How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

Kureno Tatsumi: "...Huh?"

After a while, Tatsumi returned to Jekyll's side with two cans of juice.

Jekyll snapped out of his thoughts: "What happened? Master, why do you look so strange?"

"Well, you might not believe it, Berserker, I might have found a place connected to other Masters..."

Tatsumi Kurino handed him the juice, mimicking Kawasaki's tone from the phone call with a strange expression:

Have you ever heard of the 'Dark Forest' of Suginami Ward?

……

Meanwhile, in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo.

Inside a residence with a nameplate that reads 'Kawasaki' on the door.

After hanging up the phone, a red light flashed in the eyes of the listless boy, and his previously lifeless eyes regained their liveliness.

"Huh? How did I end up standing here?"

Scratching his head, not understanding what was going on, he didn't think much of it and went straight upstairs back to his room.

On the street outside the residence, the blonde girl's figure flashed past around the corner.

Chapter 202 A Beauty That's Trapped in a Deadly Cycle

It is said that in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, there is a large, seemingly excessive, green area within a residential area that could be described as a 'forest' and appears quite out of place.

A woodland that appears particularly dark after the sun has set.

It would be quite normal to find such a vast forest near large parks like Yoyogi Park in Shinjuku, Ekoda Forest Park in Nakano Ward, or Ueno Park in Taito Ward.

However, the map does not show such a place in this area, so this forest is undoubtedly someone's private property and not a place that just anyone can trespass on.

The woodland was surrounded by a wire fence, which, although not very high and easily climbed over by an average adult male, clearly demonstrated the intention of the person who set it up to prevent others from entering.

Anyone who sees that barbed wire fence will have their desire to approach or enter diminished, so to this day no one has been able to enter and explore it.

"I see, it does sound like a barrier has been set up to ward off people..."

The blond youth walked alone toward the woods.

"Hmm, since it sounds like something a magician would do, I suspect that the other party might be one of the Masters participating in the Holy Grail War."

Tatsumi Kurino is having a silent long-distance conversation with Jekyll using a magic technique called telepathy.

Since the mission involves venturing into the enemy Master's territory for reconnaissance, and there is a possibility of encountering the enemy's Servants along the way, Jekyll naturally wouldn't take Tatsumi with him and risk going there. So he left him in a safe place and let him carry out the reconnaissance mission alone.

At the same time, Jekyll couldn't help but ask him a question in his mind.

"I see... But I'm curious, Master, why did your classmate tell you about this? From what you said before, your relationship seemed rather ordinary, right?"

Jekyll's gaze was deep; he found it hard not to suspect that this was a clue deliberately sent to them by someone else.

Because this clue came at just the right time.

It was a coincidence so perfect it was like something out of a novel. Just when they had no more clues about the Holy Grail War, they happened to get an important clue from someone else.

The person who provided them with the clues didn't seem to have any intention of concealing their existence, and their actions in guiding them here seemed very deliberate.

As for that person's purpose... it should be to send them to test the magician who is suspected to be the Master of this place and his Servant, right?

So, did they actually already have their presence exposed to the other Masters?

“Ah, this…” When this was mentioned, Tatsumi Kurino took off the binoculars he was using to observe Jekyll’s side, a strange look on his face.

"He said it was because his parents had enrolled him in tutoring classes, and he couldn't escape them for a while. Since this topic was trending online recently, he wanted me to take some photos for him so he could use them to chat up other girls online..."

Jekyll: "..."

Well, maybe it wasn't particularly deliberate.

Shaking his head, Jekyll decided it was best not to make any judgments about others until he was certain whether his Master's classmate was being controlled or threatened.

Let's focus our attention on the 'forest' in front of us for now!

At the edge of the dark woods, Jekyll stopped and looked at the dark forest before him, which was filled with numerous death traps woven with magic and sorcery.

Powerful magic designed to drive away people is used to protect ordinary people, and the various traps and barriers within it will make magicians retreat in fear.

However, as a Servant, he should be able to break through the barrier and invade the mansion named Linglong Pavilion by making some kind of sacrifice.

Having observed the situation from the sidelines for a long time, Jekyll was fairly confident.

So, after telling Yoruichi about it, Jekyll took his first step into the forest in front of him, attempting to invade it.

……

"Can't find it..."

After a busy day, Yuto sat in a taxi on his way home, still communicating with Reiryukan Misaya using telepathy.

Since Akihabara is located in Chiyoda Ward, he and Arash split up today to search for other Servants in Bunkyo Ward and Chuo Ward respectively.

Unfortunately, they searched all day and didn't encounter a single magician, let alone the Berserker group, which was their main target!

Perhaps they all left Tokyo early after hearing about the Holy Grail War?

Searching like this is extremely inefficient!

Tokyo has a total of 23 wards!

Even if we exclude Chiyoda Ward, where Arash is stationed, and the two wards they searched today, there are still 20 wards left!

At the current pace, where he and Arash are each searching a different district, it would take at least 10 days to roughly search the entire city of Tokyo!

He could have finished a Holy Grail War in Fuyuki in that time...

Which genius came up with the idea of ​​holding a Holy Grail War with only seven participants in the big city of Tokyo?

"Caster, are we going to search for Berserker's trail again tomorrow like we did today?"

Sitting in the back seat of the taxi with Yuuto, Reiko Misaya asked him with a hint of excitement.

Normally, her life consists of going back and forth between school and home, and she rarely travels around with Youdu like she has during this period, so it is inevitable that she finds it a bit novel.

"We'll see..." Yuuto was thinking about whether there was a more efficient way to find out about the other party.

Does he expect him to build a temple in Tokyo like Ramses II did, and then threaten the other Servants that if they don't come, he'll blow up the whole of Tokyo?

The problem is that the original challenge was issued when all the other Servants were gathered together, right?

If he had that kind of opportunity, he wouldn't need to issue a challenge; he could have started the fight right there and then, right?

There's a kind of beauty that's trapped in a vicious cycle...

"Ok?"

Just as Yuuto was trying to break free from the vicious cycle, he suddenly heard Misaya Reirōkan make a puzzled nasal sound beside him.

"What's wrong, Master?"

He asked himself.

"It's nothing, Caster. It's just that the barrier Dad left in the forest seems to have been triggered by someone?"

Sensing the warning from the magical artifact that the head of the Reiryukan family had given her before leaving—the one used to control the barrier—Reiryukan Misaya couldn't help but marvel at Yuwatari's foresight.

It's unbelievable that someone would still choose to break in after seeing so many barriers and traps...

“Oh, an intruder? Then there’s really no need to worry too much…” Yuuto thought of the black magic girl he had left at the mansion to guard the house, and he wasn’t worried about it at all.

He was even more curious about the identity of the intruder than the safety of the mansion.

Could it be Ayaka Sajou?

But if it were her, she should be able to infiltrate the mansion without triggering the barrier, right?

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that she triggered it intentionally...

Chapter 203 Please Show Care to the Empty-Nest Black Magic Girl

"Busy~ Everyone's busy~ It's good to be busy~"

Looking towards the discovery of the Linglongguan family mansion, one can see a blond head perched on the windowsill, listlessly swaying back and forth.

The poor black magician girl has been forced to stay home alone for two days in a row...

"Sigh, Master and the others didn't come back last night. Does that mean they won't be coming back today either?"

As the last rays of the setting sun gradually faded and night fell, the dark magician girl sighed with some distress.

The snacks that Youdu had brought back for her earlier were all eaten by her yesterday.

In other words, she has been hungry for a day... Well, that's not quite right, since as a card spirit, she doesn't actually need to eat, so she wouldn't experience hunger.

She's just a glutton.

Yesterday, she could still satisfy her cravings with the snacks she had saved up, but today, after running out of snacks, she couldn't resist taking some of the fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator...

But unlike when she was eating snacks, eating raw cabbage didn't satisfy her cravings at all; it only made her miss those 'friends' who had passed away even more.

"Ugh... If I had known this would happen, I should have only eaten half yesterday..."

The black magician girl felt as regretful as a student on the last day of summer vacation.

'I should have written a page every day…' 'Even starting a month earlier would have been better!' 'Having two or three more days would have been better than this!'

But regret is useless; it can neither solve the mountain of homework nor bring back the snacks that have already been eaten.

The black magician girl gazed wistfully at the increasingly gloomy forest in the distance when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure flashing through the woods. Instantly, she stood on end.

An enemy has invaded?!

Hmph, doesn't this guy know that this mansion is protected by her, the only disciple of the highest-ranking magician, the dark magic girl?

Intruder?

He will never come back!

She flipped herself onto her slightly short but perfectly fitting, adorable staff, put on a serious expression, adjusted her magic hat, and flew straight out of the window.

Dark Magician Girl, Requesting Mission!

A gentle breeze swept by, and the blonde girl who had been standing by the window vanished in an instant.

The dark magician girl, riding her staff into the sky, determined her direction and flew towards the direction of the intruder she had just seen.

……

"Cough cough cough-"

"Are you alright, Berserker?" Tatsumi's concerned voice came through the magic. Even though he knew the other person couldn't see him, Jekyll subconsciously waved his hand.

"It's nothing, cough, it's just a small price to pay to get past those troublesome traps..."

Covered in dust and dirt from some unavoidable magical traps, Jekyll tidied his hair, which was now a mess from the blast wave.

He had now reached the edge of the forest; one more step forward would mean he had successfully broken through the barrier that covered the entire forest.

But he was ultimately unable to take that step normally.

Whoosh-!

The sound of a magic bullet piercing the air could be heard.

Jekyll, still on high alert, didn't hesitate to throw himself to the side, then rolled away from his original position to create distance before he had a chance to look up at the sky in the direction from which the magic bullet had come.

boom--!

Amidst the sound of exploding magic bullets, Jekyll saw a blonde girl holding a staff, pointing it at him, floating in the air.

That's right, the Dark Magician Girl can actually fly without relying on her staff.

She always rides a staff when she flies simply because it looks cute...

"Intruder, that was just a warning. If you don't back down, I won't be so polite!"

Looking down at Jekyll, who appeared somewhat travel-worn, the dark magician girl gave a cold warning.

Hmph, this is the same expression she secretly practiced many times, just like her master's. She must look very imposing now, right?

Jekyll was indeed intimidated by her.

Although he thought the girl's outfit was quite cute, even her staff looked like a rainbow lollipop, the power of that magic bullet, supposedly used as a warning, was no joke...

An attack that would undoubtedly have severely injured him if it had hit him was merely a warning?!