Tingen City.
Inside a rented carriage, Klein let out a light sigh as he squeezed the paper bag in his arms a little more tightly.
Not much had happened at Blackthorn Security Company. Just a protection case that Leonard and Frye took on and made extra money much to the envy of Klein.
Surprisingly, he had the rest of the day free because Instructor Gawain had something to do. From the smell of perfume and the suit he was wearing, Klein guessed he had a date...
Normally Klein would have been overjoyed by that and would have gone shopping for a Desie Pie to celebrate but today was not the day.
He hoped to use the training as an excuse to delay what he had to do...
He would now go talk to his Professor to discuss his progress in helping him make sense of his dreams that Klein now knew, 100 percent sure, that they were memories of his previous life.
'Come on Klein you can do this... Your Professor is harmless... He is just an ancient monster who has lost his memory and doesn't know who he is and is friends with the Ancestor you stole his name... Yep! Nothing dangerous!' The Seer thought heavily as he tried to cheer himself up.
He had divined multiple times in the space about the gray fog and the result always said that the best time to talk to Azik would be today.
To Klein's misfortune, the way to Azik's house was without a problem and turns to waste time and in 10 minutes he already reached his destination.
Stepping down from the carriage, Klein took a few seconds to calm his heart and breath before walking towards the house.
The houses on this street were of higher quality than on Daffodil Street but just as good as on Howes Street. There was a patch of grass in front of the house and a small garden in the back.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Klein pulled on the door rope, ringing the bell inside the house.
A few moments later, he heard footsteps from inside before the door opened.
Azik mild facial features and his bronze skin appeared before Klein. Because he was home, he was only wearing a white shirt with a brown vest and matching pants.
"Klein? I was just about to write to you." Azik greeted enthusiastically.
Klein looked at the mole below the man's right ear. The corners of his lips trembled.
"Mr. Azik, I found clues about your past."
"Really?" Azik immediately got excited. The sadness in his eyes dulled.
"Let's talk inside." Klein looked around. He had already divined that no one was following him but he couldn't help but look.
Azik nodded. He quickly stepped to the side allowing Klein entry.
He locked the door and led Klein into the living room on the first floor. They sat down on the soft sofa.
"What clues did you find?" Azik asked impatiently.
Even though he didn't want to come, Klein scripted what he was going to say to avoid accidents or saying too much which made him somewhat anxious.
Surprisingly, Azik being so impatient helped the anxiety in Klein's heart to lessen considerably.
'Now he's my Professor who needs help...' He thought to himself before opening his mouth.
Thanks to the script he prepared, Klein explained everything he saw and experienced in Lamud Town.
Beginning with his fight with the Wraith until the discovery of the painting of the first Baron of Lamud.
Azik's expression didn't change much as Klein told his story. The only thing that happened is that his eyebrows furrowed slightly but nothing else.
At the end of the story, Klein looked somewhat anxious at Azik who remained silent.
Leaning forward, Azik crossed his arms.
After a few minutes in silence, he exhaled
"Your description didn't make me remember anything. Maybe I should visit the abandoned castle myself. Could you take me there?"
Klein frowned slightly.
He took a coin out of his pocket and in front of Azik, he tossed it into the air and let it fall into his hand.
Seeing the result, Klein pocketed the coin, and looking into Azik's brown eyes, he nodded.
"It will be my honor."
He wasn't worried that Azik would think of him as someone weird since they were both Beyonders.
"I would like to go home first. I don't want my siblings to worry."
"No problem" Azik replied.
..
2 Daffodil Street. Klein nodded to Azik and hurriedly walked to his front door, pulled his keys out of his pocket, and unlocked the door.
Melissa was already home so she heard the door open and quickly walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
Melissa Moretti is the youngest of the Moretti siblings. She has straight black hair just like her older brothers Klein and Benson. Since they moved into this apartment her face had gained a little more meat and her skin was somewhat pale, she had the lustrous air of a young girl.
Upon seeing Klein, she said with eyes filled with joy.
"I brought groceries. There's chicken, potatoes, onions, fish, turnips, and peas. I even bought a little jar of honey."
'Sister, are you also getting used to the occasional luxury?' Klein thought with a chuckle.
"You'll have to cook dinner today. Count me out as I'll be out of town and won't be back until dawn. I'm doing a favor for Mr. Azik, a professor in the Department of History at Khoy University."
As he spoke, he turned sideways and pointed at the carriage that was waiting for him outside.
Klein did this not only to avoid worrying his siblings, but also in case something happened to him in Lamud Town the Nighthawks would have something to work with.
'It's not that I don't trust you Mr Azik but it's always better to be prepared.' Klein thought, internally apologizing to his professor.
Melissa's lips parted a few times, wanting to say something, but she pursed them and said.
"All right. Take care, Klein."
"I will." Klein said goodbye to his little sister and left. He got on the rented carriage that Azik had paid for and after 2 hours and forty minutes, they were in Lamud Town.
It was almost 6 o'clock when they reached the town and the sky was already darkening.
After he instructed the driver to wait for them, Klein guided Azik to the castle.
As they walked, he noticed that Azik was walking faster and faster, to the point that he had to do a little jog to keep up. In the end, Azik was the one who led.
Klein opened his mouth to say something but cleverly bit back his words when he saw Azik's solemn face.
At such speed, they quickly reached the ancient castle.
Azik looked at the castle ruins. His gaze look deep but lost, as if he was dancing between dreams and reality.
Suddenly, Azik grunted in pain and put a hand to his forehead, his muscles twisted in agony.
"Mr. Azik! Are you alright?!" Klein asked in alarm but he remained in place and didn't activate his Spirit Vision to check the estate of Mr. Azik, his experience with seeing High Sequences with it stopped him.
When they were in the carriage on the way to Lamud Twon he had made a little divination to know if there would be danger.
Azik didn't answer immediately but took another two steps forward with a pained expression. He relaxed the hand that was holding his forehead. He pointed to the front and said in a dreamy tone
"I have seen this castle in my dreams..."
Azik dreamily recounted how he remembered when the walls were strong and high, how he remembered the stables and gardens where he used to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes, about his wife complaining that the castle was dark and gloomy and that she missed the sunlight and its warmth, about his 8-year-old son who carried a wooden sword bigger than him and who would be better than his father...
Klein listened to everything Azik said and couldn't help but feel touched.
'Forget everything you love and only 'remember' it through dreams you don't even know if they are real or not... Is this the price one has to pay to be a High Sequence?' Klein thought darkly, feeling like the world he transmigrated to turn a little darker.
Just at that moment, Mr. Azik stopped muttering and made huge strides toward the main entrance.
He made his way to the castle without Klein's guidance. He found the hidden gear with obvious familiarity and opened the hidden door to the basement and stepped inside.
Holding his cane tightly, Klein followed Azik.
Seeing that he would soon be unable to see due to the darkness, Klein activated his spirit vision and looked at the ground the entire time as he went down the stairs.
Klein reached the place where the coffin was, always keeping his head down.
He listened as Azik moved the coffin lid and was silent for a long time, and suddenly wailed in sorrow and pain.
Klein listened as Azik staggered back with heavy steps, then fell against a wall before he could respond.
Klein heard all this and felt like the surroundings suddenly turned dark.
Slowly, he began to move in the direction of the stairs.
His spirituality told him that the current Mr. Azik had become very scary, so scary that the basement had become gloomy and terrifying.
He trusted Mr. Azik's character but couldn't risk him having a sudden outburst that could hurt him.
In such an uneasy situation, he waited by the stairs for several minutes. Then, he heard Azik slowly get up.
"You don't need to keep your head down. You can look at me." Azik spoke with an emotionless voice.
'Are you sure about that?' Klein wanted to say that but he swallowed his words.
Klein nodded tensely and slowly raised his head, he only looked at Azik's feet but seeing that nothing happened he looked up into the man's emotionless eyes.
'Mr. Azik seems to have changed... This is something my spiritual perception tells me...'
"I've managed to remember something, but it's very small..." Azik said in that same emotionless tone.
He then looked around and said.
"I feel the power that made your fate disharmony.
"Huh?!" Klein was stunned.
He knew whoever was behind this had been here but not that he had left a trail. When he investigated with the Captain and Frye, none of them managed to find anything but Mr. Azik managed to find it after only being here for a few minutes!
Pleasantly surprised, he asked in reply.
"Can you trace the source?"
"It's been a long time, but, I'd like to try." There seemed to be a volcano about to erupt within Azik's deep voice.
Azik walked over to the open coffin and looked at the headless skeleton inside it.
"He took my son's skull. I want to find him through a blood connection."
Klein already knew this and was not surprised at the revelation.
He watched as Azik raised his right hand and suddenly cut his index finger on his fingernail.
A drop of dark red fresh blood accurately dripped onto the white skeleton.
...
Somewhere in the suburbs of Tingen...
Ince Zangwill was now in a dark room and he looked miserable.
There were huge circles under his eyes and his pale blonde hair was in disarray.
He had spent almost all of his time escaping Crestet Cesimir's team and trying to keep a low profile.
He almost got caught multiple times but thanks to 0-08 and the occasional help from Panatiya he managed to escape.
"Just a little more..." The man muttered darkly before he looked to his side and was alarmed.
The pen that he had left sealed on the table had been released and now he was writing in the notebook that he left closed.
Jumping, he grabbed the pen and looked down, and read what it had written.
_Azik Eggers tried to use Blood Divination to find the thief who took his son's skull but due to Ince Zangwill's preparations and that Azik still hadn't recovered his memory, he couldn't find him_
_Ince Zangwill is safe for now_
"What the fuck?" Ince muttered extremely confused at this event.
Seeing that he was safe for now, he quickly resealed the quill as various questions ran through his head.
Wasn't Azik Eggers supposed to be just a history teacher? Why did he cause a reaction from 0-08?
With the quill sealed, the Traitor to the Church of the Evernight Goddess turned his attention to the notebook.
He reread the entire notebook looking for anything else the quill might have written but found nothing.
Sighing heavily, the man ran his hands over his face.
"Every time this happens I always wonder if it was worth stealing 0-08..." The man muttered before shaking his head slightly.
It was too late to regret it and now he could only move on.
Looking down at the notebook, his dark blue eyes turned cold.
Although his plan had met with many setbacks, everything was still in his control.
The Red Gloves wouldn't be able to find him and Megose was safe. Everything was in his control.
Looking down at a name that was written with force, Ince Zangwill clenched his fists in anger.
_Klein Moretti_
"It doesn't matter if Megose is discovered. I already took precautions for that." the Traitor whispered full of hate before closing the notebook.
...
With a heavy, story-laden sigh, Azik said in a deep voice with his back to Klein.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't find him..."