Lance in the Dark
Kotomine Kirei looked over his new Servant, who glowered back at him. Yes, Lancer had some right to be resentful. Kirei thought that he might be developing a fetish for stealing others' Servants.
"You can't have killed Saber," he interrupted Lancer's report, "because according to the Grail, Saber has not been summoned yet."
"Figures, something seemed off. So, Archer then?"
Kirei briefly reviewed what he knew as Overseer thus far. It was information that could be the decisive edge he needed, but nevertheless more sparse than he had imagined. "No, you're the only Knight-class so far. The only possibilities are Caster, Rider or Berserker."
Caster was not responding to the Grail in the usual way, which was probably not unexpected. Rider was also turning up some sort of anomaly, and the Grail reported that a Master had already been killed. Not Lancer's previous Master, she was still alive - Kirei smiled thinly at the thought.
"Can't be Berserker, she didn't feel like it. Best guess is Rider then. Too bad I didn't get to see her Noble Phantasm." Despite the sudden change in circumstances, Lancer seemed to cheer up a bit when thinking of his earlier battle, before his mood fell back again.
"It hardly matters, does it?" Kirei couldn't help but needle the Servant. To him, a kill was a kill, and Gae Bolg's powerful effect, combined with how usable it was, could be most useful in direct applications. His black heart beat a little bit more strongly in agreement. "Anyway, I don't intend to constrain you. Try not to be seen unless you intend to kill. Of course when you do, feel free to unleash that spear. I can afford the prana at the moment."
He couldn't help but laugh as Lancer's expression showed he wasn't sure to be happy or not about the orders. Waving the Servant out of the room, Kirei turned to the phone sitting on the table next to him.
The early kill was a perfect excuse to try and stir things up. Also, he could bypass the usual need to "register" War participants. The less reason that any Master had to stop by his church, the better. That way, Kirei's own Servants were less likely to arouse suspicions, housed as they were in the supposedly neutral area.
He was pretty sure of how to reach at least a few of the Masters, even if he didn't know who exactly they were. The Einzbern, Matou and Tohsaka families were sure to be taking part. Smiling again at the thought of the young Tohsaka he was about to call, he wondered if it might be possible to get her father's Azoth Dagger from her somehow. The thought of using it on her as well as so tempting, it was a pity that he handed it over before it occurred to him.
"Ah Rin, the Grail has decided to accelerate the schedule. Have you summoned your Servant yet?"