A Core Ship From The Start

And the priestess girl named Lorena didn’t hide anything and quickly explained the situation to Duanmu Huai.

It turned out that during this time, there had been constant murders in the Holy City, causing panic among the residents. According to some victims who had experienced the incidents, they saw a doll-girl with silver hair being the killer. So, the Holy City had been investigating and searching for the murderer all this time…

“A doll-girl with silver hair?”

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai furrowed his brows.

“So you suspect that it was Ogis?”

“My sincerest apologies, sir, we also don’t hope so, but at the moment…your companion does indeed fit the description given by the victims.”

“That’s true.”

Duanmu Huai spread his hands helplessly, after all, the description of a doll-girl with silver hair was too specific, who else fits it but Ogis?

“But, we didn’t do this.”

“So, how will you prove it?”

“I don’t need to prove it.”

Duanmu Huai shook his head.

“It’s easy to prove that we are not the murderers. If we stay here, and the murders continue happening, it means we have nothing to do with them, right?”

“This…..”

It had to be said, Duanmu Huai’s proposal indeed surprised Lorena. She left for a moment, then came back and nodded at them.

“Alright, let’s do that. If more murders happen, then we’ll confirm the two of you are not involved. But until then, please stay here and don’t move unnecessarily.”

After saying this, Lorena turned and left, while Duanmu Huai looked at Ogis.

“The silver-haired doll-girl…Ogis, does it sound familiar to you?”

“No…”

Ogis shook her head quietly.

“I am the only one created by Father.”

“Right…you’re right…”

Hearing Ogis’s response, Duanmu Huai stroked his chin. For some reason, he felt that even though Ogis didn’t commit this crime, it seemed to have some connection with her. There were no evidence, just intuition… So, let’s just wait and see.

And the change happened sooner than Duanmu Huai had imagined.

That night, Lorena came to their cell with an apologetic expression and bowed to them.

“I am really sorry, it was all a misunderstanding. You both can leave now.”

“So, there’s been another murder?”

“Yes, the church is tracking down the murderer, but it’s now certain that it has nothing to do with the two of you. I’m truly sorry for treating you guys this way…”

“No, that’s not important, Miss Lorena.”

Duanmu Huai waved his hand.

“If possible, could you take us to the scene of the crime for a look?”

“Huh?”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s request, Lorena was taken aback.

“Well…”

“Since Ogis has been mistaken as the murderer, it means we are not completely uninvolved with this matter. We also want to contribute and find out what exactly happened.”

“…”

Facing Duanmu Huai’s request, Lorena thought for a moment and nodded.

“Please follow me.”

Under Lorena’s guidance, Duanmu Huai and Ogis left the church, crossed the street, and arrived at the crime scene, which had been completely sealed off by knights. The street was filled with a heavy scent of blood. It didn’t take long for Duanmu Huai to see the victims—they had been chopped into pieces, their bodies scattered haphazardly around.

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai couldn’t help but glance again at Ogis. If he hadn’t been with her all day, he might have suspected that she was the one who had done such a thing.

Not just lookalike but even with similar fighting style….

Clearly, Ogis herself was quite astounded, looking at the crime scene, seemingly lost in thought.

At that moment, Lorena explained the events to Duanmu Huai. According to the survivors, they were returning home after drinking and partying late into the night when they met a girl who was alone. Emboldened by the alcohol, the group of young men tried to pick a conversation with her, only to be dismembered. The girl then left the scene, while the few survivors who hadn’t laid their hands on her screamed out in terror, attracting the attention of the patrolling squad… subsequently, the crime scene was sealed.

That was how it went.

“So, can we bring those survivors over?”

After hearing Lorena’s description, Duanmu Huai quickly made his suggestion.

“Given that they’ve seen the puppet girl, they should be able to recognize her with a comparison, right?”

Lorena agreed with Duanmu Huai’s suggestion, and quickly had the knights bring the trembling young men over. Their initially composed facade crumbled the moment they saw Ogis standing next to Duanmu Huai, causing them to collapse to the ground screaming.

“It’s her! She’s the demon!!”

Hearing the survivors’ accusations, the knights hurriedly drew their weapons, pointing them at Duanmu Huai and Ogis.

“That’s enough, calm down!”

It was Lorena who called out urgently, pleading for them to cool their heads.

“Are you sure it’s her?”

“No, no mistake, it’s her! It’s her!!”

“Are you certain?”

At this point, Duanmu Huai strode towards these young lads, giving them a hard stare. Seeing the towering figure in horrific armor, the young men were terrified.

“Look closely, are you sure the person you saw looked exactly like her?”

Duanmu Huai gestured for Ogis to come over to these young men. Seeing Ogis, they trembled but soon after realizing she wasn’t going to take any further action, they mustered their courage, opened their eyes, and carefully examined the puppet girl before them.

“And?”

“…………”

Facing the question, the young men exchanged glances, then timidly began their response.

“There’s a bit…… of a difference……”

“In what way?”

“The…… clothes…… that puppet was wearing a white dress…… and her hair…… she had it down…… not tied up in a ponytail, and also……”

Taking a pause, the young men cautiously looked at Ogis.

“The feeling she gives off…… seems a bit…… different.”

“A feeling?”

“Yes…… that puppet seems crazy, like there’s something wrong with her……”

A mentally unstable puppet?

Duanmu Huai and Ogis exchanged looks, each seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.

After dismissing the victims, Duanmu Huai took Ogis aside.

“Ogis, what are your thoughts?”

“I don’t know, master…… this confuses me, I can’t understand…… why the puppet’s mind would be deranged……”

“Hmm…… I can see why.”

Duanmu Huai wasn’t surprised by Ogis’s response. When he first met her, she presented herself as a human-like robot, with her own unique ways of logical thinking, but without understanding humans’ thoughts, reactions, and actions. But according to those victims, that other puppet seemed different. Of course, that doesn’t make it impossible. Just as a robot’s rebellion could be due to programming error or logical confusion rather than self-consciousness…

“It seems, this is truly interesting……”

Looking at the prompt of a newly revealed mission, Duanmu Huai muttered to himself.