12. vigilance

That night, the expected visitor appeared at the Fuyuki Church on the hill of the Shinto suburb.

"Following the Heaven's Feel agreement, I, Kotomine Kirei, request the protection from the Holy Church."

"I accept. Conforming to my duty as a supervisor, I, Kotomine Risei, will guarantee your security. Come inside."

To the two men who had arranged everything, this was a laughable farce, but they couldn't know if there wasn't still someone spying at the gate. Kotomine Risei feigned strictly his role of supervisor with a grave face, and invited his son, weakened by his defeat as a Master, inside the Church.

With many residents from outside, Fuyuki has a lot more people coming at the church than the other towns; despite being in the Far East, this church of Fuyuki is the center of the belief from Western Europe, giving it a genuine splendor. However, the resting place of ordinary Christians is nothing more than a camouflage, as the church was built in this place by the Holy Church specifically for the Heaven's Feel. Being the third best spiritual place, it matches the mansion of the Second Owner of this earth, the Tōsaka family.

Obviously, the Father who has come here and taken over the supervision of the struggle to the death between Masters and Servants is a member of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament. In other words, the priest who has been administrating the daily religious service for the ordinary Christians is no other than Kotomine Risei.

"I see everything has been carried out without problem."

Leading Kirei through the priest's house, Father Risei dropped his acting and nodded with a serious face.

"Father, who is watching over the church?"

"Nobody is. This neutral ground has guaranteed inviolability. The Church dissuades Master from interfering unnecessarily. On top of that agreement, the defeated ones are of no interest."

"We will have tranquillity, then."

Sitting on the chair that was offered to him, Kirei sighed deeply. Then―

"We shouldn't neglect vigilance, to be sure. There should always be someone."

He speaks with a cold-hearted, commanding tone to nobody. Of course his words aren't addressed to his father. Father Risei beside him doesn't see the speech of his son as strange.

"― Also, was anyone observing the scene?"

"Yes, that is me."

This time, a voice responded to the question Kirei had apparently asked at an empty space. A woman. Under cover in the corner of the room, a female appeared in black clothing that seem to boil.

Neither Kirei nor Risei raised an eyebrow to that appearance. ―But the appearance of the woman was that of one that shouldn't be here.

Jet black robe wrapping a soft stature, a symbolic skull mask hiding her face, this costume is without a doubt that of the Heroic Spirit of assassination, Hassan-i Sabbāh.

"There were traces of four different types of familiar at the place of Assassin's death. I believe there are at least four Masters who have witnessed the scene."

"Hm... We are missing one."

Narrowing his eyes as if to think, Kirei looked at his father at his side.

"The 'spirit board' definitely indicated the arrival of seven Servants, didn't it, father?"

"Yes, without a doubt. The last one, 'Caster', arrived two days ago. As usual, the names of the Masters weren't given, but all the Servants of this Grail War must be present."

"I see..."

Kirei would have preferred all five people to witness this night's farce.

"Observing the mansion of each of the three main families should be a given for all Masters participating in the Heaven's Feel."

The woman in a skull mask standing at his side ― the one who cannot be anyone but Hassan-i Sabbāh spoke her opinion.

"If there is anyone with the nerves to ignore their guard like that, they are too careless for us Assassin to begin with. Is this conclusion satisfactory?"

"Mm."

If the Master Kotomine Kirei had lost his Servant, the Seals carved on his hand should have disappeared. But the three deep black stigmas were still carved there.

In brief... The Servant Assassin hasn't been annihilated. Then the masked woman who was currently serving the two Kotomines must be the real Hassan-i Sabbāh.

"Is it regrettable that the man died?"

The woman shook her head with an air of indifference at Kotomine's question.

"That man was one of us Hassans who didn't have any particular forte. Losing only him does not affect us as a whole. Still―"

"Still, what?"

"I cannot say his death affects us, but a loss is a loss. You could say it is like losing a finger. I do not wish to think he was a vain sacrifice."

Kirei listened intently as the woman put forth her growing protest through her humility. Of course that was not unreasonable.

"That is not vain. You can deceive the other Masters by sacrificing one finger. They all already believe Assassin has fallen. Do you not think all of you can now turn the tide of battle under cover?"

"Indeed, you speak the truth."

The woman in black clothing bowed her head deeply.

This time, thinking Assassin has been removed, nobody will expect the Heroic Spirit of shadows to creep up behind their back. Who would know― that the Servant Assassin was still kneeling in front of the Master who had ran to the Church.

Even for those competing for the miracle called the Heaven's Feel, that was evidently a strange situation.

Indeed, the name of Hassan-i Sabbāh doesn't refer to just one person. The name Hassan, that means "old man of the mountain", was once the root of the word "assassin", a name passed down to the head of a group of assassins in the Middle East. This means that historically, there are several Heroic Spirits with the name of Hassan. Of course, it isn't a miracle that there was one female Hassan.

But as a general rule, there can be only one Assassin summoned for the Heaven's Feel. It is theoretically possible to have control over two Servants by taking one from another Master, but having over two Assassins simultaneously means it is obvious a rule has been bypassed.

"At any rate, this marks the opening of the hostilities."

The exaggerated voice of the dignified old priest was filled with anticipation for victory.

"The Fourth Heaven's Feel has begun. It seems these old bones of mine will witness a miracle this time."

Unable to share the enthusiasm of his father, Kirei silently gazed at a dim-lit corner of the priest's house.

—-------

"The Tōsaka mansion moved last night."

Maiya started by jumping straight to the point.

"Please watch the records of it. Also, all the equipment has arrived."

"Understood. First, the situation."

Nodding, Maiya switches the decoder of the unpacked television.

Amongst the magecraft Kiritsugu had taught her, Maiya was particularly capable in the management of regular familiars, and Kiritsugu often entrusted her with scouting or reconnaissance missions. This time again, Kiritsugu has assigned her to the surveillance of the Matō and Tōsaka mansions.

The familiars Maiya has pride in are bats, but unlike other magi, her bats have a miniature CCD camera tied on the abdomen. Of course, this is an idea of Kiritsugu. The illusions and camouflaged bounded fields of magi are often based on using suggestions on an observer, but that sort of things often forget about electronic-based counter measures. Video records are also helpful for re-watching, so even considering it slows down the familiar the joint use of cameras is a viable solution.

The whole scene of the previous night is replayed on the 13 inch CTR. The blurred image is enough to understand the whole event. Without raising an eyebrow, Kiritsugu watches the Servant with a skull mask unable to escape annihilation from the golden Servant.

The white mask of the defeated Servant is without a doubt of the Assassin class.

"What do you make of it?"

"I think it is going too well."

Maiya replied immediately to Kiritsugu's question.

"The time lag between Assassin's materialization and the attack of Tōsaka's Servant is too short. He was waiting for him. I could accept he might have detected an intruder in spirit form, but his opponent is an Assassin with the Presence Concealment ability. ... I wonder if Tōsaka wasn't aware of the invasion prior to it."

Kiritsugu nodded. Having been trained by him, Maiya's conclusion was the same as Kiritsugu's.

"The more I think of it, the more it seems like an arrangement. Why did Tōsaka expose his Servant like that if he had such a margin?"

The Tōsaka family has obviously accumulated experience from the second and third Grail fights. There is no way they don't know the other Masters would be observing the Tōsaka mansion.

The Heaven's Feel is a confrontation between heroes who have gained fame. And the legends of these heroes include a lot of information on their fighting patterns and their strong and weak points. This means it is natural that the skills and weaknesses of the Heroic Spirits are known from the beginning.

And so, it has become an ironclad rule to hide the true identity of the Heroic Spirits in the war between Servants. In light of this, Heroic Spirits are all called by their class to avoid revealing their true name.

Last night, Tōsaka has left two clues to the other Masters, being what his Servant looks like, as well as showing a method that looks like a Noble Phantasm. Neither were enough to definitely identify the Servant, but that was a risk that should have been easy to avoid. If he was to bring down Assassin, he could have done so outside of plain view.

"Showing us something he didn't have to show us― that means he wanted to show it to us."

Kiritsugu nods again at Maiya's conclusion.

"Possibly. If there is any merit in doing that, then the explanation is obvious. ... Maiya, what happened to the Master of Assassin?"

"He went to the Church last night and has requested the supervisor's protection. It is the man called Kotomine Kirei."

Hearing that name, Kiritsugu's eye lit with a cold ghastliness.

"Maiya, send a familiar to the Fuyuki Church. One will be fine for now."

"... Is it alright? The Church is an area where aggressions between Masters are prohibited."