I arrived at class earlier than expected, and Professor Elody hadn't arrived yet. Some students were gossiping nearby, and I wasn't interested in eavesdropping until I heard something intriguing.

"I heard someone stole all the third-year students' wands," one student whispered.

"Who would do something like that?" another asked.

"I don't know, but it's what I heard," the first student replied.

My excitement grew at the prospect of having a case to work on, even if it was a minor theft. I continued to listen in on their conversation, gathering as much information as I could to start working on the case.

Suddenly, I fell to my knees, clutching my head in pain. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced, and my vision became blurry. Just before I blacked out, a notification popped up: "Activating Scene of the Crime: When working on a case, you can use Divination magic to form a mental image of the crime scene. As your understanding of the crime increases, more details will be revealed."

In my mind's eye, I saw a shadowy figure running through the halls early yesterday morning. Other figures walked by, covered in shadows and carrying books, without noticing anything suspicious. The running figure was using illusion magic to remain undetected

I woke up abruptly to find Professor Elody leaning over me. Able was standing at a distance, appearing slightly concerned. Colette had placed my head on her lap, and as much as I wanted to stay there, I knew I had to get up. When I opened my eyes, I reached up to her face and said, "Is that you, Colette? Or just an angel?"

She slapped my hand away, and her tone was serious. "You idiot! You know how much paperwork we would have had to do if you died!"

I chuckled as I got up. "Glad to see you care, Colette." I turned to Professor Elody. "I hope you don't mind, but I think I should go see Cain."

Before Professor Elody could respond, Colette interrupted her. "Not by yourself! You need someone to make sure you don't hurt yourself!" After a brief pause, she added, "I'll go with you."

As we walked down the halls, I felt conflicted. On the one hand, I was with the most beautiful girl I had ever met. On the other hand, I originally had no plans to go to Cain’s office. I was going to work on the case when no one would be around to bother me.

We walked in silence, each lost in our thoughts. Colette's gaze flickered toward me every few seconds as if she was trying to find the right words to start a conversation, but nothing seemed to come to mind. Finally, we arrived at Cain's office and walked in.

"Ah, Quinn," Cain greeted me with a hint of amusement in his voice. "What brings you here this time?"

"Nothing really," I replied with a smile. "Just needed a break from class. Felt like everyone was staring at me."

Colette shot me a disapproving look. "Everyone was staring because you passed out on the floor!"

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Cain turned his attention to Colette, a hint of surprise in his eyes as if he had only just noticed her presence. He gestured for me to take a seat, and I complied. He studied me intently for a few moments before letting out a sigh.

"Quinn, when was the last time you slept?" he asked.

I had to pause for a moment to think. "I think it was on Saturday," I said finally.

"You think?" Cain raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips. But then he became serious. "Look, I understand wanting to impress your new girlfriend by working hard, but what you're doing is bad for your health."

At Cain's words, Colette's face turned bright red. "I am not her girlfriend!" she exclaimed.

Cain smiled at me, “Whatever you say. What I recommend is that you take a nap here and make sure you actually sleep tonight.”

I nodded and looked at Colette, “Since I’m taking a nap, you should probably go back to class.”

Colette, still flustered, blurted out, “Exactly what I was thinking!” She ran out and yelled, “Still not girlfriend!” one last time.

***

I woke up around three and prepared myself to work on the case. I asked Cain for an old shirt of his, claiming that the school uniform was uncomfortable and that I had things I needed to do before returning to my dorm. Using my magic, I created a small mask to cover the bottom half of my face. My disguise was complete, and I stealthily made my way around the school looking for the head investigator. I found him, a teacher known only as Mr. Moon.

Mr. Moon was the head of the disciplinary committee and a veteran member of the faculty at the magic academy. He had a lean and wiry frame, with a crisp black suit accentuating his every movement. A neatly trimmed white beard framed his sharp features, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. He held a wooden cane with a silver handle, tapping it gently against the floor as he walked.

He sighed, “There is no point investigating! We don’t have any evidence to narrow down our suspects.”

I was appalled by what I heard. The best detective they had given up so early. His claims were also completely false. There was plenty of evidence if he used his logic. I walked up to him.

“I’ve actually narrowed it down by quite a bit,” I said.

He whirled around, “Who are you?”

“Call me X,” I said, using one of my many aliases from back on Earth. “We can immediately rule out 4th years as the wands would be far too weak for them to have any use for them. We know the attack happened sometime after 12 AM.”

“How do we know that?” He questioned.

“Pay attention! The halls of the third-year dorm have golems patrolling them before that time. Those golems can see through any illusion spell under the mage level. We already determined that no one of mage level would need the wands. Quite a few early risers walk the halls during that time of day, so the culprit must have at least Tier 4 Illusion spells.”

“That’s incredible, X!” He exclaimed. “We now know that it needs to be a year 2 with access to Tier 4 Illusions.”

I sighed. “No, we cannot eliminate the possibility of it being a third year.”

“You’re right!” He nodded. “We need to see if any third years did not have their wand stolen.”

“No, any idiot with enough brains to commit this crime would know to hide their own wand as well.”

He nods, “You’re incredible, X! Do you have any more information?”

I ignored his question. “I need you to do two things for me. Firstly, I need a better mask, preferably a full face mask. Then, I need you to research this symbol right here.” I handed him a piece of paper with the symbol from my vision drawn on it.

“Of course, X. How will I contact you?”

“I’ll appear when those two things are done.” I then ran away without giving him time to react.