The scent of the listener, faint but undeniable, lingered near the entrance to the Ishikawa clan's archives. It was a cold whisper of treason in the heart of their home.
Back in the secure silence of Kaito's office, the atmosphere crackled with quiet intensity. The hunt was truly on.
"The archives," Kaito murmured, pacing slowly before the digital map of the estate. "Why there? What are they looking for?"
"Maybe they weren't looking for something," Aiko suggested, thinking back to the cold, hungry feeling of the sigil and the bug. "Maybe they were planting something else. Another listening device? Or something worse?"
Kaito stopped pacing, considering her words. "Possible. The archives contain records dating back centuries. Wards, pacts, genealogies... knowledge that could be weaponized." He turned to her, his eyes sharp. "If they were planting something, it would have to be near a source of power to sustain it, or near a specific target of information."
He pulled up a detailed schematic of the archive room on the main screen. It was a vast, climate-controlled space, lined with rows upon rows of scrolls and reinforced filing cabinets. "Master Jin is the only one with full access besides myself. Kenji has limited clearance. Everyone else is strictly forbidden."
"Could it be Master Jin?" Aiko asked, the thought unsettling.
Kaito shook his head immediately. "Impossible. Jin's loyalty is absolute. He practically raised me. Besides," he added, a grim edge to his voice, "the energy signature you felt is cold. Empty. Jin's aura is old, yes, but warm, like dry paper and incense."
He zoomed in on a section of the archive schematic. "This area contains the records of our pacts with external spirits – alliances, territorial agreements..." He then pointed to another section. "And this holds the clan's private financial histories, going back generations."
"Money and power," Aiko murmured. "The usual suspects."
"Exactly," Kaito agreed. "If our traitor is looking to destabilize my leadership, they would seek evidence of weakness in our alliances or financial irregularities they could exploit." He looked at her, a plan forming in his eyes. "Which gives us our bait."
He picked up his secure phone. "Kenji. Prepare two items. First, fabricate a scroll detailing a new, secret pact between myself and the Tengu clan of Mount Takao – make it sound... disadvantageous to us. Generous concessions on territory rights. Second, create a digital ledger showing significant, unexplained withdrawals from my private accounts over the past six months. Plant both items in the restricted archive sections – the pact scroll in the Alliance Records, the ledger on a data chip hidden within the Financial Histories. Make sure they look authentic, but subtly flawed enough that Jin or I would eventually spot the forgery."
He listened for a moment. "Yes," he confirmed. "Exactly. We are creating bait they cannot resist looking at more closely. And when they do..." He glanced at Aiko.
"I need you back in the library," he instructed her. "With Master Jin. He will teach you how to create a simple 'tracer' ward. Odorless, invisible, undetectable to normal senses. We will place it on the scroll and the data chip. The moment someone other than Jin or myself touches either item, the ward will activate, latching onto their spiritual signature."
"And then I can track them?" Aiko asked, understanding dawning.
A cold, predatory smile touched Kaito's lips. "And then," he said, "you lead me right to them. The rat will finally be flushed out of the walls."
The trap was designed. All they had to do now was wait for the traitor to take the bait.