“Welcome… it is you.”
Igris pushed open the flower shop door again and politely smiled at Chrisuna.
“Thank you for your introduction. I obtained a good job.”
“It seems your interview went very smoothly. That is rare for him. I have seen too many people who could not pass his test.”
There were no customers in the shop, and this young shopkeeper also seemed very willing to chat more with this charming young girl before her, to relieve the boredom of her day.
“Derrien is a good boss, and also a kind person. He even paid me a week’s wages in advance.”
“Indeed, he is a good person.” Chrisuna also nodded, expressing approval of Igris’s view.
“You two are friends. Did you know each other long ago?” Igris asked as if casually, and Chrisuna clearly did not think much about it either, answering very naturally.
“No, he just moved here recently, but he did help me a great deal.”
“Just recently? In other words, you do not know about his past?” Chrisuna honestly shook her head.
“Yes, he did not tell me, and he does not seem very willing to talk about this topic.”
“What a pity. I am quite curious about this detective’s past.” Igris sighed with feigned regret, and Chrisuna also nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, his work ability is truly astonishing. It is hard to believe he was once only an unknown detective.”
Igris pursed her lips.
No matter what she said, this person before her seemed only to agree and continue along with it.
Trying to dig out anything new was almost impossible.
“Since I have come to the flower shop, I might as well buy a bouquet too.”
Rarely in the mood, Igris looked at the ornamental flowers in the different flower pots, and finally simply looked toward Chrisuna.
“Help me recommend one, how about that?”
“Recommend… are you buying it to grow, or…?”
“To give away, to a beautiful young lady.”
Chrisuna nodded thoughtfully and very naturally came to the roses.
“Very classic, but absolutely a good choice. Nothing is more worthwhile than direct and passionate love.”
“Which one is the cheapest? My wallet probably does not support me being too extravagant.”
Chrisuna covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“It is fine. If it is only for giving away, then every flower costs the same. Once away from the soil, they are also hard to keep alive for long. Only five copper coins is enough.”
“Indeed very cost-effective.”
Igris nodded, pretending not to care much, but still somewhat reluctantly took out one silver dollar.
“The extra is not a tip, you know.”
“I know.”
Chrisuna took the silver dollar and placed the rose and fifteen copper coins together in her palm.
“Please keep them safe.”
Igris tucked the money into her pocket, carefully examined the rose in her hand, and whether or not it was worth five copper coins, Igris still bought it.
There was probably no chance to regret it now.
“Indeed very beautiful.”
Igris gently sniffed it.
A fragrance belonging to soil spread across the petals.
Unfortunately, the scent belonging to this flower itself was instead not very obvious.
“For you.”
“…?”
Chrisuna was stunned for a moment, until Igris raised the rose before her, and only then did she widen her eyes slightly, her expression carrying some surprise.
After all, she had not expected that the beautiful young lady Igris spoke of was herself, nor would she have expected that someone would buy her flower and immediately give it back to her.
“You really are a strange person, buying my flower and giving it to me.”
“I paid for it. This flower belongs to me now. Who I give it to is also my freedom, is it not?” Chrisuna smiled and still accepted the rose.
“Then, thank you for your rose. I like it very much.”
Igris also smiled, although she was not very happy inside.
“I still do not know your name.” The two had talked for so long, and Chrisuna finally remembered this matter, actively asking for Igris’s name.
“Igris. You can call me that.”
“My name is Chrisuna. You can call me that.”
She also imitated Igris’s tone, blinked, and said.
“I know. Derrien introduced you to me. He said the two of us are very well matched.”
Igris also imitated Chrisuna’s manner, gently blinked at her, and while she was dazed, turned her head and walked toward the outside of the flower shop.
“I still have things to do. I will not chat for now. See you another day.”
She did not wait for Chrisuna’s answer and directly left, and Chrisuna finally came back to her senses.
Looking at Igris’s departing back, her expression was somewhat odd.
“Strange person.”
She looked at the rose in her hand, yet still revealed a smile, and did not choose to put it back into the soil.
Instead, she placed it at the edge of the counter.
This meant that this gift, she had indeed accepted it.
…
Igris indeed had things to do.
Walking on the square, her previous ease and relaxedness also disappeared along with it, replaced by a more worried expression.
“…I need to spend less.”
She had spent five copper coins just to buy a name, and had not even obtained any other useful information.
At this rate, sooner or later she would starve to death on the street because she could not afford food.
Following the road she remembered from when she came, she once again returned to that gloomy alley, stepping on the crushed stone road, and once again returned to the front of her home.
The most valuable thing in this house that could be moved away was probably this door.
But she was not in a hurry to enter.
Instead, at the moment she gripped the door handle, she let go of her hand and looked toward the door panel.
There were several scratches carved on it.
They were not obvious, but they had not been there when Igris left.
An ordinary person would probably find it hard to notice, and even if they noticed, it would be hard to understand what it was, but Igris was different.
During the decades she worked as an investigator, she had come into contact with countless cases and had also seen countless completely identical symbols, so she deeply understood what this thing was.
A mark, the mark of vampires.
Igris seemed to have already been targeted?
Did she really look that easy to bully?
It should have been carved during the time Igris left.
This also meant that if she chose to stay in her own home tonight, then very likely in the middle of the night a large bat would come for her blood, and might even directly drain all her already scant blood, turning her into a dried corpse.
What was the best method at a time like this?
Hide, go anywhere, as long as she did not sleep in this house, then that vampire would not find her so easily.
As long as she hid long enough, then sooner or later this vampire would change targets, or starve to death.
But who was she?
She was Aaron, a model among investigators, the pride of every investigator, and even more so a terrifying humanoid creature who had survived to this day after witnessing countless great existences.
…Although she had died once along the way, at present she was still alive.
So Igris did not plan to run away, nor did she plan to hide.
What are vampires afraid of?
This was actually something most people had heard of.
Silver implements, mirrors, garlic, crosses, wooden stakes.
But as a veteran investigator, Igris completely understood what they truly feared.
Not many, but all fatal.
For example, silver implements.
Silver indeed causes extra damage to vampires, which also makes most vampires actively avoid silver furniture.
And mirrors long ago were also silver products, only now they are not, so this is a fairly common misunderstanding.
Did Igris have silver at home?
She was not sure, but she did not need that kind of thing.
She had a more handy, and more convenient prop.
Bullets.
She did not want trouble.
When trouble came looking for her, that was another matter entirely.