A familiar voice resounded in Trace's ears. He entered the fortune telling room and was shocked to see a familiar figure. In his dreams the scene of finding a red needle on his palm had played over and over again.

Along with the needle there was a figure of a woman and surprisingly here she was for his master's fortune telling! He immediately turned around not wanting to get noticed by the terrorist woman he met early in the morning. But he heard his master calling out to him.

Trace turned around slowly and shook his head when he noticed the woman was not looking towards him. He clearly remembered telling his master the description of the woman and signaled bizarrely to his master.

"Meet my apprentice", Master said to the woman.

The room was dimly lit as usual, with two sofas placed in the center of it. Master's table with a crystal ball and the name plate saying 'The Greatest Magician of The Century' was towards the end of the room. Currently the woman was looking out of the glass window that was behind the Master's table.

After a while, she slowly turned around to look towards the apprentice. A familiar face with an awkward smile greeted her. Lots of thoughts surfaced in her head followed by a dark look on her face. She finally remembered who this boy was.

Additionally, now she was sure that since morning someone had been following her. The cigarette on her other hand was pressed down on the tray. She then turned towards the Master who simply nodded at her.

"What is your name?" she beckoned the boy to come near.

"Trace…" was the answer in a low voice.

When Trace walked over, she got up from her seat and places her hand on his forehead. Mild coldness entered her hand reminding her of an incident from many years ago. Slowly, her head leaned on her own hand. A burning hot sensation entered her hand.

Since his master did not object, Trace did not refute. He looked at the face with eyes closed hidden under the hoodie. It was not clear as it had been in the morning, but he could make out that the expressions were different than earlier.

A deep breath was taken in by the woman followed by opening of her eyes. The face in front of her was different than in her memory. Her hand gently pushed Trace back and then she left the shop.

"Do you know her, master?" Trace asked.

"An old customer, she got anxious after hearing my divination".

...

Few blocks away, a shadow with disheveled hair was looking towards the Fortune Telling Shop. He immediately left after the roof after the woman came out of the shop. Klavior a.k.a. Destthine had been following the woman since the morning.

Two people, from two different cases connected to a single person. If the two cases have a connection, then would it be a coincidence? Klavior made up his mind to revisit this shady fortune teller in the future.

...

The Swirls case was split into three leads, Mr. Tomi, the needle and the hooded woman. Deus Garcia had followed the first lead to the end and now was standing in front for the Swirls house. To his side was Khufu Azami, who held a bag in his right hand and a needle inside the left.

Level 1 Reapers had huge benefits, the amount of sleep their body needed would gradually lessen. But since it was Khufu's first day, he was feeling sleepy. After staying at the Master's place he immediately went home and opted for a short nap. But sadly, that ended when a bird was heard clattering on his window.

He glared at the bird but to him it seemed like the bird was scoffing back at him. When he got back to work it was evident to him that the bird had purposely woken him late. He was scolded by Deus Garcia for not reporting about the needle as soon as it were possible.

Matter about the needle inside his body was more troublesome than it seemed. The needle was a magic treasure that was used by the new terrorist organization to pass information? On Deus Garcia's instructions Khufu tried to push it out of the body by mana. But no matter how much Khufu tired, the needle did not move.

It was a difficult matter, no information about the needle shaped treasure was available. This matter could not be rushed upon. Additionally, the needle would be safe as long as Khufu would be safe. Therefore, the end result, Khufu kept his hand and was ordered to follow Deus Garcia.

...

"We located the place your father was held", Deus said.

Deus was sitting on a chair in front of Eimi Swirls. Whereas Khufu was standing respectfully at the side. A badge with seven sides was pined on Khufu's chest. Eimi was a little confused but seeing the badge gave her a little hope.

"Can you confirm if it belongs to your father", Deus said while signaling Khufu.

Eimi saw a bag being put on the table. A coat packed inside a big transparent sheet was taken out from it. She immediately recognized it was the coat her father was wearing the last time she saw him. The coat with torn sleeves and missing buttons was littered in dirt and red.

Sizzling sensation went down Eimi's abdomen and her chest tightened. It was definitely her father's coat, there was no doubt about it. She gasped for air then lowered her head into her arms. Why did it turn this way, she thought.

"If you can tell us about any suspicious customer your father received. We can still save him on time", Deus Garcia said while the iron was still hot.

Khufu's eyes twitched but he did not dare turn his head. Before coming here, he had trampled with the coat on Deus Garcia's instructions. The coat was only dirty as most. A chill went down his spine when he thought about the red liquid Deus gave him.

Eimi picked herself up with difficultly and left the room. It took her more time than the last and only one register was in her hand right now. It was a thin black register with golden patters. She placed it in front of Deus Garcia and left the room again.

Deus did not stop Vince Swirls' daughter, what he wanted was right in front of him. If this case was connected to that top secret incident, the answer would be in these pages. He did not know how many special customers Vince Swirls had. Nor was he expecting a definite connection.

All he could do was to unravel as many facts as possible and try to link them with that incident. His left hand was gripped into a fist and with the right hand he opened the register. He couldn't hold his excitement on reading the contents.

Keeping up the annoyed act in front of Destthine, moreover Destthine taking over this case was worth it. If not, he would not have known who the person mentioned was but now he had a rough idea. There was only one entry on the register – Trace Hollows' master.

"Do you know who Trace Hollows' master is?" Deus questioned Khufu.

"Yes, he is a famous person in the area… but why?"

"I have some important matters to handle, if you don't mind", Deus got up and pressed his hand on Khufu's shoulder.

Deus pressured Khufu's shoulder indicating him to move out of the house. A carriage was waiting outside the Swirls house. Dues did not wish to take Khufu along with him but keeping the needle safe was also his priority.

...

On the way to Coiling Cradle Street, Khufu was looking out the carriage window. He was in a deep thought, what would happen to him in the future? A familiar figure appeared in the corner of his eyes, and he snapped back to reality. And to his surprise, the carriage turned left instead of going towards Coiling Cradle Street.

"Worry not", Deus said when he noticed Khufu looking at him.

The needle inside Khufu was also very important for Deus. What if it had some information relating to that incident? For the past few years, he tried to connect all evidence to an unknown event. He had no clue, only his instincts that could smell out the unknown.

...

Trace inserted the key inside the gate hoping it would open. And to his surprise it did! Today Eimi had not prevented him from opening the door with the key. The surprise slowly turned into a nagging feeling.

He immediately rushed inside. After crossing the garden, he entered the mini hall and saw an open register on the table. His eyes couldn't help but look over it for a moment. Something was different than the last time he saw the entry on the register.

"Miss Swirls".

Trace called out after entering the hallway beyond of the room. It was his first time coming here. He turned right to follow the hallway and then a left to go further inside the house. Not entering any doors, he made his way to the end of the zig-zag hallway.

The stairs leading to the upper floor were right in front of him. After making up his mind, he climbed up the stairs to the living quarters of the Swirls. For every room he checked his mood worsened. There was no sign of living in any of those rooms. Now only one room remained.

Trace knocked on the door then pushed it open. Eimi Swirls was sitting beside her mother's bed. Trace had met her mother, Geena Swirls before. But in his memory the face was full of color. Whereas the person laying in front of him was pale like a corpse.

"Stay here Trace, don't leave this place anymore", Eimi said after a period of silence.

"What do you mean, Miss Swirls?"

"Your master is a terrorist", Eimi said in a low voice.

"Why would you say that?" Trace questioned in a confused voice.

"He was using you. He used your name to buy talisman from my father and he... he kidnapped my father!"

Trace was taken aback by her reasoning. He remembered the entry on the register downstairs and everything that was wrong with it. The entry said – "Trace Hollows' master". But a year ago what Vince Swirls wrote was – "Trace Hollows".

...

A special order was purchased by the master-apprentice duo from the Swirls Shop, it took a year in making and was in the form of boxes holding card shaped talismans. (Chapter 4)