The day, I returo the crime se with Azami.

  The narrow alley behind the apartment was still quiet, leaving only a damp smell and a faiallig that hadn't pletely dissipated. The victim's body had been taken away by the police, but the dried bloodstains on the ground were a stark reminder of the tragedy that had occurred here.

  I took a deep breath and looked around. From the outside, this alley didn't look like a murder se. It was too ordinary. No signs of a struggle, no scattered belongings. Just dull walls and a cold breeze slipping through the gaps between the buildings.

  Azami stood in the middle of the alley, her sharp eyes sing every er.

  "Alright," she said. "Before we go any further, let's review the facts we know."

  I nodded and began recalling what I had seeerday. "The victim was a woman in she's 30s. He ehis alley alohe someone—or something. They spoke briefly, and suddenly he was strangled by something invisible before he died."

  Azami crossed her arms. "And there are no other eyewitnesses."

  I shook my head. "At least, hat we know of."

  Azami crouched he bloodstains and touched them with the tip of her finger.

  "This case is strange," she murmured. "If we ighe possibility of magic, the most logical sario is that the victim was killed with a thin wire or something simir, which wasn't visible in my Retrosight."

  I tilted my head. "But didn't we see the victim being strangled by something invisible?"

  "Exactly," she said as she stood up. "That's what makes me suspicious."

  I looked at her in fusion. "Suspicious of what?"

  Azami gave a small smile. "If the killer really is a Witch, they shouldn't have left such obvious traces. This murder was made to look like the work of a Witch, but it's too spicuous."

  I frowned. "So you're saying… this could be a trap?"

  Azami nodded. "Or maybe… there's something bigger behind this."

  I felt the hairs on the bay neck stand up. "Then what do we do now?"

  She looked at me with sharp eyes. "We find out if there are any other traagic here."

  Then, before I could ask what she meant, she did something that left me speechless again.

  SHRRRKKK—....

  The air around us vibrated, and once again, I saw a thin cra reality.

  This time, the golden light emanating from her eyes was more intense. I could feel a subtle pressure in the air, as if an invisible force was flowing around us.

  I held my breath as something began to emerge within the cra reality.

  Traces of energy.

  Faint, glowing blue lines appeared in the air, f patterns that were almost invisible if not observed closely.

  Azami followed the patterns with her eyes, then walked slowly, as if trag something only she could see. I tried to follow her movements, even though I couldn't see what she was seeing.

  "Look at this," she finally said. "There's a trail of energy leading out of the alley."

  I looked in the dire she pointed. "What does that mean?"

  Azami narrowed her eyes. "It means someone using magic was here before we arrived."

  I felt my heart beat a little faster. "Does that mean the killer is still around here?"

  She didn't answer immediately. She just stared at the end of the alley with a serious expression.

  I followed her gaze, trying to see if there was ahere.

  However, all I found was a silehat felt increasingly heavy.