While a few of the guards were buying supplies in the city, the ones protecting the covered wagon and the famed sword inside were approached by a group of merchants, carrying a large dragon sculpture together. "Here is the the dragon you purchased, sirs."
"Dragon?" One of the guards repeated. "I'm sorry, but we have no use for a giant dragon sculpture; there must be some mistake!"
"Really? There was a man in a uniform just like yours who insisted we bring it here!" One of the merchants insisted.
Another of the guards shook his head. "We aren't a traveling show troupe; none of us would make us lug around such a big item, unless..." He unsheathed his own sword. "It's a trap... open up that dragon and empty it!"
"E-empty it? It's hollow, with nothing inside!"
"That's why it's suspicious, now open it in front of us!" The rest of the guards on the outside unsheathed their weapons too, in warning to the bewildered merchants. They hesitantly did as ordered, yet while the guards' attention was focused on the mysterious dragon, they all felt a sudden chill.
The outside guards turned to each other. "Did you feel that?"
"Protect the cargo!" They joined their fellow guards inside, only to find them attacking a smiling little tanuki statue with the word 馬鹿 "baka" written on its belly, and the famed sword, Kusanagi no Tsurugi, gone! "You fools! Where is he!?"
"What do you mean!? He's right here!" They said, pointing to the wrecked statue.
The lead guard shook his head and led his other men outside, searching for anyone with a sword, but the thief was nowhere to be found. "That's two sacred relics stolen... we can't let him take the last!"
Loki returned to his allies with information and a new companion. "We've found some prime suspects, though none of the daimyō know about the mirror yet. We also found a new ally along the way."
Watari stumbled backwards as she and the others met eyes with the furry animal; Loki smirked at her reaction and petted his adorable acquaintance's head.
"Wan wan!" The tiger-patterned dog excitedly barked at her, though Loki kept the animal from pouncing on his client.
"What- what is that beast doing with you!?" Watari exclaimed.
"Beast, this friendly little girl? No, she followed us back, and I was thinking she could at least help Jörmungandr track down our thief: she appears to be an excellent hunter!" Loki noticed Watari still very nervous as he spoke, seemingly ready to run away at any moment. "What's the matter, Ms. Watari, afraid of dogs?"
"Yes!" As Watari answered, Loki noticed a bushy orange and white-tipped tail emerge from her lower back, fur standing on end.
"Did you see that?" Sylvie asked Mobius.
"Our client has a tail... so it's just another day in business."
"What a wuss." Fiamma mocked Watari. "She should see some of the hounds in Muspelheim!"
"Well, you needn't worry... I won't let her hurt you." Loki calmed his client. "She's very friendly anyhow: you might just become the best of friends, you know, like in that movie..."
"What's a movie?"
"Sorry, 400 years early spoiler! It think I'll call her Wanwan!" Loki picked Wanwan up and carried her over to his anxious client, and he noticed two more tails pop out beside Watari's first. Wanwan suddenly kicked her way out of Loki's grasp, and Watari hastily sped away. Loki followed his canine companion and brought Watari back to the others, unharmed but in full fox form. "So, now that your true form has been exposed, are you going to tell us everything you're hiding from us before you trick us any further, or shall we look into your mind, yōkai fox?"
"A kitsune, I should have known!" Yatagarasu exclaimed.
"How did you know, Loki sama?" Watari wondered.
"My biggest clue came from the fact that you spoke with me over my TemPad, not only without a device of your own, but you contacted me across time and space. As I searched the feudal lords for clues on the case, I also heard of yōkai, specifically the kitsune foxes. I had my faithful serpent identify your scent to me before I left, and he said 'canid,' so from there I could narrow the list of yōkai down to kitsune and tanuki, and I specifically recalled your remark about tanuki 'not being trustworthy.' I then noticed that of all the abilities that yōkai are said to possess, it's the kitsune that sometimes have the ability to manipulate time and space, and that cemented your true identity in my mind! As for your quick replication of my presence-concealing magic, I figured that out as well: you didn't actually use my exact spell, but you made yourself invisible with your own fox illusion magic! That's why we could still hear your voice, for my spell would have concealed that as well!"
"Again, just another day at work." Mobius sighed.
"As for drawing the real you out, I was thinking of merely casting an illusion of a wolf or dog to scare you, but then we happened upon Wanwan here! Now, why were you hiding your true identity from us?"
"We want to know if you're plotting something, fox!" Healer interrogated. "Like maybe you're the one who stole the mirror yourrrself, using your fox powers to sneak in and out and transforming into a human woman to place suspicion on the ninja insteaddd!"
"That's not true!" Watari protested. "I only addressed you in the form of a beautiful human lady because I thought you would be more willing to work with me that way. There are kitsune who play tricks on people, but I swear to you that I meant well, and I just wanted to help get the mirror back to please my own goddess, Inari sama!"
"And why should we trust you?" Sylvie questioned her. "For once, I agree with Healer: how do we know you're not using us to steal the treasures for you!"
"Are you lyyying?"
"You can use your powers to interrogate me all you want, but I'm not lying!"
"Actually, it isn't my powers I'm going to use for this one." Loki said as he dialed a number on his TemPad. "Hello, 'Mr. President,' may I speak to Vice President Willis? Hello again, Miss Willis, could you please do me a favor?"
"You want to know if someone is lying to you?" Verity easily guessed from the other end.
"Yes, you see our new client, a young woman, has turned out to be a fox, and we need to know if she's lying to us about her motives in this case."
"Whoa, that's not something you should you say about another woman when you've got a fiancée, especially when she's pregnant with your baby! What if Sylvie overhears you?"
Loki half rolled his eyes. "Not that kind of fox, an actual animal who was disguised as a human, and we need to know if she's the real criminal who stole an ancient mirror!"
"Oh, right. Sorry, it's really confusing knowing two of the same person with different personalities." Verity paused. "Oh wait, make that three!"
"I'm 400 years old anyways." Watari told them.
"See? She's so much younger than me, she's practically a child!" Loki reasoned.
"Is that Japanese she's speaking?" Verity asked him.
"Oh, yes, pardon me, I forgot to say so first, but you have that translator on your mobile phone, correct?"
"Correct, let me just turn it on... and I'm ready!"
"WAN WAN WAN! WOOF WOOF!"
"Is that a dog with you?"
"Yes, yes it is. Now, could you repeat what you said about why you tricked us, Ms. Watari?"
"I didn't steal the mirror, I want to help return it to its shrine because Inari sama wants to also, and I took the form of a beautiful woman to get you on my side, since I didn't think you would trust a talking fox."
"So you don't know who stole the mirror or want it for yourself?" Loki questioned.
"No, I don't."
"She's telling the truth." Verity relayed.
"Thank you." Loki ended the call and turned back to Watari. "Now then, why don't we go over our list of suspects?"
As they did so, Yatagarasu suddenly interrupted them. "Detectives, I've just received word from Amaterasu sama that the shinobi has Kusanagi no Tsurugi now! They somehow tracked the guards in Kyōto down and snuck off with the treasure after distracting them!"
"That's the sword, right?" Sylvie asked him.
"Yes. Now only the curved jewel remains, and if the thief could track it down so quickly, they're sure to be able to find the last one!"
"Then we need to get to that curvy jewel to defend it from our shinobi." Mobius said.
"Detective, we are guards trained specifically to protect these treasures and their shrines from theft and desecration: if this shinobi agent can sneak past and incapacitate us, what makes you think you can do anything to stop another incident!?"
"Because we have powers similar to ninjas, and Loki especially has been trained to see the unseen." Sylvie assured them.
"Speaking of seen and unseen, we should investigate our latest crime scene, see if we can find anything we didn't catch at the previous one." Loki suggested.
"We should go to the last treasure instead!" Yatagarasu argued. "Even by the fastest horse, Kyōto is several hours away from here, and time is of the essence!"
"We're aware, Yata, now where in Kyōto are the men and their transport?"
"In Kita-ku, near the Ichiwa shop."
Loki smiled at the talking crow. "Watch this." He opened a portal via TemPad to Kyōto for his group to follow through.
Yatagarasu nodded as they emerged on the other side. "Ah, never mind then."
When the guards found them, they promptly led the detectives to their wagon. "Hello gentlemen, we've come to investigate this crime scene." Loki greeted the guards. "You didn't notice anything unusual this time, perchance did you?"
"We felt their presence this time! We felt a chill run through our bodies that alerted us, and the top of our wagon still has frost around it, but by the time we reached the sword, it was already stolen!"
"Frost and chills... are you thinking what I am thinking?"
"If you're not thinking about cold food, then yes, I believe I am!" Loki answered his Symbiote. "My good man, have you heard of the tales of Kōrima the Undying?"
"Well yes, but he's only a myth, a bedtime story to frighten children."
"Maybe so, but it's the best lead we've got at the moment, and with a team of gods, goddesses, and a yōkai on your side, I wouldn't let the thought of one mystical ninja worry you, even if he is immortal!"
"And his ice powers won't do him any good against me." Fiamma bragged. "I'll roast that ninja to a crisp and barbecue him once I take back the three treasures!"
Loki winced. "Now 'Lady Amaterasu,' let's get all the information first. Everyone seems to be fine... was no one killed or harmed this time either?" He asked the lead guard.
"No. The men inside were confused, most likely from Kōrima's power of illusion, but unhurt."
"Then it hardly seems fair to use lethal force in return. And my fiancée and I can naturally harness ice magic ourselves." Loki smirked and added. "The cold never bothered us anyway."
Mobius squinted at his adoptive son. "Really? You had to throw that in there?"
"Oh, don't be a wet blanket, Dad! Still, I'd like to check out that frost on your vehicle."
"What for?" One of the guards asked.
"To test a hypothesis of mine." Loki held out his hand. "Your sword, please."
"What?"
"I'll give it right back; I merely need to borrow a Midgardian weapon to finish testing my theory, and then we can go find the third treasure."
The guard handed Loki his sword, and the Jotun-Asgardian carefully stabbed the center of the frost. He stabbed it again, and this time the blade began to crack at the tip, startling the guards. Loki then used his magic to fix the crack in the sword and returned it to its owner.
"What- what was that!?" The shocked guard asked.
"That was Jotun ice: its durability rivals that of Asgardians steel... ordinary weapons of this world can't even put a dent in it."
"So, if this Kōrima guy is a Frost Giant with magical ninja powers, is it safe to assume that he's one of you?" Fiamma asked Loki. "Because that would make things very convenient!"
"Frost Giant?" Watari repeated.
"Long story short, I was adopted by their enemies, so what I know of them is mainly limited to the knowledge of the Asgardians who fought against them in the war." Loki summarized. "I don't know for sure if he's one of my variants, but if he is, then he's undoubtedly planning on using the three treasures in some sort of quest for power."
"Can't your Symbiote detect Lokis?" Mobius recalled.
"Not if they are hidden with magic."
"Do you know where the other wagon is going?" Fiamma questioned the guards.
"We do not. We wanted to be certain that the shinobi couldn't get that information from either of us should he find us. They left from the Kashiko-dokoro Shrine in Edo's Imperial Palace, but you'll have to track down which direction they're going. Fortunately for you, you've got an expert tracking hound on your side!"
"Wan wan!" The dog barked.
"Still hate dogs!" Watari shivered.
"Alright, then let's hit Edo!" Mobius exclaimed.
"Can we hittt the sushi shops first?" Healer proposed. "And maybe some mochiii?"
"You know they don't have chocolate or ice cream filled mochi yet in this timeline, right?"
"Ugh, how pitiful!" Loki and Healer simultaneously groaned.
"But there's plenty of other sweet mochi, and there's also manjū, and-"
"Less talkinggg, more tastinggg!"
"We can return for food after we find the jewel." Sylvie reminded the ravenous Symbiote. "We can't let that ninja variant find it before we do!"
"Wet blankettt!"
Sylvie gave Healer an exasperated look before she curtly conjured a blanket to cover his head. Then she soaked the blanket with a stream of water. "Like that?"
Healer shook the blanket and the dripping water off his head with a grunt. "Droll, very droll."
