Tokiomi Tohsaka tapped his cane on the marble floor of Fuyuki Church's apse. Standing behind the pulpit, he looked almost like a preacher readying himself to receive his congregation. With his dignified expression and stiff posture, he did seem like an eloquent clergyman.
In contrast, Kotomine Kirei, the genuine holy man in the Church, seemed like a downcast sinner. He was seated behind the altar on a rickety wooden chair, his back hunched with hands collected together. His stare bore down into the floor, tracing the milky discolorations in the marble.
Behind him, Gilgamesh leaned against the end of the apse, looking down at Kirei with the beginnings of a smile dancing on his lips.
The church doors opened, loosing a stiff groan as the old bolts struggled against rust. Irisviel entered, with Maiya and Artoria following suit.
"I would like to welcome you for coming at our behest," said Tokiomi. He coughed to clear his throat. Kirei glanced at Tokiomi. Tokiomi stood firm with cool painted on his face, but Kirei understood from that little cough that Tokiomi was nervous.
Tokiomi waved a hand at Kirei.
"Let me introduce you to Kotomine Kirei, my student."
Irisviel and Maiya both tensed up, their eyes locking on the solemn holy man.
"Do not worry. He has yielded all his rights as a Master and is no longer participating within this war. However, he is now the new Overseer, as the previous one was murdered." Tokiomi wrung his hands together. "Initially, I invited you to discuss terms for cooperation. However, I fear that the current situation requires far more effort to amend."
Irisviel kept her red pupils zoned in on Kirei. "What do you mean?"
The church doors opened again, this time with an explosive crash. Irisviel, Maiya, and Artoria whirled around to meet this intrusion, with Artoria moving herself into a battle stance. Tokiomi remained calm; this was within his plans.
Waver Velvet and Iskandar entered, Waver with nervous half steps and Iskandar with colossal strides.
"Oh?" said Iskandar, stroking his red beard. "Are we late? Both Saber and Archer are already here." He smiled at the two other Servants, and in turn received an icy stare from Saber and a bemused look from Archer.
"Not at all," said Tokiomi. "In fact, this is perfect timing."
"What's the meaning of this?" asked Irisviel.
Tokiomi took a purple gem from his pocket it and placed it on the pulpit. "Pardon my inconsideration. I had sent a familiar out detailing how the terms of this meeting had changed, but it seems that it did not reach you." He tapped the gem, and it started oscillating like a spinning top, growing brighter and brighter with each rotation. "It has come to my attention that this entire war is in danger of being sabotaged."
The gem, now as bright as a lit flashlight in a cave, stopped spinning and projected a widescreen image in front of the pulpit. The image showed a white uniformed young man with his face blurred by shadows. He sat in front of a campfire in the midst of what looked like a forest. Behind him were the outlines of four Servants, their appearances unclear as they were too far from the fire's light.
"What!? That's ridiculous! Four servants?" exclaimed Waver as he tugged on Iskandar's cape.
"Hoh?" said Iskandar as he took a deep breath, puffing up his already colossal frame. "I could never forget that imposing outline. To think that I would see King Darius once more."
Irisviel and Saber both recognized one of those four outlines.
"That's the Archer-class servant from before," said Irisviel.
Saber nodded. "Now I know for certain that Sir Tristan is no mere illusion."
"From what intelligence I have been able to gather," said Tokiomi. "This Master controls four Servants, and can do so without experiencing any strain. It is likely that this Master is a superb Magus, perhaps not even human."
Iskandar laughed. "So, I'm assuming you want all of us to ally and take down this new party?"
Tokiomi nodded. A general's insight was sharp indeed. "As you all know, with the elimination of Assassin, Caster, Lancer, and Berserker, this leaves us only with a fighting force of three Servants. Individually, we cannot risk clashing with such a potent fighting force."
Of course, that was in some ways untrue. Gilgamesh alone could likely defeat this upstart, but there was always the risk that the other Masters of this war would seize the opportunity and collapse on Gilgamesh. Tokiomi wanted every Master accounted for and together so that no double dealing could take place.
Irisviel crossed her arms. "Why should we help you?"
"Kirei, if you will-" said Tokiomi.
Kirei stood up and walked over to Tokiomi's side. He unrolled his sleeve with stiff, mechanical movements, revealing command seals emblazoned on the entirety of his forearm.
"Each Master that participates in this hunt will receive an additional Command Seal, as per the new Overseer's jurisdiction." Tokiomi nodded, and Kirei sat back down, his stare once again landing on the floor.
"All right!" said Iskandar, his loud voice ringing around the confines of the church.
Waver pulled at Iskandar's cape with even greater fervor. "What? How can you just agree like that? We need to think this through! And besides, wasn't I going to call the shots?"
Iskandar slapped Waver's back, sending the young man reeling. "Hahaha! What's there to think about? If I can meet Darius on the battlefield once more, then these terms are as generous can be!"
"Einzberns," said Tokiomi. "What will your answer be?"
Irisviel bit her lip. "Before I agree, I want to know this, Tohsaka: how can we trust any promises tied to the Overseer? He's been under your thumb this whole time."
Tokiomi was still for a bit, rolling around thoughts in his head like a connoisseur savoring wine.
"Kirei is no longer affiliated with me," said Tokiomi finally. "As the new Overseer, he is directly under the Holy Church's jurisdiction. He will have responsibilities that make it impossible to be partial to me."
Irisviel had less than one week's worth of experience outside castle walls, much less any experience in dealing with the Holy Church. Kiritsugu had told her many things, but there was only so much detail he could give her.
"I'm unfamiliar with any rules from the Church that would keep Kotomine Kirei from acting on his own," she said, bluffing by voicing her lack of knowledge as a pointed accusation. Either Tokiomi would fill her in with the rules that Kirei was bound with, or he was lying.
Tokiomi enclosed the gem in his fist, cutting off the projected image. "As the Overseer...," he said, pausing to put the gem in his pocket. That brief moment was enough to make something up. "Kirei operates the cleaning crews for this war. These crews report to the Church independently, ensuring that Kirei maintain impartiality."
Irisviel furrowed her white brows. "Even if that is true, I cannot risk Kotomine Kirei continuing to stay in this war. I ask that you remove him from Fuyuki after he gives the seals you promised. We cannot trust that he will stay unbiased."
"That would be difficult. Kirei is the new Overseer, after all. His presence is crucial for keeping the stability of this war," replied Tokiomi. Kirei wasn't truly needed to keep this war running, but his authority as an Overseer was still useful in the case that Matou Kariya, who still had Command Seals, made an unexpected move.
"Those are my terms," said Irisviel, unfolding her arms to emphasize her words. "If you cannot accept them, then we cannot enter into this alliance."
Tokiomi made an expression like he'd tasted something bitter. "Then it is agreed. After this hunt, I will have Kirei removed from Fuyuki. He must, however, stay in the next town over and have some communications functioning with the Church's personnel."
"We would prefer him to leave Japan entirely, but we can accept those conditions if you allow us to keep constant surveillance on him when he leaves."
Tokiomi nodded one sharp nod, like a judge hammering down his verdict. "Then that is settled." He stepped down from the altar with a quick pace that left his ribbon tie swaying. "We must move quickly. That image I showed you was taken mere minutes ago, in the forest beside the Ryuudouji Temple."
"H-hey, wait up!" said Waver, standing in front of Tokiomi. Tokiomi stopped to listen. "Don't you have any more info? We can't just barge into a forest like that and hope to find them so easily."
Tokiomi shrugged. "Unfortunately, the information I was able to procure only extends as far as showing me their general location. I do not know their exact whereabouts, only that they shouldn't have strayed from the forest yet."
Tokiomi walked past Waver like he was nonexistent. Gilgamesh followed close behind. Before Tokiomi left the church, he bowed.
"I thank you all for taking the time to be here. Let us work together to keep this war's integrity."
Gilgamesh chimed in.
"I expect a show worthy of my aid, mongrels."
The two left.
Iskandar picked up Waver by his collar. "Boy, now is not the time to be moping about!" He tucked a squirming Waver under his arm and looked at Artoria, a flashy grin on his face. "Tonight I will make sure to show you that my way of Kingship is great enough to wield your blade for."
Without waiting to hear a response, Iskandar left, dull rumbles rolling outside the church as he flew away on the Gordius Wheel.
Irisviel stared at Kirei, who still sat there like he was frozen in time.
"Woman," said Kirei, making Irisviel jump back in shock. His eyes never moved from the floor, so it was impossible to read his face. "I have no intention of following you."
"Let's go," said Irisviel, nodding to Artoria and Maiya. She couldn't trust Kirei, but the seriousness in his voice, firm as an oak and as solemn as a funeral dirge, made his statement compelling in a way.
When the church doors closed, Kirei found himself in silence's company. He was supposed to be acting neutral now. He couldn't follow Tokiomi, and Tokiomi hadn't called on him to.
He waited. Seconds spilled into minutes, and the minutes racked up to thirty. He stood up and tread towards the doors with heavy but eager steps that clicked on the marble floor.
It would not take long to get to the Matou house.