She is not an investigator.

Igris stopped and gently shook her head.

Olivia smiled, then began searching her body for something.

It was a lighter, but Olivia had forgotten it in the car, so she would borrow it from Igris next.

Igris had already experienced all of this, and all the events were crystal clear in her memory. Therefore, along the way, Igris was trying her best to make decisions that were completely different from before.

For example, the rabbit she's holding right now.

"Ah, found it."

But unexpectedly, Olivia pulled her lighter out of her pocket.

This time she didn't forget her lighter, which was completely different from her previous experiences.

"Igris, do you believe in ghosts?"

Olivia lit the lighter and, just like last time, asked her question.

Igris did not answer, because she noticed that the psychic ritual did not seem to have been successful.

The flames remained unchanged, and everything around seemed normal. The terrifying figure that looked as if it had just been dug out of the ground did not appear.

why?

Has the cycle of time gone wrong? Or is there no such thing as reincarnation at all?

Igris didn't understand, but she did indeed return to three days earlier, to the time when she had just arrived at the castle.

Perhaps there will be other changes, and perhaps this cycle is not without a chance of being broken.

"Ah... I failed. Never mind, I didn't say anything."

Olivia put away the lighter with some disappointment and waved her hand in front of Igris.

"Distracted? Don't just stand there, come on, we should go in, or they'll be getting impatient."

Olivia instinctively reached out to grab Igris's arm, but hesitated for a moment, her movement stopping abruptly.

"I remember... you don't like being touched, right?"

Igris paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Olivia didn't seem to have completely lost her memories. During this time, Igris never mentioned the topic, but Olivia still remembered it and abruptly stopped what she was doing.

If trying to take Igris's hand was her first instinct, then stopping that action represented her subconscious thoughts.

Perhaps Olivia can recall more?

"Alright, alright, let's go."

Olivia called out to Igris, then walked towards the castle gate.

At the gate, Nanko was waiting for Olivia's arrival, and everything was the same as last time.

"That's great, I thought you weren't coming."

Nan Ke visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and Olivia pointed to Igris and introduced her.

“Igris, my friend and assistant.”

Nan Ke nodded slightly to Igris and spoke slowly.

“My name is Nanko Noval. Olivia should have told you about me.”

"Yes, but I'm a little tired. Can I go and rest for a bit?"

Igris didn't have the patience to repeat the conversation they'd already had; she had important things to do.

"Ah, of course, you must be tired from the journey. Please come in."

Nanko took the initiative to push open the castle door, while in the hall, Buze remained sitting there, staring blankly at the servants coming and going.

Noticing Igris's gaze, Olivia introduced herself in a low voice.

“That’s Buze, Nanke’s brother, the one I told you about.”

"I know."

Igris glanced at Nanko and noticed that his expression wasn't good. She still planned to avoid her brother and go arrange rooms for them first.

Igris didn't care about this, since she had already talked to Buze and there was no need to waste any more time on him.

"Let's not bother him, let's go."

……

Olivia and Nanko had already left their room, leaving her all alone.

The rest was definitely not a real reason; Igris's physical strength wasn't that bad. She just needed some opportunities to act alone, preferably without being discovered by others.

Igris checked her belongings and found that, apart from the extra pocket watch, she only had the four bullets she had previously carried, and not the ten bullets that Olivia had given her.

Oh right, there's also a rabbit, but Nanko thoughtfully found her a small cage, so Igris doesn't have to carry this troublesome creature around with her.

It seems that everything except the pocket watch is affected by reincarnation, even the mirror fragments on her body.

She doesn't have the key to the basement right now, but she probably doesn't need it much; finding a tool to pick the lock would easily solve the problem.

But for now, it's best to postpone this kind of work that's likely to cause some trouble. She needs to check the fire station and water pipes for any problems.

In the last cycle of reincarnation, she didn't have time to find out anything. Instead, she handed it over to Olivia to check. Olivia seemed to have discovered something, so much so that Igris was completely unaware.

In any case, three days is enough time for her to find out a lot.

"I wonder if the Mirror Demon will still remember me."

The Gods' Fool - The Castle's Invitation: Chapter Twenty-Five, The Living Rag

Igris slowly walked out of the room, cautiously looking left and right.

There was no one else in the hallway; it was very safe.

She tiptoed to close the door and went to the stairwell leading to the first floor.

The maids and servants seemed to have already gone to bed, since it was already quite late and there was no need to keep cleaning until midnight.

In other words, Igris is probably the only person in the castle who is currently wandering around outside.

If the lights were turned off, Igris would probably be able to handle things more easily, but it doesn't matter since no one's around anyway.

Perhaps she could try kicking open the basement door and barging in?

However, Yiliuge Yingliqisi wouldn't do that. Given her current physical condition, she probably couldn't kick it away directly; she would only be injured by the reaction force.

So she went to the fire station located on the mezzanine floor with a very clear goal in mind.

That's her goal.

The castle has four floors. The fourth floor is an attic, which used to be Raymond's favorite place to stay, but now it is deserted.

On the first to third floors, each floor has a corresponding fire station, equipped with fire extinguishers and fire hydrants. The owner of this castle probably knew how dangerous a fire would be here, so fire prevention has always been a top priority.

The fire hydrant pipes in the fire station are even connected to separate pipes, completely separate from the domestic water supply. Although this is indeed the most basic requirement, in this era, it is already quite good that their water pumps are not connected to the river.

However, it's most likely just because there's no river around the castle at all.

Because it is an independent pipeline, domestic water use will not affect the water storage of the fire station to a large extent, so that it can be used immediately in the event of a fire and avoid the possibility of water shortage.

Unless there is a leak somewhere, or someone blocks the pipes in advance.

That's what Iris wants to check.

Compared to obvious and easily detectable hazards like water leaks, the impact of blocked pipes is more insidious and generally goes unnoticed unless you directly inspect the pipes or release water.

But no matter what, no one would really be so bored as to release water or crawl into the pipe layer, right?

But what Igris needs to do now is to crawl into the pipe layer and find out what's going on.

Three days is enough time for her to catch all the rats here.

However, Igris did not rush to check the pipes first; instead, she picked up the fire extinguisher that was placed on the ground.

With its bronze-colored casing and shape that easily reminded Igris of a large bullet, this was the kind of fire extinguisher that most areas had. Igris didn't quite understand the specific working principle, but she knew how to use it.

She knew at least that this thing couldn't be thrown directly into the fire, otherwise it would probably turn into a giant bomb. But given Igris's current strength, it would be extremely difficult for her to hold this thing and throw it out, so she only thought about it. Besides, she had no reason to do it.

However, Igris began to wonder if shooting this thing would cause it to explode as well.

Her imagination always runs wild.

Igris ignored the fire extinguisher and went to the pipe layer of the fire hydrant, where she crawled inside.

This is thanks to her current slender figure; otherwise, she would likely have been stuck inside instead of being able to turn around like she is now.

"Ok?"

However, as soon as she crawled in, Igris noticed something was amiss.

The lights are still on here.

Even if this family is very wealthy, surely they wouldn't leave all the lights on? At this hour, even half the lights in the main hall are off, so why keep them on here?

Most people can't even afford kerosene lamps, yet Noval's family still has electricity in a place where no one usually comes, and they even leave the lights on.

It's hard to say whether this is due to being rich and powerful or simply a problem with their brains.

However, there is another possibility.

I see you.

There are other people hiding here.

Actually, Igris wasn't sure either, but it wouldn't cost her anything to try.

Even if she pretends to be talking to herself, it doesn't matter. After all, if there's really no one around, probably no one will notice that she's talking to thin air.

But what if there is someone?

"How did you find out?"

If there are people around, he will most likely crawl out on his own.

Igris turned around, pulled out her pistol, and pointed it at the figure slowly peeking out from the hidden compartment.

"I don't know, I was just talking to myself and then you popped out."

"...I've never seen you before."