Chapter 98: Mr. Azik

Chapter Ninety-Eight
Mr. Azik

Faced with his sister’s question, Klein could only smile bitterly.

“Muscle soreness.”

He had originally assumed that after consuming a Sequence potion and becoming a Beyonder, his physical constitution would improve at least somewhat. But cruel reality informed him that the Seer’s skill points had all been added to spirituality, mind, intuition, and interpretation. They did not help him adapt to combat training any faster.

And the original Klein had spent years focusing on study while also being somewhat malnourished, leaving his physical fitness in the lower-middle range. The “aftereffects” he now suffered could only be called perfectly normal.

“Muscle soreness? I remember you came back after dinner yesterday and did nothing else… Could alcohol make one’s muscles ache?” Melissa asked with strong investigative spirit.

Could alcohol make one’s muscles ache…

Sister, that question of yours… that question really makes people involuntarily think in the wrong direction…

Klein laughed dryly twice.

“No. It has nothing to do with alcohol. It was because of yesterday afternoon. I joined the company’s combat training.”

“Combat?” Melissa looked even more surprised.

Klein rapidly organized his words.

“It is like this. I considered—I believe that as the history and antiquities consultant for a security company, I cannot remain forever inside the office or the dock warehouses. Perhaps one day in the future, I may need to go with them into the countryside, to old castles, to the original locations where cultural relics were found. On the way, there may be mountains to climb, rivers to cross, many, many roads to walk, and all sorts of trials imposed by nature. In that case, I must possess a sufficiently healthy body.”

“So you joined combat training to improve your physique?” Melissa understood what her brother meant.

“Yes,” Klein answered affirmatively.

Melissa’s brows drew together slightly.

“But that is not very gentlemanly… Have you not always held yourself to the standards of a professor? Professors only need to read literature, consider difficult questions, and be refined and graceful.

“Of course, I am not saying this is bad. I like men who can solve problems themselves, whether with muscle or with brains.”

Klein smiled.

“No, no, no, Melissa. Your definition of a professor contains a certain misunderstanding. A true professor can communicate with others in a refined and gentle manner, and when communication encounters obstacles, he can also lift his cane and persuade the other party through physical means.”

“Physical means…”

Melissa did not react at first, but soon understood what her brother meant. For a moment, she could not find words to refute him.

Klein said no more. With difficulty, he moved his legs and shifted toward the washroom.

Melissa stood where she was, watched for several seconds, and suddenly shook her head. In two steps, she caught up with him.

“Do you need help?”

She assumed the posture of offering support.

“No. No need. There was a certain element of performance just now.”

Feeling that his dignity had been insulted, Klein abruptly straightened his back and walked normally.

Watching her brother stride steadily into the washroom and close the door, Melissa pressed her lips together and muttered quietly, “Klein is becoming more and more exaggerated… I actually thought his muscle soreness was truly that severe…”

Inside the washroom, Klein stood behind the tightly shut door, his face suddenly contorting.

“Pain, pain, pain…”

He held his breath, tensed his body, and spent a full seven or eight seconds recovering.

Only after he had struggled downstairs, finished breakfast, and watched Benson and Melissa leave did he feel that the soreness was no longer quite so life-threatening.

After resting for a while, Klein took his cane, put on his hat, and slowly left home, heading toward the stop for the rail carriage.

…

Hoy University during the summer vacation was shaded by green trees, filled with thriving flowers and birdsong, peaceful and quiet.

After walking for a while along the river, Klein turned onto the road leading to the history department. He found the rather old three-story gray-stone building and then his mentor Cohen Quentin’s office.

He knocked and entered, only to look over in surprise and find Instructor Azik seated in his mentor’s place.

“Good morning, Mr. Azik. Where is my mentor? We agreed by letter to meet at ten,” Klein asked in puzzlement.

Azik, a friend of Cohen Quentin’s and an instructor who often argued with him over academic questions, smiled.

“Cohen had a sudden meeting and went to Tingen University. He asked me to wait here for you.”

His skin was bronze, his build medium, his hair black and eyes brown, his features gentle. In his gaze, there was always an indescribable sense of vicissitudes, while below his right ear was a small mole almost impossible to notice without looking closely.

After explaining, Azik suddenly frowned and carefully examined Klein several times.

“Is there anything improper about my appearance?” Klein looked over his own clothing blankly.

Tailcoat, black waistcoat, white shirt, black bow tie, dark trousers, buttonless leather boots… everything is normal…

Azik’s brows relaxed, and he gave a chuckle.

“No need to mind it. I only suddenly discovered that you look far more spirited than before, and more like a gentleman.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Klein accepted frankly, then asked, “Mr. Azik, did my mentor find Studies of Ancient Relics on the Main Peak of the Hornacis in the university library?”

“He found it—with my help.”

Azik smiled gently. He then pulled open a drawer and took out a gray-covered book.

“You are no longer a student of Hoy University, so you can only read it here. You cannot take it away.”

“All right.”

Klein accepted the academic monograph with joy that carried a trace of fear.

The book’s design entirely matched the current fashion trend. Its front and back covers were made of thick paper; the patterns were illustrations forming an abstract image of the main peak of the Hornacis.

Klein glanced at it, found a seat, opened the book, and began reading line by line with great care.

He was reading with absorption when he suddenly discovered a cup of coffee beside his hand. Its fragrance was rich and pure.

“Add sugar and milk yourself.”

Azik set down a small silver tray and pointed toward the milk pot and cube-sugar box.

“Thank you.”

Klein nodded gratefully.

He casually added three sugar cubes and one spoonful of milk, then continued reading as though he could barely taste anything.

Studies of Ancient Relics on the Main Peak of the Hornacis was not thick. Close to noon, Klein finished reading it and grasped several points that required attention.

“First, the biological settlements on and around the main peak of the Hornacis had clearly developed into a civilization. An ancient nation existed there.

“Second, judging from the murals, their appearance showed no difference from human beings. They can preliminarily be regarded as human.

“Third, they revered and feared the night, and from this they personified a deity to worship. They called this deity the Lord of Night, Mother of the Sky.

“Fourth, the strangest thing is that throughout the entire region, no burial sites belonging to this country were found. This creates a strange impression: its residents did not need burial, and perhaps might not even die. Yet this contradicts what the murals show. According to the murals, the people of this nation believed that death was not the end, and that deceased relatives would protect them within the night. Thus, they would leave dead relatives at home, upon the bed, beside the pillow, for three full days.

“After that, the murals stop. They do not involve the burial process.”

Klein drank a mouthful of coffee and continued writing his “reading reflections” in his notebook.

“Mother of the Sky—Sky Mother. A very lofty title. As for Lord of Night, it clearly overlaps with the Evernight Goddess… Is this the source of the contradiction?

“Within the ancient ruins on and around the main peak of the Hornacis, all displays and furnishings are perfectly preserved. The murals also show no signs of damage. Before being discovered, the area seems not to have been disturbed in the slightest… Plates remain on tables, with dried traces of decay upon them… In some rooms, there is even half a bottle of wine that has nearly turned into clear water…

“Where did the people of this nation go? They seem to have left their homes in a great hurry, without packing anything away, and never returned afterward.

“When connected to the absence of burial sites, the matter becomes even stranger.

“The author, Mr. Joseph, also mentions that when he first discovered these ruins, he even thought their residents had evaporated in an instant.”

Klein stopped his fountain pen and shifted his gaze to an illustration.

It was a black-and-white photograph taken by John Joseph with a new-model camera on his third trip to the main peak of the Hornacis.

In the photograph, the palace was towering and majestic, its walls collapsed, wild grass spreading everywhere, its style characterized chiefly by grandeur.

When Klein had first flipped to this photograph, he had instantly remembered the palace he had seen in his dream.

The two styles tended toward the same direction, except that the one in his dream was located at the mountain peak and was far more magnificent. At its seat of honor stood a giant chair that seemed not to belong to humans, and countless transparent maggots were gathered in a mass, wriggling slowly.

It can be confirmed that my dream is connected to the ancient ruins on the main peak of the Hornacis… That should be the Nation of Evernight mentioned in the Antigonus family notebook…

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly and closed the book.

At that moment, Azik sat across from him and touched the inconspicuous black mole below his right ear.

“How was it? Did you gain anything?”

“Quite a bit. Look, I wrote so many pages of notes,” Klein said with a smile, pointing at the tabletop.

“I do not understand why you suddenly became interested in this matter,” Azik casually remarked. Then he changed the topic. “Klein, when I studied at university in Backlund, I came into contact with certain things related to divination, and did some research in that area. Mm, I have discovered that there is something disharmonious about your fate.”

What?

Divination?

You are talking divination with me?

As a Seer, Klein looked at the instructor opposite him with amusement.

“What is disharmonious?”

Azik thought for a moment.

“Have you encountered many coincidences during the past two months?”

“Coincidences?”

Because Mr. Azik had once helped him, Klein did not resist the other party’s question and subconsciously began recalling.

If one truly speaks of coincidence, the most obvious matter was this: when they pursued the kidnappers, they had unexpectedly discovered clues to the Antigonus family notebook, which had been missing for several days, in the room directly opposite the kidnappers’ hideout.

And then, Ray Bieber had not escaped Tingen. Instead, he had hurriedly found a place to digest the power granted by the notebook, which allowed Sealed Artifact 2-049 to easily track him down. That counted as somewhat contrary to common sense… Although Mr. El Hassan’s explanation was reasonable, I still feel it was rather coincidental…

Mm, after Selena secretly looked at Hynas Vincent’s hidden incantation, she held back all the way until the birthday dinner before trying it, and it just happened to be discovered by me. That also feels a little coincidental… Otherwise Hynas Vincent would not have suddenly died like that…

Klein considered it seriously for several minutes before saying, “There were three. Not too many. Not too frequent. And I cannot find any trace of interference or guidance by others.”

Azik nodded lightly.

“Emperor Roselle once said that anyone may encounter one pure coincidence. Two also falls within the normal range. But three means one must consider whether some internal factor is guiding them.”

“Can you see anything?” Klein asked probingly.

Azik laughed and shook his head.

“I can only see a slight disharmony. I cannot discover anything else. You must understand: I am not a true diviner.”

Then isn’t that the same as saying nothing…

Mr. Azik is a little strange… acting like a charlatan before me, an actual charlatan…

Klein exhaled. Taking advantage of the moment Azik stood, he pinched the space between his brows and activated spirit vision.

With one glance, Azik’s aura entered his eyes in full. Every aspect looked normal.

Unfortunately, only above the gray fog can I see into the depths of another person’s Ether Body and the surface of their Astral Body…

Klein lightly tapped his glabella and took the opportunity to stand, his thoughts leisurely drifting.