tvk | First Lecture -- Audio

This is Zelretch's fault, I'm certain of it.

My name is Lord El-Melloi II, and I would appreciate it if someone would inform me of where the hell I am right now. And don't tell me 'in America', because I already gathered that. I'm looking for information that's a little more specific.

[The voice that comes over the phone was calm and coolly confident; the voice of a man who has grown used to being listen to and obeyed, with undertones of 'it's been a very long day and it's only going to get longer' and 'this is shit only I would have to deal with'. It is the tone of a patient man, but of one who it patient not because he has some kind of predisposition towards being long-suffering, but simply because it is the only manner of preserving his sanity. It also doesn't sound like this is the first time he'd shown up in a strange new place before.]

[Shit always happens to him. He has long since accepted this fact, but that didn't mean that he had to like it.]

I am a very busy man, and I can already tell that I'm going to be wasting more time that I can afford to getting back to where I need to be. I swear to God, if my research gets set back because of this...

[Priorities, clearly he has them.]

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[Another piece of confirmation. Couldn't have been one of Kayneth's direct descendants. He looked up who he would have to deal with once he killed the family's head. That's without counting the fact that the first choice for a descendant was female.]

[Kiritsugu resolves to investigate this further.]

This city takes people from different worlds and places in time.

[Yeah, apparently he's stuck serving her for the rest of his life. Women.]

...That is entirely ridiculous and probably true. Wonderful.

[He can already feel the headache coming on.]

[You love them, and they throw your ideals right back in your face. Funny how that works out.]

[The sound of a cigarette being lighted can be heard.]

Might as well stand it for now. We're still trying to find a way out.

What kind of research do you do?

[He's not great at conversation, especially without suggestion magic, but even Kiritsugu knows he has to ease into the 'who are you?']

[He was going to resist the urge to light one of his cigars, simply because he only had so many on them and he didn't know if he'd be able to find his preferred brand here. Might as well try to save them.]

It seems that I have no choice but to stand it.

[All these questions are starting to make him slightly suspicious-- though 'suspicious' is a natural state of being when you're around magi for whom murder is a viable method of promotion.]

My research was all very theoretical in nature. I'm afraid it would be quite difficult to explain and I wouldn't want to bore you with the details.

[A professional magus. Kiritsugu's dismayed at those still existing in 2004. The thought that this man could have participated in the Fifth War crosses his mind, but if he had research to do, then he couldn't have been from after the war. He already knows who the survivor was.]

[He can't say he was acquainted to Kayneth. If this magus is aware of his personality, he should know Kayneth wouldn't have given the slightest attention to those uninvolved with magic. Simply saying he knows of magic would be one step short of confessing he knows who he is. He's starting to realize how much his scouting methods depended on Maiya.]

I see. That's understandable. It could very well be exclusive to your world. A lot of people here say they have lost their abilities or skills.

[A bait.]

Is that so? An interesting side-effect, though unfortunate.

[Nope. He's been involved in politics long enough to know what a bait looked like and how not to rise to it.]

[Not bad at all. Looks like Kiritsugu won't get anywhere with words.]

Right.

[Maybe if he spied on him. As a new arrival, he has to be in the hotel right now. However, he has no way of knowing who he is. After all, unlike his predecessor, this El-Melloi is incapable of getting special treatment. Could be any of the dozens of new arrivals each month. The hotel staff makes a point of being supremely unhelpful, too. Can't figure out his surroundings by changing to video, since his room hasn't been influenced by him.]

[Things were a lot easier when his objective was to simply kill people.]

[Good luck with that, Kiritsugu. He's going to be extra-cautious now that he thinks that someone is taking an unusual interest in him.]

Thank you for the information. I don't believe I caught your name, however.

Noritaka Kentaro.

[Tch. Shouldn't have been that quick with creating one. Though it sounds fluent, what with Kiritsugu's experience with lying, the first name is still vaguely related to him.]

[Then again, he couldn't give his real name. Whether it be because of his time working for them, or his part in the War, or even his family's experience with magic, he's certain to be engraved in the Association's blacklist. He could have used the name of one of his fake passports, but those could very well have been found out by now, as well.]

First Lecture -- Audio

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