"How much money do you need?"
Alexander Hoy's eyes lit up as he asked.
Although the Khoy family's political standing was not particularly high, they had spent years establishing themselves in Awwa County's business circles, making them wealthier than even some of Backlund's tycoons.
To them, anything that money could solve was no problem at all.
After all, Madam Sharon posed too great a threat. As long as Julian did not demand an outrageous sum, the Khoy family could accept it.
"Four thousand pounds."
Julian smiled.
"You can pay in two installments: two thousand pounds up front, and the balance once everything has been completely resolved."
As sponsors of Khoy University, the Khoy family were, in a sense, Julian's employers. But considering that he would most likely leave Khoy University later, taking this opportunity to fleece... no, tap into the capitalists' surplus value was not a bad idea.
Of course, he would not be taking the money for nothing. There would be some difficulty involved, just not as much as Alexander Hoy imagined.
"No problem."
The young man let out a long sigh of relief.
The sum fell right at the upper limit of what he could authorize himself. He could give Julian the money directly without making a special report to his family.
Nor was he worried that Julian would swindle him. After all, this Assistant Professor worked at Khoy University. Whether for the sake of his reputation or his job, he would never risk ruining himself.
And so Alexander promptly paid Julian two thousand pounds on the spot. Julian accepted the money with a calm expression, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.
"Then, Professor Albrecht, what should I do?"
Alexander Hoy looked at Julian with great curiosity, hoping this Polymath would show him the way forward.
"Mr. Hoy, you are a believer in the Lord of Storms, aren't you?"
At Julian's question, Alexander nodded.
"You can even tell that?"
"Of course. It's child's play for me.
"I can see things ordinary people cannot, including faith itself."
Julian gave him an inscrutable smile.
The Khoy family's ancestor had earned his title through naval exploits, and the family had subsequently made their fortune in shipping.
Combined with the waves and sailing ship on Khoy University's crest, this made it easy for Julian to determine that the family worshipped the Lord of Storms.
Taking into account the disdain for women that Alexander Hoy revealed in his speech, whether deliberately or not, and his influence within the family, Julian could easily deduce that he too was a believer in the Lord of Storms.
While Alexander was still taken in by his bluff, Julian quickly wrote several lines on a sheet of notepaper and handed it to him before continuing.
"These are several addresses in Tingen City. Once you return, you can have someone with no apparent connection to you tip off the Church of the Lord of Storms that heretics may be active at these locations."
Because the True Creator's offspring was currently being gestated in Tingen, the city was now somewhere the Aurora Order had to protect.
Once they felt the pressure from the official Beyonders, Mr. Z-the Aurora Order Oracle who had been hiding in Enmat Harbor, and one of the masterminds behind the scenes-would very likely be flushed out.
Then Julian could use him against Madam Sharon. With a little luck, he might even score a double kill.
Although this approach did smack of exploiting Old Storm Dove's believers, it would help eliminate threats to Tingen City's safety regardless, so Julian felt little guilt.
He imagined that even if the Lord of Storms learned of this, he would have no objection.
"Heretics?"
Alexander sounded puzzled.
"I don't understand what you mean. Is Sharon a follower of another faith, and you hope to use the Church to uncover something incriminating about her?"
"You could put it that way."
Julian chuckled and shrugged.
"But the specifics are complicated. You only need to do as I say."
Seeing that Alexander still seemed hesitant, Julian offered him another reassurance.
"If anything goes wrong, put the blame on me. Say that I gave you the information."
"All right. I trust you."
Alexander took a deep breath, then added,
"I know Viscount Oakley very well. If he spoke so highly of you, you must have genuine ability.
"Thank you for your trust... but please remember, this matter must remain strictly confidential. Don't let word get out, or I won't be responsible for the outcome."
Julian smiled.
"Of course. I'll do as you instructed once I return."
Alexander agreed.
"I'll await your good news."
They shook hands, and Julian escorted Alexander out of the Divination Club.
"Good afternoon, Julian."
When Julian turned to head back inside, he happened to run into a beaming Hanass Vincent.
"Good afternoon, Hanass."
They shook hands, and then Hanass inquired,
"The gentleman who just came to you for a divination looked like a noble."
"Yes, a young man from a noble family, referred to me by Viscount Oakley."
Julian nodded, answering truthfully while glossing over the important details.
"Would you care for afternoon tea?"
Hanass made an inviting gesture toward Julian and gave him a wink.
It was a hint that he hoped to take this opportunity to obtain some information from Julian about the Nighthawks' movements.
"I was just getting hungry."
Julian nodded, and the two found a quiet, deserted corner and sat down.
Hanass was about to ask something when Julian suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Julian? Is that you?"
Julian looked up to find Klein standing a short distance away, looking at him.
"Oh, Klein."
Julian immediately rose and went over to greet him.
"I saw your name on the club's membership list earlier, so I knew you must have come here to practice divination.
"I just didn't expect to actually run into you today... I'm sure that with your ability, you'll quickly make a name for yourself as a renowned Seer."
"Let's hope you're right."
Klein smiled as he cast a somewhat curious glance at Hanass Vincent.
Earlier, he had sat in on this renowned diviner's Astrological Divination class and learned that the man seemed to be researching magic mirror divination.
As magic mirror divination was an extremely dangerous method, Klein, being a Nighthawk, could not help remaining wary and paying some attention to Hanass.
He did not quite understand why Julian was associating with this fellow. If it was merely a chance encounter, that was fine, but if the two were close, Klein felt he would need to find an opportunity to warn Julian.
Given the circumstances, however, Klein could hardly say anything in front of Hanass.
He said to Julian,
"I still have something to take care of, so I'll head back first."
With that, Klein held his top hat and gave Hanass Vincent a slight nod.
"I hope you and Julian have a pleasant afternoon, Mr. Vincent."
"You too, Mr. Moretti."
Hanass smiled in response.
Only after Klein had walked away did Hanass ask,
"This Klein Moretti... you seem to know him quite well?"
"He's a student of mine at Khoy University."
Once again, Julian answered truthfully while glossing over the important details.
"All right... back to business."
Hanass did not pursue the subject, instead asking in a low voice,
"Have the Nighthawks made any moves?"
"Yes."
Julian nodded and answered with the wording he had prepared earlier.
"As far as I know, the Nighthawks may soon launch a joint operation with the Mandated Punishers against the Aurora Order.
"Originally, this would have had nothing to do with us. The problem is that their planned targets overlap far too much with the Aurora Order's areas of activity... they even include the areas around Sirius's and Lanevus's residences. So we can't rule out a diversion, using the Aurora Order as a pretext to strike at us when the opportunity arises."
"Lanevus's residence?"
Hanass Vincent had remained fairly composed when he heard Sirius's name, but his expression suddenly changed at the mention of Lanevus.
Although he did not know the full details of the plan to bring an evil god's offspring into the world, Sirius had told him a little about it, so he understood Lanevus's importance to the Aurora Order.
His expression grew solemn as he said,
"If that's truly the case, I think it's absolutely essential that we report this to Mr. Z."