They were in one of the quiet, secluded, and upscale districts of the city. No traffic. No noise. Behind the windows, a high-security silence prevailed. Life here moved much slower and with more care. Kael walked through the silent entrance of the three-story classic mansion, reviewing the investigation team's notes, while Arin followed a few steps behind.

The first thing they noticed upon entering was the extravagance. The ceilings were high, the walls gleamed with polished lacquer, but the emphasis was more on wealth than aesthetics. Golden gilded decorations on the shiny floor, massive antique chandeliers, huge artificial flower arrangements in the corners... Everything was oversized, everything was excessive.

This time, they hadn’t been briefed beforehand; the case was assigned to them urgently. Even though it was midnight, they had to respond to the call. When Kael knocked on the door, Arin was a bit tense, but his usual professional coldness managed to calm him this time. Despite everything he had been through recently, he still couldn’t fully trust him.

Kael suddenly stopped, and Arin halted as well; his boots creaked on the polished floor.

Without lifting his head from the digital file, Kael started speaking as if to himself:

“The owner of the house was a woman named Leyla Svenska. Her husband owns one of the city’s largest transport companies. Their money is new, but their ostentation is old-fashioned. They don’t hide their wealth; on the contrary, they love to flaunt it.”

Arin glanced at the exaggerated carved decorations. “That’s not hard to understand.”

Kael closed the file and kept walking without looking away. “Her husband found her inside just a few hours ago... Hands tied behind her back, completely naked, kneeling, with a mask on her face. The initial report from the investigation team says it’s ‘ritual violence or fetish play.’ Only the exterior of the house was recorded. Half an hour after the woman came home, all the servants were sent away. A few hours later, her husband came back and found her like that. But since they called us urgently, there must be more to it.”

Arin furrowed his brow and quickened his pace to catch up. “You said mask. What kind of mask?”

Kael slightly bowed his head. “It had horns. But... not artificial. Organic. One of the ritual masks of ancient religions, exaggerated and grotesque. But its horns were torn off.”

When Azimushan suddenly stirred uneasily deep in Arin’s mind, he immediately noticed, but his attention quickly returned to the woman’s lifeless body. Her skin was pale, white, almost waxy smooth; the body hadn’t been moved, kneeling position, hands tied behind her back. The grotesque mask wasn’t worn normally; it seemed to be trying to take over her face, extending in fragments from her ears to the nape of her neck. The horns that should have been there were ripped off, leaving no trace behind.

The woman’s body was placed in the brightest spot of the room and surrounded by... a ring of salt. As if to prevent some entity from leaving the body, to trap it inside.

“What’s the cause of death?” Arin asked, looking at the corpse.

Kael examined the salt ring with his scanner. “Suffocation,” he said. “She was suffocated by the mask.”

“Do you have any information about the history of this mask?” Arin asked.

Kael lifted his head slightly and took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ve checked several sources. These kinds of masks are connected to an ancient and forgotten religion. In that religion, whose name is officially forbidden to mention, masks were used in rituals. They were worn to contain the jinn trapped inside the wearer’s body.”

“In this religion, the followers weren’t warriors like you. On the contrary, they were pacifists. According to their belief, the bond between humans and jinn was a kind of chain of atonement. Bodies were considered a kind of seal imprisoning the jinn. The carriers didn’t live to use those beings or their powers, but to protect them from the outside world and the world from them. To live, wait, and die... nothing else.”

Kael took a short breath, scanning his notes as if searching for something.

“During the last civil war, they refused to fight, defend, or flee. Most died in their temples, victims of both sides of the conflict. The rest... vanished. Either silenced or killed.”

Arin looked again at the salt ring with sorrow. “So this woman... was one of the rare survivors.” He leaned in absentmindedly and pulled a small metal box from his side bag. “May I do my own investigation?” he asked.

Kael looked at the box with curiosity and nodded.

Arin took a pinch of ash from the box and sprinkled it over the woman. After waiting a moment, he asked, “Kael, can you turn the body over?”

Kael pulled out a container of a standard protective gel and coated his hands, which within seconds were covered in a non-organic layer. He carefully bent over and grabbed the woman’s slender shoulders, turning her gently. The mask on her face didn’t shift, except for a few strands of hair falling over it. The body was light, almost hollow. Her skin was so pale it seemed almost translucent.

Arin sprinkled ash on the rest of the body. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a circular pattern began to form, curling on her stomach.

Kael furrowed his brow. “What is that?”

Arin whispered softly, “It’s an ancient seal of that forbidden religion... but the shape is damaged.”

Azimushan stirred like a faint shiver deep in Arin’s mind. “Whatever that thing is, it’s free now, master.”

Hearing Azimushan’s stirring, Arin paused briefly. Swallowing hard, he spoke without taking his eyes off the broken seal on the woman’s stomach: “So... there really was one trapped inside.”

“Is there a small chance she did this herself?” Kael asked, looking again at the crime scene.

Arin stood up and touched the closed eye engraved on his ring, the symbol of his own jinn contract. “In my contract, the jinn is bound to me. I command it and use it at will. But the jinn inside her... wasn’t owned by her. It was captive. And as long as the woman lived, it couldn’t escape.”

Kael walked carefully around the salt ring laid beneath his feet, frowning deeply, a clear expression of concern on his face. “So where is it now?” he asked, his voice making the silence in the room even heavier.

Arin stayed silent for a moment. Without taking his eyes off the woman’s lifeless body, he tilted his head slightly. Azimushan’s uneasy whisper echoed in his mind: “Someone set it free, master... The jinn is bound.”

Kael suddenly started scanning every corner of the room with his device, including the walls and the floor, but it was in vain. Data flashed on the screen as it tried to uncover the room’s mysterious secrets. “We won’t find a trace of whoever did this, will we?” he asked, his voice tinged with hopelessness.

Arin slowly shook his head, dark thoughts showing on his face. “No. Jinn thieves are professionals. They leave no trace. But the real question is far bigger and more dangerous right now.”

Kael stopped and looked at Arin with curiosity. “What is it?”

Arin moved his lips while staring at the woman’s empty, wax-white face. “The followers of that ancient religion fled from war, were erased, and forgotten by history. But someone still knows and uses this knowledge.” His eyes darkened, and his voice carried a serious warning. “Someone found this woman and uncovered her secret. Now they might be hunting others in the city too. This might not be just a single case.”

Kael looked at him with a distant expression. “This case has been technically solved. The supernatural cause of death has been identified and diagnosed.”

Arin quickly shook off his momentary shock. “Yes, you can rush to submit your report to the Empire. That may be your job, but I am a jinn hunter!” he snapped and then bit down on the edge of his tongue, heart pounding harder than it should.

Why did I yell like that? he thought. Why do I even care what he thinks?

He didn’t want to look at Kael, but his eyes flicked up anyway and froze.

Kael’s gaze wasn’t cold or distant as usual; instead, it was sincere, deep, and almost vulnerable. The rare softness in his stern face stirred something inside Arin. His fingers twitched hesitantly, as if he hadn’t expected this moment either.

Arin quickly averted his eyes, and the moment passed swiftly. They were once again just the Arin and Kael they always were.