(This chapter could also have been called "Dazzled in the Light"—but it wasn't.)
As they finished discussing the Suppression Bureau, a customer happened to come in.
He was a young man in glasses. Though he wore a thick coat, he still had an unmistakably scholarly air. Clearly, he was a student.
He bought a book about Greek called A Detailed Grammar of Ancient Greek, co-written by two Germans, Kühne and Goethe. It was, in fact, a book in German.
Pan Long knew a fair amount of English, some Japanese, and a little Latin, Italian, and German. He had picked up those last three when a friend dragged him along on an archaeological dig in the Apennine Peninsula, but his knowledge was superficial—roughly at the level of, Oh, I can tell this is Latin/Italian/German.
After the customer left, Pan Long could not help asking, "Why would a Briton buying an Ancient Greek textbook in Britain end up with a book in German?"
"Because it's cheap, and... I suppose he knows German," Mr. Ailo said unconcernedly. "Anyway, when you're learning Ancient Greek, the language of the textbook doesn't matter in the slightest."
He had a point. Ancient Greek was a language buried by history. Finding a textbook at all was rare enough; there was little room to worry about what language it was written in.
"Why is he learning Ancient Greek? Does he want to decipher some ancient text, or study some ancient ruins?" Pan Long wondered aloud.
"It doesn't matter either way," Mr. Ailo said. "The spirituality of the Mansus has yet to awaken in him. For now, 'research' is still quite safe for him."
He sat down again, picked up the bottle, and took a long drink. "Let's get back to those 'organizations worth watching.' If you're active in London,