"Have we?"
Julian smiled at Lanevus, whose eyes held a hint of amusement, and asked with a laugh.
"Yes."
Lanevus nodded, his expression certain.
"It was three years ago. We met aboard a passenger ship traveling from Feynapotter to Pritz Harbor.
"At the time, I had only just obtained the potion formula for 'Marauder,' but some lawsuits forced me to leave Feynapotter... I heard that you had done certain things in Lenburg that violated the rules and offended the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. That was why you had to leave Azshara.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
The atmosphere in the private dining room immediately grew awkward.
Hanass Vincent looked at Julian with understanding and excitement in his eyes. Julian, meanwhile, stopped smiling and quietly stared at Lanevus, his gaze seemingly vacant and dazed.
The motive behind exposing his past directly in front of others was perfectly clear.
First, it stripped away Julian's disguise, establishing that both sides were Beyonders while creating the impression that they already knew his background and had leverage over him.
This would naturally diminish Julian's standing, allowing the members of the Aurora Order to introduce anti-establishment values into the ensuing conversation, which Julian would have no choice but to accept wholesale.
Although Julian was currently under the protection of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Aurora Order only needed to spread a few rumors to put him in a very difficult position, despite his title of assistant professor and his high social standing.
It was an implicit threat, as well as the foundation for an "equal dialogue" between the two sides.
Seeing Julian's expression and the change in it, Lanevus could not help feeling pleased with himself.
He knew he had touched a sore spot, causing Julian's humiliation to turn into anger. The assistant professor was simply maintaining enough restraint not to lash out on the spot.
Regardless, Lanevus had achieved his goal. Through this approach, the Swindler had helped the Aurora Order gain the upper hand in the conversation, which would also help raise his own standing within the organization.
In reality, however, things were completely different from what Lanevus imagined. Julian was not angry. Instead, he was diverting part of his attention to silently repeating the Evernight Goddess's honorific name.
By doing so, he temporarily suppressed the faint stirrings of the Colour Out of Space within him. Just as Julian had expected, this mythical creature from outer space displayed hostility not only toward Beyonders of the Seer pathway, but also toward those of the Marauder pathway.
Barring any surprises, Beyonders of the Apprentice pathway would probably receive the same treatment if they appeared before Julian.
Had he not been working hard to restrain the already agitated Colour Out of Space, the self-satisfied Lanevus before him would have been devoured by that deadly iridescence before he could finish even half a sentence.
On the other hand, Julian was not afraid of Lanevus's threat at all, because he had never expected to remain in Tingen forever.
To an ordinary person, Julian was already a success in life. He had good social standing, a well-paid job, and the protection of an orthodox church. For the vast majority, such a life was something they could only dream of.
But only Julian himself knew that the moment he became entangled with the Colour Out of Space, he had been destined for a life far removed from the ordinary.
Moreover, he possessed more knowledge of mysticism than ordinary Beyonders. Unless he lost control and died during an advancement, he would inevitably press onward toward the mid and high sequences.
This concerned not only power, but survival. The apocalypse would arrive in a little over a decade at most. Only by becoming at least an angel, or even a King of Angel, would he gain the rudimentary ability to control his own fate.
When that time came, he would have to leave Tingen for a larger city, or even venture onto the Five Seas, to obtain better resources and find rarer potion ingredients, Sealed Artifacts, and the like.
Even if the road ahead was shrouded in mist, even if it might put him within the Church of Knowledge's hunting grounds again, Julian had to do it.
Thus, he did not care about Lanevus's threat at all. On the contrary, he found the man's behavior rather amusing.
What was more, Lanevus's appearance was an unexpected bonus for Julian, giving him a few new ideas.
While both sides remained silent, the door to the private room suddenly opened, and a figure walked in.
He was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with gray-blue eyes, thick, unruly eyebrows, and little hair remaining.
He wore a black double-breasted formal coat with its collar turned up high.
"Good evening, Sirius."
Upon seeing the man arrive, Hanass Vincent took the opportunity to change the subject.
"Julian, this is Sirius Arapis. He's a cloth merchant with quite a substantial business."
At that, Julian shifted his gaze away from Lanevus's face and turned to Sirius Arapis.
This was another member of the Aurora Order, a Sequence 9 Secrets Suppliant, and the first person to reveal the ritual for the birth of the True Creator's offspring to Lanevus.
Moreover, his sale of the Antigonus Family Notebook to Welch McGovern had directly led to the deaths of Klein's entire trio. By any measure, this man was guilty of no end of wicked deeds.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
Pretending that he knew nothing about the man, Julian shook hands with him.
After Sirius, another man and woman arrived, both highly likely to be members of the Aurora Order. Both presented themselves as merchants in their thirties.
The man was named Zane Blackwood. He wore a khaki suit and looked extremely thin.
The woman was named Ivy Sinclair. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Although her matching jacket and long skirt gave her the air of a mature lady, her face remained lovely, and she still retained considerable charm.
By observing their auras through his Four-Color Seer abilities, Julian could confirm that everyone in the private room was a Beyonder. Furthermore, the aura patterns of Hanass, Sirius, Zane, and Ivy were very similar, leading him to suspect that all four were Beyonders of the Secrets Suppliant pathway.
At that moment, Julian could indeed be said to be surrounded by cultists of the Aurora Order.
After Hanass had introduced all the guests, the appetizers and wine were brought into the private room.
He took the initiative to seat Julian beside the wall, to the left of the head of the table, while placing Sirius and Lanevus near the room's door.
Naturally, Julian realized that the Aurora Order had arranged the seating to prevent him from escaping, but with several trump cards in hand, he was not intimidated in the slightest.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for gracing this banquet with your presence today. I am deeply grateful."
Once everyone was seated, Hanass raised his glass first. Julian and the other four also took hold of their glasses and began listening to what their host had to say next.
"In every sense, everyone here is extraordinary, for we all possess talents that, in some way, surpass those of ordinary people.
"Although these talents stem from our wisdom and past experiences, they are, in essence, gifts from a god."
At this point, he turned to Julian.
"As Mr. Julian Albrecht said, we are all people chosen by a god, and therefore bear a special mission... Over these past few days, I have felt the truth of his prophecy even more deeply.
"On that subject, I would like to share some personal reflections... In fact, I have already discussed these thoughts with most of those present, apart from you, Julian.
"I wonder, would you be interested in 'listening'?"