The dormitories at Arcane Dominion were alive by day.
But by night — they listened.
Not just to footsteps, whispers, and dreams.
But to secrets.
And lately… the walls had been full of them.
---
Ash lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
The moonlight sliced across his face in broken glass patterns.
Kirito stood by the open window, arms folded, eyes sharp.
"They're nesting again," he murmured.
Ash didn't look at him. "How many this time?"
"Four. Two above the girls' corridor. One on the eastern watchtower. One directly beneath the Heretic Class wing."
Ash turned his head slightly. "Crows?"
Kirito nodded once.
"Marked by shadow brands. Not from this school."
---
The next morning came too quiet.
The cafeteria buzzed with chatter, but something was… strained.
Seraphina noticed it too.
She sat across from Ash, stabbing her fruit with the grace of a lioness in thought.
"They're watching you again," she said.
Ash didn't even blink. "Let them."
Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "No. Not students. Not nobles."
She leaned closer.
> "Something older."
Kirito slid into the seat beside them.
"They're moving tonight. I want to trap one."
Seraphina raised a brow. "Trap what exactly?"
Kirito's voice was ice:
> "A Crow. The kind that doesn't caw — just bleeds secrets."
---
Midnight.
The halls were empty. The torches flickered without wind.
Ash and Kirito moved like wraiths.
Each step placed with care. Each shadow memorized.
They reached the western wall — where stone met forest.
There, in the cracks of the foundation, the glyphs pulsed.
Cursed glyphs. Forgotten magic.
> Spy sigils of the Dominion's enemies.
Kirito touched one with gloved fingers.
His eyes flared faintly — not with light, but with suppressed memory.
"It's a Raven Order signature," he muttered.
"Thought they were extinct."
"They are," Ash said.
> "Which means someone wants us to think that."
---
Then the wall cracked.
Not physically. Magically.
A sliver of black energy unraveled like thread — revealing a narrow passage behind the stones.
And inside it —
A man crouched. Pale. Hooded. Holding a crimson quill, scribbling notes on a parchment that glowed with their names.
The spy looked up — eyes widening.
He tried to scream.
Ash grabbed his throat.
"No noise."
---
They dragged the Crow into a barrier field behind the library ruins.
No one could hear inside it.
No one dared approach it.
Seraphina arrived moments later, summoned by a single word from Kirito:
> Now.
She saw the restrained spy — eyes fogged, veins marked with blackened runes.
"Who sent you?" Ash asked quietly.
No answer. Just trembling lips.
Kirito sighed. "He won't talk."
"I don't need him to," Ash said.
He pressed two fingers to the spy's forehead.
His own eyes dimmed — as if touching the man's soul.
Seraphina flinched. "What are you—"
Ash didn't respond.
Then —
> Flash.
A memory flared to life.
Burning cities.
Dead students.
The Dominion falling from the inside.
And at the heart of it — a godless symbol.
A crown of bone.
And a voice:
> "The Forsaken must fall before the Inheritors rise."
---
Ash snapped back.
His breathing was ragged.
Kirito caught him by the shoulder.
"You okay?"
Ash looked up.
Then whispered:
> "The gods aren't the only ones watching."
---
The next day, the spy's body vanished from the cells.
No trace. No blood. Just… gone.
And on the Heretic Class door, carved in perfect lines:
> "The Crows are listening. And so are their masters."
---
Back in the dorm that night, Kirito sharpened his blade without speaking.
Ash stared out the window, mask on the table beside him.
Seraphina stood in the doorway.
She didn't say anything.
Until she did.
> "I don't know who you really are."
"But if they're coming for you…"
"They'll have to go through me first."
Ash turned.
And for the first time —
He smiled.
Not cold. Not fake.
Just a little sad.
> "Then you're already in danger, Seraphina."