seemingly watching something, completely blocking the road.

Behind the dense crowd, it's difficult to even see what's happening inside, let alone walk through it.

But Igris had a good idea.

How strong are you?

She looked at the princess, who was also taken aback, seemingly not understanding what Igris meant, and could only answer uncertainly.

"It should be considered... fairly large, right?"

Igris nodded in satisfaction, then patted the princess on the shoulder under her dazed gaze.

"Hold on tight, I want to ride on your shoulders to see what's ahead."

"...?"

The princess's eyes revealed great doubt, and she hurriedly refused.

"How can this be! I'm a princess, after all... Besides, in fairy tales, isn't it always the princess who's on top?"

Igris thought what she said made a lot of sense, but Igris was unreasonable.

"On the road to becoming a princess, you always have to make some sacrifices; it's a necessary price to pay."

The princess pouted and shook her head in refusal.

"Why do I have to pay the price? You clearly... you clearly look stronger than me."

Actually, no.

On the contrary, Igris's clothing made her look even thinner.

"Because I despise you."

Igris, not wanting to waste time, simply gave the answer.

The princess's face turned visibly red. She looked at her legs, then at her skirt, and finally gritted her teeth and said fiercely.

"...Do you know what price you have to pay to ride on a princess!"

Igris ignored her and swiftly climbed onto her body. Amidst her soft gasp, she finally saw the scene of being surrounded by the crowd.

"Hurry up, please..."

The princess beneath her could only hold onto Igris's legs, but as soon as she placed her hand on them, Igris slapped it away, leaving her completely in a dilemma.

Although Igris wasn't very heavy, it would still be very painful for the princess to maintain this position if she couldn't even reach out to support her.

Fortunately, the matter is nearing its end.

"The guillotine."

That's right, a decapitation operation is underway in the area that is completely surrounded.

Igris noticed that there were three people who had been beheaded. Two heads were already on the ground, and the last one had been placed on the guillotine.

These people were all women, but their clothes were rather revealing.

Confused, Igris finally turned her gaze to a passerby holding a black umbrella, patted his umbrella, and asked.

"What crimes did those people commit that they deserve to be beheaded?"

The passerby turned around in surprise, seemingly not expecting Igris to be so outgoing, but still patiently explained.

"Streetwalkers, those women, they committed crimes, so they couldn't survive here and had to be beheaded."

How novel!

As the last head fell to the ground, Igris jumped off the princess and looked at her curiously, asking a question.

"Didn't you create everything here? Then what about those people in special professions?"

The princess overheard their conversation and naturally understood what Igris meant.

Her face turned bright red, though it was unclear whether it was from Igris riding on her neck or from Igris's words, but she still stubbornly spoke.

"How could I! I would never do such a thing! But... everything here has changed, so I don't know. Maybe those people were forced into it..."

Seeing the princess begin to wallow in self-pity again, Igris simply turned around and looked at the crowd that was gradually dispersing in front of her.

Since the beheading was over, there was no point in these people lingering there any longer.

Countless black umbrellas quickly dispersed and disappeared into the mist on both sides of the road. In less than half a minute, the people blocking the way vanished without a trace.

"The road is open, let's keep going."

Igris called out to the princess behind her and then walked toward the execution ground in front of her.

The three corpses remained lying in the same spot, unclaimed and carelessly left in the middle of the street.

Igris also noticed that, in addition to the decapitation wounds, they had many smaller wounds on their bodies. Although they were not fatal, there were a great many of them, and they even looked somewhat gruesome.

"Igris... let's get out of here quickly, okay..."

Seemingly frightened by her pitiful appearance, the princess nervously clung to Igris's side, pleading with her in a soft voice.

Igris wasn't heartless, but she definitely needed more clues.

Especially…

"wait for me."

She discovered something new.

Among those corpses, there were pieces of pale pink fragments.

Although these fragments were small, they inexplicably gave Igris a strange sense of familiarity.

A secret treasure.

Why would there be a hidden treasure here? Isn't this a dream?

…No, it seems there's no rule that says secrets can't appear in dreams.

But if that's really the case, then she really can't leave here so easily.

"Your Highness, may I ask you a question?"

The princess's expression turned somewhat frightened at the sudden change in address from Igris.

Because she already knew that Igris didn't care about her status as a princess at all, she naturally wouldn't show any of the etiquette that a princess should have.

But now, she's saying these things in a completely different way, as if she's about to do something bad.

However, the princess was not wrong.

Do you like this city?

This is Igris's problem.

"…Hate."

In the past, she would have said "I like you" without hesitation, but now, in this decaying city, she can't see any hope or beauty.

She hated this place, hated this mutated world.

"Then so be it."

Igris snapped her fingers, and an indescribable bloody aura began to linger around her body. Bandages, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, concealed her face beneath the murderous intent.

"Let's burn this place down completely."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the dimly lit tavern, the quiet patrons stood out from the lively atmosphere.

They were all dressed in black suits, with black umbrellas beside them, sitting politely in their seats, yet appearing very quiet and indifferent.

As soon as the bar door was pushed open, everyone looked up at the new customers inside.

Their faces were finally exposed to the light, revealing the ugly features beneath their wide-brimmed hats.

They are slender, decaying, like the bark of an old tree, wrinkled together, each revealing a greedy malice.

But the customer went straight to the bar and gently tapped the table.

"Give me a drink."

She spoke in a muffled voice, and the bandages on her face almost completely concealed her emotions.

Snapped--

A glass of wine landed heavily on the bar counter. The owner, who was wiping the glass, didn't even look up and continued talking to himself.

"One gold coin."

That's really expensive.

If it's for drinking, then that's certainly true.

Igris slowly raised the cup in her hand and poured it onto the wooden floor.

"It's a pity I didn't bring that much money with me."

As the last drop of liquor hit the ground, everyone in the bar stood up straight and slowly approached Igris.

"How about... having someone else pay for me?"

The next moment, a gunshot suddenly rang out in the bar, and a man in a suit fell to the ground on the spot. Inky black blood burst out from his head, which was almost completely torn apart by the bullet, and splattered everywhere.

"Don't worry, I'll clean this up."

Igris smiled as she spoke to the shopkeeper in front of her, the wine glass in her hand slowly turning to ash and falling to the ground.

"Use this one."