Battlefield-Qianxi

Qianxi was a "pilot city" recently proposed by China.

To address China's increasingly severe population and aging issues, as well as the high crime and rising suicide rates caused by mounting employment pressure, the government had proposed slow-paced cities. The world's first such city was Qianxi.

As its name implied, everything in this city was peaceful and slow. Gentleness was its sole defining feature. Elderly people unable to adapt to rapidly advancing technology, and middle-aged people burdened by pressure for all sorts of reasons, preferred familiar technology over cutting-edge innovations, living out their lives in peace and stability, without ripples or storms.

Young people liked to venture forth, but only decades later would they understand that ordinariness was life's only truth. No matter how desperately one struggled while alive, in the end, one would become nothing more than a handful of dust.

In Qianxi, the overall technological level was merely that of thirty years before the average.

For those who needed to cultivate their bodies and minds, that level was enough. Or rather, it was precisely the level of technology they wanted. Stagnant, regressive, yet incomparably comfortable technology.

By this point, technology had gradually shifted from "improving livelihoods" to "making life convenient." Even technology from thirty years ago was enough to let people live happily, as long as they could get used to it.

In this slow-paced city, the main population consisted of wealthy elderly people unable to keep up with society's accelerating rhythm, and middle-class people with modest savings. Centered around them, the service and food industries flourished, while young people seeking wealth poured in, bringing fresh blood to the city.

In this city steeped in the feeling of another era, Tsukahara Meiji was taking exaggerated gulps of air. It was April, which meant spring in China.

However, spring was the season when ice and snow melted, so there was no warmth in the usual sense.

Thus, the cold wind rushing into Tsukahara Meiji's wide-open mouth instantly stripped it of warmth, forcing him to shut it at once. China had an old saying about drinking the northwest wind. It probably described Tsukahara Meiji right now.

"So, Carl, what do we do? Summon a Servant first? Go to the hotel first? Or—go sightseeing first?! I really want to eat Mapo Tofu, Peking Duck, Shanghai Fried Dumplings, all of it!"

Tsukahara Meiji was outlining a plan that had absolutely nothing to do with sightseeing.

Seeing how excited he was, Carl suddenly felt as though she understood why he had come to take part in the Holy Grail War. Could it be that he had planned from the very beginning to have a great time in China?

Living for entertainment? It was not like people like that were rare, but seeing one in person was still rather awkward...

Carl tried not to think too much about it and said calmly,

"Don't rush. Tsukahara, give me your playing cards."

"Okay!"

Tsukahara Meiji did not quite understand what she wanted, but he hurriedly took out the deck of cards he kept close to his body and treasured most. Just as he was about to sort through them, Carl smiled wryly. "Not that deck. An ordinary one will do."

What this carefree Japanese man had just taken out was his Mystic Code.

Entering the Holy Grail War without a trump card was simply courting death.

As long as one was not an idiot, one would prepare some means of self-protection before participating in such a dangerous event—an ace that could secure victory.

For instance, summoning a powerful Servant first, preparing especially potent Mystic Codes, building a formidable Magic Workshop, and so on.

Those playing cards were Tsukahara Meiji's trump card.

Every card was made entirely of crystal. Within the thin, translucent cards, each one was engraved with complex magecraft. As long as Tsukahara Meiji poured magical energy into them, the magecraft within would activate, launching attacks without anyone noticing.

As mentioned before, Tsukahara Meiji only spoke Japanese, and his English was poor. Could anyone expect someone with poor English to compete with others in the speed of chanting spells?

Poker Magic made up for that weakness nicely. Infusing magical energy was far faster than chanting an incantation.

Unfortunately, every card had a different effect, and the magecraft engraved within them differed as well. Using them was absurdly complicated and cumbersome...

Moreover, because of the limitations of the medium, the magecraft they activated would not be especially powerful... Otherwise, the mainstream method of magecraft combat would be driving talismans or cards. Who would still chant spells aloud? It was troublesome and long-winded, and if one misspoke, one had to start over. The ancients had not been fools!

In short, it was a Mystic Code that demanded much and delivered little.

But,

Tsukahara Meiji liked it.

Clumsy skills were still better than no skills.

That was why he liked Poker Magic. Besides, he himself was a "magician," and when performing on the street, cards were what he excelled at most. He had an inexplicable fondness for this Mystic Code.

There was also a certain thrill in rebelling against convention.

Incidentally, Carl had prepared this deck of cards in advance so that Tsukahara Meiji could gain an advantage in the Holy Grail War.

Better safe than sorry—Carl's defining trait was displayed to the fullest.

Just now, he had thought Carl wanted to inspect his trump card, so he had hurriedly taken that deck out.

"An ordinary one? All right..."

Now Tsukahara Meiji was even more confused. Obediently, he switched to another deck and handed it to Carl—being a magician, he would never be without a small prop like playing cards.

Carl casually drew one card.

"Three of Hearts."

"Ooh, what does that mean? Is it fortune-telling?!"

"No. It's the name of the hotel we'll be staying at."

Carl said it rather mysteriously.

Of course, no hotel in China had such a strange name.

Before coming here, Carl had already used international long-distance calls to reserve rooms at twenty-eight hotels.

Admittedly, this was an enormous expense for Carl. Yet compared to the funds needed to revive the Winsted Family, it was only a drop in the bucket.

The reason behind this secret measure was simple: to confuse the others.

The participants in the Holy Grail War could largely be predicted. Especially since she was a student of the Clock Tower—if someone investigated the attendance records of outstanding Clock Tower students and found anomalies, they could quickly identify her.

Then they could use information about her to wage an Intelligence War.

During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kayneth, an outstanding Magus of the Clock Tower, had suffered greatly from this. The hotel he stayed in had been targeted by the Magus Killer Emiya Kiritsugu, who used bombs to blast inward and directly destroyed Kayneth's fortress-like Magic Workshop.

What Carl needed to do was conceal herself.

Even if someone truly investigated where she was staying, there were twenty-eight hotels. Were they going to bomb all twenty-eight of them at once? Impossible. Neither Carl nor Tsukahara Meiji was an especially powerful Magus, so Carl had completely abandoned the idea of building a Magic Workshop.

In other words, unless the enemy personally knocked on the door and entered, they would have no way of knowing which hotel Carl and Tsukahara Meiji were staying in.

The method of choosing was the card Carl had casually drawn from Tsukahara Meiji's deck.

The red number cards corresponded to thirteen hotels, while the black number cards corresponded to the fourteenth through twenty-sixth hotels. The two Jokers corresponded to the remaining two hotels. Even if the enemy were extraordinarily capable, there was no way they could know which card Carl had drawn from Tsukahara Meiji that afternoon.

Carl left nothing to chance. What she carried on her shoulders did not allow her to make the wrong judgment.

"Ooooooh! As expected of Carl! What a schemer! Such a scheming girl!"

After hearing her explanation, Tsukahara Meiji secretly admired his companion's courage. She had staked all her savings to gain the greatest advantage! What an incredible person! At the same time, he admired her calculations. If their positions were reversed, Tsukahara Meiji did not think he could have considered so much.

"As for summoning the Servant, we'll do it at midnight tonight. There are seven leylines in Qianxi. Excluding the best one, the most remote one, and the one with the weakest spiritual energy, we have four choices left. When the time comes, we'll make a random selection and use the suit of a playing card to decide where to summon the Servant."

Another random number. It seemed Carl's attitude toward the Holy Grail War had gone beyond mere caution...

It was clear that Carl intended to make assassinating Masters her basic strategy. To do that, she had to hide herself, lurk in the darkness, aim for the slightest opening the enemy revealed, and strike with a killing blow. No wonder she had chosen an Archer as her Servant.

"Okay! Whatever you say, I'll listen! Then, before that!"

Tsukahara Meiji's eyes widened with anticipation. Carl sighed helplessly. Two barks drifted over from afar, and the slightly noisy sound made the helplessness in Carl's voice all the more apparent.

"We can only eat at the hotel... Let's buy something on the way there."

"Ooooooh!"