That’s basically it, yes.
参加資格 is very generic, and does not imply a competition. We (the readers) are missing the first part of the conversation, to which Kino is reacting.
@daines no, it cannot contradict existing rules (or more specifically create contradictions)
既存のものに矛盾していなければ、何でもいい
I guess the author had to provide such reason
That’s a good point. It’s a bit strange though, since (as エルメス points out) キノ is not actually forced to fight completely; she can “forcibly surrender”, but apparently chooses to fight seriously, for some hidden reason… which I suppose we will uncover eventually.
Maybe キノ is simply very serious about staying for 三日間 =P
And thanks for the verification!
I was actually thinking that キノwould, for once, interfere in a country’s organization, and add a rule that somehow makes the competition illegal, as a giant eff you to the system.
If you read it literally, なくてはならない means “cannot be(come) not(hing)”, which is where the “cannot be destroyed” comes from.
In practice though, (from my google searches) it seems to be used to mean ”must exist/have”, e.g. パスポートはなくてはならない. So the rule would translate more to “I must have a house to live in.” Implying also that the house must be built. So, free house.
I was inferring that they are basically asking for a place to live so that it’s part of the established rule set and therefore can’t be destroyed by a subsequent winner. Maybe I was reading too much into it though.
Interesting. Was there anything else indicating an off-screen conversation though? (Other than this logical leap made by Kino.)
Yes, キノ’s first sentence on page 104 is described with 聞き返す (to ask back or to ask times and times again, based on context; could be either here, but I suspect the latter) and the guard replies with “I’ll repeat as many times as needed”, which implies (s)he* had said it at least once before (and probably more than a few times).
Edit: oh, also the beginning of page 105 is a flashback of what happened.
Edit2: * I pictured the first guard as a woman the first time I read this part, but I can’t find any reference to that anymore 
Wow wow wow, this is just bad typesetting. I didn’t realize there was a page break at the end of page 103 or at the beginning of page 105. Now the sudden 何ですって and 聞き返す make so much more sense.
I assumed the guard was male because they were using language I generally associate with obnoxious male anime/manga characters.
Yay! I caught up to this chapter just in time to not be delayed for one day 
I am literally like half a page from being on time but I’m falling asleep. This is my first time not finishing on time.
orz
Somehow I don’t think I’m gonna read 8 more pages with the one hour I have available tonight. 
And I don’t think I will manage to read the 15 pages I have left
(business travels are often so time-consuming, it’s basically as if I fall into a black hole.)
Anyway, I will catch up next week for sure
I’m just going to delay the thread creation for a few hours, then 
Some hard (by my standards at least) words to start off the chapter:
境目－さかいめーboundary
清流－せいりゅうーclear stream
堤防-ていぼうーbank, embankment
盛り土－もりどーembankment, raising the ground level
平坦－へいたんーsmooth, flat, even, level
疾走－しっそうーsprint, dash
地平線－ちへいせんーhorizon
制帽－せいぼうーregulation cap, school cap
ならすーto make even, to make smooth, to level
EDIT: It calms down after like 2 pages though which is good…
Finished this morning. 
Hey all! I have a lot of questions about this (last) week’s reading, many thanks in advance to anyone who answers.
モトラドのエンジン音は、マフラーを落としたのではと思うくらいうるさく
How should I parse the long string of particles here? Is ので the “because” meaning, or like a connective form of のです? How does the は fit in?
知るもんですか。
What’s a good translation for this? I looked it up on Maggie Sensei and according to もんか, #4 on that page my guess would be something like “What should I know?” Is that right?
第一、二戦. 第三、四戦. And then on line 7 最終戦.
Are all these read as せん? Or are the first two いくさ?
持っているパースエイダーを、がちゃがちゃ無理に、音が鳴るように動かした。
What does this sentence mean? The guards were moving their guns so as to make them make noise from clanging against each other? I’m having a hard time picturing this one.
それにしても、イベントとは恐れ入る。
I’m having a hard time understanding this one too. Is 恐れ入る the “to be amazed” definition? How can the event be amazed? Or are they saying they’re amazed by the event and there’s a hidden 俺たち in between イベントとは and 恐れ入る?
The next sentence, 栄えある市民権なんだと思ってるんだ。
Who is the subject of 思ってる, the guard or Kino?
この国に住みたいってやつが山ほど押しかけてくるようになっちまった。
Is this male slang for なってしまった? By whom / when is this form used?
The author is saying that it’s a bad place to stay, right? Since he questions whether it’s really lodging, or just better than a prison cell. I got confused because it says さすがに水が豊かな国らしく。。。 which I translated as “As one would expect, it was a country with plenty of water,” which sounds like a good thing and contrasts with saying the room is only better than a prison cell. But then I found that さすがに’s second definition means “all the same, still.” So the translation becomes “All the same, the country seemed to have plenty water” which fits better with the point that the room is only slightly better than a prison cell. Is this correct?
Along the same lines, Hermes earlier at the end of page 103 says that he’s looking for a dark, cool room where the humidity is just right to rest in. Is it a tongue-in-cheek joke that the author copies what Hermes said earlier here on page 111, because the room is dingy? Or is Hermes genuinely happy to rest here?
Don’t take my word for it, but from experience I’ve found that のでは is often used as a shortened version of のではないだろうか, so this sentence wants to say something like “the engine was making so much noise you would wonder if it dropped the muffler”.
It’s certainly hard to translate. I would probably go with something like “Who cares”, or “I don’t give a damn”.
I would read all of them as せん, didn’t even think about it. I’m more worried about the reading for 四戦, to be honest 
One of my weakest points in Japanese is knowing the readings for counters.
As I see it, they’re not clanging the guns against each other, just moving them in elaborate ways to show off and make noise. They’re just showing off.
To be honest, I’m not all that familiar with 恐れ入る either, since I don’t think I see it all that often and it’s a bit confusing. But I would take this monolingual definition for that case:
物事のひどさにあきれる。「あれで秀才とは―・るよ」
Like, he is startled at Kino calling that great competition a mere event.
It does mean なってしまった, but I’m not sure who uses it when. I do have an impression that it’s a male thing, though.
That bit is not referring to the room being just better than a prison cell. The full thing is:
さすがに水が豊かな国らしく洗面台と水洗トイレ。
Or “as one would expect from a country with plenty of water, there’s a washbasin and a flush toilet”. Because I wouldn’t expect there to be these available for the competitors if water were such a precious, scarce thing for them
And the Hermes thing, I think it’s just a joke really.
It seemed like here it might mean something closer to “how would I know?”.
Could also be that, but I chose the others because Kino is quite pissed with the whole thing, and it sounds more aggressive that way 
It could go either way depending on the tone of voice.
四戦 is pronounced よんせん.