The Broken Halo

The slim demon in plain black coat was the same official who had bowed to Korran on their way out after Sonya’s statement.

The demon stopped beside the trolley and looked at the three Shrouds. His expression was plain, almost tired, as he checked the copper tags against one of the slates.

"Only three?" one of the gate guards walked up to him and asked.

The slim official glanced at him and nodded.

"Yes."

"But we were told that four would be arriving," the guard said.

"The reserve will report separately."

A slight frown appeared on the guard’s face.

"Every shroud usually enters together."

"The treatment schedule for Lower Ward Three changed after the morning report."

The slim official turned the slate around, and a black horn symbol glowed across its lower edge.

"The fourth position was approved less than an hour ago. If the reserve arrives without the correct tag and information, refuse entry and inform my section."

The guard inspected the mark, then nodded.

Simon calmly drank from his cup, and he tried to decode what they were saying.

’Maybe fourth position means a fourth worker that was expected to enter separately?’

The slim official handed the slate to the First Shroud. The three robed demons took control of the trolley and pushed it through the inner doorway.

Simon’s Shadow Eye could not follow them this time around.

It remained beneath the external medical cart, watching the empty space they left behind.

The outside workers received several empty cases, climbed back onto the cart, and waited for the courtyard formation to release them.

Fourteen minutes after entering, they returned to the street.

Simon remained at the stall until the cart passed two roads beyond him. He then paid for the tea and left from another direction.

The medical cart had taught him something important.

The lower wards were not supplied by ordinary healers walking through the front entrance. Black Horn used numbered support roles, concealed clothing, temporary route permissions, and an internal transfer system.

It was still not certain that the vice-leader was below the Office, but Simon had to check it out. However, if he wanted to enter, he needed access to their secured system.

He continued observing.

The medical cart returned to the apothecary. Simon kept the ShadowEye attached to it until the workers finished unloading, then dismissed it and recovered the fragment of the mental energy he used to create the Eye.

His first Eye remained beneath the awning near Black Horn’s service lane.

Hours passed.

Officials entered and left. Supply workers changed shifts, and the guards at the gate were replaced by another group.

Near the end of the shift, the slim demon in the plain black coat emerged from the western service entrance.

He carried no duty slate this time.

Simon watched him through the stationary ShadowEye until he disappeared from view. He then rose from the shaded bench where he had been resting.

His face changed again beneath the Sword Daemon’s mask.

This time, he became a narrow-faced rat demon wearing the clothes of a poorly paid clerk. His back bent slightly, his footsteps shortened, and a thin current of wind carried the scent of old ink and damp cloth around him.

Simon did not immediately follow the official.

He allowed several other demons to enter the street between them before moving.

The slim demon did not take a direct route away from Black Horn.

He crossed the same road twice through different alleys, stopped briefly before a shop window without entering, and changed his pace whenever the crowd around him became thinner.

’He’s checking for a tail.’

The movements were subtle enough that an ordinary observer might have mistaken them for indecision.

Simon did not.

He abandoned the pursuit twice, changed direction, and used the movement and scent of the air at distant corners to find the official again without remaining behind him.

Eventually, the slim demon reached the large apothecary that supplied the medical cart.

He did not enter through the front.

He walked past the building, circled around the next block, and entered its backyard through a narrow side passage.

Simon stopped on a parallel street.

Through SkyEye, he watched from a distance as the official approached a row of maintenance lockers built into the rear wall. He could see the slim official through the windows of the building.

The demon checked the empty yard, opened the seventh locker, and placed a folded grey-black bundle inside.

For a brief moment, a copper tag slipped from the cloth, and four narrow lines had been carved across it.

The moment Simon saw this, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the demon and the copper tag carefully.

What was going on?

As Simon pondered on what he was seeing, the slim official did not leave immediately.

He removed a small folded paper from his coat, placed it inside the grey-black robe, then pushed the bundle deeper into the locker.

After checking the yard one last time, he walked out of the building.

Simon remained on the parallel street, and his gaze was fixed on the seventh locker.

’A copper tag marked with four lines.’

The conversation at the courtyard talked about a Fourth Shroud, and now, the slim official had hidden what appeared to be that worker’s robe outside the Black Horn Office and not inside of it.

This made Simon baffled and suspicious, but he didn’t come to a conclusion yet.

For instance, it could be part of a confidential arrangement. Perhaps the fourth Shroud was not permitted to collect the robe personally, or the slim official had been ordered to leave it there.

However, that did not completely explain why he checked for followers before coming here or why he avoided the apothecary’s front entrance.

’He doesn’t want anyone to know he placed it there.’

That was the only thing Simon could say with certainty.

He did not know who would collect the bundle, what was contained in the folded paper, or whether the fourth Shroud had anything to do with the unconscious vice-leader.

It might be an opportunity.

But it might also be bait.

Simon’s original intention was to study Black Horn’s routines until he found a weakness he could use. Messing with the bundle now would only destroy whatever chance he had of learning the truth.

’There’s no need to rush.’

He waited until the slim official disappeared from view, then he left the parallel street without approaching the apothecary.

He would return with another face, inspect the surrounding buildings, and find a suitable shadow overlooking the lockers.

For now, Simon only wanted to know one thing.

Who was meant to become the Fourth Shroud?

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