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Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 54

2025-07-18T17:29:11Z

2600:1700:B6ED:7810:24FB:6457:30B4:8D38:

==Chapter 54: Nest Makers at Home==
[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0763.jpg|thumb]]
''Somehow

''It feels more awkward

''Wearing something below

'''Point Allocation (Fairly Common)

Asama tried saying “I’m home” and was a little bothered by how natural it felt.

Horizon stepped into the Main Blue Thunder ahead of her and…

“Maaaaaaaake wayyyyyyyyyy forrrrrr Horiiiiiiiizon!”

Maybe it was that, maybe it was how the arms carried her slippers to her, maybe it was how he said “welcome home”, maybe it was how Mitotsudaira said “we are back, my king”, and it probably wasn’t how Kimi said “Look, foolish brother! Slippers! I was warming them in my pockets!” But regardless…

…''It feels like forever since we were last here.

She had been so busy with the Musashi joining the Ariake and with managing the ether pathways for the Musashi’s repairs. Mitotsudaira had always been involved in everything, perhaps because she thought an officer should take a visible role in things, and he had actively joined in this time to get in the way- ''No, let’s say he was helping things run smoothly. Sort of.

For several days now, they had generally only been at Suzu’s bathhouse, the student council rec room, and their work sites, with the occasional other destinations for Musashi duties or for fun.

But they could finally rest tonight. The Ariake would be handling most everything until they arrived in M.H.R.R. Protestant territory.

Thus, they were back at the Main Blue Thunder, but…

“The place seems a little different.”

Since she needed it for purification, Asama saw preparing the bath as her job, so she checked that room to find an IZUMO shrine water heater. Her father must have arranged things so she could get purification water here. She recalled Naomasa mentioning some kind of construction work.

It felt awkward taking the first bath since she needed to purify and inspect the equipment. She usually used the shrine’s spring, so she wasn’t used to having people waiting for her to finish. And Horizon had established an order for them all while they ate a light late-night meal beforehand.

“Asama-sama goes first, then Kimi-sama, Toori-sama, myself, and Mitotsudaira-sama.”

“Um, is that from most Shinto to least Shinto?”

“No, it is by volume. That way there will always be enough bathwater even when some overflows.”

Mitotsudaira spat out what she was drinking, but Kimi asked him for some tea.

“Heh heh. Mitotsudaira’s hair soaks up the water like a sponge, so she does need to go last. And she can enjoy soaking in my foolish brother’s used bathwater.”

“Wouldn’t it be a mix of all of us, though?” asked Asama. “She wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“I-I can tell with my king.”

''You can?'' she thought, weirdly impressed.

But then Horizon opened a sign frame and raised both arms.

“Tah dahhhhhhhhhh! It is now time to add up the Blue Thunder Girls’ expenses!”

“In other words, you’re going to calculate the cost of the food and whatever else we need to see who is the biggest burden?”

“Judge. Very perceptive of you, Mitotsudaira-sama. We are all living here now, but we cannot expect to live according to that boy’s standards. For example, Mitotsudaira-sama eats meat, meat, and more meat for every single meal and Asama-sama needs to be chugging booze all day long if she hopes to stand out.”

“Um, I doubt even drinking would help me stand out compared to the rest of you.”

Horizon gave her a double thumbs up.

At any rate, they discussed things with him and calculated out their individual needs for food and other necessities.

“If you are ever wondering if you should earn some money to help out, this can help you make that decision,” said Horizon. “On the other hand, Asama-sama has enough money to pay off two udon’s worth of debt, but she has the good sense to not waste it.”

“Yeah…not even I’m going to spend money unnecessarily when it comes to Toori-kun.”

Mitotsudaira and Kimi both gave her emotionless smiles and nodded.

…''Th-they don’t trust me at all, do they!?”

But Horizon turned toward Mitotsudaira.

“And if Toori-sama were to ask Mitotsudaira-sama to do some task he should really just do himself, she would bark and pant while pulling out her silver chains to oblige him.”

“I-I do not react like that.”

Asama discovered exactly the feeling that led to one of those emotionless smiles.

But she also had a thought about Horizon’s suggestions here.

…''She feels the need to lay out some ground rules.

Really, it could all be summed up as “don’t get carried away”.

Now that they were living together, if any of them got carried away in how they lived their everyday life, it would place a burden on the others. So…

…''Try to solve things on your own if you can.

Horizon nodded.

“As long as we do that, we can keep that boy from pushing his luck.”

“Now wait just a minute. This was sounding real nice, so why do you have to turn it all against me in the very end?”

After Asama finished her bath and put on a shrine maiden swimsuit in lieu of underwear, she really did feel like she was beginning a new life.

This new life had actually already started, but she had been too busy to really notice.

…''We’re going to see what this new life is really like over the next few days.

During their study camp to Sanada, Mitotsudaira’s mother had said she was being offered his everyday life as a present. So…

“…”

Kimi would take the next bath, but since he would go after that, she made sure to adjust the temperature setting.

And before putting on her pajamas, she checked the mirror to see what she looked like in her swimsuit.

…''It’s no different from when we were at the beach or the study camp.

The lack of shrine maiden underwear was the real problem here. Not to mention how she had recently learned it was dangerous to leave herself exposed in front of people. So if she was going to be wearing something underneath, she had to take possible emergencies into account. Since she would need something with decent divine protection and spell functionality, this was the better choice than simple underwear. But…

“Next time I’m at the Shinto shop, I need to look at the supporters and other options they have.”

She was still a shrine maiden, but she was no longer just that. She had left the shrine to live alongside some others.

She kept that in mind while she returned to her room partition and found the space felt unusually large.

Would it eventually feel cramped?

“That was a long bath. Did you enjoy it?” asked Horizon, from beyond a partition.

“Yes, I wanted to make sure I started off this new life on the right foot.”

Asama suddenly realized there were plenty of others who had undergone changes much like this one.

…''I wonder how they’re doing.

Did they also put a lid on their feelings, wait for the right moment, and occasionally stubbornly refuse to admit how they felt?

''How am I supposed to explain how I feel?'' wondered Tenzou.

He stood in front of his room on Tama. Mary stood by his side, but that much was normal.

However, something concerned him.

…''Come to think of it, we haven’t slept in the same room ever since I started being so suave with her.

Ever since the Siege of Odawara, they had kept their things here and returned for meals, but they had always spent the night elsewhere.

He had thought they could return earlier than this, but then he had spent the night at the Main Blue Thunder to help complete Neshinbara’s doujinshi. He honestly felt that like that had helped give Mary and him some more time to prepare for this.

…''Is she nervous?

Mary stood next to him blushing and staring at the floor.

Her clenched fists suggested she was very focused on something. But the flower petals scattering from the back of her hair suggested it wasn’t a negative thing for her. In fact, didn’t it mean she considered it a positive thing? ''Hopefully.

But he understood why she was nervous. They would be living together with no distractions for the next few days.

Their trip to M.H.R.R. Protestant territory would be almost entirely handled by the Ariake, so the rush to repair the Musashi and make various preparations was over.

That meant he and Mary would be all alone in their own private room for several days.

''Yeah, I’m definitely excited,'' realized Tenzou.

Just then, Mary grabbed his hand.

“Eh?”

He turned toward her to find she had angled herself a bit toward him.

“M-Master Tenzou!”

“Judge, what is it?”

“U-um, I will clean and tidy up in here, so give me a moment!”

He was about to say he would help, but he swallowed the words when he saw the pursed lips below her bangs.

So what could he do?

…''I must mentally record Mary-dono’s actions.

With that settled, he took her hand in both of his.

“Judge. You know how to do that better than me, so I will let you handle it this time. But if there is anything you need help with, feel free to ask.”

“J-judge, I will! A-also…”

“Yes?”

By the time he asked, she had already turned around like she was preparing to dash toward the sliding door.

“Do you mind if I do some minor remodeling!?”

Their room was small, which limited the possible layouts, but if they were going to change anything, it would be easiest now while it was still mostly empty. As a ninja, he could eat and sleep in any environment, so he was fine with anything she might want.

“Judge. If a change would make you more comfortable here, then by all means make it.”

“Judge. Thank you!”

He caught a glimpse of her face past her bangs, but why did he see raised eyebrows instead of a smile?

Whatever the reason, her hair vanished beyond the sliding door.

“Oh.”

Through the closed door, he clearly heard her hit her shin while trying to step up onto the tatami mats.

…''Th-that would be due to staying at Suzu-dono’s bathhouse and the Blue Thunder where they don’t have a dirt entranceway.

“M-Master Tenzou!”

“Do you need something?”

“Judge,” she replied. “Th-this is going to take some time, so please be patient.”

He could guess what the issue was, but he did not mind in the slightest.

The Azuchi and the Ariake’s movement was visible from the roof of Sanada Academy.

Both ships seemed to be moving awfully slow to Unno. The Azuchi was probably intentionally keeping its speed down to avoid looking impatient to leave. That probably doubled as a way of delaying the Ariake’s arrival in M.H.R.R. Protestant territory.

“Glad I don’t have to keep up appearances like that.”

“But their slow movement allows us to inspect the Ariake’s side. And we should be able to inspect its stern tomorrow morning.”

“What, you aren’t going to sleep?”

“Oh, I will. I’ll just be using a compressed sleep spell.”

“Never mind then,” said Unno before something occurred to her. Shortening sleep time was a common skill for ninjas, yet here she was worrying about someone else getting enough sleep.

…''I’m slacking.

Or had she just settled down more?

“Anyway,” she said to Kiyomasa who had stood up to aim a recording lernen figur toward the Ariake. “How should I put this?”

''This is probably my own personal issue, but…

“We’ve learned to just casually chat with each other now, haven’t we?”

Kiyomasa’s shoulders jumped in response. And after a moment, she nodded.

“We have.”

And…

“Thank you.”

“Huh? For what?”

“Oh, nothing really.” Kiyomasa smiled a little. “I had a falling out with someone…so it’s nice to be able to have a normal conversation again.”

“Huh? So you had a fight with someone?”

She didn’t respond, but after a while…

“Uh…”

Kiyomasa suddenly hung her head while operating her lernen figur. It looked an awful lot like…

…''Eh?

“You made her cry!!”

The Terrestrial Dragons stood from the forest nearby, sending leaves and branches soaring.

“Did you see that!? That brute Unno-san has no tact at all!”

“If you ask me, she could really stand to learn some manners. She can be so thoughtless.”

“Yet she has the gall to always order a dessert at the dining hall. A dessert with fries if you can imagine it!”

“Oh, shut up, all of you! You don’t have to point. And why are you spying on us anyway!?”

She raised her fan sword and they immediately ducked back down into the forest. And…

“Ha…ha.”

Kiyomasa wiped away her tears and turned around.

She inhaled and spoke in a shaky voice.

“You have such good friends.”

“Their ears and eyes are good, but it only causes me trouble.” Unno gave a dismissive wave. “Anyway, I won’t tell your underclassmen about this. We’ve gotten to know each other well enough for that.”

“Testament. Thank you again.”

Kiyomasa bowed and Unno smiled bitterly.

“Don’t worry about it. I know what it’s like to have your feelings get the better of you.”

…''What is going on inside our room?

Five minutes had passed since Mary locked him out.

Tenzou was gathering attention standing in front of his door.

It was getting late at night, so everyone was heading home for some sleep after helping the Ariake take over their tasks and preparing for the following days. That meant a lot of students were passing by behind him.

“Oh, what’s this? Did Mary finally kick him out?”

“Oh, dear. That ninja finally pushed his luck too far with Mary.”

“Hey, check that out. Yeah, that!”

…''Hey, that last one might not be about me!

'''Art-Ga:''' “Hey, Tenzou. There’s a new ‘what did the 1st Special Duty Officer do this time’ discussion thread up. Do you mind if I have some fun getting them even more worked up?”

'''10ZO:''' “In what world would I say no!?”

But salvation arrived in the form of Mary’s voice from inside.

“Master Tenzou. W-would you mind coming in now!?”

This time, he did not mind in the slightest, so he stepped inside while the crowd watched and commented.

“It feels good to be back home.”

“Yes, welcome home,” said a voice from the floor.

Mary’s bed and living space were located below the raised loft he used as a bed.

The lower area was made of four tatami mats arranged with two lengthwise rows of two mats.

However, the entrance and the kitchen were smaller areas with dirt floors. Looking from the door, the dirt entrance was immediately on the left side and the kitchen was on the back right. That forced the lower area’s tatami mat rows to be shifted enough to accommodate the dirt areas.

[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0779.jpg|thumb]]

Tenzou first noticed a curtain surrounding the kitchen in the back.

And next…

“Mary-dono.”

Mary sat on the futon she had laid out in front of the door. She always had excellent posture, but he did notice one difference from usual pre-bedtime routine.

She was wearing kosode-style pajamas.

She normally slept in the nude, but now she fixed her collar and blushed.

“U-um, Master Tenzou. I plan to dress like this at night from now on.”

That was a disappointment.

…''Now when am I going to get those lucky glimpses at night or after waking up early in the morning!?

But on the other hand…

…''I did dislike how I couldn’t look directly at her after she went to bed and before she dressed in the morning.

Both options had their pros and cons, so if this was what Mary wanted…

“Judge. That sounds like a good idea. You were still going by the habits you picked up in England, so were you thinking of doing things the Musashi way now?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. …I got used to wearing pajamas at the Blue Thunder and the other places we have been spending the night recently.”

So…

“I started to feel like it would be better to keep doing that.”

Tenzou nodded and stepped up onto the tatami mat floor.

Mary’s shoulders briefly rose, but he didn’t let it bother him. He kneeled in front of her.

“I need to do everything I can to ensure we can support a lifestyle that requires pajamas even if you eventually return to England.”

“Judge. But…”

“But?”

She lowered her head.

“Should I really be doing this? I was trying to match the lifestyles of the people who lived on the third and fourth levels.”

“It is arrogant to think you can understand someone just because you live the way they do.”

“But do you think I can understand them if I don’t live the way they do?”

Tenzou did not attempt a suave response.

He only touched the scar on her nose and then took her hand. The back of that hand was covered in sword scars and the front had calluses and scars from a daily life working at the beach and on the farms.

“Listen,” he said. “You have gained all of this from the people there, so I doubt any of them would let anyone say you don’t understand them.”

And…

“And if anyone does say that to you, I will touch your scars to remind you.”

She glanced up at him and then took both his hands.

…''Eh?

She placed his hands on her chest and pushed them up from below to have him hold her breasts.

“M-my scars are not the only thing I want you to remind me of, Master Tenzou.”

Sensing the heat from her pajamas, he sucked in a breath and…

“A blonde! With! Giant breasts!”

Mary was initially surprised because it had been so long since she heard him say that.

…''Oh.

She remembered.

She couldn’t believe it had taken her so long, but she remembered what had happened in England.

She had completely forgotten, even though she was the one who had just said she wanted him to remind her.

That had helped her remember where the two of them had begun their relationship.

“Ha…ha…”

A few gentle laughs escaped her while her shoulders and head shook.

“Yes…that’s right.”

She had been so happy recently it had slipped her mind. She had forgotten how she had hoped the two of them could be happier.

And the happiness she had found had lasted so long she had lost sight of that.

But the point wasn’t just to be happy.

“I want to be happier. I always want to find even greater happiness on the horizon.”

That same thought had occurred to her a lot recently as she saw the others interacting and experienced so much herself. She felt certain the people she had spoken with in Suzu’s bathhouse and the Main Blue Thunder hoped for the same thing.

She had grown so flustered and not known what to do, but…

…''It’s okay to change.

She carried England’s history with her, but she didn’t have to do everything the English way. Because when she left England, she had decided to be happy.

If she had found even more happiness here and if she was going to find more in the future, she should accept it all.

So she took his hands again and gave them a squeeze. And…

“Master Tenzou, that half is yours.”

Her futon sat on the entrance half of the somewhat crooked tatami mat floor.

And something else sat on the other half by the kitchen.

“Doesn’t that seem like a good place for your futon?”

Tenzou took a deep breath.

…''So that’s where she was going with this!

''How very bold of her! Actually, she can get surprisingly bold in the most wonderful way when she gets fired up about something, but this is a lot even for her!

''But,'' he thought, squeezing her hands back.

“Judge. That does seem like a good place.”

There was a good reason to do this.

“I intend to get us a larger room soon. Then there will be no column in the middle and we can place our futons right next to each other, so this will make good practice for that.”

Also…

“Now that you are not sleeping in the nude, I no longer have to worry about where I am looking.”

“Oh, um, that decision had nothing to do with this.” She shrank down a little. “And it was fun.”

“What was?”

“Judge.” She nodded and intertwined their fingers. “I can control spirits, right? Well, in England, I would call the spirits of sleep in with a song to help put the children to sleep.”

But…

“At Lady Suzu’s bathhouse, the student council rec room, and the Main Blue Thunder, I have been able to chat with the others my age about things we enjoy and about our future plans while we fall asleep.” She squeezed again. “It was a lot of fun.”

So…

“I don’t think I can go back. And…”

Tenzou realized where she was going with this. It would be fine for him to say it, but…

…''She needs to say this for herself.

So he held his tongue and let her speak.

“I can’t go back, so I have decided this will be my new normal. Because that will bring me even greater happiness.”

“Judge,” he said and embraced her.

She smelled nice, she was soft, and she was warm. He found it hard to believe someone so wonderful cared so much about him. And…

“You did well.”

She had made some friends. He knew she would have been worried if she was allowed to do things the way the others did. That was not something he could solve for her. It was her problem.

But if there was anything he could feel full of himself about, it would be what she might have said if the girls ever discussed the genre of boys they liked. ''Is that really a genre? I guess it is. Yes, it’s a genre!

And in the end, Mary had reached her own decision.

Instead of asking if she was allowed to, she had accepted it as normal. So…

…''I should be proud of her.

She had once hoped to be imprisoned and executed, but now she was the same as the others. ''Wait, do I really want her to be the same as the girls in our class? Well, that aside, this means she has found the kind of freedom everyone hopes for.

So from now on, they would place their pillows side to side and go to sleep while discussing their days, their plans, pointless things, things they had noticed about the people they cared for, and so on.

“You did well.”

“Judge.” She nodded. “And I have you to thank for that.”

“Judge.” He nodded too and hugged her tighter. A muffled cry reached his chest. “But I will probably be away on work a lot from now on.”

“A-and?”

Mary sounded uneasy about being alone again, so he gave his response.

“So I need to make sure our class’s girls don’t rub off on you too much while I am gone.”

The Ariake passed through south Mikawa the following afternoon. Its path diverged with the Azuchi’s there.

They both continued observing each other for a while after that, but by the time they rounded the Kii Peninsula, the Azuchi activated its stealth and disappeared. By the time they passed through Osaka Bay the next day, they could not detect any readings from it at all.

And on the afternoon of the third day, the Ariake arrived at its destination in M.H.R.R. Protestant territory.

“Ha ha! I thought this would take you longer, so none of our preparations are complete. I’m still busy greeting the different nations, you see. You had better be ready to party by the time the event begins.”

They were greeted and joined by a Protestant fleet that relayed that message from Tomoe Gozen.

They completed their final preparations starting on the fourth day and the Ariake finally opened its diplomatic port on August 15.

The ship was located on the far east of M.H.R.R.’s Protestant territory. They had carefully adjusted their position so they were tucked just inside the provisional border of the region adjacent to Kyoto.

Fireworks burst in the sky first thing in the morning, the early morning preparatory period went by quickly, and the bell rang for 10 AM.

That loud, carrying tone indicated the beginning.

Guericke and Mishina Shouichi each raised a hand to announce the start of the Summer Exchange of Immaculate Morals in Manga Form.

Or Summer ImMoral Manga for short.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 53|Chapter 53]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 55|Chapter 55]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 53

2025-07-18T06:08:33Z

2600:1700:B6ED:7810:24FB:6457:30B4:8D38:

==Chapter 53: Advertisers in the Right-Angle Sky==
[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0739.jpg|thumb]]
''This is

''Another result

''I really didn’t want

'''Point Allocation (Collision)

Angie followed Yoshiaki’s decision.

They separated their brooms.

That decision was made in a split second, so the following course change also had to be instantaneous.

Their opponent was flying with their hands off the controls. And at reckless speed too. Or to sum it up…

…''Are you crazy!?

Angie separated just as Yoshiaki angled her broom to the west. It was a little rude, but they kicked off each other to rapidly move apart.

They split up.

Angie flew east and Yoshiaki west. At the moment of separation, almost all of their thrusters were pointed away from each other’s heading. Flying with gravitational control allowed them to forcibly break free of their momentum.

“Here goes!”

Angie took a nearly 90-degree turn.

She pressed her entire body against Schwarz Fürstin and let it carry her like a ball bouncing off a wall. And after that…

…''Fly!

She let the bouncing momentum carry her.

…''I bounced!

That was how Yoshiaki interpreted her heading.

The maneuver had worked out well. Her thrusters were attempting to push her Schale Besen forward. That was something of a problem, but her poor attempt at breaking free caused the tail end to drift forward instead.

To prevent that from getting worse, she adjusted her position to let the momentum pass through the front of the broom instead.

…''What did they do!?

Musashi’s Technohexen must have passed the point of no return by now, so they must have overshot the front line created by Yoshiaki and Angie.

That would mean Musashi had violated Azuchi’s inviolable airspace.

Politically, that was a bargaining chip. Martially, it gave them a reason to attack. Either way, she and Angie had set up a situation that worked against Musashi.

That was a job well done for them, so Yoshiaki checked on the Azuchi’s position and the Musashi Technohexen’s course while she flew westward. She used the ether sensor Magie Figur in front of her eyes.

“…Eh?”

She found a Schwarz Hexen flying alongside her to the north.

''Is that Angie?'' she wondered, but no. This Schwarz Hexen had golden hair and wings, which could only mean one thing.

“Musashi’s Schwarz Hexen!?”

Angie saw the Weiss Hexen flying alongside her at a distance of 30m. No, 25, 20, 18 – she was skidding closer through the air.

…''How is she so fast!? And how did she make that turn!?

She and Yoshiaki had blown past those two at Novgorod.

And those two didn’t fly using gravitational control.

Yet now they were keeping up.

No, she could see the Weiss Hexen’s Schale Besen vibrating wildly and occasionally bouncing through the air. She barely had it under control, so it was more like forcing the broom along than actually controlling it.

But she had still made up for her failure at Novgorod.

“But how?”

The speed Angie could understand. The Weiss Hexen had thrown in a bunch of acceleration spell charms. Enough that it could burn out the acceleration engine and make the entire broom explode if she wasn’t careful.

''But,'' thought Angie. ''How did she make that turn?

When she glanced back, she saw something along that line.

…''More of her!?

She could see several more of the Weiss Hexen’s Schale Besen lined up behind her.

No, they weren’t actually there.

The Weiss Hexen’s Schale Besen was leaving behind several afterimages. In fact…

“Hand-drawn afterimages!?”

Schale Besen diagrams drawn from Weiss Techno guidelines were being abandoned behind the Weiss Hexen.

…''Now I get it.

Angie understood what her opponent was doing.

“You couldn’t make that turn, so you forcibly bent your course! You used guidelines to draw out ''a picture of your broom'' to forcibly guide the broom itself!”

''I’m drawing up a storm today,'' thought Naruze.

She was using the same basic idea as drawing up a guideline for her bullets. She would draw several images of her Schale Besen’s movements like frames of a video to guide and assist the broom through maneuvers it couldn’t normally manage at this speed.

At 24 frames per second, she had enough inbetweening to interfere with the broom around every 4m even when it was moving at the speed of sound.

She was drawing up those frames for Margot and herself and storing them in their Schale Besens’ storage tanks.

The rest was up to them. And once they forced themselves along the guided path, they found…

“This really works!”

Naruze tossed a single Magie Figur into the air.

Margot did the same to the west.

These were not attack or defense spells.

“They’re an announcement – an advertisement.”

Their Magie Figurs grew to several meters across, displaying some text in the night sky.

The giant screens showed Naruze’s handwritten text and a stylized version of herself and Margot making an announcement.

'''<Ariake Summer Event Announcement: Authorized by the Far Eastern Printers History Recreation Committee>

'''<The Summer Exchange of Immaculate Morals in Manga Form begins on August 15>

As for the location…

'''<This year, the Ariake has been invited to join the M.H.R.R. Protestants at the home of the printing press.>

“Huh?”

Takenaka uttered a confused grunt when she saw the text on her telescope spell.

…''Wh-where is the Ariake going?

'''<To eastern M.H.R.R. Protestant territory.>

''Thanks for the direct response, but wait just a second,'' she thought. How were they going to do this, what kind of funny business had been going on behind the scenes, and who had given them authorization?

“Wait. The Ariake is moving to M.H.R.R. Protestant territory!?”

Takenaka opened a lernen figur atop the silenced Azuchi.

She needed to protest this immediately. She could act as a Testament Union representative and she could not let the Ariake move to M.H.R.R. as the site of an event based on the history of printing in the Far East.

…''That is not allowed.

She knew all too well what border they would be near in eastern Protestant territory.

“Kyou.”

''This is very bad!'' thought Takenaka.

She knew what Musashi was trying to do here.

They would move from eastern M.H.R.R. Protestant territory to Kyou. It was as simple as that.

So they would keep the Musashi inside the Ariake and travel to M.H.R.R. for this event.

She knew what their argument would be:

“Musashi can’t go to Kansai, but the Ariake can. But that’s really pushing it!”

They were taking it too far this time.

But it was still bad. She could not let them reach the Protestant principalities.

There was a rather large forested region between Kyou and M.H.R.R., so they were not direct neighbors. But they were close enough for something as large as the Musashi or Ariake.

This was bad. Kyou belonged to Hashiba just like M.H.R.R., but Akechi Mitsuhide was managing it to indicate that the Honnouji Incident had not yet occurred.

And even if Hashiba controlled M.H.R.R., the nation was split between Catholic and Protestant principalities for the Thirty Years’ War and the Protestants were within reach of the Kyoto region.

Of course, the Protestants would have no reason to invade Kyoto. They could even end up contacting the untouchable Imperial Palace and receive harsh opposition from the other nations that feared a return of the Harmonic Unification War.

Also, Akechi Mitsuhide was one of P.A. Oda’s Five Great Peaks. His forces weren’t especially powerful, but they were sufficient to manage a crucial city like Kyou.

Musashi, however, was a different story.

…''They’re definitely trying to use Akechi-san to intervene in Honnouji.

This would have been fine if the Musashi remained in Kantou. Even if some of Musashi’s forces attacked, they would have no way to withdraw or receive supplies and they wouldn’t have the attack power of that giant ship.

But this would give them the entire Ariake. The Ariake gave them supplies and defenses, not to mention the Musashi. It was the combination of those two ships that had brought down the Shirasagi Castle.

So Takenaka had to stop it. She had to protest and go over their heads, so she opened a lernen figur.

“I demand you-”

Her demand was cut short.

“Good evening! Ariake Representative Mishina Shouichi here!”

A new image appeared on the previous Magie Figur.

It depicted a middle-aged man in glasses and a white coat, but he had a vast space behind him.

That was the Musashi’s specialized dock within the Ariake, but it now contained many rows of tables and the docked Musashi itself was covered in decorations, ladders, and stairs to make it a part of the event venue.

Mishina gestured back toward it all.

“To really leave an impact on Europe this time, we’re holding a Musashi exhibition at the same time.”

Unno sat directly on the rooftop.

She honestly didn’t have it in her to watch the Azuchi traveling west through the southeastern sky.

The Ariake was traveling south as if following the Azuchi, but she couldn’t watch that either.

She was watching…

“This is…being sent everywhere, isn’t it?”

Kiyomasa was seated on the edge of the roof viewing her lernen figur. Unno was doing the same. And…

“Hey, Unno!”

The Terrestrial Dragons looked up from the forest in front of the schoolyard and even Torahide could be seen there. He skillfully rose from the waterway and rested his elbow on the edge of the roof, making sure not to damage the schoolyard.

“What do they mean the Ariake’s going to the M.H.R.R. Protestants!?”

“How should I know!? Go ask Mochizuki!”

“I am sorry, but not even I have that answer,” said Mochizuki via divine transmission. “Can they really do this?”

Someone actually answered her question.

Kiyomasa raised her hand and bowed her head toward Torahide.

“Um, I believe I understand their plan.”

“So you understand this? Out with it then.”

“Testament,” said Kiyomasa, displaying a map from Europe to Kantou on a lernen figur.

She drew a few red Xs on Europe.

“Europe was fighting the Thirty Years’ War before the break. The M.H.R.R. Protestants and Catholics in particular fought at Magdeburg and Nördlingen, not to mention with Hexagone Française. But there is one thing they have been neglecting.”

“You’re going to have to just come out and say it if you want me to understand,” said Unno.

“Ha ha! That’s how we know you’re stupid!”

She swung up her right fist, making Torahide stagger back, but he returned soon enough. ''Damn, he’s getting used to this. I’ll use my fan sword next time,'' she decided while Kiyomasa smiled over at them.

Kiyomasa erased that smile and cleared her throat.

“Basically, they have had a hard time with cultural events. When cities are at war, they are in no position for cultural activity and all of their development and industry is used for war. So M.H.R.R. has fallen behind in a few areas. One of those is…” Kiyomasa checked M.H.R.R.’s interior treasury data. “The printing industry.”

Kiyomasa tapped northern M.H.R.R. on her lernen figur map, adding a blue marker there.

“Once the printing press developed by Gutenberg is mass-produced, it is used to print the Bible – especially for Protestant versions of the Bible and other Protestant texts. Later on, the Catholics and other Protestant sects begin printing Bibles in English. This becomes an important source of trade and each nation works to establish their own printing technology, but at this point, the Protestant printing guild and others are beginning to alter their religious rules to allow printing as a form of business while the other nations hire the M.H.R.R. Protestants to print the things they are unable to print at home.”

“Oh, is that why the M.H.R.R. Protestants seem to know so much about those drawings of us, or whatever they are?”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa. “But recently, the M.H.R.R. Protestants have been caught up in the war and unable to utilize their printing industry. The large presses capable of trading with other nations are doing okay, but the smaller presses that only do domestic business are having a hard time.”

“Do you mean…?” asked Unno.

“As things are, the Ariake cannot hold its event,” said Kiyomasa. “The event is based on a recreation of the Far East’s printing history, but it is held under the other nations’ provisional rule because letting the Far East do it would mean granting those rights to the Far East. M.H.R.R. is primarily in charge thanks to their superiority with the printing press. The Far East has a close connection to M.H.R.R. through printing, but what happens if M.H.R.R. is unable to print anything?”

“The Ariake will travel to M.H.R.R. and relieve the stress on their printing industry?”

“Testament. That reduces the transport time for print products between M.H.R.R.’s Protestant territory and the Ariake. The Ariake can also join with their printing guild to help take on some of the work. That will allow the M.H.R.R. Protestants to complete their history recreation without issue.”

“Wait,” called a deep voice. It was Torahide, tilting his head toward Kiyomasa. “How can the Far East do print work for them?”

“Testament. The truth is, the Far East has long been a leader when it comes to printing. The Testament tells us the world’s oldest printed works were from the Far East in the 8th century. Woodblock printing has been common there since the Heian period and all sorts of books were printed at the shrines and temples. And by the Warring States period, they had even begun letterpress printing.”

“Really? I thought everything was all done by hand, like with sutra copying, so I assumed Far Eastern books just copied everyone else’s tech.”

“I thought so too, but I’m going to call you an idiot anyway,” said Unno. “Idiot.”

“Take that back!”

“Um…sutra copying is a type of training, not a form of printing.”

Seeing the dragon’s large head and Unno both nod in fascination made Kiyomasa kind of happy. But…

“Why does this foreign girl know more about Far Eastern culture than me?” asked Unno.

“I never expected to be learning so much here after living such a long life,” added Torahide.

Kiyomasa was forced to try and smooth things over with a bitter smile.

And she had something else to mention to help them understand the current situation.

“International history recreations are banned during the break, but this will be done under the M.H.R.R. Protestants’ authority. It comes from their right to manage Far Eastern printing, so it will qualify as a purely domestic matter as long as they follow the academy rules.”

Kiyomasa realized something here.

…''My explanation makes it sound like I’m taking Musashi’s side.

That was a problem, but this was Sanada and they were already pro-Musashi. So…

“What’s so amusing?”

Had they noticed?

She realized a calmness had set in within her.

…''Fukushima-sama.

This was a very strange place and the Azuchi, their headquarters, was leaving. She still had her underclassmen with her, but she was the only member of the Ten Spears here.

''But,'' she thought. ''If I find Musashi’s strategy amusing…

“I feel like I’ve managed to take an objective view of this.”

Even now, she still couldn’t forget about Fukushima. But instead of being an unpleasant feeling, she suddenly found she could carry it with her more easily.

She still could not look directly at her feelings and did not know how to interpret them, but she felt like she could hold onto her feelings regarding Fukushima and carry them with her.

Meanwhile, the Ariake had started to turn west, as if to follow after the Azuchi.

“This should cause a major political change.”

“That about sums it up. We look forward to seeing all our kindred spirits in Europe!”

After that last comment in Mishina’s voice, Konishi saw her sign frame disappear.

The Magie Figur in the sky also disappeared, leaving only the Ariake there in the northern sky.

An ad sign frame saying “Begins August 15!” had appeared on its upper armor.

“So the event lasts until the 17th, but the printing exhibition and negotiations continue until the 25th. And the Musashi’s exhibition and mercenary negotiations with Europe continue until the 31st. They aren’t holding back, are they?”

'''Nine Horns:''' “Konishi-kun, what do you think about their announcement just now?”

'''Koniko:''' “The Protestants did this on their own. But do you really think they’ll quit just because the Catholics tell them to? If anything, they’ll be happy to have more reasons to fight. I mean, they’ll have the Musashi with them. They would love for the Catholics to pick a fight with them while such a powerful ship is visiting.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “So, Konishi-kun, I would love to hear how you think Europe will respond.”

''You already know that,'' thought Konishi with a glare.

''I can’t stand Takenaka. Well, I don’t dislike her, but I don’t like having to work with her.

…''The risk is way too high.

You could learn a lot from Takenaka and she would provide a lot of food for thought, but she had a tendency of going too far and starting on her high damage, high return thing. Konishi was only interested in doing business and increasing her profits, so she could not accept that as an end point.

But Takenaka seemed to know that, which actually made her come to Konishi more casually.

''I wish I could be that mature,'' she thought while answering the question.

'''Koniko:''' “I have the inherited name of a Catholic daimyo, right? That gives me more of a connection to Europe. So let’s say the Ariake enters the Protestant principalities in late August. The European nations will probably all move to support that.”

“After all,” she said.

'''Koniko:''' “This event is an exhibit and exchange of printed works and printing technology. But it also gives people from different nations a chance to gather in the same place. They can’t hold international meetings during the break, but this allows them to exchange information. Which matters a lot with such an important event approaching: the Honnouji Incident.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “This is going to be trouble, isn’t it?”

She knew exactly how to phrase it.

'''Koniko:''' “We’re looking at high damage, so how are you going to turn that into a high return? I don’t have a solution to this one, but you know how to do it, don’t you?”

In other words…

'''Koniko:''' “You need to complete the Honnouji Incident…and pave the way to the completion of the Genesis Project.”

“Now we wait and see how this turns out.”

Inside the Ariake, Christina watched Mishina Shouichi descend from the stage on the bow before she turned to see the Musashi Vice President sigh.

They were on Musashino’s bow deck.

Festival stands and stages were being set up there, so she could guess this place would look like a small fortress by the time they arrived in the M.H.R.R. Protestant principality on the 15th.

…''They seem well accustomed to this work.

As far as she could see, the large dock had been divided into several blocks with the Musashi acting as a wall. The area by the bow would be used to exhibit and introduce the printing technology to the other nations while most everything else would be used to sell printed works.

She knew this event was only possible for the Far East, where printing was common, and for the M.H.R.R. Protestants, who managed that printing, but…

“I never imagined you would send the Musashi to Kansai inside the Ariake.”

“This is why I made sure we could enter the Ariake during out negotiations with Takenaka.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Christina. “As long as the Azuchi couldn’t move, the Musashi was effectively being watched by them.”

They had needed to prepare the Ariake for this, but they also couldn’t have Hashiba catching on.

So Musashi had visited the Kantou nations, pretending they were only solidifying their position in Kantou.

“So you entered the Ariake 10 days before the Azuchi’s departure.”

“Their attention would have been on the Musashi flying around outside, but the Ariake was what really mattered. We might have some P.A. Oda people on the Musashi, so we went out and gathered attention while the preparations were made inside the Ariake. We made sure we remained inside the Ariake for as short a time as possible.”

That had led to the current situation.

“I’m sure the Azuchi receives information on the Ariake’s actions as well, but the people in charge on the Ariake aren’t stupid. They made sure the information that really mattered didn’t make it out. I almost feel bad doing this to the Azuchi, but they’re going to be leading the Ariake as far as Mikawa.”

“That is kind of mean.” Christina smiled bitterly. “But this allows the Musashi to return to Kansai, doesn’t it?”

“Technically, it’s the Ariake doing it and only to M.H.R.R. Protestant territory. It’s all in the name of assisting a Protestant history recreation. …Of course, this will ‘just so happen’ to bring us within a stone’s throw of Kyou.”

“You have a plan for what to do then, don’t you?” asked Christina.

The Musashi Vice President’s eyebrows rose slightly at that. And…

“I’m glad to see you understand how this is going to work. The Ariake’s event itself ends on the 17th, the printing negotiations and negotiations with the Protestants end on the 25th, and the Ariake returns to Kantou on the 26th. But…”

''Here it comes,'' thought Christina, so she went ahead and gave the answer herself.

“The Musashi will remain in Protestant territory after the 26th. My guess is you will claim to be negotiating for mercenary work related to the Thirty Years’ War.”

Because…

“The break will be ending soon, so if you are going to establish a mercenary contract and fight after the break, returning to Kantou would be a waste of time, especially when the break would be over by the time you got back anyway.”

Returning to Kantou would have been a valid option if they could predict the Honnouji Incident would be happening well after the break, such as in October. Then they could wait until after the break to arrive in Kansai for trade and to negotiate a mercenary contract with a European nation.

But Honnouji would probably be happening sooner. Christina expected it to happen within a week of the break ending.

Musashi needed supplies to function, so they would need to negotiate with the other nations. Taking that preparation into account, they would never arrive in time if they only got to work after the break ended.

They had to act now. And with that in mind…

“You planned this out well in advance.”

“Don’t get upset if my predictions don’t pan out.”

“I have recently learned that failed predictions can be enjoyable too.”

Meanwhile, Christina looked down to see Tadaoki and some other students constructing a stage on the dock below.

Christina watched as Tadaoki worked alongside some Musashi students. They looked to be middle school kids. This appeared to be a cooperative effort between the different schools, so a newcomer like Tadaoki could fit in just fine. But then…

“Hey, Nagabuto!”

A Weiss and Schwarz Hexen descended from the bow to some cheers from the girls.

The Schwarz Hexen waved appreciatively to the underclassmen and the Weiss Hexen…

“Here, this is yours.”

She placed a manga on Tadaoki’s head.

''What could that be?'' wondered Christina as he grabbed it and flipped through it.

“What the-!? This is porn!”

“I said it was yours, didn’t I?”

The weirdly cheerful Weiss Hexen ascended again with the students calling out to her. The two Technohexen soon vanished into the air above Okutama.

Below, Christina saw Tadaoki roll up the manga and tuck it into the side of his workpants.

…''My, my.

“What are you going to do about that? You have some questions, don’t you?”

The Musashi Vice President glared at her with her lips pursed, but she chose to ignore it.

“How am I supposed to ignore this!?”

Terumasa watched it all from the stern of his leading transport ship.

The Azuchi was following after him and the even bigger Ariake was following after it.

“Now it looks like I’m leading everyone…”

“To Mikawa-kawa-kawa?”

“Yeah,” sighed Terumasa.

…''If the Azuchi is on its way to the Lake Biwa Azuchi, then it should turn north after passing through Mikawa.

Its path would split from the Ariake’s there. The Ariake itself would presumably continue along the coast to Osaka Bay and then turn toward M.H.R.R. Protestant territory, but…

“Yeah, this really bothers me.”

The Azuchi had ordered him to just watch, but he could tell they had all of their cannons turned aft.

…''Talk about dangerous.

He knew that Takenaka, Hashiba’s staff officer, had the Urban Name of High Damage, High Return. The exciting stories he had heard about their attack on Hexagone Française told him the name was well deserved.

And at the moment, she was choosing not to act.

“Does that mean we’re in the high damage phase?”

Then she would not stop that damage. She would keep taking it until she could convert it into a high return.

…''Which means the next battle is already starting.

Hashiba most likely viewed Musashi as their enemy. If they were going to take this high damage, they would definitely make sure they earned a high return next time.

“Musashi is in serious trouble if they let their guard down next time.”

“Next time-time-time-time?”

“Testament,” he replied while viewing the eastern sky.

He could see the white Ariake past the black Azuchi.

They were traveling to Kansai with the enemy. ''But,'' he thought.

“Can the Musashi return to Kantou after this?”

“Okay, this is goodbye to Kantou for now.”

Mitotsudaira stretched a bit in front of the Main Blue Thunder.

The night sky on the Musashi was usually either dark blue or the white of the stealth barrier.

But for the first time in a while, it was replaced by the Ariake’s ceiling and lights. The lights were dimmed at night, but as a nonhuman, she found the lack of a true night interesting.

…''It might be fun to invite my king and the others to go see the construction work.

“Anyway, there is a lot the Ariake handles for us now. So…”

“Testament. We’ve finally returned, haven’t we?” Horizon stepped forward and placed her hand on the Main Blue Thunder’s door. “Ooooooooopen!! Seeeeeeesameeeeeee!”

“Um, Horizon? Our divine protection lock scans our faces like normal, so you don’t have to do that.”

“And Sis and I are right behind you.”

''Also true,'' thought Mitotsudaira, but then the door opened on its own.

''Eh?'' she thought when she noticed no one on the other side.

“Ho ho.” Horizon nodded once. “So it opens at my command, does it? A well-made door indeed.”

Mitotsudaira decide to pretend she hadn’t seen Horizon’s right arm emerging from within and reattaching to her shoulder.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 52|Chapter 52]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 54|Chapter 54]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 52

2025-07-17T05:38:37Z

2600:1700:B6ED:7810:24FB:6457:30B4:8D38:

==Chapter 52: Chatters at a Set Distance==
[[Image:Horizon_8B_p0709.jpg|thumb]]
''Ohhh?

''What’s that?

''Yeah, it’s the Ariake

''I knew that

'''Point Allocation (Drunk)

Unno saw a smile on Kiyomasa’s mouth with the red light of the Double Border Crest behind her.

But that was not a smile of happiness, self-deprecation, or bitterness.

Unno could only describe it as a daring smile.

But this was a pressing situation. The effects of the Double Border Crest were known in Sanada. It swallowed people up, vanishing them.

Unno had never visited it herself, but Matsudaira Nobuyasu’s laboratory was located deep in the ruins guarded by the Celestial Dragons. She had heard the Double Border Crest had once appeared there and taking Lord Nobuyasu away. After going to investigate, the current Sasuke and Saizou had said its shape remained there.

…''But what is it doing behind her!?

Puzzled, Unno opened a sign frame. As the shrine maiden of the Yamaga Shrine, she was technically Sanada’s Shinto representative. She didn’t know much about the Double Border Crest, but she knew it would take a spell field or defense spell to resist it.

She chose a few spells and started to activate them, but she saw Kiyomasa take action before she could.

The girl placed her raised index finger in front of her mouth.

It was an obvious shushing gesture.

Unno did not know what she should do, but she decided to obey Kiyoma’s instructions and stopped what she was doing.

She went silent, the standard choice for a ninja.

She crouched low and made sure she could spring to action at a moment’s notice, but she held her breath and waited. And…

“––––––”

The light behind Kiyomasa wavered. It tilted to the right as if searching for something, but then…

…''It disappeared?

The light scattered away, as if it were rolling up from right to left.

Finally, it fully vanished, like it had burned itself out.

Nothing at all remained.

But Unno did not dare resume breathing as she looked to Kiyomasa.

She saw Kiyomasa slowly exhale before clenching her fists near her hips and finally smiling over at Unno.

“Looks like it didn’t notice.”

“What was that? …Let me guess, you can’t tell me?”

“It appears to be extra sensitive at the moment, which makes sense given the location. This is dangerous with those kids down there, so I need to be more careful.”

Unno knew what Kiyomasa was trying to say. But…

…''That’s insane.

After all, she was implicitly saying the Double Border Crest was monitoring her.

And she had said it had some connection to this land.

What did that mean? Saying it out loud would likely get her caught.

Unno held her right palm out.

“Tell me to stop the instant things get too dangerous.”

“Testament. What do you want to know?”

“Testament,” she replied. “Do all of the Ten Spears have this…issue?”

“Eight of us. And our superiors know about it.”

''That’s most of them,'' thought Unno. ''And I’ll bet it’s the eight that we fought.

But Unno had another question.

“Why did it appear here?”

“It’s just extra sensitive here. And, well…it is already summer break.”

That wasn’t much of an explanation. What did summer break have to do with it? Could they reveal their secrets at some point during the break?

But whether she was lying or not, it was clear she couldn’t say much about this topic.

“I thought there was more to your group than met the eye and it looks like I was right.”

“I hope this will help you understand what we are doing during the break.”

Just as Kiyomasa responded, Unno saw some light behind her.

…''Not again.

But this light was white, not red.

Kiyomasa checked her lernen figur and then turned around.

“Oh, the Azuchi is leaving.”

Terumasa felt the night breeze and heard a rumbling in the sky behind him.

He was on a transport ship en route to Mikawa.

After reporting on his progress during the day, the warriors had picked him up and thrown him into a wine barrel where he had passed out until earlier.

Once he woke up, he found they had used a portion of the deck to hold a carnival to celebrate the Azuchi’s repairs. ''But I was passed out for the whole thing. There’s a bunch of bones and dirty plates everywhere, but please tell me they didn’t eat all the food without me. Um, um, excuse me!

At any rate, it looked like the party had continued with its star unconscious.

So he had left on a ship to Mikawa to start on his work there as soon as possible.

But traveling to Mikawa now meant…

“I end up leading the way as the Azuchi returns to Kansai!”

He could see the Azuchi turning in the night sky behind his ship. The scale could be confusing with such a massive object, but it wasn’t actually moving yet. It was only turning its bow his way.

But even that gave the illusion that the front of the ship was going to reach him out here.

It was truly enormous. And…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Okay, Ikeda-kun, your ship is going to lead the Azuchi until Mikawa. You think you can handle that?”

'''IT:''' “Um, Testament! You can count on me!”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Of course, it’s night and we’ll be traveling past the coast, so I doubt any other nations will try to attack. But if they do, you should be able to detect them with…Osakabe-hime, is it?”

He now felt like he had placed himself in an extremely risky situation.

Then a white figure rolled out into the empty air from his neck hard point part.

Osakabe-hime quickly regained her ordinary form.

“Are we going to Shirasagi Castle-astle-astle-astle-astle-astle-astle?”

“After we go to Mikawa. My people are still repairing it, so it should have come together a lot more than when we left.”

“So it will be fixed-ixed-ixed-ixed-ixed?”

“More than it was before. I bet we’ll have the central ship afloat by the time the break ends. I learned a lot from repairing the Azuchi.”

“Then let’s go. To Mikawa-kawa-kawa.”

“Wait, you actually understood that?”

Osakabe-hime walked toward the bow and pointed far to the west.

“That feels weird-eird¬-eird-eird.”

Osakabe-hime was an aerial ship control system, so she could sense ley line currents and such, at least to an extent. Had she already sensed something odd at Mikawa?

“It’s pulling-ulling-ulling us forward-orward-orward.”

“Is it?”

“It is-is-is,” she replied, looking back at him with her hands on the bow’s edge.

“What will we do there-ere-ere-ere?”

“I’ll be checking over anything salvageable after the destruction of Mikawa…which you probably aren’t familiar with. And I’ll be checking for any classified information that might be left over. New Nagoya Castle was something of a black box after all. Also…”

He crossed his arms and gestured behind him with his chin.

Multiple rows of long barrels were set up on the deck.

They were connected to a metal and wood base and installed with torii-style lernen figur devices.

“Know what those are?”

“Souls-ouls-ouls-ouls?”

''Thought you might,'' he thought.

“Correct. You were probably created in one of these.” He gestured again at the devices lined up behind him. “We’ll be using these to salvage automaton ‘souls’. Feeling nostalgic?”

Terumasa saw Osakabe-hime approach him.

She walked right past him and approached the devices behind him. These extraction devices had taken the form of long barrels in order to reduce their weight and complexity, but some would have ether tuning containers and the top-of-the-line extractors were made of glass so you could see inside them.

Osakabe-hime tapped at one of the 2m-tall barrels several times.

“Empty-ty-ty-ty.”

“They don’t even have the extraction Orei Nero in them yet.”

“Are they for Mikawa-kawa-kawa? Are the souls there-ere-ere?”

“Probably, yeah.” ''Will she even understand this?'' Terumasa wondered while she looked at him. “The idea is simple. Mikawa was destroyed by a massive ether explosion. Anything caught in that blast would have had its mold destroyed, causing it to scatter.” He returned her gaze. “But even if the mold is destroyed and the object itself is annihilated, if it was created from an ether fluctuation, its composite parts will ultimately return to the ley lines. And the ley lines don’t flatten everything out right away. Mikawa’s ley lines still haven’t stabilized because they want to annihilate everything and get it all under control, but the heat…is that really the right word? Well, the ‘whatever’ it had while they still had molds has become idiosyncrasies in the ley lines which are fighting back and refusing to disappear. That’s what’s causing all the mysterious phenomena around there.”

And…

“There’s some pain-in-the-rear beings there.”

“What are they-ey-ey-ey?” asked Osakabe-hime.

Terumasa pointed at her.

“Beings like you. Automatons and the like have relatively little cohesion between their soul and their body.”

An automaton’s body and soul were separate things. That was true for humans as well, but the two were far more divisible with automatons. And an automaton’s soul was unique.

“Their souls are a lot like a Tsukumogami. The ley lines gradually gather in the mold for their soul until a soul finally forms. We call the thing the soul resides in their ‘core’, but the gathered soul itself refuses to go away even if the core or mold is destroyed. It wanders in search of a new home while it gradually fades away.”

So…

“Mikawa should be full of fading automaton souls that have lost their core and mold but are still wandering around. There might be some that remain fully intact after having their core or entire body blown away in the blast, or some might have protected their core with a defensive divine protection. If we can salvage any of those, then Mikawa’s automatons can start working for P.A. Oda. And if they still have any of their memories, we might be able to dig up some secret information about what was going on inside New Nagoya Castle at the time. …So as you can see, the automaton souls are pretty important.”

“No people-eople-eople?”

“For people, it depends on their regrets.” He tilted his head at her. “Do you actually understand what I’m talking about here?”

“I will remember it-it-it-it. I can check it later-ater-ater.”

''Oh,'' thought Terumasa. ''That’s right. Her memory storage and format are based on the Shirasagi Castle. When she learns a new piece of data, she gives it a priority, stores it, and waits until she can understand it. Then it changes from “data” to “knowledge”.

“In that case,” he said. “There are rare cases of someone having their soul sent inside an automaton body, but their soul is only residing in the automaton’s mold. Without that, it would disappear pretty quickly. Well, unless it had fused with the automaton’s soul, I guess.”

''Didn’t they try to disintegrate that automaton princess at the Battle of Mikawa? It’s true a human soul couldn’t survive that process. I bet even an automaton would need some regrets to retake their original form after that.

…''But the disintegration field would at least need both poles.

''In that sense, simple annihilation is more efficient, since it can cause largescale destruction with just the one pole,'' thought Terumasa with a hand on his chin.

…''Wait. Was that a really engineer-y thing to think?

Annihilation, reformatting by overwriting everything with a powerful mold, and other salvage theories were the foundation of his ether repair techniques.

Anyone who had studied religion and ether techniques would be able to understand and come up with these ideas. An expert at repairs would naturally be an expert at understanding and combatting destruction.

“My repairs should be so much easier once Osakabe-hime understands all this.”

“I will learn-earn-earn-earn.”

''Glad to hear it,'' he thought.

“…!?”

Osakabe-hime suddenly looked to the north.

Terumasa could only see the night sky, but he knew what was there: The Musashi. No, in this case…

“The Ariake. …Is the Musashi leaving!?”

Koroku stood out on the Azuchi’s starboard deck with the Genbu.

Being out in the open would make her visible to the Ariake, but she had decided they needed defenses beyond their defense barrier in case a high-speed attack flew in.

She had to make sure they were fine no matter what might happen. With Fukushima and Kiyomasa gone, she was the only one capable of fighting on that level.

…''Well, Yoshiaki and Angie are out too, I guess.

Angie had been out on patrol, but now she was up in the sky to the Azuchi’s starboard side. Yoshiaki had been woken up to head back out to join Angie. And Koroku could just imagine Yoshiaki calmly complaining about it.

Koroku faced forward to see a massive white shape on her lernen figur.

That was the Ariake.

It was even larger than the Musashi, so simple movement caused a largescale atmospheric disturbance, surrounding it with foggy white clouds.

She viewed it using the assistance of the Azuchi’s image processing.

The combat records said it was only equipped for defense. In a battle, it would focus on largescale defense barriers and activating its stealth mode.

But the Musashi was another story.

The Musashi would have sent out god of war snipers as mobile gun emplacements and opening the upper armor would allow the Musashi to fire while using the Ariake’s side armor for cover. Also…

…''Satomi and Mogami are down below.

The Azuchi was traveling west from the southern end of the Bousou Peninsula. That would mean exposing their lower starboard side to Satomi.

How far along were the repairs to Satomi Yoshiyasu and Masaki Tokishige’s gods of war?

And Mogami’s Yamagata Castle had to still have its cannons aimed their way.

“What a pain.”

They had no idea when an attack might begin. Koroku had brought the Genbu to the starboard deck to defend against the Musashi, but it may have been better to board a transport ship and move below the Azuchi.

She was uncertain, but…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “The Azuchi will continue west in normal cruising mode. Ikeda’s ship is searching for enemies out ahead, so we should be able to follow along at his pace.”

Meanwhile, the Azuchi approached the end of its turn.

Even with gravitational control, a ship that size took some time to stop turning. So…

'''Azuchi:''' “We will begin forward as we turn. I have determined that should make it more difficult to hit us for a potential attacker below. Over.”

The Azuchi started forward.

Koroku kept a cautious eye on their surroundings while she nodded.

“Farewell, Kantou.”

The Azuchi was on the move.

Spray splashed from its virtual ocean and it left a trail of mist in the summer night. Its great size pushed at the wind, creating a roar of pressure. The points of its armor glowed with St. Elmo’s fire and the Tsirhc students crossed themselves.

The Azuchi took its final flight path while it flew forward.

It felt like the ship’s trajectory had drifted about 200m northward so it had to be corrected westward.

And it flew.

The people up on the deck, in the dining hall, and in the corridors spoke quietly and cautiously.

They were moving again after 10 days of nothing. In the dining hall, people raised their hurriedly prepared wooden mugs of alcohol and their glasses of nonalcoholic arak.

“Can’t really blame them.”

“Testament. We really can’t.”

“Our castle is finally on the move again.”

They had lost a battle here. They had collected all their people and towed in all their transport ships, so now the Azuchi was flying into the west.

Up on the deck, everyone clapped their hands together, leaned over the edge, and viewed the sky, earth, and sea.

Everything was moonlit shades of bluish-black with the occasional collection of lights. They faced Kantou, which was only visible as a coastline and bright towns.

“This is goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Kantou. Goodbye Satomi, Musashi, and all the rest.”

“Yeah, goodbye. I honestly liked all those Satomi people.”

“So did I,” someone said. “This place feels like the middle of nowhere compared to Osaka or Kyou, but that’s why even the kids went home and helped out their family after school.”

“Between work, meals, and getting to bed, their families were always so busy from morning to night.”

“Yeah, it was a nice place.”

“In that case,” said a deep voice coming form the first of the transport ships being towed.

A demon with a prosthetic arm stood in the moonlight there.

“General Kuki.”

They all raised their voices and Kuki raised his wooden mug.

“A toast, everyone.”

“To what? Our health? Our eventual victory? Or to peace and love?” asked Magoichi seated next to him.

“To the advancement of history, Suzuki-kun,” replied Kuki. “Historically, this was something only we could do.”

And…

“A toast to say goodbye!”

“Goodbye,” said Konishi, listening to Kuki from the starboard ships being towed. “Goodbye, Kantou.”

But she had more to say.

“I doubt I’ll be back until after the Genesis Project.”

She laughed and downed her drink.

“We will end everything but not let it end. Of course, I’ll probably have to do Sekigahara before that. I might end up executed along with that Ankokuji guy.”

“Don’t say that,” said a nearby girl. “We love how you treat us to meals when we lose a battle!”

“You make it sound like you never get anything to eat.” Konishi smiled bitterly. And, “Besides, the next one treating you will be Kuki-kun, not me. You’ll have the perfect justification to take him for all he’s worth.”

Before she could say anything more, Konishi noted an oddity in the northern sky.

…''Huh?

The Ariake was there, surrounded by white fog.

The Musashi was supposed to be leaving there soon. Supposed to be.

But it wasn’t. The Ariake blew the white fog away as it moved on its own. In other words…

“Hey, quiet down, all of you!”

The Ariake was flying south. It was accelerating with the Musashi still inside it.

“The Ariake’s headed this way!”

Yoshiaki and Angie made their decision in a split second.

As soon as waves of fog rose from the Ariake’s east and west sides, they concluded it was moving south.

…''But why?

Yoshiaki set her questions aside and took action. She first switched Weiss Fürstin to its acceleration-focused normal mode.

“Angie!”

“Got it!”

Angie had made the same decision. But Yoshiaki didn’t even confirm that. She trusted it to be the case as she soared toward the northern sky.

Her acceleration seemed to throw her forward as she rapidly shifted up gears.

Their destination was the Ariake high in the northern sky.

It was about 150km away. That might seem like a lot, but break the sound barrier and it was just over a 6 minute trip. And they would arrive even sooner since the Ariake was traveling south.

…''We need to hurry.

This was not just a scouting trip. They were either doing some aggressive recon or sending a warning. The enemy might even be attacking, so they had to make the first strike.

''Fine, then,'' thought Yoshiaki. She was prepared to do what it took and either preventing or starting a full-on battle here felt like a decent job for a Techno Hexen.

First, they had to figure out what was going on here, so she accelerated further.

“Angie!”

She shouted the Schwarz Hexen’s name and immediately saw a black shape dive down below her.

That was Angie. She was flying upside down without even looking Yoshiaki’s way. Past her Schale Besen, Schwarz Fürstin, she was staring intently to the north.

But she did do something else. Angie spread her arms, just like Yoshiaki did. And…

“Weiss Fürstin, Schwarz Fürstin. Enter combined form.”

Their Schale Besens split into left and right halves.

Weiss Fürstin and Schwarz Fürstin were both just a collection of gravitational thruster panels held together with gravitational control. They were weapons designed to accelerate but also to transform for whatever task they might face.

Presently, they came apart like two towers they held in their hands.

The rest was simple.

“Hold still, Angie.”

“Don’t tense up, Kime-chan.”

Yoshiaki could feel herself smiling as they embraced each other with their acceleration towers in hand.

Once their arms intersected, the twin thruster towers also intersected and rapidly exchanged data. Once the embrace was complete, the towers in their hands recombined.

“Nh.”

To secure them, gravity latches attached to the back of her Techno Hexen outfit’s hard point parts – both shoulders, both sides, and both hips. Then the front of those hard point parts attached to Angie’s.

“Are you ready, Kime-chan?”

“Whenever you are, Angie.”

A Magie Figur displayed the progress of the combination in illustrated form, showing them entering high-speed flight mode. From there, their power systems combined and they blasted their way through the air resistance.

“Okay.”

The nose of the craft fixed into place over their heads, using what had originally been the broom handles. All of the parts were fixed in place by gravitational control and they gave a light flap to confirm it was all solid.

Several metallic noises rang out.

Ether light scattered through the sky to indicate the combination was complete. So…

“Zwei Fürstin – combination complete!”

The acceleration seemed to kick them forward as they rapidly closed in on the Ariake.

Angie provided assistance while embracing Yoshiaki.

Several Magie Figurs had opened about 5cm in front of her eyes. They provided information on power output, form control, and secondary weapon power control.

…''My focus won’t last if we keep this up for too long.

She used the movement and intensity of her gaze to operate the Magie Figurs.

She noticed an ether reading on the enemy scanner.

“Is that the Ariake?” asked Yoshiaki without even looking Angie’s way.

Angie shook her head with her chin pressed into Yoshiaki’s chest. ''Ohh, my chin is completely buried,'' she thought.

“If that ether reading isn’t the Ariake, then it must be them,” said Yoshiaki with a bitter smile.

“Testament. They’re coming too.”

The Magie Figur showed a line traveling south with nearly the same speed as them.

That was not a projectile. And it technically wasn’t a single craft either. They knew exactly what was accelerating rapidly toward them.

“Zwei Fräulein’s combined form is heading straight for us!”

Their opponent was approaching fast.

Angie felt an intense heat rising from near her collarbones to her cheeks.

…''Wow.

“Isn’t this exciting, Kime-chan!?”

“It is. Last time, we passed them in something like a surprise attack and we won with ease. But,” she added while viewing the Magie Figurs displayed in front of her own eyes. “Their acceleration here is absurd. Those are supposed to be the same Schale Besens as at Novgorod, but they’re nearly matching our speed.”

''How did they manage that?'' wondered Angie, but at the same time…

“What does it matter, Kime-chan?”

After all…

“What happened at Novgorod must have motivated them to do this.”

“You’re right.” Yoshiaki let out a breath that could have been a sigh or a laugh. “Why did we have to make this even harder for ourselves?”

A few different Magie Figurs glowed in front of Yoshiaki’s eyes. And while embracing Angie, she grabbed Weiss Fürstin behind Angie’s back to operate it like she was playing a string instrument.

“Let’s do this.”

They accelerated. If their opponent was matching their speed, they just had to show they could fly even faster.

“Let’s do this!”

…''Wow, that is nasty!

That was Naito’s assessment while operating Zwei Fräulein in high acceleration form.

They were already at the top speed of their combined form, which had them well past the top speed Zwei Fräulein was designed for.

“Margot!” shouted Naruze, opening a Magie Figur over Naito’s shoulder and redrawing its contents with her pen.

“I can handle it!”

She appreciated Naruze’s assistance, so it put a smile on her lips.

“Then let’s take it even further!”

Their acceleration was already pushing well past its limit.

They had prepared a ridiculous amount of acceleration Technomagie charms which were being poured into Schwarz Fräulein and Weiss Fräulein’s thrusters.

Weiss Fräulein used cumulative acceleration and Schwarz Fräulein used repulsion acceleration.

They had prepared tons of both type and were sending them straight from the carton into the thrusters’ fuel systems.

Instead of a standard carton, they were using ammo magazines attached to their hips. The guidelines drawn out by Naruze accurately sent the charms into the fuel systems.

Of course, they had been forced to hastily make these modifications after the Schale Besens were summoned, so the craftmanship wasn’t perfect. But Naomasa had looked over their plans and made an attachment to help keep it all airtight for them.

“If we break them like this and Edel Brocken finds out, they might take them away,” said Naito.

“Knowing Edel Brocken, they’ll be ecstatic and demand we send them all the data on it,” replied Naruze, still working her pen behind Naito’s back.

She was drawing out the acceleration spell guidelines and a full picture of Zwei Fräulein’s combined form.

The latter was especially important right now. That picture was made from her Weiss Hexen guidelines, which were transferred from the Magie Figur to Zwei Fräulein itself, strengthening the entire craft.

It felt a lot like making Zwei Fräulein stick together better. That may have been because the guidelines connected and strengthened all the components.

But the way she was working her hands really tickled Naito’s wings. Naito looked back to see if she was doing it on purpose, but…

“Margot! We’ve entered their ether detection range!”

…''You’re super focused, Ga-chan.

''Yeah, sorry. I’m super sorry I got a little turned on there. I guess supersonic sex isn’t really a thing, huh? Yeah, I guess not.'' So…

“Time to push our acceleration way past the limit!”

Takenaka realized the Technohexen had set up a challenge for each other.

She walked out onto the roof of the bridge on the Azuchi’s rear central ship where she could see their acceleration lights like two stars to the north.

She could see Zwei Fürstin flying away and Musashi’s Technohexen approaching.

…''They both consider this the front line, don’t they?

Her ether detection lernen figur told her both sides had taken a direct collision course. It was unclear which side had started it, but they had set up a game of chicken here.

'''The Boy:''' “Takenaka-sama, what is this?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Testament. They are daring each other to cross the front line.”

The rules were simple.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “They both form the front line for the Azuchi and the Musashi. They act as the boundary to each side’s airspace. But if they keep this up, they will collide.”

'''The Boy:''' “So one or the other will break away?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Correct. If they break away and turn back, that will determine where the front line lies. If the other one does not break away and keeps going, they will have crossed that front line, so pursuing them becomes fair game.”

“Then,” said Katagiri.

'''The Boy:''' “Would it be best to have Yoshiaki-san and Wakisaka-san break away and turn back at some point and then lure the enemy in?”

'''6:''' “Not an option.”

Koroku’s sudden comment made Takenaka smile bitterly. The girl understood this well. Because…

'''6:''' “If we let them fly in, they’ll make an attack run on the Azuchi. And…”

And…

'''6:''' “Breaking away and turning back would count as ‘running away’. We aren’t allowed to do that. And the Technohexen would refuse to do it regardless.”

“That’s right,” agreed Takenaka. The rest was simple enough. “This is a challenge, so let’s see what Musashi chooses. Will they lure us in and pretend to open up the front line, or will they keep going and make an attack? Got that, you two?”

Just then, a message came in from one of the towed transport ships.

'''Koniko:''' “Okay! Which’ll it be, everyone!? I’m good and drunk now, so it’s gambling time! Who turns tail and runs first: our Technohexen or Musashi’s Technohexen!?”

Their people were proving quite resilient after their loss.

Yoshiaki accelerated.

She could now see their opponent’s acceleration lights out ahead.

The lights shining from their backs left an afterimage behind them that resembled scattering feathers.

…''Those are spell charms.

Yoshiaki mostly understood how they had managed this new level of acceleration. They were using spell charms to externally boost their Schale Besen’s acceleration.

Not bad.

Managing that at such high speeds required an impressive understanding of their brooms. Not to mention an understanding of each broom’s pros and cons. However…

“Kime-chan, I think we might be in trouble!”

Angie’s concerns were explained by the Magie Figur in front of Yoshiaki’s eyes.

The two sides were getting closer.

Their Zwei Fürstin was using gravitational acceleration to fly. By altering the direction of gravity, they could force themselves through perpendicular trajectory changes.

But their opponent’s Schale Besens flew using repulsion acceleration and cumulative acceleration. That prevented them from making 90-degree turns, so they would have to take a large curve instead.

So if one of them was going to break off and turn back, the other side had to make that decision earlier.

If they waited until the last second, then their large curve would end up crossing the Azuchi’s front line.

That meant they had to do it sooner. They would have to break off and thus run away. So…

…''Our victory is assured!

But for some reason, Yoshiaki felt an odd uneasiness inside her.

“That’s right.”

She had learned all too well at the Siege of Odawara that you could never predict what Musashi was going to do.

So she opened a telescope spell to get a closer look at their movements. For now, she would leave the decision in their hands. She and Angie only had to do one thing.

“…!”

Accelerate.

Naito knew they were about to cross the point of no return on this collision course.

If possible, she honestly wanted to break away safely and not engage in a battle. There would be a lot of discussion about whether that meant the other side won or lost or whatever, but…

…''It’s better than colliding and getting us all killed, right?

They would all understand that much, so she knew they would all break away if things got too dangerous. That helped her relax about the whole thing. But…

“What’s up, Ga-chan? You keep glancing over at my face.”

“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you this close up, so I’m drawing you. Oh, don’t worry about the reinforcements for the acceleration and everything. I drew up a bunch of those in advance.” Naruze smiled. “Anyway, Margot, I’m having trouble drawing with the restriction on my wrists. Could you raise your arms a bit for me?”

“Um, Ga-chan? This is kind of a crucial moment. Crucial in the ‘we could die’ kind of way.”

Naruze frowned at that and then pouted her lips.

“Oh, c’mon. It seems fine to me.”

Yoshiaki saw her opponent’s determination.

The telescope spell showed them in their combined form as well. The Schwarz Hexen piloting it had removed her hands from the controls to lift her arms over her head.

…''W-wait.

“Are they suicidal!?” shouted Angie from down by Yoshiaki’s chest after seeing the same thing. “They’ve let go of the controls!!”

A collision was unavoidable now. And…

“They’ve crossed their point of no return, Kime-chan!”

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| [[Horizon:Volume 8B Chapter 53|Chapter 53]]
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