As the largest city Caren had ever seen, Tokyo had all the bustle befitting its status, undiminished by the transition from day to night. But when they arrived at the church where they were staying and saw the clergy hurrying about, even the somewhat airheaded Jeanne d'Arc realized something was wrong.
The same news had a completely different impact in different cities. A single gas explosion would subtly change Fuyuki City's peaceful atmosphere, sending students home early and prompting a citywide curfew.
In Tokyo, however, it was at most an accident that strangers could not even spare a sigh for, unless they were personally involved.
Without much effort, Caren found the report in the news.
-The Shinjuku Gas Explosion Incident.
Last night, natural gas dormant underground had ignited for some reason, destroying several kilometers of the surrounding area. An evacuation notice had now been issued for Shinjuku, with only a scattering of residents still living there.
Apparently, the flames last night had reached the sky. Quite a few residents had witnessed the strange spectacle of night turning into day, and some swore that the sky had turned bloodred.
Yet when a fully armed force, reinforced with police from neighboring areas, arrived at the heavily damaged scene, they found no lingering flames. The presenter nonetheless glossed over that question.
With the scene strictly sealed off, even busybodies could not collect evidence the police themselves had failed to find. Now that the police had made their public announcement, the matter was settled. Its only remaining value was as a topic of conversation.
"So this is the Holy Grail War..."
Caren murmured to herself as she looked at the enormous crater in the news photograph. Even hundreds or thousands of pounds of explosives could not have reproduced it; rather than a gas explosion,