Earth Princess? No, it's Fujimaru Ritsuka!

Page 291

"Is this the time when humanity is burned away?"

“Yes, that’s a very important deduction. In the commission of a crime, besides the motive, the timing is also crucial.” Holmes nodded, narrowing his eyes. “By the way, do you already know the true identity of the Magic King?”

“Yes,” Mash continued, “His real name is Goetia. He is said to be the embodiment of the seventy-two demons of Solomon, who possessed King Solomon’s body.”

"Oh..."

Those ink-black eyes grew brighter and brighter. "That's not surprising. So that's how it is. This makes sense now. In other words, the first Servant Chaldea actually summoned should be..."

"Should it be?"

"That's not the point, and you'll find out sooner or later anyway. So there's no need to rush to find out about this trivial matter... Since Goetia manifested in Solomon's body, he should have clairvoyance."

In other words, knowing the future under certain circumstances, he adopted the method of burning away human history from before 2016 all the way to the distant past.

Holmes' words caused Fujimaru Ritsuka's brain to explode instantly.

At this moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka finally understood, as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining!

She clenched her fists, her voice trembling with excitement:

"So—for him, the burning of humanity was a means, not an end! It was the possible events that followed that led him to choose the method of burning humanity!"

Understood!

I understand everything!

After Old Man Hassan explained the true reason for the battle... it was the reason for the burning of humanity in [Goetia]. These two things are actually the same thing!

"Wait, wait! What do you mean? I don't understand... What does this have to do with after 2017? Wasn't Goetia supposed to destroy humanity? Why would there be anything else going on..."

Sanzang was a little confused. She scratched her head and asked, puzzled.

"Miss Sanzang, the order is reversed!"

Mashu explained, "If the Demon King only wanted to destroy humanity, he could have simply started burning from the beginning of human history; there was no need to start burning from 2016 into the past."

"If the future of humanity is a ray, then erasing the starting point will suffice... The only explanation is that human history extends from the birth of humanity to 2016, and only by burning backwards with an end in sight can it have an effect. And the burning time begins at the beginning of this year when Leif destroyed and bombed Chaldea... and continues until the end of this year."

"Furthermore, if we think about it this way, it's not that the Demon King doesn't want to burn away humanity, but rather..."

Mashu seemed to suddenly realize something, paused for a moment, then slammed her fist down and spoke faster: "From the very beginning, humanity in 2017 did not exist, so the Demon King could not burn it away!"

"Yes, that's my conclusion. No wonder you're my fan, you were able to react so quickly."

Holmes laughed with a sigh of relief. "I've always wanted to convey this conclusion to you. I believe that, given time, there is nothing you cannot overcome. That's the real reason I said you could save the world."

"Is that so... Alright, I'll do my best." Fujimaru Ritsuka's smile was slightly bitter.

"However, I need to ask you for a favor now."

Holmes continued, "I was originally going to ask Crimson for help, but since you're here, that's perfect."

"Krimson?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka asked in surprise.

"It's that little girl. You've noticed her unusual behavior, haven't you? To be honest, I don't know why she's at the Atlas Institute, but since she's here, it means there's some connection between them."

Holmes glanced behind Mashu at the black-haired girl who was holding Fou and playing with her.

"Do you know who she is?"

"Ha ha..."

Holmes's smile suddenly became very stiff. "How would I know who she is? The girl was already there when I arrived."

“But she doesn’t seem to like me, and she has the aura of both a Dead Apostle and a True Ancestor on her,” Fujimaru Ritsuka pressed.

"My strengths lie in judgment and reasoning; opening boxes for others is not my forte."

Holmes walked along, spouting nonsense without batting an eye, which made Fujimaru Ritsuka even more certain that the detective should know the girl's true identity.

Moreover, Holmes was right; the girl likely had some connection to Atlas House.

"However, maybe they were attracted by you, Miss Ritsuka."

"Attracted to me?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't believe Holmes's words.

The little girl inexplicably kicked me, and her eyes were filled with tension and wariness as she looked at me. How could she have been attracted to me?

That's utter nonsense.

"We're almost at the Atlas Center. That's the core of the Atlas Institute, and also the location of important computing facilities, including the Spirit Particle Calculator known as the 'Three-Pointed Hermes,' which can supposedly get any answer as long as a question is input."

There's no time to waste on Chapter 210!

As Holmes explained, he led the group to the central part of the Atlas House.

The blue equipment displayed throughout the research institute looks more like near-future technology than technology from before Christ.

"No...this is—"

Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly realized that something was wrong.

If this were the Atlas Academy from before Christ, it would be far too advanced. But that's not all. One of the biggest questions is the trident-like calculation device located in the center.

Because this computing device is very similar to Chaldea's Spirit Particle Calculator [Trismegistes]... No, that's backwards, Chaldea's calculator is a degraded version of this calculator.

It is essentially a quantum computer made using magical means.

Moreover, it's the latest model, and it hasn't been out of service for long; the equipment is exceptionally new.

"As expected, you've noticed a problem, Miss Ritsuka."

"Ah."

Fujimaru Ritsuka answered immediately.

She glanced at the ubiquitous computing devices and simulacrum equipment, and after some thought, concluded:

"There is no one here, yet the interior has electricity to maintain basic operations, and some of the equipment even has unfinished projects. This means that this is the Atlas Institute of our time."

Atlas Academy in 2016.

Fujimaru Ritsuka deduced that although Atlasin was considered a homebody, being a homebody did not mean being completely cut off from the outside world; at least some of his daily necessities were purchased from outside.

For example, researchers might prepare some coffee or nutrient solution.

Some beverage areas even have artificial blood, so it's quite normal that there are vampires in the Atlas Institute. Some studies may suggest that human lifespan is not enough, and if they become long-lived vampires, they can complete long-term research projects.

The vampires' blood-sucking urges have also been overcome by alchemists in their research.

Artificial blood can perfectly alleviate the urge to suck blood without losing control.

For beings like Dead Apostles and True Ancestors.

The existence of artificial blood reduces the harm of the bloodsucking urge from the level of sucking ice to the level of drinking a beverage.

Technological development is the answer to all contradictions.

The people of Atlas Institute seemed to firmly believe this, and Fujimaru Ritsuka made her judgment based on the slightest clues.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Holmes sat down at the central Three-Pointed Hermes, the blue, spiraling, high-speed three-column calculation device, and clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.

"The Three-Pointed Hermes records all events. As a True Ancestor, Miss Ritsuka, you should understand what 'events' means, right?"

Holmes turned his chair around, looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka, and asked the question again.

"I know. Events are divided into two concepts: events and phenomena. They represent all objective facts and abstract concepts that have happened or are happening. All the magic theories and scientific knowledge we know are the results summarized from the observation of events."

This is the concept of phenomena.

For example, a particle is undergoing Brownian (random) motion.

The forces are interacting with each other.

This is the phenomenon.

Fujimaru Ritsuka's True Ancestor skill, "Event Collection," is based on the ability to gather and collect events on a planet within a certain range.

The power here is immense, but its effectiveness depends entirely on the user's effort and knowledge.

"That's one way to understand it. But I focus more on the result, that is, regardless of the process, I only look at the final result, just like copying the answer to a math problem."

Holmes explained, "However, it would be too much trouble for me to use, so, Fujimaru Ritsuka, I hope you can use it."

"Shall I use it?"

“That’s right. What? Don’t you have confidence?... Don’t worry, using this machine is much simpler than reading planetary records.”

Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked and looked at Holmes.

The other person gave Fujimaru Ritsuka a very strange feeling. Every word they said was perfectly reasonable and logical, but for some reason...

I have absolutely no idea why...

Fujimaru Ritsuka instinctively felt that he couldn't be trusted even for a single punctuation mark.

The fact that humanity has no future is now highly likely to happen.

"That's right. Humans cannot get the answer directly from the three-pointed Hermes. If they force it, they might just become idiots."

""

Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced at Holmes.

"So, what do you want to ask?"

"What is it...? It's a very simple question: the specifics of the Holy Grail War in 2004. All the records and accounts I could find have been erased. What is the truth...? I want to know the whole story."

"In 2004, which is the time of Singularity X?"

Mashu asked quickly.

You must be referring to Fuyuki, right?

However, Fujimaru Ritsuka remembers that it was called Singularity F back then?

"The Holy Grail War of 2004... Could it be that the truth behind the burning of humanity was that Holy Grail War?"

"It should be said to be an important factor."

Holmes said, his deep eyes looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka, anticipating her question.

Do you have a question?

Fujimaru Ritsuka gazed at the deep blue obelisk, its azure inscription shimmering in the light.

Holmes handed over the opening lines of the question.

Simply read the words above aloud.

"call..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath, her eyes narrowed, and her voice seemed to come from her trachea.

The girl's red pupils turned gold.

She watched the azure screen where the subtitles began to flash, then secretly observed Holmes out of the corner of her eye.

Then the questions began, and the questions were very simple, consisting of only one sentence:

"Hermes with three horns, the bird that flies through the underworld—"

"—Answer my question."

"Tell me the details of the Holy Grail War that took place in Japan in 2004, which has been erased from all records and accounts."

Compared to reading the massive and insane planetary data of Star Inscription.

The three-pointed Hermes is much easier.

"Look, there's content on the screen!" Nitocris said, pointing to the blue virtual screen of the Trident Hermes.

The victorious magician in the 2004 Holy Grail War was Marisbury Animusfiah, who, with Caster by his side, swiftly defeated all six other magicians and seized the Holy Grail.

It is speculated that Marisbury must have wished for a large sum of money.

Then, in the year following the Holy Grail War, in 2005.

Romani Archman, a mysterious figure for whom no information could be found before 2004, joined Chaldea and became the head of Chaldea's medical department at the young age of 22.

This was originally impossible...