interlude 6-3 Other Night
Hollow night
It is a room that smells of stone.
The lamp's flame shines on the man's back and illuminates the parchments on his desk. In this small room within the church on the hill, the only noises being made are the scratching sounds of a fountain pen against aged parchment.
The man writes in a robotic fashion, the Latin he is writing produced in a disciplined Carolingian minuscule script. Like a typewriter, every letter is produced perfectly to the calligraphic standard. And yet, his pace is quicker than that of a typewriter, words and sentences flying across the blank parchments under the flickering lamp. Once he is done with a page, he puts it aside before reaching out to a stack on his right for another piece of parchment. The process is methodical yet efficient - not a single second wasted in the twilight as the man continues to write.
His pace does not slow even when he detects a familiar presence slink into the room.
"—Lancer. How goes your scouting?"
The priest does not turn to face his Servant as he continues his work.
"The hell you're asking me for? You saw what happened through my eyes, you know damn well why I'm here."
"—"
The priest pays the brutish reply no heed as he reaches out to his stack of parchments again.
"—Oi. Don't ignore me, you shitty priest."
"—Gas leaks."
"… … …Hah?"
"Gas leaks. Now if you are satisfied, I prefer that you throw your childish tantrums elsewhere."
"… … …"
For a few seconds, there is silence in the room, and only the scratching of a pen on paper can be heard.
Then, abruptly, the blue Servant storms up to the priest's desk.
And skewers the stack of blank parchments with his red lance.
The lance follows through into the table, past the drawers beneath, and meets the stone floor with a loud clang.
The man stops moving his pen, sets it aside, and puts the finished parchment into the unharmed pile.
The man, Kotomine Kirei, does not even bother to look up at his Servant. All he does is open a drawer on the other side of his desk and brings out a new stack of blank parchment.
Then, as if nothing had happened just now, he continues writing.
He can hear a long-suffering sigh from the Servant behind him, before the red lance is plucked out the table.
"Look Kotomine, I'm just here for some answers…"
The Servant trails off and then peers over the priest's shoulder.
"…Wait, what the hell are you even doing?"
"As I said, gas leaks."
"—What?"
"I am preparing a report to the Association on casualties, Lancer. I am writing what reasoning I will be using to the city authorities to justify the casualties in the War. While they do not generally care what excuses the Church comes up with, I still have a duty to report my actions properly."
"…Alright, sure…? Then what about the gas leaks?"
It is not enough to make him smile, but the priest takes amusement in that the Servant has already been dragged off-topic by him.
"That's the reasoning I am going with for most of these victims for clean-up measures. The standout issue tonight is the casualties at the Temple, since the place is not connected to the main Fuyuki pipeline directly. So I am currently writing on the merits of claiming they drank contaminated water and contracted mass food poisoning."
"…What."
"Given the activities happening tonight, it's likely that we will see at least a dozen dead and many more unconscious, so I am preparing for that by including this in the report."
"Wait, so you're writing this report in advance then? Why the hell would you do that?"
Another parchment done and put aside. He reaches out for another piece from the blank stack.
"It is simple. Tonight will definitely exceed the amount of casualties I allow. Caster was careful not to pass a certain line, but the old worm has gone and walked straight past it. So it is very unlikely I will have the time to finish this report if I need to head out personally tomorrow to survey the damage."
"…Wait that's right—! Oi, I just realised you've not answered my question!"
"I've answered your question as to what I meant by my vague comment just now. Was my answer not satisfactory?"
"Hey, you were being deliberately vague—! No wait wait, ah damn it, Kotomine! Stop dodging and answer already—!"
The priest finally stops writing, his report complete. He places the last piece of parchment into the finished pile and opens the drawer on his right before frowning at the freshly made hole in it. He closes it and opens an undamaged drawer, depositing the fountain pen in it.
Only then does he stand up from his seat to turn around and face his Servant.
Kotomine can see that Lancer is clearly agitated. He can understand why the series of events tonight has stripped him of his usual composure.
"Oi. What the hell was that thing tonight?"
Kotomine does not answer.
The strange shadow that appeared in this town.
The being that can devour even Servants within seconds, and the main reason for why he is writing his report on casualties even after Caster's demise.
Kotomine knows very well what the shadow is, and where it has originated from. In fact, he had a brief conversation with his other Servant on this very matter just three days ago, on the possibility of the black grail being activated.
In an ironic way, the worm magus has helped to advance his plans faster than he expected, and looking into Lancer's memory of the brief run-in with the shadow, he can see the benefit of just letting the Zouken further his plans for now.
After all, to him, it does not matter which Grail is being used, and with a disposable Servant still alive in his control, he can continue to play damage control while keeping track of events in relative safety.
There is the concerning thought that his adversary will attempt to kidnap and use the Einzbern grail as well later down the line, but with Servant Berserker still as the strongest Servant summoned in this War and the Einzbern base so far away from the shadow's main feeding grounds, he feels it is prudent to sit and watch for now.
That aside, there is no merit to mention any of this to this Servant.
So he decides to simply not answer the question.
"It is nothing you need to be concerned with, Lancer. If you see it appear again, make sure to run away immediately and take note never to let it touch you."
"—That doesn't answer anything, you shitty priest—!"
"If it touches your limb, cut it off immediately. Do not hesitate, or it will continue to corrupt you entirely. Protect it from your core at all costs."
"—"
The priest lets the silence hang for a moment before continuing to speak.
"In any case, I have other matters to attend to, so return to your scouting mission, Lancer. See how far you can get into the Einzbern forest before they attack you, and then disengage as per usual."
"—Yeah, sure sure. Geez, I really hope it shows up to eat you."
The Servant dematerialises with a dismissive wave of his hand at the priest.
And moments after Lancer leaves, another presence appears in the room.
"—Hoh, the dog just made a rather ironic joke. Not that he would know, ha!"
"Were you not busy checking up on the King of Knights?"
"Hah! Are you implying that I cannot do two or three things at once?"
"…You are showing a lot more attention than I thought you would to this, Gilgamesh."
The man is leaning against the doorframe, a half-filled wine glass in his hand. The priest sits back down in his chair, back turned to his other Servant as he shuffles and arranges the papers on the table.
"It was interesting to watch the results tonight. The cur somehow survives through sheer luck, and because of that it is currently feeding at a much higher rate than last night. As the supervisor, what is your perspective on this, Kotomine?"
"—I can't say much as of this moment. This is the first instance of large-scale unconsciousness after Caster's death, and there is a further anomaly in Assassin's small murder spree. Otherwise, there is no problem as long as tonight is an exception. Either association is aware of the necessary clean-up measures. But—"
"'If it continues at this pace', huh? …Have you realised, Kotomine? If nothing is done, this town will become barren of life."
"That is needless worry. It should not be an amateur, so it should know its limits."
"And since it will continue to devour Servants to fill the other Lesser Grail, you don't mind so long as it does not cause an issue with the ritual…"
"Of course. While I do not condone these needless deaths, I also see no reason to step in yet. I cannot say there are adequate preparations made for if the situation goes out of control, but..."
"—Hah, so you plan for me to deal with it in the worst case…! I do not mind. I do not like it when people are killed by someone besides me, and it is not my style to watch people in this town die because of this."
"—I see."
He is curious but decides not to delve further. He still has more paperwork to do tonight.
"I shall do as I please then. For now, it's amusing to watch her struggle with her humanity. But if the woman oversteps her boundaries, then I will be there to kill her."
"—"
The priest does not answer. He merely continues his work as the presence behind him leaves.
And when he is sure that the golden Servant has left, he can't help but muse to himself.
"—But I fear you may be mistaken, oh great King of Heroes…When you do decide to draw your blade, it may already be too late for you."
Lit by the dim light in an empty stone room, the priest smiles.