Detective Agency.
“Good morning, Miss Igris.”
“Good morning, Mr. Detective.”
Igris politely smiled at Derrien and very naturally sat down opposite him.
“Is there anything you need my help with today?”
“Unfortunately, miss, today there is indeed something that needs you to do in my place.”
Unexpectedly, Derrien placed a tightly wrapped strange package on the table and pushed it toward Igris.
“How about playing the role of a delivery person?”
“What is this?”
Igris picked up the package.
It was almost half the size of her head, but very heavy, a bit more substantial than she had imagined.
“This is not within your work scope, miss.” Derrien smiled politely and raised a finger to his lips, making a silencing gesture.
“I am a detective assistant. Being suspicious of most things is also my professional instinct.” Igris casually tapped the package in her hand and tilted her head again, smiling politely.
“This is the answer I very much wanted to hear, but I am sorry, I cannot tell you, because I also do not know what is inside. A friend asked me to deliver it.”
“I can understand, Mr. Derrien.” Igris did not ask further.
After all, things had already come to this point.
Asking more would instead be somewhat impolite.
“Go. The approximate location is the Rotten Coral Bar. Near the door, a man who looks to be in his thirties, very handsome.”
Derrien blinked at Igris, but Igris did not show the smile or embarrassment Derrien had imagined, because Derrien would not guess that inside her body lived a man already in his thirties, almost forty.
So she would not be interested in any handsome man.
She only cared about whether she could complete the task early.
“Although this is a silly question, I still want to ask… where is the Rotten Coral Bar?”
“Look at that. I did not know you were very unfamiliar with the nearby area, since you acted sufficiently at ease… The Rotten Coral Bar is at the end of the square. There you can see an abandoned train track. Follow the track forward, and you will see the signboard of the Rotten Coral.”
He described it in great detail, probably because this detective had found that bar by this method himself, but this was indeed very useful to Igris.
“All right, I will be right back.”
“No, miss. After delivering this package, you can go do your own things. Today there are no commissions, and no scheduled clients. You can go rest, understand?” Just like yesterday, Derrien took off his hat and said to Igris with a face full of smiles.
“…Is this not a bit inappropriate?”
“Of course not. You are my assistant, so I would rather you spend this period easily, until we receive our first commission.”
He seemed to mean something else, but it was hard for Igris to hear other meanings contained in his words.
Perhaps they would have trouble?
Or rather, would he have trouble?
But no matter what, Igris indeed could enjoy this period of daily life even more.
No one would complain about having too much rest time.
….
“Igris? Good morning.” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Passing by the flower shop, Chrisuna, who had just been arranging potted plants, also saw Igris passing by holding the package, and smiled as she greeted her.
Igris politely nodded, but did not say much, and prepared to go find the so-called Rotten Coral Bar.
“Are you very busy?” Seeing that Igris did not pay attention to her, Chrisuna curiously stopped Igris, who was preparing to leave.
“Mm… probably.” Actually she was not that busy.
It was just that Igris was used to finishing the things at hand first.
“Convenient to tell me what you are going to do?”
She seemed a bit bored, and even put down the watering can she had just been using, standing at the door sizing up Igris, and also saw the strange package in her hand.
“…Just delivering something. Is there anything you need my help with?”
Chrisuna shook her head and said lightly.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say hello to you. If this disturbed you, I am very sorry.”
“That is not it…”
Igris felt she was a bit strange, but could not say where she was strange.
It was just that she always felt strange, perhaps there was something she was hesitating whether to say?
“Then I will take my leave first…?”
“Do you still have other things today?”
Chrisuna seemed especially fond of coming to chat with Igris when Igris had things to do.
Although this was not an urgent matter, she indeed still wanted to finish it as soon as possible.
After all, with something like delivering goods, making others wait too long was not good either.
“After delivering it, no…”
“We will meet again later, right? I have something I want to ask you to help with.”
She had just said there was nothing, but now she said there was something she needed help with.
Chrisuna could no longer be considered merely strange.
She was simply suspicious to the point of exploding.
“Can I ask what exactly the situation is…?”
“Come back and we will talk then. Do not make the other party wait anxiously.”
Yet at a time like this, she instead cared about Igris’s feelings.
But indeed, dragging it out too long was not good behavior either, so Igris said goodbye and left.
Very quickly, she found the so-called abandoned track.
This was a track laid on the road surface, but most of the metal on it had already been removed, leaving only some wooden structures.
It could hardly be called a track at all.
Following it forward, a sign painted with beer appeared in Igris’s line of sight.
It was precisely the Rotten Coral Bar.
This place was bigger than Igris had imagined, more luxurious, and also quieter.
Probably not many people came here.
And walking through the door, she also quickly found the target she was looking for.
A man, black trench coat, black top hat, black trousers, holding a black leather bag, with a black cane standing beside the table.
The only thing missing was a pair of sunglasses.
“Your package.”
Igris walked up to him, placed the package in her hand on the table before him, and pushed it forward.
“Derrien sent you?”
His voice sounded somewhat indifferent, and probably matched his cold face very well.
As far as Igris was concerned, his looks indeed could be considered good, except that he was somewhat too gloomy.
“I am his assistant. It is my honor to meet you.” Igris politely and friendly extended her hand.
“We will have a long time to get along in the future. No need to say that so early.” He glanced at Igris, but did not grasp her hand.
Instead, he said coldly.
Sure enough, his personality was just like his appearance, making people want to speak but stop.
Very impolite.
“Is that so?” Igris slowly withdrew her hand and said no more.
“…You are still here?”
“My boss told me that after delivering the thing, it is my rest time… Honestly, I just wanted to taste the drinks here.”
Igris did not really like the man before her.
Apart from his lack of manners, it was probably also because of the gloomy temperament about him, which made Igris somewhat uncomfortable.
“Heh… The drinks here indeed suit you. Bland as boiled water.” He sneered and lightly tapped the package in his hand.
“Have you looked at what is inside?”
“No.”
“You had best put away your curiosity. It is good for everyone.”
“Is that so, Mr. Pasa.” Igris, with a somewhat troubled look tapped her own chin, and under the man’s cold gaze, placed a wallet on the table.
“You dropped this, right?”
“…You are just like your boss, insidious and cunning.” He coldly took back his wallet, not forgetting to check the contents inside.
“You are very impolite. I merely picked up your thing by accident.”
“Picked it up from my body?” Pasa stood up, snorted coldly, and prepared to leave the Rotten Coral Bar, but Igris called out to him.
“Mr. Pasa, although you are indeed very impolite, I do not understand whether it is because of Mr. Derrien that you are full of hostility toward me. After all, this is my second day on the job.”
Pasa stopped his footsteps.
The black cane slowly tapped the ground, producing a somewhat dull sound.
“I said, we will have more chances to deal with each other in the future. What kind of person you are, I will know later.”
“All right, then I wish you all the best, Mr. Pasa.” Looking at the smile on Igris’s face, Pasa lowered his hat and left the bar without looking back.
Angering one’s boss’s client was not a good idea, and from Pasa’s attitude, his attitude toward Derrien was probably not that good either.
But who cared?
Igris could completely take responsibility for her own actions.
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T/N: Lord of Mysteries and General fiction with Lovecraftian elements has given me paranoia in regards to seemingly ‘ordinary’ people like Chrisuna.