25 · Sacia

"That kind of fortune-telling result can't possibly be accurate!" Stur refused to accept it, but Gallo pointed to the final line on the card: "Fortune-telling services: predicting the likelihood of events. Pay what you wish."

Stur's mouth fell open. It took him a moment to react. "You tell fortunes like this, and then expect me to pay you?"

"But I've already given you an answer, and my predictions are highly accurate." Gallo wanted to emphasize that he had provided a service. Even if Stur didn't accept the result, he still had to pay.

But Gallo went on, "You can pay for this reading next time. When you realize there was nothing wrong with my prediction, I think you'll willingly give me the fee."

"You just flipped a coin." Stur was so exasperated he laughed. He thought Gallo was far too confident. It was true that Gallo had a learning ability beyond ordinary people and a frighteningly good memory, but fortune-telling involved the occult. Students at Imperial Industrial University usually dismissed it as a trick for fooling the gullible.

Besides, a coin toss could only land heads or tails. The odds of guessing the outcome of anything were always fifty-fifty.

"True. I think I should change my approach. Flipping a coin certainly won't make clients happily hand over their money. I should come up with a set of rules for fortune-telling—at the very least, they should look complicated to other people."

He lifted his coffee cup and took a small sip before telling Stur, "You can tell Miss Sacia that I have an hour off from three to four this afternoon. Since you're a friend, she can come see me any time after three. If she needs any other services from me, she can come by whenever."

As Stur was about to leave, Gallo called him back. He opened the corrugated cardboard box at the corner of the table, revealing five carefully crafted cloth dolls.

"It's best to bring a little gift or a pleasant surprise when you're meeting a girl. Want to buy one? One copper nil each."

At three in the afternoon, Stur indeed showed up at the Moonlight Cafe with a young woman. During Gallo's personal break, the people who had been gathered around him in line dispersed of their own accord. Even those still hoping to buy his paid knowledge services found an empty table or shared one with someone else, ordered a cup of coffee, and waited quietly for his break to end.

At times like this, anyone standing across from Gallo had to be a friend on good terms with him, there to chat about things outside of work.

Beside Stur, platinum-blond hair fell over the shoulder of a dark blue student uniform. Her sapphire eyes seemed to have been tempered in ice.

She had to be the Sacia Taylor Stur had mentioned.

She was taller than Gallo had imagined. Even in a crowd, her cool demeanor would have made her stand out.

No wonder Stur had been so excited—and even let his imagination run wild—when she'd approached him.

"Mr. Gallo, even at school, I've heard friends talk about your reputation on Lubo Lane," Sacia began. Her voice was calmer than he'd expected, entirely free of unnecessary emotion.

Stur nervously rubbed his hands beside her, wanting to join in but unsure what to say.

Gallo stood and nodded. "Miss Taylor, please sit."

He invited the two of them to take a seat.

"Stur said you were interested in my abilities?" Gallo skipped the small talk and got straight to the point, his gaze settling calmly on Sacia's face.

Sacia gave a slight nod, the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. "More precisely, I'm interested in your ability to process information efficiently.

"My classmate Stur speaks very highly of you."

Her precise, restrained choice of words carried the detachment of an academic discussion, as if she had no desire to form a personal connection.

"I'm just a street consultant who offers paid services." Gallo smiled and lifted his coffee cup. He calmly responded with a maturity and composure that didn't match his apparent age.

"Then, Miss Taylor, are you looking for a book, or do you need help analyzing one? What are you researching?"

Stur finally found a chance to speak. "Miss Sacia is in the History Department! She's done a lot of research on the ancient civilizations of the Southern Continent!"

"That's right." Sacia picked up the conversation, her gaze passing casually over the piece of cardboard Gallo had set aside.

"If you're in the History Department, why did you ask Stur to lend you research notes on works by the Engineering Department last night?" Gallo asked.

"Sometimes archaeological excavations turn up things that are astonishing and show just how impressive the ancients' ingenuity was. We also often work with students from the Engineering Department during excavations. There are many ancient engineering sites left behind by the ancients that History Department students simply can't understand or decipher."

Sacia's answer was, in a way, a subtle explanation of Gallo's earlier question.

Then she asked, "You've read a lot of books, haven't you, Mr. Gallo? You must know quite a bit about books from the History Department too."

"Mm... I have read quite a lot—the colonial history of the Southern Continent, the history of the Northern Continent, world sailing logs, maritime trade history... all sorts of subjects." He continued, "I also know Professor Vanason from the History Department, though I haven't seen him today."

"Professor Vanason is a highly respected History Department professor. Have you read his work, The Thousand-Year Dynasty of Askia on the Southern Continent?" Sacia asked at just the right moment.

"I have."

"Actually, my main reason for entering the History Department was my interest in the ancient dynasties of the Southern Continent." Sacia smiled, then took a brown leather notebook from her handbag and placed it on the table. There were no words on its leather cover.

"I came across this notebook by chance while surveying ancient ruins on the Southern Continent. I found it at a local market, but I don't think it's an old notebook. The material couldn't possibly have survived so well from ancient times.

"Besides, it's obvious that a modern industrial workshop made it."

"So..." Gallo looked at her.

"I need you to help translate the contents of this notebook. It's written in ancient hieroglyphs from the Askia Dynasty. I don't know who wrote it or when, but I have a feeling that if we can translate the whole thing, it'll cause a huge stir in academia."

She added softly, "Of course, there's a little self-interest involved. I'd rather be the first person to make this discovery."

Gallo picked up the notebook. The leather felt cool beneath his fingertips, yet something about it struck him as strange.

He opened the first page. Dense red symbols filled it, identical to the hieroglyphs and symbols in the research materials Jeffrey had brought to Professor Vanason.

"Why do you think I can translate this notebook?" Gallo asked directly.

Sacia smiled and brushed the hair back from her forehead. "Maybe I'm just trusting my luck and giving it a try."

"If you can translate the entire notebook, I'll give you fifty nalang." Sacia's voice remained calm, but Gallo and Stur stared at her in shock.

Gallo's fingers paused. Fifty nalang was roughly what Aisha would earn after more than two years working in a factory. More than two years of a worker's wages, just to translate a notebook.

He looked up at Sacia. There wasn't a ripple in her eyes, as if she were discussing nothing more than an ordinary business deal.