That afternoon, Lin Qi walked into the classroom with his schoolbag—a rare sight.
Quite a few students were already seated in the vast semicircular lecture hall, its seats arranged in tiers. Gram and Yu Lian followed on either side of Lin Qi, swaggering up to the middle seats in the front row and settling down. The other students in the front row glanced at them, then hurriedly got up and moved to the rows behind.
Wherever they went, no other students came within five meters. That was the result of the overwhelming menace Lin Qi and his gang brought with them.
Vik had been captured alive by the Round Table Knights, and Enzo was preparing all the necessary countermeasures. That afternoon's class was a core course taught by Koen, the renowned "Professor of Gold Coins" in the Fifth University's accounting program. For two years, Lin Qi had braved wind and rain to attend Koen's lectures. No matter how important the matter, he had never missed a single one.
Professor Koen, the Professor of Gold Coins, was famous at the Fifth University as a parasite among vampires and a vampire among parasites. He had once wielded great power as the chief minister of the Empire's Logistics Department, but certain suspicions of embezzlement had led to his expulsion from the military. Saint Louis XIII stripped him of every official post, leaving him to come to the Fifth University in disgrace and scrape together a living as an accounting professor, making use of his financial expertise.
What drew Lin Qi in was the professor's unreserved instruction in all sorts of ingenious financial methods: techniques that could make any auditor or accountant's head spin, practical tricks for siphoning off huge sums and embezzling funds without leaving a single trace.
What's more, if you slipped Professor Koen a few glittering Ooh-ooh-calls in private, just a few casual pointers from him could earn you a handsome profit. So, come wind or rain—even if knives were falling from the sky—Lin Qi had never missed a single one of Professor Koen's lectures.
When the bell rang for the afternoon's first class, Professor Koen entered the classroom at a measured pace, hands clasped behind his back and his stooped frame moving with an oddly stiff, steady gait. He was thin, with a face as sharp as an awl, a pair of triangular eyes, and sickly green pupils like a hungry wolf's, always on the prowl for prey.
As Professor Koen entered, more than a hundred third-year students in the Fifth University's accounting program—including Lin Qi, Gram, and Yu Lian—rose together and applauded vigorously, paying their respects to this great figure in the world of finance.
Professor Koen had once risen to the post of chief minister of the military's Logistics Department, overseeing the Empire's entire supply chain and material management for a million troops. Born into poverty, he had owed more than a thousand gold coins outside the military before taking up that post. But after three years as chief minister, when the military expelled him and the Emperor stripped him of every official position, he had already deposited a staggering fifty thousand gold coins in a secret account at a certain bank!
Had that banker not betrayed Professor Koen, no one would have known he possessed such a vast fortune.
And no one knew whether Professor Koen had even more secret accounts with other bankers.
Everything was shrouded in mist. During Professor Koen's three years as chief minister of the Logistics Department, before dismissing him, the Emperor summoned thirty-six auditors and accountants to conduct a thorough, three-month audit of every account in the military's Logistics Department. They found not a single irregularity. Every last copper could be traced, and on paper, Professor Koen was as pure as water.
Yet the fifty thousand gold coins in that secret account were real. No one knew where Professor Koen had gotten the money!
Had that banker not been a close friend of one of Professor Koen's political rivals, had he not violated the first rule of banking by betraying Professor Koen, the professor might still be sitting in his post as chief minister of the military's Logistics Department. In fact, before his expulsion, rumors had even circulated that His Majesty the Emperor intended to make Professor Koen the Empire's finance minister.
What an extraordinary figure he was! How could Lin Qi, Gram, and Yu Lian, all of them burning with a powerful desire for gold coins, not revere Professor Koen as a god?
Professor Koen stood steadily on the podium and looked down at Lin Qi, seated in the middle of the front row. He nodded in satisfaction, then let his gaze linger on Gram for two seconds in particular. Professor Koen was especially fond of Gram's downright miserly nature.
After a slight cough, Professor Koen slowly raised his right hand. "What is our creed?"
"Gold coins! Gold coins! Gold coins!" Every accounting student in the classroom roared, their eyes bloodshot.
"What is our faith?" Professor Koen continued.
"Gold coins! Gold coins! Gold coins!" All the students roared again.
"What is our life's goal?" Professor Koen's voice suddenly climbed three notes.
"Countless gold coins! More gold coins! As many gold coins as possible!" The atmosphere in the classroom reached its boiling point.
Professor Koen lowered his hand, nodded with a dignified air, and said with satisfaction, "Very good. You're all excellent students. Remember what I've taught you: our creed as accountants is to use every legal, rule-abiding means at our disposal to safely tuck glittering gold coins, gleaming silver coins, and dear little copper coins into our pockets."
With a sigh, Professor Koen spoke slowly. "Once again, I must solemnly remind everyone here: choose a reliable banker!"
He gave his shriveled hand a slight wave and began that afternoon's lecture. The topic was: "How to precisely calculate the safe annual limit for embezzling gold coins from a noble household, based on the head of the household's title and estate!"
Lin Qi and the others listened to Professor Koen's teachings, utterly enthralled. Every word he spoke carried the fragrant promise of glittering gold coins!
The two-hour lecture passed in a flash. Just as he had on his way in, Professor Koen strode down the passage reserved for faculty. Lin Qi hurried after him, slipped a gold coin into his pocket without drawing attention, then handed him the parchment Kocha had written.
The parchment listed the types and quantities of experimental materials Kocha had requested from the Fifth University's Logistics Department. As a Master Alchemist, Kocha used materials that were exceedingly rare and hard to find—and correspondingly expensive.
Professor Koen gave the listed materials a reserved glance, narrowed his eyes, and pondered for a moment before lightly patting Lin Qi on the shoulder.
"Ten-leaf Moon Flower Grass can be mixed with Ten-leaf Moonlight Grass. They're almost identical in shape, smell, and every other characteristic. A single stalk of Moonflower Grass is worth three gold coins, but Moonlight Grass is horse feed. They need three thousand stalks here, and they're going to be ground into powder before delivery, so that makes things even easier."
Professor Koen counted it out on his fingers, then nodded. "You can mix in thirty stalks of Moonlight Grass with three thousand stalks of Moonflower Grass without taking any risk."
Lin Qi's eyes lit up. He bowed deeply and respectfully to Professor Koen.
Professor Koen smiled faintly with satisfaction and lightly patted Lin Qi on the shoulder.
"You're a promising sapling. Keep up the good work!"
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