At that moment, Old Neil's eyes were completely illuminated by the psychedelic neon glow, and Julian could hear the illusory eye giving what sounded like a faint, unreal roar.
He instinctively tried to pull his hand away, only to discover that Old Neil looked dazed. His right hand gripped Julian's like a locked clamp, refusing to loosen in the slightest.
As the roaring grew louder, Julian felt as though his head would split apart. Even speaking became difficult.
He began silently reciting the Evernight Goddess's Honorific Name while praying to Arianna, the Servant of Concealment.
Whether his prayers had worked or not, the neon radiance dimmed after just two seconds. The illusory eye broke free of the light's influence and vanished.
But before it disappeared, Julian clearly saw that the neon color had yet to fade from its surroundings, or even from the depths of its iris.
It was like a vivid, ineradicable algal bloom staining a nutrient-rich lake.
Everything happened extremely quickly. In less than four seconds, Old Neil's eyes had returned to normal.
"Hello, Professor Albrecht."
The old man chuckled, showing no sign of anything unusual.
He took a small-caliber revolver with a six-chamber cylinder and six Demon-Hunting Bullets from a drawer and handed them to Julian.
"Here's the weapon you requested. I even prepared a holster in advance."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Julian offered his sincere thanks as he secured the holster and silver handgun beneath his arm.
"There's no need to be so polite. You may be younger than me, but you're more knowledgeable."
Old Neil had clearly heard about Julian's background and his position as a university lecturer. After a pause, he added:
"If the opportunity arises, I'd like to ask you about some details concerning the optimization of Ritual Magic."
"Of course."
Julian nodded lightly, then said goodbye to Old Neil and left the office with Dunn.
"Captain Dunn."
Julian lowered his voice.
"There's something wrong with Old Neil. I suggest you investigate his situation at home, especially whether he's become involved in any dangerous Ritual Magic."
"What makes you say that?"
Dunn paused in surprise, apparently not expecting Julian to steer the conversation in this direction.
"As I mentioned before, my vision differs from that of ordinary people... To be more specific, I can see more colors than most people.
"There's something in Old Neil's aura that makes me extremely uncomfortable. I suspect he's been contaminated by some external influence."
Julian offered no further explanation, nor did he bring up the Hidden Sage.
Such matters were far too dangerous for Dunn. Even with his Sequence 7 strength, which approached Sequence 6, he should not learn too much about the evil god at the pinnacle of the Hermit Pathway.
For the Nighthawks, the safer course was to investigate Old Neil's home directly. Not only would that be relatively safe, it would also provide sufficient grounds to keep the matter within the Blackthorn Security Company rather than escalate it.
Otherwise, if the higher ranks of the Evernight Goddess's church became directly involved, Old Neil would undoubtedly meet a grim end.
"All right, I understand.
"Thank you very much, Julian.
"I'll take a team to investigate. If there really is something wrong with Old Neil, we'll certainly take action."
Dunn understood Julian's intentions as well. Clear gratitude appeared in his eyes as he thanked him.
This captain was a classic example of someone with a cold exterior and a warm heart. He valued his bonds with his colleagues deeply, so naturally, he took this news very seriously.
Your own problems aren't exactly minor either...
Julian grumbled inwardly at Dunn's response, but aloud, he answered:
"Don't mention it."
By then, they had reached the entrance of the Blackthorn Security Company. Julian stopped and shook Dunn's hand again.
"No need to see me out. I'll return the gun within forty-eight hours."
With that, he turned and left the building, stepping back onto Zouteland Street.
"The Four-Color Seer potion has shown clear signs of digestion..."
The moment he stepped outside, he murmured to himself:
"Could it be because I used my abilities to detect the Hidden Sage's presence and told Dunn Smith about it, potentially influencing Old Neil's fate and thereby fulfilling my acting to some extent?
"If that's the case, I can now summarize the first acting rule for the Four-Color Seer potion."
Julian took a tiny notebook from his jacket pocket and wrote down a passage:
[First acting rule for the Four-Color Seer potion: the additional information seen through one's eyes is certainly important, but what matters more is how the actor reveals that information to influence the course of their own fate and that of others.]
After writing it down, he put the notebook away and continued thinking.
"There's something else worth noting... Even if I've only worked out one acting rule, I should have completely digested the potion. After all, what I 'revealed' involved a manifestation of a weak Sequence 0 god's power.
"Even if it was only a tiny fraction, its level was undeniably genuine."
At that thought, a possibility suddenly occurred to Julian.
"Could it be that I wasn't the only one at work during that process? Perhaps the will of the Colour Out of Space 'accompanying' me also took part... and that 'diluted' my 'acting' to some degree?"
The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed. Coupled with the way the eye behind Old Neil had been stained with color, it seemed increasingly like the work of a high-level mythical creature.
Although he did not know its purpose, judging solely by what he had seen, this was certainly not characteristic of a high-level being of the Darkness Pathway or of the Mystery Pryer Pathway itself. Instead, it seemed more like the influence of the Colour Out of Space's power.
Only now did Julian gain a deeper understanding of Arianna's earlier statement that the will of some great being accompanied him.
A powerful sense of unease rose within him.
But before long, Ju-
-lian suppressed that unease with another thought.
"Although it's dangerous, considering that the Church of Evernight is watching over me for now, nothing too serious should happen.
"Rather than worrying about something beyond my power to resolve, I think I should try to see how I can draw on the great being accompanying me to accomplish something..."
At that thought, he suddenly realized there was a possibility.
Julian quickened his pace, hailed a hired carriage on the main street, and headed back to his home in the University District.