The answer seemed to throw the mermaid off, so Julian clarified. "There really isn't much information about your people or your culture up on the surface, so I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to bring, if anything." he said, and the mermaid appeared to understand after that. "Normally, a scholar would offer something rare or valuable that cannot be found nearby." she explained helpfully, and Julian's eyes immediately lit up. Reaching into Greed, he pulled out a dragon steel protection ring. "This ring can block a single fatal attack before it shatters. I am also the only person in the world capable of making it. You are free to ask anyone you wish to confirm that." he said, holding the ring out on his open palm for the mermaid to take.-
She clearly did not seem convinced, but since he had openly invited her to verify his claim, she decided to do exactly that. Taking a small stone from the string of stones around her wrist, she crushed it between her fingers. Julian's magical senses caught a kind of signal being sent out the moment she did it, and he was left speechless by how casually she had dismissed the need to simply take him at his word.-
About five minutes later, none other than Albus bloody Dumbledore appeared inside a bubble of air as though strolling around ten meters underwater was the most natural thing in the world. The old man wore nothing but an expression of pure amusement and a smile when he spotted Julian standing among the merfolk. "I had heard you took a dip in the lake last year. I assume this is not merely a casual swim this time?" Dumbledore asked lightly. Julian shrugged. "I figured the best source of information on merfolk would be the merfolk themselves." he replied honestly.-
"A sensible approach, provided one knows the language, though I had not taken you for the sort to learn such a tongue merely for knowledge's sake." Dumbledore said, the question implied beneath the words. "As you already know, knowledge is quite literally power where my enchanting method is concerned, and there is so little known about these people beneath the waves that I am honestly excited by what I might uncover." Julian said frankly. "If you wish, I don't mind compiling a report on the subject for the Hogwarts library once I'm done with my own research here." he added, offering the old goat a bit of incentive.-
A flash of interest passed through the old man's eyes before his smile widened more than usual. "So long as I receive a personal copy as well." he said, before finally turning to address the elderly mermaid in her own language, though his pronunciation was a little rough. The elderly mermaid patiently explained the situation, and Dumbledore took a moment to mentally work through what she had said. Once he had done so, he confirmed Julian's claims under some kind of oath all Hogwarts headmasters had apparently sworn to the merfolk. That seemed to surprise the elderly mermaid, and from that point onward she regarded Julian much more favorably.-
After that, Dumbledore departed, and Julian was formally welcomed into the mermaid city of Azba as a foreign scholar. Most of the population was still peeking out from hiding when Julian and the two merfolk descended deeper into the city, and the elderly mermaid loudly announced both his presence and the reason for it to her people. As the rest of the merfolk gradually began emerging from cover, she also explained that if Julian wanted any knowledge from them, he would need to trade each individual merfolk for whatever information they personally possessed. 'I'm definitely going to have to come back with more rings. I've only got ten extras on me right now.' he thought calmly.-
Julian shrewdly gave another ring to the elderly mermaid in exchange for learning about her people's history and old legends. It turned out to be an excellent decision, because what he learned was extremely interesting. According to the elderly mermaid, all merfolk were descended from the very first of their kind, Oceanus. Julian might not have recognized the name if it had only been spoken the way merfolk pronounced it, since it sounded very different from the Greek version it came from. But because he could translate perfectly, he knew exactly who that name belonged to.-
The youngest brother of Chronos, the titan who ruled over rivers and oceans, and also one of the few titans who had not joined Chronos in his attack on their father Uranus. In Julian's opinion, that was a huge revelation, because if even the smallest shred of that being's immense power or knowledge had survived among his supposed descendants, then paying a few trinkets for access to it would be an absolute bargain. He was not foolish enough to assume that was likely, of course, but the possibility alone was enough. Even so, he was learning so much just from speaking with this single mermaid that he eventually had to conjure a bubble of air simply so he could take notes without soaking the paper.-