Chapter 15: Trap

A white carriage decorated with purple lines stopped in front of a shimmering jade building. Four female attendants with lean upper body wrapped tightly in gingham maid outfits were bowing slightly in front of the carriage. Despite having petite appearances their upstyle hair made them omit a mature aura.

Heliio Lynn walked out of the carriage and gave a nod of approval to the attendants. He was all smiles as he entered the mansion walking on a purple carpet. The coachman closed the door of the carriage and took his leave, whereas all the maids followed Helliio.

Instead of going inside the mansion, Heliio walked around to the mansion. The path lead towards an arc of bushes with space in between. A white roof belonging to a circular pavilion could be seen beyond the bush wall. Just as Heliio reached closer to the brush wall a petite figure jumped on him.

"Grandpa my entire being missed you", said a delicate but monotonic voice.

The voice belonged to a pink haired maiden with deep pink eyes. Her thin body like a leaf fluttering in a wind came crashing towards Heliio Lynn. In front of her grandfather, the little angle's head only reached Heliio's chest.

"I want to plant my face on Grandpa's stone stomach", she said.

Heliio cleared his throat. He pushed his granddaughter back. How could it turn out like this, Heliio complained in his heart. Only until a month ago, her little granddaughter was completely normal. But now her every sentence was twisted and obscene.

"Rae… where is Noelle?" Heliio asked her granddaughter.

Before the small girl could answer, Heliio patted her head and led her towards the pavilion. A girl was sitting on a chair under the pavilion. She was like an older version Rae – pink hair, pink eyes, two long pigtails, white and red top, and a short red skirt.

"Noelle, did you face any trouble in the night camp"?

Noelle looked up to see, her grandpa was standing in front of her. She shook her head and patted on the chair. Heliio accepted the invite and sat on the chair with Rae on his lap. Wind traveled carrying the sweet smell of the small pond, present in front of the pavilion, towards the group.

Rae and Noelle listened carefully as their grandpa told them what transpired this week at the medical center. However, Rae kept glancing at her elder sister. She pouted thinking that her grandpa was only narrating the experience at work to help Noelle. But suddenly, the topic was changed.

"Do you know about the Sovereign Jurisdiction Department?"

"I know! Grandpa used to work for it", Rae jumped and gave a smug look to her sister.

"I worked for a similar department", Heliio chuckled lightly and nodded.

The story of how Trace saved his master was narrated. Both girls listened attentively, Rae made noises in between to give flavor to the story. The part where Level 2 Sorcerer defeats the Level 1 with one punch made Rae hold her grandpa's hand.

"Just listening this story makes my body hot. I can't hold it anymore", Rae's monotonic voice sounded after the story was finished.

Rae stood up and went closer to the pond. She turned around to look at her sister and grandpa. Squinting her eyes, she walked backwards. Is sister acting weird? Lost in thoughts of what was wrong about her elder sister made Rae slip into the pond.

...

Trace rushed down through the stairs and stood in front of his home. Technically speaking, his lived on the first floor, whereas his master's shop was on the second shop. The plan was to renovate the shop on the second floor. Also, redo the graffiti on the walls of first floor.

Additionally, a plan to build a door on the back side of first floor. Currently, the only way to enter the building was the staircases leading up to the second floor. And at last, to think of a new slogan for the shop.

While working for Eimi Swirls, Trace had saved up most of the coins he received. To keep the coins safe, he had even bought a coin case. This special case was brought out today with all his savings.

Excited Trace walked towards the Koyoko Shopping Complex. This place was located in the heart of Koyoko City and shops inside would not close even for a minute for the six weekdays. Thus, on reaching there, Trace found that the complete area was locked down with patrolmen guarding the place. While Trace was sighing looking at the closed area, a person stopped next to him.

"The market is closed, what a shame", the person next to Trace sighed.

Trace turned and what immediately attacked his attention was the thin pointy nose and trimmed eyebrows. The man was wearing a suit and the pin on his tie was as glossy as his hair. Along with it, the man was carrying a puffed handbag with his gloved hands. Trace nodded when the man's eyes turned towards him.

"I am sorry, I did not introduce myself. My name is Egon Franke. Quite a troublesome day, isn't it?"

"Yes, but there are other shops that are open on the weekends", Trace consoled.

"You are extremely right young man. Last time, when I hopelessly wandered under the scorching sun, paradise showed itself in front of me. A shopping area that has just as many varieties of shops as this, if not much".

Egon Franke pointed towards the closed shopping center with one hand, while his other hand was flashily placed with its fingers touching his temples. Then, he opened his eyes to look at Trace. To perform this move, he let go of the big handbag.

"Let's go there, young man. Let's buy the best products we can and that for cheap", Ergon Franke had both his hands on Trace's shoulders now.

Was there such a market, Trace was not sure as there were many places in the city unvisited by him. If there was such a place, then he could save money since big shopping centers put up cheaper price tags. Trace followed Ergon Franke into the narrow alleys. This got him into thinking the he could pick up some new shortcuts from Ergon Franke.

"It is pretty far away from here so why don't we run young man?" Ergon Franke slowly sped up not giving Trace a choice.

Ergon Franke slowly increased the speed, but he did not let Trace's fall back either. The distance between them remained the same as they dashed through the alleys of Central Koyoko. Sometimes roads needed to be crossed and Ergon would wait for Trace and cross they would roads together.

At another ordinary looking alley, Ergon Franke suddenly stopped. A grin escaped his lips and he turned back to look at Trace. The young boy was panting and couldn't run anymore. There was no one else present at the place. And definitely, no shops were in sight.

"The rings on your fingers are fantastic, young man. They even managed to deceive my all-seeing eyes", Ergon said.

"I can hear it, can you? Mysticism of the universe is calling you", Ergon helped Trace get up.

Trace took in deep breaths, he held his stomach with one hand while the other hand was on his knees. How much more do we have to go, he thought. Ergon's words were not making much sense to him so Trace could only smile for a reply.

"Who helped you get these fantastic rings?"

"My master", Trace replied in a low voice.

Ergon took a step back and searched though his bag. After deciding between a few items, he kept one item to the side and stuffed his bag again. It was a gold card, just the size that it would perfectly fit inside the pocket. However it was a bit of thicker than a leaf.

"Walking down the mortal path is extremely tiring. A chance to experience riches of the world and traveling freely is what I offer you, young man", Ergon pushed the card over to Trace.

Binpark Carriage Association was engraved on the card. The letting gave a royal feel, just looking at it felt like the card was not ordinary. Trace looked at the card then towards Ergon.

"To put it simply, this card will open the door of wonders for you!"

"Experience free of charge travel when using Binpark Carriages", Ergon added when he saw confusion of Trace's face.

Ergon waved the card to-and-fro in front of Trace. The light rays, seeping inside the dark alley from the open street, fell on the card. Magically, the card reflected a golden color making Trace's eyes lit up.

"Explain it to me young man. What did this humble Ergon bestowed you with"?

"With this card I can use Binpark Carriages for free of charge"?

Trace said after some thought. The charge of carriages was expensive, this card was too good to be true! However, it did not hold much value in Trace's eyes since his master told him to make use of body not carriages. But he accepted it anyway, and thanked the generous man.

The brief moment of uncertainty on Trace's face was caught by Ergon Franke. He eyed Trace's hands before looking towards the road. A carriage passed by in the shiny road contrasting the shadowy street. Ergon swiftly snatched the card from Trace's hand and smiled.

"Let's move young man, I will show you the power of this card".

Trace silently followed Ergon. Right now he was unsure of the location he was at. How much more until we reach the shopping complex, he questioned in his mind. The surroundings got brighter as they stepped on the open road and walked along with it. Trace was looking around, focusing on whatever attracted him when Ergon suddenly stopped in front of a parked carriage.

"Be humbled, this young master chose your carriage", Ergon said.

The coachman kept down his newspaper and looked at the two people in front of him. His eyes stayed on Ergon for a while before turning towards Trace. But suddenly a hand closed on to his face and the coachman vision was filled with a golden card. The coachman pushed the hand away and said to Trace.

"Young master, this humble servant will prepare the carriage for you without any delay".

Trace saw the coachman took out a cloth and wipe the carriage with all his might. Speechless, Trace looked towards Ergon. This was something Trace had never experienced in his life but by the looks of it, the card was a real deal. Swiftly, the gold card was pushed towards him by Ergon.

"This card is yours. Take it, young man".

"Thank you ", Trace said smiling.

"Even the heavens isn't this magnanimous, I only want the fake rings on your hand", Ergon said after Trace safely kept the card.

"…."