Back in the carriage, Seria was frowning. "That's new. I came through an imperial checkpoint two months ago and nobody was tracking magic users."
"It's a crisis response," Elara said. "Probably trying to identify patterns in demon collaboration. If someone with high corruption is moving toward attack sites, it might indicate coordination."
"Or it might indicate they're trying to help defend," Damien pointed out. "Correlation isn't causation."
"Tell that to imperial security." Lyristae was staring out the window again. "Though they're not wrong to be paranoid. If demons are being coordinated by someone with human intelligence, tracking high-corruption individuals might actually reveal useful patterns."
"You're defending the policy that just logged you as a potential security risk?"
"I'm acknowledging it has tactical merit even though I hate being on the receiving end." She looked at Damien. "Does it bother you? Being officially logged as a potential threat?"
