Hearing a male voice from inside the church, Bazett turned her head in that direction and saw a middle-aged man dressed in a robe, seemingly the priest of this church. The place itself was devoid of any light, one could hardly see what was in front of them.
A little startled, Bazett spoke: "Kotomine..?" She asked the man to be sure.
"Indeed, that is I, Kotomine Kirei. It pleases me to see you in one piece, McRemitz Fraga. I was beginning to think the Clock Tower was running out of capable enforcers." The priest said as he approached her.
(A/N: In chapter 1, Waver didn't feel the need to tell Bazett about Kirei's recommendation for the 5th Holy Grail War. I'm telling you guys this because I think the readers were confused in the last chapter.)
When he approached her, Bazett could see the unending smile on his face, but there was an uncanny side to it. However, she didn't even mind in the slightest. His posture clearly showed that this man was a veteran executioner of the Holy Church. Bazett answered the question without beating around the bush.
"I was sent here as a representative of the Clock Tower for the upcoming Holy Grail War."
"It fills me with pride to see that the same fledgling little girl would have come this far..." He paused a bit as he smiled a little. "Then without further ado, allow me to explain the rules, assuming you know nothing about the Holy Grail War." The priest, now called Kirei, stood a few meters in front of Bazett as he began his speech.
"If we start from the very basics, it is the 7 Magus summoning the heroes that have existed and will exist throughout history as Heroic Spirits and fighting each other in order to reach The Root or their ultimate goal, as they call it. The last standing pair make their wishes to the Holy Grail, which has the power to grant anything a person can think of." While Kirei said the last sentence, the smile on his mouth turned into a smirk for a brief moment, but Bazett didn't notice it.
"Is there anything you want to ask thus far?" Kirei asked her.
Bazett respectfully replied: "No, please continue."
Hearing that Bazett had no questions, Kirei resumed speaking.
"Originally, the Holy Grail was created by three big families. These are: Einzbern, Makiri and Tohsaka. These three families joined forces to reach The Root. Centuries have passed, and the battle that will take place now will be the 5th War. These heroic spirits summoned to the maternal world to fight each other are divided into 7 classes. Saber, Lancer, Archer, Caster, Rider, Assassin, and Berserker." Kirei paused for a moment to let Bazett digest this information and then continued.
"There are only two classes left that have not been yet summoned, Lancer and Saber. I suggest you to go immediately to the house, southwest of the church and summon your servant, as the war reaches near. These are the keys to the house I mentioned, the one prepared for you by the Clock Tower." As he said this Kirei reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, then by the time he was done talking, he had already closed the distance between them and handed the keys to her.
Receiving the keys, Bazett thanked him and asked: "Thank you. Is there anything else I should know?"
"Tha-" Just as Kirei was about to speak, in the depths of a lower part of the church, they faintly heard the sound of something falling to the ground and what sounded like human child voices.
When Bazett heard the faint voices, she looked at Kirei and raised a single eyebrow, unable not to be suspicious.
"...What was that noise? Were you busy with some other matter before I arrived?"
"I believe there's been a misunderstanding. The storage room is a bit overrun with vermin at the moment." Even in this situation, Kirei kept a simple smile on his face when faced with such questions and answered calmly.
Apparently, Kirei didn't want her to pursue the matter any further. And Bazett had no plan against that.
After this ordeal, Kirei briefly explained to Bazett how to summon a servant, and a few minutes, it was time for Bazett to head to the house prepared for her.
When Kirei saw her looking ready to leave, he told her one last thing:
"If for any reason you wish to withdraw from the Holy Grail War and ensure your safety, our door is always open for you. The church area is a neutral zone, no one can harm you here."
Following this, Bazett left the church and headed home without looking back.
When he was sure Bazett was gone for good, Kirei spoke into the silence:
"She's gone now."
At Kirei's words, a handsome young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere on one of the wooden seats. This man had golden hair and crimson eyes that pierced the souls of men and women. His black jacket and pants added to his charisma.
After seeing this man, Kirei put one hand to his chest and bowed slightly.
"Your Majesty."
"Relax, Kirei. That woman piqued my interest. She has something I want for my treasury." The golden-haired man said with a smirk.
Kirei fixed his posture and asked: "Then, your majesty why have you not shown yourself sooner? You usually materialize immediately."
"Hah! Kirei, how can I call myself the king of heroes if I talk to every mongrel that is slightly interesting?"
While the two continued their conversation, Bazett arrived at the mansion.
She entered inside and then started to put her belongings in an orderly matter. After the fact, she did something to pass the time because as Kirei told her among many other things related to summoning, if the ritual was done at midnight it was the most fruitful.
When midnight came, Bazett drew a magic ritual circle on the basement floor of this mansion. She followed the instructions that the priest had explained to her along with putting the stone tablet to the middle of the circle.
After finishing all the preparations for the summoning ritual, Bazett noticed that it was exactly midnight and began to chant:
"Let silver and steel be the essence."
As soon as Bazett said the first part of the chant the blood in the summoning circle started to glow brightly.
"Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.
Let grey be the colour I pay tribute to.
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."
The wind was blowing in a way that would normally be impossible inside the basement as Bazett approached the final part of the chant. In the midst of everything, even Bazett herself gets a little excited for the days ahead.
"I hereby declare, Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason…
Then answer! An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell!"
Just as she reached the end of the chant that should normally have finished, Bazett felt an inner voice urging her to say a few more words.
"Destroy to protect, if you swear to never prevail over thy own justice, then answer my call!"
Once Bazett finished her touch to the chant, the whole room including Bazett, was blinded by a blue light.