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Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 6

2021-01-15T01:15:01Z

107.88.177.44: /* Chapter 6: Plotter in a Cage */

==Chapter 6: Plotter in a Cage==
[[Image:Horizon8A_175.jpg|thumb]]
''You can do it

''You have to do it

''In this world

''You must pay for your crimes

''With your butt in Sanuki

'''Point Allocation (Nearly Kishimen)

Asama had suggested the Asama Shrine start a business and the Vice President pay for it.

''Huh?'' thought Masazumi.

…''What’s this about?

“We were discussing whether or not we pay to have those two freed from their udon-y fate, so why bring up an Asama shrine business and the payment for it?”

Asama raised one of her right fingers.

“An excellent question!”

''Here we go again,'' thought Masazumi as Asama placed a flip chart on a sign frame.

It showed a diagram of the Musashi with various arrows drawn on it.

“Listen. First of all, The Asama Shrine will provide the Musashi a wide-area partnership service through Vice President Masazumi.”

“Hm? The Asama Shrine would be running a business through me?”

“Yes.” Asama nodded. “It would be our idea and we would do all the work, but you would approve it. You would be signing a contract asking for our services.”

Masazumi still did not know why she would do that. But…

“I get what you want me to do, but what’s the point?”

“Well, the contract fee would then be used to pay for Heidi and Shirojiro-kun’s bail.”

“H-hm?”

She did not quite understand this.

…''The contract fee?

''Well, I do get that some money would be coming to us through the Asama Shrine.

“Fine. I don’t want to interrupt your presentation, so continue with the explanation.”

“Okay,” said Asama. “You can choose to have Heidi and Shirojiro-kun repay the bail money in monthly payments with interest, or you could choose not to. The point is that we would not be paying the bail money and you would be paying it with your authority as Vice President, which should be enough of an excuse for the financial god.”

“I-I see. But…um?”

…''Part of that was a little tricky.

She built up a mental diagram of the arrangement and then laid out the basics of her question.

“So…you would be paying me money for whatever work we were doing and then I would be paying that right back to the Asama Shrine as bail?”

“Umm, well, yes.”

“Then,” continued Masazumi while arriving at her biggest question. “There’s something I don’t get. If we would be the ‘customer’ receiving a service from the Asama Shrine, why would you be paying us money?”

“Oh,” said Mitotsudaira. She looked up at Asama and then at Masazumi. “You would be including a financial condition in the contract, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.” Asama confirmed. “Masazumi would be giving us a condition we have to meet in order to approve the contract. In this case, it would be money. Think of it as her saying ‘pay us a certain amount of money if you want this contract’.”

That allowed Masazumi to picture the scene in her head.

…''So it’s like an auction but between individuals?

That mental image helped her get a grasp on it.

“So it’s like bidding on a job?”

“Yes.” Asama smiled a little. And, “The contract will be a simple one. The Asama Shrine will manage all of the divine protections and spells for Musashi’s Student Council, Chancellor’s Officers, related groups, and related businesses.”

In other words…

“Combining management like that will simplify things greatly.”

“That’s it!”

Ookubo stood up within the teahouse.

…''That would make things so much easier!

Because…

“The spells and divine protections on the Musashi are from so many different religions or are personalized, so it would speed up the administrative and management process a lot if they could all be handled under the Asama Shrine name! I’m approving this one!!”

'''Musashi:''' “Simplifying the data management would also be best for operation of the Musashi and crew management. It would especially help us automatons grasp the data faster. Over.”

“But,” said someone else. It was the Satomi Student Council President who had a god of war design sign frame open in the back of the teahouse.

She pointed far to the west.

“Can you do that? The Musashi has a lot of different religions, species, and people onboard, doesn’t it?”

“Shinto is cool with pretty much anything,” replied Ookubo.

“That is true,” said Tachibana Gin who was on guard duty out front. “We temporarily used Catholic spells using the Hidden Tsirhc settings and that was not a problem at all. Simply put, you can think of everyone on the Musashi using Shinto as a hub for using their own religion.”

“But going through a hub is a pain and won’t there be a contract fee?”

“I am sure they will offer extra services as a selling point. Like allowing non-Shinto people to use the standard Shinto services and use Shinto spells via substitution. We already receive some divine protections just from being a Musashi resident, so these other services will likely be included as an extension of that.”

“And,” said Muneshige. “If Musashi taxes those services, they can make back the funding they provide.”

“The services will need to be quite something to convince people to accept another municipal tax, but I imagine the Asama Shrine Representative is aware of that,” said Gin.

Ookubo nodded in agreement with those two.

“The primary service might be a refund on External Blessings. Even if you rarely use it, just knowing you have a right to a refund can feel like a really good deal.”

But anyway…

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “This is an idea worth figuring out over summer break. It has support from the Committees and Musashi’s bridge.”

''They’re actually supporting me,'' sighed Asama.

It was only an idea for now, so she appreciated this help from people who could make it a reality.

And in that case…

“Let’s review how this system will actually work. First, the Asama Shrine will pay Vice President Masazumi a contract fee equal to the bail amount.”

“I get that much, but it’s still nerve-wracking knowing it’s going to me.”

Everyone looked to Masazumi.

“No calculating out how many used books that is, Seijun.”

“Wait, can you actually do 5-digit monetary calculations in your head, Masazumi?”

“I’m sure you understand that’s wrong, but just to be sure, you aren’t considering that, are you?”

“Sh-shut up, all of you! Yes, I know that’s wrong!” Masazumi brought a hand to her chin. “Anyway, you’ll be leaving the money specifically with the ‘Vice President’, right? Send it to the ‘Student Council’ and someone we know will embezzle it in no time flat.”

“Oh, well, I don’t distrust those two quite that much, but the rights to handling money are a lot simpler when only dealing with individuals. And we need to make sure this passes muster with the financial and contract gods.”

Asama could tell she had a bitter smile on her face as she worked at the sign frame by her hands. He and Horizon watched the money transfer depicted there. She let Mitotsudaira explain more to them while she moved on with the main explanation.

“Masazumi, you will then pay the bail to the Asama Shrine as Vice President. Making that a loan to them and demanding they pay it back with interest will make the whole thing feel less like a fictional transaction, which will help the contract god accept it. …You will have to discuss that with those two. If they don’t want to pay it back as a loan, then I will have to make a deal with the financial god to get this through.”

She had no doubt she could manage it. The Asama Shrine handled births, so their authority effectively ranked very highly even among the gods.

Heidi and Shirojiro had caused them a lot of trouble here and they had very obviously self-destructed this time, but…

“They merely made a mistake in their methods this time. On the Musashi, Inari is managed by the Asama Shrine, so since this has to be done, I will do whatever I can to make sure it happens.”

And…

“Once the contract is made, the Asama Shrine will start up its business and provide the necessary services. We will fund that with…”

“With the bail paid to the Asama Shrine, Asama-kun?” asked Ohiroshiki.

“Correct.” Asama nodded. “I do not know if we will use the full sum or just a portion of it, but this is a public works project and we have the approval of the Committees and the bridge. In other words, a project the Asama Shrine was going to fund on its own will receive public works funding thanks to our new contract with Vice President Masazumi. With her approval, we can openly use that funding and we will be paying bail for those two in the process. Everything the Asama Shrine does must be checked over by the financial god and the contract god, but like I said, Masazumi’s involvement and the official contract makes this more than just a fictional transaction and we should be able to get those two gods’ approval more easily,” said Asama. “Anyway, freeing Heidi and Shirojiro-kun is our top priority right now. And if you can’t use next year’s budget right away, then keep in mind that the Asama Shrine can bear that burden for the time being. We have a lot of internal and external assets.”

“Asama.”

Just as she said that, someone called her name.

She looked over to see him scratching his head.

“Come to me if anything happens, okay?”

Come to me.

Asama was initially unsure what Toori meant by that.

But after taking a breath, she figured it out.

“Yes, I will. Because you’re my last resort.”

She could not keep a smile off her face as she replied.

He said to come to him, but there was nothing he could really do with this kind of financial issue. He was an individual, but…

…''I’m essentially a business owner. We’re talking about two very different things.

That meant his support was more of a kindness.

He was willing to give her moral support to solve the emotional side of the problem.

And as Chancellor and President, he could provide assistance in a way that Masazumi could not.

Whatever the case, if she was having trouble or stuck on something, she could go to him for advice or just to vent.

And that relationship was mutual. It was all a part of their shared lives, feelings, and time.

“That is how it is, isn’t it?”

Mitotsudaira nodded, as did Horizon.

This connection between her and him was not unique. She had it with those two and with Kimi as well.

As did he.

Those connections could be used to distribute and reduce stress and burdens.

…''And from there, I just have to do everything I can to make this work out.

That thought helped her understand something.

Relationships were a form of purification.

“–––––”

She had been born to a shrine family and had lived there for more than 17 years now, but she was only now realizing this.

When she was having trouble or was stuck on something, her relationships would purify the difficulty, provide moral support, and allow her to pour her full ability into fixing it.

And she would of course do the same for others, making it a give-and-take thing.

…''Oh.

Shinto was a polytheistic religion. The gods would do all sorts of dumb things, but when someone was in trouble, they would work together and get that cave open through whatever absurd methods it required. And if the Far East’s culture was based on that religion…

“What is it, Tomo?”

Her thoughts were cut off by her friend’s voice, dragging her back to reality.

Mitotsudaira was tilting her head.

“Did you discover something? It sure looked like you did.”

“No, I didn’t really discover something. It’s more like I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before now.”

“Huh?”

Everyone else was tilting their heads, but he alone naturally looked out the window and up into the sky.

At the same time, Asama realized something about herself.

…''People don’t often just tell me to come to them for help.

And when they did, it was usually just them being polite.

She was not sure how to deal with this.

He had helped her out during the conversation with Yasuhira of Oushuu Fujiwara. Not to mention during the battle with Saizou and against Unno of the Sanada Ten Braves.

But he was not helping her this time.

He told her to come to him if she needed help.

Of course, that was pretty much how it had already been and she was fairly certain he had said something similar before. He had said he would do something about a number of things back when she had decided to move in with him.

But this was a little different. Because of all those interactions and all that help he had provided in the past…

…''Telling me to come to him carries so much more weight.

He was not just being polite.

He was telling her to come to him.

He was telling her he would help her if anything happened.

And she could honestly accept that.

Which was why she was unsure how to deal with it.

Oddly, she felt no heat in her cheeks. Was that because this had all already been proven quite thoroughly? Or was it because she no longer had any doubts about it? Regardless…

“Masazumi, we can do this using that plan.”

[[Image:Horizon8A_189.jpg|thumb]]

If something happened, she could go to him. So this would be fine. And…

“Excuse me, Toori-kun.”

“Hm?”

She moved over to him, shifted her hips, and then placed her arms around Horizon and Mitotsudaira’s shoulders.

“Here.”

She collapsed back to rest her head on his lap.

She used his lap as a pillow while she had Horizon and Mitotsudaira use her arms as a pillow.

“Consider this a preview of when I go to you for help next.”

Now she felt the heat in her cheeks. She felt like she could sense the blush more when she shut her eyes. It was embarrassing, but she knew this sort of behavior would reach him without the need for words.

She looked up at him and he reached down to touch her hair.

The ribbon on the back of her head had come loose, so he fixed it for her. It was such a small thing, but it also felt really important since she remembered her mother doing that for her when she was little.

“Okay,” he said. “Asama has fixed the udon problem, so how about it, Seijun?”

…''How about it?

Now that Asama had gone over to him, there was not much else Masazumi could do.

It was kind of amusing seeing Asama refusing to accept any complaints, though. Almost like she was sulking.

But anyway…

“If we can work out a deal like that, I don’t see a problem with it. Of course, this is basically getting them off on a technicality based entirely on the gods’ approval, so I doubt we can ever use this method again,” she said. “But…”

'''Vice President:''' “Are you okay with that, Augesvarer?”

'''Circle Be:''' “W-wait, I need water!”

'''Horizey:''' “Is it coming out? Is it? It is, isn’t it? Poodon poodon poodon poodon (cursed SFX).”

'''Circle Be:''' “S-stop with that pressure! It’s not happening yet! Not quite yet!”

Masazumi felt no desire to ask how close they were cutting this.

She looked outside to see the sky gradually growing darker.

“Here we are on a summer evening trying to help our Treasurers from their udon-y fate. I doubt anyone in history has ever started their summer break like this.”

“Um, Masazumi?” said Mitotsudaira. “Nothing you say is going to change what’s happening here.”

''True enough,'' she thought before asking a question.

'''Vice President:''' “So what will it be? Udon or bail?”

'''Circle Be:''' “Hmm. That’s honestly a difficult choice. I mean, the Asama Shrine is a business rival to us Inari worshipers.”

“Also,” said Augesvarer.

'''Circle Be:''' “I don’t think I could stand having a classmate save us with money a second time.”

“So,” she said.

'''Circle Be:''' “Masazumi, if at all possible, could you trust us just one more time?”

Masazumi tilted her head at Augesvarer’s request.

'''Vice President:''' “But you always betray us after following the siren’s song of money ringing in your heads.”

'''Circle Be:''' “Okay, yeah, we do that! But that’s just the kind of creatures we are!”

'''Art-ga:''' “So you’re abandoning your humanity?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “I think she’s confessing they never were human.”

The scary part was how convincing that was. But the creature was still speaking via divine transmission.

'''Circle Be:''' “We’re in high school, so we want to clean up our own mess. But we can’t do that right now since we’re still in the process of making that udon-y mess.”

'''Vice President:''' “And what happens if we trust you again?”

'''Circle Be:''' “We earn our own bail money and pay you back, of course.”

And…

'''Circle Be:''' “Since you trusted us, we’ll pay you back double or even triple.”

'''Vice President:''' “Then what are you asking us to do?”

'''Circle Be:''' “Just do you what you were doing. But we will pay you back. I swear it. …Asama-chi’s method would mean getting help from her and Toori-kun, and that would be bad.”

'''Vice President:''' “From Aoi? He has nothing to do with this.”

'''Circle Be:''' “Getting monetary help from a business rival is a fate worse than udon for a merchant. We wouldn’t be able to stand a situation where it looked like Asama-chi chose to do that so we wouldn’t cause trouble for Toori-kun.”

And…

'''Circle Be:''' “Asama-chi, can I ask something?”

'''Asama:''' “Go ahead.”

'''Circle Be:''' “Why?”

Asama moved her hand without lifting her head from the idiot’s lap.

Mitotsudaira moved her head out of the way while Asama lifted her arm and opened a sign frame.

'''Asama:''' “I – along with Horizon, Mito, and everyone else – are working to help Toori-kun become a king, so we’re all together on this, aren’t we? So I honestly don’t care all that much if we are business rivals or whatever else.”

''She doesn’t have to care because she sees them as a safe and nonthreatening rival,'' thought Masazumi.

It was like she knew them well enough to allow them to compete with her. Which probably only made those two see her as even more of a rival.

…''Oh.

''Is that what it meant to be on the same side?

''If so, maybe I should forgive them for their betrayal. …No, if that was enough, we wouldn’t need laws. And they’ve caused me a lot of trouble, like when they sided with Ookubo.

“Vice President? Why are you glaring at your sign frame and muttering to yourself?”

“Don’t worry about it, Balfette. I’m just contemplating the absurdities of life.”

But then Asama spoke up while typing on her sign frame.

'''Asama:''' “At any rate, I decided I would go with him.”

And…

'''Asama:''' “I can’t let myself leave anyone behind.”

She gave a snort and sank deeper into her “pillow”. She was not one for giving speeches and she probably knew her feelings for the idiot were her own personal thing.

Horizon must have understood that because…

“Asama-sama, you can be a glorious pain in the ass at times.”

“U-um, well, uh.”

Asama pulled Horizon and Mitotsudaira in close and sank down as if to hide herself.

But the idiot must have been able to see her while looking straight down at her.

…''That’s right.

That was their relationship.

Asama had come to realize that it had always been that way and she was now making it the foundation of how they interacted.

She seemed surprised by her own actions at times because no one could have imagined her acting like that not long before. That applied to Mitotsudaira and Horizon as well. ''No, wait. Horizon is always doing unimaginable things, so maybe that isn’t quite the same thing. Or is it? Is it? Is it?

“Masa…zumi? A-are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about it, Mukai. I’m just contemplating the absurdities of life.”

At any rate, the person on the divine transmission seemed satisfied.

'''Circle Be:''' “Then you set everything up for us, Masazumi. Will you take money from the Asama Shrine and pay our bail? If the loan process requires a substitution intervention, add the fee to our loan. Then we’ll sign a repayment contract, okay?”

'''Vice President:''' “Hold on. Do you have any way of paying this back?”

'''Circle Be:''' “Masazumi, how much do you have right now?”

'''Vice President:''' “70 yen.”

'''Circle Be:''' “D-don’t worry. You can…get by?”

'''Vice President:''' “Stop talking like Mukai. Now, what does my money have to do with this?”

'''Circle Be:''' “Well, I thought we could borrow something to do business with, but I guess we’ll find another source.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “You’re going to do business?”

“Of course we are,” said Augesvarer.

'''Circle Be:''' “If Masazumi trusts us, we’ll do everything we can to pay her back. And with interest too. Just wait until August 14. Then we’ll have everything paid back.”

'''Unturning:''' “That only gives you two weeks.”

'''Circle Be:''' “The entire world can change in a week.”

She took a breath.

'''Circle Be:''' “God spent 6 days creating this world, but then he made Sunday because he felt like taking a day off, right? So with two whole weeks to work with, a merchant can spend the first week sowing seeds and spend the second week reaping the rewards from all over the world with time for a break left over. So how about that?”

'''Vice President:''' “You’re only in this situation because you couldn’t manage that, so how can you be so sure?”

'''Circle Be:''' “That was different. We were competing with other Musashi people and screwed up. To be honest, we were competing with the Commerce and Industry Guild to give us the upper hand after graduating.”

So…

'''Circle Be:''' “We’ll only compete against the world now and wait until later to try again against the other Musashi people.”

Masazumi thought about what that meant.

…''Competing against the world is easier than with other Musashi people?

It was true they would probably have a lot of opportunities with the outside world since the Warring States period and the Thirty Years’ War caused everyone to act so unpredictably. Especially compared to Musashi’s Commerce and Industry Guild that was full of veterans colluding together.

…''In that case…

'''Vice President:''' “Do you have an idea?”

She could make a decent guess and Augesvarer responded as if she knew that.

'''Circle Be:''' “We’d like to go to Kantou.”

'''Vice President:''' “That’s asking for a lot.”

Masazumi smiled bitterly as she said it. And…

“I just hope we have a way to get back here if we do return to Kantou.”

But was there a way of doing that?

“Wait, so the Musashi actually can’t return to Kantou?”

“Testament. If they did, Hashiba would make sure they were stuck there.”

Christina was walking with Tadaoki while evening fell across the Musashi.

They were shopping. They had been supplied with the basic necessities after boarding the Musashi with no more than they were carrying at the time, but there was still a lot they needed for their everyday lives.

Christina was staying at the diplomatic inn. Tadaoki had been given a room there too, but moving in there right away would lead to gossip.

She figured it would no longer qualify as “right away” after summer break was over.

Sweden would have chosen a course of action by then, so…

…''We can start living together after summer break!

She had never imagined she would have plans like that. Especially with someone so much younger than her. They had yet to do much in the way of judging the distance between them or accepting each other’s tastes in various things.

''We still have a long way to go,'' she thought.

“Then can I ask something?” he asked.

“Of course you can.”

“Can’t Hashiba win right away by using the Testament Union to demand the Musashi returns to Kantou?”

The road came to an end as he asked that.

An underground atrium park suddenly spread out before their eyes.

Her information said this area had been badly damaged by a Sanada Terrestrial Dragon recently. The damage was being repaired and those repairs looked nearly done, but…

…''Is there still a bridge allowing us to cross over it?

The bridge she spotted was covered in shimmering heat thanks to the summer sun.

But no one would overhear them speaking from there, so she pointed toward it.

“Tadaoki-sama, this way.”

“No, let’s head down. It’s too hot.”

“Eh? But…”

“I can’t stand this heat. I was raised in the mountains, after all. Let’s get some ice cream.”

“I-I would love that.”

He tugged on her hand.

He pulled her onward and she imagined she would see him blushing if he were to look back. She even thought his ears looked red, but she also thought she might be imagining it.

That meant she was enjoying this situation.

She appreciated him leading the way right now. She could enjoy this without worrying about how she looked and without even Tadaoki noticing.

And…

“Well?”

“Eh?”

“Can’t Hashiba use the Testament Union to send the Musashi back to Kantou right away?”

“They could,” she confirmed.

This was a bit of a leap from what they had been discussing before, but…

…''That shows he is quick to grasp the information presented to him and is good at speculating from there.

Was that a skill he had developed as a sniper? She gave a more detailed answer to his predictive question.

“I am sure Hashiba does want to keep the Musashi in Kantou, but the Azuchi is in Kantou. And it’s still damaged.” The two of them walked down the pathway descending into the underground atrium park. “The Azuchi received damage to its rear thrusters and more, so I doubt it can leave Kantou until that is repaired. And if the Musashi were to return while the Azuchi is still incapacitated, the Kantou nations might decide to attack the Azuchi.”

“But it’s summer break. I thought war wasn’t allowed.”

“They could surround the Azuchi and cut it off from supplies. And…”

She decided to say this, just in case.

“They could always go for a more pragmatic victory where they ignore the Testament Union and just crush their enemy.”

“But…”

“That decision would not be all that different from deciding your own death will solve everything.”

He squeezed her hand tighter when she said that.

And he looked up at her.

“They can’t do that.”

“Which is why the Musashi can’t return right away.”

She had heard from Musashi that they shared her understanding on that.

“The Musashi will return to Kantou on August 10. As per the Testament Union’s instructions.”

But she was curious about something.

“Can the Azuchi really be repaired in just 10 more days?”

“Oh, that? I bet they can manage.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” he said. “An upperclassman of mine that specializes in construction and repairs is in M.H.R.R. right now.”

Ikeda Terumasa thought to himself.

…''Should I really be here?

The sky filled half of his vision when he looked up.

He was in the thruster sector on the stern of the Azuchi’s 2nd central ship.

The central large torii-style thruster had been split and badly damaged where it stuck out from the ship. It had been sliced during acceleration, so the energy had rapidly spread out from the gash. And…

“After the emergency shutoff, the impact of landing triggered a chain-reaction explosion in the ether inside. Normally, you’d just swap the unit out completely, which generally takes 10 days. But with the Azuchi’s staff, they could probably cut that down to a week.”

But there were no replacement parts in Kantou. Hence why he had been called in. But…

“I’m not sure I’m up to the task. With on-site repairs, it’s going to take 10 days just to get it barely running again, so with a departure date of August 10, this is going to be a close one. …Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

He had come because they called for him, but this was not his primary job. He wanted to go do some poking around at Mikawa to get some ideas for the repairs to the Shirasagi Castle.

He had really hoped to get to the Mikawa region today. Because…

“Once August begins, everyone enters summer break and there will be a ton of traffic as everyone heads home.”

“Do you ever stop complaining, Ikeda?”

A voice reached him through the air. It came from above, so he looked up to see someone looking down from about 3m up with their hair dancing in the wind.

“Oh, Nabeshima.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 4

2021-01-14T15:06:57Z

107.88.177.44: /* Chapter 4: Noticer at the Preparation Ground */

==Chapter 4: Noticer at the Preparation Ground==
[[Image:Horizon8A_133.jpg|thumb]]
''I’m fuming

''And the more I fume

''The harder I get!

''Do you want to see that!?

'''Point Allocation (I Do, But Stop)

Mori had questions.

“How does that make any sense!?” The two of them immediately turned to glare at him, but the tentacle continued on regardless. “I mean, those two argue every time they see each other, they’re always lecturing each other, and they won’t shut up whenever they inevitably end up next to each other in the dining hall or convenience store! They even argue when they happen across each other in the academy or around the ship, which happens a lot!”

“Mori-kun, I think you’re working against your argument here.”

“I was starting to think the same thing, Maeda-san! It’s just that seeing them fight so much makes me anxious and I go all pale and flaccid!”

“Yes, you do turn a color I’d rather not mention out loud when your blood flow is poor.”

“Right!? But that doesn’t explain why you avoid me when my blood flow is good too! And come to think of it, while they do fight all the time, they’re also together an awful lot, they sit together at the dining hall and convenience store, and they’re always getting to know each other better. So I guess I only have one thing left to say.”

The tentacle considered the situation, straightened up, and bowed toward those two.

“C-congratulations!”

Fuwa and Sassa kicked the tentacle away.

Fuwa watched Mori roll along a field that was beginning to show more green.

The tentacle was basically cylindrical, so all his tentacly parts rolled down the shallow slope. The officers out ahead of him yelled and ran out of the way.

“Ahh, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! The young grass emerging from below the melted snow is prickling my indecently sticky flesh like needles! I-it’s making me hard!”

“Katsuie-san, everyone on your team is crazy but in a fun way,” said Oichi.

All of the team members who had thought they were normal began frantically gesturing their rejection of that idea.

But Fuwa had something to say here. Something not about any supposed relationship with Sassa.

“Um, just so you know, I’m stuck doing the accounting here for the entire summer.”

“Huh!? Well, fine then. Hey, Naru Naru, how ‘bout you help her?”

“What makes you think I’m capable of that, you moron!?”

''You do know that makes ''you'' a moron, right?

But it was true he would only get in the way and she would end up constantly thinking about his presence if he stayed here.

…''Oh.

''This isn’t good,'' she thought. ''I’m letting someone else decide how I feel about something.

She thought she had a good grasp of what her feelings were and it was true she had previously thought they might be that.

But when she looked to Sassa now…

“Besides, I already have plans for the summer. I’m going up in the mountains alone to spend the entire break training! Cause I was completely useless against Hexagone Française’s Vice Chancellor!”

…''What is wrong with you?

''Do you really like oversized breasts so much?

''I mean, we won’t even be fighting Hexagone Française ever again. And for that matter…

“Shibata-san, could you beat the Reine des Garous’s true form she so explosively showed off in Kantou?”

“I bet she thinks I couldn’t.”

''I see,'' she thought as Shibata slapped his own right shoulder.

“And I can’t deny my shoulder’s been acting up lately. So I’ve worked some trips to healing hot springs into our schedule.”

“You mean you’re planning to fight the Reine des Garous too?”

“Don’t be dumb.” The demonic Long Lived man turned up the corners of his mouth in a smile. “P.A. Oda’s Vice Chancellor is the strongest.”

“Keh,” said Sassa, but he did not deny it.

That was true.

She might not like how he said it or his attitude, but that much was undeniable. So…

…''Yeah.

Fuwa realized why Sassa had brought up the Reine des Garous.

…''It has to be her.

Musashi’s Vice Chancellor or their 1st or 5th Special Duty Officers were not enough.

…''Wow are they ever childish.

That was Fuwa’s opinion of the men standing next to her.

Sassa was especially bad.

It all went back to Novgorod. That had counted as the Battle of Tedorigawa, the Battle of Nanao Castle, and the Battle of Uozu Castle. The floating city had acted as the battlefield where Shibata’s right arm had been severed by the teamwork of Musashi’s 1st and 5th Special Duty Officers. He had also been hit by an attack from their Vice Chancellor.

Musashi’s 1st Special Duty Officer was world famous for his worship of busty blondes, but their 5th Special Duty Officer had held important points on the battlefield since the Sack of Magdeburg. It was significant that she had fought at least evenly with Katou Kiyomasa and Kasuya Takenori of Hashiba’s Ten Spears and that she had defeated Shima Sakon, aide to the Spears.

Shibata had challenged Musashi’s Vice Chancellor with only one arm, but during that fight, Sassa had seen her superb movements and had seen her make an instantaneous leap of several dozen meters. She had split Shibata’s chest and he had destroyed her hair decoration. If they had gone in deeper, Shibata would have been pierced through at the chest and she would have had her forehead split open.

That was a draw. If one had to be placed above the other, then Shibata came out on top.

''But,'' thought Fuwa.

Even if he had been missing an arm, ''this still meant someone out there could fight him to a draw.

It took a nation’s Vice Chancellor or Chancellor to pull that one off. In fact, she had always assumed it took someone like Uesugi Kagekatsu or the Reine des Garous. She could not even guess how people on that level would fight, so she had pictured it as something like two giant monsters flailing at each other, but that “dream” had been shattered.

Someone had actually reached that level.

Yes, his missing arm had been a factor.

But it had happened on the battlefield. It had not been a sparring match between the two of them.

When pure duels were not an option, even the strongest fighter could run into trouble.

Everyone understood that, but they could not afford to let that mess with the history recreation. Hence the introduction of the duel system.

But even so.

That group was younger than them, Sassa had said they did not yet seem ready back at Magdeburg, they had been no match for Hashiba during Mikatagahara, and they had even lost someone there. But now they were growing capable of achieving their goal.

They were an enemy. And generation-wise, they were the future while everyone here was the past.

“Um.”

“Um what?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Fuwa waved her right hand dismissively.

Oichi looked down at her from Shibata’s shoulder in a way that said she had seen right through her.

She must have been proud of her husband. Which was why she was insisting he heal himself at some hot springs. He had to be in top form.

So…

“All of you go and enjoy yourselves out there. …I’ll be back her doing the accounting.”

“Is that so, Fuwa? Then I have one more job for you.”

“An additional order? What is it?”

This seemed sudden, but Shibata gave her a calm look in response.

“Train the underclassmen.”

“Then are you two leaving tonight? That’s awfully sudden.”

It was midafternoon and Kasuya was helping Kani prepare to leave for her training camp.

Fukushima was normally in charge of Kani, but since she was busy preparing her own equipment, Takenaka had instructed Kasuya to help instead.

Kasuya had been away from the others training in the same area as the Shibata Team, so she knew what you would need there. That was why Takenaka had chosen her and taken over the ship repair work she had been doing.

“Testament! I heard Shibata-sama will be visiting a bunch of hot springs and we might not arrive in time for that if we don’t hurry, but Takenaka-sama said we should try to get their ASAP whether we’re in time for that or not!”

“I see,” said Kasuya while looking at the object in her hands.

It was a swimsuit.

It must have been for the hot springs. The Azuchi had bathing facilities inside it, so the ship’s store sold these.

The Spears had been using their own personal bath ever since returning to the Azuchi after the Keichou Campaign.

Kasuya thought being in the Reine des Garous’s forest was to blame, but her skin and hair had been so full of life lately and her hair refused to be brushed. Her grooming divine protection had grown too powerful.

That had not bothered her on the battlefield, but it was causing problems now that she was back to her ordinary life.

For one, the air inside the ship made her hair spark as if with static electricity.

She had not noticed when on or nearby the “forest” of the battlefield, but she had unintentionally brought her nonhuman ether state back to the Azuchi with her.

The Azuchi’s ether field and defensive divine protections naturally tried to deflect that unusual ether, but that ether was carried by someone registered as a Spear, which confused matters.

“Azuchi” had even paid her a visit to double check once.

She had decided to fix it by purifying herself in the bath, so she had gone there with Kani. However…

“Katagiri-san is a boy!? I had no idea!”

It was incredible that it took Kani that long to figure it out.

…''And why was Katagiri taking a morning bath?

He had claimed it was to get a bath in before it grew crowded, but he had barely even met Kani before. He had grown flustered about her presence, but…

“Eh!? I don’t mind at all!”

[[Image:Horizon8A_143.jpg|thumb]]

Kani had immediately accepted it. And when Kasuya had asked her about it later…

“I just never even considered the fact that he might be a boy! But what does that matter!?”

Kasuya decided Kani may have been even more openminded than her. But…

“Kani, do you not have a swimsuit of your own?”

“Testament! My family runs a greengrocer! And greengrocers don’t need swimsuits!”

Kasuya had trouble following that logic, but it also made a weird sort of sense to her, so she just accepted it.

But then why was Kasuya choosing a swimsuit for herself?

“Kasuya-san, you’re going to K.P.A. Italia, aren’t you!? For training, right!?”

“That is correct,” said Kasuya. “To be honest, I would really prefer to start training with the others again.”

“Really!?”

“Testament.” She nodded. “I didn’t really know how to use my strength, so I borrowed some of the Shibata Team to participate in some riot suppression training. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of it from that, I was hoping to meet up with the others, but then the Keichou Campaign happened.”

“What kind of strength do you have!?”

“I could give you a list, but mainly…” She tilted her head. “This.”

She used a burst of acceleration to instantaneously circle behind Kani.

The back in front of her had not reacted at all, so she tapped the girl’s shoulder.

“Eh!?”

Kani turned around in surprise.

…''I do like a good reaction like that!

Maybe it made her feel like a proper upperclassman, but not many people reacted so well. However…

“That was impressive, Kani. You managed to follow my movement long enough to turn halfway around.”

Kasuya had circled behind her the extra 90 degrees to make up for that. Kani must have used the greatest speed she could manage, so she had been confused when she lost sight of her. So…

“Here.”

Kasuya handed her the swimsuit on a paper hanger that had slipped from Kani’s hands. It had flown into the air as she made her half turn, so Kasuya had caught it while accelerating.

“Drop it and you’ll get it dirty before you even try it on. You still need to do that, don’t you?”

“Yes!”

Kani looked down at Kasuya’s hands.

Kasuya had not dropped her swimsuit. That seemed to illustrate the difference between upperclassman and underclassman.

Kani sighed with a combination of surprise and joy.

“Incredible! How can you make such tight turns with such big boobs!?”

“I’m not on Kiyomasa or Hirano’s level, you know? And we fought someone with an even more impressive chest and speed last night.”

“The Reine des Garous is basically cheating and she isn’t here, so she doesn’t count!”

“Fair enough,” said Kasuya. She used to think there was a limit to how impressive someone could be, but she had changed her mind about that last night.

She had heard the stories, but facing that woman herself was something else entirely. But…

“Defeating people like that is our job, isn’t it?”

“Can you defeat her!?”

“I think we did a decent job while working together.”

If only they had more experience.

If only they had a more powerful weapon.

If only the others had been there too.

All those things were excuses made by the loser, but they were also words of hope for them right now.

Because it showed them how they might possibly win in the future.

“Which is why I had hoped to train with the others.”

“I see! That explains it! I’ll ask about it!”

''Eh?'' thought Kasuya as Kani opened a ''lernen figur'' with the paper hanger hanging from her collar.

'''Kanitama:''' “Takenaka-sama! Do you have a moment!?”

While Kani and Kasuya were busy shopping, Fukushima had responded to her departure request by returning to her room.

She was sitting on the floor, viewing a ''lernen figur'' while selecting her equipment.

…''I probably should get some sleep before leaving early tomorrow morning.

She had already taken a bath, albeit a quick one.

Sleeping after she ate made her feel sluggish, so her plan was to find a good time to sleep without eating anything first.

“Hm.”

She had the water and rice balls being handed out to everyone, but she would consume that after sleeping.

Right now, she needed to…

“They gave me this because I arrived from Kantou, didn’t they?”

She had a stick-shaped incense spell.

It was made by combining a spell charm with powdered incense and it was meant to help with her exhaustion. Incense spells were common in the Association of Indian States and the Mlasi Alliance. Their effects were weak but they efficiently covered a large area and were long-lasting. Hashiba had said a lot of people enjoyed testing out their various effects while they slept.

…''Maybe I should do that too before I sleep.

But her thoughts were cut off by a divine transmission.

'''Kanitama:''' “Takenaka-sama! Is there any way you can have all Ten Spears do joint training!?”

Fukushima sat bolt upright when Kani’s words reached her.

…''Wh-why is she suggesting that!?

With joint training, she could be with Kiyomasa. They would eat and bathe together and, if it was outdoor training, they might even share a sleeping space.

“…!!”

She briefly felt a hot sweat pouring down her body.

She had no idea what was causing the sweat. It could come from nerves, anticipation, or fear, but…

…''Why!?

No one could answer that for her, but her eyes were glued to the ''lernen figur'' in front of her.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I’ve already made reservations for everyone, so that’s not an option.”

Fukushima felt like the heat was draining from her body and head and then she collapsed onto her back.

Koroku had returned to her room in the middle of her duties.

Her team’s job was to build water supplies, but they were currently taking an afternoon break. Most of the water supplies had been built, so they would spend the rest of the day finding other work to do.

There was still plenty to do.

With the construction of ether pathways, the automatons could detect and measure the level of damage, but it was safest if the actual work was done by humans who were not influenced by ether.

But most of the ether-related construction was best done once it grew dark. Ether light showed up better then, so they would notice leaks.

Although a night with strong moonlight would actually be more dangerous.

“But tonight should be fine.”

So they were taking a break until the evening. She was using that time to get some rest, take a bath, and…

“Preorder a game.”

The other night, her completed save data had been overwritten by an unexplained phenomenon, but she had completed the game.

It had been scary and she did not remember it all very clearly, but that had its pros and its cons. Still, she did not want to play it again just to remember. It would no longer be new to her.

So she needed a new game. She had looked into this a while back. The different corporate guilds released wave after wave of games once summer break began.

She kind of wanted another suspense or horror game to recapture her experience with that previous one, but was that really the best idea?

Would a more cheerful game be better for summer? No one would know what she was playing, so she could always go with a summer-themed game like My (Nearly Endless) Summer Vacation 4. Playing that would feel like being trapped in a rural summer environment, which was a type of horror in and of itself.

She had played 1, but…

…''The scariest part was how you could drink as much milk from the ice room as you wanted and it would never run out.

She had tried emulating that in real life last year and made herself sick after about three glasses. Wakisaka had decided that was an attempt to give herself a “boobs upgrade”, so it had been a bad experience all around. But…

“––––––”

She spotted a certain title on the preorder list: Siren Hill 2. That was the sequel to the game she had mysteriously finished before.

Playing 2 when she barely remembered 1 seemed wrong and she had no idea how it had all happened, but this was Kantou, home of Akihabara, which the Testament said was a city full of incredible technology.

The Edo Game Show would be held there come summer, so it would be neat if the Azuchi was still here then.

But her eyes would not leave the sequel’s title. Its tagline was “Takes the terror of the original to the next level!”

…''The original, huh?

“Hmm,” she said while glaring at the screen and leaning back against the wall.

“I’m not sure what the terror of the original even was since I don’t remember how it ended.”

So…

“That means nothing to me.”

Just then, a loud bang and an impact reached her through the wall she was leaning against.

“…!?”

She gasped and collapsed to the side.

She was no longer moving.

Fukushima writhed in pain on her bed.

She had felt faint and lost her balance thanks to Kani’s divine transmission. The real problem was when she tried to remain upright. With the bed behind her, the top of her calf had caught on the edge of the bed and she had tripped.

The back of her head had slammed into the wall past her bed and she had failed to prepare for the impact, so it hurt a lot. Afraid her skull had dented in, she touched the back of her head to find it was fine. She could tell it would form a lump, though.

She noticed some light in the vase sitting on the bed’s head space.

It contained a precious stone and something colored a noticeable blue.

“Is that Danzou-dono’s feather?”

The feather glowing with ether light seemed to be complaining to her, so she prostrated herself on the bed.

“I am so sorry! I was too careless!”

Then she wondered what her neighbor thought of all the noise.

She poked her head out the door to make sure there was no one in the hallway before she walked over to Hachisuka’s room. It was still just past midafternoon. The hallway was filled with outside air and sunshine, so Hachisuka’s room had its door left open.

…''Hm.

Whether that was for ventilation or because she was only stopping by real quick, it was still careless.

And when Fukushima checked inside, she saw Hachisuka collapsed on her side.

“Hachisuka-dono!”

She stepped inside while remaining cautious of the other side of the door.

She ran swiftly over to Hachisuka and made sure no traps had been set up on the girl herself. Unlike the other night, they were in Kantou and a lot of people were coming and going after their loss. However…

“Are thou only unconscious?”

The way she had collapsed did not suggest an external attack. She had had her back against the wall, so it would have been impossible to catch her by surprise.

…''In that case…

Words like “heatstroke” and “exhaustion” came to mind. It was probably something like that.

“Hm.”

Her body would be aching when she came to.

“Excuse me,” said Fukushima while checking around the room and noticing a bottle of water and some rice balls. As a small kindness, she poured the water in a glass and placed that and the rice balls next to Hachisuka.

And since they were teammates, she looked around until she saw the incense spell.

To help with Hachisuka’s exhaustion, she set up the included stand and lit the ignition spell on the end. A transparent aroma quickly reached her nose.

“There, that should do it. I hope thou can get some rest before-”

Fukushima noticed something.

There was a ''lernen figur'' next to Hachisuka. She took a peek and noticed it was a game order form. She must have passed out just before completing an order.

“Thou really do like thy games, don’t thou?”

The screen said “The preorder deadline is approaching fast! 1 hour, 36 minutes.” and the time at the end was counting down.

…''The preorders will end before she wakes up.

As another kindness to her teammate, Fukushima moved to press the preorder button. But…

…''It would be wrong to make a purchase with her divine transmission wallet.

Instead, she called up her own ''lernen figur'' and searched for the same product on the same store. It was a Mlasi store called Sadal and she already had an account. All she had to do was confirm the preorder, but…

“This is a present before I leave, but I don’t want her to feel any kind of obligation.”

She had it sent to Hachisuka as a gift with the sender field left blank.

''There.

Satisfied, she left Hachisuka’s room and returned to her own room.

…''I managed to get in a good deed before leaving.

Seeing her own room reminded her of something.

…''I never solved my own problem!

''This is not good,'' thought Fukushima.

Even if she had done a good deed, she had gotten terribly distracted when she was leaving so soon.

…''Why does Kiyo-dono inspire such powerful emotional reactions in me!?

''This calls for decisive action,'' realized Fukushima.

She would be leaving early tomorrow morning. The others would come to see her off if they were up, but everyone was exhausted from their battles. It was possible they would oversleep.

“In that case.”

Fukushima checked the time on her ''lernen figur''.

“I need to find time to speak with Kiyo-dono before I leave!”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 3

2021-01-14T14:35:37Z

107.88.177.44: /* Chapter 3: Hiders Heading Out */

==Chapter 3: Hiders Heading Out==
[[Image:Horizon8A_097.jpg|thumb]]
''Am I

''What I want?

''Or what others want?

'''Point Allocation (Destination)

''Kantou’s summers are just hot,'' thought Fukushima.

In M.H.R.R. of Kansai, each region had its own unique touch. Less windy regions, horrendously humid regions, and dry regions were all crammed in together.

She also remembered the open skies of Kansai’s summers.

…''How strange.

They were currently in the sky off of Kantou’s coast.

They were on the Azuchi’s deck working on a post-battle check of their situation.

On and around the large Azuchi, people were on the move and speaking while transport ships were arriving and leaving.

According to Takenaka, this would continue for around 10 more days before the Azuchi could finally return to Lake Biwa.

Today’s job was retrieving their people from Kantou and organizing the transport ships.

That was expected to last 2 or 3 days to provide enough time for the boarding schedule and for enough living space within the Azuchi to be located and prepared.

“Hey! Who ordered these outdoor watchtowers!? Were you hoping to build your own battle formation out here!?”

“We’re taking them to one of the storerooms to build our own watchtower room! That’s where you’re sleeping too!”

“Nope, wrong! There isn’t enough space in the storerooms, so you’ll have to build your battle formation out here.”

“For real!? We’ve gotta camp out on top of the Azuchi!?”

''That sounds perfect for the summer season,'' thought Fukushima. She was also impressed that they all immediately began ordering watermelons, firewood, and Dutch ovens.

They must have been ready for summer break now that the battle was over.

As for Fukushima herself…

“Make sure to drink water when you feel hot, everyone!”

She called out to the campers while managing the movement of weapons containers on the ship’s surface.

She had some people who worked for her. They had all fought on the front line during the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, but now they were sweating up here on the deck.

She checked on their progress and noted any problems. If those problems were more than just a slowdown, she would point out where they had gone wrong so they could improve.

This work actually used combat knowledge.

In battle, it was crucial to keep tabs on how your own forces were doing, judge what the enemy formation, castle, or city was doing, and predict what they were likely planning.

It required knowledge and wisdom.

If you understood that, you could handle this work.

Besides, she was not the only one here who knew how to do that work.

“Team 3 here seems to be falling behind the others.”

“Oh, Fukushima-sama! There’s no water supply at our designated location! Is there any way we can fix that!?”

The team leaders would have already worked out the cause of the problem or delay without her having to do anything.

That meant her job was mostly handling the paperwork.

…''A water supply would be too much for a team leader to handle.

All the water supplies would have been used for fighting fires during combat, but where they needed water supplies was different now that the fighting was over. So…

“We need to consider doing the construction ourselves.”

“Testament! We can do that once we finish this job! And we can use that water to have a toast!”

The cheers that elicited suggested they had been fairly worried about the water. They redoubled their efforts and looked impressive going at their work so vigorously.

Meanwhile…

'''Llaf:''' “Takenaka-sama, I have something I would like to ask thee. Do thou have a moment?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Ero ero ero ero ero.”

'''Llaf:''' “Isn’t it a little soon for that!?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “No, your afternoon ero is important. Now, what did you want to ask, Fukushima-san?”

As soon as she asked, Takenaka seemed to figure it out on her own, so she continued after taking a breath.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “You need a water supply, don’t you? We’re getting a lot of requests for those, so I sent Hachisuka-kun in with a specialized rapid construction crew. She should be at your area soon.”

'''6:''' “I’m already there.”

Fukushima looked back to see Koroku climbing the aft stairs.

The others knew what this meant, so they greeted her while Koroku’s crew began to tear up the deck’s armor panels. Koroku raised her right hand to acknowledge the greetings as she spoke to Fukushima.

“Fukushima.” Her expression was as unreadable as ever. “The Shibata Team is asking for you.”

“Huh!?”

Kani responded to Koroku before Fukushima could.

Her current job was to carry things between their people on the deck and their people one level below. It was a short distance, but repeatedly ascending and descending a flight of stairs in the summer weather really wore you out.

To keep herself from sweating, she had a towel wrapped around her forehead and she had Sasamura carry things too.

“Is the Fukushima Team being absorbed into the Shibata Team!?”

She spoke aloud without thinking, earning a glare from Koroku.

…''Oops! We’ve never actually met, have we!?

They had seen each other from a distance before the attack on Bitchu Takamatsu Castle. Koroku’s transport ship had been sunk by Bernard, which had seemed crazy at the time, but thinking back…

…''That’s pretty normal for us!!

Her standards had changed at some point.

But Koroku was still looking at her.

“Umm.”

Based on her face, she wanted to ask “what was your name again?” instead of a full-on “who are you?” So Kani stood up straight, and…

“Um!”

“Wait.” Koroku held out a hand and placed her other hand on her forehead in thought.

…''I-is she gonna get it!?

Kani knew her inherited name’s Far Eastern spelling was not easy to read. ''If I hadn’t inherited the name, I wouldn’t know how to read it myself!

But after a bit, Koroku lowered both hands and turned toward Fukushima.

“You know what? Never mind.”

“Ehhh!? Y-you don’t have an answer!?”

“Someone’ll tell me.”

…''She’s so dry!

But Kani had a feeling it was that very ability to know what she could safely ignore that had allowed her to command the western side at Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.

Kani had seen the records of that battle and the west had been the most flooded. And that was where the enemy’s god of war unit and two of their Three Musketeers had been fighting.

…''But she persevered!

There were times when a god of war pilot had to be separated from their infantry warriors on the battlefield.

After all, the durability, mobility, and combat strength of a god of war and of infantry were entirely different. A god of war could at times change the course of an entire battle, so they would sometimes leave their unit to complete some other task if necessary.

But now her Koroku Team was working together to construct a water supply.

“You must do this a lot!”

“We do a lot of maintenance. And a lot of us are from farming families.”

“Really!?”

“Testament.” Koroku pointed at Kani. “The Shibata Team is asking for you too.”

“Ehh!? What for!?”

“Ask the pervert.”

“What pervert!?”

“Katagiri.”

“Katagiri’s a pervert!?”

“He is.”

“Really!?”

“I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“Then it must be true!”

A stir ran through the others.

“Katagiri-sama is a pervert!?”

“Eh!? Hold on! That changes my summer break plans completely!”

“All the better! Katagiri-sama can get as pervy as he wants with me!”

…''I don’t know what they mean, but I’m glad our team and the Hachisuka Team are using this break from work to get to know each other better!

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Um, Katagiri-kun? You have a really unfortunate thread about you on the Azuchi Network.”

'''□□凸:''' “Eh!? …Wh-what the heck is this!? I didn’t know about any of this! And now they’re uploading short stories about me! ‘An offering I can no longer use this summer’? What is that supposed to mean!?”

'''AnG:''' “Probably that it’s an offering they can no longer use this summer.”

“Okay, everyone, stop staring at the divine network on your ''lernen figur''s and get back to work.”

Fukushima clapped her hands and got after the others. And after seeing the others hurriedly resume working…

“Well or pump?” asked Koroku.

She pointed to her work team on the deck where they had already torn up a small block of armor, opening up a space with the width and depth of about a 1.5m.

The equipment the Hachisuka Team had brought suggested they were going to construct an open-air torii-style information terminal. Since it was linked to the Tsurugi Shrine, the torii had a sword sticking into it.

“A well is a good choice for up on the surface like this,” said Fukushima. “We can dump the water on ourselves, while a pump would restrict how many people could use it at once. Also…

“Testament. A pump might rupture during a side flip. I’m relieved.”

That lost comment meant this must have been a “test” by Koroku. Because…

“I’ll be staying here.”

She would remain on the Azuchi. So…

“Thou said Shibata-sama summoned my team?”

“Hashiba had a message for you too.”

Before Fukushima could ask what that was, Koroku provided the answer.

“Grow strong.”

Grow strong.

That was enough for Fukushima.

…''I see.

“So this is to be a training camp.”

“They just don’t have anything better to do,” said Koroku.

“Really!?” asked Kani.

Fukushima was unsure if she should agree with that or not.

“I am not sure how to phrase this, but Shibata-sama’s team probably has to stay where they are until the Honnouji Incident.”

“They still have that much history recreation left to do!?”

“You need to study more,” suggested Koroku.

“Okay! I will!”

Koroku’s eyebrows rose when Kani actually agreed, but she soon composed her expression and nodded.

But did Kani notice how Koroku relaxed her shoulders?

''She is such a good aide,'' thought Fukushima, but something else was bothering her too.

“Hachisuka-dono. Will Kiyo-dono be joining the Shibata Team too?”

She felt some excitement as she asked that.

She felt like she was worrying about this too much, but she was also worried that Koroku would notice how worried she was.

She hoped she was worrying about ''that'' too much as well, but Koroku’s face was so hard to read.

“Hm,” said Koroku as she tilted her head and opened a ''lernen figur''.

'''6:''' “Kiyomasa, what are your summer plans?”

…''Thou are just going to ask her!?

Actually, that would be the normal thing to do. Fukushima realized she had eliminated that option from her mind because she was worrying over this so much.

…''Nh!

She could barely stand to be here anymore.

Kiyomasa was on the other end of Koroku’s call. Wherever she was on the Azuchi. No, the instructions they had received before lunch had said she would be repairing the 2nd starboard ship. ''Kiyo-dono’s specialization in defense means she knows how to repair buildings and aerial ships.

“Fukushima.”

“Eh!?”

“I called your name two whole times.”

She sensed Koroku’s strict personality in the “whole”, but Koroku had already closed her ''lernen figur''.

That meant the conversation with Kiyomasa was over.

“Um, what did Kiyo-dono say?”

“A training camp.”

“At Shibata-sama’s location!?”

Fukushima could feel some fear and happiness mixed in with her surprise.

It was like she wanted to be with that other girl, but she did not know how to draw her in.

It was a surprisingly bold feeling given how she always froze up with nerves when actually around Kiyomasa.

But with the ''lernen figur'' gone, her feelings were coming out of hiding.

…''Honestly.

Why did it matter if she was with Kiyomasa?

She had never actually thought through what exactly it was she wanted to do while with her.

She could not bring herself to move beyond that undeniable hesitation, but she had accepted that her hesitation might destroy the relationship they currently had.

She kept returning to the same conclusion, but she also kept erecting emotional walls to soothe her cowardice. However…

…''It’s all over if I actually think about what I want to do.

This was an important time.

The Honnouji Incident was coming up and other battles after that.

They would probably settle things with Musashi during all that.

If she destroyed her relationship with Kiyomasa now, it would disturb the bonds between the Ten Spears during those battles.

She could not let that happen. So…

“Hachisuka-dono.”

She was not asking Koroku to act as an intermediary between them, nor could she. But she had effectively done that here.

“Please tell me if Kiyo-dono will be there.”

“No,” calmly said Koroku. “She’s going to Sanada with the 1st years.”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I’m going to Sanada for a training camp?”

Kiyomasa was on the roof of the castle-style bridge that had been destroyed by Houjou’s attack.

Her first thought was about a certain fact.

…''We do have a connection to Sanada.

The Sanada Ten Braves.

The group currently going by that name had joined Hashiba’s side. Supposedly.

The supposedly was because the history recreation had Sanada’s heir siding with Matsudaira and the current head of the clan and the second son siding with Hashiba as a plot to ensure the clan survived.

But if Hashiba had been involved with this training camp decision, then Sanada must have been on Hashiba’s side. And…

'''Kimee:''' “The former Ten Spears should be a good match for you, Kiyomasa.”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “But who knows what the dragons who sympathized with them will do.”

The Sanada Ten Braves had been the initial candidates for the Ten Spears position. Kiyomasa’s group held the position now because they had defeated those 10 in test of skill.

They were former enemies and they probably had strong feelings about Kiyomasa.

Yet she was supposed to go there for a training camp.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I hope this doesn’t lead to trouble.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “If you’re aware it could cause trouble, you should be fine. And if things look too bad, you can always leave and I’ll make sure to get a decent refund from Sanada.”

“Is that so?” was all Kiyomasa could find to say.

And looking at the Ten Spears as a whole, it made sense to send her as a negotiator and leader. She was well-versed in defensive tactics and she could use Caledfwlch to take on a dragon. So…

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I need to finish this work as soon as possible so I have time to prepare.”

The Azuchi came first.

Her subordinates and the automatons were repairing the bridge and surrounding area.

But since this was the first day, they were only assessing the damage. Once they knew where the damage was and how severe it was, they could put together a repair plan and decide what needed to be demolished. What needed to be demolished and what did not could greatly change the repair plan.

In fact…

…''It could be faster to build a new bridge instead of repairing this one.

Making that decision was her job.

The same was true of the 2nd central ship’s bridge since it too had taken a fair bit of damage. Takenaka was in charge of that one and she had a lot of construction knowledge.

Takenaka had to be busy, but…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Look how close the ocean is. Ohh, the sight is making me sick.”

Kiyomasa was not quite sure what to make of those comments.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Anyway, um, I know this will be a lot of work for you, Kiyomasa-san, but I suggested you could run a training camp for the 1st years and the teachers approved it. Since we’re doing this, we decided it would be more efficient to split them into a few teams.”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “More efficient how?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “The Azuchi’s repairs are going to take a while, right?”

“So,” continued Takenaka.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “So we’re splitting them into three or so teams so we only have to come up with a training schedule for each team.”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I see. So, um.”

She was curious about the others, so she asked about it.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I get that I’ll be leading the 1st years, but who all is going?”

Kiyomasa saw Takenaka respond on her ''lernen figur''.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “From the 1st years, there’s Asano-san and Nabeshima-san. The latter is especially important. Because she might end up being your aide and because she’s a mechanical dragon pilot.”

Kiyomasa knew what Takenaka was getting at. Simply put…

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “You want her to train in Sanada because they have dragons there?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Exactly right. Asano-san is an anti-personnel fighter, but based on her performance during the Satomi battle, she’s skilled at using tools and the terrain around her. …She’s the ninja type.”

Takenaka was clearly enjoying herself here.

But that was not a bad thing. Asano and Nabeshima were old friends.

…''If Asano-san is the analytical type, she could probably help examine the mechanical dragon’s combat records.

Takenaka was probably hoping for exactly that.

'''Kimee:''' “You actually wanted to send them into the dragon habitat in Hexagone Française after we took Paris, didn’t you?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Sometimes things don’t work out as planned, so don’t be too hard on me.”

'''Kimee:''' “Yeah, I know. And Angie had fun there, so it all worked out.”

“Then,” said someone from somewhere else. It was Kasuya who was managing the reserve materials on the relatively untouched 1st port ship.

'''Black Wolf:''' “Where will I be going?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Oh, I’m sending you a bit further than the rest, Kasuya-san. To Aki.”

'''Black Wolf:''' “That is pretty far.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Some others will be meeting up with you there for a small job. Oh, Yoshiaki-san and Wakisaka-san are on Hachisuka-san’s team, so you two will be staying here.”

'''Kimee:''' “Is the Azuchi really in that much danger?”

Yoshiaki’s question finally clued Kiyomasa into the purpose of the training camp arrangement.

Angie went on to explain it for her.

'''AnG:''' “The Azuchi needs our patrols right now, doesn’t it? To the point you can’t send us elsewhere?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “To be honest, I want you to pour all your efforts into the repairs first. Hashiba-kun ordered me to make sure everyone withdraws safely.”

“Testament,” they all replied.

Takenaka paused for a breath before continuing.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Assuming the Musashi doesn’t try anything funny, we should be safe here for 10 days. Meanwhile, we have a troublesome problem to deal with.”

Namely…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “We still haven’t made peace after the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.”

“That’s true,” said Yoshiaki.

She was flying about a 1km above the sea, allowing her to look down on the Azuchi Castle.

She was wearing a sleeveless track jacket and track tights, but she also wore her Technohexen hat to keep the sun off.

She was in the sky above the 1st starboard ship so she could look down at the ship most affected by the enemy attack. Her aerial expertise allowed her to judge the level of damage.

Angie was above the 1st central ship performing a similar midair inspection.

She raised a hand, probably meaning she would join Yoshiaki and help her finish this inspection.

Yoshiaki turned her broom toward Angie and sent her a message.

'''Kimee:''' “It is true we don’t seem to have made peace after Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.”

She had not been there, but she knew what Takenaka meant.

Making peace there was very important for Hashiba. Because…

'''Kimee:''' “The Testament says the Honnouji Incident occurred during the flooding of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle. Hashiba learns about it, hurriedly makes peace with Mouri, and makes the famous Great Return.”

In other words…

'''Kimee:''' “It was quickly making peace with Mouri that allowed Hashiba to so swiftly punish Akechi for killing Nobunaga, which in turn allowed Hashiba to take over after Nobunaga.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Testament. Which is why Hashiba treated Mouri so well after taking over. And Mouri is in Kantou right now, so we can make peace with them here. If we say the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle is still underway, we can complete that last bit of the history recreation.”

“But,” said Takenaka.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “The Mouri personnel needed to do that seem to have been left in Paris. So we need to get the Azuchi back home, but we also need to coordinate with Mouri, so who knows when we can actually do it.”

'''AnG:''' “Can’t we essentially swap places with the Musashi?”

That was probably how it would turn out. But in that case…

'''Kimee:''' “This is going to be a huge pain. It’ll delay our departure and it feels like Mouri is controlling us.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Which is why I’m speaking with them to try and have whoever’s in charge sent here. …But they’re reluctant to do that since they don’t know when they can act freely again thanks to the Musashi being in the Udon Kingdom south of them.”

'''Kimee:''' “What, they’re caught in a staring contest with an enemy and an ally?”

But Yoshiaki knew what Takenaka meant.

…''None of us expected the Azuchi to take so much damage.

The plan had been to intervene in the Keichou Campaign and return with Mouri.

But they had failed there and that failure was weighing heavily on them now.

“I see.”

She understood that Takenaka was focusing on even the unlikely possibilities here.

After all, the Azuchi was nearly defenseless at the moment.

That may have been why not many automatons had been sent out to this part of the ship.

The automatons were handling the office work and late-night shifts.

Everyone else could handle the repair work, so the automatons could handle the other work while planning out a safe and efficient plan that did not require increasing their numbers.

That meant more and more of the office work and decisions were being left with the automatons. And…

…''The sentry and guard work are also being left with them so the rest of us can get some rest in case things go south.

The others must have arrived at that same conclusion. “Testament,” one of them began.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “If we do that, we should be able to keep the working going without delays.”

'''AnG:''' “True. And the two of us can shorten our aerial patrols.”

'''Kimee:''' “I’d love permission to sleep and take baths whenever I want.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “That’s fine as long as you keep to your patrol schedule.”

“Fair enough,” said Yoshiaki.

Then Kiyomasa changed the subject.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Um, Takenaka-sama? What are Fukushima-sama’s plans?”

The question came out of nowhere, but it was promptly answered.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Well, Fukushima-san has been worrying about how she can grow stronger and I also received a rather incredible message from the Shibata Team. Here, I’ll just read it to you: ‘We’re doing a summer training camp, but I’m sick of hitting the same boring old faces, so send over some new faces I can hit. Oh, I mean, uh, please.’ So I’m sending Fukushima-san and Kani-kun there. I get the feeling they won’t be back until the end of summer break.”

“Uh.”

Kiyomasa’s response caught in her throat.

Takenaka’s announcement that Fukushima would be joining the Shibata Team had inspired an immediate reaction inside her.

…''No fair!

Even she could tell that was oversimplifying things, but the words also did not quite capture exactly what she was feeling.

Who was not being fair there?

Was the Shibata Team not fair for taking Fukushima away?

Was Fukushima not fair for joining the Shibata Team without considering her feelings on the matter?

Were Hashiba and Takenaka not fair because they had decided all this for them?

Or…

…''Is it me for feeling a little relieved while also complaining about it?

''I’m becoming a real pain in the rear,'' she realized.

But it was true things would be easier if Fukushima was abducted by the Shibata Team. That would give Kiyomasa time to work through the feelings and troublesome parts within her.

With Fukushima gone, she felt like she could reassess her emotional distance from the girl.

Her priorities had grown too focused on Fukushima of late. That made her happy, but it was a bad thing when thinking of the Ten Spears team as a whole.

It would pose a risk during their inevitable showdown against Musashi. So…

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Fukushima-sama will be attending a training camp with the Shibata Team, will she?”

That was a good thing.

It would benefit everyone.

…''And yet I feel…

She made a point of not completing that thought.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I think that is a good thing.”

“Fukushima.”

Fukushima looked Hachisuka in the eye when she looked up.

It was unusual for Hachisuka to initiate conversation like this.

“Kiyomasa is talking about your training camp.”

“Eh?”

''This came out of nowhere,'' she thought.

…''What does Kiyo-dono think about my training camp!?

Her pulse raced and Hachisuka looked back down at her ''lernen figur''.

“She says to work hard and come back stronger.”

The answer came so suddenly.

She had been expecting something that showed Kiyomasa’s character more than that, so this felt like a letdown.

“Huh?”

She wondered if maybe there was more.

But Hachisuka did not give her what she wanted. Hachisuka only tilted her head as if to say “What more do you want?”

“That’s what she said.”

What could she say to that? She simply lowered her head.

“Oh.”

She felt like she was starting to converse in only monosyllables.

But this meant Kiyomasa had reacted to the news.

…''She wants me to work hard and come back stronger.

''To be honest, I was hoping for something more. Like an “I’ll be there to see you” or “I’ll come visit you”. I know that’s asking for too much, but it still would have been nice.

…''Wait, wait, wait, wait!

''What is wrong with me?'' she thought. ''Kiyo-dono is a pure and proper person. She does not reside in the bizarre, impure world these thoughts of mine are coming from.

''So this was normal. Her response was normal.

“Hm.”

“Um, Fukushima-san!?” said Kani. “Why are you so monosyllabic right now!?”

“Now, now.”

“Bisyllabic isn’t much better.”

''Hachisuka-dono sure is strict.

Anyway, Kiyomasa had told her to work hard and come back stronger.

She would often train alongside Fukushima, so that was probably her general stance regarding training.

When she said to “work hard”, she was probably thinking about how hard Fukushima generally worked while they trained together.

What did that mean?

…''As long as I work hard, Kiyo-dono is always watching over me!

That cheered Fukushima up a little.

She nodded and looked up into the bright summer sky.

It was hot, but of course it was.

“Kantou’s sky feels so cramped.”

“You sound like a completely different person now.”

''Thou are overthinking this, Hachisuka-dono.

At any rate, Fukushima finally understood what had puzzled her before.

…''The clouds are all crowded together.

The clouds were like a large river traveling over the Pacific Ocean, the land, the mountains, and the plains. Each of those created clouds at different heights, creating a wide variety of patterns and waves.

The influence of the terrain and the endless ocean winds gave Kantou’s sky a sort of midair geography.

Kansai had the inland sea, but once in M.H.R.R., it was mostly plains with the mountains to the north.

The clouds stayed fairly low in Kansai’s sky and they appeared to spread out flatly.

Kansai’s clouds let you see far into the distance, while Kantou’s did not.

''That makes the western and eastern skies look very different,'' noted Fukushima.

She had only noticed that due to moving between the two regions in such a short period of time recently.

…''That’s right.

Something finally occurred to her.

…''We lost at Paris and in Kantou.

Was that why she needed to “work hard”?

“It is true we need Fukushima to work hard.”

Yoshiaki gave her thoughts while raising her right hand to acknowledge Angie’s approach.

She and Angie shared images of the Azuchi they had taken with their Magie Figurs. Angie had been inspecting the Azuchi as a whole while running an automatic check on all the coming and going transport ships.

“Oh, yours is a personnel check,” said Angie. “Will that mesh with mine?”

“It should. Yours captured more than I expected. Look, this is the Transport Ship 2-23 at the port side of the 1st starboard ship.”

An alert sign appeared over a transport ship on the image that had strayed from its course. The mistake would have already been reported internally, but they had to check everything from out here too.

The checks beyond the standard inspection were meant to confirm the alerts and provide warnings for the ships and people in the area. They could even order all ships to stop if it would prevent an accident.

That was how crowded the skies were.

“The outsider ships, the ones that joined us at Kantou, the supply ships that 1st year named Ikeda sent us, and more – there are so many kinds of ships here. And some of them are just wandering because we don’t have a clear repair plan yet. But…”

…''But things are safe for now.

Mostly because everyone was still new to this, so no one was moving very fast.

Things got most dangerous when everyone had a clearly defined role and they were all moving around.

“By tomorrow, the larger transport ships and all the smaller ships will have figured out how things work, so they’ll be moving a lot faster. There will be times when their instructions don’t arrive in time.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. We have to be out here for our patrols at night, after all,” said Angie. “But what was that just now about needing Fukushiman to work hard?”

“Well,” said Yoshiaki while drinking some water from her bamboo bottle. “We have two important battles coming up. Do you know what the most important one is?”

“Settling things with Musashi, right?”

“Testament,” confirmed Yoshiaki with a nod.

They had not been discussing that here, but they had discussed it countless times in the past.

So she had expected to receive that standard answer.

“The other important battle is related to our position within Oda and it comes before we settle things with Musashi. Do you know what it is?”

“Testament.” Angie spoke strongly, but she was not speaking to anyone in particular. “The Battle of Shizugatake. After the Honnouji Incident, Shibata Katsuie parts with Hashiba and gathers anti-Hashiba forces to fight over the future of the Oda clan.”

And…

“The Testament says that’s the debut battle of the Seven Spears that our Ten Spears are based on.”

Angie knew exactly how she felt about the Battle of Shizugatake.

…''I really don’t want to do that.

They would be up against the Shibata Team which was currently a mix of P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R, making it feel so much more like their own people. It was like a group wearing the same uniform.

She wished they did not have to fight their own people like that.

“I really wish we could get out of that using an interpretation.”

“We want that and I imagine they want that, but the current state of the history recreation doesn’t always allow that to happen.” Yoshiaki paused. “Especially for us. Hashiba is trying to strictly follow the history recreation, so we’re in no position to complain if we’re forced to do a history recreation we don’t want to do.”

“That’s exactly what the other nations like Musashi are gonna say, isn’t it?”

“Which is why we need to use our summer break in a calculated fashion.”

That told Angie that Yoshiaki had the same thoughts on his as her.

…''I see.

Feeling weirdly bashful, Angie focused on managing the transport ships.

Yoshiaki spoke to her while similarly working on her own Magie Figur.

“Angie.”

“Yeah, Kime-chan?”

“We might be in no position to complain, but politics is all about finding ways to say ‘rules for thee, but not for me’. So keep that in mind.”

Angie thought about that for a second before laughing.

…''Kime-chan, we’d already finished that conversation!

''Did she take my silence the wrong way?

''Even though I really did see what you meant before.

“Ha ha.”

Laughter escaped the corner of her mouth in a way that Kiyomasa would have gotten after her for.

Meanwhile, Yoshiaki frowned with a “hm?”, but she did not ask what it was about. She must have realized her worries had been misplaced.

''So that works out.

Angie steadied her breathing and turned toward Yoshiaki.

“Let’s take a bath and eat some sorbet, Kime-chan. The kind with biscotti in it.”

“That sounds great. But we’ll have to make sure we don’t get a chill.”

“Yeah,” said Angie while thinking to herself.

…''Did the Shibata Team ask for Fukushiman because they’re thinking of settling Shizugatake with an interpretation?

It felt like they had given away their plans there, but since Hashiba had approved it…

“I guess everyone has given Honnouji and the surrounding events a lot of thought.”

“We just have to do the best we can at any given moment.”

''Kime-chan does love to have a plan for everything,'' thought Angie.

Doing the best they could was indeed the most all-purpose plan there was. Everything else was just support or alternatives for when they could not do their best.

“Then,” said Angie. “Let’s get two sorbets. And let’s ask Fukushiman for a souvenir.”

“If the sorbet place is close by, we can wait until we arrive to order.”

“Testament,” replied Angie while looking out across the sky.

This was Kantou. The clouds covered a lot of vertical ground and the wind formed by the ocean and land was constantly blowing through the sky.

''It’s like a mountain range of clouds,'' she thought while turning to the west.

“It’s like we swapped positions.”

“The Musashi and us?”

“Yeah. Both physically and metaphorically. We won before, but not this time.”

“That just means we need to do another swap. …We have to.”

“That’s right,” said Angie before saying something else. “On second thought, let’s just get one sorbet.”

Because…

“We need to show some restraint if we want to beat Musashi. I’m sure the other teams are thinking the same thing while they look up into the sky.”

“Man, that’s a nice sky! I bet that Protestant hag is causing trouble again, but it’s summer break for us!! We were deployed to Sviet Rus, so we can let Hashiba take care of M.H.R.R.! If you’re planning to go anywhere, make sure to send notification to Kitanosho Academy!”

A large, deep-voiced silhouette carried a rucksack containing a tent and food.

He wore a mountain vest over his large casual clothing.

“Katsuie-saaan, you forgot your compaaass!”

“Ohh, Oichi-sama! My ''insha kotob'' can do that, but are you saying that isn’t allowed!? Good point! Using the real deal is the way of a true outdoorsman!”

Oichi was also dressed in mountain gear and she attached a compass with a strap labeled “Shibata” to one of his carabiners.

“There you go.”

Shibata smiled and nodded back before looking around.

They were on a grassy field, but most of it was still covered by white.

They were on a snowfield in early summer. The Shibata aerial ships were lined up like a fortress and the occasional transport ship would arrive or depart from there.

Shibata walked out with that scene behind him.

There was a group of people there.

They were the various Shibata officers. Everyone down to the 100-warrior commanders had been gathered and he spoke to them all.

“Listen up, it’s summer break. And you know what that means?” He placed a hand on his chin. “You need to go out and find yourselves girlfriends.”

“Why are you looking right at me!?”

“Oh? What’s this, Naru Naruuuu? I think we both know why ''you'' desperately need to hear that. Knowing you, you’ll use ‘training’ as an excuse to go spend your entire summer break in the mountains alone. Isn’t that right, Naru Naruuuu? But I know you’re secretly glancing over at those local festivals as you walk past while claiming they’re ‘annoying’! And once you get home and shoot off some fireworks of your own, you end up depressed that that’s all you can get out of summer.”

“Did you charge up your annoyance batteries to prepare for summer break or something?!”

“Now, now. Calm down you two,” said someone else while raising her hand.

“What is it, Fuwa?” asked Sassa.

“This is about Shibata, not you. …Shibata, telling us to find girlfriends is sexual harassment.”

“You are of course free to find a boyfriend instead if you would prefer, Fuwa.”

“That’s still sexual harassment!”

“My, my,” said Oichi who was already seated on Shibata’s shoulder. “You’re wasting your time, Katsuie-san. Fuwa-san and Sassa-kun are already an item.”

“Huh!?” shouted Fuwa and Sassa both.

They exchanged a glance and prepared to say something, but were cut off.

“Is that true!?”

Something wriggled in from behind them.

It was a tentacle.

“I didn’t notice at all!”

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| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8A Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
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