Chapter 101

“…Even if this is a special point, is this really how the Holy Grail War should be?” On the morning of the third day, after Laplace’s Demon changed the work area according to yesterday’s grouping, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Kirshtalia, who were transferred to the castle, returned to the rest area one after another. “It’s already the third day - and only one of the twenty-one groups was eliminated. I thought the other two camps would start fighting first.”

"After all, caution is necessary." Kirshtalia leaned against the wall and looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka who was standing in front of the window. "Just looking at the situation here, you should know what's going on - no one will take the initiative to sit in the banquet hall today and provide everyone with the opportunity to read "The 810 Laws of the Queen of Hearts."

"Hmm... I'm going to walk around the castle. What is Kirshtalia going to do?" Fujimaru Ritsuka turned his head and looked at Kirshtalia. "Charlemagne will be traveling with me. The other two camps look likely to be in the same camp. Well, anyway, it's unlikely that we'll meet anyone else today."

"I plan to go take a look in the castle's towers." Kirshtalia smiled at Fujimaru Ritsuka, turned around and walked in the opposite direction. "After all, no matter what, I am a magician of the 'Astronomy Department' of Animusphia - I represent a corner of the 'sky' of the star sea."

On the first day, Fujimaru Ritsuka had already roughly observed the layout of the upper floors, so she walked downstairs and began to explore the parts of the castle that she had missed during the first day's actions - for example, the ballroom that had always been conspicuous but no one had ever been to.

The ballroom is right next to the banquet hall, directly connected to the corridor and the stairs on the first floor without any doors, and there is even a huge terrace. The colorful roses that do not conform to the fairy tale itself but are more in line with the existence of the rose girl decorate the empty and huge ballroom. When Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped into the ballroom, he unexpectedly found a parchment with rules written on it on the wall.

After checking to make sure that what he was about to do would not violate the rules of the ballroom and that it did not violate the rules of the ballroom now, Fujimaru Ritsuka first checked the colors of the roses in the decorative bouquets - black, gold, green, blue, red, pink... no white.

"If we consider it from the perspective of the three camps, red, black and white cannot disappear when there are still participants in the corresponding camps." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the bouquet in front of him and quickly reviewed the images of the seven rose girls in his mind, "But what if different colors of roses represent different rose girls..."

Black——The first doll, Mercury Lamp.

Gold——The second puppet, Canary.

Green——The third puppet, Verdurin Star Stone.

Blue——The fourth puppet, Cosmos Stone.

Red——The fifth doll is really red.

Pink——The sixth doll, Hinamiya.

The missing white here is the seventh doll Xuehua Qijing who was forced to leave yesterday morning after being besieged by the rose girls.

"So, in the end, the bouquets in the ballroom will only have one color left..." Fujimaru Ritsuka thought for a moment, turned around and walked towards the terrace outside, looking out from the terrace towards the croquet court in the distance, "Let me see the terrace. Ah, a new area has appeared - that building is..."

"...I don't really want to go there, really. I really don't want to go anywhere - ah, well, anyway, I'm the only one who can go at this time... but I really don't want to go there!!!" Kadoc looked at the newly appeared solemn and dignified golden and red building in front of him, and repeatedly emphasized his reluctance to explore the new area alone.

"Master." Anastasia looked at Kadoc calmly, waiting for him to finally make up his mind and move forward.

"Anyway, let's take a look at the exterior of the building first." Cadoc patted his cheeks hard, walked up the steps in front of him, and then found a parchment on the golden Roman column in front of the gate. "I'm not surprised that there are rules here - it's more that the situation yesterday where people kept going back to check the 810 Laws of the Queen of Hearts was abnormal..."

"Trial Court Rules"

Be calm and obey the Queen's will in everything.

1. No noise is allowed in the courtroom.

2. Any action is prohibited without the permission of the Queen.

3. All persons who are over one mile tall shall leave the courtroom.

4. Eating and drinking are prohibited.

5. The herald must be a white rabbit.

6. From ancient times to the present, the court will only judge one case.

"Without the Queen's permission, any action is prohibited... It seems that if we want to go inside, it will be against the rules." Cadoc turned his head to look at Anastasia, and stepped down from the steps in front of the courtroom. "Anna, go find Mashu - if there are participants from other camps nearby, go find Aoife or Pepe. If the two in the castle leave suddenly, it may attract the attention of other camps, so we can only find the one on the croquet court."

"That is to say... if there is really no one available, then tell Mustard Seedling about this." Kadoc looked worried and sighed heavily, "Although from a comprehensive perspective, it would be better to tell the two people in the castle than Mustard Seedling - but it would definitely be troublesome to tell the castle, so I definitely won't ask them."

"At most, I'll just mention it at the evening meeting. Anna, remember to tell them the contents of the rules here."

On the other side, on the croquet court - because the people in charge the day before were working so hard for some reason, anyway, the seven groups that were transferred to the croquet court continued the same peace and tranquility as yesterday in the castle... Of course, there were only three groups in the hedgehog area; the four groups in the stork area were continuing with the unfinished stork dyeing business.

"...Speaking of which, since there's nothing to do, why don't we go somewhere else?" Minamiaki Tsunayoshi took Sancho's hint very well, and as the only adult, she suggested to Ashiya Hanae and Matthew that they leave the croquet court. "The rules don't restrict us from going to other areas during working hours, not to mention that our work has been completed."

"It's not like the gardener in Alice in Wonderland has to paint the white roses red."

Ashiya Hanae: "Ah, but... don't they need our help in the stork area?"

"I agree - if the Stork District needs help, they will definitely tell you directly... Since they didn't tell me, they don't need it." Mashu thought for a moment, turned his head to look at the Stork District not far away, and answered Asuka Hanae's question, "Besides, Laplace's Demon told us on the first day-"

“More areas will be opened over time.”

"It's already the third day." Mash looked at Ashiya Hanae and Minaki Tsuna with a serious expression, and pointed out a very important fact to them. "The moment you made the contract with the Servants, you must have known the rules - the Holy Grail War should have begun the moment the participants gathered."

The existence of the Faction War is based on the fact that the first seven knights summoned did not fight. In this case, the Holy Grail activates a safety device - the Holy Grail summons seven knight servants that are opposed to the first seven knights, forcing the Holy Grail War process to be carried out. The battle of the Holy Grail War usually starts and ends very quickly...

A Holy Grail War involving seven ordinary knights would be enough to turn a city into a sea of ​​fire; a battlefield involving fourteen knights would only be more tragic... not to mention that they were now fighting a Holy Grail War involving twenty-one groups of three camps - but, from the beginning to now, only one group of participants had withdrawn, and most people did not even realize that the battle had taken place.

"...In short, judging by the normal pace of the Holy Grail War, the third day is definitely the middle to late stages of the Holy Grail War." Mashu calmly glanced at Hinamiya who was hiding behind Ashiya Hanae, and made a final decision on the three groups exploring other areas together. "So, there will definitely be new areas today."

"Okay..." Ashiya Hanae picked up Hinamiya and walked forward behind Minamiki Aya and Mashu, "So which direction should we go? After all, we don't know the exact location of the new area, right?"

"In which direction of the croquet court are the Rose Labyrinth and the Heart Castle?" Samson, who was following Marsh, kindly gave a hint to Hanae Asaya, a member of the enemy team. "How many of the empty areas between the three currently open areas are near the croquet court? And how many areas are not directly visible from the castle area and the labyrinth area?"

"Let me explain it in the simplest way." Minamiaki Tsuna smiled and drew a cross arrow in the air. "Assuming that the directions on the map are north up, south down, west on the left, and east on the right - then the Heart Castle is directly north of the Rose Labyrinth. And the terrace belonging to the Heart Castle can be seen on the croquet court, but it is not directly opposite -"

"Think about it, in which direction do we look to see the castle terrace?"

Ashiya Hanae: "That one... I remember it was on the left, right? Because at that time we looked over together because Mashu saw someone on the terrace, so I think the impression is still quite deep..."

"Substitute this location onto the map you created in your mind." Mash pointed to the tall castle that could be seen from any direction. "That is, the croquet court is northwest of the Castle of Hearts - and the only place in the Castle of Hearts that can directly observe the outside is the terrace."

"So the blank area to the east of the croquet field is ruled out - although the blank areas to the east and southeast of the Heart Castle are not ruled out..." Minami-Kaki glanced at Mash and continued, "From the perspective of distance, I don't think that area belongs to the part we need to explore - because it's too far."

"It would be more reasonable for the members of the Rose Labyrinth to explore those two areas." Mash pointed ahead of them, "So the only blank area we need to explore is the blank area directly south of the croquet court - that is, the direction we are walking in now, that is, taking the road back from the castle to the croquet court."

In the intervals between the three groups' conversations, the thick white fog that shrouded the area where exploration was not allowed quietly disappeared, revealing a garden suitable for holding a tea party - red and white roses were intertwined, and there were even half-red and half-white roses that were only half painted with red paint and were still dripping with paint.