"And this is why I believe that you should invest in my project" said Zelretch as he pointed at a powerpoint display being projected onto the wall "as the graphs show there is a clear and present trend of growth in the thefts of rare and powerful mystic artifacts. It is clear that pocket universes are the future of the vault industry as all other vaults simply aren't cutting it anymore."
The room was decidedly small. Not as small as a closet but nowhere near as large as any of the lecture halls. With red oak book cases that were filled to capacity with ancient tomes and several tasteful paintings adorning the walls, the room gave off an archaic if not tranquil atmosphere. The room was exactly the type of office Rin expected from a proper magus of the Clock Tower.
And that just put Rin further on edge.
"How much will this all cost?" asked Rin pretending to be interested if only to avoid offending the dead apostle ancestor who had seen fit to kidnap her.
"Between the research required to set up the biometrics and soul scanners along with keying people into the system…" mused Zelretch as he started plugging numbers into a calculator "…roughly three hundred and sixty billion U.S. dollars."
"I'll pass" answered Rin without a second thought.
"You say that now" said Zelretch as he looked up from his calculations "but just wait until a terminator zombie or a bunch of bloody magpies come and steel all the valuables belonging to your distant descendants."
"…No offense Lord Zelretch but was there an actual reason that you decided to abduct me in the middle of class?" asked Rin as she discreetly allowed one of her gems to fall from her sleeve into an awaiting hand "and does that reason in any way involve ropes?"
"What, you mean I can't check up on my old student Nagato's line?" asked Zelretch with a hurt expression as he looked at her "and don't worry, I made the whole thing up."
"Come again?" asked Rin as she stared at the Vampire.
"I made the whole thing up" repeated Zelretch as he stared down at her "keeping those two sisters at each others throats is something of a hobby of mine. There was no phone call and there are no ropes involved in our little get together here."
"…Why?" asked Rin in horrified awe as she stared at the monster sitting before her.
"Mostly because I can" admitted Zelretch with an unconcerned shrug.
Rin just continued to stare with her mouth agape causing Zelretch to roll his eyes.
"So what progress have you made on the sword" asked Zelretch as he leaned back in his chair "it has been several centuries now and while I never really expected that much from the Tohsaka, I do think that it has been more than enough time for your line to at least have made some half hearted attempts by now. Sure they probably exploded and failed in a spectacular fashion, but progress is progress and nobody ever said that magecraft was for wimps."
"What sword?" asked Rin as she stared at the vampire with a tilt of her head.
"…I don't suppose you have ever heard of The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch?" asked the vampire as he looked at her in exasperation "the sword that I had hired the Tohsaka line to rebuild for me with the offered payment being an apprenticeship?"
Why on earth would anyone want to become his apprentice? Everyone knew the stories of the fourth dead apostle ancestor and the state he left all of his apprentices in. If apprenticeship was his offered payment then it was no wonder her ancestors hadn't put any effort into rebuilding the sword. The only benefit that came to her mind would be virtual immunity from just about everyone…
Well, lets see, there were probably a large number of families with some possibly ranking as high up there as the great noble families themselves gunning for her. Her boyfriend might be the legal property of her instructor who herself suffered from a multiple personality disorder that depended on what glasses she wore. She had no political support as the few families that she was officially allied with were the Matou and the Einzbern who were more than willing to sell her out to the highest bidder. Forget that, they would probably sell her out just because they could. And finally, Rin herself had already attained enough attention from Zelretch to end up getting kidnapped into his office in the first place…
"In that case could I ask that you allow me to have a peak at your memories of the sword" asked Rin as a cheshire smile crossed her face "I promise I will have results that even you will have to acknowledge by tomorrow night at the very latest."
It would cost her the rest of her jewel stockpile but that was fine. Between her genius and Shirou's ability to reproduce swords it would be child's play to remake the Jeweled Sword if they could get their hands on the original makers memories and knowledge.
"…Are you implying that your family hasn't even started on my request?" asked Zelretch sounding rather miffed "and that you think you can somehow rebuild one of my greatest masterpieces from scratch overnight? Just like that?"
"Yes" answereds Rin without delay completely certain in her calculations "so long as I get the memories."
"I really should just use the kaleidoscope to figure out just what kind of craziness I have gotten myself into" muttered Zelretch as he stared down at her with an unreadable expression "but at this point I feel like that would be cheating."
"Wait, do you mean that you don't know everything?" asked Rin perplexed at the very notion. The very idea was practically a life changing concept for the young magus.
"I could, but do you have any idea how boring that would be? Knowing everything would take all the fun out of life" said Zelretch before he muttered with a shudder "but mostly I'd just hate to end up as a deranged lunatic like that Manaka girl."
Huh, who would have guessed that at least a few of the rumors were false. But then, hadn't she already scolded Shirou just the other day for believing baseless rumors himself?
"In my defense, the rumors about you being omniscient seemed far more reasonable than some of the other absurd things that I have heard" admitted Rin with a wry smile and a shake of her head "such as the director being the ghost of King Solomon. Really, why anyone would believe that he is not only still alive, but that he is planning to wipe out humanity and is limiting our control over thaumaturgy through his control over sealing designations is completely beyond me."
"…Yes, that is most certainly an absurd and baseless rumor with no grounds in reality at all" said Zelretch with a small cough "besides I do try to keep in touch with the more important events and people with my sorcery so in a sense I am omniscient when it comes to the things that actually matter."
Rin simply stared back at him with a raised eyebrow at that odd denial. And apparently Zelretch chose to misinterpret her questioning gaze.
"Don't take it personally" said Zelretch consolingly as he patted her head "I'm sure that you are important in your own special way too. It's just that, compared to the rest of the universe you are nothing but an insignificant spec who's actions will have zero effect in the grand scheme of things. It is neither my fault nor your own that you aren't important enough for me to bother knowing who you are."