[h1][color=00aeef]Ernest LaCreux[/color][/h1]

[h2]Eastern Field[/h2]

Ernest approached the gathering at the Eastern Field alongside Chi-You on foot. The magus had instructed his Thralls to link up and return to limousine to the house near the cemetery a few blocks away. He had no real desire to make the vehicle a target for any of the others, and bringing the Thralls along seemed in bad taste. As the pair of them approached, Ernest was a bit surprised by the pleasant nature of the meeting. It seemed Ruler had taken care to make things as comfortable as possible, and the refreshments would probably help to ease tensions. After all, they were all on the same side, temporary as it might be.

Others had already arrived by the time the duo reached the field. Some were familiar, most notably the enormous Rostam and his Master. There was also the noisy girl who had been at the Church, and what appeared to be her Servant. Many were making introductions, or at least making some attempt to socialize. Ernest looked a bit out of place, dressed in the same neat, black suit as always, cane in hand. Following the introductions of a few of the others, the necromancer gave a slight bow. [color=00aeef]“Greetings. My name is Ernest LaCreux.” [/color]Hiding his name was impolite, but also practically pointless. It was only a matter of time before someone pieced together his relationship to the undead puppet that had been at the Church earlier. He looked toward Saber, making no attempt to introduce her. He imagined she would prefer to handle that herself.

Ernest's gaze swung toward the noisy girl's rather odd-looking Servant as he described the dangers of the Black-Haired Man. The magus knew nothing about the eccentric fellow, but whatever Heroic Spirit he was, it seemed that he had been easily outmaneuvered by the mysterious interloper. It seemed the encounter with Lancer hadn't been a fluke. As Ruler replied, the magus nodded with a grim expression before speaking up. [color=00aeef]“Yes, this 'Black-Haired Man' killed my Servant in the forest on the edge of town last night.”[/color] There was no point in hiding information. [color=00aeef]“In a span of seconds, he killed Lancer. There was no fight. Whoever... or whatever that thing is, he was able to take down a Servant without any trouble, and with his bare hands no less.”[/color] One of the other Servants expressed a lack of knowledge regarding the individual, and denied any connection to him. That was to be expected. Even if one of the participants was trying to sabotage the War, it wasn't like they would make that fact public.

Ernest took a place next to Airi and her Servant. Of those present, they, and Ruler of course, were the only ones present that he could be certain had absolutely no hidden connection to the Black-Haired Man. [color=00aeef]“If we are to deal with this problem, I believe we must first find out where this 'Black-Haired Man' resides. As the two encounters that have been had with him already illustrate, the element of surprise gives him a powerful advantage. Perhaps, if cornered, he could be more reasonably dealt with.”[/color] Ernest looked around at the others. It was the most basic of ideas, but it had another purpose. [color=00aeef]“I don't know that we have any means to track him, and luring him out seems both dangerous and uncertain, as we can't be sure what exactly it is that he's after. So, perhaps the first step should be determining where he is [i]not[/i].”[/color] He straightened his posture. [color=00aeef]“I would imagine a magus would know if he were hiding in their territory. For obvious reasons, I wouldn't ask anyone to disclose their bases of operations, but you must know of them, right Ruler?”[/color] He turned toward the overseer. [color=00aeef]“If we can determine that this man is not working with anyone present, then wherever he is hiding must be outside of any of the Masters' established territories.”[/color] It wasn't much, but perhaps it was a decent starting point.