Chapter 97: That's a Strange Picture

The Hunting Castle, located somewhere in the Garden.

In front of the magic circle that tracked records of every being coming and going inside and outside the Garden, two Number 4 card soldiers were diligently filling out paperwork, while the Number 6 soldier examined the existing records and frowned, apparently noticing something wrong.

<Hey. Who was on duty that day?>

<W-what seems to be the matter?>

<The records are wrong. Why is Her Majesty's return logged twice? Seriously, am I the only one who checks this stuff? You slackers.>

Whenever someone left or entered the Abyss while hunting in another dimension, or simply moved between the inside and outside of the Garden, an entry and exit record was created. It didn't matter whether they left on foot or by teleportation.

The knights and soldiers had to have all their entry and exit records checked and signed, but the sole exception was the Queen of Hearts. No one had the courage to go to her personally for a signature, and she was so capricious that it was impossible to check every record of her going in and out of the Garden several times a day.

<Look at this. Her Majesty left at this time, then returned with one piece of prey and one toy. So why does it say here that she returned alone again? You wrote this while dozing off, didn't you?>

<S-sorry. I'll find the person who was on duty then and confirm it.>

<Confirm what, you idiot? Go back to your station and write it down. It's obviously just a mistake, so why leave your post to confirm it? Do you want me to take your place and write it for you?>...