Huginn remained intangible and undetectable, hovering above his target, who spoke to the other residents of the manor in low whispers.

He could recognise that they were talking to each other, but none of them had particularly outstanding spiritual affinity, so Huginn wasn't able to make out much more than their general emotions.

So he didn't bother. Instead, he took some time to think over the… peculiarities of his contractor.

Of all the mortals he had encountered, his contractor, 'Subaru', was undoubtedly the strangest. Both in terms of his personality, and the sheer amount of knowledge Huginn was sure he wasn't supposed to possess.

He had called out to Huginn specifically, but the fire spirit was certain that they had never met before that day. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, Huginn had flown to him and witnessed his mental struggle.

His mind had been warring against itself, far more fiercely than Huginn had ever seen before. The spirit had known then and there, that whatever it was that troubled him meant a great deal to the human.

When he had finally decided himself, and became aware of the spirit, he had felt grateful, if a little uneasy. What the boy had to be grateful of, Huginn still hadn't worked out. Perhaps he had met before? If they had run into each other during his journey south with Muninn, then it was no wonder he'd forgotten about it. It had been a very long time ago, and back then, he had been worrying about far more important things.

But that didn't explain Subaru's knowledge of Sol. The Yang spirit rarely left the palace, and in fact, Huginn hadn't heard of Sol ever leaving the city. The Yang spirit had confirmed that he had never met Subaru either.

Muninn and Luna were also sure they had never met him, but Huginn found their testimony… less reliable.

Luna made some attempt at communication with so many mortals that it wasn't hard to imagine that she'd run into him at some point.

And Muninn…

As much as he wanted to defend his little sister, he knew her personality. She loved new experiences, but talking to one random person was the same as talking to any other random person. Even expecting her to remember his face would be asking too much.

In fact, that was probably the most likely solution to Huginn's conundrum. Muninn was a blabbermouth, and if someone was asking around, looking for spirits, then she'd almost assuredly recommend the three of them.

But that felt off to Huginn. Subaru had known their names, which they hadn't even known until he mentioned them. And he had known a great deal about this 'witch's cult', despite having been lying through his teeth every time he talked to them.

But the most damning piece of evidence was his pre-existing contract, which had prevented him from saying something.

What exactly, Huginn wasn't sure. Was there another spirit working behind the scenes? One who had sent Subaru into the city to prevent this 'cult' from destroying the city?

Huginn wasn't sure, but over the past week, he had started to think that maybe it didn't matter. His master was earnestly trying his best to improve his abilities, to improve their abilities, and was resolutely dedicated towards his goal of destroying the cult.

Then why was he so upset about it?

Huginn radiated his displeasure as the cultists below him began to disperse.

Subaru was finally rid of the indecisiveness that had still been plaguing him over the week, and yet, somehow, his contractor seemed to feel worse. He didn't seem aware of it himself, but now he seemed even closer to the edge of despair than when he had met Huginn.

Wasn't having one's mind made up a good thing?

Huginn looked down at his target, the old man known as 'Mora'. He hadn't been around much, but he had struck Huginn as a fairly average human. He had no more or less resolve than any normal person, and Huginn hadn't expected him to ever get any more interesting.

And yet, the moment Subaru had talked to him upstairs, his passion had begun to grow, until it became the sight before Huginn's senses now. He blazed with such eagerness and resolve, that it was almost blinding.

Huginn could never disapprove of such a person. Yet something about him made the fire spirit feel uneasy. Like his resolve was a fire burning on poison.

It was a contradiction in his philosophy, one that seemed to pierce to the heart of who Huginn was.

For the first time in his existence, Huginn felt the tiniest tingling of doubt.

It was almost midnight by the time Mora left the manor. The moon was high in the sky, and the night air had grown chill, chasing most fire spirits into the city to seek the warmth of smouldering fireplaces.

Huginn had rarely been forced to do the same. He often helped Luna during the harsh sunlit days, and so, on the rare occasions when he wanted to stay up late, she would return the favour. But now that he had a contractor, that limitation might as well be nothing. He had stocked up on mana from Subaru's gate, and his reserves were full.

While cold, it wasn't freezing, and the old man probably wouldn't remain outside for long. Huginn felt that he'd be able to remain awake all night, at least in his intangible form. He'd probably have to stop by a few hearths to try and reclaim some mana, and if the man decided to sleep somewhere cold…

Well, Huginn would just have to sleep, and hope that he woke up first.

The city was peaceful as they made their way through the middle strata. Even with those shining rocks the mortals used, it was too dark to safely use dragon carriages at night, so most activity on the streets slowed to a crawl.

It was so peaceful, that their movement was bound to attract attention, despite the old man's efforts to avoid it. His figure flickered and jumped between shadows, such that a human might mistake it for the shadow of a cloud passing over the moon.

But it offered little cover from the eyes that had been drawn toward them, for they were not human gazes.

Interesting! Game?

Chase!

Play! Play!

A handful of minor spirits flocked around them, mostly wind spirits, but with one little Yin spirit among them.

Huginn turned away from them, refusing to acknowledge their existence. Trying to argue with them or convince them to go somewhere else would only make them stay longer.

It didn't take long for them to change their approach.

No fun!

Meanie!

The wind spirits continued pelting him with complaints, until that too became too boring, and they started peeling off, going back to their game.

The Yin spirit stayed behind, shyly coming closer to ask, Following mortal? Why?

As a Yin spirit, it was far more likely that she was asking simply because she was curious. It was like looking at a younger version of Luna. Picturing that, how could he possibly refuse to answer?

Huginn considered the question, trying to figure out how he'd explain it as they floated behind the old man. The Yin spirit couldn't be more than a few years old, she wouldn't understand such a complicated task as following someone to find out where he or his compatriots lived.

Would she even understand that humans only lived in a limited number of places? Huginn hadn't even known that until Luna had told him.

Watching. Mission… no, game. Follow, and see where mortal stops.

That was a simple enough answer, and the Yin spirit brightened in understanding.

It wasn't even that far from the truth. A few of the older minor spirits did play a game like that, where they would find any moving object, and then follow it.

Huginn wasn't sure exactly how it was supposed to be fun, but Luna seemed to enjoy it, and Muninn sometimes did as well, when she wasn't looking for interesting bugs on the city wall, or playing with the wind spirits, or wandering out into the nearby woods and driving him mad with worry…

The Yin spirit drew back in alarm, and Huginn realised he had let some of his thoughts slip out.

Sorry, he projected, reassuring the little spirit that he didn't mean anything against her.

She cautiously bobbed back, accepting the apology, then fell back to the wind spirits. A moment later, they started zipping around and playing with each other again.

Huginn watched them with a mild feeling of discomfort. He had never really seen the point of those games. If the aim was to get better at controlling mana, wouldn't practising gathering and transmitting mana be better? Or even just cycling it around, like what Subaru did sometimes?

Perhaps he should talk more with Muninn. She liked them, maybe she'd be able to explain it.

When they arrived at the building, Huginn was taken aback. Even he could tell that it was a very old structure. The wood was worn, the windows were dusty, and the roof tiles were a completely different colour than those of the newer buildings surrounding them.

There was a sign above the door, but the paint that had once coated it had long since faded away.

Mora fumbled with a key for a moment, before he carefully inserted it into the rusty lock on the front door. He twisted, and the door swung open without so much as a squeak.

Huginn followed him inside, and the old man shut the door carefully, locking the door with a slight click.

They were in a very strange room, by Huginn's standards, and Luna had dragged him into a lot of rooms. It was filled with various pieces of furniture, from tables to desks to chests to chairs, all packed tightly into aisles.

Could it be a shop of some sort? Whatever it was, it hadn't been used in a very long time. A layer of dust covered almost every surface, and cobwebs hung from the rafters.

Mora yawned, then shook his head, and chuckled.

He muttered something to himself, but Huginn couldn't make out anything from it. He had to admit, it would be handy to know how to speak, or at least to understand what mortals were saying without having to rely on contracts or spirit affinity.

The old man walked past the bar, through a hallway in the back, and climbed up a flight of stairs.

Huginn took a brief detour to snoop around the building, trying to see if he could locate any hidden areas. He checked under the ground, but after phasing through the wooden floor, he only felt the crushing claustrophobia of being surrounded by dirt.

He shot back up, shuddering with discomfort. Moving through dirt was not a pleasant experience for a fire spirit. It wasn't quite as bad as moving through water, but it was still nauseating.

Never doing that again. He declared to himself. It was a shame, he had been so certain that there would be an underground room, like there was in the manor. Now, he felt like he was going to vomit up his reserves for nothing.

Then, a horrifying thought struck him. What if there was a hidden underground room, but it wasn't directly underneath him? He'd have to check the entirety of the area under the building to be sure.

He glanced down, weighing the benefits of attempting it. If there was a room down there, Subaru would want to know, but if there wasn't, he'd have reduced himself to a retching mess for nothing.

A moment passed, as Huginn thought through his options.

Finally, he bobbed, with an air of smug finality.

He'd get an earth spirit to look around in the morning. They were generally lazy, but he had enough mana to bribe a young one. He could even spin it as a game, 'find the hidden space that might or might not exist'.

Satisfied with his solution, he flew up through the wooden ceiling, and started searching for Mora.

He found the old man in a bedroom, a shining rock on his desk, and holding a plank of wood in his hands.

Huginn stared in confusion as he carefully placed it down on the bed. Why would he need a plank? It seemed too small to be a walking stick, and though parts of it looked smooth, it seemed too rough to be held for long in delicate mortal hands.

Mora turned around, and walked right past Huginn, to a hole in the wall, around the same size as the plank.

It took Huginn longer than he'd ever admit to realise that it was a cover of a secret compartment, which Mora was now retrieving a handful of scrolls from.

He would have burned in shame had anyone seen him, and right after he had been searching for other hidden areas, too.

But, all was not lost! All he had to do was not admit it, nor even bring it up. He found this secret compartment, through his own skill, and there was nothing anyone could do to prove otherwise.

But just to be sure, he'd check all the walls later. When the man had gone to sleep.

Mora took the scrolls to his desk, unfurled them, and pulled a small red notebook from a secret compartment under the desk.

…Huginn would have to check the furniture as well. And the roof. And everything in the kitchen. And every piece of furniture in the front room, as daunting a task as that seemed.

Mora began pouring over the scrolls, making notes in the book as he went. Huginn hovered overhead, but his sight wasn't the best while he was intangible.

He briefly risked becoming visible to get a better look, but the scrolls didn't have pictures, which rendered them unintelligible to him. The best he could say was that they had a lot of very small squiggles on them, and many of the rows had been crossed out. Truly, Huginn was a master of observation.

Well, hopefully Subaru would be able to make something of that information. It wasn't like Huginn could be expected to read yet, Luna had only discovered the concept over the last week.

The red light he shed while visible shouldn't be visible due to the harsh light of the shining stone on the desk, but Huginn felt there was no point in taking unnecessary risks, so he faded away, and settled down to watch Mora.

The old man didn't stay up much longer. Despite his clear eagerness to continue working, it was late in the night, much later than Subaru usually stayed up. His eyes fluttered drowsily, until he finally accepted the inevitable, and carefully placed the scrolls back in their compartment.

He made another few notes in his red book before he stowed that too away, allowing Huginn to get a better look at the particulars of the hidden compartment of the desk.

He opened with only a push, which detached a small panel, leaving a hole just barely big enough to slip the notebook into. When he clicked the panel back into place, it was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the desk's underside.

Huginn shuddered. He'd never have spotted it from a casual inspection. If he wanted to be sure he didn't miss anything, he'd have to pass through every single part of every single piece of furniture to be sure he got everything. Perhaps he could just watch over the old man instead, and see if he used any more?

Subaru would probably accept that. He'd already found two that way, and they were probably the most important ones to know about.

Huginn sighed mentally, and went to inspect the wardrobe. Subaru would be happy with what he had found, but he'd be happier if Huginn found out as much as possible.

Many hours and a deal with a passing earth spirit later, Huginn had found a number of other niches and hidden areas in the building, including an underground room.

Most of those had been rather simple to find, since Huginn could pass through the walls to look around, but they were too small for Huginn to enter and still have enough space to look around properly. He got an awful ache trying to look in a compartment while occupying the space of whatever was inside, so he soon gave up on that, merely memorising the locations of each.

The underground room, on the other hand, was far more accessible.

It had taken a while to figure out how to access it from the ground floor, and he had eventually figured it out through the simplest of investigative techniques: cheating.

He had gone to the spot the earth spirit said the room was, and dived down as fast as possible through dirt and stone, emerging in a small storeroom, barely bigger than a broom closet.

Once there, it was a simple matter to follow the stairs up, and pass through the floorboards in the kitchen. Once again, there were no seams in the floor where Huginn knew the entrance was. He couldn't make out a single difference between the door and the surrounding floor.

On closer inspection, the entire floor had been swept clean, unlike the front room of the building. He hadn't found anything noteworthy in that room, so it seemed that Mora only kept his items related to the cult in the living areas of the building.

There was barely anything in the hidden room, just a single chest with a large iron lock. That would be enough to deter normal spies and thieves, but Huginn was a spirit.

He could just pass right through the wood, so he did, and materialised inside. His vision was sharpened, and the glow of his aura gave him a better view of the chest's contents.

He lacked hands or the skill to lift physical objects, so he could only see the very top of the chest's contents, a number of knives in sheaths, the same as the ones Subaru first replicated with ice, the signature daggers of the cult.

There were also a number of folded black garments, their hoods easily discernible. They were familiar, Huginn had seen some of the cultists wearing similar on the day of their arrival at the manor. Subaru had reacted rather negatively to them. Clearly his contractor had no love for the style.

The last item Huginn could see was easily the most interesting. A pile of books, all with black covers, and all lacking any kind of writing on their sides. They appeared identical to the one that caused Subaru such unease, the so-called 'gospel'. He'd definitely want to hear about them.

He had spent the rest of the night conserving his mana, without letting himself fall to sleep, so that he'd be able to tell if the old man went on any trips during the night. It wasn't that hard. He didn't share Luna or his sister's restlessness, and despite the run-down appearance of the front room, the building was well insulated from the cold.

It was a bit boring, but a few extra trips to check the furniture again helped alleviate that. Eventually, the sky outside began to lighten in the pre-dawn light.

He roused himself to full wakefulness, and considered his options. Subaru had left him a lot of leeway in his mission of following the cultist. He could return to the manor at once if he felt like it, but Subaru mostly wanted to know about the whereabouts of the other cultists in the city, and it wasn't exactly urgent that he be informed that the old man lived in an old shop.

Huginn decided he'd stay a bit longer, and flew up through the roof, into the morning air, and looked up into the heavens.

Small clouds dotted the sky, but the vast majority of it was clear. That was good. He'd be able to recover some mana from the morning sun. Hopefully it would remain clear all day, he'd like to top up his reserves.

He probably wouldn't need to stay up all night again, but if the old man did decide to visit somewhere in the dead of night, Huginn wanted to be prepared.

He circled around the building, looking for a good spot where he would be able to sunbathe while keeping an eye on the old man's bedroom window. It was tricky, since it faced to the south-west, away from the dawn light.

But, Huginn was able to fly, and there were a multitude of areas he'd be able to choose from. The only problem was that they were in rather conspicuous positions. He'd be accosted by every passing spirit and asked to join their inane games.

Well… that was fine. It would only be for a few hours, then the sun would have moved enough that he could rest by the front door. He'd lose line of sight to the window, but at least he'd know if Mora left. There were no other ways out of the building, Huginn had checked extensively. It was jammed too tightly in with the buildings around it to have a hidden back entrance, and the earth spirit had assured him that there had been no other underground air pockets, so there weren't any secret tunnels.

A glint of movement caught Huginn's attention, and he focused back on the window.

Mora had awoken, and he was piling materials on the desk. Scrolls, letters, and some very old looking books were placed carefully beside a set of writing utensils and the red notebook from the previous day.

The sun hadn't even risen, and he was already working. Huginn felt a tinge of amusement. It was a long way off a spirit's diligence, but it was worthy of respect.

Mora did not leave his room for hours, giving plenty of time for Huginn to refill his mana to more acceptable levels. The rising sun brought no winds with it, and the heat built in the air steadily, allowing him to extract more mana than he anticipated from his surroundings.

Huginn imagined Subaru would be regretting sending him away on this mission around now. His contractor seemed to have little tolerance for the heat, and Muninn was not as competent as he was at creating cold.

The best part was that with the still air in the city, most of the wind spirits had become lethargic, and decided to go to sleep. Not a single one of them approached Huginn during his stakeout. He did spot a few fire spirits basking in the sun like he was, but it was too early for them to really start playing.

Mora finally finished what he was doing. Huginn had slipped in a few times to check, but it was always the same. He would read one of the letters or one of the scrolls, write a few lines in one of the books, or carefully go through the pages of the old tomes one by one. Huginn had risked materialising a couple of times, but he hadn't seen a single picture.

Unfortunately, he had to abandon his attempts to get a better glimpse after Mora had noticed his faint red glow. He had looked around the room, but his eyes had gone to the door and the window, not the ceiling behind him, which was the only reason Huginn had escaped unseen.

It had damn well given him a panic attack, despite knowing there was likely nothing the old man could do to hurt him.

He had retreated out through the back wall, and hadn't gone back into the room since.

Finally, the old man stood up, and Huginn slowly approached.

Mora retrieved his cloak from the rack by the door, and searched through it, pulling out a small black gospel. Yet another one, the same as the ones in the basement. The same as Subaru's.

The old man tensed up, and for a moment, Huginn thought he had been spotted. But Mora didn't look away from the book in his hands. He opened it slowly, and carefully turned the pages, seeming to forget to breathe, until he reached a point about half-way through.

His face fell, his shoulders sagged slightly, and despite his incredibly poor spiritual affinity, his emotions were great enough that Huginn could still make them out.

Disappointment, and resignation.

He sighed, and brought the gospel to the desk, and began writing something out on a blank envelope, consulting the gospel as he did so.

Huginn felt his mind go blank. He had been prepared to follow the old man until he led him to his compatriots, but a letter?

He vaguely knew what they were, since Luna had mentioned them a few months back. She had theorised that they were some kind of mark of friendship, exchanged between mortals as a part of some unknown ritual.

Knowing what he did now about writing and words, it was clear that they were instead a method of transferring information, in a way that would befuddle his attempt to track the old man's contacts.

Luna had tried to follow a particularly distinctive letter in the past, and even with her dedication, she had gotten mixed up and lost track of it. Huginn was sure he'd lose the plain one in the old man's hands.

This would require some rethinking.

"Ah, Huginn, you're back!"

Huginn stared at his contractor, unsure of what emotion he should be feeling. Shock? Bemusement? Disapproval? Something else?

"Yeah, I know, I know, it does look bad," Subaru said, twirling and contorting his body in strange ways to show off the new clothes he was wearing. "But, I need to get used to it. I'm definitely going to have to wear them when I meet the other Sin Archbishops," he said, a trace of hostility entering his voice. He didn't seem to notice, as focused as he was on the robes.

Huginn glanced over at Luna, and she bobbed slightly. Good, she'd make sure he got better at disguising his thoughts. Not everyone was as blind with fear as the cultists that were technically working for him. He'd need to make a better first impression with his equals.

Sol puffed up, insistent that he'd be able to guide Subaru in the right direction. Huginn glared at him, and began projecting his own thoughts, that Subaru would be far better off by acting aloof instead of haughty, and that—

No!

Huginn shook himself to clear his head. There were clearly more important things to talk about right now.

Robes? Hate robes!

Subaru smiled wearily, calming down and allowing his robes to settle, revealing them in their full glory. They were the same as the ones the cultists wore, except that his were lined in orange, and the overall colour was closer to a pure black.

"Yeah, well… a man's gotta do what a man's got to do. It's only for a few months anyway."

He shrugged, and hurriedly carried on, "Plus, it fits really well! Seriously, does Mora have a Divine Protection of Figuring Out the Sizes of Sin Archbishops?"

He was smiling, but the light didn't reach his eyes. He was trying to hide it, but Huginn could sense the revulsion his contractor held towards the robes.

Very well. Huginn would allow him to drop the topic. There was no point dwelling on things that could not be changed.

He began explaining the situation, skipping most of what had occurred to get to the main complication.

"Hmm." As soon as he heard his report, Subaru put his hand on his chin and frowned. "Letters? I would have expected him to use a more secure means of contacting his friends. Did you get any indication of what he was writing?"

Huginn shook from side to side. No affinity. Obscure.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Subaru sighed. "Then, do you think we should switch gears? Perhaps your time would be better spent practising with us?"

Huginn considered it. It might be nice to learn magic the same way Luna had, but it was never something that had really called out to him. And while the previous night had not offered more than the location of a single building, he still felt it would be worthwhile to stick around.

Remain, he declared, his mind set.

"Well, if you're okay with it," Subaru said. "But don't push yourself. I can already guess, you stayed up all night, didn't you."

Huginn started.

Well, it wasn't like I—

"—did it for you or anything," Subaru finished, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, you tsundere. Just don't tire yourself out."

He paused, then his eyes lit up mischievously. "You know, I have the strangest feeling that we're going to have a pretty sunny week. It would be a shame to waste all that mana, wouldn't you say?"

Huginn stared at him. His contractor was trying to act coy, but the impressions Huginn was receiving conveyed absolute certainty. Was this related to his secrets? It seemed weird that the upcoming weather would be counted as significant enough to warrant such secrecy, but who was Huginn to judge?

He bobbed, wondering why Subaru would bring it up.

"So then, why don't we have you practice while you're away?" Subaru asked, spreading his arms wide. "You can gather and release mana like a champ, and even cause limited magical effects! So why don't we toss you right into the deep end, and have you start learning Ice Brand Arts!"

Huginn hung still in the air. His contractor's technique? He was a minor spirit, he didn't have nearly enough mana to attempt even the smallest of those spells.

"Ah, no, not those," Subaru interrupted, waving his hands in front of himself. "I wouldn't ask you to go right for the daggers, you'd probably need to be a quasi spirit to use them. I'm thinking more like this."

He reached out a hand, and then Huginn felt a slight pressure, as Subaru began to move mana through their contract, and the pseudo-gate it created.

"Ice Brand Arts!"

To Huginn's surprise, he triggered the spell with a tiny amount of mana, far less than the amount necessary to create one of the ice daggers.

Tiny motes of blue light swirled in a disc above his palm, drawing together into a dot, which then rippled outward in a wave of cold mist.

It cleared, leaving only a single snowflake behind, hovering in the air, around the same size as Subaru's little finger.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked. "Do you think you'll be able to practice this?"

Huginn stared at it, remembering the process Subaru had used to create it. If he was out on his own, recovering the mana to use it multiple times in quick succession would be a chore, but if it truly was going to be sunny all week…

Then he might as well make the best use of his time.

As it happened, Subaru's prediction had been on point. Huginn had plenty of time to create snowflakes on the roof of Mora's building over the course of the week, and he had slowly started working his way up to larger and tougher crystals of ice.

In the beginning, he had barely been able to create tiny specs, but with Mora spending almost every waking minute consulting his secret documents, Huginn had nothing to do but practice.

He got so involved with it, that he almost missed the old man when he finally did go out. And unlike the previous times Huginn had tailed him, when he went to post his letters or get food, that time he spent the entire day wandering the outskirts of the city's south.

That would have been an embarrassing mistake. Huginn tried to commit the location of every major area he visited to memory, mostly run down shacks in the slums, some of them better maintained underneath their shoddy exterior, and the old man paid particular attention to those. Huginn made sure to remember those ones.

The next day, they went to the city's east side, and the next, the north. By the time they started searching the west side, Huginn was exhausted. He wanted to sleep for a week, and he had barely been doing anything! Well, perhaps he wasn't getting as much sleep as he should, but he was a spirit, unbound by mortal customs!

…he'd have to stop staying up so late. Muninn would probably be worried if she caught wind of it. But Mora always worked late into the night! How was he supposed to rest, knowing that his target might leave at any moment? Luckily, he had managed to keep up a facade of alertness when he went back to report each evening.

Subaru had found a map of the city somewhere, and he always marked the approximate locations of every major building Huginn could remember.

Then, Mora started wandering through the city seemingly at random, marking down address after address in that little red notebook of his. At least, Huginn assumed they were addresses. He couldn't be sure, what with being unable to read and all.

Sometimes he'd visit the buildings on his path, sometimes he'd inspect the back alleys off the main roads, and he would always watch the occasional guard patrols.

Almost every time the old man saw them, he would smile with a degree of smugness, as if he had predicted their arrival exactly. On the rare occasions where they did surprise him, he'd follow them from a distance, until he discovered the source of their irregular behaviour, usually an incident of theft or some other crime.

It was on one of these days, almost three weeks into his surveillance, that Huginn returned to the manor to find no one in Subaru's room.

He hovered in the air for a solid minute before it registered to his tired mind. The curtains were drawn, leaving the room rather dark, and the bed was slightly ruffled, but there were no signs of Subaru and the others.

He shook himself out of it, and began thinking about where he could have gone. It didn't take long to find an answer.

Mora had returned to his house early, so Huginn had flown back to the manor before Subaru's last meal of the day. If he was still training, that would mean…

He flew back out the window, and over to the clearing where Subaru and the other spirits practised their magic. It was a bit embarrassing that he hadn't thought of it immediately, but no matter, Huginn simply wouldn't mention it. He drifted down through the trees, turning to face…

Nobody.

There was not one person in sight, not one spirit, not the sense of closeness from their contract. There wasn't even any half-melted ice sticking out of the wooden target, so it was unlikely that Subaru had practised with Muninn for at least a few hours.

Then… had Subaru decided to have dinner early?

Huginn flew to the manor, and slipped in through the dining room window, and again, nothing.

Tableware had been laid out immaculately at the head of the table, but there wasn't a trace of life in the room.

He felt at his contract, trying to establish some sense of direction to his contractor, but it felt muted somehow, as if a large distance was separating them. Huginn was dumbfounded for a moment, thinking that maybe the residents of the manor had left due to some unforeseen incident, but no, he could hear the faint sounds of voices.

He recognised them as belonging to some of the cultists. He didn't much like them, but he drifted in their direction anyway. Perhaps they would be able to offer some clue as to where his contractor had gone.

He entered the kitchen to find the two he expected. The maid and the butler. Griselda and Coen.

They looked about the same size, but the maid seemed to tower over the boy, as she forcefully said… something. Her spiritual affinity was poor as well. Huginn couldn't even tell whether she was angry or not.

He spared a glance at Coen. The boy was not cowering any more than usual, so she probably wasn't angry. Nor, he realised, did she appear to be paying particular attention to him. No, she was busy tending to the food cooking in the pans on the stove, and merely turned to talk to Coen when she had the opportunity. Well, they didn't seem concerned, so it was unlikely that Subaru had been forced on the run. Then where was he?

She said something with a tone of finality, and Coen bowed, then retreated from the room.

Huginn glanced at the maid, but she was focused on her task. Then, he'd have to follow the boy. It was with great reluctance that Huginn followed him out of the room. He didn't like the cultists very much, and he liked Coen even less. The boy had no drive in him, and seemed to second-guess what few minor decisions he did make. It aggravated Huginn to no end, and he was glad that he hadn't encountered the boy over the last few weeks.

Coen went immediately to the stairs, and Huginn followed behind him, idly trying to figure out which way Subaru was in by the feeling of their contract. He wasn't the best at direction, and Subaru was distant enough that Huginn would only be able to tell the vaguest of directions.

Coen strode right to Subaru's door, and Huginn tensed up. Were they planning to search his room while he was away!? What if they found the map!? Huginn would have to act fast, he'd fly ahead while Coen was opening the door, and materialise. A sentry keeping lookout would surely discourage him from looking too hard, he might even apologise and withdraw…

Coen knocked on the door, said a few short words, and then left.

Huginn watched him walk past, unable to move.

Eh? Eh!? Eh!?

Why was he just turning and leaving like that!? Huginn had checked that room, and Subaru hadn't been there! And his contract assured him that they were a significant distance apart! Did they not know? Had Subaru snuck out without telling the manor's residents?

Huginn floated through the door, and was once again greeted by the sight of the empty room. There was no one there!

Huginn wasn't one to worry, but he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious now. He flew to the window, intent on finding his contractor and his sister, focusing on his contract to pick up on the most minor of changes. He shot out, flying toward the palace. If something had happened, surely that would be the safest place for—

He stopped. The contract was indicating a growing distance between them, so Subaru must be in the other direction.

He whirled around, and flew back to the manor, passing over it, headed for the city walls. Once he was closer, he'd be able to pinpoint the exact location, and—

The contract was fading again. It had indicated he was getting closer right up until he had passed the manor by, and then started insisting that he was getting further away.

He went back, and he grew closer.

He went toward the palace, and he went further away.

He descended, through the roof, and emerged from the ceiling of Subaru's room. The contract insisted that he was still quite some distance away, but this was the closest point he had gotten to his contractor all day.

But how? How could he be close, and yet distant? Was there something simple he wasn't understanding? Or was there some foul spell at work, distorting his senses?

As he was wondering, he heard something. A faint giggle, one he had heard a thousand times before. It was his sister's laugh. She only laughed like that when she was playing a prank on unsuspecting younger spirits.

It couldn't be! Subaru and the others would never…

He trailed off. No, they absolutely would. But if he was right, he'd cut their fun short.

He gathered mana from the air around him, and combined it with his remaining reserves, and forced it through his gate.

Ice Brand Arts!

Huginn was only able to create a thin needle of ice with his skill level. It wouldn't be enough to penetrate armour, bone, or even wood, but the cloth of a curtain? That was doable.

It needle sunk into the edge of the material, and hovered there, held up by his will.

He pushed with all his might, and the ice dragged the curtain open, letting the evening sun spill into the room.

The darkness was banished, and a black figure melted into existence, black mist flying off him, away from the sunlight.

"Ack! Hiss! Hiss! It burns, it burns!" Subaru wailed, his arms covering his face protectively. "I'm being turned to dust!"

He fell to his knees, then lay down on his side. He stopped for a moment to twist his arm around to support his head, then sagged down and stuck out his tongue in an attempt to appear deceased.

Beside him, Luna and Muninn were doing their own impression of being scorched by the light, though Muninn was really being far too hyperactive for it to be believable, and Luna was very obviously avoiding the sunlight on her way down to the floor.

Sol hung nearby, not participating in their game. He did, however, appear amused by the whole thing.

"So, what did you think!?" Subaru exclaimed, sitting upright. "I finally got shadow walking working! And I can take spirits with me! Isn't that cool!?" He grinned, waving his hands excitedly. "It's like magic! I mean, I know I've been doing magic up till now, but this is amazing! It's so easy, once you know what you're doing, and it has such incredible versatility! I can't wait to test it out in the dark!"

Huginn stared at them, radiating his disapproval.

Subaru and the others stared back, their smiles and excitement unrepentant.

Hah. Huginn let out. At least Subaru seemed to be feeling better. He supposed that his contractor had to find joy where he could. He only wished that that joy wasn't at his expense.

After they had calmed down, and Subaru had returned from eating dinner, Huginn made his report.

Subaru marked the locations he mentioned on his map, filling them in beside the other markings from his previous reports.

"Hmm, did you see a well somewhere nearby?" he asked, as Huginn finished listing the contents of the last location Mora had visited. He idly brushed the feather of his quill against his lips as he traced a line on the map with his other hand.

That was one of the tricks they had been using to get around Huginn's inability to read signs. He'd try to remember the landmarks of the area in addition to its distance from the palace. Huginn strained his mind, trying to remember, but the details of the day weren't the clearest. He really should try and get better sleep.

He transmitted his apologies, but Subaru waved them off, "No, no, never mind. I just thought, it looks like it might be on Lion Street, and I could have sworn I heard Otto saying something about a hideout there."

He didn't explain who exactly this 'Otto' was. His benefactor, perhaps? It felt like a strange name for a spirit, but Subaru considered him a good friend, so he couldn't be that bad.

Subaru frowned, and muttered under his breath, almost too quiet for Huginn to pick up on, "I'm pretty sure it was a bust, too. Did they move once we started looking for them?"

He shook his head, then marked a small circle around the area Huginn had indicated. "Well, that's another storehouse and some permanent employees found. That should be the last of the cultists in the city, unless Griselda has been holding out on me."

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, tapping his foot against the floor, eyes darting to and fro over the map as he thought. There was a note of triumph in his thoughts, and a smile was rising on his lips.

After a few minutes like that, he spoke.

"I think you're done scouting."

Huginn looked at him in surprise. Even if they had found all the remaining cultists in the city, they were still no closer to discovering where Mora had been sending his letters to. He was sure that if he just paid careful attention, he'd be able to find out exactly where—

"No, it's alright," Subaru said. "I received one of those letters just today. Apparently, he's got his plan together, and we'll be going over it within a few days. I reckon we'll get most of the information from those letters then."

He smiled, and looked back to the map. "We'll decide our exact plan after that, but I'm pretty sure we'll be ready to move onto the next stage."

He tapped a spot on the map, one marked with a different shape than the rest of the map. Huginn drifted closer, emanating curiosity. He had never seen Subaru use that particular shape. He couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be. Was it a strange sort of snowflake?

"It's a star," Subaru said, pouting slightly. "I know, it's a bit wobbly. I could draw a better one, but I'm not great at using a quill."

A star? One of the shining lights of the night sky? They looked nothing like the five-pointed blob on the page in front of him.

"It's more like a symbol," Subaru said defensively. "Like a word. It means 'star'. At least, it does where I come from."

Well, that was a better explanation, even if it still looked nothing like the real thing.

Good. Accurate, Huginn conveyed, hiding the pity from his tone.

"You know, it's even worse when you do it," Subaru sighed. "I thought Luna and Sol were bad enough. Well anyway, this spot marks a tavern that one of my… 'contacts' in the city guards sometimes visits. It took Sol and Luna a few days to find him."

Huginn jolted, startled by Subaru's words. Sol and Luna, working together? Was the sky falling?

"Hey, they're not that bad!" Subaru protested.

Never fight, Sol said.

Just dislike, Luna added.

Huginn and Subaru stared at them.

"Well, maybe they are a little abrasive," Subaru admitted. "But it's good for them to learn to work together!"

And?

Subaru smiled sheepishly. "And, well… It's not like I could send Muninn out on a mission like that."

Easily distracted! Muninn piped up proudly.

Four gazes turned on her, and she basked in their attention, as if they were lavishing praise upon her.

As much as he wanted to, Huginn couldn't really refute Subaru's point. His sister was… less particular about her tasks than he was.

Subaru got to his feet, and stretched his arms over his head.

"Well, I think that's enough for today. Huginn, you can rest for a few days. I reckon we'll be busy soon."

Huginn spent the next week lazing around above the roof of the manor. He'd occasionally descend to see what the others were up to, and even tried to sit in on the all-important meeting with Mora. But it had been quite boring, as he and Subaru had delved right into discussing the geography of the city, 'staging grounds', and 'attack routes', all of which Huginn could barely keep track of.

He fell asleep not five minutes into the meeting, which was, in his opinion, a far better use of his time.

He did spare some time to continue practising his limited Ice Brand Arts, but it didn't seem likely that he'd be able to get any better without ranking up to a quasi spirit.

That was a goal he was pretty sure was out of reach, at least for the time being. Ranking up seemed complicated, and he wanted to take a break. He'd have more than enough to do once the invasion started.

Finally, Subaru called for him. It had been just over five weeks since they first arrived in the manor, and the sun was beginning to set, ready to put another day into the past.

Huginn floated down to the window, and entered the room.

Subaru wasn't wearing his usual 'tracksuit', instead, he had swapped it out for a nondescript brown cloak. A fairly average look, in Huginn's estimation.

He was trying to stuff a pair of sheathed witch cult daggers in a small bag, along with a stuffed envelope. It looked like the bag was too small, but Subaru persisted, and eventually got it closed.

A small poach rested on the table beside him. It was a rather normal thing, completely lacking in any detail that might attract his interest, and yet, something about it drew his attention. He drifted closer, trying to see into the bag. He could, of course, just phase through it to see what was inside, but something held him back.

He thought he could sense something from it, like a lurking entity waiting to lash out.

The way mana shifted around the bag, it almost appeared as if there was a spirit contained within, but Huginn had never seen such chaotic bursts from a spirit.

"Oh, Huginn, you're here," Subaru exclaimed, taking notice of him for the first time. His eyes were wild, his hair dishevelled, and his cheeks flushed. The emotions Huginn felt from him were an equal blend of excitement and nervousness. Apparently noticing Huginn's curiosity, his eyes flitted to the table, and landed on the pouch.

"You can sense it too?" Subaru asked. "I guess that's not surprising. After all, even I can sense these."

He reached a hand into the pouch, and rummaged around inside it.

"It contains Magical Miasma Stones," Subaru explained, withdrawing a small black stone. It was pitch black, and slightly glossy. Huginn would almost have called it pretty, if not for the instinctive revulsion he felt at the sight of it. It seemed to glint with malicious intent as it reflected the candlelight in the room.

Why? he demanded, looking up at Subaru. Evil!

Subaru nodded. "You have no idea. They're pieces of lagmite that have been corrupted with the witch's miasma." His lips curled with disgust as he uttered those words.

"Coen gathered them for me so I could practice sensing the witch's scent, since I'm having no success in detecting my own." He placed the stone down on the table, and turned back to preparing his bag. "But more importantly for us, they—or more importantly, their scent—can be used to distract our hosts. I've made some cracks in them, so they'll be leaking the scent for a few hours. It should be enough to convince them I'm still here, so long as they don't investigate the room."

He sighed. "I've told them I'll be consulting my gospel until morning, and I'm not to be disturbed, which will hopefully be enough to dissuade them. I am a very scary Sin Archbishop, after all."

Huginn glanced back to the stone on the table. He didn't like them, but as long as them weren't bringing it with them, he supposed he could stomach it.

Subaru clapped his hands together. "Alright, moment of truth." He slung the bag's strap over his shoulder, and straightened his robes. "We're leaving a bit early, but I don't want to miss him."

Activity. Sol pointed out, flaring a light towards the window. The sun had ducked below the horizon, and the streets had been plunged into twilight. Wakeful.

Huginn bobbed in agreement. Many of the cultists had tasks that extended into the night, and some of them might see them as they snuck out of the building. Even Subaru's bizarre ability to hide in the shadow mightn't be enough to conceal them, since it was a technique that they themselves had mastered.

"Hmm, fair point," Subaru said. "But we can't afford to wait until they're asleep. Er, let's see… Luna."

The Yin spirit perked up.

"Would you stay behind for a few minutes? Keep us informed of any movements they make, and then watch them until we're a few minutes away. Then come find us at the entrance to the lower strata."

Luna bobbed, somewhat pleased to be entrusted with such a vital mission. Huginn glanced at Subaru, trying to judge his thought process. He had known them all for around the same length of time, yet Huginn had noticed that he unconsciously preferred to rely on Luna for such things. Was it merely because of their matching affinities? Or was there a deeper reason?

"Right then," Subaru's said, bringing Huginn back to the present. He smiled, an expression that looked almost evil when combined with his nasty eyes.

"Let's go spill everything we know to the guards!"

AN: In hindsight, I really should have been using interludes more often. Could have made my job a lot easier during those slog chapters. Oh well, lesson learned.

My most exciting news, city-slicker drew an awesome piece of fanart of Griselda on the discord! Go check it out! I'd put it here, but unfortunately, FFN doesn't allow pictures. It'll be on this chapter in AO3 as well.