async def METHOD_NAME() -> Optional[int]:
    """Obtain the total number of Aleph messages from another node."""
    LOGGER.debug("Fetching Aleph messages count")
    config = get_config()
    url = config.aleph.reference_node_url.value
    if url is None:
        return None
    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
        try:
            async with session.get(
                urljoin(url, "metrics.json"), raise_for_status=True
            ) as resp:
                data = await resp.json()
                return int(data["pyaleph_status_sync_messages_total"])
        except aiohttp.ClientResponseError:
            LOGGER.warning("ETH height could not be obtained")
            return None