Capítulo 260: Meeting Azik
In Duke Negan's mansion, in a private study.
The fat and tall Duke sat in a high-back chair behind a table, smoking a cigar as he looked at Spellsinger of God and Prime Minister Aguesid and the others opposite him.
After discussing the possible origins of the powerhouse who killed Qilangos, they unanimously believed that he was likely a High-Sequence Beyonder with an unknown motive. It was even possible that he came from a new secret organization.
Prime Minister Aguesid, who was also Duke Negan's younger brother, said solemnly,
"We have to find out the identity of the High-Sequence Beyonder as soon as possible. We have to find out why he came to Backlund. We have to know if he was simply pursuing Qilangos and why he killed Qilangos."
The late Spellsinger of God, Ace Snake, stood up immediately and said,
"I'll immediately make arrangements and contact the Church of Evernight and the Church of Steam. I'll get them to assist in our investigations."
"His Majesty will also get the military and the intelligence agencies to cooperate," Prime Minister Aguesid said with a nod.
After Spellsinger of God and the others left, Duke Negan held his cigar and asked his secretary, "Are any of the guests at the ball injured? If there are any, arrange a schedule. I'll visit them one by one and compensate them."
His secretary was a thin blond young man with delicate features. He looked refined and reserved, but his biggest flaw was that his hairline had deteriorated to the point of exceeding his age.
Upon hearing the duke's question, the young man flipped open the notebook in his hand and meticulously read, "According to the doctors in the mansion, only Baron Ralph, Lord Wright, and Miss Beti suffered some superficial wounds…"
"It's much better than I expected… This is all thanks to the timely assistance of that Detective Bryan," Duke Negan said wistfully before asking cautiously, "By the way, how did he catch the heavy chandelier?"
"He used the statue of Earth Mother from the Church of Earth Mother. It's precisely because of this that he left the mansion in a hurry. This is because the statue has to be sealed once it's activated," the blond secretary reported.
"A statue… I remember that this detective had previously used a statue to save someone during the incident at the headquarters of the Daily Observer?" Duke Negan recalled the information he had read in the past and asked casually.
"Yes, Duke. Ebner Bryan is suspected to be a Blessed of Earth Mother, and the Church of Earth takes very good care of him. That statue should be used to protect him," the blond secretary answered with certainty. At the same time, he took out the information regarding Ebner and placed it on the Duke's desk.
Duke Negan was very satisfied with his secretary's efficiency. He picked up the documents and casually took a few glances. Then, he said with a chuckle, "It seems our hero detective is quite unlucky. There will always be problems at the balls and banquets he attends."
With his breadth of mind, he naturally wouldn't blame it on an uninvolved person. Furthermore, Ebner had just helped him recover quite a bit of his losses—a loss of reputation.
He was only joking, but when he saw his secretary's deadpan expression, he immediately felt bored. He continued, "Earl Hall just came over and told me that he could claim the credit for seeing through Qilangos's disguise for this detective. I'll just treat it as a reward for his reputation…
Heh heh, the Earl is thinking for his daughter!
Since that young detective had really helped me, a little compensation in terms of reputation makes me appear too petty…
At this point, the duke paused and looked at his secretary. He asked, "Lockhart, how do you think I should reward the detective?"
The blond young man named Lockhart seemed to be prepared. Without any hesitation, he replied seriously, "Detective Bryan came from a merchant's family. His family went bankrupt three months ago due to the Grain Act, and his house was repatriated… If you can redeem his old residence and return it to him, the detective will be very grateful to you."
Duke Negan nodded in approbation and smiled. "Very good, I'll leave this matter to you."
Lockhart responded respectfully, then asked seemingly unintentionally, "Duke, about Miss Hall?"
"Heh heh, that most dazzling jewel of Backlund saved my life… Get someone to retrieve the bounty offered by the various countries for Qilangos and hand it over to that lady as soon as possible! Well, you can do it yourself." Duke Negan waved his hand.
"As you command, my duke," Lockhart responded again.
Then, seeing that the duke didn't have any other instructions, he bowed and left. When the door to the study was closed, he suddenly frowned and thought to himself, Could Miss Hall be related to the high-level Beyonder who killed Qilangos? Well, if she really is related, then the bounty of thirty thousand pounds might very well be handed over to that powerhouse… Now that I can handle it personally, I can monitor the flow of the money!
…
At nine in the evening, after escorting Hazel and her family to the Harvest Church, he took a carriage back to his villa on Kingst Street.
Speaking of which, he had no intention of taking the credit for the chandelier, but be it Hazel or Member of Parliament Macht and his wife, none of them wanted her to take the lead. Therefore, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the role as the hero detective.
As for why Hazel's family isn't willing to be in the limelight… If the news of a frail girl catching a chandelier weighing hundreds of pounds with one hand were to get published, Hazel would probably be in an even more difficult position on social circles.
Thankfully, the rescue operation had been initiated by Ebner, and he had played a large role in it. Therefore, it wasn't as awkward as when he claimed credit in the past.
Isn't this a form of improvement? Is there a chance for a promotion in the name of the Wheel of Fortune?
As he lampooned in his heart, he walked into the villa, went up to the third story, and pushed open the door to the study.
Then, he saw a man with bronze skin and soft facial features. Beneath his right ear was a small mole. He was standing beside a desk and looking at a stack of documents.
As for Silika, she stood on the gentleman's shoulder, her head turned to the side as she looked eagerly at the storage room on the side of the study.
This appearance… and the ritual trap I set up in the Death domain didn't activate… This person should be Mr. Azik, right? Heh, Silika sure is reliable!
Upon seeing the intruder, even though he already had a guess in his mind, he still entered a state of alertness. He asked softly, "Who are you?"
"My friend, don't be nervous. My name is Azik. Azik Eggers. I mean no harm… Yes, Silika can testify," Mr. Azik put down the stack of documents and said gently.
It really is Mr. Azik! After letting down his guard, he pretended to shout, "Silika?"
Upon hearing this, Silika immediately cried out in joy as she shot glances at the storage room.
What a glutton! Ebner lampooned, but he still took out a bottle of Amantha extract he named from a nearby cabinet and placed it on the table.
This was a new formula he had learned from the Book of Dead, but it wasn't actually very useful. This was because the effects of this medicine were almost the same as ordinary Amantha potions, but the ingredients used were at least ten times more expensive than ordinary Amantha potions… The only benefit was that the taste was better. At the moment, other than using it to bribe Silika, it was useless.
He even suspected that Jane's ancestor who wrote this book had developed this medicine because of Death's fall and the lack of a backer. He wanted to please the Goddess…
However, for a Beyonder of the Death pathway, to have such high standards for developing medicine was rather ridiculous.
Just as Ebner was letting his imagination run wild, Silika had already flown over to grab the bottle, opened the lid, and happily took in the smell.
"It looks like she wasn't forced by you." Ebner seemed to finally heave a sigh of relief.
In fact, he just didn't want Mr. Azik to know that he had long known of him and was waiting for him to arrive.
"Detective Bryan, I'm sorry that I came uninvited… I even took the liberty of reading your information." Mr. Azik first apologized before pointing at the stack of documents. "However, I couldn't help but read it because I saw something that caught my interest."
The stack of information was actually the investigation report that had been handed to Klein under the prerequisite of Ebner, but he had added a few more personal items.
Upon hearing Mr. Azik's explanation, Ebner sized him up seriously before saying in a fake enlightened manner, "That was an investigation I did for a friend… If your face wasn't disguised, I think you might be the person in the investigation report, right?"
"Yes… It looks like you've already recognized him…" Mr. Azik admitted generously. Then, he sighed and said, "The world sure is small. I think I already know who the friend you entrusted you with is… Heh heh, after all, I received a similar set of information from him, but I didn't have the complete information…"
At this point, Mr. Azik straightened his face and solemnly said to Ebner, "Detective Bryan, I'm very grateful for your investigation. It reminded me of certain things and also pointed out the way for me to investigate my background."
When Ebner heard this, he was about to say something polite, but he suddenly froze.
This was because, at this moment, the Knowledge Keeper potion in his body had been completely digested.
…
In a warehouse at the dock area, a black-robed Jane gloomily observed the nearby police who were constantly searching the area. She said to Admiral of Stars who was already prepared, "I wonder what happened… Why are there so many official inspectors tonight?"
Cattleya shook her head and said with a deadpan expression, "An accident is inevitable… Such a situation isn't suitable for action. Inform the 'bait' you prepared to prevent her from setting off today.
"Whether we take action tomorrow night remains to be seen."
Jane sighed and said helplessly, "That's all we can do…"
…
At the same time, their target, Baron Conva was still sitting in the dark library, staring at a mathematical theorem as he rapidly wrote down his calculations.
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