Chapter 3: Concealment! Ryuka’s First Time Playing a Young Girl

“That citizen, come over here for a moment!”

The investigator shouted warily.

It was no surprise he noticed Liu Xia so quickly. This was a remote area, and no one would come here for a stroll except the locals.

“The direction indicated by the authority is in this region. I can’t let any suspicious person slip by!” The investigator thought, his hand already reaching for the gun at his waist.

Hearing the investigator’s voice, Liu Xia’s heart trembled. She hesitated and stopped in place, but didn’t turn around immediately. Combined with the obviously ill-fitting clothes on her body, all of this only confirmed the investigator’s suspicion that something was off!

Thus, the investigator’s tone grew even harsher: “Didn’t you hear me? I’m an investigator from Law Temple! Ordinary citizens have an obligation to cooperate with temple investigations!”

Liu Xia sighed inwardly. From his tone, it seemed she wouldn’t be able to bluff her way out.

The girl’s heart was also a bit anxious. After all, her body had changed like this, and she hadn’t even had a chance to properly see what she looked like now.

Though she had vaguely returned to a human appearance, what if she still looked somewhat like a man? Wouldn’t that give her away immediately?

Remembering a criminal’s face was a basic skill for any investigator.

Reluctantly, Liu Xia turned around. Under the investigator’s instructions, she raised her hands and slowly approached him.

The girl nervously watched the investigator’s expression. She decided that if anything seemed wrong, she would bolt immediately.

But the investigator’s reaction was beyond Liu Xia’s expectations. His initial wary expression, upon clearly seeing Liu Xia’s face, suddenly turned to astonishment, then shifted to caution with a hint of kindness.

“?” A question mark popped up in Liu Xia’s mind. What was this reaction?

“Investigator… sir?” Liu Xia asked uneasily.

The investigator snapped back to attention: “Ah… ah! Hello, miss! I’m Investigator Liao from District 13. Sorry to bother you. I just have a few questions. Answer them, and that’s all!”

Seeing the investigator’s attitude suddenly become friendly, Liu Xia was a bit bewildered, but soon a guess formed in her mind.

“Could it be… I’m very pretty now? If that’s the case, it makes sense.”

As the gender that acted as goddess idols in various labor rituals to provide 【Blessing】, women were also divided into ranks—just like holy knights, from Black Iron to Golden.

Generally, the more beautiful a girl was, the higher her talent tended to be. They could advance to higher ranks and provide stronger 【Blessing】 power. Such girls often had powerful holy knights protecting them.

The strongest women at Golden rank were revered as saintesses, with status even higher than top-tier holy knights, occupying the core of power in the entire human world.

“Um… may I ask, what are you doing in such a remote place at this hour?”

Investigator Liao’s question pulled Liu Xia out of her thoughts.

“Th-that… I… I came here for a walk…” Liu Xia was bad at lying and stammered her answer.

Though Investigator Liao was quite polite toward the now-beautiful Liu Xia, he still raised an eyebrow, feeling something was off.

However, he suppressed his doubts and continued: “Then why are you wearing such oversized clothes…? They look… like men’s clothes?”

Liu Xia’s mind went blank at the question, her heart racing to the extreme.

Why? Because she had instinctively stolen men’s clothes to wear! After all, Liu Xia’s self-perception was still that of a man.

But she couldn’t say that. So, face flushing red, she stuttered: “This is… this is… my boyfriend’s clothes…”

After saying it, Liu Xia felt shame to the extreme. Having a man claim to have a boyfriend made her male pride tremble violently.

“Boyfriend? Why would your boyfriend make you wear…” Investigator Liao opened his mouth to press further, but suddenly his pupils contracted, and a knowing smile appeared.

An expression of “Ah, so that’s how it is.”

Seeing his look, Liu Xia’s heart leaped into her throat.

“It’s over. I’m about to be exposed!” The girl was already prepared to run.

Who knew Investigator Liao’s next words would make Liu Xia relax instantly, nearly causing her to collapse to the ground.

“I understand. But this place is too remote and a bit dangerous. It’s better not to play around here… Go home early!” Investigator Liao kindly reminded her, though his words left Liu Xia puzzled.

Still, it seemed she had muddled through. That was good news for her.

So she nodded and quickly walked away, eager to escape the area.

“Wait! Hold on!” Investigator Liao’s voice rang out again, startling Liu Xia so much that cold sweat broke out on her back-turned face.

“Wh-wh-wh-what is it?” Liu Xia’s nervousness was plain, but Investigator Liao paid it no mind.

“Nothing serious. I just want to record your name.” He said with a smile.

“Liu… Liuxia!” After blurting it out, Liuxia fled as if flying, leaving Investigator Liao watching her go with a strange smile.

“Liuxia, huh? What a nice name…” Investigator Liao muttered the name—pronounced completely differently from “Liu Xia”—smiling and shaking his head as he resumed surveying the scene. (Everyone in this book speaks the otherworld language, meow)

While surveying, he recalled the earlier scene and marveled: “Young people these days really know how to play… Completely incomparable to our era…”

Just moments ago, Investigator Liao had indeed been quite puzzled by Liuxia’s odd behavior. But with his sharp eyes honed from years of criminal investigation, he keenly noticed that beneath the fairly well-covered oversized men’s clothes, she was nearly naked.

In that instant, it clicked. As an experienced investigator in local District 13, he had seen plenty of bizarre civil cases.

“This must be that thing… where the boyfriend makes his girlfriend wear nothing underneath, just an outer layer of clothes, and go out wandering the streets…” Investigator Liao muttered to himself, not stopping his search: “That would explain coming to a remote place like this. Probably the boyfriend wanted to play that game but didn’t want his cute girlfriend to actually be ogled by others.”

Investigator Liao gradually approached the bush where Liuxia had fainted earlier.

“Strange, the goblin scent cuts off here…”

“But compared to the surroundings, the smell is strongest here, as if it just vanished…”

The detection authority granted by Law Temple gave Investigator Liao a beast-like sense of smell, always unbeatable against low-level crimes. Yet today, facing the freshly degenerated Liu Xia, it had seemingly failed, letting her slip away right under his nose!

“How is this possible?” Investigator Liao pondered bitterly when a clue suddenly flashed in his mind!

This clue had been masked earlier by the pervasive goblin scent in the air… but now, with all traces gone, it stood out sharply!

“Wait, I remember! That miss just now seemed to have a considerable goblin scent on her too, right? Though it was dissipating, it was clearly stronger than the ambient smell!”

“That miss is definitely connected to the goblin!”

Investigator Liao’s eyes sharpened as he chased in the direction Liuxia had fled.