Arriving at Tulifa at dawn, Joan of Arc immediately encountered the unexpected difficulty of finding a place to stay. As the old man said, there was no place that could be called a tourist attraction in Tulifa. Perhaps for this reason, there were only three hotels here, and they were all full.
"This is the first time we've encountered something like this... I'm so sorry."
Ignoring the frightened hotel receptionist, Jeanne cast her eyes over the men and women chatting and laughing in the lobby.
There was a faint magical reaction, seemingly a magician.
Most of them were magicians from Eugene Domirenia. It seemed that they were all staying at the inn in Tulipas.
"No, that's not going to work. Do you know of any other places to stay?"
"How about going to church?"
Yes, there is also the church. Jeanne felt a little ashamed that she had not even thought of this. She seemed to have been tricked by the knowledge of the real world. Normally, she would go to the church first.
After asking the receptionist for directions to the church, she began to move towards it. Perhaps they had overheard their conversation at the hotel, she noticed that several people had followed her.
"I really hope you can use legitimate means to trade information. I am not a magician, but a Servant."
After all, it was because of this casual outfit. After all, if he was a Servant, it was a bit unlucky that he could not transform into a spirit due to possession.
Regardless, it was already known that I was going to stay at the church, and for the sake of my health, I still wanted to avoid sleeping outdoors as much as possible.
Joan of Arc had no choice but to go to the church. She knocked on the door of the small wooden church and asked to stay for a few days, and the nun readily agreed.
"The attic is the only room available, is that ok?"
I can't have any extravagant expectations in my current position, and there is no need for me to live in a too fancy way.
"As long as I can rest, that's enough. Thank you very much."
The nun called herself Alma Petoresia. She was very graceful, a woman who was born and raised in this simple city and seemed to want nothing more than God's blessing.
"Then please go this way."
Joan of Arc followed Alma, who was leading the way, and climbed the stairs leading from the second floor to the attic.
"Are you here for sightseeing?"
"No. I want to learn about the history of medieval Romania."
"It would be better to go to Sighisoara. Although there are still some medieval buildings here, they don't seem to have much historical value."
"Someone has already gone to Sighisoara to investigate."
"Oh, I see. It is true that this Tuliphas is still untouched."
Climbing up the creaky stairs, you will find the attic room. According to the nun, it seems that this place is rarely used. But both the bed and the bedside table are spotless. It seems that they have been cleaned diligently.
"If you don't mind, I'll prepare the food for you as well."
"No, I don't need you to worry about my eating schedule."
She was very grateful for the nun's suggestion, but she also felt that she could not easily trouble others when she thought that she might sneak out in the middle of the night.
"It's okay. Just reheat it."
"Reheat it...?"
Seeing Jeanne tilt her head in confusion, the nun asked incredulously:
"Isn't there a microwave?"
"Ah, a microwave. Really? I see."
There's no need to light the stove just to reheat it.
"Ah, but I'd be very grateful if I could still have a meal with you."
After thinking for a while, Joan decided to accept the nun's kindness. They agreed that if there was a response in the attic room when the nun called her, they would have a meal together; if not, they would put the food in the refrigerator first. In this way, they wouldn't have to go through so much trouble.
"So, um... Oops, how could I forget something so important. What's your name?"
"Ah, yes. Just call me Jeanne d'Arc."
She simply said her name. It didn't matter if it was leaked, because she didn't have obvious weaknesses like Black Saber.
"Joan of Arc, what a nice name."
"Thank you very much. Next, I have another request. Can I pray in church during this time before dinner?"
"Yeah, sure. That's what churches are for."
After Joan of Arc packed her luggage in the attic, she knelt down in front of the altar, clasped her hands, lowered her head slightly, and closed her eyelids.
It was exactly the same feeling as before I died. The moment I started praying, I felt as if I was isolated from the world, even from the past, future, and reality. This was not for a purpose, but just to pray for the Lord. Whenever I did this, my heart would naturally know what I should do.
For her, prayer time was as valuable as breathing. She could not live without prayer. Born as a peasant, Joan of Arc did not even know the various prayers. Although she tried very hard to memorize them, she seemed to be born without the gift of reading and writing.
At best, she could only sign her name. Although she was troubled by this, she finally came to the conclusion that it was enough to just pray for the Lord. It is said that her comrade, Gilles de Rais, who fought side by side with her, laughed out loud and assured her that "just being able to write these is enough."
"Joan of Arc?"
After coming to her senses, it seemed like she had been praying for a long time. The nun said with an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your prayers."
"That's not the case. If I concentrate on praying, I will forget the time. I don't want to faint on an empty stomach."
"Well, it's a good thing I called you. Dinner is ready, come on."
"Thank you so much."
Alma took her to the dining room. The oak tables and chairs were simple and old, which was very suitable for this small church.
"What about the others?"
"Ah, I am the only one in this church. Father La Cuesta died five years ago and there has been no successor."
Originally, Tulifas was just a small city with a population of about 20,000. Now that other churches have been established, the only people who visit this small church are the elderly who live nearby.
There is no point in distinguishing the size of a church when it comes to praying, Joan of Arc thought.
"Come, let's pray together."
"OK."
After setting the table, Alma and Joan of Arc sat down facing each other and silently said their thanks. When they finished praying, Joan of Arc was already extremely hungry. She wielded her knife and fork to cut open the steaming cabbage wrapped in meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
"How does it taste?"
"Very delicious."
After throwing out these vague words, Jeanne buried her head in her dinner again. With every bite, her tightened stomach expanded. It was truly an endless hell where the more she ate, the stronger the hunger became.
"If you want to eat, there's more."
"You're welcome."
She answered immediately without hesitation. Originally a peasant girl, Joan of Arc was a glutton who would not flinch from taking on the rough soldiers with their voracious appetites. Besides, the simple Romanian home-cooked dishes aroused her appetite more than the exquisite aristocratic dishes.
Joan of Arc was happily savoring the dinner, and Alma, who was cooking the dishes, couldn't help but smile. Afterwards, Joan of Arc used the bathroom to wash her dirty body carefully from head to toe.
When night falls, the magicians and servants will start to act. Jeanne's true duty begins from then on.
◇◇◇
The sky was gray, and according to the weather forecast, it seemed that there would be some rain in the middle of the night. Lion Jiejieli and Red Saber walked on the streets of Tulifas. Of course, they were not sightseeing, but inspecting places suitable for fighting and places not suitable for fighting.
But a place suitable for fighting may not be used directly. Tulipas is actually under the control of the Yugdomrenia clan. It goes without saying that there are minions of their clan lurking among the residents on the street, and there is a high possibility that the place suitable for fighting has been set up with traps in advance - just like the battle last night. As expected, a large number of detection barriers and visual deception barriers were set up at the place of investigation.
"I've had enough of this."
"It looks like it's going to be tough, Master."
Mordred shouted from the wall to Lion Jie, who was crawling on the ground trying to figure out how to destroy the barrier. There was no sympathy in her voice.
Lion Jie sighed and quickly decided to give up this place. It was a waste of time and effort. There was no need to spend too much effort to secure this kind of place.
"Saber. Where is it easier for you to fight, on the plains or in the streets?"
"Hmm - let me think... Flat ground. As I said before, my Noble Phantasm is an anti-military Noble Phantasm. The wider the flat ground, the more I can use it. It's very advantageous."
"If that's the case, it would be better to just give up fighting in the city of Tolifas and go around to the outside."
"Outside?"
Part of the city of Tolifas is surrounded by the Mirenia Fortress. Outside the city walls are buildings that have been gradually added over the past three hundred years. The fortress is located at the easternmost end of the northern side of the city. Further east of the city are vast forests and grasslands. However, there are cliffs next to the forest, making it very difficult to sneak into the fortress, but—
"Then lure them out of the city to fight."
"I see. For me, it's much better than fighting in this cramped city."
"Because the eaves of the houses built around the 16th century in Toulifas are all close together. If you want to demolish all the buildings, that's fine."
"No, no, that's a problem."
"Ah. After all, whether it's the enemy or us, we all want to win even if it means doing something like this."
Magicians are not bound by human ethics. No matter how many civilians are sacrificed, as long as they can keep the principle of concealment, there will be no problem. However, everything has its limits. If one person dies, at most only the close ones will lament. But if ten or a hundred people die, public institutions will be mobilized. As a result, the situation escalates to the point where one person cannot hide, and the Magic Association will take action. Therefore, the battle should be carried out at night, and a barrier should be set up in advance to disperse the crowd before the battle.
However, this was the Holy Grail War. Since the heroes of myths and legends were summoned and allowed to wreak tyranny, it was not surprising to think that sacrificing a street was helpless. Moreover, every blade of grass and every tree on this street belonged to Yugdomrenia.
Noticing that Mordred had suddenly fallen silent, the concerned Lion turned around and saw the displeasure clearly revealed on her face.
"That's really annoying."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I just feel bad that people will be sacrificed for doing this. Why don't magicians have such a sense of ethics?"
Saber uttered these words with disgust.
"I can't help it. Magicians are just that kind of creatures."
"Hmph, disgusting. I hate that, Master."
"Alright, alright. I will try my best not to involve civilians, Your Majesty."
Saber, who was sitting on the wall, suddenly stopped swinging her feet.
"What did you call me just now?"
"Hmm? I call you King. Because just now, you called common people 'people', right? Calling people people is the privilege of great men. Besides, isn't it your wish to become a king? Anyway, you will become one someday, so it's okay to call you that now. Is it?"
Saber’s expression froze.
"... Yeah, no, not really."
"In short, your basic policy is to not affect civilians too much. Is that okay?"
After coughing twice, Mordred regained her usual expression. She stood on the wall and looked down at Lion Robbery with arrogance, and said:
"That's right. Attacking ordinary people to replenish mana is also prohibited.
"Got it, got it. Well, that's the basic policy then."
Shishi Jie is also a relatively good magician. He incorporated these two methods into his tactics as extraordinary means. But if the key servant refuses, then there is nothing he can do. If the servant wants to attack civilians first to replenish her magic power, then let's not talk about it. If she doesn't want to, then just give up. Shishi Jie's policy is not to mobilize Saber according to his own ideas, but to make Saber act according to her own wishes as the top priority.
If it was a normal Holy Grail War, since they would have to face six enemies, both sides would have to entrust their lives to each other regardless of whether they had a bond or not. But this time, the probability of the Master dying and the Servants surviving was extremely high. To put it more extreme, even if they defected to the enemy, it would not be a problem for the Master who lost his Servants.
In other words, for Masters who have not established a trusting relationship with their Servants, what awaits them is the blade of betrayal. In particular, this Red Saber only sees the relationship between Master and Servants as an alliance. If there is a disagreement and she thinks her interests are damaged, she is likely to abandon her Master.
That is not betrayal, but abandonment. This is an indispensable element for a king.
"Is it you who's being played?"
"That's a paranoia. Okay, we're done here. Next—"
Hearing the sound of flapping wings and chirping, the two looked up at the sky together. A pigeon dropped a piece of paper at their feet and flew away. They were undoubtedly the ones who would pass on the message like this... The beneficiary Father Shirou and his party.
"Contact..."
As soon as he read it, Lion Jie's expression tightened. Maybe it was bad news, Mordred thought, jumping down from the wall and looking at the paper.
"Brserker went berserk and attacked the fortress?"
"Hey, that's too loud."
Lion Jie hurriedly stopped her. This was not a line that could be said loudly in broad daylight. But Mordred replied nonchalantly:
"Even if someone who doesn't know the situation hears it, they would think it's just me talking to myself. So what's the meaning of rampage?"
"Ah, I'll explain it to you at the workshop."
"Say it now, right now."
Lion Jie sighed blatantly at the stubborn Mordred, but the latter didn't take it to heart at all.
"It is said that the Berserker's berserker level is quite special. Since he can talk, at first glance, it seems that he can communicate with his mind, but in fact—"
Lion Jie suddenly spread out one hand.
"It seems that he can't understand what we are saying. No matter what anyone says, Berserker will not change the purpose of the battle, nor will he stop. So, in order to achieve that goal, he rushed out."
"Hmm, then, what is the purpose?"
"It's probably a fight. What else could it be? This is really a headache."
"By the way, what's causing your headache?"
The stunned Lion looked at Mordred.
"In a battle of seven against seven, if one person stands out, he will certainly die. At that moment, the battle situation becomes seven against six. Since there is no substitute combat power for the Servant, this is absolutely disadvantageous."
Avoiding the gradual investment of combat power is the basic principle. This is even more so if combat power cannot be replenished. However, the berserker began to run wild. Since there is no way to save him, there is no doubt that the red berserker will be killed first.
This was really a headache for the Red Lion. On the other hand, Saber seemed to have lost all interest after learning about something that she was already familiar with.
"Isn't that good? A berserker is just a servant who will die sooner or later once the battle begins. Don't worry about him, don't worry about him."
As she spoke, she took a bite of the apple that Shizijie bought from the market, and immediately frowned. Then she handed the apple to him.
"It tastes terrible. I'll give it back to you."
"... You are so heartless. Uwaa, it tastes so bad."
Lion Jie also took a bite and frowned.
◇◇◇
Late at night, while Alma was sleeping, Jeanne left the attic and went outside. The night in Tulipas was truly shrouded in a "dead" silence. However, the evil winds and the stench of corpses and magic were undoubtedly irrefutable evidence that the Holy Grail War was unfolding in this city.
Jeanne soaked her right hand with holy water from the church and then threw it into the air. The water shone faintly and moved smoothly, beginning to draw a three-dimensional picture of the city. This was one of the privileges granted to the Operator (Jeanne), the Exploration Function of the Servant.
The result of the exploration - only one Red Servant in Tuliface was confirmed.
"... Hmm."
She tilted her head in confusion and expanded the area of exploration. Mirenia Fortress, where six black servants gathered.
"Are we still short of six red players and one black player?"
The Red Faction, realizing that Tulipas was completely enemy territory, seemed to have distanced themselves from the city and were spying on the situation. It was speculated that this Red Faction Servant was a scout. But—
So, the one on the Black side also went to scout? The Red side is stationed in the neighboring city of Sighisoara. Strictly speaking, the Holy Grail War must be fought in a city. Therefore, stationing in Sighisoara is against the rules.
"But the strategy we have adopted as a result of the current situation is also helpless."
After all, Tuliface is the administrative area of Yugdomirenia. Unlike Fuyuki, where a certain degree of fairness is maintained due to the existence of the three major families, Tuliface is an absolute monarchy that belongs only to Yugdomirenia.
Moreover, the city was very small. It seemed that it had refused to develop for a long time. Unlike Fuyuki, there were very few places where foreign magicians could hide. On the contrary, Yugdo Mirenia was just entrenched in the strong and dangerous Mirenia Fortress.
No matter how much they secure the Holy Grail, it's too unfair. They should be forgiven for stationing in a city other than Tolifas.
The city was so peaceful that it was terrifying. If it was a normal Holy Grail War, there would have been one or two small competitions already...
"Since no one from the Red side is going to move, the Black side is not going to take action either."
So, will tonight be a peaceful night
As if to betray Jeanne, who was about to think so, the Servants inside the fort moved out together, but not towards Tuliphas, but towards the outside -
"To the forest?"
The exploration range was changed to the Ideal Forest that spread across the eastern part of Tulifas. The reaction of the Red Servant was confirmed, and the number was three.
The streets should be peaceful, and they seem to be planning to fight in the suburbs.
"Well, it's good that the residents are safe."
But natural destruction is also troubling.
The forest was burned down because of Red Lancer, but Jeanne ran towards the forest with this in mind, hoping that it would not turn out that way.