fate/first order derivative

Part III.4

> skip forward: iteration 29, day 6, morning

Huh. Okay. That... is a thing, I guess.

> whats a thing

Oh. Kuzuki's out today, so I wound up getting a free study instead of Ethics. Been using the chance to work on decoding Uncle Shin's journals again.

> you brought those things to school with you
> even with all the
> you know

I've been hiding them inside my math binder. Also, nobody pays attention to me. I hope. Anyway, get this -- I finally figured out this short bit that's been driving me crazy. Turns out Shin reused a key from a few pages earlier. That's what threw me off.

> so what does it say already

RE: Z-ENERGY -- I WAS WRONG. SO MUCH MO
RE THAN ZELRETCH. TIME ENERGY? PARALLEL
UNIVERSES?

First question among many: what the hell is a Zelretch?

***

> skip forward

Rin spits her drink halfway across the roof. "SHIN KNEW ZELRETCH?!?"

I wrinkle my nose. As comedic spit takes go, Rin's version is... different. She wasn't even drinking when I brought it up. It was more like I told her what I found, she nodded and took a sip, and thensuddenly it kicked in or something. Can't tell at the moment if it genuinely worked out that way or if she's being deliberately overdramatic. "Uh, yeah. If that's who this Z guy he's been talking about really is. Ring any bells for you?"

Rin covers her mouth as she coughs and hacks. So probably unintentional, then. Shirou looks on in concern, a handkerchief already in hand. (An actual cloth handkerchief. Dang. Do they even sell those these days?) Anyway, I'm eating lunch with the two of them up on the roof. The Servants are off watching for Rider in the woods. Haven't seen Matou around. Maybe he's keeping his head down.

Rin comes partway out of her coughing fit. "Zelretch," she croaks. "Kishur... Zelretch... Schweinorg."

Shirou blinks. "Those... are words."

"They are?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Think so, but don't quote me on that."

"Ugh." Rin tries to take another sip to clear her throat, but I guess her can's empty now. So she sweeps up Shirou's drink instead and downs part of it. After the first gulp, she immediately goes pale and spits out the rest. Again. "The shit is this?!"

"Bitter melon cola." Shirou irritably wipes a bit of spray off of his face.

"Why?!" Rin blanches. "Just... why?!"

"It was on sale."

"You can actually stand that stuff?" I fish a paper napkin out of my bag.

Shirou shrugs. "It was on sale."

I make a mental note to get Emiya something more palatable from the vending machine tomorrow, if I can swing it. Rin takes the napkin from me and uses it to wipe off her tongue. "Ulllckkh, oh God... it's like somebody washed out my mouth with coffee grounds and hate..."

I give her a second to pick out the bits of paper from behind her lips. "So... Zelretch Swine-orgy."

"Wizard Marshal Kishur Zelretch Schweinorg," Rin says, "is probably the most powerful mage alive... well, sort of. He's centuries old, one of the only remaining Magicians in the world, and I really can't believe you've never heard of him before." She shoots a look at Shirou, who just shrugs again.