Case Files ep 00 Sub comp
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Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note
Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note
Episode 00
Episode 00
Subs: Aniplex (official simulcast)
Subs: DameDesuYo
There is correspondence within all matter.
# Exported by Aegisub 9209
Our physical bodies are small universes,
All things in creation correspond.
and they correspond to the greater universe.
Our own physical selves are each a tiny cosmos,
A mirror is the first tool obtained by humanity to peer into alternate universes.
and we constitute a tiny piece of a corresponding greater cosmos.
The image shown within the mirror is not genuine,
In the quest to see beyond our realm, the first tool humans took up was the mirror.
but one can think that they correspond to all of your true selves.
The image reflected in a mirror is false,
This is the reason why in ancient times, various ethnic groups have used mirrors
but the mirror gives you a glimpse into a world that corresponds with your true selves.
to symbolize deities.
This is why human societies across the world have long venerated mirrors as avatars of the divine.
Just what I'd expect from Sir Great Big Ben London Star!
Whoo! Tell 'em, Professor Great Big Ben London Star!
You mean "Lord El-Melloi II." Not one word of that is correct.
It's Lord El-Melloi II. At least put some thought into a nickname.
It's fine as long as the name corresponds to his true nature.
It's fine! It corresponds with his true self plenty well.
Flat Escardos.
Flatt Escardos.
Yes, sir!
Yes!
What does society call the act of attempting to rewrite someone's true nature
What is popular nomenclature for the act of renaming a target
by altering someone's name without permission?
without their knowledge or approval to exert an influence on their nature?
A curse, sir!
That would be a curse, sir!
Calling the deity of an enemy nation a demon or making fun of a politician you abhor
Denouncing the god worshiped by a rival nation as a demon
by giving him a silly nickname are considered the most primitive forms of curses!
or damaging a politician's credibility by referring to him with an insulting nickname, would be two examples!
Now, Svin Glascheit...
And if you would, Svin Glascheit,
Explain the hogwash spoken just now in light of the concept of correlation.
please explain to the class how the hogwash that left Mr. Escardos' lips relates to the concept of correlation.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Flat takes every opportunity to give you weird nicknames, sir.
Flatt's penchant for making up stupid nicknames for you
By doing so, he's attempting to make you,
is an attempt to elevate your status to a greater level through positive correlation, sir.
the existence in correlation with that name, a greater existence.
However, the level of corresponding greatness is constrained by Flatt's own woefully lacking mental capabilities.
Yep, yep.
Hey!
However, this greatness is in correlation with the size of his brain.
Precisely. And as a result, my true nature remains unchanged.
What?
A shadow reflected in a mirror may correspond with the true nature of its projection,
Correct. My true nature has not changed at all.
but it will forever fall short of its original.
The shadows projected from me may correlate with my true nature,
In short, the interference of a shadow can make it possible for a target's true nature to be overwritten.
but it is not that nature itself.
This is the very essence of a curse.
In other words,
Thus,
by intervention of the shadows,
we may think of magecraft as the sole technology through which our world,
one can rewrite the true nature itself.
a mere shadow of the Root, can be altered.
Indeed, that's the true nature of curses.
Goodness, what a masterful lecture. Succinct and easily grasped.
One could say that Magecraft is...
Well done, Lord El-Melloi II.
technology to alter this world that is nothing more than a shadow of the Root.
My, my.
That was a lecture that was tremendously easy to comprehend, Lord El-Melloi II.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It was truly elementary.
Truly, it was in every respect rudimentary.
To think we must call those...
It's disgraceful how we permit those ignorant of such fundamental concepts to call themselves magi.
who don't even have that level of fundamentals down as "Mages"...
Well, that's what comes of Modern Magecraft Theory opening its doors to all seekers of knowledge.
It just means that's how Nowich,
It's beyond me why it's considered necessary, mind.
the Modern Magecraft Theories department, does their thing.
I, for one, found it quite impressive.
Though, I can hardly fathom its necessity myself.
Professor Great Big Ben London Star,
Oh no, I was deeply touched by that...
is it?
Sir Great Big Ben London Star...
My distinguished colleagues.
was it?
As you well know, I am a very busy man.
My dignitaries...
If you came to chat, kindly save it for the next faculty tea.
As you may know, I'm a very busy man.
How many years does this make it
I'd like to ask that we have small talk on another occasion.
since you took over the El-Melloi Classroom after the former Lord's untimely death,
How many years has it been since Lord El-Melloi's death
when you took over the El-Melloi Class,
Waver Velvet?
Waver Velvet?
It has been almost ten years.
This year will make ten.
Right. Ten years.
Yes, that's right,
Since my younger sister Sola-Ui,
and ten years as well since my younger sister Sola-Ui
along with her fiancé and your mentor Kayneth, passed away in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
and her betrothed—Kayneth, your master— met their deaths in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
It has been ten years.
How busy you've been, besmirching our institution with a circus of hooligans
Scraping up the young ones and the problematic students...
and herding them into the Modern Magecraft Theory Department.
I'm amazed how you rebuilt the Modern Magecraft Theories department
What a splendid little fiefdom you've built from a subject that only existed on paper.
that existed just in name.
You flatter me.
Thank you so much.
I feel scarcely worthy of such high praise.
I'm simply ecstatic to receive such compliments.
However, and it truly pains me to say this,
However, among us, there are voices that show concern towards your future course.
there are those among us who have voiced their concerns about the course you are charting with your work.
You are the Lord only until Lady Reines comes of age.
You are Lord only until Lady Reines comes of age.
You are simply a substitute, nothing more than a fake.
A simple substitute, nothing more than a fake.
I'm fully aware of that.
I am well aware of my position.
Of course you are.
I don't doubt that. We all know you to be a sensible man.
You are a prudent man.
I must be going now, dear brother.
Well, see you later, Elder Brother.
Do give my regards to your sweet little apprentice.
Please send my regards to the cute apprentice of yours.
Welcome back, Master.
Welcome home, sir.
Back again, you mangy beast?
That stray cat came over here again?
I'm sorry. It was I who fed him.
I'm sorry. It's because I gave it some food.
You're not at fault, Gray.
It's not your responsibility, Gray.
Hey! What do you think you're doing with your filthy paws on my sofa?
Hey, you.
Get down this instant, you brainless moggy!
Don't get on the sofa with those filthy paws!
You bloody—
Out of the way, stupid cat!
M-Master!
Damn you—
Now that you're back...
S-Sir?
Leave it 'til I've had my cigar, would you?
Um, anyway...
Yes, sir.
If you have something to say, wait until after my smoke.
Worthless bastards, the lot of them.
All right.
Beg your pardon?
They really are a worthless bunch.
Those fossils on the faculty, trying to badger me into declaring some clear allegiance.
Damn old men... They told me to declare whose side I'm on!
Allegiance, sir?
Whose side you are on?
Every Clock Tower magus is the same.
The Mages of the Clock Tower are always fighting in a power struggle.
Constantly at all the others' throats, scrapping for power.
Who are the allies and foes of the Modern Magecraft Theories department?
Our Department is a pawn to them, and they're eager to know whose side of the board it's on.
They said they wanted me to decide soon.
They're trying to force me to show my hand.
But sir,
Will you be taking up arms against someone, Master?
are you going to fight someone?
Shit!
Shit!
Oh, pardon me.
Excuse me.
I am only a substitute Lord.
I'm but the acting Lord.
I don't have the skills to match the rank.
In my position, I lack the power to go toe to toe with the likes of them.
If I had the time to get some conspiracies moving around,
If I had the free time to waste hatching conspiracies,
I'd rather use that time to polish up my own skills.
I'd much rather devote it to my own research.
Sir...
Master...
But damn all them evil spirits!
Unlike that pack of wizened bloody goblins!
Mages who've forgotten the righteous path of pursuit can all be cursed and rot in Hell!
Curse them all! Any magus so blind to the spirit of inquiry can fall straight into the bowels of hell!
Sir, by the way,
By the by, Master,
Mr. Willes from the Spiritual Evocation department wanted you to submit those reports.
Professor Willes from Spiritual Evocation says he really needs those reports from you.
Why didn't you mention that to me sooner?
Why the blazes didn't you tell me that sooner?
I'm terribly sorry.
I'm terribly sorry. You said for me to leave it 'til you'd had your cigar, so...
You did mention to wait until after your smoke.
Then the fault is mine.
That was my mistake.
Let's get going, Lady.
Let's go, lady.
Ah, Milady Gray... your scent is just as ravishingly graceful, yet just as deliciously cool as ever today!
Once again, Gray-tan's scent today is beautiful, soft, yet cold...
Don't you agree, Flatt?
What do you think, Flat?
I can almost see your tail start wagging whenever you and Gray cross paths, Le Chien.
Le Chien, your personality changes when it concerns Gray.
If you ask me, our Professor's the most adorable of the pair.
I personally think our instructor is cuter.
That's like comparing the fragrance of a fine perfume to the smell of a grilling steak. Practically pointless.
That's like comparing the scents of perfume and steak.
Which one's the steak here?
Completely meaningless.
Hold it, Flatt!
Which one's the steak?
Huh?
Wait, Flat!
...I smell the Professor.
It's our instructor's scent.
A-Are you all right, Master?
A-Are you all right, sir?
Get ahold of yourself! It's only a flesh wound!
Please get a hold of yourself! The wound is shallow!
They got me. Hit me head-on with a counter-curse.
They got me. A counter-curse.
Pardon?
Remember how I cursed them earlier?
You heard me curse them, didn't you?
Mages who've forgotten the righteous path of pursuit can all be cursed and rot in Hell!
Curse them all! Any magus so blind to the spirit of inquiry can fall straight into the bowels of hell!
Of course, that was meaningless mudslinging,
Paltry name-calling though it might have been,
but those monsters at the Clock Tower won't miss a chance like that,
these Clock Tower ghouls would never pass up a chance to direct a curse back at its caster.
and promptly return a counter-curse.
Fucking pissants. This overcoat was brand new.
Dammit! I was just breaking into that jacket, too.
I can dust it off for you later.
Now it's a terrible mess.
See that you do.
I'll brush it up later.
I do apologize, but I have somewhere to be. Clean up this—
Please do.
Master!
Sorry, but I have to hurry on ahead. If you could clean up—
You all right there, o venerable Professor Absolute Territory Magician?
Sir!
I'm just fine! I'd be even better if you'd quit it with the stupid nicknames!
Are you all right, Professor Absolute Territory Magician?
Just a term of my admiration, sir!
I'm fine!
That makes it so much worse!
And don't call people by completely useless nicknames!
You'd think he'd have liked that one.
It's an honorific.
He got fourth on that "Professors that should lose the pants" poll, after all.
That's even worse!
The worst part of this is that you're utterly serious.
Would he have been happier
Bleeding hell!
with "#4 on the Clock Tower Female Students' Most Sought-After Men list"?
Oh, that's swelling something fierce.
In your case, you're not doing this intentionally which makes it all the more worse.
Don't touch it, you miserable malkin!
Dammit!
Get me the anodyne herbs from that shelf over there, would you?
It's swollen.
Yes, sir!
Don't touch it, stupid cat!
The Clock Tower's positively lousy with Lords,
There was a pain-killing herb on that shelf, wasn't there?
but I daresay this is the only one hopping around tenderfooted
Yes.
after his own mudslinging backfired!
Many a Lord in the Clock Tower!
But this is the only one who'd have his banter counter-cursed
and roll around in agony!
Add!
Add!
Stop that.
No more of that.
Oh, brother.
For crying out loud.
At least it's a good thing I only grazed against some automatic defenses.
I consider myself lucky that I only grazed an automatic defense mechanism.
Is that how things work?
That's what happened, then?
It's like tripping an alarm system.
Think of it like tripping an alarm system.
They probably don't even realize that they had been cursed. Hey, wait!
It's most likely none of them even consciously realized I'd cursed them.
Damn you—
Cheeky devil! Get back here—
Sir!
Master!
A trade show of stupidity!
With buffoonery like this, who needs the circus?
Are you all right?
Are you quite all right?
Yeah.
Ugh...
Was it something important?
Quite important to you, weren't they?
Yeah. I bought these shoes using all of my first paycheck from the Clock Tower.
Yes.
I will polish them for you.
I spent my first pay packet from the Clock Tower on those shoes.
Though, there may be a few scratches left behind.
I'll get them polished for you.
Might not be able to get all the scuffs out, but...
Thank you, Gray.
Thank you, Gray.
Sir, if you're looking for the herb, it's over here.
Oh, Master, I've brought the herbs for you—
The cat...
That cat.
I'm going to look up some Magecraft to get back at that cat.
I need to research what magecraft I can use to fix that cat's wagon.
There has to be at least one useful spell.
There has to be a useful spell in here somewhere.
In my humble opinion,
This is only my advice, Master, but I think you'd better not.
it would be better to not do so.
Were you up all last night?
In the end, were you up all night?
Not all night. I fell asleep in the middle of a tome of sacred treasties of the tenth century.
No, I fell asleep reading a tome of ultimate techniques from the 10th century.
Yes, sir. I saw that when I came in to wake you and toweled off your face.
So it's not an all-nighter.
I have no lectures today or tomorrow.
I know that.
What does it matter?
I woke you up and wiped your face clean.
It can't be—
There are no lectures today or tomorrow.
This is too horrible.
It shouldn't matter.
What do you think you're doing getting run over out here, you fool?
That's...
If you're a stray, then act like one.
This can't be...
Spare a thought for the trouble you'd cause for us humans if you die.
Don't get run over in a place like this, stupid cat.
Master!
If you're a stray, act like a stray.
You could have at least had the good grace to have your accident in front of me.
At the least, think about the troubles you cause humans when you die.
Rumor has it Lord El-Melloi II shut himself into his chambers cradling some stray cat.
Sir!
Care to confirm that?
At the least,
You heard right. Why should a first-rate instructor like you concern himself with what the rumors say?
you could've gotten into an accident within my sight.
If what he's dabbling in needs a living sacrifice, a black cat is a laughably obvious choice.
Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files ｛Rail Zeppelin｝ Grace note
Quite the contrary. If I know my brother, he's taken the cat in purely out of sympathy.
I heard rumors that Lord El-Melloi II cradled a stray cat into his room,
What? Sympathy?
and is now cooped up in there.
A magus, never mind a Lord, indulging in such menial sentimentality?
Is that true?
That's a poor joke.
Yeah, it's all true.
None of us magi are what you could call "normal".
What's wrong with that, top-tier instructor?
If you look at it that way, there's none whose conduct more befits the name of a magus than him.
Isn't that a bit too elementary for experiments in sacrifices?
Master.
No. This is my elder brother.
Won't you please have something to eat?
I'm sure he just sympathized with the cat.
Won't be necessary.
Sympathize? A Mage, a Lord, would do something so mundane?
I want to see this through first.
Is he making a sport of this?
Do change your clothes then, at least.
All of us Mages are far from normal.
Yours are still wet, and the stains must be setting in something frightful.
Couldn't you say that my elder brother acts most like one, in that sense?
Sir, you should eat something soon.
No, I'm fine.
I want to write this up to the end.
Then, at the least, please change your clothes.
The stains will set in, and you're still wet.
No need.
No need.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Sir!
Master!
I think the all-nighter is getting to me.
Those nights without sleep are catching up to me.
You're at times much too emotional.
I worry your sentimentality will be the death of you sometimes, Master.
There isn't that much difference walking atop the earth,
There's not so much difference
or sleeping beneath it.
between those that walk upon the earth
Is that how you think?
and those what sleep within it, is there?
If there's a difference,
Is that how you see this world?
it's only for those who are walking around when they should be asleep.
If there is any difference,
It's something I don't understand.
it's only with those that ought to be asleep but walk the earth instead.
You don't need to understand.
It's beyond my power to understand.
Things like this are tricks of the imagination.
It's all right if you don't.
If you are pushing forwards in the ways of Magecraft,
This is nothing more than a trick of the mind.
you don't have the time to be trapped by things like this.
If you seek the path of magecraft,
That's how I'd answer no matter which student were to ask me.
you haven't time to be tripped up by such trivial diversions as this.
If I was a superior Mage,
Were you to ask any student, I'm sure that's what they'd say.
I should've been able to heal wounds like this ever so easily.
If I were a first-rate magus, it would have been a trivial matter to heal those wounds.
Never getting there in time, and never having the necessary powers...
Time and again, I'm too late and too powerless to make a difference.
That's probably what I am.
Is that all I am?
That's not necessarily true!
Not in the slightest!
You were the one who brought me all the way here!
You're the reason I'm here, Master!
Gray...
Gray. I don't wish...
That face...
to see that face of yours.
Don't show me your face.
Sorry.
Sorry about that.
Don't be.
No.
To have you detest this face of mine
The fact that you detest this face of mine...
makes me very happy.
delights me.
I see.
What's wrong, Gray?
Nothing. It just felt like I heard that cat.
Stop that. There's no need for you to play along with my sentimentality.
No, I do hear it! It's that cat's voice!
Shadow...
I see.
I see.
Corresponding shadows!
What is it, Gray?
This is...
Nothing. I almost thought I could hear it still—
Call for Svin and Flat.
Stop that. There's no need for you to get bogged down in your master's sentimentality too.
Shadows appearing on water's surface...
No! I'm sure it's the cat!
The dawn that rips away the veil...
I hear its cries!
Amber ruts traversing the stars.
A shadow.
Return from twilight and fill the breaths of lead!
So that's it.
So this is the perp who was cursing you, Sir?
A corresponding shadow!
To be precise, the car that caused the curse.
My word...
The perpetrator ran over the cat with this car,
Send for Svin and Flatt.
and cursed me so that the cat's agony would spread to me.
Shade that passes across the surface of water.
In other words, the cat had been tied to you,
Dawn that rips aside the veil.
and by putting the cat close to death, he could also kill you as the owner?
Tracks of amber that cross between stars.
That's right.
Return here from the twilight, and blow breath into lead!
A car and its wheels are symbolic of continually changing destiny, and of cycles.
So this is the person who placed the curse on you, Professor?
By affixing the properties of Magecraft as such,
To be precise, the car is the one that did it.
he was able to spread the curse to my shadow.
The culprit ran down the cat
So the perp, in order to kill you, took the cat, and...
after first binding it with a curse that would transfer its agony to me.
There was one miscalculation.
So in short, since the cat has a connection to you,
The fact that Gray has close ties to the realm of death.
a mortal injury to the cat could kill you as well?
If Gray had not noticed the cat's presence back there,
my wounds would've been more severe.
Well, that's the only thing she's good for!
Add!
Therefore, if the curse is possessing a shadow,
you can ascertain what it is by seeing the shadow reflecting in a mirror!
Precisely.
Precisely.
Can you track its scent, Svin?
The car and its wheels symbolize the cycle of fate, constantly turning.
Yes. Oh, but wait...
With the application of magecraft, the culprit transferred the curse to my shadow.
Wouldn't it be over if you simply countered this curse?
So the culprit did this to the cat intentionally in order to kill you, Master.
If I did that,
But they miscalculated.
I'd never know who the perpetrator was!
They never accounted for the depth of Gray's ties to the realm of death.
The Clock Tower sure pays well!
If Gray hadn't picked up on the cat's presence when she did,
I don't even sense a counter-curse incoming.
I'd be in much worse shape.
A good time as any.
I 'spose that's the one thing she's got going for her!
I think I'll head for a vacation in Monaco soon.
Add!
That's...
Then if the curse is possessing a shadow,
As we'd expect from Le Chien!
the reflection of that shadow in the mirror will show you its true nature!
Don't treat me like a dog!
Exactly.
But this really is a dull-witted spell.
Can you track it by scent, Svin?
The curse cycles around to not only affect you, sir,
Of course, sir. But that said,
but also to affect the perp himself.
wouldn't it be easiest to settle this by countercursing the culprit?
Should I tell him that he'll suffer from gout or diabetes in about ten years' time?
If I did that, I'd never find out who did this to me!
If we can catch him, you can tell him as much as you want!
These Clock Tower folk certainly do pay well.
We have to hurry up and settle this, or the curse will stop my heart!
And no sign of a countercurse on the way, either.
Damn that half-dead bastard!
I think it's high time I had myself a vacation in Monaco.
I'll go here!
Spoke too soon.
Leave it to us.
That's our trusty ol' Le Chien!
Let's go!
Don't talk about me like some old bloodhound!
We're avenging the death of Gray-tan's kitty!
I've got to say though, the methods this guy used are incredibly reckless.
Hurry up!
Now that the curse is cycling, it's not just affecting the Professor, it's running its course through him too.
Pollida Mors!
Do you think I ought to tell him that in ten years time he'll be suffering gout, diabetes, or worse?
What the hell?
You can tell the bastard whatever you like after we catch him.
Fortification?
If I don't hurry up and get this sorted, the curse will stop my heart.
No!
Shit! Why won't you just die?
Beast Magecraft!
I can take care of this.
Just let us handle it.
This is for what you did to Milady Gray's cat!
Quit yapping and go!
Palladia Mors!
What the blazes?
Is that fortification?
No! It's bestial magecraft!
Game Select!
Game Select!
It was a good thing that at least we captured the perp.
What a relief that you were able to apprehend the person behind this.
Just the one who acted.
That man was merely the perpetrator.
Reines mentioned that it's highly probable that the perp never met his client,
His memories were more than likely altered.
and that his memories have also been altered.
In Reines' opinion, he didn't even know whose orders he was acting on.
Who is the real perp, and how did he do it?
Trying to solve the mystery of who really did it, and how,
It's useless to think about it if we're up against a Mage.
is pointless when the culprit is a magus.
But the whydunit...
But the whydunit remains.
I can at least see why he wanted to kill me.
It's not hard to imagine why someone would want me dead.
It's because I am a Lord.
I'm a Lord, after all.
That cat simply ended up being the sacrifice because of that.
the Cat
But I personally think that the cat was saved by all this.
The cat was just collateral damage.
A satisfaction gained by saving something is only a misconception by the brain.
Still, I think that in doing this, you saved the cat.
Saving someone else doesn't mean that you've been saved yourself.
Any feeling of satisfaction that saving something might give you is just another trick of the mind.
Even if you think you saved someone,
Helping others won't improve your own lot in life.
you're never certain if you really saved that person.
Nor will you ever know for certain if the help you gave them did any good in the long run.
Even then...
Even so...
Even then, you...
Even so, Master,
really did save me.
you saved me. And that's for certain.
So, I'm sure that cat, too...
And you saved the cat as well. That's what I believe.
What we're able to touch are a myriad of facts, not the one truth.
What lies within our reach is a mere conglomeration of facts.
Misconception, misunderstandings, mismatches, misapprehension...
The one truth lies beyond our grasp.
A simply comical repetition of things is the world that we live in.
Misconceptions, misunderstandings, mismatches and misapprehensions...
It's just like a shadow being reflected in a mirror.
What an utterly foolish cycle of repetitions this world we live in is.
In a way,
Little more than a shadow in a mirror.
fighting alongside you was so easy since I know you well.
Looking at it that way,
However,
the battles I fought at your side were far simpler.
at present,
But now...
this is where I...
this place
fight my battles!
is my battlefield.
Hello?
Yes?
Yeah, I got it.
Very well.
Adashino from the Policies department again?
Adashino from Policies wants a word with me again.
Jeez.
For pity's sake.
Are you stepping out?
Will you be going out, sir?
Yeah.
Yes.
Another nuisance like always, lady.
Looks like yet another nuisance needs my attention, Lady.