Chapter 63 Faldeus: I Don't Understand
"Zelretch?" the Chief asked, perplexed.
A moment later, as if his brain had jammed, he exclaimed: "......The Zelretch of the Clock Tower?"
The world's most renowned Magician, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. He was also the Marshal of the Wizarding World—a legend even someone at the Chief's level had heard of.
"What does Emiya Shirou have to do with that person?"
Orlando's voice was filled with bewilderment. Even though he seemed to suspect the identity of the person Faldeus had attacked, he appeared truly ignorant of this specific detail.
Faldeus began to lecture the Chief like a scholar explaining a basic point to an idiot, even though he himself had been that "idiot" only half a day ago:
"The disciple of that Magician—Tohsaka Rin, who can apply the Second Magic—is Emiya Shirou's traveling companion."
Unexpectedly, the phone fell into a long silence.
Faldeus almost thought the signal jammer he'd installed had malfunctioned and blocked the special communication channel along with everything else. But he quickly dismissed the thought. Because the voice on the other end suddenly asked: "This disciple of the Magician you mentioned... does she happen to have long black hair?"
"..."
"...Is she so beautiful that she leaves a deep impression at a single glance?"
"Probably?"
"...Does she like to wear red clothes?"
"I haven't seen her personally. But there are records of that genius from the Edelfelt family calling her by a nickname involving 'Red' something-or-other."
"Perhaps?"
"...Is the Jeweled Sword shaped like a dagger?"
A rustling sound came from the other side of the line, as if a piece of paper or something similar had been pulled out and tossed back onto a desk. Then came the Chief's sharp intake of breath and a puzzled mutter: "...I figured a magus of that high a level wouldn't be susceptible to hypnosis or suggestion?"
This time it was Faldeus's turn to be full of question marks:
"?"
What did that mean?
"No, it's nothing."
The Chief composed himself and frowned again. "Since you already know the opponent is connected to that Zelretch, why are you still provoking him?"
Faldeus's answer was simple: "I didn't know!"
Faldeus didn't know everything! There were plenty of things Faldeus didn't know! What's wrong with not knowing? It's not like a meteorite was going to come down and level Snowfield City!
"Who would have thought a disciple of a famous Magician would deign to travel with him? Yes, Emiya Shirou's actual identity is the winner of the Fifth Holy Grail War, but his status when entering the Clock Tower was merely her attendant. He has almost no magical talent. Logically, once Tohsaka Rin researched the Jeweled Sword, they should have drifted apart... she is, after all, a genius far beyond the reach of countless others, someone Lord Zelretch came to recruit personally."
But as for the result...
"Orlando, I've seen many relationships between attendants and masters. They are usually one-sided, or at least contracts based on mutual need. They aren't this inseparable, flawless relationship. Emiya Shirou has no magical value worth her following him constantly. It makes no sense!"
Faldeus felt the pressure was truly getting to him. As long as someone was willing to listen to his grievances, even the originally detestable Orlando didn't seem so bad.
"Is your intelligence really accurate? I feel like... rather than favoring his 'magical value,' she might favor the man himself more."
The other side questioned him as if they couldn't wrap their head around the situation—strangely, as if they had some impossible basis for their doubt.
Faldeus said confidently: "Please, stop joking. Top-tier magi have a very distinct trait: a lack of human heart, prioritizing the Path of Magecraft above all else. In terms of family lineage, it's even more impossible for them to choose to be with a magus lacking magical aptitude. Emiya Shirou's performance at the Clock Tower was unremarkable. My intelligence work is thorough. They cannot be in that kind of relationship."
The Chief glanced at the rectangular object on his desk and, with a "whatever you say" expression, chose not to comment.
"Most importantly, the intelligence I've gathered also indicates that Emiya Shirou has other female magi as traveling companions. Even if there were no lineage issues, a practitioner of the Second Magic could never be so indifferent to her honor as to be with a magus like him in such a group."
'Are you sure?'
The Chief looked at the photograph and fell into deep thought.
Finally, he held it together and helpfully changed the subject for Faldeus: "Since you know Emiya Shirou has other companions, do you really think you can handle them just because Zelretch doesn't interfere?"
"No. I only realized the full scope after re-investigating today. Currently, it seems there might be a bit of difficulty..."
The most alarming and prominent issue was the Second Magician, Zelretch. Given his status, if he were to even glance at Snowfield City, everything would fall into chaos. Even if he activated the ultimate destruction plan—intending to take the man down with sheer explosive yield—Faldeus would at most only dare to feel 30% or 40% confident in dealing with him.
He didn't even know how it happened, but there were even strange rumors that Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg had once used stones to knock the moon out of the sky.
But aside from Zelretch, there were other "minor" issues.
First was Tohsaka Rin's younger sister—described by some as an extremely rare Imaginary Numbers attribute magus with talent no less than her sister's.
Always by her side was a beautiful woman with purple hair.
Then there was the blonde girl who looked exactly like Lord El-Melloi's disciple—Francesca said she was a suspected Heroic Spirit.
And the Einzbern homunculus.
Faldeus was now aware of all the above information. The only thing left was... Emiya Shirou, who possessed inexplicable combat power.
This was the benefit of intelligence gathering!
The problem was, now that he had investigated everyone, Faldeus's re-collected intelligence could be described as extremely complete... leading him to believe that, aside from the blonde Heroic Spirit, the problems shouldn't be too severe.
After all, humans couldn't possibly compare to Heroic Spirits, and a magus's level of terror couldn't possibly compare to a practitioner of the Second Magic tied strongly to Zelretch. In other words, the biggest threats were probably just the blonde Heroic Spirit and Tohsaka Rin.
Yet, Faldeus not only didn't know where to start, but he also felt something was "off."
His intelligence work was clearly solid, wasn't it?
While finding it strange, Faldeus's headache continued. With combat power capable of crushing an entire unit and taking a sniper shot point-blank, Faldeus had no way to deal with them.
Their background was even harder than Faldeus's own.
He couldn't easily deploy True Assassin either... once they were provoked again, the existing problems would only escalate. Faldeus's mind was nearing its breaking point.
"So what exactly do you plan to do?"
"Wait and see," Faldeus replied.
In other words, it was equivalent to being able to do nothing.
Before the Chief could respond, he added: "That's enough, Orlando. You've learned as much as you wanted to know. I don't want to chat anymore; I have surveillance to watch."
"—Goodbye."
After putting down the phone, Faldeus's vitality quickly drained away. He slumped into the back of his chair as if he'd lost all strength, letting out a long sigh.
As if talking to himself, Faldeus repeated: "Wait and see."
His shadow flickered for a moment. The skull mask blended into it wavered. The Heroic Spirit, whom Faldeus couldn't see at all, offered no opinion. True Assassin remained silent throughout, at peace with the world.
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