Chereads / The Magic Apprentice / Chapter 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4

The following days were a blur of numbers and magic for Danny. Balancing his job with his training was like walking a tightrope. He often found himself slipping, but he kept pushing forward, driven by an urge to prove himself to Mr. Wicha—and to make sense of his new abilities.

One Wednesday afternoon, Danny was sitting at his desk, lost in a sea of spreadsheets, when his boss, Mr. Somchai, called him into his office. Mr. Somchai was a stern man with a no-nonsense attitude, and his office was as meticulously organized as Danny's desk.

"Danny, we have a problem!" Mr. Somchai said, his face grim. He slid a stack of documents across the desk. "There's been some suspicious activity in one accounts of our major clients. I need you to look into it."

Danny picked up the documents, feeling a thrill of anticipation. This was the perfect opportunity to use his newfound abilities. He nodded seriously. "I'll get right on it, Mr. Somchai."

Back at his desk, Danny started combing through the documents. The numbers swam before his eyes, but he took a deep breath and tried to focus. He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out with his sixth sense. The tingling sensation he had come to associate with his powers began to build, and when he opened his eyes again, the numbers seemed to glow with a faint, otherworldly light.

"Alright, let's see what's hiding in here." Danny muttered to himself.

As he worked, patterns began to emerge. There were discrepancies in the accounts, subtle shifts that would be easy to miss without a trained eye. Danny felt a surge of excitement. He was on to something. But as he dug deeper, he realized that uncovering the truth without revealing his abilities was going to be tricky.

Around lunchtime, Jane called, asking if he could meet her for a quick bite. Danny hesitated. He was neck-deep in the mystery, but he also didn't want to neglect Jane. Reluctantly, he agreed.

They met at a small café near Danny's office. Jane was already seated, her warm smile a stark contrast to the storm of thoughts in Danny's mind.

"Hey, you!" she greeted, leaning in for a kiss. "You look a little stressed. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just a lot going on at work." Danny replied, trying to keep his tone light. He wanted to tell her everything, but now wasn't the time.

As they chatted, Danny's mind kept drifting back to the documents on his desk. He barely tasted his sandwich, and Jane noticed.

"You're really out of it today." she said, concern creasing her brow. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Danny forced a smile. "Just a tough case. I'll be fine."

Back at the office, Danny dove back into the numbers. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. He needed to look deeper, beyond the surface. He closed his eyes again, focusing on the tingling sensation, letting it guide him.

Suddenly, a pattern emerged. Hidden among the legitimate transactions were small, regular withdrawals that formed a trail. It was a classic embezzlement scheme, but cleverly disguised. Danny felt a thrill of triumph. He had found it.

Now came the hard part: proving it without revealing his abilities. He needed evidence, something concrete. He started pulling transaction records, cross-referencing them with employee access logs. It was tedious work, but Danny's sixth sense kept nudging him in the right direction.

As he worked, strange things began to happen. His computer screen flickered, showing glimpses of data he hadn't accessed. Papers shifted on his desk as if touched by an invisible hand. Danny tried to play it cool, but his colleagues were starting to notice.

"Hey, Danny, you got a ghost helping you with that?" one of his coworkers joked.

Danny forced a laugh. "Just really focused, I guess."

But the more he tried to control his powers, the more unpredictable they became. At one point, he reached for a document, and it slid across the desk into his hand. He quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed, his heart pounding.

By late afternoon, Danny had gathered enough evidence to present his findings. He took a deep breath and walked into Mr. Somchai's office, clutching the stack of documents.

"I think I've found something." he said, laying the papers on the desk. He explained the pattern he had uncovered, careful to keep his explanation grounded in logic and facts.

Mr. Somchai's eyes widened as he reviewed the documents. "This is impressive work, Danny. How did you find this?"

Danny shrugged, trying to appear modest. "Just a hunch and a lot of digging."

"Well, you've done an excellent job!" Mr. Somchai said, a rare smile breaking his stern expression. "We'll need to investigate further, but this is a solid lead. Keep it up."

Relief washed over Danny as he left the office. He had managed to solve the mystery and keep his powers a secret.