The holy maiden who had been summoned in this Great Holy Grail War as Ruler: Jeanne d'Arc. She carefully inspected the parts of the forest that had been the stage for two fights, the battle between Berserker of Red and Lancer and Rider of Black and the battle between Rider and Archer of Red and Saber, Berserker and Archer of Black, and placed a hand to her chest in relief.
The destruction had been limited to trees mowed down in the midst of battle. Furthermore, the range of destruction through the forest wasn't extensive. If Lancer of Red—the great hero Karna, who was clad in the sun itself—had participated, the forest might have been turned into scorched earth.
Leaving aside the Masters of Black Faction who were secluding themselves in the Fortress of Millennia, she hadn't caught any sight of the Masters of the Red Faction who should have initiated the attack. But it wasn't that strange if she considered it from the viewpoint that this war was just starting to unfold. Masters in the Holy Grail War mainly consisted of magi, so they likely wouldn't be experienced with battle itself.
"...In any case, it was a normal battle."
Yes. Though the number of Servants was large, the battle was conducted normally. Archer who sniped from long range, Berserker who charged forward, Caster who controlled golems through magecraft, Lancer who summoned stakes and skewered the enemy—including Rider and Saber as well, none of them were absurd Servants who slipped from the limitations of Heroic Spirits. That went for both the Black and Red Servants.
...Of course, since they were Servants, their power was tremendous. Rider of Red especially stood out among them. By Ruler's estimation, he boasted ability and power that rivaled Lancer of Red's.
That was understandable. After all, he was a great and famous hero. The progress of a battle completely changed just due to his existence. Should Rider and Lancer both be present on the battlefield, the Red side would be superior in terms of the [quality] of Servants.
Naturally, that was only a comparison in simple power. The affinities between Servants, the abilities of their Noble Phantasms, magecraft, location; there were countless factors to consider. Depending on what kind of Servants the still unseen Assassin of Black, Saber of Red, Caster of Red and Assassin of Red were, the situation could change further still...
At any rate, the situation was fixed to the limits of a normal Holy Grail War. Even if it dissolved into an all-out battle between all fourteen Servants, the town of Trifas was isolated from the outside with its population of twenty thousand. If she used her privilege as Ruler, she could also likely limit any damage done to the minimum.
There weren't any suspicious factors. There weren't any, but—
Nonetheless, a sense of doubt whose source she just couldn't grasp whirled within her heart. She had held out through the night like this and investigated the traces from the battles, but in the end she hadn't obtained any clues. The only clue that she obtained was the fact that Lancer of Red had come to take her out. Ruler also understood quite well that Lancer of Red possessed a pure and noble character. As such, it was probably due to the order of his Master that he had tried to kill her.
...As expected, she needed to make contact with the Masters of the Red Faction somehow.
In any case, tonight's battle was over now... The moment she thought that, her body lost a little strength... It appeared that she was 'sleepy'. To put it more accurately, it wasn't Ruler, Jeanne, who was sleepy. The one who required sleep was, in the end, only Laeticia's body. However, in the first place, Servants lacked the ability to sleep. Perhaps due to that gap, it was somehow a refreshing urge for her.
