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Ultimate Antihero:Volume 1 Prologue

2020-02-09T10:53:45Z

141.101.104.184: /* Prologue */

==Prologue==

“Kamishiro Homura must be killed.”

In the nucleus of the United World Government that was located in the Detroit Life Sphere, Orion Tower.

In the conference room that existed on the highest floor of that white spire that pierced the sky. One of the five people that surrounded the round table there spoke. The Soviet’s Grand Supreme Ruler Gregorio Rasputin declared:

“The power that man possesses, it transcends the standard of power that any individual can be allowed to have. It is far too dangerous for us, the new rulers of the world, to leave this situation as it is.”

The rest of the world's leaders gathered around the table listened intently:

America’s President, Joseph Franklin,

Britain’s Prime Minister, Leti Cline,

The Chinese Republic Union’s secretary general, Wang Tailong, <ref>This guy’s name is written with the kanji of king great dragon.</ref>

The Holy Path Church’s Pope, Innocentius XVII.

They were the chief members of the United World Government that was started five years ago and were called the Five Great Leaders.

“We of the United States of America agree with the Soviet’s opinion. The traitor… no, that abominable Evil God User, for some reason he suddenly started moving from the London Life Sphere heading towards the Tokyo Life Sphere. Because of that, since last night we have fallen into chaos. Even with the Great Seal applied to him, that boy’s individual power rivals the military might of an entire country. That boy taking a stroll is the same as a country sending their entire military on march. Each time that boy takes a step, we have to rewrite defense treaties and re-position the army. This situation is completely unacceptable!”

“He’s really like a walking nuclear bomb huh. Even so, the MI6<ref>The British Secret Intelligence Service</ref> is really pathetic. Even though these past three months the Evil God User ate, slept, and played right under your noses, you couldn’t even manage to cut his head off while he slept.”

“We, the Britons, are living and using our heads properly. Just so you know, we are different from China-san who was impatient to attack and rushed ahead without even consulting the other Great Leaders and in the end you had two thirds of your army annihilated by the Evil God User.”

“What did you say-”

“Please calm down, both of you. If the Five Great Leaders quarrel amongst ourselves…-“

“Don’t act like an adult you yankee. This was all your fault anyway! One year ago Kamishiro Homura was staying in the Washington Life Sphere; if you had dealt with him properly then, my army wouldn’t have met a fate like―!”

“Enough.”

“ ” ”……!” ” ”

The voice was calm, yet possessed a heavy and profound presence that couldn’t be denied.

A single word from Innocentius, and the three sovereigns that were hurling abuse at each other swallowed their insults.

“Your grace…”

“It’s just as Franklin said. When the Five Great Leaders quarrel amongst ourselves, it produces a hundred harms and not a single gain. We are not the rulers of opposing countries anymore.

Five years ago, when the first recorded Demon King class demon in history, Typhon, appeared, almost all the countries that existed above the earth were burned to ashes. Then the current United World Government was established by the remaining ten countries. They cooperated with each other for the sake of opposing the demons that were invading from their world in a different dimension.

"…The framework of countres is a bygone relic. We are not an alliance. We are the world itself. Something like a lone brat moving from London to Tokyo is not something worth fretting about.”

“Your Grace, it’s exactly as you say.”

“…Hmph, I’m not fretting at all here.”

Joseph lowered his head reverently hearing the words of Innocentius, while Tairon too slumped back in his chair with a vexed expression still on his face.

Judging that the place had calmed down, Innocentius opened his mouth once more.

“That man cannot possibly do something like replace us. The hearts of the populace remain in the grasp of the Holy Path Church. Besides, haven’t we already succeeded in sealing his power? As long as the Great Seal is still in place, even that man cannot control the power of the Evil God as skillfully as he did five years ago. There is a collar fixed on him. The most he can be now is a watchdog for us to use as we see fit.”

“Ye...yes, exactly right.”

“Prime Minister Cline. Is MI6 able to continue their surveillance?”

Grand Supreme Ruler Gregorio, who had only been observing since broaching the topic, broke his silence and asked Leti. Leti nodded with conviction.

“Of course. Right now the Evil God User is on a regular flight between London and Japan. The plane’s pilot and co-pilot, and even the passengers, have been replaced by MI6 personnel. There is not even the slightest chance that we will lose sight―”

The door of the conference room burst open, as if to blow away Leti's words.

“Be, begging your pardon–! Prime minister Cline! An urgent contact came from the agents observing the Evil God User!”

The one that jumped into the room was a British Official of the United World Government.

After the Evil God User received a call, in the middle of the flight it seemed that he suddenly, ju, ju, jumped-!”

“Wh, WHAT DID YOU SAYYY!!!!”

“HE JUMPED OUT OF THE PLANE-!”

The members of the round table fell silent.

“Don’t tell me they lost him-!?”

“Uh, unfortunately...yes. For him to jump out from a height of ten thousand meters without even casting Air Raid...no-one could have expected it so…!”

They lost him.

The blood drained from the faces of all the people in the room.

And then, after a moment of stillness, the room erupted into commotion.

“What the hell are you doing you damn idiot-! Make them chase him down right now!”

“Impossible! It’s suicidal to jump out of a plane that is flying at high speed, even for magicians with Air Raid! They wouldn't stand a chance against the atmospheric current!”

“That’s right! There's no way regular people could do something so absurd!”

“Just rearrange the surveillance structure. I’ll contact the KGB. Mobilize all the military satellites. I’ll need the CIA's cooperation.”

“O, of course Gregorio! It’s inexcusable to lose sight of that boy for even a second!

After all Kamishiro Homura, ―has the power to ruin the world–!!!!”

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Ultimate Antihero:Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Ultimate Antihero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ultimate Antihero:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Index Calendar

2020-02-01T16:59:57Z

141.101.104.184: /* Current Dates Across Franchise */

[[Image:A_Certain_Unified_Calendar.png|900px|thumb|none|An unofficial calendar of events in the Toaru Majutsu no Index franchise]]

==Current Dates Across Franchise==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!!Material!!Issue!!Current Date in Material
|-
|'''Toaru Majutsu no Index'''||'''Light Novels'''||'''NT20'''||~19th of December
|-
|'''Toaru Majutsu no Index'''||''Manga''||Ch. 130||~7th of October
|-
|'''Toaru Kagaku no Railgun'''||''Manga''||Ch. 106||~14th of October
|-
|'''Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator'''||''Manga''||Ch. 47||~10th of September
|-
|'''Astral Buddy'''||''Manga''||Ch. 13||~28th of September
|-
|'''Toaru Majutsu no Index'''||Anime||Ep. III-26||31st of October
|-
|'''Toaru Kagaku no Railgun'''||Anime||Ep. T-4||20th of September
|}

==Brief Notes not currently in Calendar==
===Index: Old Testament===
===Railgun===
===Accelerator===
===Astral Buddy===
===Index: New Testament===

Return to [[Toaru Majutsu no Index|'''Toaru Majutsu no Index Main Page''']].

Horizon:Volume 7C Chapter 71

2020-01-28T06:07:29Z

141.101.104.184:

==Chapter 71: Supporters of the Circle==
[[Image:Horizon7C_0501.jpg|thumb]]
''The people

''Of the world

''Perceive me properly

''Right?

'''Point Allocation (More Than I Thought)

The color of the sky had changed.

Starting in the east and moving west, a clear yellow mixed with a deep blue. But on the vast seam between, it was purple instead of green.

Morning was approaching.

The sky grew brighter. Too many stars had vanished to call it a night sky and the wind blew below it.

It was an easterly wind.

“Is the wind on my face the same which blows in from the origin of the sun – from the Far East? …Oh, don’t mind me. Just some off-the-cuff poetry. I’ve begun dabbling recently, but doing it in front of people is more embarrassing than I thought.”

A tall figure looked up in the sky and spoke within the blowing wind.

It was Matthias and he let his shoulders slump while he spread his arms.

A group of white mobile shells stood behind him.

The easterly wind revealed M.H.R.R.’s flag – the imperial flag on a white base.

“Now,” he said. “This was a headwind for Hashiba-kun, but it is a tailwind for me. The effortless life of a puppet is such a treat. Truly this is what the Holy Roman Emperor should strive to be. So I would love it if you simply gave me victory here, Protestants.”

He directed his words at a group dressed in black.

They stood below the flag on a black base that signified the Protestants.

“Bishop Luther, could you perhaps lose this battle for me? Or is that asking too much?”

The Protestants and the Catholics.

Of the two sides facing each other atop a large hill, Matthias represented the Catholics.

“We already know this history recreation ends in our victory, so I see no purpose in defying us. Don’t you agree, Bishop Luther?”

At the center of the Protestants, Luther, aka Tomoe Gozen, held her hammer at the ready and placed a hand on her hip.

“What? Does losing terrify you that badly, Matthias?”

“Testament. I am a layperson, so I wish to live my life without being held to any kind of responsibility. The mere thought of defeat here – as unlikely as it may be – scares me to no end. …In fact, is there anyone at all who does not fear losing?”

“You’ll find some in the east. When they suffer a painful defeat, it only motivates them to make a comeback.”

“Oh, do you mean Hashiba-kun?” Matthias smiled. “She suffered two major defeats in Hexagone Française and Kantou. In the latter case, she failed to even arrive in time. But she remains undeterred. Just a bit ago, she sent me a divine mail saying she bought some Edo ''banane''s as a Kantou souvenir and she intends to make them an offering to Olimpia and myself. Incredible, isn’t it? Not many sponsors would show such concern for their puppet.”

“Is this just about you wanting to eat one?”

“It is a matter of Far Eastern etiquette – a spirit of sharing.”

“You sure are an optimistic puppet.”

“Are you that upset you cannot eat an Edo ''banane''?”

“Isn’t the traditional Edo treat an Edo Hiyoko Manju? My hemisphere kappa can buy me some when he visits the Ariake.”

Matthias bent his eyebrows and eyes when he heard that. Then he held his stomach and forehead.

“Ha ha…ha ha ha, ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha! Didn’t you know, Bishop Luther!? A note in the Testament says the Edo Hiyoko Manju was originally from Kyushu. It only became sold in Edo once it was brought there. And the Testament says that happens ‘in the distant future’, so you are violating the Testament. …I am shocked that someone who claims to be Bishop Luther is not up-to-date on Hiyoko Manju trivia.”

“Why would Luther know about that? For that matter, why do ''you'' know?”

“As a puppet, I receive gifts of souvenirs whenever the M.H.R.R. and P.A. Oda officials return from their trips around the world. Those have mostly been from Kantou of late and I have had a lot to snack on during my reading time, but that is apparently at an end. Return my enjoyable puppet life, Bishop Luther.”

“Tell it to the people arriving above us. Also, wait just a moment.”

Tomoe Gozen opened a ''lernen figur''.

'''Lady AM:''' “Hey, kappa.”

'''Hemisphere Man:''' “I am not a kappa! More importantly, my company is in trouble with these tough delivery date negotiations with Lady Naruze! Can this wait!?”

'''Lady AM:''' “This is an urgent matter, so listen up. I found a violation of the Testament.”

'''Hemisphere Man:''' “Wh-where!? Has the mosaic censorship based on the art style grown too lax as the age of the artists has dropped in recent years!?”

'''Lady AM:''' “Make sure to double check all of that at the printshop.”

'''Hemisphere Man:''' “No, the customer is always right, so we cannot do that. We can only give them respectful guidance so they can apply proper mosaic censorship, fresco censorship, or letterpress censorship on their own. …Now, Tomoe Gozen, what is this violation of the Testament?”

'''Lady AM:''' “When you buy souvenirs at the Ariake, make sure it’s Edo ''banane''s from now on.”

'''Hemisphere Man:''' “Eh!? What’s wrong with the Hiyoko Manju? The guilt felt when bisecting them down the center is such a wonderful feeling! And you can press them back together to play a game of Magdeburg chick!”

'''Lady AM:''' “You heard me. We can revisit the issue next time.”

“That has been resolved,” said Tomoe Gozen while raising her right hand.

Matthias nodded.

“Then shall we begin?”

A ''lernen figur'' immediately appeared next to his face.

“Excuse me, but this is Ishida Mitsunari. Hashiba-sama has appointed me as the on-site commander.”

“Oh, Mi-chan. Long time no see.”

“Not even Hashiba-sama calls me that anymore, so, um, please have mercy. That was my name while I was still in development.”

''Just like a caterpillar and butterfly go by different names,'' concluded Matthias. ''Powerful name inheritors do things differently.

“Um, then, Ishida-kun, I would like to do this the easy way, so what should I do?”

“If you stay where you are, I will produce a ''lernen figur'' on your back that says ‘hit at your own risk’. That will make it less likely that the warriors will hit you while charging in from behind.”

“Only less likely!?”

“I apologize, but people make mistakes and I cannot say anything for certain. You can punish them if they do hit you, so be prepared to respond if need be.”

“I have received orders from a lot of people, but you are one of the more fascinating ones.”

“Y-you honor me.”

She sounded nervous. But she also raised a hand and opened a new ''lernen figur''.

“Now, may I begin explaining the situation for you?”

Matthias decided to listen to Ishida’s explanation.

“Can you do that for me?”

“Testament.” She nodded. And, “We need to worry most about the enemy’s actions during the initial charge and when Musashi arrives. Matthias-sama, do you know what shape their formation has taken?”

…''This was supposed to be an explanation, so why are you asking me questions!?

''This is new,'' he thought in further fascination with her. And while thinking…

“Um, I believe it is similar to a…is it called a tercio? It is long from north to south, and the northern end is angled a bit westward. That angle is meant to match the circular shape of Nördlingen.”

“Testament. I have determined the enemy intends to charge in while deflecting our charge.”

He was not quite sure what she meant. Even if he was a puppet, he wished he had studied up on military matters some instead of just cooking and stargazing.

“Could you explain what you mean?” he asked.

“Testament. They are wearing lighter equipment to assist their charge. I have confirmed this was done on Tomoe Gozen’s command. But we will be making our charge while heavily equipped. If the two sides collide…”

“Our side will emerge victorious, of course.”

“Testament,” she replied. “Thus, the enemy has angled their formation somewhat diagonally. That way a collision with our charge will allow them to deflect us away diagonally.”

“You mean they can survive a direct hit?”

“Testament. Please look north, which is to your right.”

He did as instructed.

There he saw…

“I can see down the hill to Nördlingen.”

“I see you have an eye for this.”

''Ohh, praise from a name inheritor! Should a puppet really be this clever!? I hope I don’t get assassinated for it! I need to show everyone how incompetent I really am!

“I have no idea what I am looking at, though.”

…''I really don’t!

That was the truth, but Ishida nodded on the ''lernen figur''.

“If the enemy deflects us diagonally, it will direct us down the hill’s slope. The greater the speed of our charge, the more we will fall down the slope and the harder a time we will have recovering.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Testament,” replied Ishida before falling silent for a moment.

''What is this about?'' he wondered before a realization hit him.

“What will we do about that, Ishida-kun?”

Yes. He was the incompetent puppet, so he had to constantly ask questions. Being a puppet was no guarantee his sponsors would always give him something.

And Ishida had only recently inherited her name, so he had to use his ample experience as a puppet to show her how this was supposed to work.

…''That’s what it means to be a professional puppet!

''I need to stay focused on my job. Doing so makes it so much fun. I love being a puppet!

While filling himself with excitement, Matthias nodded and Ishida opened a new ''lernen figur''.

“Um, the logical response would be to angle our own formation so we hit them head-on. However, we cannot do that.”

“Eh? We can’t, Ishida-kun?”

''Oops. It’s true I don’t understand, but I think I overdid that one.

Ishida tilted her head a bit as she responded.

“Matthias-sama, um, I know my explanation might be boring and I can determine I have my own nerves to blame for that, but, um, you do not have to try to cheer me up.”

She hung her head.

“Um, I will do my best. Yes.”

He had never before seen a depressed data entity.

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Umm.”

'''AnG:''' “Huh? What is it, Nari Nari? Done already?”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “No, it is not that. Uh, what do I do if my client starts being weirdly nice because they feel sorry for you?”

'''AnG:''' “Why not get a cat the two of you can play with? That should help you communicate.”

'''Super Justice:''' “I apologize for interrupting, but that is not communication! It is surveillance!”

'''Llaf:''' “Testament. It may be best if thou share some food with them to remove any emotional barriers.”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Sorry, but there is not enough time for that.”

'''AnG:''' “Then you’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

“Okay…um…I will continue.”

Matthias saw the data entity continue her explanation in a somehow worried tone.

The diagram she sent him showed the angled enemy formation and a prediction of what would happen to their formation when they both charged and collided. However…

“I can see how they hit us at an angle,” he said. “Is there any way to change this into a head-on collision?”

“That would be difficult since we are heavily equipped and more numerous. We are restricted to this narrow hilltop, we have Niwa-sama’s main unit behind us, and we also have my northern route group.”

“Northern route?”

“Oh,” said Ishida. “Swedish Chancellor Christina is waiting in her estate as Nagaoka Tadaoki’s wife to the north of Nördlingen. If we attack her here and she blows herself up, it will qualify as a history recreation.”

“So many people with difficult destinies these days.”

''Blow herself up, hm?'' thought Matthias.

''That would not be enough to kill me, but I suppose she will die.

“How I envy her,” he said.

“Envy her?”

“Testament. I am helpless to do anything, but she has the freedom to choose her own destruction. I cannot even do that.”

So…

“So I wish to enjoy my current sheltered position. That is why I want to learn how this battle will go. You know what I mean, right? Sports are a lot more entertaining when you know the rules. I want to know the rules of the events I am advancing as a puppet. Now, Ishida-kun, could you continue your explanation?”

After a pause, Ishida responded to him.

“Testament. You just cleared up a lot for me. Thank you.”

''That explains it,'' thought Mitsuari as she reached an understanding of Matthias’s behavior.

He was interested in the main points. Not a general overview, but the specifics of what they could do to improve their position and what could happen to harm their position.

He was smart.

If he wanted to truly fulfill his position as a puppet, he could not just sit around being incompetent. He had to judge the other person’s attitude to decide how to behave and what not to do, but he also had to demonstrate a certain level of freedom and show that he held no hostility or conspiracy toward his manager.

That required reading the main points, but this man could do it.

…''He did show evidence of this once in the past.

At Magdeburg.

That puppet had made a single attack during the Sack.

His Logismoi Oplo, Pheugos Gastrimargia, overloaded the target’s power so it would destroy itself. That attack had hit the Musashi Vice Chancellor’s Tonbokiri.

Based on that and what happened afterwards, his attack had indeed temporarily sealed off one Musashi’s most decisive attacks.

…''It was our fault that we did not use that opportunity to its full advantage.

''I see,'' thought Mitsunari. ''He has some skill beyond being a puppet.

That was why she said what she did next.

“Allow me to provide a simple explanation.”

Ishida opened a simple diagram while Matthias crossed his arms and prepared himself.

“Our unit will charge at the anti-imperials, but we cannot angle ourselves quickly enough due to our densely-packed and heavily-equipped formation. That is why we will alter the power systems of the mobile shells.”

“Alter?”

“By shifting the thrusters to the left, the line of the charge can be angled while they run. That kind of group movement is only possible with standardized mobile shells.”

On the diagram, the charging formation gained an angle while they moved.

“Most likely, we can use our weight and pressure to push them after the initial collision. That will create an open space on the hill south of Nördlingen.”

On the diagram, she placed a red circle in the empty space.

“That is likely where the Musashi will send its reinforcements once it arrives overhead. They will probably cut across Nördlingen, but Niwa-sama’s unit will set up a defensive line at the north end of the city to stop them. And…”

On the diagram, she drew a counterclockwise line from Nördlingen’s south side to its north side.

“Ootani and my troops will head north to attack the Nagaoka residence for the history recreation. It is possible we will have to engage the remnants of the Musashi fighters or with the Protestants, but we should be able to handle that since we have buffs and reinforcements.”

“So if all goes as planned, victory will be ours?”

“Testament. That is the purpose of the strategy.”

When Ishida nodded, trumpets sounded from the anti-imperial force up ahead.

“Ohh,” said Matthias while looking up.

He saw the enemy force turned a bit to the side. They likely intended to hit his troops shoulder first.

Tomoe Gozen was doing the same and she beckoned him with the right hand she had turned forward.

“It would seem they are ready to do this.”

“So it does,” agreed Ishida just as some wind roared in from behind him.

All of the mobile shells had upped their power. The thruster activation lifted up their heavy equipment, but then they lowered back down from the stability routine. That produced a clanking of armor and they all readied their weapons.

Then they all raised their voices as one – man and women, old and young.

“Testament!”

''Delightful,'' thought Matthias.

Every last person lined up behind him was undoubtedly his superior in combat.

Even the rookies would have him tapping out in a matter of seconds in a sparring match.

But he did not need to fear them because he was the Holy Roman Emperor.

Being a puppet was an incredible thing.

After all, he barely did any work and he only had to look the part while making commands, but everyone respected him, lifted him up, and excited him by explaining their strategies to him.

What other job could be so delightful?

“Now, let us begin.”

He drew his sword as commander. He had worn it within the chest of his coat this time to look cool, so he quickly drew it from near his collarbone. And…

…''Oops.

''Oh, no. My arm isn’t long enough to draw it.

''Oh, right. I chose a longer one to look cool and keep my posture straight.

Before even thinking about the physics behind it, he should have noticed when placing it there in the first place.

But since he could not draw it, he had no choice but to return it.

He heard an “eh?” from behind him, but as a puppet, he was bound to make mistakes. These things happened. Yes, he was delighted to have done something so puppet-like.

…''But what do I do now?

He considered it for a moment, but there was no time. He unfortunately had to get things started.

“Everyone.”

He paused and made sure the corners of his lips did not loosen as he raised his voice.

“Charge!!”

Mitsunari hurriedly managed the racing troops.

The distance between the two sides was about 500m. Even if they were heavily-equipped, these mobile shells were lighter than the older ones she had seen records of. By intervening with and managing the thruster output, she could get them to cross those 500m in less than 20 seconds.

So she did so.

She was a program. She could currently duplicate herself a maximum of 1000 times. So she first placed herself inside the 1000 mobile shells on the front line of the charge and installed herself in their management divine protections.

And she improved them.

She could do this because, unlike Ootani, she was a proper control program.

“This is a forced installation to improve the tuning and management.”

She was not a virus, so she could officially install herself in the divine protections and manage them.

She gave them the automatic cornering control she had described to Matthias, but she also fine-tuned their acceleration and braking. That allowed them all to move in a more homogenous fashion. That required using a lot of equality and homogeneity divine protection spells, but Catholicism had a lot more of those than the other religions.

She had once attempted to put together a Shinto spell version as an experiment, but in that lax world of substitutions where overthrowing your master almost seemed encouraged, there were incomprehensible rules like “to increase the power output, you must dress as a rabbit that day” and she had ultimately ruled it impossible. She was baffled how those people managed to accomplish anything.

In that sense, Catholicism was nice and simple.

“Installation is at 80%.”

She had the ''lernen figur'' in front of her eyes display their planned path and the enemy’s expected path as lines.

“Complete. Now to uninstall myself.”

She removed just herself, then she began tuning the next 1000, and then moved on to the next.

She had finished tuning most of those charging on the anti-imperials.

It had taken her approximately 7 seconds. The initial thousand would be reaching the enemy soon. Yet…

“Eh?”

That clash never occurred.

Mitsuari saw something unexpected happen on the battlefield.

The enemy was waiting.

She had expected them to advance in order to make use of their light weight, yet they were motionless.

Then why had Tomoe Gozen and the rest of the enemy turned to the side?

…''Was it to brace for impact!?

When turned to the side, they could use their rear leg to stop the backwards push of the impact from the front.

''If that’s it,'' thought Mitsunari while making a split-second decision.

“Hitting them is good enough.”

If the Catholics hit, they could push on through. If the enemy only caught them, they would not be pushed down the hill.

This delayed the actual impact, but that gave them more time for the automatic adjustments to complete the cornering.

…''We can do this!

Just as Mitsunari reached that conclusion, the sideways-turned enemy formation suddenly moved.

Were they responding? Were they attempting to perform a dash now? Except…

“We can push through!”

The enemy sped up all at once.

But they did not move forward. They moved to the right from the Catholics’ perspective.

They suddenly dashed down the hill.

“Oh?”

The Nagaoka estate’s southern garden gave a view of Nördlingen’s city wall and the hill-turned-battlefield beyond that.

In her white uniform, Christina tied firecracker tubes to the garden trees, attached divine protection charms to those, and turned to the south.

She could see the imperial and anti-imperial forces positioned on the east and west sides of the hill. From her perspective, the large imperial force was on the left and the anti-imperial force was on the right, but…

“You can’t exactly call that force ‘large’.” She hid a sleepy yawn with a hand. “But they sure are raring to go so early in the morning.”

The anti-imperial force was clearly running away from their enemy right now.

When the imperials charged them, they took a course down the hill and along Nördlingen’s circular wall.

Their diagonally-angled formation had not been meant to deflect the enemy.

And their sideways stance had not been for defense against the enemy.

The diagonal angle had been to take a route down and along the wall.

The sideways stance had been to place the downward slope in front of their bodies.

“From there, they only had to begin their downwards dash when the enemy began accelerating.”

They were lightweight, they were descending a slope, and…

“I imagine they have some physical buffs applied. Yes.”

Their rectangular Protestant spell circles were designed to look like Testament copies. When they were all activated at once, they produced a large light source that lit up the early-morning hill.

“Tomoe Gozen is not a nice person.”

The anti-imperials sped up and ran to avoid the enemy’s charge. Christina could see that woman raising her Testament copy hammer at the center of the group headed her way.

The hammer dully reflected the spell light and its wielder had to be smiling right now. Because…

“She is sure to spring a trap here. Yes.”

A moment later, a white beam of light swept across the top of the hill from west to east.

It was a dragon cannon.

The vanguard of the M.H.R.R. imperials saw it happen.

Their charge was dodged and, just as they were going to pursue, a giant form appeared in the previously empty western field.

“A Celestial Dragon…Bernard!”

That bluish-black form almost looked like a mountain. He rapidly joined together while dashing backwards.

He used the backwards movement to position his head and then launched a dragon cannon.

“Take evasive action!”

The entire force attempted to split to the left and right

But the attempt failed due to an obstacle at their feet.

“Mobile shells!?”

These were the outer shells that the Protestants had worn when initially lining up.

They had removed them to lighten themselves and discarded them where they stood.

They had been left in north-south lines to avoid blocking their escape route, but they now acted as a multi-level barricade to the Catholics moving west.

Only those at the far left and right of the charging lines managed the immediate turn necessary.

The center warriors remained where they were and quickly set up defense barriers, but…

“Ahh!” shouted a member of the vanguard just before the white beam hit. “I just had a thought! Does getting hit by a dragon cannon count as an indirect kiss with the dragon?”

“You get to die first!”

All of their defense barriers shattered equally.

Bernard realized he had made the right decision.

He generally did not fall back when firing his dragon cannon. Falling back would reduce the cannon’s speed. The difference was small, but it was still best avoided.

But Bernard had chosen to do it.

…''This opponent is dangerous.

The enemy unit stood about 600m ahead of him after he fell back.

He had fired his dragon cannon on the 1000 forming the vanguard.

But a further 1000 had appeared in front of them.

Someone had quickly rushed out in front of them to protect them with defense barriers and buffering spells.

“Is that Ishida Mitsunari?”

“Testament. I intervened using their mobile shells’ divine transmission links.”

There was a faint tremor in her voice. Her body was trembling too.

“–––––”

She broke. Most of the 1000 cracked and shattered as payment for protecting her people. He doubted even 200 remained. However…

“Ishida-sama!”

The rescued warriors raised their voices and Ishida looked back toward them.

“I apologize, everyone. They were a step ahead of me here and I have now taken responsibility for that. It is time for you to pursue them and-”

“Testament!!”

She had not completed her command, but they replied. Those warriors who had been helpless without her protection took a step forward.

They moved past the 1000 shattered Ishidas and pointed at Bernard.

“We’ve just gotta kick that guy’s ass, right!?”

The 1000 on the vanguard shouted to the warriors behind them.

“Hey! You pursue the ones who fell back! We’ll go give that dragon a talking to!”

The others did not question it. They simply raised a hand, and…

“We’re counting on you!”

Then they turned toward the slope down.

They split apart.

But Mitsunari did not understand what she was seeing.

They were not obeying the command she had given them, but…

…''This is exactly what I was about to order them to do.

“You get going, commander!”

“But,” she said hesitantly.

An effective strategy against Swarm Dragon Bernard was to instantly activate multiple versions of herself and use mutual destruction attacks. Her numbers had been reduced considerably, but a simultaneous attack from 200 of her would be effective against the Swarm Dragon since he had yet to fully recover from last time.

But a voice called out to her from those she had protected.

“Go, Ishida-sama!”

“Yeah,” said another one. “Listen,” he began. “Commanders generally give out their instructions and watch over it all from the back. And if their instructions don’t play out as planned, they can blame it on us warriors for not working hard enough.”

“But are you really okay with that?”

“What do you think we trained for? Even if our commander does make a mistake, we can still fight and achieve victory on our own,” said another voice.

“Testament!” chimed in yet another voice – a female one this time. “So you’re not acting like a real commander here! Instead…”

“Testament,” the all said while retaking their fighting stances in perfect unison. “Everyone, set that Celestial Dragon as your enemy so we may take responsibility for our commander’s mistake! We’ll get through this!”

“Oh, neat. Sounds like Mitsunari-kun has received her troops’ support faster than expected,” said Niwa while watching the vanguard’s charge from her position in the back.

Her own unit of 3000 was readying audio equipment and spells behind her.

“Niwa-sama, how is Ishida-sama doing?”

“She herself is excellent. I mean, Hashiba-kun personally made her and she is the cutting edge. However, she is a little too smart, which can make her timid. Plus, the other Ten Spears are also a little too good at their jobs.”

Because…

“She doubts that M.H.R.R.’s ordinary student warriors have the strength to fulfill her demands.”

“Then,” said a female student. “Is that why those warriors in white are acting like that?”

“Shaja. They’re telling her not to underestimate them and to let them do their job, but they’re also saying they want her to stick around since she’s cute. Besides, her initial instructions weren’t wrong. It’s just that the enemy chose to run away. She chose a righteous charge. No one’s going to complain about that.”

Meanwhile, sound filled the sky.

The ships floating there had opened fire.

Since the two sides had parted on the surface, the ships could target their respective enemies.

“My, my, my, my.”

The booms of cannon fire were intermittent since Nördlingen was so close by, but they were solid booms and destruction sprayed skyward where the shells hit. Niwa narrowed her eyes while taking dance steps in time with that beat. She also raised her right hand.

“Everyone, unfurl our flags. And make our preparations on Nördlingen’s northern wall.”

A few different actions were visible up in the sky.

The Musashi was approaching as a giant shadow to the east, but two other ships were speeding past it from the direction of Lake Biwa.

Those was their reinforcements. They bore the mark of Hashiba Ten Spears No. 3 indicating they were under Ishida Mitsunari’s direct command.

“Now, it’s time for us upperclassmen to give Mitsunari-kun a gift.”

A transport ship passed by overhead.

Niwa smiled bitterly upon seeing its rear hatch open.

“Okay, this might be a bit elaborate with summer break so close, but let’s take a look, shall we?”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 7C Chapter 70|Chapter 70]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 7C Chapter 72|Chapter 72]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 7B Chapter 30

2020-01-08T19:52:16Z

141.101.104.184: /* Chapter 30: Searcher for a Destination */

==Chapter 30: Searcher for a Destination==
[[Image:Horizon7B_127.jpg|thumb]]
''Instead of searching for yourself

''Test yourself

''Instead of testing yourself to learn about yourself

''Accept yourself for having been tested

'''Point Allocation (Self Test)

''The originator of my name, Nabeshima Naoshige, is known for overthrowing his lord,'' thought Nabeshima while fighting.

When people spoke of Nabeshima Naoshige, they described him as someone who essentially ended up hijacking the Ryuuzouji clan.

But while fighting, Nabeshima thought he must have originally been a faithful servant of Ryuuzouji.

Nabeshima Naoshige.

After his master’s clan lost its heir, he had supported it and everyone had gradually started to follow him.

Naoshige had held connections with Hashiba and had maintained the Ryuuzouji clan in Kyushu during the rise of Shimazu.

He had indeed overthrown his master, but he had generally been faithful to his master’s clan.

What about her?

She had gone to Kyushu on Hashiba’s orders so she could learn Ryuuzouji’s mechanical dragon construction techniques.

Hashiba was guaranteed a secure future and she had been a messenger from there, but she had not been naïve enough to think she would be welcomed.

She had been an outsider placed in a position of authority. Plus, she had been a child. She had assumed they would look down on her and she would have to prove how hotblooded she was.

She had been nervous about a lot.

She had passed quite a few reviews before being chosen. She had ended up an exchange student, but she had not really accomplished much of anything before that. So…

…''I thought I might not accomplish anything there either.

When hanging out with her friends in her hometown, she had felt like she could accomplish anything, but she had known that was simply bluster.

But once she arrived, she found Ryuuzouji to be very different from what she expected.

After all, there were almost no young people there. And almost all their work was as a subcontractor for Tres España. Most of the young people had apparently gone to Tres España or the New World.

The academy had been full of middle-aged and elderly people and it was closely connected to the reservation there, so they had actually welcomed this girl from the mainland like she was an urbanite.

“If you want our techniques, then take as much as you want!”

She had heard that a lot back then. In fact, it had been the overall trend at the time.

They worked as mechanical dragon construction subcontractors, but every nation was doing R&D for that. During the Warring States period, secrets did not provide a long-term advantage. Ryuuzouji in particular would become part of Hashiba through Nabeshima Naoshige and the other nations had no real access to them.

Once someone from Hashiba arrived, they had intended to leave everything with that person.

So they had taught her so many technical skills and given her technical documents. Those older people had also taught her many new ways to look at the world. She had learned so much there and she had gained much more than she had expected.

Primarily, she had gained real maintenance and piloting skills.

Back then, she had feared she would never accomplish anything, so those real results had meant so much to her, even if they were not some major event in the history recreation.

She could accomplish something.

But while she realized that, she had received a different emotion from the others as they celebrated her accomplishment.

“Now our future is safe too.”

Nabeshima had wanted to say something in response to that.

They had taught her that she could accomplish something when she feared she could not.

But why could they smile like that when they thought things were over for them and thought they could not accomplish anything?

They were wrong.

They had all accomplished something.

…''Their ''accomplishment'' was allowing me to ''accomplish'' things.

She felt like saying it out loud would be meaningless, but she still felt like she should do something about it. And before she could find an answer, her time as an exchange student had come to an end.

She had been there for half a year, but after returning to M.H.R.R. with so much to show for it, she had asked her hometown friends for advice.

She had told them she was thinking of going back to Ryuuzouji.

Asano had been a voice for the displeasure lurking somewhere in her heart: “Ehh? Aren’t you just letting them influence youuu?” Ikeda had supported her decision: “If that’s what most of you wants to do, then go do it.” Kani had given her a weird sort of confidence: “I know you can do it, Nabe-chan!” Nagaoka, who had only just joined their group back then, had told her to “just do whatever you want”, but she wondered if he could tell his wife that now.

Halfway through the second term, she had returned to Ryuuzouji as a transfer student instead of an exchange student. That was when she had begun designing a new mechanical dragon.

Instead of just maintaining Ryuuzouji’s technical skills, she had wanted to develop them further and take them beyond the standards.

The Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji had been in charge of the development site and all five of them had opposed the idea. They had said it would only be a burden on them and that it was pointless to start on that this late in the game.

She had known how selfish she was being. She had simply been dragging those people back to their old ways instead of letting them have the peaceful ending they wanted.

But she had done it anyway.

“What, you can’t give me the power I need to fight ''in the future''?”

She had argued back against their protests and sometimes even dueled them, but that was where it had all begun and the result was in her hands now.

So in the end, Nabeshima Naoshige had hijacked the Ryuuzouji clan.

She was literally holding the controls of a Ryuuzouji dragon.

And that was why she felt the beginning of her history recreation could be found in actually giving Ryuuzouji a meaningful future instead of some history recreation interpretation.

That foreign land had taken in a delinquent middle school girl and shown her a new way to look at the world. But…

“That place taught me I could accomplish anything I set my mind to and gave me the power to do it, so now I have to do the same for them!”

She would demonstrate Ryuuzouji’s might.

Those old and friendly people had given her anything she wanted, but…

…''Don’t give up.

''Don’t say there’s nothing left for you and you can’t accomplish anything.

''I thought I was all bluster and couldn’t really accomplish anything.

…''But you gave me strength!

With that thought, she swung the mechanical dragon around.

She rotated and swept along the surface to move down the slope from north to south. That route took her toward…

“The god of war leader!”

She first blew away three of them and the dragon cannon definitely reached the remaining white one.

It hit.

Mouri-01 realized she had taken a direct hit.

The dragon cannon attack was fast.

With a machine like a mechanical dragon, swinging around the dragon cannon was not the optimal action. That would place a heavy burden on the power system and the inner shell that supported the attack.

It was a reckless action. And more than that…

…''That was not the act of a dragon.

It was a forcible action of a human pilot.

Even though the enemy had been a “dragon” until now.

That was how Mouri-01 had seen it up until the dragon cannon blast, but something had changed partway through. Instead of someone who had become one with the dragon, this was someone who harnessed the dragon’s power. In other words…

“A mechanical dragon pilot!”

Was this that opponent’s completed form?

That uncertainty brought a slight disturbance to Mouri-01’s reaction. And…

…''Oh, no.

The data from some of her fellow ''Belle de Marionnette''s had been cut off.

Until now, she had been following the enemy mechanical dragon’s movements using the information from the supporters.

The six ''Lourd de Marionnette''s of the rear guard each had two ''Belle de Marionnette''s with them, but that total of 18 assistants had been lost.

She only knew what could be seen by her, the other three main fighters, and the two ''Belle de Marionnette''s that had withdrawn from each of them.

Those 12 viewpoints were enough to grasp the situation, but it was not enough for a detailed scan.

She had been the one viewing the enemy, so…

“Fall back!”

Just as she raised her voice, one of the assistant ''Belle de Marionnette''s spoke.

“Lady Mouri-01!”

When her name was called, she realized her vision had opened up.

The withdrawn support ''Belle de Marionnette''s could see the enemy.

That mechanical dragon was sweeping its dragon cannon down from farther up the slope in order to hit her.

Now she could see the instantaneous swinging motion.

She had lost her chance to evade and she had seen her fellow ''Belle de Marionnette''s hit by the blast, so…

“…!”

She thrust her right sword toward the dragon cannon that approached like a great wall of light.

There was an explosion.

Mouri-01’s ether sword had shattered after stabbing into the dragon cannon.

But that was not simple destruction.

It had broken while extending. The exposure to the powerful ether cannon blast triggered a reaction in the blade. It was influenced by the dragon cannon.

The ether meant to form the sword instead took on the traits of the dragon cannon.

The traits of sword and cannon conflicted with each other inside the ether sword and reached saturation at the midpoint.

This caused an ether explosion.

Mouri-01’s ''Lourd de Marionnette'' was blown away by a bursting power similar to a small dragon cannon but also similar to a giant sword slash. Mouri-01 used that force to move herself.

But it was not enough. The sweeping dragon cannon was still quite large and threatened to swallow up her ''Lourd de Marionnette'' like a great wall.

So she did something else.

She extended her sword three times in quick succession.

She fired it.

The resultant sound was like the previous blast multiplied four times or played four times back to back. The multiplied flash of light and multiplied rumbling reflected and echoed off of the dark slope and blew away the torn-up ground.

And her ''Lourd de Marionnette'' flew.

Pushed four times by the explosive blasts in midair, the white metal giant took flight.

The dragon cannon shot by so close in front of her it seemed to graze her.

She had dodged it.

Her wide-range vision saw the color white pass by from right to left. Then she saw the black of the night. But she did confirm the enemy’s location.

The mechanical dragon was no longer on the Miura Peninsula’s eastern slope.

It was up above.

It had bent its entire body to make a great leap as if slamming its front legs against the night sky.

The metal dragon had fired a dragon cannon, but it had continued attacking without even checking on the result.

''Fire,'' thought Nabeshima.

To make sure the enemy could not escape, she leaped over to crush them.

Now was her chance. The enemy had just used up their sword magazine. She had heard four sword extension blasts while leaping.

The enemy had no way of attacking with their magazine used up.

Of course, the enemy would now fall back in order to reload.

She could not let them escape, so she spread her front legs and moved to crush them.

She would make sure this attack reached the enemy and she would win.

…''I’ll prove here that we have a place in this world!

She would show that you could fight using a mechanical dragon.

After all, the Warring States period was based around experts instead of machines like gods of war and mechanical dragons.

Individual fighters who were familiar with the use of ether and had trained themselves could influence the outcome of a battle even if they were not a nation’s combat-oriented Vice Chancellor.

In other words, experts.

Experts could fly, fight, and protect.

To prevent those individual fighters from tipping the power balance too far, mechanical dragons, gods of war, and warships gave power to the people and nations that needed it.

The powerless needed weapons.

''But,'' thought Nabeshima.

…''This Warring States period and Thirty Years’ War period has reached a point where non-experts can be proud of providing supplemental power!

The times were changing.

As intense fighting grew more frequent across the land, there simply were not enough experts to go around.

That had led to the use of replacements who could use weapons to reach an equal or at least similar level as the experts.

So now a new type of “expert” was being recognized: the pilots who could control gods of war, mechanical dragons, ships, and other sorts of weapons.

She was a mechanical dragon pilot. She belonged to the Ryuuzouji clan which was a factory for mechanical dragons.

And now she felt like they were climbing onto the stage of “experts”.

That nation had gathered their power around her, so now the fighting was her job.

She was a first year in high school. When she looked above her, she saw nothing but monsters. And the automatons continuing to attack her here were literally superhuman fighters.

That was what she was up against, but…

“I’ve just gotta do it.”

''We’ve both got cutting edge equipment here,'' she thought. ''And we’re both using the latest tactics.

If she was going to prove they had a place in this world, now was the time.

She would prove them capable of accomplishing something to repay them for everything.

She would prove their accomplishment through her own accomplishment.

“You’ll see!”

With that, she slammed the entire mechanical dragon against the enemy.

On the east side of the Miura Peninsula, she finally caught the enemy down the slope from her.

She crashed into them.

''Got them,'' realized Nabeshima.

There was a loud crash and powerful impact as the mechanical dragon slammed into the god of war with unstoppable speed.

The god of war was caught on her spread-out front left leg. From there, she used her great weight and speed.

“…!!”

She would not let herself slip away. She had to make sure the weight and solid armor did nothing but damage her opponent.

She hit them.

She heard components breaking and the earth crumbling below her. They bounced in a tangle for a bit, but that was all. From there, it was all the sound of breaking metal along with a loud straining sound.

…''Yes. I got them!

The ''lernen figur'' displaying her lower vision showed the damaged enemy god of war lying sprawled out on the ground.

The chest armor had been stripped away, the right arm had snapped, the right shoulder had been crushed, and…

“My lady!”

That cry was followed by an even louder metallic sound.

Nabeshima felt the enemy break. The vibration reaching her through the mechanical dragon’s left side was definitely from the enemy god of war’s frame breaking.

The god of war below her stomach was in a blind spot for her secondary cannons, but the main dragon cannon could still hit it. She could also just crush it like this. At this point, she could do whatever she wanted. However…

“Huh?”

The cockpit suddenly went dark. The ''lernen figur''s were colored black so the displayed images were easier to see, but that was not what this was. Several of the ''lernen figur''s themselves had disappeared.

…''What the hell!?

Her question was immediately followed by ''lernen figur''s opening all around her. They all contained the word “warning” in orange. Then an alarm began sounding and she saw something in the left side of her vision: light.

Something jutted up toward heaven from within the crouching dragon’s left shoulder.

It was a blade.

It was 20m long. The enemy god of war’s ether sword had pierced her left side from below.

“Huh!?”

She heard a metallic sound from the left. Instead of coming from the enemy, this was her own left side. The warning ''lernen figur''s told her of damage to the shoulder power system.

''What happened?'' she wondered.

No, she knew what had happened. She had been hit by an attack, but she did not understand how.

“They should have been out of ammo, so how’d they fire their sword!?”

“Was that their teamwork!?”

Magoichi was listening to the battle on the Miura Peninsula while she fired Yatagarasu.

…''The enemy was a step above!

That god of war unit led by Mouri-01 was using ether light swords. The swords had originally been pseudo-anti-ship cannons. By abandoning the barrel of the cannon, they could be used to produce disposable ether blades instead.

Their fuel came in four-round ether magazines, so after four shots, they had to swap out the magazine.

“Gods of war can’t swap out magazines with their limbs pinned down. Nabeshima-san was right about that. That was why she leaped in and crushed the enemy’s leader. But,” said Magoichi while opening a divine transmission ''lernen figur''. “Hexagone Française’s gods of war have a way to swap out magazines without using the god of war itself.”

Namely…

“Automatons.”

Magoichi shouted over the divine transmission to reach Nabeshima who likely did not understand the situation in which she found herself.

“The withdrawn automatons ran back onto the battlefield and swapped out the magazine with their gravitational control! Withdraw immediately! The enemy can still move and attack you!”

“Lady Mouri-01! I have completed the magazine swap!”

Mouri-01 heard an ally’s voice while her thoughts reinitialized and adjusted after the impact she had received.

Everyone had run over to her in the middle of the battle and were shouting while the mechanical dragon’s secondary cannons fired on them.

“Please get out of there!!”

Mouri-01 heard a dragon’s roar as she reawakened.

Her ''Lourd de Marionnette'' was lying on its back as if looking into the sky and it was badly damaged in several places. She found it fascinating how she felt heat from the damaged areas, but now was the time for action.

The dragon was preparing to fire its second dragon cannon.

It likely intended to hit her with it and use the recoil to fall back.

Meanwhile, her right shoulder on down was crushed and held in place by the dragon’s front left leg. The sword in that hand had pierced the mechanical dragon’s left side with a glowing blade thanks to the magazine the others had swapped out for her.

Her right arm would be crushed soon, but there was something she had to do before that happened.

She instantly lifted up her wrist and squeezed the sword’s trigger.

She fired all three remaining light swords in quick succession and at different angles.

She heard more sounds of breaking metal. From both her and her opponent.

Her right shoulder had been crushed, but the enemy’s left side had been sliced through.

The mechanical dragon’s front left leg was purged with a sound of impact. The dragon leaned back, which meant…

“Lady Mouri-01! The dragon cannon is coming!”

Hearing that, Mouri-01 made up her mind: ''We must win this.'' So…

…''I will make it in time!

She could not swing her arm, so that sword could not get a clean hit on the mechanical dragon’s body and thus could not stop the dragon cannon.

But she could still use the functioning right hand and the magazine connected to her left hip hard point. That was all she had. And the others had taught her how to swap out the magazine. So…

“Testament.”

Mouri-01 purged herself from the ''Lourd de Marionnette''.

She released her connection and leaped out of the cockpit.

Nabeshima saw the enemy’s decision.

She saw an automaton. Blonde hair fluttered around a tall figure wearing a combat maid uniform.

The automaton emerged from between the collapsed god of war’s back and the ground and she hopped up onto the unmoving god of war’s chest.

Her left arm was not moving, but she spread out her right hand and swung the arm while removing the decorative patterned visor that had connected her to the god of war.

In sync with the action of removing the visor, the magazine on the god of war’s left hip moved.

…''Gravitational control!

Nabeshima was just about to fire her dragon cannon.

…''It doesn’t matter if she swaps out the sword’s magazine!

If she could not swing the arm, the sword could not accurately target the mechanical dragon’s body. Even if the attack did hit, that blade made pinpoint attacks. That would not stop her from firing the dragon cannon while leaning back.

But the automaton was still moving.

Her blonde hair fluttered as she swung the giant magazine around.

The four rounds would be inserted into the base of the sword. After purging the old magazine, the sword’s lights went out.

At the same time, it released Nabeshima’s left shoulder, freeing her body. Now the only problem with aiming down for the dragon cannon was the weakness in her left side. The enemy was going to insert the new magazine in the sword, but…

“That blade can’t stop my attack!”

She could do this, so she did.

She fired the dragon cannon. Since she was aiming down, the energy could not take straight path down her throat and that weakened it. However…

“Fire!”

Then she saw something at the base of the enemy sword where the new magazine had been connected.

“Switching to pseudo-anti-ship cannon mode. Firing barrelless pseudo-anti-ship cannon. How would you like four blasts not shaped into blades?”

Mouri-01 fired the pseudo-anti-ship cannon into the mechanical dragon from point-blank range.

The blast hit her too and the idea had come from a certain memory.

When the Musashi Chancellor had been abducted by the Reine des Garous, she had fought the Musashi group pursuing those two.

At the time, Musashi’s Schwarz Hexen had done something very similar to take out Mouri-03.

Using a cannon spell in barelless mode was guaranteed to hit.

She gave no thought to her own damage and fired that great force directly into her opponent from point-blank range.

This was not the optimal method.

It was not a tactic a ''Belle de Marionnette'' could have come up with.

But there it was in her memories. That had been the optimal method for their enemy at the time.

Knowing that was enough for a ''Belle de Marionnette'' to select it as an inconvenient tactic.

She could say this was the optimal choice for them here.

So she unleashed the four optimal shots in quick succession. And while she used her gravitational control to squeeze the trigger in the ''Lourd de Marionnette''’s hand…

“…!”

The metallic noises were deafening.

Parts and lubricant flew skyward. The heated liquid threw steam into the summer night air. The sounds of destruction chained together and the metal bones rained down with a sound like splashing water.

Below it all, Mouri-01 continued the attack and watched the light.

The color white burst in the sky.

That was a dragon cannon.

It had been meant for her and a direct hit would definitely have utterly destroyed her.

The enemy had not hesitated to fire it and fall back.

That was a dragon tactic and a human tactic.

…''Well done.

Ryuuzouji had indeed built a mechanical dragon capable of keeping up with an elite Hexagone Française ''Lourd de Marionnette'' unit.

And more importantly…

“Ah!”

The cry in response to the impact carried the pilot’s anger.

Mouri-01 had praise for her as well.

Ryuuzouji had not just created a mechanical dragon. In that pilot…

…''They created the kind of person who should use that dragon.

That enemy was sure to strengthen herself after this battle. Mouri-01 felt pursued by that, so she decided they needed to strengthen themselves as well. With that thought, she pulled the trigger one last time.

She fired the final shot.

“Vive la Annnne!”

A great noise burst in the sky and light exploded.

The cannon’s destruction had reached the mechanical dragon’s body and damaged the dragon cannon’s power system.

The dragon cannon exploded.

A great roar scattered everywhere and the wind crashed into everything.

“…”

Mouri-01 was blasted a good ways down the slope.

In the instant before she was slammed down onto the dirt ground, she saw the mechanical dragon broken from the left side by its own dragon cannon. The recoil blasted it toward the sea and it splashed into the water there.

Then Mouri-01 hit the ground.

“I did it…”

She rolled, could not get up, and continued rolling a few more times before finally ending up on her back.

She looked up at the night sky lit by the raging battle, raised her right arm, and spoke the proper words.

“The Mouri Maid ''Lourd de Marionnette'' Company has taken the Miura Peninsula!!”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 7B Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 7B Chapter 31|Chapter 31]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 7B Chapter 29

2020-01-08T19:22:02Z

141.101.104.184:

==Chapter 29: Dragon Pilot on the Hunting Ground==
[[Image:Horizon7B_101.jpg|thumb]]
''Isn’t there

''Something?

''Y’know, a reason to do this

''Even if I don’t really want to say it more clearly

'''Point Allocation (Burden)

Nabeshima ran along the Miura Peninsula’s slope, destroying it as she went.

She raced toward and targeted the enemy gods of war.

Her mechanical dragon was much faster than the gods of war. And its greater mass meant even a glancing blow would tear away body parts. However…

…’'I can’t seem to hit them!

While she kept moving, the white gods of war were all moving quite quickly.

Their movements were abnormally precise. This was supposed to be unfamiliar land to them and it was night, yet there was no fear at all in their movements and attack preparations.

All of the gods of war were supplementing each other’s view of their surroundings and the ground below them. When Nabeshima fired, one of them would sense it and they would all react. Now, for example…

“Toh!”

She ran forward and spun around, but the enemy made multiple attacks meant to drive her away.

She sidestepped out of the way while opening up her weaponry.

The mechanical dragon’s great size was not its only means of attack. It had cannons and other weapons installed all across its body.

But accurate firing was difficult while moving so quickly.

“My lady! Can’t you keep us steadier than this!?”

“How about you old geezers turn into automatons for me!?”

She said that, but she left the firing control with the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji.

“My lady!”

“I’m releasing an explosive!”

She dropped an explosion spell behind her to slow the pursuit of the gods of war. Meanwhile, she made a dash to pull away from them.

Next, she made a turning slide.

Inside the mechanical dragon’s cockpit, she spun the giant metal body around while checking on the state of the battlefield.

The red of shellfire and explosions filled the southern sky where she was. And in the north…

…''That’s where Asano and Kani are!

It was not that she did not trust those name inheritors that were her same age, but she knew that was not enough when the Musashi forces were to the north.

“Damn, that should really be my job.”

Her dragon was 80m long. It was well suited for taking on enemy fleets and she had repeatedly trained for that.

But right now, she had to take back the Miura Peninsula.

She had allies over there, but she was the only one here.

“Kh…”

Their main fighters were the four fighting at close range and the support fighters were the six fighting at a distance.

The closer four used ether swords. They had abandoned their shields and they came at her while wielding their swords with pure martial arts. This was especially troublesome because the length of the swords was variable. They could extend to about 20m long, so they could make attacks well beyond their apparent range.

But the shape of the swords was bizarre. A closer look revealed…

…''Those are pseudo-anti-ship cannons at the end there!

Pseudo-anti-ship cannons were spell cannons that used ether, so they must have swapped out the barrel of the cannon for an ether blade emitter to use them as variable-length swords.

The magazines had to be swapped out. She had been counting the cocking sounds for a while now, but the enemy never swapped them out early or late.

The blades could be swapped out when they broke, so they seemed like good weapons to her.

More than that, they could be made compact for transportation and they had multiple uses despite being so large.

Just as aerial ships could transport and defend in addition to fight and just like a mechanical dragon had to perform aerial combat and bombardments, gods of war had to use both swords and cannons.

The enemy clearly had the same idea her side did.

They would do whatever they could on the battlefield. So…

“Come at me, dolls!”

The enemy did as she asked.

The gods of war charged toward her while avoiding a head-on course and swapping out their sword magazines.

Those were the ether magazines also used for cannons.

“My lady, as far as I can tell, those are used for ether cannons as well and their design is very similar to those designed by Europa’s god of war brand, Couronne é Marionnette!”

“They’re four-round magazines! How about that, my lady!? We’re pretty knowledgeable, aren’t we!?”

“If only you had some wisdom to go with that knowledge!”

Based on her count of the blade swaps, there were indeed four rounds in the magazines.

“Old geezers!” she shouted. “Count the enemy’s shots for me! That alone will help me a lot!”

''What a pain,'' thought Nabeshima.

She was a mechanical dragon pilot.

That machine was a giant weapon in and of itself. It could sink the average light warship just by running into it.

''But,'' she thought while pursuing and being pursued by the gods of war.

…''That isn’t enough for some opponents.

These gods of war were crisscrossing their paths while repeatedly charging at and withdrawing from her.

They were under the command of Mouri-01, the name inheritor of Hoida Motokiyo.

She was an Hexagone Française officer. That was a worthy opponent for a name inheritor like Nabeshima.

But she sensed a difference in skill here.

They were numerous and she was much larger, yet she had yet to damage even one of them.

The enemy had not gotten a clean hit on her yet either, but…

…''They’ve torn off some armor and a few of those shots were way too close!

She could say it did not matter because they had missed, but that was only an excuse.

Unlike the automatons, she would grow weary. Her odds of being hit would rise as time passed.

Being a mechanical dragon pilot was no help at all right now.

“It’s meaningless if I’m not a victorious mechanical dragon pilot!”

“My lady! We’re working to make sure you are!”

“Testament,” she said before deciding to check on something. “Old geezers, how long until the support ships are in safe firing distance?”

“They could fire now if we gave the word, so should we!?”

“Single shots aren’t going to hit these gods of war. How long until they can maintain a barrage of the entire area!?”

In the worst case, she could still “win” by drawing out the battle until then.

She would not have defeated her opponent, but she would achieve a circumstantial victory.

So she wanted to know how long until then.

“Around seven minutes, I’d say! But I’ll ask them!”

“Please let it be less than seven minutes!”

“We’ll see!” they replied while Nabeshima pushed the pressure-sensitive control grips forward along with the pressure-sensitive dampers at her shoulders.

She had the mechanical dragon race toward the enemy.

''Here she comes,'' thought Mouri-01.

She instructed the others to guide the enemy while she commanded the vanguard group of four.

The woods scattered across the slope were not enough to stop the enemy. Nabeshima knocked them all out of the way to fight as she saw fit.

“Lady Mouri-01! I have determined there is no cover to hide behind!”

“Testament. Approaching the woods would be dangerous. The felled trees could hit us or block our way.”

When fighting on a slope, simple positioning and the transportation of weaponry made all the difference.

…''She knows what she is doing.

Mouri-01 had assumed the enemy would be piloting the mechanical dragon from a human perspective.

But she was not.

She did not seek ''shelter from the enemy'' like a human would.

She was a mechanical dragon. That giant thing could not hide behind or inside cover.

Plus, the ''Lourd de Marionnette''s had a full grasp of the battlefield and were trained in forest movement. The woods were no obstacle for them.

So the only thing Nabeshima would gain by moving behind the trees was a meaningless sense of relief.

And that would create an unnecessary opening.

…''So she’s tearing down the trees to level the battlefield.

That was how a mechanical dragon fought.

With that high-speed mobility and heavy armor, she had decided she did not need cover.

Human senses were not enough to use that giant presence to its fullest in battle.

“I have determined Nabeshima Naoshige knows how to fight from the viewpoint of a mechanical dragon.”

Mouri-01 moved as she spoke.

Just like the enemy was a mechanical dragon at the moment, she was a god of war at the moment.

And…

“I will take you on as a maid ''Belle de Marionnette'' of Hexagone Française and Mouri.”

…''Here they come!

Nabeshima saw a change in the enemy’s movements.

Before, the enemy gods of war had alternated between making attacks while passing by and taking curving evasive action.

It was a stereotypical example of the hit-and-away tactics used against dragons.

But that had changed. The two support automatons on the shoulders of each god of war moved to the backs for shelter and four gods of war stepped forward.

And they had supporting gunners up on the hill.

It was not quite a barrage, but they provided unending fire while the vanguard gods of war made attacks in groups of two.

The attacks were simple charges.

They held their swords to their sides in both hands and thrust them forward while extending them.

And when Nabeshima fell back to safety, they would make another thrusting attack.

They never intended those attacks to hit, so when she dodged, they would circle around on either side. That was quite troublesome. While the rear guard charged straight ahead, the vanguard would charge in from the left and right.

If she tried to move forward, the covering fire from atop the hill would aim at her face and…

“–––––”

Another charge came her way from the front.

The thrusting swords of light extended to 20 meters.

It was like an ultra-shortrange cannon blast. Just when she thought it could not reach her, they would extend further.

So she dodged again.

When she fell back, they pursued. When she moved forward, the four on the vanguard circled around and attacked her simultaneously.

So she had to dodge by using a tail drift to perform a sliding turn to the left or right. That did not move her head much while sliding her rear end around toward the two circling to that side of her.

When the four enemies turned toward her, she would swing her entire body in a fan shape to aim toward them. And while those four swung themselves around…

…''Their swords!

They fired on her as a deterrent. That showed they had their guard up. The shots would never actually hit, but she still had to move to dodge them.

…''Pretty good.

They understood her instincts quite well.

Even if it would not hit, she would dodge just in case when she sensed danger. That was her instinct.

She did the same now.

She swung her hips around to circle to the side of the enemy and made a short dash toward them.

The enemy split to either side and rushed after her.

She forcibly spun herself around to face them, but…

“Kh!”

''What an awkward time,'' she thought while sensing the inertia.

Her great mass made it hard to bear being on the surface like this.

…''I should have used a vertical weight permeation spell!

But she never would have thought to do that. After all, she had been deployed here to attack the enemy ships.

Vertical weight permeation would plant her feet more firmly on the ground, so it made it harder to escape a sinking ship and she might get caught in their destruction.

Also, mechanical dragons had four legs. Even on the inconvenient surface, she could make up for a lot more of the inconvenience using her skill than a god of war pilot could. So…

“Oh, hell!”

She could not complain.

When she complained, it was easy to believe what she was saying and that would make her lose.

The enemy was pursuing her.

They still had the four main fighters and six support fighters. When the support fighters fired at her face from up the slope, the main fighters targeted the mechanical dragon’s sliding feet.

They worked well together.

“…”

Nabeshima briefly shifted the mechanical dragon’s balance backwards while it rotated out of the way.

Mechanical dragons had two centers of gravity.

The first was the front center of gravity located in the large head and around the neck that supported the head.

The second was the tandem center of gravity located in the rear legs and the hips that supported the entire machine’s movements.

Nabeshima released the anchoring force from the front joints while swinging them back.

She released the front weights while rotating and pushed the weight of the neck and shoulders toward the rear.

She only did it for a moment, but that was why it put her into a power slide. Her rear end drifted quite a bit.

As a result, the mechanical dragon turned to face the pursuing enemy while also falling quickly back. However…

“My lady, the enemy is targeting the front legs!”

“I’m aware of that!”

…''The tail!

She sent the entire center of gravity to the withdrawing rear legs. And this time she did it for more than just an instant.

The rear legs immediately gained a solid grip, as if they had stabbed into the ground. And…

“Toh!”

Her backwards-sliding inertia lifted the mechanical dragon’s upper body.

That dodged the enemy attacks meant for the front legs.

That still left the supporting fire toward her face, but…

“I can jump!”

The excess weight on the rear legs planted them solidly in place, so she used her claws to lightly hop up.

For a human, this would have been a simple vertical jump, but a mechanical dragon had a tail. The long metal tail was already swinging.

“Ohhh!?”

It flipped sideways in the air to move right.

And it landed.

By the time its four legs shattered the ground, the enemy gods of war were already charging toward her.

When she saw their movement, she voiced the fact she had realized over the past few exchanges.

“The enemy’s positioning has grown a lot cleverer!”

''They’re good at this,'' said Nabeshima in her heart. And…

“What do you mean by ‘cleverer’, my lady!? Is that an excuse for when you lose!?”

“It’s a sign of respect! You wanna deal with this!?”

She looked forward to see the enemy with their back to the ocean.

The gods of war always chose the lower part of the slope.

That was what Nabeshima called clever.

Height was a crucial factor on the battlefield.

In most cases, the higher ground was preferable. Firing from below shortened your range and any cover prevented you from seeing what was above.

But things were different in close-range battles.

Those with the high ground had a height difference they had to cover before their attacks could hit their opponent.

But those with the low ground only had to aim for their opponent’s feet.

Also, those with the high ground would see their opponent’s attacks thrusting up at them.

All of that added up to a lot of trouble for Nabeshima.

Especially with this enemy who was trying to stab her with their swords.

They generally aimed for her feet, but they would aim for her throat when she prepared to counterattack.

Dodging those stabbing attacks from below was not easy.

Leaning back for a sway-back evasion was difficult with a dragon body.

Besides, a sudden attack to the face triggered an instinctual reflex. And these difficult-to-dodge attacks were all the more painful because her experience as a mechanical dragon pilot told her when they were coming.

She would predict them and dodge almost subconsciously.

She knew what the enemy was trying to do by making those attacks over and over.

They were creating a state of constant tension with their relentless attacks.

“Not bad.”

They were automatons and she was human.

The mechanical dragon was powerful and its armor was thick, but she would eventually grow weary.

“My lady!”

“What!?”

“We’re tired!”

“It’s too soon for that!!”

She kicked and shattered the divine transmission ''lernen figur'' and swung her hands side to side just once. After her palms had relaxed, she grabbed the pressure-sensitive grips once more.

“Here goes!”

She decided to settle this before the enemy wore her out.

She hunkered down in the cockpit for no real reason and moved the mechanical dragon.

But unlike before, she did not move forward and swing herself around.

She simply behaved like a dragon.

Mouri-01 saw the mechanical dragon’s movements change again.

…''What is this?

Immediately after landing on the slope, it moved like a powered tank shaped like a dragon.

Before, the enemy had acted like a person moving with a ''mechanical dragon''’s viewpoint.

But that had changed.

“Lady Mouri-01!” shouted one of her fellow vanguard fighters. “The enemy has stopped worrying about what damage they take!”

That was exactly it.

A mechanical dragon had just two ways of negating stabbing, surrounding, and projectile attacks.

The first was to use the top speed of its giant body to shake free.

The other was to ignore it all using that heavy armor.

That was what the enemy had done during her first shift in behavior, but that was different from moving like an actual dragon. The pilot had only been moving like a human who had become one with a mechanical dragon.

This was different.

A mechanical dragon was a weapon.

A dragon was a combat species.

The mechanical dragon was now fighting like a dragon instead of like a mechanical dragon.

In other words, it did not fear its enemy’s attacks.

A dragon did not fear damage while fighting. Fighting with everything they had was their way of showing courtesy.

They were beasts.

They were strongest when injured.

So to do that, this enemy no longer ran or spun herself around.

She exploded as a beast instead of a weapon.

She dug into the ground with her four legs and worked to crush her opponents.

“…!”

Mouri-01 had to make full use of her high-speed thoughts as a ''Belle de Marionnette'' to keep up with this great acceleration. The enemy’s charging speed broke the sound barrier, so thinking at several thousand times normal speed did not seem sufficient to grasp the scattering rubble and shards of the ground.

Did this mean the enemy had finally reached a point where she could pursue them in their real time?

She was an impressive person. The mechanical dragon charged toward them and forcibly bent its body around for a sliding turn. The pilot did not have high-speed thoughts like the ''Belle de Marionnette''s.

But that human had used the mechanical dragon’s attack system to turn the ''Belle de Marionnette''’s high-speed thoughts into the normal battlefield speed.

In that case, there was one thing Mouri-01 had to praise the girl for.

…''Such splendid mastery of a mechanical dragon!

''From a ''Belle de Marionnette'' viewpoint, there are a few pointless aspects to humans,'' thought Mouri-01.

One was how they would “get serious” about something.

If they had started out that way, they would generally solve everything faster, fail less, and have fewer regrets.

Why did humans limit their skill with both reason and emotions?

Probably because they were not animals.

Wild animals did not limit themselves in that way. That was why they could use several times – or several dozen times – the strength of humans.

They looked so much more powerful than humans, but they were not really.

Humans could demonstrate that kind of strength too, but they lacked the recovery ability and endurance of animals, so they needed to ensure they did not destroy themselves with their own strength.

If they punched a wall with all their might, their fist would break. Humans knew that on an instinctual level.

But they could release those limits they placed on themselves.

Emotions and reason.

When their emotions told them they needed strength, their reason would accept the self-harm and grant permission.

Mouri-01 understood that the will born from those two things was what humans called “getting serious”.

''Belle de Marionnette''s lacked that process.

That was what made humans so wonderful. She had seen so many examples of the unnecessary fuel of emotions and reason surpassing the optimal decisions of ''Belle de Marionnette''s.

They were worth serving.

''But,'' thought Mouri-01.

…''They are a pain in the butt as an enemy!

“Here she comes!”

The dragon twisted its body to make a sweeping turn across the ground, but it converted that into a charge instead of braking. The drift was so powerful it nearly rolled over, but…

…''Its front leg!

The dragon bent its forward-thrust right leg to pull its body out of the drift after turning.

Pulling in its front right leg like that allowed it to immediately start forward with its full speed.

That was only possible thanks to the dragon’s great strength.

Its rear legs were still swinging around and dragging, but its crawling upper body tore up the ground.

“Fall back!” shouted Mouri-01.

Dragons were different from other beasts in one crucial way: they could fly with their wings.

After kicking off the ground with its upper body, the dragon spread itself out in the night sky. Or it seemed to.

The main wings on its front arms had rapidly expanded.

The mechanical dragon made an instantaneous short jump of several hundred meters, but instead of toward Mouri-01’s group, it was headed toward…

“Supporting team, fall back!!”

The mechanical dragon rushed in from the left to clash with the six ''Lourd de Marionnette''s providing supporting fire up the slope.

Mouri-01 and the others had never expected their enemy to target their supporters. They were slow to react to the mechanical dragon’s action because they had assumed they had drawn its attention.

They heard their fellow ''Belle de Marionnette''s’ screams in their shared memory.

“Kyah!”

But those screams accomplished nothing. Mouri-01 adjusted for their carelessness and raised her voice.

“Provide a damage report!”

They were fortunate that someone had noticed the mechanical dragon’s leaping charge. The ''Lourd de Marionnette''s had received a direct hit, but none of them had been crushed.

After performing an immediate reinitialization and adjustment, they moved away while the mechanical dragon got back up. But they had to cover for and drag along their damaged allies as they did so.

The damage report arrived.

“Serious damage to three! Minor damage to three! I suggest we withdraw!”

“Approved.”

A single attack had done this.

They still had ''Lourd de Marionnette''s waiting on the western slope that could be swapped in, but another attack like this one would mean the majority of their unit was damaged.

That would harm Hexagone Française’s position here.

They were here to win. And to win as an elite ''Lourd de Marionnette'' unit.

They were essentially here to advertise Hexagone Française’s national and military strength, but more importantly, they were here to advertise Mouri Terumoto’s presence.

They were not allowed to lose.

“The life of a maid always presents some worthwhile challenges.”

Mouri-01 watched the mechanical dragon’s movements.

It must not have wanted to pursue the six withdrawing supporters.

Given its great strength and size, it could have caught up to them almost instantly.

Had the pilot decided that damaging them to slow them down was better than wiping them out to the point that reinforcements were called in?

…''No, that is not it.

The dragon got up and watched the ''Lourd de Marionnette''s withdrawing toward the ridge. And as soon as it withdrew and lowered its head rather than its entire body, Mouri-01 gave a shout.

“Get down!! Incoming attack!”

Immediately afterwards, the mechanical dragon fired a ferocious roar.

It was a dragon cannon.

…''Now that’s incredible!

Kuki’s position in the Bousou Peninsula side of the sky gave him a view of the light rising diagonally into the sky on the opposite bank.

The attack was targeting the enemy gods of war that were fleeing to the ridge at the top of the Miura Peninsula’s slope. It tore into the terrain and clearly damaged the ground.

Dust flew into the air and cast a slight shadow over the western sky.

'''Three Legs:''' “I feel like that first year is going a little overboard.”

'''Nine Horns:''' “No, she needed to show the world that Hashiba is superior to Mouri. …Nabeshima-kun learned all about those political dealings in Ryuuzouji, so she would not make a meaningless show of force. Still…”

“Testament,” replied Magoichi. She was closer to the scene, so she sent him staticky footage of the Miura Peninsula’s eastern slope zoomed in a few levels.

The image processing had been rushed, so it was mostly too dark to make anything out, but an arrow had been added to point at one thing.

…''Is that where the enemy gods of war were blown away?

Those enemies had collapsed all at once while trying to withdraw. However…

'''Three Legs:''' “She got the timing wrong. They avoided a direct hit. The leader of Mouri’s god of war unit is a good decisionmaker.”

“True enough,” agreed Kuki while giving a firing order.

There was no sign of the enemy gods of war beyond the massive blast and shockwave.

They had likely gotten down on the ground instead of trying to move out of the way.

They were on a slope, so trying to escape upwards would not help. But if they got down on the ground…

“The blast itself will hit them and roll them across the slope, but that will put some distance between them and their enemy. And if they’re buried in the dirt, they can use that to hide.”

From an instinctual perspective, it was really hard to stay in place and “get down” when a dragon cannon was fired on you from behind.

That would be one of those optimal choices that automatons excelled at. However…

“That is quite an energetic dragon we’ve got there.”

His comment was proven by the beam of light rotating around in the sky.

Instead of firing the entire cannon blast into the sky, the dragon swung it around toward the four main gods of war diagonally down the slope. The dragon attack took a large curve and tore into the peninsula slope to target them.

Nabeshima slammed a forcible action into the mechanical dragon.

The dragon cannon took all the machine’s internal power and sent it from the torso to the maw as a cannon. It was a mechanical dragon’s greatest attack, but the dragon could barely move while performing it.

However, Nabeshima had spun that dragon cannon around.

She swung the balancing tail, tilted the body and head as much as allowed while firing, and took the resultant drop in power into consideration. And then…

“Reach them!”

She did not target the withdrawing gods of war she had blown away already.

She had not managed a direct hit on them, but she was pretty sure they had all taken serious damage and therefore could not withdraw.

So she instead targeted the main four gods of war.

She had to win this.

She knew the enemy had a similar reason, but that was all the more reason.

“My lady!”

The Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji called out to her.

“We will support you!”

Indeed.

She had a home in Ryuuzouji.

While her birthplace was in M.H.R.R., that place was just as important to her now.

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| [[Horizon:Volume 7B Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
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