The girls decided to go back home before returning to the Agency. After all, it was already night, and they were dirty with all the ghouls’ blood over them. May held onto the dark heart of the ghoul; it was proof that they had completed the mission. The easy aspect of it was still looming over their heads. At home, the girl felt relieved that she had cleaned up everything the day before, and the house was still tidy.

  “I need a shower. This is disgusting. You should avoid messy killing blows, it always ruins our clothes…” May pouted, looking at the shirt of her favorite band, completely covered in blood.

  Karina shrugged and laughed. That was the way she liked dealing with monsters. It gave her a good feel, smashing the creatures’ heads. While she waited for May to take a shower, she decided to turn on the TV before looking for something to eat.

  On the screen, she recognized once again the Preacher, and this time, it seemed that he was being interviewed.

  “So you’re telling me, first hand, of your candidacy for Neo Victoria City’s mayor?”

  “Yes, of course, I thought a lot about it, and you know what? If you think something is wrong, you should take it upon yourself to fix it.” The Preacher looked right at the camera, and Karina almost felt like he was staring at her.

  “But having no political experience, don’t you think this is going to be a challenge?”

  “Oh, no! No, no. I don’t think so. I mean, in a sense, I already have plenty of experience leading the church. Being the leader of a congregation like that makes the rest easy compared to it. You know how it can look like politics. I believe I’m safe.” The man laughed, but his laugh was cold; to Karina it sounded forced and unnatural. Yet, the people from the audience laughed with him. Karina didn’t like it, she didn’t like his speech and the way he spoke… It gave her chills.

  “Well, what a way to kick off a campaign!” The interviewer said, but he also didn’t seem quite amused by everything. Whether the Preacher noticed it or not, Karina couldn’t tell.

  May got out of the shower, her hair dripping wet.

  “So, he again? I’m tired of his face everywhere. I don’t even get why he’s so popular right now.”

  “I guess he just says what they wanna hear, May. And he’s charismatic; this alone does half of the work.”

  “Do you think… I mean, does he have a chance?”

  “I don’t know, sometimes these things can be quite unpredictable. But I hope not, it would be disastrous. Especially since being part of the Agency, it means we also need to deal with the mayor.”

  “Can you imagine it? ‘Oh, Mr. Preacher, I’m sorry, we came here to grant permission for the work at this address. What do you think?’ ‘This is not the Lord’s work, a girl shouldn’t be doing it,’ May said, trying to imitate the Preacher’s tone. Karina laughed.

  “Alright, alright. Let’s hope we never have to deal with him.”

  ***

  That night, before going to bed, May felt that something was slightly different. She heard a faint sound that made her rush to the window. Outside, there was Otto, the familiar cat had apparently been attacked. He had minor injuries, and May could feel his magical power had weakened.

  “Otto! What happened to you? Who did this to you?” Worried, she picked him up from the window and brought him inside the room.

  “Otto!! Are you okay?” Karina almost screamed as soon as she entered the room, her eyes already filled with tears, “How could someone do this to you? May, why would someone attack your familiar?”

  “I don’t know, I really don’t. I just felt something off, and he was just there. It seems that he was trying to reach us. Tell me, Otto, why did you come here?”

  The cat meowed weakly, and May held him closer to her chest. She let him sip on her magical power so that he would get stronger. Although the girl could notice that the cat would need a good night's rest.

  “I think he’s too weak to tell us anything, May.”

  “Indeed, it’s better for you to get some rest, Otto. I bet you will feel better tomorrow.”

  The girls tended Otto’s wounds, using band-aids and magic. But there was only so much that magic could do, and a good night of rest was still essential after all. They laid the grey cat in the bed, he looked at May and meowed again.

  “Take it easy, Otto. You can tell us tomorrow.”

  May cast a sleep spell to help the cat rest, something light, and the wounds wouldn’t bother his sleep.

  “I can’t imagine why anyone would do something like this to him.”

  “Me neither, Karina. I mean…” May thought for a second before adding: “I have one hypothesis.”

  “What do you think?”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Maybe whatever he was going to tell us, someone didn’t want us to know. It’s strange, but that’s the only reason I can think of.”

  “But we’re just Base-Hunters, why would someone want to intercept a message for us? Could it be something related to that mission? And it’s not like we’re A-Hunters carrying state secrets up and down the street.”

  May knew that Karina was right, but what else could be the reason? The familiar was only responsible for their communication regarding the work. If he was attacked while doing his job, it had to be something related to the message. In fact, the cat even seemed anxious to tell the girls whatever message he carried. It must be something important. But it also raised another question: who did that? Who would try to intercept a message to them?

  “Don’t get too worried about it, May. It can be something simple too, maybe he was attacked by a monster or even another familiar… I don’t know.”

  “At least we’re going to discover what happened tomorrow, when he wakes up. I just hope he gets better soon.”

  Karina moved closer to May and gave her a hug. She knew that witches who used familiars had a deep bond with their companions.

  ***

  The next morning, the first thing May did was check on Otto. The cat seemed much better, and it purred with the girl’s touch. She woke up Karina, as it appeared to be important that the other girl also listened to the message the familiar had.

  The cat meowed and meowed. He didn’t quite remember who attacked him or what had happened to him, but his message was simple, two words: “Don’t come.”

  “Well, that doesn’t help much.” Karina scratched her head. “I mean, don’t come where? Who even sent this?”

  Otto meowed once more.

  “He doesn’t remember, Karina. He says that he had to pass through a lot of magical barriers. This messed up with his memory; along with the attack, it made everything worse.”

  “So how come he didn’t forget the message?”

  “Because messages are different. It’s not exactly tied to his memory.” May said. “You never did this spell, so I’m not surprised you don’t know. When you send a message through a familiar, you’re tying the message to that familiar. It’s something the animal will carry until they deliver the message.”

  “Whoa, I never thought about it. But one thing, May, do you know who sent this message? Or are you able to identify it using magic?”

  May placed a finger on her chin.

  “I… I don’t know. The magic signature of the person… It had a certain scent to it, something that reminded her of the sky. But it was jammed by the magical barriers. I can’t identify it for sure, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s mysterious. How can we not come to a place we don’t even know? What if we end up in that exact place by chance?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty vague. But the thing that scares me the most is: what if the person didn’t have the time to finish the message? What kind of thing was the person dealing with?”

  The girls kept on discussing ideas and hypotheses about who had sent the message. Otto recovered swiftly and went back to doing his job or whatever familiar cats did while their witches weren’t nearby.

  The girl adjusted everything before going to the Agency; they thought about the ghoul task they had done the day before. Karina was thinking about how it was one strange thing after another. At least, the stuff about the ghoul, they wouldn’t have to wait much to get the answer, as they would have it as soon as they got to the Agency.

  May’s mood was a lot better since Otto had recovered from the injuries. She decided to wear a black skirt and leather boots.

  “I just hope the mission is worth it. For them to keep that much mystery and to send us to fight that single ghoul…”

  “Maybe they were testing us for something like a ghoul infestation. Can you imagine it? Thousands and thousands of ghouls. We have never had to deal with a nest. I can only imagine what it is like.”

  “If it’s something like this, they are probably going to promote us. This is D-Hunter’s area.”

  “I hope you’re right. I cannot wait to become a D-Hunter.”

  The girls talked all the way up to the Agency, still discussing everything that had happened. Once they reached the building, the secretary redirected them to fill out the forms about the ghoul elimination. One essential part of the Agency’s work was that, not only killing monsters, but you also had to answer questions about them.

  “You know this is the most boring stuff we do.”

  “But it’s important, Karina. It could be dangerous, just killing monsters and stuff. It’s necessary to protect those who can’t use magic.”

  “Yeah, yeah, alright, I get it. It’s just… I don’t know, boring.”

  A woman in a pinstripe suit entered the room; she carried lots of papers. Karina rolled her eyes immediately.

  “I’m here to collect your report about the completion of the mission. Tell me what happened and the circumstances.”

  And the girls explained what they had observed about the ghoul, and how it was a single monster, probably looking to start a nest in the area. They reported that it hadn’t even attacked a human yet. They also spoke about where it was hiding and the precautions that were needed at the place.

  “Interesting, interesting. I’ll send some teams there for further investigation. You know, girls, it’s always better safe than sorry.”

  Karina shifted the weight of her body.

  “And I guess you brought here a piece of the ghoul, right?”

  May passed over the heart of the ghoul, carefully wrapped in magical protective bands. The woman put it in a plastic bag. It was an important part of the job.

  “With this, we will be able to track ghouls from this same lineage. It makes the job easier, huh?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  The woman seemed content with their job and started filling in some papers she had brought. Once in a while, she would ask the girls more questions and answer with an ‘Ah’ or a ‘Hm-hm’. An hour or so had passed when the woman finally seemed satisfied. She said:

  “Now, I just need your signatures here, and that’s it. We’re done.”

  The girls signed, grateful that it had come to an end. The woman looked over, her face twisted into a little frown.

  “I guess there is one thing strange about it all. I mean, it could be nothing, but based on everything you told me, I don’t think-”

  She stopped mid-sentence, and she looked at her sides. She took a tissue from her purse and wiped the sweat on her forehead.

  “You don’t think…?” Karina asked.

  “No, that’s nothing. I guess it’s just something a little out of the ordinary. But nothing to worry about, girls.”

  May didn’t want to press the woman; she knew very well the people at the Agency could be… difficult at times. So it was better to leave it as it was. But everything seemed even stranger; there was something about that mission. Something they didn’t know about, and the Agency was keeping it from them. May didn’t know it yet, but she was sure she would find it out soon.