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Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 51

2025-07-17T01:23:24Z

2600:1005:B00E:3C96:5620:B535:2504:785A:

==Chapter 50: Girls Pushing Themselves to the Limit==
[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0667.jpg|thumb]]
''You cannot see it

''You can see it coming

''You cannot grab it

''It comes to grab you

'''Point Allocation (The Next Stage)

Toshiie sighed in the woods while watching Fuwa go call the others to dinner.

…''Mori-kun is giving her some serious training.

He had gotten his lesson through to Kani.

Toshiie had started by having her fight his ghost warriors in order to teach her what victory felt like.

His ghost warriors were numerous and could strategize, but you could accurately calculate out how strong they were.

By defeating them, Kani had become aware that she was stronger than an entire group of ordinary warriors.

That had gone smoothly. She had cleared each new task he gave her and she had learned the lessons well.

But the problem was what came next.

Based on her results, she was not skilled enough to handle a Vice Chancellor class fighter or above.

That was to be expected. Someone at her level wasn’t supposed to stand a chance against them. ''Or stand a chance-ellor against them.

…''Oops, I don’t want to turn into Musashi’s Vice President.

'''Vice President:''' “By the way…oh, keep working, everyone. Anyway, when we arrived in Kantou the other day, I realized something. I just can’t-o stand that the Azuchi is in Kantou.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Glance, glance.”

'''Me:''' “Okay! Okay, everyone! Seijun-kun is about to make us laugh!”

'''Vice President:''' “But I already finished my joke! Horizon, I don’t need you and the black algae as an audience!”

''I need to be careful since her puns are devastating,'' thought Toshiie. ''I mean, they’re wide-area attacks just as powerful as curry.

It was up to him and the other upperclassmen to be on the lookout for those things since they had actual experience with them.

As for the underclassmen…

“They have their work cut out for them.”

Kani’s skill was likely equivalent to the other nations’ special duty officers. But it was possible she would need to face Vice Chancellor class fighters in a month or two.

The Honnouji Incident was approaching fast.

She was with Hashiba, so that was an important event for her. After the Battle of Yamazaki and Battle of Shizugatake, they had the showdown with Matsudaira at Sekigahara and the Siege of Osaka.

Of course, the Hashiba forces would have split between east and west by the time Sekigahara came along. He didn’t know how they would respond to that, but they could use as much skill as they could get during that major battle.

So.

Now that Kani had fought and lost to some Vice Chancellor and Chancellor class fighters, she needed to learn what it was she lacked.

The method was simple. First, she learned what victory felt like. She had to understand that she could normally win.

Then she would fight some Vice Chancellor and Chancellor class fighters and learn that she could still lose despite normally winning.

That process would teach her an important fact.

…''You are not weak.

Escaping a battle with a Vice Chancellor and Chancellor class fighter intact was enough of a feat. And her handling and precision with her eight spears was impressive.

“But you lack strength.”

It was a simple matter.

Sasamura was not sturdy enough and was not ejected with enough speed.

Sasamura was an anti-personnel weapon and had clearly only been designed for gods of war at the most. A multi-use weapon that could both protect the Fukushima Unit and tear through the enemy front line was a good thing for Fukushima’s aide.

But reality required more power than it was designed to provide. The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors that fought on their own were like one-person armies. An anti-personnel or anti-god of war weapon could not reach them.

Kani had to learn that.

But the only Chancellor or Vice Chancellor class fighter available in the Shibata Team was Shibata himself and he was not exactly the teacher type.

That was where Mori came in.

His Boneless Man was all muscle and a god of war. If Kani was told she had to pierce him with an attack to win, then his great defensive power would make him equivalent to a Vice Chancellor or Chancellor.

That plan had worked like a charm.

The way Kani stared at the spear lying before her told Toshiie she understood.

Not even the second strike that split the butt of the first spear had been enough. It was exactly the answer she had needed to find.

Sasamura was not sturdy enough to break through Mori’s muscle armor. Nor was it fast enough.

But her precision was excellent. So was her ingenuity.

…''I couldn’t have asked for a better result.

Her recent string of losses could mostly be blamed on her equipment.

After losing to the Musashi Vice Chancellor in Kantou, the on-site maintenance team had repaired Sasamura while trying to make the spears sturdier. That team must have noticed her solid combat skills and the deficiency in her weapon.

''We do good work,'' thought Toshiie.

Even a lowly maintenance team had identified and attempted to fix a flaw in a nearly no-name fighter.

That meant they had entered summer break with an excellent sense of unity. So…

“I hope you can get everyone as strong as you need them, Hashiba-kun.”

“What’re you getting all sentimental about? You don’t even have Matsu with you this time.”

Sassa walked over from the village made of ships.

“Oh, Ma-chan is currently cooking in the dining hall. Since Oichi-sama is away. And since I have this work to attend to, she waits for me to get back,” said Toshiie. “What about you, Na-chan? Walking around in the dark with sunglasses makes me wonder if you hit your head one too many times, but are you here for Michi?”

Sassa pursed his lips.

“Trying to pick up the slack for Mr. Annoying while he isn’t around?”

“We are working as instructors, so we kind of are acting as Shibata-senpai’s replacement, Na-chan. Anyway, they’re being much too serious for my tastes out here. How are things on your end?”

Sassa turned both his palms upwards.

“Not good. It’s like that Fukushima girl’s soul has left her body. I mean, she’ll listen to me and she understands what I’m saying, but her heart isn’t in it.”

“It’s that bad?”

“She can handle the basics and adapt to the situation. To be honest, her movements are better than mine.”

“Only because you just like to charge in and attack. Run and punch are the only commands you accept.”

“Oh, shut up. When your attacks do major damage even when they just graze the enemy, what good are precise movements?”

“Fine, fine.” Toshiie held out his hands and changed the subject. “So how is she doing?”

“I expect you would diagnose her with ‘no drive to improve’ or something like that.”

“So she has decent skill, but she’s hit a roadblock?”

“How should I know!?”

“What are you yelling about now, idiot?” said Fuwa from the clearing.

They looked over to see her helping up Kani. She continued to support the weakly-smiling girl as she spoke.

“Hey, do either of you have anything to drink? She’s mildly dehydrated and what she has on hand isn’t enough.”

“Oh,” said Toshiie. “I’m a ghost, so…you know.”

“I don’t have anything either.”

“Fine then.” Fuwa gestured over the god of war. “Mori, carry her for me. …Kani? I know you can’t get up, but are you otherwise fine? Then stay like that. Now, anyway…” Fuwa stood up and glared over at Toshiie and Sassa. “There isn’t a single decent coach here, is there? I wonder how the other training camps are doing.”

Another training camp was battling a dragon.

They were inside a great subterranean hall, but they could not see the far end. Because…

“This is a dream!? Oh, dreams are so nice. I mean, I can’t imagine how much the rent on a room this big has to be! If I could create this with my dreams, I’d never wake up!”

“The dragon is coming, you fool!”

Sakon leaped over the horizontally sweeping dragon cannon in something like a Fosbury flop. But the Fosbury flop was not something she had learned in middle school. ''I just don’t like the straddle technique because it makes me feel like a frog.

So she made her jump, bent her back…

“Toh!”

…and cleared it.

After landing, she found the side of the dragon’s head 30m away.

The dragon was colored white. It glowed slightly, maybe because it was made of ether and maybe because this was a dream, but either way it was beautiful and Sakon decided Olimpia had to be a good person.

But at the moment, she had found an opening in the enemy’s defenses.

She dashed toward the side of its head.

With her strength and Onitakemaru’s support, the soles of her shoes dug into the cold stone floor.

“Oh?”

Her confusion came from the figure that burst out ahead of her.

…''She’s so fast!?

No, this wasn’t just fast.

The figure moved near instantly from one point to another. She had seen Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer do the same thing at Nördlingen.

“Bursts of speed!?”

Kasuya was briefly surprised to realize Sakon had caught up with her.

…''She can keep up at her normal sprinting speed?

Before arriving, Kasuya had been told Sakon’s physical abilities had been boosted just like the Holy Roman Emperor’s. She still had her sense of pain, but she did have the full regenerative ability. Plus…

…''She’s so tall.

Each step of hers was nearly twice the length of one of Kasuya’s steps. If she had the same muscular strength as an ordinary human except scaled up to her size, then she would be able to run twice as fast as an ordinary person.

Add the emperor’s strength and that mobile shell’s power assistance and she could likely reach speeds several times greater.

''In that case,'' thought Kasuya.

This was their first time sharing the battlefield. They had nothing even resembling teamwork since they had not been trained for it. So…

“Let’s go all out, Shima Sakon!”

“Testament! Understood.”

They had to go all out. They might not understand how the other did things, but surely they could show results if they fought with all their might. So…

“I will go in first and knock it down!”

She made a burst of speed to the right and then made two bursts to the left. All to reach…

“The right foreleg!”

The Terrestrial Dragon’s right foreleg was digging into the floor in preparation for a dragon cannon blast.

All three claws were larger than Kasuya was tall, but…

…''Why should I care!?

She accelerated and jammed in Argent Clou in drill mode.

Sakon saw Kasuya’s attack knock the Terrestrial Dragon’s foreleg out from under it.

There was a thundering crash and the three claws were shattered by the impact.

Blood flew in an arc and the dragon roared from the severed nerves in the claws.

But the dragon’s foreleg was torn from the floor and the white-scaled leg was knocked outwards like its stopper had been lost.

A single attack had done all that. Sakon stared at the spectacle as she ran.

…''She’s so powerful!

When she had fought Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer, the girl’s speed had been a problem. But based on Kasuya’s attack here, Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer would be able to ''do this much'' as well.

Sakon realized it was only due to chance that the girl had stuck to sword strikes at Nördlingen.

She shuddered as she realized how that battle could have gone. ''I did ask some weird questions about a potter’s wheel, didn’t I?

''Then again, even if she had used her full power and torn off my arm or something, it would have come back in 7 seconds or so. But imagining these things and experiencing that great power in person are so different psychologically.

Meanwhile, something else happened in the fight against the dragon.

The dragon’s head collapsed sideways, falling toward her.

With its right foreleg knocked outwards, the dragon was falling to the right.

“…!”

And it continued the dragon cannon even as it lost its balance. The blast gouged into the wall and tore a strip through the ceiling.

Rubble flew through the air and the sound echoed through the empty hall.

The dragon was collapsing.

Sakon decided to attack when the dragon hit the floor.

Once its face had fallen, she would hit it head-on with a high-volume voice pressure attack. That might shatter its face or at least briefly confuse its vision.

But that plan was immediately canceled.

“Kohime!”

Hearing Onitakemaru’s cry, she looked over to see a small figure.

Someone was running toward her from below the collapsing dragon.

“H-help me!”

It was red-gauge Ootani. He had shrunk to only about 15cm to maintain his existence here, but that meant he was slow and was clearly not going to escape the dragon press falling toward him.

Sakon wasn’t sure if she had time to rescue him.

“Kohime! Do you not see that!?”

“Wh-what do you mean ‘that’? Y-you need to be more specific.”

“I mean Ootani Yoshitsugu!!”

''Oh, man,'' complained Sakon.

She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t noticed now that his full name had been used.

So she sped up. She already considered Onitakemaru’s power assistance to be a part of her standard strength.

That power assistance wasn’t to boost her strength – it was to keep her from harming herself. So she didn’t have to worry as she poured all of her strength to run in.

“Wait just a second!”

It only took her a moment to reach him. Her continuous straight-line running speed had to be even higher than Kasuya’s.

The trick was to use that speed to dive below the collapsing dragon.

“Mitsunari-sama, catch!”

She leaned and stepped forward in what amounted to a somersault more than a dash while she scooped Ootani up in her right hand.

“Here he comes!”

She threw Ootani between her legs.

Onitakemaru immediately yelled at her for it.

“Your aim is trash!”

Ootani slammed into the falling dragon and bounced down into the floor.

Ootani was prepared to be annihilated.

…''Th-that one hurt!

All the health he had recovered over time had been taken away. It would take him a few seconds to recover, but by then the dragon would have collapsed and crushed him.

Was this really how a name inheritor was going to go?

Still, he had lived a fulfilling, if short, life. He had been developed by Hashiba, the Mito Lord had used a table to score a home run with him during his first battle, Yoshiaki and Angie had sicced a cat on him, he had been blasted as a pervert at Nördlingen, and now his life was ending after being slammed against the ground by a horribly aimed pitch.

…''W-why can’t I think of even one good thing!?

He started to think maybe it was for the best if he was annihilated here, but he decided that would only bring trouble to Mitsunari.

But if he was to survive, how was he supposed to avoid this dragon press? That question was answered by…

“Sakon! Nice pass!”

A black wind leaped toward him.

It was Kasuya.

Her foot hit him with a heel kick during one of her bursts of speed.

…''Oh.

''Now, I’m dead,'' he decided, feeling himself soar through the air.

That had extracted him from the dragon press. But in exchange…

…''Now Sakon-sama is in the way!

He could see Mitsunari rushing over, but he also saw the wolf’s decision.

She transformed the Argent Clous on both her arms. From drill mode to pile bunker mode.

“Take this!”

She did not escape from below the dragon.

She made a burst of speed straight toward Sakon.

Sakon twisted around in midair.

She had thrown Ootani between her legs, but by leaning to the side and leaping forward, she had managed to face the falling dragon like she was doing a Fosbury flop.

And Kasuya was approaching.

…''Is she going to do it!?

The wolf was leaping below the Terrestrial Dragon to strike it from below and knock it upwards.

Sakon honestly thought it would never work.

Plus, she would be fine. If she was crushed below a dragon, she would turn to bloody smoke and start regenerating soon thereafter.

But Kasuya still intended to do this. And Sakon’s presence had to be a part of that.

In fact, Sakon’s presence was the entire reason Kasuya was doing this.

That meant Kasuya could only send the dragon back up because Sakon was here.

…''But how?

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Kohime!”

Onitakemaru shouted at her.

'''Onitakemaru:''' “You have nothing to protect here!”

Sakon inhaled.

…''That’s true.

There was not a single thing for her to protect here. She felt a little bad for her botched rescue of Ootani, but he was already out of harm’s way.

And now Kasuya was coming.

She knew what Sakon was, but she was doing this anyway.

…''Why is that?

''Oh,'' realized Sakon. ''Is she protecting me here?

She wouldn’t die no matter how much she was hurt or how much someone tried to kill her, but there was still someone willing to rush to her aid, hoping she would be safe.

“Why?” she asked out loud.

Her question did not reach Kasuya. Not over the rubble smashed by a dragon cannon or the roaring wind.

But someone did respond.

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Don’t ask why! It’s the same as when you do it!”

Onitakemaru shouted at her.

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Don’t ask why other people do something when you do it too!”

Kasuya transformed her arms’ Argent Clous into drill launcher mode. Instead of just hitting with the drills, they would be launched into the dragon like a pile bunker. You could even call it a drill bunker.

…''Can I do this!?

She could.

She needed to keep herself on the floor to send the full force into her target.

But that also meant she would be exposed to the dragon’s full weight for a brief moment.

If she did this wrong, her skeleton would be overburdened and shatter or slip permanently out of place.

But she had one way of making this work.

Her bursts of speed.

In the very instant the attack hit the dragon, she would accelerate her entire body like it was a single spike.

She had to target a precise point.

Instead of taking the dragon’s full weight, she had to send the full impact of her strike into a single point. That would send the force of the impact to the rest of the dragon’s body, just like with a well-placed stomp sending a tremor through the ground.

She could see the timing she needed. So…

…''I just have to do it!

She prioritized her determination above all else, so she went for it. She took such solid steps her feet seemed to bounce from the floor and she let that force pass through her to help raise her twin weapons.

In that instant, she heard a voice. It came from Sakon who was falling over nearby.

“Attack!”

Mitsunari saw the double attack launch the dragon upwards.

It happened just as she caught Ootani while trying to keep tabs on the progress of the overall battle.

First, Sakon’s shout was converted into a solid blow that shook the falling beast.

Then Kasuya launched her drills like a pile bunker.

…''She hit it.

''That was teamwork,'' thought Mitsunari.

If you thought of the dragon as equivalent to a large unit of warriors, then this was a cooperative defense against a large group.

Sakon had used her voice pressure attack as a counterattack against the enemy front line and then Kasuya had opened a hole in their defenses with Argent Clou.

Mitsunari could imagine exactly this kind of teamwork occurring on some future battlefield none of them had yet seen.

The dragon was thrown through the air, flipping onto its back.

Kasuya crouched low and Sakon controlled her stance as they emerged from behind it.

One used a burst of speed and the other great speed born of tremendous strength. They were both a black wind leaping across the stone floor, whipping up the wind, and continuing their attack on the dragon.

To those who primarily fought in close quarters, attack was prioritized above all else.

Even when they were focused on defense, it was only to wait until an opening for attack showed itself. Every move they made was meant to worship the concept of attack.

Kasuya demonstrated that faith here.

The previous attack had fully knocked the Terrestrial Dragon off balance. Now she only had to pursue it at high speed and use her momentum to strike at…

…''The left foreleg that’s facing me now that the dragon is on its back!

She started by smashing the unharmed left foreleg.

The blow deflected the three claws and sent a tremor through the wrist.

Now the dragon would be unable to get up again. Severing the nerves in all its foreleg claws was sure to cause intense pain. Now she could work with Sakon as she caught up.

“Here goes!”

She struck.

She made her attack before the dragon’s momentum from the previous attack had even faded, sending it back into the air.

The blow pierced through the dragon’s armor as pure speed and she felt it “push” on the dragon’s bones.

It was a solid blow.

Forced to fall back, the dragon roared. The roar was now more like pure noise than a voice. It only conveyed a vague sense of rage. Rolled on its side, it turned its stomach toward them and curled up defensively as it backed away.

Kasuya and Sakon only had to pursue.

Kasuya’s shoes dug into the stone floor and she attacked alongside Sakon. They slammed the dragon into the back wall. And…

“Let’s finish this!”

“Testament!”

A sudden shape dropped down in front of them.

The dragon had managed to twist its body back around and slammed its clawless right foreleg down as an attack.

Kasuya launched herself diagonally right with a burst of speed. Sakon accelerated diagonally left.

The great log of a leg crashed down between them, smashing the floor and sending out a spray of stone shards.

But none of it hit them. Now Kasuya only had to crouch down and launch herself forward.

“…!”

She accelerated.

Kasuya made a flurry of attacks. Instead of slamming her entire body against her foe, she pictured herself growing up out of the floor, using the ground’s support to leap upwards.

Every landed blow produced a sound.

''These are solid hits,'' thought Kasuya. ''I can feel the dragon’s body bending and the force reaching its bones.

Then the dragon swung a foreleg her way.

She dodged that attack and moved forward. She struck as if trying to peel the entire foreleg from the floor.

But the dragon twisted its body. Since it could not use either foreleg, it moved as if crawling to get up and face her.

It launched a dragon cannon.

This one was swung across the floor instead of sweeping horizontally.

But the dragon was basically bending its head to the side to shoot her. The bend to its throat reduced the power of the cannon and limited the vertical angle of fire. Also…

“The recoil is lifting it from the ground!”

She rushed in.

She slipped below the white horizontal beam of the cannon, closing in on the dragon in no time at all.

She bent her knees and planted a foot firmly on the ground. She stomped hard, twisted her hips, and stretched her body upwards while launching her right drill.

It hit.

The dragon’s armor shattered and she sent in the left one for a second blow.

The dragon floated up and Sakon gave a yell after catching up on the left.

“…!”

The vocal cannon may have been similar to a dragon’s explosive pressure roar. It was a powerful attack that bent the dragon’s body and clearly tore it fully from the floor.

…''How strange.

The two of them stood at opposite sides of the dragon’s forelegs. They could not even make eye contact at the moment.

But they were working as a team. Their timing was a little off at times and it was far from perfect, but they each knew what the other was doing and did their own job accordingly.

This reminded Kasuya of two things.

The first was that night in Kantou.

She had been outmatched when fighting the Reine des Garous on her own, but once she was working with Kani, they achieved some limited results.

Kani was short and fought with high-speed multi-ejection spears.

Sakon here was tall and fought with her hands and voice.

Those two were entirely different types of fighters, but she was once again showing results.

How were they working together so well?

For close-range fighters like them, their primary goal was always the same: defeat your opponent. And…

…''These opponents are powerful.

They were big in size, strength, and everything else.

You didn’t have many options against an enemy like that.

Hiding was rendered meaningless, so you had to force your way through.

This was the same.

They would strike, evade, and continue forward. It was the stuff they had practiced constantly in training. Kasuya was reminded of something as she carried out actions she had done countless times before.

She remembered Mikawa three months ago.

At the time, the Ten Spears had been visiting different places under Hashiba’s command to build up their fundamentals. Kasuya had been fighting demons from Sviet Rus and the Ikko-shu with the Shibata Team.

But one night a divine transmission had arrived.

“Aren’t crises fun?” Matsudaira Motonobu had said during the destruction of Mikawa.

She had been furious at the time, thinking it was a foolish thing to say. She had thought he was causing all that chaos for no more than his own amusement.

But she had come to understand something since then.

When faced with a powerful enemy, extraordinary fear, and an overwhelming crisis, she and everyone else with power could come together.

She struck the dragon and continued onward.

Beyond the dragon’s destroyed forelegs, she knew Sakon would also be attacking even though they had only just met earlier. So…

…''We can work together.

Maybe they couldn’t prevail, but they could at least do that.

The group they had to stop – the people who were their raison d'être – had become a powerful enemy.

…''But this power should still work against Musashi!

With that thought, she delivered one more blow.

The dragon’s back crashed into the wall. The force of the impact caused it to slide along and bounce up into the wall.

Now was the time to finish it off.

Their enemy was pinned against the wall, so the force of their attacks would remain contained within that white body with nowhere to escape.

''In that case,'' she thought, readying her right hand and giving her legs a burst of speed.

Just then, Mitsunari’s voice rang through the hall.

“The dragon’s tail!”

Sakon noticed it since she was to Kasuya’s left.

The dragon had been slammed against the wall with its belly toward them, but it could still swing its tail toward them by curling up.

That was exactly what it did.

The mass was more than a third of the dragon’s full length. It was like an armored whip that flew toward them with a water vapor explosion and a bursting noise trailing behind it.

…''That’s bad!

Kasuya wouldn’t have seen it with the dragon’s destroyed foreleg in the way.

That cover would delay Kasuya’s evasion.

Sakon had noticed, but what was she supposed to do about it?

'''Kohime:''' “Onitakemaru-san!”

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Your voice pressure attack isn’t enough to block this!”

She knew what else she could do. She left the dragon to Kasuya while she spread out her limbs in front of the incoming tail and opened her mouth.

'''Onitakemaru:''' “God, why don’t you question these decisions?”

But…

'''Onitakemaru:''' “I will activate my defense divine protections and shift to anti-shock power assist settings to support you as much as possible, so I hope you’re thankful!”

''I am thankful. I really can feel myself smiling.

''But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you aren’t hurt, Onitakemaru-san.'' So…

'''Kohime:''' “Here it comes!”

Sakon could see it.

…''Oh?

She didn’t just see it. She ''could'' see it.

The dragon’s tail was swinging in at such great speed she shouldn’t have been able to see the series of armor scales.

But she could see it.

She could see the shape of the armor, the seams between it, the trajectory of the tail, and the sharpness of the point.

…''Ohhhh?

''What does this mean?'' she wondered. ''Is this what they call focus?'' But…

“Eh?”

She could no longer see it.

Like waking from a dream, everything sped back up and she could see the air of the dimly-lit hall more than the incoming tail.

…''It’s going to hit me!

She had been prepared for that, but the moment when she could see it had distracted her.

She was in position, but she could not avoid a direct hit.

“–––––!”

She gasped just as it collided with something right in front of her.

The entire tail burst.

All the armor was instantly blasted from the dragon’s long tail.

A piercing power was to blame.

Something had broken right through the tough armor scales, destroying them.

It had flown in at high speed and pierced the dragon’s power.

Then it flew off into the distance inside this great hall of manifested dreams.

Even after colliding with so much power, its speed remained and it sliced through the air to vanish into the distance.

Sakon identified the object that glowed with ether light.

[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0697.jpg|thumb]]

“An arrow?”

“Close, but no. That was a sword.”

A voice reached her from the hall’s entrance. A white and vermilion figure stood in front of the metal door.

She wore a shrine maiden inner suit and a straight sword at her hip.

“Ten Spears #6, Hirano Nagayasu, here to join the Mitsunari Team.” She shook her long hair. “Looks like I arrived just in time to defeat our first opponent.”

As if answering Hirano, Kasuya’s strike slammed the Terrestrial Dragon into the wall.

“…!”

The dragon roared and burst into light.

Kasuya looked to Hirano through the scattering ether light.

After exchanging a few words and lernen figurs with Mitsunari, she shook her black hair that looked nearly purple to turn toward Kasuya.

“Kasuya, was I intruding?”

“No, but what brings you here all of a sudden?”

“Well, I finished the Tsurugi Shrine’s initial setup, so I came here to help set up Aki as well. I’ll be moving back and forth between Aki and the Tsurugi Shrine for a while.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Yes.” Hirano smiled and nodded. “We have a date set for Honnouji.”

“Really, it’s been nonstop Genesis Project work for me lately. So much for getting an actual break over summer break, I guess.”

After seeing Kasuya gasp, Hirano looked elsewhere.

The ether light shards were spreading toward her like a cloud of cherry blossoms, but at the center of it…

…''That’s the one who tried to protect Kasuya.

Shima Sakon.

Hirano knew who she was and what she could do.

She was talented, but it mattered even more that she had tried to protect Kasuya just now. That was why Hirano had launched her sword to save her.

There was a new face among them, but…

“It feels like forever since I’ve spoken with any friends outside of work.”

She had last seen the others just before Novgorod, when she had given Fukushima and Kiyomasa their combat divine protections before they left for Kantou, but she worried she wasn’t conversing properly. She feared she stood out and now lived in a different world from the others. Also…

“Mitsunari.”

She had seen and spoken with Mitsunari a few times via divine transmission, but this was her first time actually meeting her.

Hirano had played a large role in her ether adjustments, and those for Ootani there in her arms.

It looked like Mitsunari was doing fine on her own and had even found people to work for her.

“I’m both happy and disappointed that you don’t need me anymore.”

“You do love looking after hopeless people, don’t you?”

“Personally, I would say it’s adorable people I like. But,” continued Hirano. “I would like to ask one thing. May I?”

“Testament. Go ahead.”

“Well, I heard Fukushima made a man out of Katagiri-kun by doing him from behind. What is that about?”

Mitsunari froze. After a moment, she looked up toward Hirano.

“Testament. If I had to explain it, I would say that Fukushima-sama gave Katagiri-sama a penetrative rite of passage from behind.”

“She wasn’t asking about the specific act! She was wondering what led to that situation!” said Kasuya.

''That is true, but I’ll find or figure it out eventually.

Hirano breathed a sigh of relief at receiving that reaction from her old friend.

“Hm, I’m not sure whether to be happy or disappointed.”

“You seem to be in a complicated situation here,” said Mitsunari. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” said Hirano with a dismissive wave.

She had come here because there were some things she wanted to ask about. She could indirectly discuss those things with Kasuya and Mitsunari. And if the truth was bad enough, they could accept it more easily if she was the one who asked about it.

…''Plus, there’s no point in visiting the Shibata Team without Shibata-senpai there and there’s no point in me going to Sanada after I went there to silence that Celestial Dragon!

She felt the sword arrow she had fired into Sanada had been one of her better shots.

Those dragons weren’t supposed to talk about those ruins or the Ten Spears, but they had decided to do so anyway.

The Sanada Celestial Dragons must have “approved of” Musashi’s princess and her companions. A dragon’s decision superseded any promise they had made with humans. They had not underestimated or feared the humans. They had simply stayed true to their pride as dragons.

That was why their ether had been so beautiful as it ascended into the sky afterwards.

Even Hirano had bowed and wished that they would be reborn as another good dragon.

She had been holed up at the Tsurugi Shrine ever since, but…

“Did Katagiri-kun undergo some psychological change that helped him grow up?”

“Um, Hirano? You should really wait until you can talk with him yourself.”

“Yes, I suppose so, but that’s the impression I got from the glimpses I’ve seen on the divine chat and such. Oh, and I know jumping to conclusions about things is a bad habit of mine.”

But…

“If he has grown up, that’s one less unreliable member of the Ten Spears. If only Koroku-chan wasn’t so levelheaded.”

“What’s so great about unreliable people?” asked Mitsunari. “They sound more like a liability to me.”

“Ho ho?” Hirano glared and pointed at Mitsunari. “How about this, Mitsunari? You are very functional and can do a great many things, can’t you?”

“Testament. I am designed to supervise many tasks both great and small, including combat command, flight control, and weapon management.”

“Then,” said Hirano. “Would you choose a partner who could do the exact same things?”

Mitsunari briefly looked up at the ceiling. She was probably thinking. And…

“A statistical outlook tells me human romance ignores all of that and focuses instead on relationship and psychological compatibility.”

“Then let’s say you have filtered your possibilities based on relationship and psychological compatibility and that leaves you with just two equal possibilities. And let’s say one of them has the same abilities as you and the other does not. Which one would you choose?”

She heard some comments of “Which would you choose?” and “Don’t ask me!” from Sakon and Onitakemaru behind her, but she kept her eyes on Mitsunari who was staring up at the ceiling. And eventually…

“Testament. I more or less understand what you are saying.” She looked Hirano in the eye. “Everyone would make a different selection there and the selection criteria you have prepared are based on your own unique standards. But I also know what I would choose as a program. Why should I even exist as a program if I need not use my functions?”

So…

“If I had to choose between another me and Ootani-kun, I have determined I would choose Ootani-kun.”

“Based on those criteria, I would also ask that you select me since I could make up for any deficiencies you have in defense or offense.”

The data entity duo made an excellent decision.

They had no emotions and Hirano had no way of knowing if they would ever understand the meaning of what they were saying here, but it still made her smile.

“I would do the same. Whatever my feelings for that person might be, I have the homemaking and Shinto skills my mother taught me and plenty more as well. I think I would enjoy my life more with a partner who let me use those skills than one who did not. And that person is sure to have plenty of skills I do not.”

“Hirano…I feel like you’re asking for too much there,” said Kasuya.

“L-look, marriage is difficult enough when you work for a shrine, so let me dream, okay?”

That about summed it up.

Regardless, they had defeated that dragon, so…

“How about we wake up the Pope Chancellor and clear this mission?”

Then they could take a break. She liked the sound of taking it easy here on Aki, but then she noticed something.

…''Huh?

The dragon she had shot had disappeared.

But something else remained: the floor below their feet, the walls around them, the air they breathed, and everything else.

“Why isn’t it all disappearing?”

Sakon heard a roar.

She also saw a few lights in the darkness down the hall.

But they were not meant for illumination.

Something was approaching from the unseen far end of the hall.

“M-more dragons!?”

They were coming this way. And based on the number of ether lights, there were three of them.

Their movements sped up with each roar and the tremor in the floor gradually grew stronger.

“O-oh, no. Wait, wait, Mitsunari!” Hirano placed her hands on Mitsunari’s shoulders. “Um, no one told me there would be a second course! What is happening!?”

“Testament. It would take too long to explain all the details, but Lady Olimpia fell asleep shortly before Nördlingen. She has been sleeping for more than 10 days now. Which means…”

“If there’s a dragon for each day, are you saying there are ten of them!?”

The roars echoed through the hall and Sakon realized what this meant. Even if they did defeat all the dragons here now…

“We can’t wake the pope without also defeating an additional dragon for each day it takes us?”

“Someone should think of a countermeasure before you get started. What are you people doing?”

“Exactly! Exactly right, Onitakemaru-san! For once I’m in complete agreement!”

But Kasuya raised her right hand.

“I can maybe manage one more, but I’m getting hungry.”

“And I didn’t think to bring multiple sword arrows.”

That settled it. Sakon agreed they should prepare weapons before continuing.

“Mitsunari-sama? What should we do?”

“Testament. “Mitsunari raised her right hand. “We should withdraw. But the training camp continues. I never imagined that would mean having the Holy Roman Emperor command us to slay dragons in order to save the pope.”

Sakon hurried to take up a protective position behind the others.

“Honestly…”

A long-distance dragon cannon struck the wall next to the metal door.

They passed right by that tremor as she spoke down to the others.

“I know it’s meant to prepare us for fighting Musashi, but this is a really wild training camp.”

Unno let the night breeze wash over her.

She had climbed onto the roof of Sanada Academy. It was the highest place around, giving it the best view.

…''I can even see the Azuchi and the Ariake from here.

Now that it was night, the massive structures reflected the moonlight and shined with their own lights, making them more visible than during the day.

She decided to watch the Azuchi leave from here.

But she was not alone on the rooftop.

“Are you worried too, Katou Kiyomasa?”

She spoke to Kiyomasa who wore a white track suit.

The girl was sitting on the east side of the rooftop and she looked back over her shoulder to answer.

“I wouldn’t say I’m worried. This is more like a duty. I need to tell my underclassmen what happened with the Azuchi.”

“Testament. You’re an excellent upperclassman. From what Mochizuki and the Terrestrial Dragons have told me, those sound like some unexpectedly passionate underclassmen. Training the underclassmen is one of my own tasks, but Sanada’s warriors are generally required to have some kind of productive side job. We don’t like the idea of someone whose livelihood is reliant on fighting, you see. …I always end up spoiling them.”

Nabeshima’s mechanical dragon was impressive enough that the Terrestrial Dragons were holding early morning meetings where they crossed their forelegs and wondered what to have her do with it next. The five Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji were also fascinating since they kept busy making prosthetics, support parts, and beds for the elderly Terrestrial Dragons. However…

“But keep in mind that Sanada is a little too idiosyncratic to be a good teacher. If you find anything they’ve learned in a weird way, make sure to correct it.”

“Testament. I will. But I must thank you for looking after us in so many ways.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Unno realized Kiyomasa was looking at her. “Shouldn’t you be watching the Azuchi?”

“Eh?” She didn’t seem to know what Unno meant, so she looked back to the Azuchi. “It hasn’t left yet. And I do think they will send me a message once they are leaving.”

“You think? I expected P.A. Oda to be more organized. I could have sworn they were when we were still there.”

“I used to think so too, but maybe they were always like this.”

Maybe they were.

…''She has a point.

When Unno had been with P.A. Oda, she had mostly thought of herself as one of the people who supported a powerful nation. In other words, she had held very strong pro-P.A. Oda views. She had felt like all of its strong points had applied to her as well.

…''I guess you call that love.

“To be loved is to be recognized,” was a common enough saying, but she felt like it was true. The problem was how a nation was a system and that system had cast her out in accordance with their rules instead of just betraying her.

What did you call a love that only went one way? A delusion, an illusion, a one-person performance. ''Oh, so it’s an artform.

''But,'' thought Unno. If Kiyomasa was aware how unorganized P.A. Oda could be…

“You have a fairly detached view of P.A. Oda, don’t you?”

“Do I?” Kiyomasa tilted her head. “I feel like those in a position of authority experience firsthand how personnel arrangements and tasks don’t always work the way you want them to, so they must end up taking a more realistic view of things.”

“I would say you’re already in a position of authority yourself. I mean, that’s why we wanted to be the Seven Spears.”

So…

“Do you have another reason to take a realistic view?”

“Well, that has to do with our origins…”

“What are your origins?”

''I’m asking a lot of questions here,'' realized Unno, but…

“I cannot tell you that because it would cause certain problems.”

Kiyomasa declined to answer, so Unno nodded.

“Sorry, shouldn’t have pried.”

“Don’t let it bother you,” said Kiyomasa, but Unno thought she saw a small light behind the girl.

…''Hm?

She thought it had to be coming from the Azuchi in the distance, but…

“Hey!”

A circle and a horizontal line glowed red behind Kiyomasa.

Unno had heard the rumors about that.

“The Double Border Crest!?”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 50|Chapter 50]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 52|Chapter 52]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 49

2025-07-16T17:30:37Z

2600:1005:B00E:3C96:5620:B535:2504:785A:

==Chapter 49: Visitor in the Heights==
[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0597.jpg|thumb]]
''Some things can only be seen

''When facing them head on

'''Point Allocation (U-underwear?)

Tomoe Gozen nodded in the evening sun shining on the stone stairs.

“Glad to see you’re doing well, Guericke.” She tapped her arm with a bottle of sunblock lotion. “A midair horizontal rotating prostration leading into a stairway prostration? That must have hurt your knees. For that, I will hear you out.”

“Testament! An open-front skirt is pushing it at your age, don’t you think?”

“Hey, someone get over here and execute this guy. Remember when he made a scene sucking things in the city? Split him in two like that.”

“I misspoke!”

“You have a tendency to blurt things out, so do be more careful. Also, don’t get up from that prostration. …Now, someone record this and distribute it over the divine network.”

“Tomoe Gozen, why did you call us here today?” asked the local Saxony Representative Committee Head.

“There’s a lot I don’t understand, so I’m leaving all of you in charge, including planning for the post-Nördlingen celebration. I tend to rush through things too quickly when I do them myself.”

So…

“With Nördlingen done, the Protestant and Catholic forces are where they’re supposed to be. Do you know what that means?”

“Testament,” replied Guericke, still prostrating. “We can release our own printed works without having to go through other nations! Sweden, the uncensored kingdom, is basically already celebrating and they’ve sent in so many event doujinshis based on their Chancellor!!”

“You don’t have to show them to me on your lernen figur. And I said to stay prostrated.”

“Testament!” he replied.

Tomoe Gozen sighed and spoke to them all.

“Christina will now be able to return to Sweden after summer break.”

So…

“There’s a decent chance we’ll be seeing all-out war between the Protestants and Catholics after the break.”

Tomoe Gozen appreciated how everyone gasped.

…''Good.

They knew that meant them. She loved how the Protestant principalities were always ready for battle. With war a constant companion, they never cut corners in commerce or their everyday lives.

She had once held back and regretted it, but this meant they could get by without her. So…

“I bet all the major national representatives think P.A. Oda’s Honnouji Incident will be recreated near the end of summer break. The question is what to do about the Thirty Years’ War in response. It’s strange that the actions of an enemy like P.A. Oda have such an influence on our future decisions.”

So…

“The first half of the break will be spent on preparations. As the Protestant Representative, I plan to travel around seeing how everyone is doing. Especially in the regions where important people have requested a meeting with me. I might be able to hitch a ride with the Musashi. And…”

Something Christina had said had caught her attention.

…''The Imperial Palace.

Kyou was currently controlled by P.A. Oda’s Akechi Mitsuhide, but what were things like inside the palace?

She doubted she could get there from M.H.R.R., but it was still worth keeping an eye on.

“Whatever. My point is, I’m going to be busy. I’m sure each nation and principality will be using the first half for preparations and investigations, so do everything you can to respond to that and manage as much of it as you can on your own. The real fight begins once I return.”

“Testament!”

''Good,'' she thought while putting on her backpack. Unlike her usual combat one, this one only had a Protestant Testament copy on either side. The hammer pole had been lightened so it could be used as a staff.

…''I also brought a fishing rod and a collapsible bow.

''Makes it look like I’m planning to live in the mountains,'' she thought, but there was a chance she would be visiting places she could not openly visit or pass through. This equipment would come in handy then.

''But,'' she thought. ''This isn’t going to last much longer.

…''Either from the Apocalypse or the end of the Thirty Years’ War. Which, I can’t say.

“Now, Guericke, what is this report you have for me?”

“Testament! Look at this!”

He held up a lernen figur. She scanned through it, reread it, and smiled bitterly.

“Ha. Guericke, are you saying you want to do this?”

“Testament! It will be a great economic boon!”

“In that case,” she said, standing up.

She faced forward.

Looking down the stairs, she saw a city surrounded by a wall. That was Dresden, in eastern Saxony.

About 50km past that, beyond the vast forest east of Dresden, was an enemy city.

She viewed that Far Eastern city that had shimmering summer heat rising from it.

“Accept the deal, Guericke. It can run for three days starting on August 15. I will be back by then, so we can celebrate.”

Listen.

“The Protestants are in a partying mood this year. And that includes me.”

'''Black Wolf:''' “So what are your plans after the Azuchi’s repairs are completed today?”

The lernen figur displaying that question illuminated the surrounding area.

That area was an underground passageway made of stone. Kasuya was walking down it, making intentionally loud footsteps.

She held up the lernen figur to check the stonework around her.

'''Black Wolf:''' “Musashi ordered the Azuchi to leave on the 10th. That’s today. They plan to attack the Azuchi if it’s still there when they leave the Ariake, don’t they?”

If so…

'''Black Wolf:''' “Wouldn’t it be safest to make your preparations to leave now?”

Her question was answered along with three footsteps from Kantou.

'''Kimee:''' “The Azuchi intends to leave tonight. And at the last possible moment.”

Kasuya turned a corner and tilted her head at Yoshiaki’s response.

'''Black Wolf:''' “Tonight? How is that supposed to work?”

“Testament,” replied Yoshiaki, displaying a schedule.

'''Kimee:''' “The repairs to the Azuchi’s rear thrusters were mostly completed three days ago, so we managed to clear out a lot of the personnel then. Since then, we’ve been selling the Azuchi’s unneeded supplies to Satomi and the Kantou nations. Konishi has been doing a really good job there.”

Kasuya honestly didn’t understand any of this stuff about commerce or trade, but if they were selling off their supplies…

'''Black Wolf:''' “Are you planning to hurry back?”

'''Kimee:''' “No. The thrusters were repaired, but if we fly back as fast as we can, it would look to Kantou like we ‘ran away’. So we’ll be taking it nice and slow in standard cruising mode, at least until we leave Kantou. The plan is to depart tonight at 23:59 PM.”

That really was cutting it close.

'''Black Wolf:''' “And the Musashi won’t attack?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “In my opinion, we should be fine as long as we make it really obvious we’re preparing to leave. I mean, it would be a big risk on their part if they came and attacked when we were just about to leave anyway. The Kantou nations might criticize Musashi for chickening out even though they know full well how it would look if they ''did'' attack, but Musashi will know it isn’t worth starting an unnecessary battle with the Azuchi. After all, that would mean destroying their southern Kantou trade route and they don’t want to lose that again.”

What would happen then?

'''Kuro-Take:''' “If they don’t receive the food, marine products, and other resources that normally come from Satomi, Edo, and the Houjou region during the summer, the Kantou nations will have a hard time getting through the winter this year.”

'''Black Wolf:''' “And the Kantou nations would still criticize Musashi for not attacking?”

'''Kimee:''' “Because they know good and well the Musashi will let the Azuchi go.”

Takenaka interrupted before Yoshiaki could say more.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “But I’m sure Musashi has thought this through themselves. I bet they have something in the works to keep the Kantou nations from complaining, or to show them who’s boss. And in fact, there were reports of some largescale anti-ghost work using the Musashi’s spell field on the lower coast of Oushuu the other night.”

“Testament,” replied Kasuya as she turned a corner and saw a gentle downward slope leading to some stairs.

She knew intellectually where those led, but she had to wonder if it was true. She held those doubts in her head while Yoshiaki continued.

'''Kimee:''' “We’re starting to see a real hierarchy take shape for the forces distributed across the Far East. Those who have been looking outwards and fighting the other nations are finding themselves above those who did not. And that’s about to happen here in Kantou too.”

“Heidi and I intend to visit the most promising Kantou nations, making our final preparations.”

Hearing Shirojiro’s comment in the Ariake that night, Masazumi raised her right hand and replied.

“Good luck. And don’t forget to repay me.”

“Judge. We would never. Our honor depends on it.”

They held their conversation on the Musashi. Specifically, at the diplomatic port on Tama’s wing deck.

A few transport ships there bore the Musashi Student Council logo next to the Circle Be mark.

“Screw this up and you will look fondly back on the days when udon was all you had to worry about.”

“Horizon!” shouted Heidi. “We don’t need that kind of pressure! That brings back some bad memories!”

“Either way, make sure you do your job.” Masazumi glanced back toward the others seeing those two off. “We will depart for Kansai once the Azuchi leaves. Once you’re done making deals with the Kantou nations, meet up with us using the trade route south of Mikawa. Got that?”

“Judge. Your business honestly sounds like a more entertaining way to make money, but this way will earn more. So wait for us. We’ll pay you back in full on the 15th,” said Heidi before tilting her head.

She was looking toward Masazumi and the others seeing them off.

But then she bowed her head and opened her mouth. While pointing.

“I appreciate the banner, but did it have to say ‘good luck, udons’? I would really rather it didn’t.”

Adele looked to the others.

Class Plum was joined by a lot of the warriors and the relevant committee members. Most of the banners had been made by those other groups.

“Yeah, if it said ‘keep fighting, kishimen!’, it would sound like some kishimen had formed a tokusatsu group of 5.”

“Wait, we never passed any kishimen! Right, Shiro-kun!?”

“Judge. We did not. Which means it could always have been worse. Perhaps we were too quick to judge you for your lack of kindness.”

Meanwhile, Asama opened a sign frame and frowned.

“Hmm,” she groaned. “The tree of variations includes thick and hard kishimen. It also contains just plain fried noodles and fried okoshi. Which would you prefer, Heidi?”

“You’re already planning to put us through that again, aren’t you, Asama-chi!? Fried noodles would tear our asses apart!”

Adele noticed some people commenting “what even is this conversation?”

But even if there was a tree for udon variations…

“Whether or not that happens is entirely up to you, right? So what is your plan, Treasurer and Aide?”

“Well.” The Treasurer’s Aide turned Adele’s way. “We’ve already set it in motion, but we’re starting by resetting the Kantou nations.”

“Resetting them?”

“Judge,” confirmed the Treasurer. “We will be slapping them with a stack of cash.”

“I-isn’t that being too direct!?”

“Figuratively speaking, of course.” The Treasurer opened a sign frame. “Our most basic strategy is splitting up the Kantou nations, like we discussed in that meeting. Previously, those nations have formed a collusive trade zone similar to a territorial state. So we will provide priority trade for the nations that cooperate with us. And…”

He displayed some text on his sign frame.

“We will loan them transit tax rights.”

Mitotsudaira understood the treasurers’ plan.

But Horizon was sweating profusely. And not just because it was summer.

“Um, Horizon? Is something wrong?”

“Wh-what’s this, Mitotsudaira-sama? You wouldn’t be suggesting anything as silly as me not knowing what transit tax rights are, would you?”

…''She doesn’t know, does she?

But explaining that would be a pain, so she decided to have someone else do it for her.

“Wh-what are transit tax rights, my king?”

She chose to ask her king because this could help earn him some points with Horizon. ''And I like it when he answers my questions.

She found her king sweating profusely as well.

…''Oops.

Just because she understood did not mean her king did as well. So…

“Um, my king?”

“Huh? Wh-what is it, Nate? Surely you don’t think I of all people don’t know what transit tax rights are.”

“Then, um, can you tell me?”

“If you insist.” He shrugged. “You see, transit tax rights are…you see,” he repeated while pointing into the sky. “W-well, you get the basic idea, right!? It’s so intuitive!”

Horizon slapped him from behind.

It made an incredible sound and he doubled over, but she grabbed him by the collar.

“Why would you try to hide that you don’t know the answer? …Now, please explain it for him, Mitotsudaira-sama.”

''This conversation sure took a turn,'' thought Mitotsudaira, but she needed to help settle this.

So she started by nodding.

“J-judge! Transit tax rights are the right to collect a tax on any trade goods that pass through a nation’s territory.”

So…

“If a trade route is built from Oushuu to Kantou, then any nation granted that right can make money through transit taxes without even needing to buy or sell a thing.”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Wasn’t she the one who initially asked the question?”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “I feel like what happened before that was even more incredible.”

'''Horizey:''' “I knew the answer all along. I just wanted to give Mitotsudaira-sama a chance to show off. Yes.”

'''Me:''' “I-I knew too! I swear I did! …Hey, what are those looks for!?”

Suzu noted the usual process playing out, but she now understood what Shirojiro and Heidi were doing. Simply put…

“You’re going to…h-harass the Kantou…nations?”

A small stir ran through the others and Horizon rapidly approached her.

“Impressive work, Suzu-sama. A perfect example of how to view everything through the lens of Masazumi-sama’s policy. I had completely forgotten that Musashi’s primarily political policy was to harass everyone everywhere.”

“For the record, that’s not quite accurate.” Masazumi pointed at Shirojiro and Heidi. “These two will be setting up trade and all that, but they will also clear a road for the future by granting temporary transit tax rights to the nations that take a friendly stance with us.”

“C-clear a road…for the future?”

“Suzu-sama, she means anyone who stands in our way will be blasted by the Musashi’s Kanesada.”

“Oh, I-I see.”

“No, you don’t see,” said Masazumi. “That’s not what I meant!”

Toori raised his hand.

“This wouldn’t happen so much if you said things more simply.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Masazumi crossed her arms. “Simply put, we will be slapping them with a stack of cash.”

“We’re right back where we started!!”

Suzu joined the others for that retort.

“Wait, hold on.” Masazumi held out her hands to stop them. “Calm down, all of you. Rights aren’t the only form of money. The introduction of currency means you can generally buy anything using money. Or to put it another way, money is transformed into other things inside each nation. Even fuel can be bought with money, so it is effectively the most powerful bargaining chip.”

In other words…

“Do you know what it means to receive money from other nations?”

The answer was simple.

“You also receive purchasable goods from those other nations. Do you know that means?”

The idiot raised his hand and she nodded.

“What do you want? Oh, I get it. All this serious talk has you starved for some laughs. Fine. If you insist, I will tell this one joke I jotted down in my notes three days ago.”

“Masazumi! Please don’t! The damage would be too great!”

''What’s that supposed to mean, Naruze?

But she was curious about the idiot’s question.

“You still have your hand up? What is it?”

“Well, uh, this is a bit of a change of subject, but how are we getting to Kansai? You keep saying we’ll be going, so I was wondering how we would do that.”

''Oh, is that all?'' she thought and nearly said out loud. Because…

“I’ve already discussed that with those in charge. We only have to wait here.”

“Really? We aren’t going to do anything?”

“No, not this time. We should get to sit back and relax until we arrive at Kansai.”

Were the responses of understanding and appreciation a sign of their trust in her? Either way…

“That is also why I have left the Treasurer pair in charge of the Kantou nations. If they can get those nations on our side during the break, we can still receive supplies and repairs in Kantou even if we find ourselves in a largescale battle after Honnouji.”

Horizon raised her hand.

“To backtrack a little, why does that tax stuff clear a road for the future? Please tell me that, Masazumi-sama.”

“That’s simple. Like I said, if a nation receives money from other nations, they can also accept things other than money.”

“Things other than money?”

“Yes,” said Masazumi with a nod. “We are not loaning them money. We are only lending them transit tax rights. Which means…”

She raised her right hand and a diagram appeared.

It displayed two different circles side by side.

The right circle was labeled “Kantou Nations” and the left one “Transit Tax Right Nations”.

A line labeled “Foreign Trade Goods” pierced the left circle from top to bottom.

“If Oushuu to the north and Kantou to the south are linked by trade, traders will have to pay transit taxes to the nations in the center who have transit tax rights.” She swung her right hand to the side and Tsukinowa traced its movement to draw a line from the left circle to the right one. “The Kantou nations are like a territorial state. They form a single whole, but they are divided in between, which gets in the way of transportation. That is why goods from Oushuu and Edo have only ever traded with the border Kantou nations. But in the future, the nations in charge of the transit taxes will take control and hold the right to trade with the interior Kantou nations. And that will come with the protection of not just Musashi, but Oushuu and Sviet Rus as well. So what happens then?”

She ran her finger left to right along the previous horizontal line.

“The transit tax nations will be able to monopolize intermediary trade with the interior Kantou nations. Only they will be able to purchase trade goods from Oushuu and Kantou and then sell them.”

This was all very basic stuff. But…

“That will prevent the Kantou nations from using their original foreign trade network. Because that was a tiny regional network when compared to the major commerce pipeline we’re creating with the alliance between Date, Mogami, Sviet Rus, and Kantou.”

“But the transit tax nations have no real experience with foreign trade, so they might screw up their inventory management or investments. What happens then? How do we keep them from failing?”

Balfette’s question already had an answer.

“We clear a road.”

Masazumi placed her finger on the sign frame again and drew a line from the left circle to the right circle.

But this time, she added a second, third, and fourth line.

“Well, I’d be here all day drawing all of them, but you get the picture.”

The left circle and right circle were connected by multiple lines.

“Do you know what this means?”

Naruze raised her hand.

“A trade gangbang.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Sadly, that was enough to know they had understood her.

“With more goods being traded, a single market would be overwhelmed. We learned at Mikawa that a single tax checkpoint causes congestion.”

Thinking back, this had all started with Principal Sakai being sent to Mikawa while viewing that congestion.

…''Things sure change fast.

That only worked because Mikawa acted as the Musashi’s home port and it would stay there longer than it did elsewhere.

But if the trade goods required quick “transit”…

“We need enough markets sufficiently spread out to trade with all of the Kantou nations without leaving any inventory behind.”

What would that mean?

“That requires constructing a trade road infrastructure from the transit tax nations to the interior nations. And…”

And…

“The transit tax nations need to hurry through that construction. We will only be lending them the transit tax rights, so those rights will go away eventually. For the most part, they will use the tax income to construct the infrastructure and, once they lose their transit tax rights, they will use the infrastructure they built to focus on intermediary trade.”

“Flat Honda-kun, may I ask one thing?”

Ohiroshiki raised a hand, so she turned his way and he nodded once before asking.

“You said they will be constructing largescale infrastructure for intermediary trade and that the primary trade will be on a much larger scale than the local-level trade they engaged in before this, correct?”

What would that mean?

“The transit tax nations will grow into powerful trade nations and the other Kantou nations will be forced to join in on the trade to preserve their place in the power balance. …That will change how those nations interact.”

“Judge. Our plan is built around that.” She took a breath before stating this quite clearly. “By building Kantou and Oushuu into a single alliance centered on this economic bloc, they will gain the power needed to influence Europe.”

“Listen,” began Masazumi. “This is all about Westphalia,” she said. “Kantou, Oushuu, and their individual nations are powerful, but they are still no more than the lords of a small region. And of a region that only exists on the Far Eastern map. But the nations that will be participating in Westphalia are the world powers with the European conqueror at the top. The amount of land held might be similar, but looking at the Testament tells us they are historical world powers and the nations here are only regional lords of the Far East.”

That led to a certain question. Mitotsudaira held a hand to her chest and got right to the point.

“Are you suggesting that the Kantou nations’ opinions will not be heard at Westphalia?”

“Judge. I am. Of course, the Peace of Westphalia is a European history recreation, so I doubt any nations east of the Middle East can participate. Sviet Rus can use their Russian side to get in, but Mogami and Date won’t be so lucky.”

She opened a map of the Far East. Of the entire Far East. The area from Oushuu to Kantou was rapidly filled in with white.

That created…

“But what if we brought together everything from Oushuu to Kantou? That’s more than 2/5 of the Far East.”

Everyone gasped a little.

But she wasn’t done yet. She colored in Sviet Rus and the M.H.H.R. Protestants with gray.

“If our national power and our right to speak are ignored, any attempt to manage the Far East is doomed from the start. If we can convince them of that, I’m sure we can get them to join in as observers or even join the Kantou-Oushuu Alliance itself. And if we pull that off…”

What would happen?

She indicated what she guessed most of them could easily imagine on their own.

“We will have created a solid ally for ourselves at Westphalia.”

“I see,” said Heidi.

…''A single absolute ally.

After being saved herself, she knew very well what that meant.

A single person’s efforts could make all the difference.

This would not just be a pawn of the majority rule. They would have one other person with the same intentions. In that sense…

“We would have double the odds of success at Westphalia.”

“Judge. That’s right. So we need you two to do this right.”

“You just want us to make money, correct?” asked Shirojiro.

Masazumi nodded.

“Exactly. But look far to the future. This isn’t a short-term game. Guide us toward an even greater victory down the line.”

“Ha ha. That makes this so much simpler, Masazumi.” But Heidi needed to check on something. “You more or less know which nations will be the transit tax nations, don’t you? So we only have to focus on making sure all those nations can make plenty of money. The others might eat the losses and end up in financial trouble, but a loss like that is the perfect opening for the next deal. …We can make even more money that way!”

She could feel herself smiling.

The transit tax nations would be making out like bandits, so she and Shirojiro could make so much off of bribes, insider deals, and collusion. But…

“I think we’ll try to keep it clean this time.” She did not want to risk a second round of udon, so she made that announcement up front. “But try to look the other way when we jack up the prices to help make deals or host trade deals to help repay our debt. Do that and everything else will be legit and above board.”

“Heidi, are you prepared to prostrate?”

“A girl’s prostrations are a pricey thing, Shiro-kun.”

“The one at Odawara was a joint task between us. I do not owe you anything.”

“That’s my Shiro-kun,” laughed Heidi.

…''Ahh.

It had been so long since she had smiled like this.

They had to pay back their debt with legit, above-board work, but that also made the perfect cover.

“Money makes the world go round,” said Shirojiro. “So our work in Kantou will reach you all in Kansai. We would never hold back when it comes to preparing to earn money. And we can ignore any national worries or personal feelings. …But we will repay our debt. Because that debt reduces any money we earn. So the rest of you can do the things we do not understand or have no interest in. But when dealing with the Azuchi and whatnot, do not do anything that would lose us money.”

“Judge. You don’t have to worry about that. Besides, they should be about ready to move.”

Just as Masazumi said that, an announcement played throughout the Ariake.

“This is ‘Ariake’. Light has been detected coming from the Azuchi’s stern to the south. I have determined they are running a test activation of their main thrusters. Over.”

“Ether output detected. The Azuchi’s usual pattern confirmed. The power has increased somewhat – by about 2% maybe? ‘Azuchi’, you can simulate how much of a margin of error we’re looking at once we get moving.”

“Shaja. Thank you very much, Yoshiaki-sama. I have determined that this test activation will have informed the Kantou region we are up and running once more. Over.”

Yoshiaki released a deep breath into the night breeze while listening to “Azuchi”.

She then inhaled, filling her lungs with the unique chilly but damp air of a summer night.

…''The wind is so clear.

She could see the Azuchi below her. The repairs to its exterior were still underway, so even this high in the air, she could detect the scent of metal and the aroma of ether-related processes.

But this was very different from the skies of M.H.R.R. or the winds of Kansai with its inland sea.

The night breeze blowing freely in from the Pacific barely had a scent.

That direction felt entirely deserted and it mostly was. Far out in the Pacific, there was a rapid current known as the Devil’s Current where dragons were said to live. Also, the ships that humanity had used to descend onto this planet in the Age of Dawn were abandoned out there, sticking up from the ocean surface like gravestones.

She thought the Azuchi or the Musashi would be able to fly that far out to sea, but most of the outside world was undeveloped.

She felt it would be reckless to try to travel there, but that may have been M.H.R.R.’s strict nature rubbing off on her. Also…

“The Apocalypse is coming,” she muttered, her eyes turned to the northern sky.

Far in the distance, a massive roof shined bluish-white in the moonlight.

That was the Ariake. The Musashi was inside there and had yet to emerge. Takenaka predicted it would leave late at night, around when the Azuchi departed.

…''But will it really?

Whatever the Musashi did, Yoshiaki knew what they had to do.

“End it but not let it end.”

“Kime-chan, want me to take over?”

The unexpected transmission from Angie made Yoshiaki smile bitterly. She spun her broom and butt around to look the other way, but she didn’t stop there.

“You can take over once you get up here.”

“Okay! I’ll be up in a flash! Half a flash even!”

The rear of her circling broom drew out a circle of scattering ether light. She knew Angie would use that as a guide and fly to her.

“It’s so strange, but I do it, Angie does it, and all the others do it.”

She breathed in the night air, telling herself this was probably the last time, and then spoke some more.

“We’ll eventually forget any of this ever happened, so why do we seek out meaning in the present?”

“Why would she call me here at this hour?”

Kasuya was two short turns away from the end of the stone hallway.

The underground passageway felt somewhat chilly even during the summer and a metal door awaited her at the end.

She slowed her pace and approached the three people gathered in front of the door.

…''Oh?

Her step faltered when she saw the three people illuminated by the spell lights. Two were somewhat indistinct figures made of ether light and the third…

“What?”

She was tall, she wore a black mobile shell, and she removed the helmet to look back, her white hair rippling.

“Eh?”

The simple turn displayed great strength and nimbleness. The movement itself was rough, but the application and positioning of the strength showed polish.

She would be a formidable foe in battle. Kasuya’s step had faltered while looking up at her.

So after coming to a stop…

“Mitsunari, who is that?”

“Testament! I am Ootani Yoshitsugu, a virus created by Hashiba-sama herself!”

''No, not you,'' thought Kasuya, swallowing the words. But the tall figure was facing Mitsunari, not Kasuya.

Mitsunari was looking to Kasuya and failed to notice the tall figure’s gaze.

Which meant…

…''The tall one is waiting for Mitsunari to introduce her, but Mitsunari doesn’t realize it?

Mitsunari probably expected her subordinates to handle such things on their own. She was a relatively young data entity and she had yet to learn that everyone handled things differently. So Kasuya tried to help out by asking again.

“Um, Mitsunari? Who is-?”

She had a pretty good guess already, but she was interrupted by a voice from the mobile shell helmet held in the tall figure’s arms.

“Hey! What makes you think you can ignore a question from a superior like this!?”

Sakon was honestly unsure what to do.

She knew who this had to be. This was someone who could speak on a friendly basis with Mitsunari.

…''And those eyes mean she’s a Loup-Garou, don’t they?

She had also heard that Kasuya Takenori of the Ten Spears would be joining them for their training camp.

But Sakon was Mitsunari’s subordinate, so she felt it would be wrong of her to go over Mitsunari’s head and introduce herself. But then there was her mobile shell’s voice.

“When someone asks who you are, you introduce yourself! Is even that beyond you, Kohime!?”

It was a male voice and a thundering one at that.

It didn’t help that it echoed a lot off the stone hallway’s walls.

…''Y-you’re too loud!

She cried out and started beating on Onitakemaru’s helmet.

“Wh-what is the meaning of this, Kohime!?”

“U-um, you’re too loud, so I’m trying to find the volume controls or the sleep button. Oh, I won’t shut you off completely, so don’t worry about that. I don’t want you passing on.”

“Damn you!”

“Oh. You are the Shima Sakon and Onitakemaru I’ve heard so much about.”

“Eh?” Sakon was so taken aback she stopped beating on Onitakemaru. “Y-you know of me?”

“Because I’m going to be working with Mitsunari.”

“Makes sense. But who the hell are you!?”

Sakon slammed an accelerated karate chop into Onitakemaru’s head. It made a nice noise and the lights indicating he was functioning wavered for a moment.

“Y-you fool! I had to go through an adjustment for that one!”

“You’re being rude, Onitakemaru-san.”

“Huh? I’m the Shogun! I outrank Mitsunari and even Hashiba! You got a problem with me demanding the respect I deserve!?”

“I’m so sorry. He’s always like this. Just think of him as starved for attention, if you don’t mind.”

“If you say so,” said the other girl, pursing her lips together. Then she turned toward Mitsunari. “Mitsunari, why did you call me here?”

“Testament. To introduce you to what you will actually be doing for your training camp here.” Mitsunari raised her hand and indicated the metal door behind her. “Sakon-san, would you please open that? Your training task lies within.”

“Of course, of course. Here I go!”

Sakon donned Onitakemaru’s head and grabbed the doorknob.

It was located low enough that it was faster to get down on her knees than it was to crouch down.

And she pushed. ''I should put some real force into it, right?'' she thought, but since she had her knees for support, she just pushed straight forward.

The door moved far easier than she had anticipated.

…''No resistance at all?

She found that odd, but she also looked through the opening door. Ootani, Mitsunari, Kasuya, and Onitakemaru had to be doing the same.

Her long arms pushed the door open enough for them to see inside.

She was curious what this training camp would entail.

What she found was the bared fangs of a Terrestrial Dragon too large to fully see through the door.

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