At No. 2 Daffodil Street, Klein nodded to Azik, strode to the front of the house, took out his key, and opened the door.
Melissa, who had already returned home, heard the sound of the lock turning and hurried from the kitchen towards the living room.
Upon seeing Klein, her eyes brightened as she spoke:
"I've bought the groceries: chicken, potatoes, onions, fish, turnips, and peas. I also bought a small jar of honey."
"Little sister, have you gotten used to these occasional little 'luxuries'?" Klein chuckled softly.
"You'll have to prepare dinner tonight. Don't worry about mine; I have to go out and might not be back until the early hours. Um, could you do a favor for Professor Azik, the history professor at Hoy University?"
As he spoke, he turned halfway and pointed to the carriage waiting outside the door.
Melissa's lips opened and closed twice, then she pursed them and said:
"OK."
Klein bid farewell to his sister, walked out the door, boarded the rental carriage hired by Azik, and arrived at the Ramde Town after two hours and forty minutes.
It was nearly nine o'clock, and the sky was completely dark, with only the occasional Crimson Moon piercing through the clouds and scattered stars illuminating the areas without gas streetlights.
After instructing the coachman to wait in the town, Klein led Azik on the road to the abandoned castle.
As they walked, he noticed that Azik was getting faster and faster, forcing him to jog to keep up. Eventually, Azik was leading the way.
Klein wanted to say something, but seeing the other person's silent face and tightly pursed lips, he wisely swallowed his words back.
At this speed, the two arrived at the abandoned castle in no time.
Almost reduced to ruins, it stretched its body outwards in the thick darkness, its spire pointing towards the sky—desolate, wild, gloomy, and dim.
Azik gazed at the abandoned ancient castle and slowed his pace.
He stopped there, his gaze sometimes deep and sometimes unfocused, as if he were constantly wavering between dreams and reality.
Suddenly, he groaned in pain, raised his hand to pinch his forehead, and the muscles in his face Distortion into a ferocious grimace.
"Mr. Azik, what's wrong?" Klein asked cautiously, activating his Spirit Vision.
On the way back to Daffodil Street in a horse-drawn carriage, he secretly performed a quick Divination by playing with a coin, predicting that his return to Ramde would be almost without danger.
However, he believed that Divination was not omnipotent and was always wary of Error or having problems with the organization of the Divination statements. In addition, Instructor Azik was a powerful figure with a strong mysterious aura. No one knew what his past was like or how he would react if he encountered a provocation. Caution, vigilance, and worry became normal emotions for Klein.
Azik didn't answer immediately. His expression pained, he took two steps forward, released his grip on his forehead, pointed ahead, and said in a dreamlike tone:
I've seen this castle in my dreams.
"Back then, it was still intact, with sturdy outer walls and a towering spire."
"I remember there were stables there, a well there, soldiers' barracks there, and a field there that was cleared out to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes..."
"I remember there was a training ground there. My child, a boy, only seven or eight years old, loved to run around dragging a broadsword taller than himself, saying he wanted to be a knight someday..."
My wife always complains that the castle is too dark; she loves sunshine and warmth...
Klein, who was scrutinizing the other person's aura, felt a chill run down his spine, yet was also slightly moved, as if he were personally experiencing a supernatural story.
This ancient castle is indeed connected to Mr. Azik... Could he really be the first Baron Lamud, a supernatural being who has lived for thirteen or fourteen hundred years? Is he human or Evil Spirit? No, what kind of Evil Spirit runs around in the sunlight and has even had contact with the Nighthawks... Klein couldn't control his thoughts, letting them collide with each other and sparking even more ideas.
Just then, Azik stopped muttering and stepped through the door.
He made his way through the interior, and without Klein's guidance, he skillfully found the mechanism and opened the secret door leading to the basement.
Gripping his cane tightly, Klein lagged two steps behind his opponent and descended the stairs, returning to the spot where the coffin lay.
Unlike what I had seen before, the coffin lid was now closed, and the feeling of warmth and purity had vanished completely.
The coffin was covered... It must have been Frye who did it; it's the professional ethics of a " Corpse Collector "... Klein nodded thoughtfully, using his Spirit Vision to watch the emotionally distraught Instructor Azik walk to the front of the coffin.
Azik reached out and pushed open the coffin lid, creating a small gap.
He stared for a long time at the headless skeleton inside, and suddenly let out a mournful cry that sounded like sadness and pain.
With heavy steps, Azik stumbled backward and fell before Klein could react, sliding down the wall.
He covered his face with his hands and sat there listlessly, the surrounding environment seemingly growing even darker.
Klein took two steps forward, intending to reach out, but then withdrew, not daring to disturb him.
Just then, his Spirit Intuition told him that Mr. Azik was now terrifying, so terrifying that the basement had become cold and eerie again.
Klein moved closer to the stairs.
He trusted Mr. Azik's character, but feared the man might lose control.
He waited for a few minutes in this unease, and finally saw Azik lower his hands and slowly stand up.
Mr. Azik seemed to have changed a bit... This was the answer my Spirit Intuition gave me... But in my Spirit Vision, the color of his aura hadn't changed significantly, and his emotions were just as low, lost, and painful as before... Klein quickly made his judgment and felt that Instructor Azik had become more profound and more dignified.
"I remember some things, but only a small part," Azik said in a flat tone.
Then, he looked around and said:
"I sense here the force that throws your Fate out of balance."
"Huh?" Klein was taken aback at first, then asked with delight, "Can you trace its origin?"
The mastermind residing in the Red Chimney House, besides orchestrating coincidences, also came to Ramde Castle and took the head of the black-armored knight?
What exactly does he want to do? What is his true purpose?
"It's been too long, but I want to give it a try." Azik's deep voice seemed to hold the power of an impending volcano.
"How do we try it?" Klein asked curiously.
Azik walked back to the front of the coffin, gazing at the skeleton inside, and said:
"He took my child's skull, and I want to find him through the bond of blood."
Your child? Mr. Azik, are you sure that black-armored knight is your child? You really are an old-fashioned person... Do you really lose your memory every now and then? And is this the price for gaining a long life? Klein took a deep breath, feeling a strange sense of encountering Mythical Creature.
At that moment, Azik extended his right hand and used his suddenly sharp thumbnail to cut his index finger.
A drop of bright red blood fell and stained the white bone precisely.
It quickly seeped inside, instantly turning the entire skeleton blood red.
Wah! Wah! Wah! Klein suddenly heard a baby crying and felt someone staring at him from behind.
He abruptly pulled out his revolver, pointed it behind him, and then slowly turned around, but all he could see was emptiness; there was nothing there.
Even the stairs leading to the ground are gone!
Wow! Wow~!
The baby's cries pierced Klein's ears. He looked at the coffin again and was astonished to see faces, some invisible and some Distortion, rising with black mist and forming a strange door.
Squeak!
The illusory gate opened, and pale arms stretched out eagerly, but before Azik, they all evaporated into black mist.
Through the crack in the door, Klein saw a white skull, carelessly discarded beneath a dark brown tree, rotting into powder in the wind.
Clang!
Countless pale arms were severed by the suddenly closing door and fell to the ground.
At that moment, Klein heard a long sigh, a sigh from Mr. Azik, a sigh that seemed to pierce through the weight of history.
With that sigh, the black mist vanished abruptly, the baby's crying stopped abruptly, and everything returned to normal, only now it was much colder.
Klein gritted his teeth, shivering, and looked into the coffin. He saw that the crimson bones had turned back to white, a crystalline white.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't find him..." Azik said in a low voice, his back to Klein.
At the same time, he reached out and closed the coffin lid.
"It's normal if you don't find it; finding it would be a pleasant surprise," Klein reassured him.
Anyway, I've been disappointed many times in this matter... he silently added to himself.
Azik glanced at the coffin in front of him again, then slowly turned around and said:
"I will continue to investigate, and I hope to get your help."
"No problem, that's exactly what I want to do." Klein resisted the urge to tell Azik about the "Red Chimney" right now.
Because saying anything is useless; only he himself can confirm the goal.
However, this also solved a major problem for him: how to lure the Nighthawks in after finding the Red Chimney House. He simply didn't believe that he could take down such a mysterious and terrifying mastermind on his own.
Now, he can seek Mr. Azik's help!
Azik opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. He simply sighed and silently walked towards the steps.
After leaving the basement and closing the hidden door, the two walked silently along the path overgrown with weeds and thorns towards the abandoned castle.
In the deep darkness of the night, Azik suddenly spoke:
"Once this matter is resolved, I will resign and leave Tingen to pursue my lost past."
"Mr. Azik, do you understand what happened to you?" Klein asked, unable to hide his curiosity.