She is not an investigator.

She remained standing quietly in place, without opening her eyes, carefully listening to the sounds of the wind and grass around her.

Just as she said, whatever it is, as long as it harbors malice towards humanity, it will be unable to resist the temptation of Momokawa.

Even if she's just standing there.

boom!

Momokawa suddenly opened his eyes, instantly turned to his side and rear, and fired a shot.

A vine hurtled toward Momokawa with incredible speed, but she shot it off instantly with a preemptive shot.

The next moment, a piercing scream came from a nearby tree trunk, and the face on it began to show extreme terror, completely revealing its location.

Momokawa closed his notebook and smiled sincerely at Olivia, who was still in a daze.

"I did help you, didn't I?"

Then, she went to the face that was still screaming and pulled the trigger.

The bullet struck the face precisely, and a blood-red liquid quickly flowed out, resembling blood but lighter in color.

"This is its bodily fluid, is it considered corpse fluid? It comes from the corpses it devoured. It seems that the guy was indeed dragged away by it."

"So, there wasn't any other conspiracy at all, right?"

Momokawa shook his head.

"Like I said, the road ahead is going to be more dangerous, and you can choose to turn back now."

Abnormal creatures rarely appear around humans on their own, except under certain special circumstances.

First and foremost, the most classic element is the ritual.

Any form of ritual will attract these special monsters, so the more anomalies a place has, the closer it is to the truth.

Second, there is an even more powerful anomaly.

The saying "birds of a feather flock together" also applies to anomalous creatures. Powerful anomalous creatures will unconsciously attract relatively weaker creatures. Although anomalous creatures will also kill each other, this attraction is not for predation, and the specific reason is still unknown.

Thirdly, there is pollution.

The spread and medium of pollution are elusive, but most pollution itself is highly unstable and may indirectly attract unusual organisms to spread the pollution.

The simplest example is that isolation itself is a form of pollution, but it will attract malicious anomalies in the surrounding area as much as possible, which can be considered a form of sharing.

But regardless of which one it is, they both clearly illustrate the same point.

There are indeed more problems here.

Should we continue, or leave and seek help?

Momokawa has her own choices, but she needs to know Olivia's opinion. After all, Momokawa can't be responsible for anyone else; she can only be responsible for herself.

She wouldn't care if she died here by accident, after all, the path to the truth is inherently dangerous.

But not Olivia.

Olivia must live; at least here, she cannot die.

Igris needs an explanation.

The Gods' Fool - The Last Knight: Chapter Twenty-Two, Let's Go Deeper

"You plan to continue on your own?"

Olivia did not answer immediately, but instead asked Momokawa for his thoughts.

She was indeed not going to continue the investigation. She knew her own abilities and the circumstances under which she could remain safe, as well as what level of protection was already considered barely enough for her.

Knowing when to quit while you're ahead is a skill every detective should learn.

"Correct."

Momokawa was quite satisfied with Ili V's expression, because it seemed that she was not going to continue, so Momokawa no longer needed to worry about her.

Perhaps she should consider comforting herself? But she had long since stopped worrying.

If she truly deserved to die, if her fate had destined her to a life of failure, then she wouldn't have survived that ritual.

She survived and has lived to this day, so what is there for her to be afraid of?

It should be her enemies who are afraid.

"Do you need me to call some help over?"

"helper…"

Momokawa wanted to refuse, since she couldn't protect the others either.

But perhaps Olivia can actually find a good helper for her.

At least, Olivia was always satisfied with her.

"How about I borrow your Igris for a bit?"

She doesn't have a great sense of humor, but she still enjoys joking around.

She's still in the hospital.

"let it go."

Apart from that, Momokawa really doesn't need anything else.

No, perhaps there are some.

Give me some bullets.

……

Southern suburbs, entrance to Molkens.

Igris and Ling had just set off when they happened to run into Olivia, who was returning.

It was a coincidence that put Igris, who had been extremely worried, at ease, while making Ling even angrier.

After all, she had said long ago that Olivia would be fine. Although Igris's words made her a little worried, nothing bad happened.

Olivia was also surprised to see Ling and Igris, especially when she saw that Igris seemed to be lively and energetic.

"Are you alright now?"

"Hmm...that's all. Your investigation is over?"

Igris' fever has indeed subsided. Although she was burning up like a freshly grilled steak before, she's now like an overnight steak and has calmed down considerably.

More than that, Igris was concerned about whether the investigation was completed and whether the knight still existed.

However, when this was mentioned, Olivia looked at Ling instead.

“You know what? I found a place that the Special Investigations Department might be interested in, and I encountered… uh, a ghost tree there?”

She forgot, but it seems to be that name.

Upon hearing this, Igris and Ling were both taken aback and exchanged a glance.

Ling saw the complaint in Igris' eyes, and Igris saw the apology in Ling's eyes.

Ignoring the two exchanging glances, Olivia crossed her arms and continued speaking.

"Behind that factory in the southern suburbs, Momokawa is there too. She went with me, saying she would protect me, but after investigating for a while, she kicked me out. There might be some other danger inside. Rei? Should we take your people over to check it out?"

Ling paused for a moment, then nodded. Even though there was nothing left there, the discovery of an unusual creature was enough to warrant a special mission for them.

Although this wasn't her job—she was just an intelligence officer—the local special investigation team in Molkens was still in solitary confinement.

Ling didn't know him, she only knew that the guy had killed half of the gang members. Because the method was too cruel, he was discovered by passersby and then arrested and put in solitary confinement.

So it seems that the only people who can be present in the city are Ling and Constantine, the newcomer who has only recently taken office.

The priest's advantage probably lies in his past experiences; after all, he was a genuine cult leader with a good understanding of the occult and even knew magic.

Although the effects of his spells were limited, he did know them, so he could be considered fairly reliable.

I guess so, at least that's what other people (Pasa) say.

"Since everything is alright now, I'll head back to the station to gather the team and prepare for the investigation. I won't keep you company any longer."

Ling waved her hand and left, but Igris's expression remained somewhat gloomy.

"You're worried about Momokawa, aren't you?"

Olivia could certainly tell, after all, she was one of Igris's few friends, and the place she was going to wasn't exactly safe, so it was perfectly normal for Igris to be worried.

"I'm going to find her."

"...Your illness is cured?"

Igris was burning up with fever this morning and could only groan when she spoke, but now she's lively and energetic, actively going to the outskirts to find someone? Is this some kind of special talent of hers?

"No problem, but I can't be sure what dangers she might encounter."

"She's quite strong."

Olivia didn't say it directly, but what she meant was that she didn't really want Igris to go; she could only say it this way to try and put Igris at ease.

But she wouldn't let her guard down. She knew Momokawa's strength; how could someone who couldn't even beat Igris dare to claim he was strong?

Although butchers are rare, since Momokawa has already discovered the danger, it will only be more dangerous for her to face them alone, given her special physique. If she is surrounded, it will be even more difficult for her to survive.

So Igris had to go help; she couldn't just watch her get into real danger.

“I know I can’t persuade you, but she did mention that if possible, I could tell you, which would be like helping her find an accomplice.”

"That's what she said?"

Olivia nodded.

"...I'll be back in a while."

"I will go to find you with Ling."

Olivia watched Igris's retreating figure and spoke slowly.

"So, both you and she need to be careful and pay attention to safety."

"You should have more confidence in your assistant."

———— (Divider)