Chapter 21: Azik's Request

"Good night, Melissa, Benson."

"Good night, Klein."

At 2 Narcissus Street, after watching the play "The Count's Return," the Moretti family exchanged goodnights and went to their rooms to rest.

"The Emperor really didn't leave any room for later transmigrators..." Closing the door and sitting on the soft mattress, Klein recalled the content of the play he had just watched and couldn't help but mentally grumble about Roselle, who left no path for future transmigrators.

But just a few seconds after he sat down, Klein suddenly heard a tapping sound at the window. Surprised, he looked towards the window and saw a figure floating outside.

Through the glass, Klein could clearly see that it was a gentleman with bronze skin, gentle features, and eyes that seemed to carry an indescribable sense of age and experience—his history teacher, the mysterious and enigmatic Azik Eggers, who seemed to be living through a series of restarts in life, constantly seeking his lost memories.

"Mr. Azik..." Klein hurriedly got up and ran to the window, opening it to let Azik Eggers in.

Azik first gave him a once-over from head to toe before speaking warmly, "I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Sorry, I'm ten minutes late and couldn't assist you."

Azik apologized sincerely, referring to his delay in responding to the plea for help during the recent Evil God's offspring incident.

Before charging out to confront Megose, Klein had written to Azik for help, but since Azik was in Backlund at the time, by the time he received the letter and returned, the battle was over.

Fortunately, the outcome of the battle was good; otherwise, Azik would only have been able to mourn Klein at his grave.

"No, no," Klein shook his head quickly, "Mr. Azik, it's already very good of you to be willing to help. Everything was Ince Zangwill's fault."

Klein certainly wouldn't blame Mr. Azik for arriving late. He wasn't someone who was ungrateful or didn't recognize kindness.

On the contrary, if Mr. Azik hadn't arrived suddenly, Klein had been about to write him a letter with good news: "I was just about to write to you, Mr. Azik. Ince Zangwill has been killed, and your child's death has finally been avenged. I also found a characteristic of the Death pathway on him, which might be the skull of your child..."

Klein briefly recounted the recent events, omitting the parts about his transmigration.

Azik listened quietly and finally sighed imperceptibly before softly asking, "Can you help me retrieve the skull? I can exchange something else for it."

Mr. Azik really loves his child... Hearing the depth of emotion in that request, Klein couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow and nodded firmly, "I'll try my best to see if I can exchange my merits for it, but I can't guarantee the result."

Though requesting half a skull might raise suspicion, Klein, who had already shown the Flaring Sun Charm and had mysterious ties with an unknown angel, wasn't too concerned about a little suspicion at this point.

After all, Klein dared to do this partly because he knew the 'hero' halo surrounding him would likely keep him safe despite some out-of-the-box actions. And Mr. Azik had helped him so much; Klein was willing to bear this small cost for him. Klein also trusted Azik's mystery and generosity to provide him with satisfactory compensation.

On the other hand, Klein had noticed from the attitude of the Evernight Church's higher-ups during today's inquiry that they were more tolerant than he had initially thought. As long as they didn't commit betrayal, having some personal secrets didn't seem to matter much to the high-ranking members of the church.

"Thank you," Azik expressed his sincere gratitude.

"You've helped me a lot; it's something I should do," Klein replied, then hesitated as he looked at Azik, before finally asking, "Mr. Azik, do you know that angel?"

"No, I've never encountered such a being, but it might also be something I haven't remembered yet," Azik Eggers reflected for a few seconds before shaking his head. "But based on your description, it seems that he bears you no malice."

Disappointed that Mr. Azik didn't know Lynn either, Klein nodded, having prepared himself for this outcome. "I think so too."

Even though Klein didn't know Lynn's ultimate goal, he hadn't felt any malice from him.

Klein was acutely aware that if someone of Lynn's sequence truly intended to harm him, as a mere Sequence 8, he would be utterly powerless to resist.

Of course, it's possible that he has a larger agenda, so I can't completely let my guard down. At the very least, I must maintain a basic level of vigilance... Klein cautioned himself internally, just as Azik Eggers suddenly said:

"I'll be resigning from my current job soon to focus on searching for my past memories. My first stop will be Backlund. I'll keep an eye out for the angel you described."

"Thank you, Mr. Azik," Klein said sincerely.

Azik smiled gently and replied, "As you said earlier, it's something I should do."

Hearing this, Klein paused, and then the two of them exchanged a look and laughed simultaneously.

"It's late; you should rest. You can write to me if anything comes up." With that, Azik Eggers bid farewell and left.

Klein closed the window, sat at his desk, and finally had time to review the day's events.

Though it ended well, there was no doubt that without the intervention of that fellow transmigrator, today could have been the end of the Tingen Nighthawks team.

"And I, the captain, and Leonard might have been killed by Ince Zangwill, even if we managed to handle Megose and the Evil God's offspring."

Klein felt a sense of helplessness. Despite having the gray fog as a cheat and having eliminated the interference from 0-08, he still couldn't prevent Ince Zangwill's schemes, as if fate was playing a joke on him, providing hints but leaving him helpless to change his destiny.

But what could Klein do except accept the outcome with a smile?

Perhaps this was the clown's predicament.

(Chapter End)