"Clang, clang, clang."
The great axe struck the frozen ground, producing a monotonous, dull sound that nearly put Loki to sleep.
Thor dug into the ground with War Axe while Sif occasionally wiped his sweat. Frigga watched them with a smile, making Loki feel like an unnecessary extra. With nothing to do, he could only whistle and look around.
This place really was barren. There was not even a single hair.
"Hm?"
Loki suddenly made a questioning sound through his nose. Just moments ago, he had been thinking that having even one hair would be nice. At least it would count as a clue and let him speculate about Deathstroke's plan.
Then he actually saw a hair, lying in the snow right before him.
It was a black, curly hair, not very long—about ten centimeters—but far too thick to be human hair. It looked more like gorilla fur or buffalo hair.
But that was not the important part. What mattered was that Loki remembered clearly: three seconds earlier, there definitely had not been a hair in that spot.
It could not have been blown in by the blizzard, either. It was firmly embedded in the snow.
Loki lifted his skirt and crouched sideways. Like a child playing with ants, he reached out and poked the hair with his fingernail.
It looked like hair and felt like hair. So it really was hair, not something drawn there. Now that was interesting.
Who had dropped a clue right in front of him? Or was it—
"Mother, I found something." Loki's eyes shifted. He picked up the hair and returned to Frigga with buoyant steps, presenting it like a treasure. "Look at this. Could it have been left behind by the creature we were tracking?"
"Oh, child, ask your brother. When hunting outside,