Chapter 32: The Mischief-Maker's Grand Success

"Yes, we're Mr. Azik's friends," Klein and Evah both nodded.

"Can I ask you two uncles to take care of my dad?" the girl said, clasping her hands together with a heartfelt expression. "Please, it's really important to me." As she spoke, her gaze lingered mostly on Evah.

As the summoned, she could sense who had called her forth.

"I will," Klein said, unable to refuse such a request, nodding immediately.

Evah nodded too. "I'll look after Azik."

"That's wonderful! Thank you, uncles," the girl said, flashing a radiant smile.

Evah sighed and reminded her, "You have thirty seconds left."

"Got it. Thanks for the heads-up, uncle—you're a good person," the girl said, turning back to Azik. Her face showed reluctance, but she quickly smiled again, hugging him tightly. "Alright, Dad, I have to go back. The past me still needs me!"

"But if I could, I'd love, love to come back to this era and see you again, Dad."

"Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!"

…

Watching Azik, now silent after his daughter's disappearance, Evah didn't interrupt, instead quietly sensing the digestion progress of his Mischief-maker potion.

Just moments ago, his Mischief-maker potion had digested significantly, nearly matching the boost he got from spooking Pallez. It was completely unexpected.

But Evah wasn't clueless. He quickly pieced it together, muttering to himself, "I see. It's not just about pranking others for my own amusement to digest the Mischief-maker potion. Bringing joy to others while pleasing myself works too… Is this a two-way acting?"

A realization hit him. His preconceived notions about Nyar had led him to equate the Mischief-maker potion's acting with the behavior of a sadistic thrill-seeker. But now, it seemed the Mischief-maker wasn't just about causing chaos for others—it also included bringing happiness to others, thereby finding joy oneself.

"I was too narrow-minded. Fun-seeker, Mischief-maker—the focus is on fun. As long as it brings me joy, it's probably acting. Defining fun only as pranking others is too limited," Evah thought, gaining a deeper understanding of his pathway and exhaling in relief.

While Evah pondered the true essence of being a Trickster, Azik finally stood. He looked at Jack Jones and Klein, who were watching him with concern, and managed a faint smile. "Sorry for worrying you."

"Mr. Azik, are you okay?" Klein asked, noting Azik's visibly poor state.

"Mr. Azik, don't be sad. You can see your daughter again. I can ask my teacher for another Time Gem. He dotes on me—he'll give it to me, maybe just scold me a few times…" Evah said, looking worried, fully in character.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Azik said, warmed by their concern. He turned to Evah, shaking his head. "Thank you, Jack, but no need…"

Evah blinked, confused. "Mr. Azik, don't you want to see your daughter again?"

"Of course I do, but this is my burden, and I should bear the cost," Azik said gently. Though he hadn't recovered many memories, it was enough to realize how precious the Time Gem Jack Jones used was.

Jack's teacher clearly cherished him, entrusting him with such an item for protection. But that didn't mean Jack could squander it. Once or twice was fine, but too many times, and what would his teacher think of him?

Azik desperately wanted to see his daughter again, but not at the cost of deceiving Jack or exploiting his naivety to get more Time Gems, risking his teacher's disapproval.

So Azik looked at Jack Jones kindly and said, "Jack, I'd like to meet your teacher."

He wanted to speak directly with Jack's teacher about the Time Gems.

"Huh?" Jack's looked surprised, as if caught off guard by Azik's change of mind, but he quickly nodded happily. "Sure, I'll write to my teacher when I get back."

He paused, then added hesitantly, "But my teacher's been really busy lately. I'm not sure if he can make time to meet you."

"No problem. I don't mind waiting," Azik said with a gentle smile, then added solemnly, "Jack, thank you."

"I owe you one. If you ever need help with anything I can do, I'll do my best," Azik said earnestly, his sincerity unmistakable.

"Oh? This… I mean, I didn't do much. You're too kind, Mr. Azik," Evah said, feigning embarrassment while inwardly grinning ear to ear.

Thanks to this series of moves, Azik's favorability had skyrocketed. Now, Evah could borrow power up to Sequence 3 Ferryman level from him.

Family ties really are Azik's weak spot… Evah thought gleefully, unsurprised that he hadn't maxed out Azik's favorability.

Favorability was always harder to raise the higher it got. Becoming casual friends was easy, but moving to close friends, best friends, or ride-or-die allies was progressively tougher. Jumping from the high nineties to a perfect hundred was a qualitative leap.

So Evah never expected to max out Azik's favorability quickly. Reaching the high eighties was already stellar progress, letting him breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Since arriving in the Lord of Mysteries world, Evah had been on edge, given its dangers. Now, with access to Ferryman-level power—short of angel-tier but enough to face most threats with confidence—he felt more secure.

"With Ferryman power at my disposal, it's time to meet Medici. My Mischief-maker potion is nearly digested, so I should start hunting for high-Sequence Hunter pathway items," Evah mused, planning how to build rapport with Medici.

For starters, summoning a Shadow of Time of the Ancient Sun God should earn him plenty of favor.

As for whether Medici, upon learning the truth about being "cooked in a hotpot" back then, might turn against Adam in the future?

What did that have to do with Evah? He wasn't buddies with the Ancient Sun God, had never met Adam, and was only loosely allied with the True Creator. He wasn't involved in the hotpot incident and had no reason to know its details.

So, if Medici flipped out at Adam, what did that matter to Evah?

(End of Chapter)