“A favor? Impossible! What do you take the clown for! I am no goody-goody! I am leaving!”
The clown turned to leave, but Igris grabbed him again.
“It is just a small favor. What did they promise you? To make you come work for them?”
“He promised to give me a new set of clothes. Human skin. I love it.” The clown put his hands on his hips, looking very pleased.
“So it is already in your hands?”
“Of course not! But no one can deceive the clown. If he does not give it…”
He did not continue, but the result was self-evident.
“But you do not need to work for them, do you? This wastes your time, and likewise brings enormous risk. The owner of the amusement park is looking for you, you know?”
“But I need it! Guests have complained about me many times. Without new clothes, I will still be punished!” His expression changed, becoming uneasy and terrified, and he even held his head with both hands, his expression especially exaggerated.
But Igris did not care about these things at all.
This was not her first time dealing with a clown, and she also knew this fellow was far more cunning than he looked.
“How about a deal? Take me to their base. I will wipe them all out. You will not need to keep working for them, and the clothes they prepared for you can also be obtained. The corpses can all be given to you as well. Best of both worlds.”
“No… no no no! Impossible! The clown absolutely will not betray his employer! The most important thing when out in the world is integrity!” The clown hurriedly stepped back two steps, looking very frightened, but quickly became angry.
“You are insulting the clown! You damned scoundrel! I will!”
“The password is 0721.”
“…”
Before he could finish his shouting, Igris interrupted his yelling and calmly uttered a string of numbers.
“You know what this is.”
“Oh my god… oh my god! What is your relationship with him?! Is he your father? No… damn it… damn it!”
He suddenly began to shout wildly, looking extremely conflicted and pained, and in the end even held his head and cried bitterly.
“Woo… woo woo… The clown has no choice. The clown can only be the bad guy…”
Afterward, he stood up and once again revealed a wild smile to Igris, even though tears still hung on his greasepaint-covered face.
“Let us go! Friend! The clown will not refuse a friend’s request! Let us go kill those people!”
It seemed the persuasion had succeeded.
This was probably a variable those cultists could never have imagined.
Who could have thought that the reinforcement they recruited would suddenly stab them in the back?
Who could have thought that there happened to be a real investigator here who had actually been to Red Lake Amusement Park, and had even carved her own name inside?
How could they possibly imagine that the clown they had spent so much effort summoning would instead become someone else’s helper?
Indeed, they could not imagine it, so in a certain sense, their deaths had already been destined at this moment.
But what Igris needed to do was not only kill these cultists.
Her true purpose was to save people, not to kill.
She needed to rescue Chrisuna, needed to reunite with Ling, and also needed to find the missing Pasa.
And, no matter what ritual these cultists were preparing, she also had to stop this ritual from being carried out, for the sake of the entire population of Maulkinson Town.
[You have drawn a malicious anomaly into your team. No matter how you did it, this is still worth celebrating. Obtained title: Master of Friendship. ——All existences will more easily develop goodwill toward you, including non-intelligent entities. Note: You are a likable fellow, but this is not worth celebrating, because you will often become more conspicuous.]
…
The mechanical voice, unheard for a long time, rang out again, bringing a new title.
Should Igris be happy?
She did not feel there was much to be happy about.
After all, she did not need to be likable.
Being able to avoid attention was instead more important to her.
Especially the concept of all existences.
Because it was too broad, Igris simply could not determine what was included in it.
Creatures?
Plants?
Anomalies?
Or the thing she least wanted to face, and even did not want to think of, the terrifying existence originating from the deep sea?
For some reason, although there was nothing special around her, Igris herself felt the gaze of a strange line of sight.
She should be glad she had not passively triggered an insight check, otherwise she might urgently need a psychologist to help her recover her awareness.
“What is wrong, friend? You have been standing there dazed for a long time.” The clown turned his head, his face carrying a seemingly smiling yet not smiling expression, and even pinched his red nose, making a comical sound.
“You look very worried. Can I tell you a joke?”
“No need.”
The clown’s jokes were indeed very funny, but not everyone could listen to them.
At least Igris did not want to invite this trouble.
“Have you encountered anyone else? Other outsiders.”
“Of course! No! There is only you here. I only saw you. I did not discover any other ladies!”
The clown blinked at Igris with a sincere expression, which also let Igris know he was lying, but it did not matter, because the clown did not carry a gift box on him, which also meant he had not killed even one person up to now.
Ling should not be especially dangerous at present, but Pasa’s situation was still hard to determine.
“Can you take me to find her?”
“Haha! Friend! This joke is really funny! I did not see her! So how can I take you to find her!” The clown held his belly and began laughing loudly.
Igris forcefully suppressed the urge to kick him and sighed helplessly.
“Then keep leading the way. Speed up a bit, otherwise they will easily notice something is wrong.”
“Oh… oh! Of course, otherwise my new clothes will be gone… Follow me!”
The clown changed from his previous leisurely appearance and suddenly began to accelerate.
His fat body unexpectedly burst out with very fast speed, and Igris regretted it after running for ten seconds.
“Pause for a moment… I need to rest…”
Igris had run for less than half a minute before she leaned against the wall panting, squatting on the ground gasping for breath, but was almost knocked out by the stench.
“Haha! Friend, your body really is terrible. Do you need me to carry you? The clown is most happy to help others!”
“Thanks, but your body makes me nauseous, so no need.” Igris recovered a little, then stood straight again.
“You really are hurtful! But fine… They all say that, so I need a new set of clothes.”
“Do you really think clothes can solve this? You might need a bath, or to lose some weight.” As a friend, Igris very thoughtfully helped him propose ways to change his image to make himself more likable.
“Children like fat! Soft clowns!”
“Does your amusement park have any other children besides ‘missing children’? Or do you think she really likes your appearance?”
“My god… I never thought of that… Thank you, friend! I will do that!”
The clown once again picked up his enthusiasm, but Igris estimated that she would not have much chance to see him again in the future, so she was not very interested in his changes.
“So, what exactly are they preparing to do, do you know?”
Igris could not run, so they could only slowly advance through the sewer passages, and began to chat.
At first glance it was quite harmonious, except that the clown looked a bit scary.
“They? Oh! You mean those cultists! The clown knows everything! They plan to use this town as a ritual, summon the Second Moon, and welcome the eternal night! But I feel they cannot do it.”
“…What?”
“Second Moon! Have you not heard of it? I thought you investigators knew everything.”
He knew Igris was an investigator, even though Igris had not mentioned it, but she did not feel surprised.
The clown was more shrewd than he looked, but what truly surprised her was what he said.
“What is that…?”
“Haha! You do not know! You really do not know!”
The clown looked extremely happy, but Igris had never heard similar information either.
Even the investigator manual seemed not to record it.
Either it had another name, or this was an evil summoning ritual of extremely vile nature, and one that had never been performed before, with no records whatsoever, and even what would be summoned was hard to imagine.
But there was still a chance.
The summoning ritual needed time.
As long as everyone was dealt with before that, everything could be nipped in the bud.
Provided that what that cultist said was true.
“Clown, when will their ritual be held?”
“The ritual?”
The clown hesitated for a moment, then as if thinking of something, revealed a brilliant smile.
“Three days ago.”