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Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 1

2015-05-19T01:28:34Z

86.52.26.103: Fixed the typos I found.

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''Do I wish

''For it to end?

—'''We will not immerse ourselves in the past.

==Chapter 1: The Joy of an Outing==
[[Image:OnC_v14_0033.png|thumb]]
''Hidden feelings

''Can remain hidden

''They are personal and their joy can also be hidden in your heart

During the night, most of the light had vanished from the residential district, but one area remained lit by more than just the streetlights.

It was a large house surrounded by a wall.

The gate was open and a blue tarp was spread out just inside. A folded-up festival stand and its framework were piled up on the tarp and several people were working to put it away.

But one person sat out in front of the gate.

She was a woman wearing a leather jacket over a kimono. She sat on the gate’s curb and stared intently to the east.

The eyes behind her glasses were fixated on the dark residential district and the pale light in the sky beyond.

That faint brightness came from the lights shining up on the winter sky.

“Taka-Akita’s festival is still ongoing…”

Her comment received a response from the roof of the gate.

“Ms. Ryouko, waiting for Ms. Shino?”

“Yeah. Setsu-chan didn’t come back either, so I thought they might be playing together. Poyanski, you thought so too, didn’t you?”

A deep sound descended from afar. It seemed to shake the air as it travelled through the heavens.

“There have been a lot of planes today.”

“That was fighter jet.”

“I guess a former soldier would know that. Is there a war going on or something?”

Her question was answered by the young man in a suit who walked out from the gate.

“You always make things sound so dangerous, sister. From what we managed to intercept, it seems they’re holding some kind of night exercise in Kansai. But…”

“But what, Kouji?”

“There are more planes flying around than reported. And according to Toki-san, military bases in the West, Asia, the Middle East, and Russia are working together with Japan.”

Ryouko tilted her head.

“If that was true, it would be big news. There would be fighters flying around on a global scale.”

“That’s what doesn’t make sense.”

Kouji sat next to Ryouko and pulled two paper cups of coffee out from behind him.

“Bases around the world are working with Japan, but it seems no one can see any of the fighters.”

“No one can see them?”

“Like I said, the bases are really busy, but they can’t see the fighters.”

“Oh.” Ryouko nodded in understanding. “So the world’s super technology has created fighters that idiots can’t see. That would explain why you can’t see them but I can.”

“If you can see them, then tell me what’s flying overhead right now.”

She looked up in the sky and narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm. Ah! See!? It’s flying! It’s a twin-engine bomber with pink frills! Did that design come from Shibuya? Is it a Shibu-Bomber? That’s so cool!”

“Sister… You don’t have to get all worked up and lie about it.”

“I-I am not lying! I can see it! It’s flying right there! You can hear it cawing to the west!”

“Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, it sure is flying and cawing there. Yeah, no question about it.”

“What are you talking about, Kouji? Is there something wrong with your brain? Are you actually a moron? Oh, sorry. Should I not have asked that?”

“You said it first!”

“Give me some coffee and I’ll go easy on you.”

“Fine, fine.”

He held out one of the paper cups.

“Why is my sister so…”

He trailed off and looked up at the roof with the other cup.

“What about you, Poya-san?”

“Leave there and I will drink.”

“Pes has been asking for it for a while, so are you sure you want to leave it here?”

“I might not drink.”

“Sure, sure.”

Kouji set the cup on the edge of the gate’s lintel and then sat back on the curb.

“But ignoring all that activity, where has Shino-san gotten off to?”

“…”

“I haven’t seen her since she said she would buy us some drinks. Nagase-san, who was playing the Festival Stand Detective, forgot to rehydrate, so the next thing we knew, he was so dehydrated he began giving a confused roadside speech. It was something about demanding the return of the Northern Territories so he could turn them into the Bear Kingdom.”

“That would be problem. Penguin Land better name.”

“But everyone thought the speech was part of the show.”

“Best to ignore, Mr. Kouji.”

“Calm down.” Kouji sighed while quieting down the roof. “But after Nagase-san collapsed, we removed the mask and found him passed out with a refreshing smile on his face. Then again, it might have just been his face stiffening up from the dehydration. …Not that any of that is Shino-san’s responsibility.”

He then faced Ryouko who had fallen silent and he smiled bitterly.

“Do you think she isn’t coming back because the atmosphere here just wasn’t a good fit for- Why did you just collapse on your back and fall asleep, sister! At least listen to what I’m saying!”

“Eh? O-oh, sorry, Kouji. You were letting your love of little girls burst from your soul as all that pedo talk about Shi-chan, so I had to restrain myself so much I actually fell asleep. I was so serious the coffee’s caffeine didn’t stand a chance! So? Have you finished that filthy discussion, you genuine pedophile?”

“I-I didn’t say anything ‘filthy’.”

“And you won’t even admit it!? How was any of that not filthy? How are you not a pedo!? Honestly, I’m promoting you from genuine to super genuine! I hope you become a white dwarf and shrink away!”

“Not that it matters, but can’t I explode and become black hole instead?”

“Do you have any idea how much trouble that would cause the neighbors? And are you trying to become the center of a galaxy or something? What would your galaxy be called? The Genuine Galaxy? …Yay! I said it, I said it!”

Ryouko was so worked up that she stood and clapped her hands once. Responding claps came from the nearby wall, gate, and manhole.

She then turned around.

“So what were we talking about?”

“You’re the worst, sister!!”

“K-Kouji’s being a bully!!”

“Can you stop talking on reflex and actually use your left brain!? What is even in that half of your skull!?”

“P-probably…brains, I guess?”

“Please don’t sound so unsure.”

“Oh, c’mon. It’s not like you’ve ever seen inside your own head.” She took a sip of coffee. “Well, it doesn’t really matter, but Shi-chan has a big sister. You don’t have to worry about her too much, so get inside and make me a midnight snack.”

“I wasn’t actually out here to wait for her, you know?”

He stood up and let his shoulders droop a little.

“I have a feeling she isn’t coming back, so…”

“So you came here to tell me to stop waiting? Don’t be silly.” Ryouko smiled bitterly and sat back on the curb. “I’m waiting for Shi-chan to make sure I don’t have to wait for her anymore.”

“…”

“This is a ritual for me. And you know what?”

She looked up in the sky and heard an airplane fly from south to west.

“I like to think Shi-chan holds the fate of the world in her hands, so armies from around the world are chasing after her right now. Girls like to dream, you know?”

“That is quite the dangerous dream.”

“Wow, I could hear the young master saying that!!”

Kouji smiled a bit at that, but then sighed and took a step toward the gate.

“Well, you take care of things here, sister.”

“Yes, yes. Leave this to me. …Shi-chan will be okay.”

She took a breath.

“I’m sure she’s surrounded by good people.”

“Yes,” replied the roof. “But Ms. Ryouko, are you okay? Very cold outside. Da, very cold”

Ryouko answered the roof’s concern with a gunshot.

There was a great noise.

It was a high-pitched noise that reverberated through the sky.

The surging sound was created as the atmosphere was split apart and eight aircraft were visible at the front end.

They were twin-engine fighters equipped for a ground attack.

They travelled west below the moon and their sides were decorated with American UCAT’s emblem. They belonged to American UCAT’s Atsugi Base.

The massive payload of bombs attached below their wings and the accelerators attached above the wings rid them of a normal fighter’s silhouette.

The oddly-shaped eight were flying west through the Tokai region.

The northern of the two in the lead lit up his optical communication pod.

“R1, this is BA1. BA and BB have secured our course. Shifting into weight reduction flight.”

A response came from the control craft flying above Suruga Bay far behind them.

“Testament, BA1. BA and BB, maintain your course. Attack craft teams AA and AB have also detected no enemies on their approach from Okinawa.”

“Testament,” replied BA Team’s commander before sighing. “R1, how well are the different countries working together? I want to avoid a midair collision while we’re all using stealth.”

“Testament. It seems the UCAT bases near the Sea of Japan have become a showcase for the world’s fighters. And they’re all waiting for our results.”

“Testament. So we have to do our job right as the opening act, do we? I’m sure D Team’s mechanical dragons will clean everything up once they arrive.”

“Testament. But BA1…”

“I know,” replied BA1. “The enemy has two aircraft: one mechanical dragon and one god of war. …And I remember having all of our mechanical dragons shot down by that god of war a month and a half ago.”

Also…

“I hear the pilot of that white god of war defeated our blue and white mechanical dragon.”

“Testament,” replied R1 before saying what they thought BA1 needed to hear. “Don’t think about fighting. Fly straight in, scatter your bombs while accelerating, and get out of there.”

“I’m well aware. We don’t have the armor, hand-to-hand ability, or firepower of a mechanical dragon, but we still have our top speed since we’re smaller. This kind of mission is perfect for us.”

BA1 continued speaking while tearing through the wind in the lead.

“R1, has the girl of the blue and white dragon woken yet?”

“That is highly classified, so I can’t answer.”

Everyone listening smiled bitterly at the casual tone, but then someone spoke.

“Do you think that mechanical dragon will come back from the alternate space it was sent to?”

“Don’t rely on a girl,” succinctly replied BA1. “And I doubt she wants anyone to rely on her right now. ...Not when she’s lost her power.”

But as soon as he finished speaking…

“———!?”

His fighter broke apart and scattered through the sky.

Everyone inside the control craft designated R1 froze when they realized what had happened.

But a moment later, the American UCAT members escaped their surprised despondency and managed to speak or begin moving.

They had already lost the transmission from BA1 and…

“BA2, BB1…and BA3 were lost!”

After the communications officer finished her report, a shout came in from B Team.

“This is BB4! R1… What happened!?”

When they heard BB4, everyone in R1 thought, “You were just shot down.”

They all gulped because they did not know why, but the situation would not wait for them to catch up.

“B Team, scatter and ascend!”

“R1, what is going on!? It looks like we lost some fighters! But there was no explosion or anythi-…”

The next voice was accompanied by the static of being shot down.

“I’m breaking apart!”

“BB4 has been lost!”

The communications officer seemed to have difficulty giving the report.

“A Team’s attackers will arrive in thirty-two seconds!”

Hearing that, everyone turned to one point in the aircraft.

One of Japanese UCAT’s automatons had been deployed to man the radar that checked for philosopher’s stone readings.

The businesslike maid illuminated by the pale red light was named #66. The data from the battle against 3rd-Gear and from the Army’s attack on UCAT had been downloaded into her personal memory.

“I am detecting Typhon and Alex’s readings. Typhon’s is within thirty kilometers to the west, but its output is too weak for flight.”

However…

“I am detecting a philosopher’s stone reading elsewhere, but it only ever lasts an instant.”

“Elsewhere?”

“Testament,” replied #66 while noting that the screen indicated that BB3 had been shot down as well. “The reading appears on the fighters in the instant that they are shot down!”

As she spoke, the information she was receiving confirmed her suspicions, so she turned toward the other frowning people.

“This is not an attack by Typhon or Alex! This instantaneous output is only seen from a close-range attack of a handheld concept weapon!” she said. “The enemy is using a concept weapon to bring down the fighters directly without causing an explosion!!”

BA4 was ascending toward the moon when he saw BB2 break apart in the moonlight up above him.

There was no explosion.

Nor was it broken apart.

It simply scattered its pieces with no flames or smoke.

BA4 saw fragments, the frame, pieces of explosives that scattered without a detonation, and…

“!!”

Someone stood on his own fighter’s nose.

Moonlight washed over the back of a girl holding a curved blade.

The wind blew at her hair, combat coat, and skirt and she wore red pumps on her feet.

There was nothing BA4 could do.

He could not aim his machineguns at someone standing on the nose and the missiles were meant for ground strikes.

He considered accelerating so the wind would sweep her away, but he was already travelling at three times the speed of sound which was apparently not enough.

“…!”

He suddenly rolled to catch her off guard.

He added in a bit of yaw to swing the fighter around, but…

“Impossible!”

He had been trained to react to high-speed movement, so he saw it all.

The enemy kept up with the fighter’s movements simply by lowering her hips a little.

It looked a lot like she was riding a surfboard.

For just an instant, the moonlight revealed her expression.

Her mouth and eyes showed a silent smile.

She then opened that mouth and raised the sword.

“Surprised? I had Typhon throw me from below so I could pretend to be a human shell.”

BA4 recalled that Top-Gear had two female swordsmen. The younger was nearly immortal and the older had a strange concept weapon.

“That concept weapon absorbs its target’s attack and makes it its own.”

“Yes,” replied the smiling girl. “First, I stored one of Typhon’s blasts and used that to destroy one fighter after being throw here.”

She took a breath.

“Then I absorb the blast created by the explosion to recycle it against the next fighter.”

This enemy also controlled the direction of the destruction so that the recoil of the blast allowed her to hop to the next fighter.

They had scattered and ascended to see what their enemy was, but that enemy had moved to the first ascending fighter and worked her way down as she destroyed them.

And as for the sword she held…

“This is charged with the recycled explosions of eight fighters, so it will cause quite a boom if I use it all at once.”

At the same time, a transmission reached BA4’s ears.

It was the relieved voice of R1’s communications officer.

“BA4! A Team has arrived!”

He saw them both on the radar and with the naked eye. Eight attack craft were arriving from the west.

However, BA4 silently begged them to stay away.

As soon as they arrived, their enemy was going to hit him with the explosive power she had accumulated thus far.

It contained the explosions of eight ground-attack fighters, their explosives, and a blast from Typhon’s cannon.

That would undoubtedly burn through the sky and blow away everything there in an instant.

So BA4 tried to tell them to escape.

But in that moment, the skirt before his eyes fluttered upwards and he shouted something else instead.

“White!”

The enemy stabbed her sword downwards with a smile and BA4 scattered below the moonlight.

In the final moment, he saw her moonlit form.

Heo slowly awoke.

“…”

She seemed to have been placed in a bed on top of some fairly hard fabric.

But she did not know what position her body was in; she could not even guess.

She could not rouse any thoughts.

She felt like her mind was empty and like she was blankly watching herself from the outside.

She did not try to move or even consider it as a possibility.

Her consciousness was entirely closed.

She knew why: she did not want to remember.

If she did remember, she would also remember that there was nothing she could do.

And if there was nothing she could do, she had no power.

So there was no point in doing anything.

She was filled with a great sense of powerlessness.

Thinking about power only reminded her of the moment when she lost it.

If there was no point in being, then she thought she might as well die, but she could not even think about that too seriously and she simply tried to erase her thoughts as a substitute.

If she thought nothing, she would not lose anything. If she hoped for nothing, she would not feel anything.

The only thing at the base of her powerless thoughts was the decision to stay still and let others ignore her.

She wanted to go to some dark place.

She wanted to go to some quiet place.

She wanted to go to some solitary place.

And she felt like that wish was being granted. She felt like a wall separated her from her skin, but that skin felt air which was chilly enough to be called cold and her ears sensed silence.

“———”

She opened her eyes, but not of her own will.

She had simply abandoned even the strength she needed to keep her eyelids shut.

Even keeping her eyes shut had felt like doing something, so her eyes opened and she stared blankly forward.

She should have seen the white wall of the infirmary, but she instead saw the night sky.

Not only that, but she had a full view of that sky and all the stars therein.

“Eh?”

She was lying in a bed, but there were no windows, walls, or ceiling. There was not even a floor.

“…!?”

Fear over this unknown situation won out over her self-imposed stupor.

Her pulse raced and she sat up as she wondered what had happened.

She then realized that this was at the top of a mountain cliff and her bed had been placed on the edge of that cliff.

The bed was the reclining type used in hospitals and its white frame and blanket had been placed on the grassy clifftop such that she was looking up into the sky.

“So you’re finally up, Heo Thunderson.”

She turned toward the sudden voice to her side and saw a boy sitting at the head of the bed on the side closer to the mountain. His right arm held a machinegun encased in a white cowling.

“Harakawa?”

He did not turn her way.

He simply stared ahead and said nothing more.

His silence confused her. Why was he not saying anything?

That was when the sky split open.

Sudden red split through the dark blue of the starry and moonlit sky.

The silence was broken by a bursting sound of impact and crimson flames blossomed in the sky.

For just a moment, Heo knew what that crimson light was, but something else escaped her mouth.

“Why…?”

She gasped a bit as she looked into the sky.

She gulped, tensed her shoulders, and slowly opened her mouth again.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Don’t ask the obvious, Heo. Heo Thunderson.”

She snapped back at the word “obvious”.

“How is this obvious?”

She spoke quietly, but that was enough to sap her of strength.

She was closing up.

But she continued to speak because she wanted him to understand this at the very least.

“I have no power right now.”

However, Harakawa did not turn toward her.

She only heard him speak a quick question.

“So what, Heo Thunderson?”

This time, Harakawa did turn toward Heo.

There was more noise in the sky, so there was likely light as well.

However, he only looked at her pale face with tears welling up in the eyes.

“There is a battlefield for you whether you have any power or not.”

He could also hear noise from beyond the forest visible west of the cliff.

The American UCAT troops that had dropped them off here had engaged the enemy.

They were fighting with no air support and they would likely change their mission from an assault to a diversion.

Japanese UCAT had yet to arrive, but he knew they had to be nearby since they intended to charge in after American UCAT’s attack.

''But,'' he thought.

“I don’t know if those crazy people can win this time.”

There was a reason for that.

“First, Sayama doesn’t have Shinjou, so he can’t raise his bizarre excitement gauge to max. Also, the violent comedy couple have lost their Concept Core weapon pets. And of course, Hiba has been without Mikage so long he can act without thinking while also having Susamikado off limits.”

“That’s quite an accurate analysis.”

“Yes.” He nodded and looked Heo in the eye. “And we don’t have Thunder Fellow.”

Heo shrank back, but he did not care.

He spoke the truth without holding back.

“Our strength has fallen considerably and our enemy could keep up with us before. That means…”

That meant…

“Our enemy is far more powerful than us right now.”

And…

“There’s another problem.”

“Eh?”

Wind swept her question away.

It was the cold winter wind of a mountain.

The whiteness of her breath made the air seem all the more invisible.

And Harakawa spoke to add meaningful color to that transparency.

“I’m talking about Babel, Heo.”

He looked up at the sky above the mountain.

Beyond the forest, a great tower pierced the heavens in the dim light.

“Based on the documents he found he can read now, Sayama concluded that Babel has been partially active ever since ten years ago to restrain the activated negative concepts contained inside. And since Babel is Noah, the Top-Gear residents will be allowed in.”

He took a breath.

“Noah will treat the people of Top-Gear like gods and do whatever they say. It can create concepts as instructed by its ‘gods’, so Top-Gear can now influence this entire world.”

“B-but…!”

Heo threw her words his way, so he turned around.

As if to surpass the cold wind, she held a hand to her chest with the night sky in the background.

“What can I do in such an important fight!?”

“I have fingers, so I can pull a trigger.”

Harakawa immediately answered her and stood from the bed.

“I have eyes, so I can see the enemy approaching.”

He spoke.

“I have a mouth, so I can inform people of things.”

He continued speaking.

“I have ears, so I can grasp the situation on the battlefield.”

And…

“I have a body, so I can show people that something is there to support them.”

Also…

“Everyone has this much, Heo Thunderson. …Most people don’t have the kind of power we did.”

''Now that I think about it, Sayama’s the representative example of that,'' thought Harakawa.

Heo stared blankly up at him and he spoke toward her powerless eyes.

“But even if I lost my power, I can still drive a motorcycle and I have pretty good eyes. It’s no more of an advantage than anyone else, but that kind of advantage is important on the battlefield.”

What about you?

“Being the same as everyone else doesn’t make you powerless, Heo Thunderson. If you make good use of the slight advantages you have, they will bring even more power. And if you continue to train those advantages and accumulate even more…”

''You’ll probably become the kind of person people call stupid.

''But,'' he thought. ''What about you?

“In battles, everyone is shorthanded. Everyone wants someone by their side when things are feeling hopeless and they want something to protect. The battlefield is for the people who can fight, but more than that…it’s a helpless place that is always asking for help.”

He looked straight at Heo from where he stood.

“So. Are you willing to reach out to the battlefield that is asking for help?” he asked. “And I know it’s a little late for this…but put on some clothes, Heo Thunderson. They’re on the edge of the bed.”

“Eh?”

Heo looked down at herself.

The blanket had fallen from her upper body when she sat up, so it was completely bare.

“Eh? Ah, w-wait. What is this!?”

“It was your teacher that removed your clothes, so don’t ask me. She also put you on the transport helicopter.”

“W-wait a second! Removing some of them is one thing, but why am I completely naked!?”

“Isn’t that your cruel personal skill? Also, Germans are all perfectionists.”

“Y-you find a reason for everything, don’t you!?”

To protest, she gathered the blanket in front of her chest and pounded on the bed.

“Then why…why is everyone trying to get me to fight!?”

She hit the bed again as she shouted.

“Tell me that! Because I’ve lost track of why I’m even here!”

Harakawa heard a shaking sound as she hit the bed.

Heo’s eyebrows were raised in anger, but her face was gradually rising and leaning backwards.

“Huh? Harakawa?”

“What is it, Heo?”

“For some reason, I can see the sky even though I’m sitting up.”

“Yeah, and it looks to me like you and the bed are tipping backwards.”

“Oh, c’mon, Harakawa. You make it sound like the bed is shaking and falling off the cliff.”

“If that was enough for you to understand, I must be better with words than I thought. The bed’s about to reach a ninety degree tilt.”

And it did.

Heo was thrown out into the air.

She gasped as the bed toppled over.

It seemed to scrape her right shoulder as it rotated around to point straight down.

…''The sky…

She was tipped a bit on her back, wrapped in the blanket, and falling.

She felt weightless and the night sky quickly grew more distant.

There was a drop of around a dozen meters behind her.

If she fell, she would die.

She would be no more.

And at the bottom of her vision, she saw Harakawa standing on the edge of the cliff.

…''Harakawa.

But she noticed that he was not trying to help her.

He simply stared at her while still holding the gun.

He did not budge.

She felt like he was pushing her away.

Did she not matter to him?

…''Even I thought I didn’t matter…

And now the person she most wanted to understand her was pushing her away.

''Then this must be the end,'' she thought.

…''Eh?

She noticed a certain fact and a certain contradiction.

First, the fact.

Who did she most want to understand her even as she felt she did not matter?

Wasn’t it Harakawa, the one who had chosen to entrust this with her even though she did not matter?

But that created a contradiction.

Why did she need to choose the end if Harakawa understood her?

Why would that be the case if he had given her his understanding?

She had no power. She was physically weak, she was young, she was short, and her breasts were small. Her breasts and her butt had grown a little recently, although she did not plan to announce that fact until it was more visually noticeable and she had no idea what she was thinking about anymore, but in short, she was powerless.

But she was not alone.

So what should she choose now: the stars visible in the sky or the motionless boy?

“…”

She gulped as she fell.

She was already passing below the edge of the cliff.

The blanket wrapped around her began to flutter in the wind and gravity pulled her downwards.

It was too late.

She had noticed her contradiction and what she wanted, but it was too late now.

However, she saw a new crimson flower blossom in the sky.

In that brief moment, she moved. She reached her hand toward the sky as if to pluck those flower petals.

She thrust her hand skyward and she received an answer.

A power forcibly stretched her body.

It was Harakawa’s hand grasping her own hand.

“It’s all right.”

Her body shook and her entire weight bore down on her right hand and shoulder.

But her entire body was lifted upwards. It was a slow movement that could not quite be called an ascent.

“Yes, there is only one reason, Heo. As I said, it’s ‘all right’. In other words, everything is ‘right’. So it’s all right, Heo.”

She saw him raise his eyebrows in a smile as he pulled up her hand.

“Let’s get to the battlefield, Heo. The idiots will be there soon, too.”

Light raced through darkness.

The light rushing through the forest at the bottom of a mountain was a high speed train.

However, it was already late at night, so no such train should have been running.

Nevertheless, the streamlined front car towed the rest of the cars as they broke through the wind on their westward journey.

Not all of the cars were for passengers.

A few specialized transportation cars were positioned right after the front car and behind the passenger cars.

Also, the passenger cars were covered in armor and figures were visible on their roofs.

Those figures were automatons wearing combat maid uniforms.

Two automatons stood atop the transport container loaded on the second car. They stared sharply forward and sent out their shared thoughts.

“Our current speed is two hundred and seventy kilometers per hour. I have determined we have made up for the time lost transferring over from the transport helicopter.”

“This is an excellent train. But I never knew IAI was developing anything like this.”

They looked down at the racing vehicle below their feet.

“This next generation high-speed train has a top speed of four hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, and yet it is a high-speed stealth train that counteracts the sounds of collisions by creating buffer bands between the cars.”

“They wanted to name it after the fact that riding it is so nice it actually feels good, so they had someone sum up that idea in a single word.”

The automatons looked to the side of the car.

Someone had used a brush to paint “Creepy” in large letters.

“I have determined this is incomprehensible.”

“Testament. We are about to leave the Tokaido Line, so get ready down below.”

Those shared memories were sent to #8, the automaton inside one of the armored passenger cars.

Inside the long passenger car, #8 listened to the report from the automatons on the roofs.

It was almost time to enter the battle.

However, she tried to be considerate. So as not to rush those around her, she served tea and coffee to the people in armored uniforms sitting in the rows of three seats and then slowly spoke.

“Okay, break’s over.”

“Ehhh! Already!?”

Hearing them shout, she wondered if she had worked a little too hard making the break seem nice.

But she refocused and looked across everyone there.

“The Creepy is about to enter autonomous mode. We will accelerate to gain some inertial force, so I have determined the drinks I just served will be your last time to rest.”

“Testament,” replied everyone inside the white light of the car.

They were all from Japanese UCAT’s special division and most of them were from Team Leviathan.

Izumo and Kazami were amusing themselves by playing cards with Sibyl and Boldman while the others were looking down at their card version of mahjong or their handheld game systems.

“Report. American UCAT failed to achieve air superiority over the Mount Ikoma region. They now plan to send their mechanical dragons in by land.”

Everyone clearly focused on the incoming transmission.

After a moment, light boards were handed over the backs of the seats and passed out to everyone. They displayed the documents that each platoon and company used to confirm with their commander what they should do.

Each time a new announcement came in, the text would gain details or additional opinions. By the time they set foot on the battlefield, each commander would know what they needed to do.

…''But…

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> looked to her side.

Sayama sat alone in the very first row of seats.

His seat was fully reclined, a towel covered his eyes, and Baku sat on his head as he slept.

…''Will he be okay?

She had heard that Shinjou was badly injured and also in conceptual danger.

He received regular updates on her state by cellphone, but the situation did not look good. He had finally gone to sleep after Ooki had promised to email him if anything changed.

There was nothing #8 could do, but the very fact that she could not think of any kind of plan made her painfully aware of the wasted cycles of her activity clock.

But he asked nothing of her.

She felt this time waiting for instructions was wasted, but…

…''This means that he is okay.

She upped the thought priority level of that fact she could take from her records. She told herself not to think about anything else or to make unnecessary decisions.

A maid only had to trust in her master because an automaton would not serve someone she could not trust.

Suddenly, she thought of the Moirai.

The Gear reservations had decided to maintain their silence on the current situation.

That was obviously because they had decided the conflict between Top-Gear and Low-Gear was still ongoing.

They had entrusted everything to the Leviathan Road meeting and had said they were waiting for the results.

The Concept Cores must have had a similar understanding because they did not display any kind of desire to be saved.

The only people from other Gears taking part in this attack were the automatons and the people from 2nd or 6th who had joined UCAT and Low-Gear.

But #8 sent Moira 1st access to her shared thoughts and asked what to do when her master looked about to lose heart.

They had given each other access permissions when they had met the other day. She had assumed she could make use of her downtime by receiving some new information or tips.

“Moira 1st-sama.”

After connecting, auditory information streamed in from Moira 1st.

“Yes, Lady Miyako, tonight’s dinner is your favorite instant ramen: Drenched #1 – Soy Sauce Flavor. Say ‘ah’, Lady Miyako.”

“Hold on. That’s really not something you do with ramen.”

“Ehhh? You don’t want to? Does it have to have mayonnaise for that?”

“That isn’t the issu-... What do you think the rest of you are looking at!?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> did not listen any longer because it would be an invasion of their privacy. She determined it was an event mission to raise their master-maid intimacy level.

…''If only Sayama-sama would give me that kind of opportunity.

''No,'' she determined. ''Those opportunities are probably being given to Shinjou-sama.

''In that case, I want to set things up for the two of them,'' she thought while closing her eyes.

She cooled her thoughts with a sigh and looked to Sayama.

She simply pulled a blanket from the container above the window and placed it over him, but she felt that was enough. The train would enter autonomous mode in just a few minutes.

With the blanket on him, Sayama stirred a bit and spoke in his sleep as if groaning.

“Ahhh, Shinjou-kun, you are so bold… Y-you cannot mean it. You’re taking it all in your mouth…and…and swallowing it? Yes, if you are going to drink all of the soup, it has to be this high-calorie, high-sodium Drenched #1!”

After noticing he seemed to be having a good dream, she debated whether she should inform Moira 1st of this synchronicity or plainly tell him that instant ramen made you fat. But before she made a decision, she heard someone speak from the opposite seat.

“Are we almost to the battlefield, #8-kun?”

She turned around to find Ooshiro and simply glared at him.

“Why are you here?”

“Wah! You’ve already decided I’m an outcast!? Are you shunning me!? You are, aren’t you!?”

“Please quiet down. More importantly, Ooshiro-sama, are you familiar with the word ‘useless’?”

He raised his hands as a sign of protest.

“I-I am to useful!”

She nodded and accurately reproduced an expression she had recently learned.

“Ooshiro-sama, is this the appropriate way of expressing disrespect? I am still not used to this expression.”

“That’s not just disrespect! That’s a look of pure contempt!”

“Testament. Thank you very much. As it was received much better than expected, I will make ample use of it from now on. Anyway, Ooshiro-sama, you are too thin to act as a shield and get in our way too much to act as a wall, so can’t you do something about that?”

“W-well, you see… I’m quite useful. I have intelligence, strength, and beauty!!”

He stood up and struck a flirtatious pose, so #8 looked around.

She saw the others waving their hands in front of their faces, so she nodded.

“Ooshiro-sama. Please choose one of the following: 1. Pretend you never said that. 2. Take back what you said. 3. Die and apologize. …Which would you like?”

The others all wrote “3! 3!” on their light boards and raised them high, but #8 shook her head.

“You mustn’t do that, everyone. I have determined this is a problem Ooshiro-sama must solve on his own.”

“#-#8-kun, you are surprisingly fair. I’m a little moved.”

“Testament.” She nodded and slapped his head thrice. “Now, please think carefully. 3 is the only real option, after all.”

“How is that thinking carefully!?”

''The majority already decided for you, so stop being so selfish,'' she thought just as an electronic tone played from the car’s speakers.

“Um, uh, um, in thirty minutes, the, uh, Creepy will…enter autonomous mode. Uh, we will begin, uh, accelerating soon, so, uh, all passengers had better stay in your damn seats!! …Uh, I mean please remain seated.”

They all sat back down and #8 started to sit in a nearby seat but hesitated.

However, she ultimately took the seat behind Sayama instead of her usual one.

At the same time, she saw the boy slowly sit up in the seat in front of her.

He raised the seat, so she could not see him, but she heard him.

“#8-kun, thank you for the blanket. …It was short, but I had a wonderful dream. I appreciate it.”

She compared his voiceprint with one from the past but found it was lacking something.

''But,'' she thought. ''If he is willing to thank the one who serves him, he must have regained his awareness that he is my master.

''So he should be fine,'' she decided while speaking with the others via shared memory.

“Get ready. We are about to accelerate.”

A moment later, that was exactly what they did.

The automatons standing atop the high-speed train created a wall of gravitational control to combat the pressure of the wind as they accelerated.

Their clothes, hair, and everything else fluttered and bent in the wind.

“And our hearts only bend to the will of our master!”

The maids saw the track turn a bit to the north. The Tokaido Line turned north to the Kyoto region and then south toward Osaka.

The track had no sharp curves, so the trains could maintain their speed. It was a gradual but definite northward turn.

However…

“That will not take us to the Mount Ikoma region in south Osaka!”

Then what were they to do?

The answer was given by the shouts of the two automatons standing on the front car.

“Prepare autonomous mode!!”

They were answered by the maids standing on the transport container on the second car.

“Prepare!!”

An automaton rushed from both emergency exits on each car.

They pushed at the wind with their gravitational control. There was one on either side of the twelve cars for a total of twenty four.

They all spread their hands outward.

“Contact!”

As soon as they yelled that word, the white pallet covering the second car suddenly leaped into the air.

The wind carried the giant lid into the night sky and something was revealed below.

“Track Facility Mechanism ‘Moirai’! Being deployment!”

A giant spindle machine rose from the car.

The mechanism was seven meters tall, twenty meters long, and shaped like an upside-down iron. It had twelve giant spindles on either side, but those spindles were not wrapped with thread.

They were wrapped with rails and the front spindles launched those iron threads.

The two metal rails broke the sound barrier as they flew forward.

The twin lines of steel tore through the night and passed the front car, but the automatons on the front car did not overlook them.

“Begin spinning!!”

Those front two used their full gravitational control to draw the flying tracks toward their hands.

They bent the metal thread down as if rotating it around to the nose of the front car.

“Contact!!”

At the same time, the four automatons standing to the front of the second car stepped down on the back of the front car’s roof.

The high-gravity attack bent the roof, but it also noticeably lifted the nose of the car.

And the car landed atop the track being released from that very same train.

Now that it was on its self-laid path, it only had to continue on.

The spinning machine spun out the track, the automatons on the front car pulled it in, and the maids on the back car supported the bottom of the autonomous track with their gravitational control.

All of this created one thing.

“A high-speed train which can choose its own path!”

The two on the front car accurately bent the track toward the sky.

The sonic train moved at greater than four hundred kph as its own track carried it into empty air.

One of the spindles was exhausted in no time at all.

“Only twenty six kilometers until we arrive!”

“I have determined we have enough to spare!”

The automatons smiled amid the roar of the wind and the creaking of metal.

Gravitational control was their own technique and they were measuring levels of output they had never seen before.

Where did their limits lie?

As the moonlit automatons learned just that, they expressed the feeling with a single word: pleasant.

After all, they were fulfilling their job. That job was to transport the fighters to the battlefield.

And this was a job only they could do. What word would better describe that than pleasant?

The overheating, creaking, excessive calculations, and all the other burdens felt truly pleasant to them.

The train raced through the night sky.

The wind was cooling, the night was heavy, and the sounds were those of work.

“———!!”

They flew through the dark night toward some moonlit mountains.

They had already passed over the fields and reached the forest at the base of the mountains.

An expressway was visible below and they used that asphalt as a stepping stone.

“Here we go!”

The train leaped once more.

This time, they flew beyond the southern forest and into the mountains.

Based on the information gathered before leaving, there was a river there and they could follow it to the eastern Mount Ikoma region.

It was a fifteen kilometer journey which would take less than three minutes at their current speed.

They flew.

As if throwing their entire bodies forward, the automatons become one with their speed and desired to advance.

Shadowy trees raced by on either side and a river reflected the moon below.

They continued on.

The roaring sound and the wind bent the trees and the shockwave of their passing sent a reverse cascade of water and leaves into the sky after they passed.

The automatons had linked their sight and hearing devices as they focused only on their destination.

They kept on a straight line toward the mountains that had produced the river below.

…''Here we go.

They all thought the same thing.

…''We pull the humans onward to mountains filled with nature.

This was something they had been unable to do in 3rd-Gear.

It was always near the top on the lists of things they wanted to do, but it was always pushed further and further down the list.

They had made all of the food and drink being handed out inside the train.

It would have been perfect had it been daytime and sunny.

It did not matter whether they were heading into battle or not.

The goal was for the master to decide. The means was for the maid to decide.

A trip to the mountains required a box lunch.

And now, they were pulling the humans onward. Just like a maid leading her master to some flowers she had found in the mountains, they predicted what would make their masters happy and guided them to the battlefield.

Such a happy battle.

But…

“———!?”

The automatons on the front car saw an explosion.

The trees on either side of the river up ahead were suddenly blasted into the sky.

There was no sound. When breaking the sound barrier, that was to be expected.

Something charged toward them at faster than the speed of sound.

“That is…a mechanical dragon!” shouted an automaton’s mind.

A mechanical dragon with red, white, and blue armor flew their way with its main cannon mouth already opened.

It had been lying in wait to attack them.

There was only an instant until the attack, but the automatons continued their work. They continued spinning the track without fear.

“Good luck!!”

Alex did not hesitate.

Eighty percent of his armor had been replaced, but his frame had only had charms for the automatic healing of metal attached and his injuries were not yet healed.

Even so, he did not hesitate.

While Typhon was being worked on, Tatsumi had let it throw her so she could hold onto their air superiority. Similarly, it was his job to prevent Team Leviathan from rushing in.

Mikoku had already entered Babel on Noah’s guidance.

After ensuring their air superiority, Tatsumi had shifted to defense.

The others were deployed in formation and plenty of dolls had been sent out.

So Alex did not hesitate.

“This is a showdown!!”

He flew straight toward the train that acted like a long, subsonic shell.

He had no intention of firing on it from hiding or from the side.

…''Justice is justice because it brings its righteousness head-on!<ref>A play on words using the kanji for “justice”.</ref>

So he accelerated.

“Destroy the enemy on sight! Alex Forcer!!”

He prepared to fire his main cannon, but he saw something just before he did.

As the train continued to spin its track and rush forward, the roof of one of the back cars blasted into the sky.

The white lid was cast aside like a cloak to reveal what lay below.

“A black god of war!?”

That was precisely what stood up.

However, this was not Tatsumi’s enemy, Susamikado.

It was a similar yet different model.

“Is that Susahito Custom!?”

As if to answer, Susahito Custom calmly moved.

It forcefully stood in the wind and water vapor trailed from the corners of its armor.

“…!”

It held an anti-god of war rifle.

Alex recognized it as one of those used in the fight against Typhon.

Normally, it would not have been enough to break through a mechanical dragon’s armor.

However, their relative speeds and his imperfect state could change that.

“Bring it on!!”

He shouted and they both fired.

A moment later, the earth and the sky exploded along a straight line and that signaled the beginning of the battle.

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume14_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume14_Chapter_2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume13 Chapter 42

2015-05-11T01:27:30Z

86.52.26.103: A word was missing from this sentence.

==Chapter 42: Their Respective Conclusions==
[[Image:OnC_v13_0553.png|thumb]]
''The two of us are close

''And that is exactly why we are so distant

People remained in the Kinugasa Library even after night fell.

A lot of the school’s students lived in the dorms and the year-end festival had a lot of late-night stands and events because no one had to worry about tests or classes. And with the chill of winter outside, people naturally filled the library which doubled as a large rest area.

Currently, Shinjou sat across from one of those guests.

“Why are you here, Ryouko-san?”

Ryouko’s outfit consisted of a leather jacket over her kimono.

“Hm? We run a stand here every year. All of the shops in the area do. We sponsor the festival, you know? I think Kouji’s running a yakisoba stand today. He said something about it being superb since he has someone from the dish’s homeland working on it. How about we go mooch some off of him later, Setsu-chan?”

''What country is yakisoba from?'' wondered Shinjou, but she decided not to ask.

Ryouko looked around and smiled.

“But you know what? This is my first time at the school’s festival.”

“Really?”

“I think I had some issues holding me back.”

She waved a hand with a smile, rested her head on her hand, and continued looking around.

“I was really missing out.”

She looked deeper into the library where students from the weightlifting club were cosplaying as nudists and getting into a philosophical argument with the public morals committee over whether their state of undress counted as a costume or not.

“We only look nude because you’re looking with your eyes! Stop being so filthy and look at us with the eyes of your heart!!”

“You look just as naked to our hearts!!”

The public morals committee wielded stun guns and the muscular nudist cosplayers held barbell weights like cymbals. An excited crowd gathered around them and Ryouko gave a comment while watching from the side.

“Can’t they just hide their crotches behind those round weights? Right, Setsu-chan?”

“D-don’t ask me about that… And if they did, what do they do with the bars?”

Ryouko stared up at the ceiling and thought for about three seconds before a surprised look came over her.

“Wow, you’re so dirty, Setsu-chan!!”

“H-how!? I am not dirty!”

However, Ryouko bent back as if she could not endure that response.

“You! Pass!!”

She then slapped Shinjou on the shoulder.

…''She’s a lot like an old man.

Ryouko laughed, leaned back forward, and looked at Shinjou.

She then suddenly looked down at the desk in front of Shinjou.

Shinjou had placed a laptop and something else there.

“Setsu-chan, what’s that pile of paper?”

“Hm?”

Shinjou looked down at the paper that was still warm from when she had printed it off.

The stack was over ten centimeters thick and had the same full softness as fresh-baked bread. Each page had about twenty lines of text on the left and right sides.

It was a novel.

It was the novel she had written and just now finished.

When she realized Ryouko had noticed it and remembered what she had accomplished, she could not keep her cheeks from relaxing.

“Well… I made one.”

“A baby!?”

“You would fit in pretty well at this school, you know!?”

“Really!? Then I think I’ll enroll! I’ll be your and the young master’s underclassman starting next year, okay?”

Their raised voices drew the attention of the surrounding people and the nudist cosplayers.

A naked third year placed his weight-holding hands on his hips and frowned their way.

“Now, now, you two. You need to stay quiet in the library.”

“But…you can be naked?”

“What does nudity have to do with being quiet?”

“Understood,” weakly replied Shinjou as she and Ryouko bowed.

After about seven seconds, Ryouko leaned her way and looked at the novel.

“That’s the first time I’ve been scolded by a naked person. Now, let’s get back on topic. …So it’s a novel?”

“Yes.”

Hearing that, Ryouko’s eyes opened wide and she straightened up.

“Wow. You wrote all this?”

“I-is it that much? I knew what I wanted to write and, when I let it all out, it ended up like this…”

Ryouko nodded and gave an impressed cry.

“So you had a whole bunch building up inside you and you worked hard to get it all out of you?”

“D-don’t say things people will take the wrong way, Ryouko-san.”

However, Shinjou could sense what Ryouko meant.

The woman was surprised and was praising her.

Ryouko of course did not know ''what'' Shinjou had written.

And Shinjou had no intention of getting it published. It was just a personal hobby.

However, Ryouko had commented on the mere fact that she had written a novel.

''I see,'' she thought.

…''I’m being praised for something I did myself.

She did not know what that meant, but it briefly reminded her of the previous night.

They had done something for the world and that would link them all together.

And just now she had made Ryouko think something about her.

“…Is that how it works?”

She nodded and woke from her thoughts to see Ryouko give an impressed sigh and look back and forth.

“Is the young master at work?”

“Yes. I don’t think he’ll be back until late at night today.”

“I see,” said Ryouko. “Want to go get some yakisoba from Kouji?”

Shinjou started to wonder if she should, but Ryouko said something more.

“Shi-chan’s helping him right now, so should I call for her?’

“Shino-san is?”

It surprised her to know that girl was at the festival.

And she also knew Sayama was inside a concept space set up within the school.

He had chosen the location of his beginning for the final showdown.

Shinjou did not know who his opponent would be, but it would definitely be someone Shino knew.

…''It might be bad if she notices.

So Shinjou shook a hand side to side.

“Um, no, thanks. Yeah, you don’t have to buy me any yakisoba.”

“Really?”

Ryouko’s doubtful tone meant she did not believe Shinjou, so Shinjou panicked a little and stood up.

“Oh, but maybe I should go take a look. Then I can decide if I’m in the mood.”

“So I’ll be waiting here?”

Ryouko shrugged and looked to the laptop and pile of paper.

“Can I read it?”

“Sorry, but I already know who I want to read it first.”

“It’s the young master, isn’t it?”

She asked with a smile and Shinjou smiled back and nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” she said while rushing toward the library exit.

As she did, she wondered what Sayama and the others were doing at the moment.

A dividing line between light and darkness existed on the edge of the festival.

The light was filled with enjoyment while the darkness supported that light from outside.

That borderline between light and darkness was made up of festival stands surrounding the dancing ground.

One stand on the southwest end of the large schoolyard was selling yakisoba. Its sign said “Festival Stand Detective – Yakisoban” as well as “Agedama Blade”.

The stand was run by a foreigner who spoke a mysterious Swahili-like language, someone in a red and yellow Festival Stand Detective costume with lots of lit decorations, a young man easily speaking with them in Japanese, and a girl sitting in a seat next to them and chopping vegetables.

The detective costume must have been hot inside because he would occasionally crouch down and stop moving, but it did not affect the stand.

The transistor radio hanging from the top of the stand informed them it was now half past six.

After handing a customer their change, the young man looked to the girl.

He pulled a few coins from the bamboo basket he kept the change in and held them out toward the girl.

She turned around and was noticeably surprised to see the coins. She tried to refuse a few times, but the young man pointed at himself, the foreigner mixing soba with amazing skill, and the detective directly cooling himself by shoving his head in a bucket of water. He then held out the coins again.

The girl still hesitated, but she did take the coins.

She held them tightly as something precious and a gentle smile came to her lips.

She then grabbed the crutch leaning against the chair and began to walk.

She bowed toward the men in the stand, placed her jacket over her shoulders, and opened the canopy placed over the side of the stand.

Supported by the crutch, she seemed to move away from the darkness behind her.

She walked into the light and all the people there.

The school was empty.

Only the reserve lights and the outside lights were on, so the schoolyard was poorly lit.

However, a few forms were visible on the athletic grounds in front of the school building.

One was a boy in a suit.

The other was a girl in an armored uniform.

And the others…

“The Concept Cores have gathered here.”

The boy turned toward the transport pallets and the swords stabbed into the schoolyard.

“Are you all here to see the conclusion?”

As if to agree with the girl, the Concept Cores all glowed faintly. It was a pale light, much like moonlight.

“My side has 7th-Gear’s Dragon Balls and 9th-Gear’s B-Sp,” said the boy. “And you…”

He looked at the forms that resembled differently sized towers.

“3rd-Gear’s Keravnos and 5th-Gear’s Vesper Cannon, hm?”

“You cannot judge them based on their size. And the other four Concept Cores are surrounding the two of us. …This must mean there were two draws, one victory, and one defeat. In other words, the world is still in equilibrium.”

The boy looked to the sword standing before him.

It was a wooden sword, but it had not been carved. It was a branch that had naturally taken that form.

“Mukiti chose this and resides within it, so that he could ‘be with Sayama’.”

“Then,” replied the girl with a long sword standing before her as well. “I will take Totsuka, 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core. I will use the power of my name…and carve life.”

She seemed to be asking for confirmation in the dim light, but the boy only nodded at first.

“I see,” he said before tilting his head. “Where is your dog?”

“He is not my dog and I did not want anyone to think I had help here, so I had him wait at the concept space’s boundary.”

“The students with nothing better to do will be unable to leave him alone. Those who live in the dorms are always starving for a pet.”

“They eat dogs?”

“You just said something amazing, you know?”

“Did I?” She smiled a bit and must have recalled the festival outside. “But anyway, this is a nice place.”

“It is,” agreed the boy.

The two of them then slowly breathed in and reached for the weapons in front of them.

“Sayama Mikoto, Low-Gear Representative and ruler of the world.”

“Toda Mikoku, Top-Gear Representative and someone who wants to live a simple life.”

After naming themselves, they prepared their weapons.

“En garde!!”

Shino walked through the festival with her crutch.

She was on the way back from buying four canned drink she held under her left arm below the jacket draped over her shoulders.

…''Kouji said I could buy something and eat it, but…

She had not known what would be best to buy, so she had instead had fun seeing as much as she could.

The schoolyard was large and there was a dance at the center. Their stand was to the southwest and the vending machines were near the school buildings to the north. She had intentionally chosen the longer counterclockwise route to the east, so it had taken her nearly half an hour.

After making her purchase, she had taken the shorter western route instead.

On the way, she had seen the general pattern of the stands.

There was yakisoba, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, water candy, chocolate bananas, candied apples, target practice, human target practice, die cutting, 3D figurine die cutting, string lottery, nude string lottery, fortunetelling, and “exciting” fortunetelling.

Shino had seen a lot of it on her way there, but it was all new enough to her that it still felt fresh.

In the distance, she heard a muffled moan followed by a ringing bell.

“We have a first prize winner in the nude string lottery! Oh, they’re passing out. They’re really passing out!”

''Someone was lucky,'' thought Shino with a deep nod.

A soccer goal had been moved almost to the edge of the schoolyard. It was shoved between two stands and it seemed really big to Shino.

Also…

“Why is there a surfboard here?”

A surfboard was stuck in the ground about sixty centimeters from the edge of the schoolyard. It almost looked like some kind of sign, but then she noticed a color there.

It was the color white. It was the color of a beast. Despite all the food stands surrounding it, the color intently faced the center of the festival.

“…Shiro?”

The large dog turned toward her.

Its black eyes looked at her and they both reacted.

Shiro gave a start, suddenly got up, and ran toward her.

Shino gasped and watched the dog approach without moving.

“Why are you here?”

Deep down, she knew the answer.

She had last seen Shiro on the night of the attack. The landslide had separated them.

And who had been with them then?

…''No.

She told herself to forget it, that this was not the time to approach that, and that she needed to think about something else.

“———”

The next thing she knew, Shiro had circled around to her left. Without looking at her face, he pressed his shoulder to her waist and tried to push. It was almost as if he was trying to move her away from the center of the festival.

That clued Shino in

“Is she…in the festival?”

Shiro did not answer. He simply tried to push her away from the festival.

And as Shino looked to the center of the dancing, she realized something.

…''No, she isn’t actually in the festival.

The person who she was still not willing to draw up from the depths her heart was not skillful enough to dance with these Low-Gear people.

She was someone who could not face Shino until she had settled everything.

She was someone who refused to face her even though she knew it was a necessary part of settling everything.

She was someone who refused to face her not ''despite'' the power she had, but ''because of'' that power.

She was someone who believed she would harm someone and something precious.

Shino knew she would not be here now if that person had faced her.

Shino knew she would also not be here if she had tried to face that person.

That person refused to face this world and thus could not dance with this world.

She refused to face them but desired to fight them.

She thought she only had to avoid harming what mattered most to her, so she fought without even looking at those precious things.

And so she would choose to fight somewhere where no one could see her.

…''A concept space.

Shiro knew where she was and what she was trying to do.

…''Is it a showdown between Low-Gear and Top-Gear?

Sayama and Shinjou had said they were searching the past in order to oppose Top-Gear.

That meant they were going to settle everything once and for all.

…''It can’t be…

Shino sensed a certain conclusion.

“Mikoku is fighting to end it all?”

She realized the cans had fallen from her left arm.

That hand was now holding the blue stone that hung from her neck.

That cracked stone had lost most of its power, but…

…''I can still enter a concept space one more time!

She started forward with her crutch, but Shiro held her back.

He seemed to be telling her not to go and not to stop the conclusion that so many people wanted.

“Shiro! Please…”

She raised her voice, tried to move her knee forward, was pushed back, and realized something was getting in her way.

A moment later, she threw away the crutch.

Strength filled her trembling left leg and she brushed the dog out of the way.

“Shiro…please. Mikoku might leave me!”

She took the blue stone from her neck and wrapped her left hand’s fingers around it.

She thrust it forward with her left palm as if pressing it into midair.

“Let me go! I need to…”

She released the thought she had tried to seal in the bottom of her heart.

“I need to stop the conclusion Mikoku has chosen!”

Shinjou saw a girl and a white dog near the gap between festival stands created by a soccer goal.

The dog was the one that had accompanied Mikoku.

“———!”

Shinjou reflexively broke into a run. An uncertain but bad feeling filled her chest.

She was about fifteen meters away, so it would not take her long to get there.

She assumed she would make it if she ran, but the girl was already moving.

Shinjou saw the girl raise her left hand toward the center of the festival with a tearful and desperate look on her face.

…''She threw away her crutch!

When she took a weak step and reached out toward the festival, Shinjou cried out.

“Wait! Someone…stop her!!”

But her voice did not reach anyone.

There was sound.

There was light.

A firework had been launched into the sky from the bonfire at the center of the festival.

It whistled up into the midwinter night sky and the explosion briefly filled the festival with blue light.

“———”

The girl had vanished.

Only the white dog remained, tail lowered and looking bored.

Shinjou gulped.

She let out a rough breath and pulled her cellphone from her pocket.

With eyebrows raised, she clenched and ground her teeth, using the sound to suppress her emotions.

“Sibyl-san! We need backup! Send everyone out!”

“!? …Wh-what do you mean? Don’t tell me it’s Ooshiro-sama again.”

“This might be worse than that…”

“Y-you mean the entire earth is about to be destroyed?”

“That’s not what I mean,” began Shinjou as she slowly chose her words. “Someone’s trying to get in the way of Sayama-kun’s conclusion.”

She thought about what she had seen and what it meant.

She wondered if it was what she had actually wanted to do.

“An intruder entered the concept space.”

“An intruder?”

“Yes,” confirmed Shinjou.

She chose not to say anything more, hung up, and looked to her left arm.

A black watch was strapped to her wrist.

Mikoku moved through the night.

The battlefield was a school.

The school was empty and it was nighttime.

But if one looked closely, faint shadows of people were visible.

A festival was underway beyond the concept space.

Mikoku did not overlook the presence of those people.

She ran across the schoolyard, attacked, threw a knife to put some distance between herself and her opponent, and dashed inside a school building.

Darkness covered everything, but human shadows moved through that darkness as well.

It was not difficult to imagine the sounds they made as they moved.

Two faint shadows stood in the hallway ahead of her, but what were they discussing?

…''They are peeking inside the classroom in front of them, aren’t they?

A shadow stood at the wall to the side of the stairs, presumably waiting for someone.

As Mikoku ran up the stairs, a shadow rushed down them and seemed to be riding a bicycle despite being indoors.

Everyone moved out of the bike’s way and a few raised their arms and seemed to be saying something.

Mikoku smiled bitterly because it felt like she was a part of their group.

She imagined she was participating in the festival.

She crossed blades with the person who either pursued her or was pursued by her and imagined participating in the festival as the blow shook her body.

No one noticed her.

No one turned toward her.

No one said anything to her.

''But,'' she thought. ''This is easier on me. After all, I don’t have to hurt anyone this way.

To avoid her enemy’s next attack, she made a feint toward a classroom.

They exchanged attacked as one pursued and one turned around.

She used her skill, judgment, and physical strength to swing her sword from her lowered stance. She sliced through the ceiling and wall but was unable to hit her opponent.

“———”

While falling back and making her sword strike, she saw a window to her left.

It was a classroom window.

The classroom was too small for this kind of fight and the window was the one view out of it.

The thick window blocked her way and she was bound to this fight by obligation, but…

…''Everything looks so calm out there!

She of course had a view of the school at night. The next school building cast a dark shadow and the moon had risen in the dark blue sky.

But in her imagination, Mikoku participated in the festival.

While inside the classroom and listening to the clashing of swords, she thought.

…''This is the windowsill at the very end of the line.

It would have felt nice to rest her head in her hand and stare out that window.

She then realized she probably would not have been able to speak with anyone even if she had gone to school. She was sure she would have remained silent and stared out the window.

…''All while wondering what I could do or if I was alone.

She had continued to wander through the supposed freedom of not going to school, so if she had been faced with even more guidelines, would she have hesitated even more?

''But,'' she thought.

She had lost her world, naturally wished to fight, worried over so very much, and was now fighting.

…''But if I had gone to school, I definitely would have ended up staring out a window like that one.

No matter her situation, she felt that would not have changed much.

No one would have spoken to her, she would have been fine with that, and she would have found herself walking through the festival all alone.

She would have been alone, but she still would have felt like she was participating by walking through it.

That would have made her painfully aware that she was a part of this world.

If she had bought something at a festival stand, it would have been proof of her existence.

It would have been proof that she was an element of the festival.

…''I am such a cheap person.

She liked things simple.

''Or maybe I am surprisingly spoiled,'' she thought as she swung her sword outside of her imagination.

A close look showed a faint shadow cut by in front of her.

It was likely a waitress for the café being run from the classroom. The shadow on her hand had to be a tray.

Mikoku directed her attack around the waitress.

Her opponent received the attack and made an attack of his own, but his slash was the same as hers.

“…”

She realized that both of them had been avoiding the faint shadows throughout the entire fight.

…''Are you participating in the festival, too?

In a way, treating the unseen and invisible no differently from anything else was restrictive.

As they fought, they eliminated the primary advantage of the empty concept space.

''But what is wrong with that?'' thought Mikoku as she ran out into the hallway.

Her enemy pursued and she made an attack from behind the door, but his wooden sword passed over his head to block her blade with a solid sound.

She back-stepped and rushed down the hallway toward the emergency staircase.

She held back her opponent by throwing a knife hidden on the back of her armored uniform.

She then reached backwards while making sure not to get in the way of the barely-visible shadows.

She reached toward the end of the hallway and the emergency exit.

She grabbed the knob, turned it as her enemy approached, and pressed her back against it to move the heavy door.

“—————”

She ran outside onto the concrete emergency staircase and sensed something.

It was not the night air, the moonlight, the wind, or the darkness.

She only sensed a broader version of the scene glimpsed through the classroom window, the height of her vantage point, and…

…''Yes.

From that second story landing, she looked out on the schoolyard, the neighboring school building, the people there, the scenes of morning, noon, and night that had to exist there, and the current festival.

She imagined it all.

And she sensed something about this place.

…''It is a little different.

This was not a classroom, it was not closed off, and it gave a splendid view.

There were other elevated spots and other locations exposed to the breeze, but this was the only one a few steps from the classroom.

She was certain someone had a habit of gathering here.

People who found their position inside the school to be somewhat lacking would come here as a privilege of knowing about it, and they would speak with the people walking down below and the people who arrived through the door.

She suddenly realized some writing in the schoolyard sand plastered on the wall.

…''What is this?

She tried to check the ten or so lines of text, but the door suddenly opened before her.

It was her enemy.

“So you will not let me take my time!?”

She clicked her tongue once, intercepted with her sword, and thought as she immediately jumped down from the landing.

This was a fun time, but the festival would eventually end.

…''How will the festival end?

She knew how it needed to happen.

Deep in her heart, she pictured a certain girl for the briefest of moments.

She was certain that girl would be happy and that her happiness was completely unrelated to Top-Gear or Low-Gear.

So Mikoku carved into herself a method to end this that would allow for that.

She had a power of her own.

And as she sensed her parents with her here, she made up her mind.

This was a conclusion that only she could bring about.

Sayama ran alongside Mikoku as he chased her into the schoolyard.

He slipped through the dancing and rotating shadows, spun around in his pursuit of Mikoku, and was sometimes pursued himself.

…''What a strange opponent.

He felt her skill with the sword was a bit higher than his own. He was a skilled martial artist, but he simply did not have as much experience with swords.

Rather than blocking and striking back, Mikoku more often evaded and charged in or evaded and moved away.

She primarily fought at close range, as if assuming she could always dodge.

…''Perhaps that is due to her regeneration concept.

Even if she could not avoid an attack, it would not be fatal for her.

But a normal person was different.

If they failed to avoid an attack and the blade cut even a centimeter into their wrist, they would never hold a sword again.

She did not need to worry about that, but…

…''Oddly enough, I sense no carelessness in her.

According to Gyes, Mikoku’s regeneration had reached abnormal speeds. She had speculated that not even the mechanical speed of the automatons would be enough to fully destroy Mikoku.

For Mikoku itself, it would have distanced her from death.

She could afford to be careless.

And yet she moved vigorously and confidently while making sure to avoid the surrounding shadows, as if following Sayama’s own lead there.

…''She is not careless. She is confident.

She knew that she would not die and that she was protected by her power, so had that relief widened her field of vision?

''This is dangerous,'' he thought.

When people on the verge of death were shown their impending doom, they generally gave up and fell into that doom. When they knew they were on the verge of death in the first place, they would give up more quickly when it was placed right before their eyes.

It was the ones who overcame that fate that were the most dangerous. Even when death was right before their eyes, they would sometimes fail to notice it or shrug it off as irrelevant.

Mikoku had taken a step into that territory.

…''This is bad.

However, there were a few ways to defeat someone with powerful regeneration.

To regenerate was to not die, but that still allowed them to be defeated or beaten.

Grabbing and restricting their joints would prevent them from moving, which was enough for victory.

Strangling them and cutting off their brain’s oxygen supply would knock them unconscious, which was also a way to victory.

Both were an extension of martial arts and something he excelled at.

That was why he stayed close to her but backed away when she got too close.

And at the moment, he moved in to attack.

She would occasionally throw a knife to keep him away, but he kept up with her otherwise.

Before long, the two of them reached the center of the schoolyard.

Mikoku was to the south and Sayama to the north.

They were both near their staring points, their heavy breathing appeared white in the air, and they were covered in sweat.

“There is…”

“…no need to stop.”

They spoke in unison and they both leaned forward.

“…!”

They ran toward the conclusion.

They ran toward the conclusion of the world they both supported.

“The clashing of swords sounds wonderful.”

A voice joined the sound of wood on metal and the sound of quick evasions.

“It is a nice sound.”

One or the other of them spoke from the darkness and shadows.

“To be honest, I have no real grudge against you.”

The other replied as if accepting those words.

“I feel similarly about you. You are my opposite, but I have no further connection to you.”

Their swords clanged together.

“Then why are we fighting?”

Their feet sounded loudly on the ground.

“Because our respective positions demand it.”

They stepped away from each other on the sand and raised their swords.

“Then it would seem we both enjoy troublesome things.”

The metal sword produced a metallic noise.

“We may be similar.”

The other took a step.

“If we are similar, are two of us really necessary?”

They moved forward.

“If you could fulfill my role, then perhaps not.”

The wooden sword attacked.

“It is too bad.”

The metal sword attacked.

“We have reached an impasse.”

The wood blocked and repelled.

“There are enjoyments that only I can do. …What about you?”

Next, the metal blocked and repelled.

“Yes, I too have things that only I can do.”

The opponent spun around to attack repeatedly.

“And you cannot give them up?”

Footsteps blocked them with a wind of evasion.

“I cannot.”

A pursuing strike rang out.

“Nor can I.”

A second strike followed.

“If neither of us can give those things up, then what are we fighting for?”

Someone side-flipped over the ground to dodge.

“That should be obvious.”

They stood and began to move again.

“To ensure the things which we cannot give up.”

They pursued.

“I see.”

They pursued some more.

“I am glad you were my opponent.”

One of them ran.

“Crushing something which someone refuses to give up will pain my great heart, but…”

The other also ran.

“You are willing to do so if it is your other self?”

One moved in to attack.

“Yes, that is right.”

They attacked each other.

“Hey… What were our parents like in your world?”

They evaded at the same time.

“What about in yours?”

They attacked at the same time.

“So they were the same.”

They locked swords at the same time.

“Yes, they must have been the same.”

The two weapons creaked from the strain they put on each other.

“Hey, don’t you think this fight might be meaningless?”

A short silence followed.

“What a coincidence. But don’t you also think that this fight can be given meaning?”

One of them breathed in.

“Then…”

They repelled each other to put some distance between them.

“Yes, you understand, don’t you? The two who will cause the least possible damage to the world should settle this.”

As soon as they landed, they kicked off the sand to dash.

“Hey, Sayama Mikoto.”

Running footsteps approached.

“What, Toda Mikoku?”

They continued to approach.

“Are we the same?”

The approached without end.

“Well…”

They approached too close to measure.

“Answer me.”

They prepared their weapons.

“We are…”

The wooden sword was held at the ready on the left side.

“…the same.”

The metal sword was raised up and back in two hands.

“We are the same person.”

And the two swords were swung.

“We are nothing more than that.”

Mikoku swung her sword straight down toward Sayama.

Her sword could carve life, but he did not hesitate.

He stepped forward and drew his wooden sword from a crouched stance.

Getting the distance of a sword strike right was tricky while running, but he calmly pulled it off.

His blade would arrive directly below the wide crescent moon arc of hers, but it would not arrive in time.

She briefly narrowed her eyes, but followed through with her attack.

She immediately heard a certain sound.

It was the dull sound of something tearing into the ground.

She then saw Sayama charging toward her from his lowered stance.

“Totsuka!”

For some reason, Totsuka had not swung all the way down. It had instead stopped about a meter off the ground.

The reason was obvious: Mukiti’s wooden sword.

Sayama’s weapon was stabbed into the ground like a stake.

He had not been preparing to attack Mikoku with it.

He had instead drawn Totsuka in and caught it on the bottom of Mukiti.

Totsuka’s power attempted to carve into the life of the wooden sword, but…

“————!”

Air blew out as it resisted. The powers of two Concept Cores collided, trembled, and cried out.

“!”

Mikoku reflexively fell back with Totsuka in hand.

In that instant, Sayama straightened up after charging in below Totsuka.

His left shoulder hit the weapon and tore his clothing, but he continued running regardless.

His forward movement cut his clothing further and blood sprayed from his shoulder.

“By the name of Mikoto, I command the concepts of 2nd-Gear.”

He punched Totsuka’s blade from below.

“Fly!!”

Mikoku realized her weapon had flown up and out of her hands.

She had been holding Totsuka’s hilt, so her arms were pulled up and her body left wide open.

Sayama charged toward her and she immediately realized this could lead to the conclusion she desired.

Sayama did not hesitate.

He threw a right hook into Mikoku’s gut.

“…!”

Just as she doubled over and her chin lowered, he unclenched his left fist.

“———”

And he threw a chop.

It hit.

Her face wobbled and her body was knocked backwards thanks to the previous hit.

The flat-handed blow to the chin had shaken her head on her neck.

The greater the speed, the more her brain was shaken in her skull and the more control she lost.

This was known as a concussion and that was what had happened to Mikoku.

She might still have had control of her limbs, but with her brain taken out, she would not be able to stand.

But to win, Sayama would need to pin her down or something along those lines.

That was the way to defeat this immortal girl, this other version of himself, without giving her a chance to resist.

And at about the same time, he heard a sound.

It was the sound of breaking wood and it came from Mukiti’s wooden sword.

To the left, mist rose from the broken sword and it moved like a cobra rearing its head.

“!”

It flew toward the collection of Concept Cores to their right, where Mukiti’s small transportation pallet waited.

According to the rules, he would lose if he lost the Concept Core.

But Totsuka had been knocked into the air and Mikoku was unable to fight, so if he restrained her here…

…''It will be a tie.

Everything would end in equilibrium.

And…

“That is the conclusion I wanted!”

Sayama had decided he would not allow a division between winner and loser, even if he had to force it.

He was prepared to do whatever it took to ensure everyone was on equal footing.

Low-Gear and Top-Gear had their own circumstances and righteousness.

…''But we must face each other and accept that we are equal!

They had held a trial and fought, so he felt there could be nothing more they had to do. And…

“You feel the same, don’t you!?”

He shouted his question and ran over as Mikoku’s knees gave out and she began to collapse.

But…

“———!?”

As he started forward, Sayama saw hostility before his eyes.

It was the tip of a blade.

It was a knife.

It was one Mikoku had hidden on the back of her armored uniform.

He reflexively jumped back.

“!”

And he grabbed the knife from midair.

His eyes had focused on the blade and it took them a brief moment to focus back on the girl.

In that vague but instantaneous time, he asked a question in his heart.

…''Why?

The question came from the knife in his hand.

She had to have thrown the knife after letting go of Totsuka.

It would have been when her arms were raised, leaving her body unguarded. She had to have thrown the blade while receiving his attack.

''But,'' he thought. ''That is not something she could have suddenly decided to do.

At the very least, she had to have made the decision before the pair of attacks leading to the concussion.

And that suggested something to Sayama.

…''Did she predict my attack?

But that question brought two new questions.

First, if she had predicted it, why had she let it hit?

And second, what had she been trying to do by taking an attack that would keep her from moving?

At the same time, his eyes focused on what lay before him.

From seven meters away, he saw Mikoku collapsing backwards as her knees lost their strength.

But that was not all.

Only then did he realize what she was trying to do.

She held a knife in her right hand.

As she fell, she forcibly moved her right arm via brute strength.

A moment later, Sayama saw his other self swing her blade.

Having predicted what she would do, he cried out.

“Wait!”

She held the knife in a backhand grip and pressed it against the back of her own head.

He heard a dull sound as she plunged the knife up to the base into the back right side of her neck.

“!!”

And she pulled it forward, toward Sayama.

She was trying to cut through her medulla oblongata to reset the trembling of the concussion.

“———”

And she did just that.

Mikoku felt her mind grow instantly clear, so she calmly stood up.

She had a smile on her face and sweat covered her brow, but she kept her eyes pointed straight forward.

Totsuka spun as it fell from overhead and the pieces of the wooden sword lay abandoned on the ground.

Now that she was alive and could move, the result was obvious.

“If I catch Totsuka as it falls, I suppose I will win.”

Sayama shook his head and remained in a defensive stance.

“Wait.”

“I will not wait. If I catch that sword, I will win.”

She extended her right hand up toward the falling blade.

She slowly bent backwards as she did.

“Sayama Mikoto, you were attempting to incapacitate me so that we would tie, weren’t you? It is true that I cannot be defeated in any other way…generally, anyway.”

“…Wait.”

Sayama took a half step forward, but she shook her head.

She tried to catch Totsuka as it spun down from directly overhead, but he gave a shout at that exact moment.

“Wait, Toda Mikoku!”

“I will not wait. I made the same decision as you…but chose a different method.”

She had her own way of bringing the world into equilibrium.

“I know my only skill lies in fighting and that everyone sees me as Top-Gear’s final leader.”

So…

“Sorry, but I will take all of the responsibility onto myself. …Accept this tie and forgive them all. You understand, don’t you? Even Hajji was a victim.”

“Wait!!” shouted Sayama. “Death is the worst possible option, Toda Mikoku!!”

As he stepped toward her, she threw a knife with her left hand to keep him away.

With both her arms raised, she spread those arms, leaned back, and left her chest entirely defenseless to the falling bearer of the conclusion.

Totsuka.

In this concept space, that sword was aligned with the one whose name carved life.

The metal tip fell to pierce her chest and the philosopher’s stone embedded there.

Her regeneration power and her life were there.

But Totsuka’s blade could carve life, so if it broke the philosopher’s stone and stabbed her, she would die.

This was the conclusion Mikoku desired.

If she was gone, Top-Gear would lose its leader. Shino would choose a life of happiness and so would Tatsumi. Even Alex would be able to live out his remaining life in peace.

And if she bore all responsibility herself, Hajji and the others who had fought alongside her would not be harmed.

Low-Gear would be unable to demand any other sacrifices or anything else unreasonable.

She was still worried about the negative concepts, but if Noah began to wake up, she was certain that ''Noah herself'' would do something about it.

…''It will be okay.

Shino was not by her side, but with her parents’ power inside her, she was not alone.

That knowledge was enough.

Even if she lost her life, she would not feel lonely.

Her fight would end here.

So she raised her head toward the heavens and held her chest up toward the blade that would pierce her.

Just before it all happened, a girl rushed onto the battlefield.

She ran a short distance to charge in from outside the field of vision of the two focused on themselves.

“No!”

The girl embraced Mikoku who was trying to end it all by taking her own life.

She embraced her, pushed, and a moment later, the falling metal sword pierced through her bent back and toward her chest.

With a dull sound, the girl stopped moving as if she had tripped forward and her outstretched arms clung tightly to Mikoku.

After a rustling of cloth, the sword in her back collapsed under its own weight.

It fell toward the girl’s waist, which also moved the girl.

It moved the girl’s raised body closer to Mikoku.

The movement was accompanied by a wet sound as the thick blade sank into her gut and fell out through her back.

The sound of the sword falling to the sand-covered ground rang heavily through the air.

Afterwards, only a breath could be heard.

It sounded like all air was leaving the girl’s lungs.

Mikoku did not understand.

What had just happened before her eyes?

What had happened to her?

Why was Shino here?

Why had Shino stopped her?

She did not understand any of that, but she did understand one thing: what was going to happen to Shino now.

Mikoku stood in a daze as Shino leaned up against her. Her bent arms caught on Mikoku’s armored uniform and she finally managed to stand on her trembling legs.

But Mikoku did not know what to do.

“Ah…”

Only a tenseness that was not even a breath escaped her throat.

But she could feel the heat and trembling coming from Shino.

Shino’s heat was spilling on Mikoku’s stomach and dripping down her waist and thighs.

…''!

She did not know what, why, or how. She could not even go mad, she could not run away, she could not breathe in or out, and so she said nothing. All she could do was somehow listen to Shino’s faint voice.

“Mikoku…”

''Ah.

“Thank goodness.”

''How is this good? There is nothing remotely-

“Mikoku, you’re a coward, so I thought you might do this. Because you’re a coward…”

''Wait. Wait. Please wait. Don’t…don’t say anything.

''If you do… If you do… If you say it… If you say it…it will sound like goodb-

“And because you’re kind.”

She heard a voice say “I’m sorry”.

She tried to say “wait” but could not. She could not say it, so she remained silent. And as that silence felt like some kind of punishment, Shino’s voice continued with a hint of happiness and even some faint joy mixed in.

“I’d always known it…but it was so obvious…that I’d forgotten.”

Shino raised her lowered head.

''Don’t look at me. Don’t. I have no idea what kind of awful look I have on my face.

But Shino did look at her and gave her a smile that made her want to tell her to stop.

“You’re actually the kindest person of all, aren’t you? That’s why you’re so fearful and why you try to avoid hurting anyone. …That’s who you are, isn’t it?”

Shino mouthed the words “I’m sorry”.

She closed her eyes as she smiled.

Seeing that smile, Mikoku’s face crumpled and she opened her mouth.

“Shino!”

Her voice – her trembling voice – finally escaped.

Shino’s eyes opened a bit, but she only nodded with a gentle smile and lowered her head.

“From now on, you can be kind without having to fear, okay? After all… After all, I’m already living without my concept…and everyone is so kind to me.”

Shino’s body sank into Mikoku’s chest. She felt like nothing more than a limp mass of lingering heat.

“I won’t be a burden on you anymore, so…”

With those words, the last hint of strength left Shino’s body.

So Mikoku embraced her.

And she realized Shino wore a red cloisonné pendant along with her half-broken blue pendant.

She realized Shino had continued to wear it all this time.

Sayama found himself collapsed on the ground.

He did not know what had happened.

He remembered trying to stop Mikoku and that she had thrown a knife when he had tried to approach.

Just as he had tried to brush it out of the way, a girl had run out in front of Mikoku.

It had been Shino.

She had likely used an unstable method to enter the concept space because an odd distortion had accompanied her appearance and it had happened so suddenly.

Confused by the sudden event, the knife had approached before his eyes.

“And…”

He looked down at his own collapsed form and found a face there.

He also saw long hair bound by a ribbon and a school uniform.

“Shinjou-kun?”

“…Yes.”

Shinjou smiled bitterly as she clung to his chest.

“Sorry about interrupting.”

Those words left him speechless.

It was true she had interrupted. She had interfered while the representatives of Low-Gear and Top-Gear settled their dispute.

Seeing Shino had surprised him enough to briefly lose sight of the knife, but that was his responsibility. He could not let the interference of someone other than the Low-Gear representative help him avoid a weapon thrown by the Top-Gear representative.

But…

…''It is true she saved me.

As he wondered what he should say, he noticed something.

He held up his left hand which had been wrapped around Shinjou’s back.

“Blood…”

Enough dark-red covered his left palm to drip from it.

“Shinjou-kun!”

He got up and realized Shinjou’s body was limp and heavy.

“Shinjou-kun!”

Her bitter smile was the soft expression of someone about to fall asleep.

“Shinjou-kun!!”

He looked past her smile and saw Mikoku’s knife sticking from her back.

It was on the left side of her back and the red stain grew with the same timing as her pulse.

“———!!”

''It will be okay. Calm down. Yes,'' he told himself.

…''This situation…

He suddenly remembered his mother.

She too had protected him from an attack and embraced him. What had happened to her afterwards?

“…”

The pain inside him linked with reality.

The pain in his chest linked not to his mother and the others he had lost but instead to Shinjou who he held to his chest.

“…!!”

He embraced her and let out a yell.

A pair of cries rang throughout the dark space.

And something answered them.

The girl’s bestial cry was answered by two objects that flew down from the sky.

One was a badly-damaged mechanical dragon and the other was a similarly-damaged white giant.

The white giant fell down almost vertically and the girl standing on its shoulder looked down to the ground.

“Mikoku…”

The girl in Mikoku’s arms was covered in scarlet.

Mikoku’s chest was bared.

She was trying to use a knife to dig out the philosopher’s stone buried at the base of her throat so she could give it to the girl in her arms.

But every wound she made was instantly filled, she could not fulfill her wish, and she simply opened her mouth and wailed.

Her voice sounded like a scream or cry of anguish and the girl falling with the white giant closed her eyes.

She wrinkled her brow and audibly gulped.

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Do not apologize, Tatsumi. I am here to make sure you do not have to.”

“I see.” Tatsumi nodded with the ends of her eyebrows lowered. “I will take Mikoku’s side no matter what happens.”

After all…

“My emotions are nothing compared to hers.”

“Neither are mine. If this comes down to a conflict between reason and emotion…then I prefer the latter, Tatsumi.”

“I see,” said Tatsumi with another nod.

She then opened her eyes, looked down at the girl crying on the fast-approaching ground, reached out a hand, and raised her eyebrows.

“Mikoku!!”

Tatsumi gave a shout to drown out the cries coming from the depths of the earth.

“Release your desire! This is a place of conclusion! You are Top-Gear’s representative, so we will follow whatever decision you make!”

Mikoku looked up.

Her eyes wavered from the tears and her hair was a mess, so Tatsumi briefly closed her eyes again.

But Tatsumi quickly brought her expression in order and breathed in to gather strength.

“Wish for whatever it is you desire!!”

At the same time, Alex and the white god of war slammed wind against the earth and landed.

The two of them heard Mikoku’s voice in the whipping wind.

They were quiet yet distinct words.

“Give her back…”

Mikoku shouted words of emotion that were impossible yet that everyone had wished for at some point.

She extended her bloody right hand toward Tatsumi and strongly spread the fingers.

“Give her back!!”

In that instant, Tatsumi closed her eyes, accepted it all, and nodded.

She then took action to grant her leader’s request.

A gust of wind raced across the earth and ascended into the sky.

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| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume13_Chapter_43|Final Chapter]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume13 Chapter 41

2015-05-10T00:43:00Z

86.52.26.103: Removed a word so this sentence is no longer borked.

==Chapter 41: Title of the Heart==
[[Image:OnC_v13_0503.png|thumb]]
''Where nameless regret takes you

''What you want to a maddening degree

''And the crest of a heart that desires once more

A clock rang six times in a large space.

The people in that underground room of Japanese UCAT’s Kanda Laboratory were watching two worlds reach a conclusion.

They all glanced upwards as the six tones continued to sound.

A single red light could be seen on the map of Tokyo displayed on the ceiling.

“So the two remaining battles will be Mikoto-kun and Hiba-kun against Hajji-kun and Mikoku-kun.”

Ooshiro nodded, took a sip of the tea sitting on the desk, and gave another gentle comment.

“This is bitter. Where is it from?”

“Testament. I had tea leaves hand-prepared especially for you shipped in from India.”

“Hand-prepared?”

“The region emphasizes sincerity, so they squeeze the tea leaves in their fists to draw out their power. …We have named it Stubborn Old Man’s Fist Tea.”

Ooshiro immediately tried to run from the room, but #8 grabbed his collar.

“Ooshiro-sama, why are you leaving your post?”

“I-I couldn’t possibly say that.”

He wiggled around but his expression suddenly grew serious and he collapsed limply to his knees.

Sweat poured down his face as he hung his head to look toward the floor.

“#8-kun, I think that sudden movement sped up the process.”

“You are imagining it. And they say one’s imagination can bring illness. …Not that we can understand such unscientific ideas. At any rate, please explain the current situation.”

“Oh, well, um, uh…”

He crawled below the desk and rocked back and forth as if bearing with something.

“Low-Gear has two ties and one loss. ''To win,'' we must win the remaining two battles.”

“Testament. I am surprised you calculated that out correctly.”

“…How stupid do you think I am?”

She did not reply. Instead, she raised her right palm toward the surrounding automatons and gently waved it back and forth. She then turned back to Ooshiro.

“We have nothing to say about that.”

“Y-you just made sure you didn’t, didn’t you!?”

“Calm down, Ooshiro-sama. To be blunt, Low-Gear is in trouble, isn’t it?”

Her expression grew slightly more serious.

“Hiba-sama is a problem.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Testament. He does not have Mikage-sama with him at the moment, so he will have to fight on his own. His odds of victory are extremely uncertain and his odds of defeat are high,” she said. “So I hope his opponent is Mikoku-sama.”

“Why not Hajji-kun? He lost pretty badly during their attack on UCAT.”

“He pushed back Abram-sama on the surface, defeated Kashima-sama and the other defense units, fought Abram-sama a second time, and then finally faced Sayama-sama. And both Arnavaz-sama and Shinjou-sama provided assistance. …One could say that he was only stopped after all those people were thrown at him.”

After pausing for a breath, she continued.

“In a one-on-one battle, Hajji-sama may be Top-Gear’s most powerful representative.”

White clothing fluttered in the city at night.

It was in front of a large building’s tiled entrance which created a small plaza of empty space.

The white clothes were atop the guardrail protecting the trees lining the road.

An elderly Arab man sat on the guardrail with a cellphone to his ear.

He was looking to the building in front of him.

“Meiji University’s Surugadai Campus.”

It was located in Kanda, down a southern slope from Ochanomizu Station which bordered Akihabara on the east.

It was to the west on the way down to the Imperial Palace.

The school building was covered in nearly olive-colored tiles and it stood twenty-three stories tall.

The university’s winter break had begun at this time of year, so not many people left even at six in the evening.

But he spoke regardless. He spoke into the cellphone held to his left ear.

“Abram…no, Sarv. Can you hear me? Hm?”

After a short delay, his carefree question received a response.

“Testament. I can hear you…Hajji.”

“Oh, is that so?” Hajji nodded. “Then I’ll call you Abram. …That sense of distance is a relief.”

“Do you really have nothing better to do?”

“We’re only ever busy when engaged in battle. Isn’t that right?” He looked to the sidewalk as he spoke. “I visited the Imperial Palace’s garden today. I realized I never had before. …I’m not going to say it looked artificial or that the security seemed far too lax. Once we change the world, it won’t need security at all. Yes.”

He gently kicked the asphalt sidewalk.

“Did you know this sidewalk was paved with bricks and Westernized about forty years ago?”

“Yes. But people began throwing the bricks during student riots involving thousands of people, so it was paved over.”

“Were they sealed away because they were thrown? Or was it because of history? Or…might it have been their will?”

“I’m not a politician, so I don’t know. But Hajji…”

“What?” he asked.

“First the attack on UCAT and then the meeting yesterday. You really do like playing the villain.”

“You sound just like Mikoku. And I’m not playing anything. This is who I truly am.”

“After the meeting, Sayama told me to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t kill yourself as the villain in an attempt to take all the responsibility with you.”

Hajji froze for a moment at that, but he soon responded.

“Everyone is far too kind. Have you forgotten what I did to 1st and 3rd as the Army?”

“Neither of those Gears would have been able to survive without you.”

“That was only due to our agreements. …Please stop treating me like a good person. I thought I understood Top-Gear, but I understood nothing and I used my blind hatred to borrow Top-Gear’s authority and oppose you all. Once all of this is over…I suppose I’ll be burnt at the stake or something.”

“Then let me ask you a question Sayama left with me.”

Hajji stiffened at those sudden words, but he still let out a long white sigh.

“What is it?”

“Do you think Shinjou Yukio had realized the truth of Top-Gear and the true creation of the world?”

“…”

Hajji fell silent.

“If she had, then your actions were truly those of a villain committed to evil. Sayama said that would be truly regrettable. And…he also said you do not need to answer that question.”

“Why not?”

“Well,” said Abram. “According to him, Sayama Kaoru once said that people become villains when they experience circumstances that leave them not wanting to touch anyone but those closest to them. And Sayama Kaoru had lost the person closest to him.”

“I see,” said Hajji as he closed his eyes and let out another white breath. “You are soft, Abram.”

“Not as much as you. Nor am I as hard on myself as you are.”

“You are imagining things. More importantly, have you and the wife you chose had a child?”

That question remained unanswered, but a response came in another form.

“My wife wants to build schools.”

“Schools?”

“Yes. In the sandy desert she comes from and in many other places. …She wants them to be places of shade where people are taught how to live and, in some cases, how to change or fight against nature.”

“I see,” muttered Hajji. “If it was your idea, I would have called you a hypocrite. Yes.”

He kicked the asphalt sidewalk again.

“Hey, does that land resemble ours?”

“Yes,” replied the other man. “It was just as I’d heard: no water, a drastic difference between day and night, dark shadows, sand everywhere, and the people are swept away by the wind and sand. But…”

Hajji heard him breathe in.

“There were people there who tried to change that land, lamented or tried to stop the conflict, wished to go elsewhere, or…waited for someone to arrive from elsewhere. So…”

So…

“I no longer knew what was important and I began to wish it could all be important.”

“So you did know.” Hajji placed his feet on the sidewalk. “You did. You are a hero, Abram Mesam. …You are the hero who chose this world, so you can continue on ahead. I on the other hand…”

Hajji smiled bitterly, trailed off, and said something else instead.

“Let me answer that question and you tell Shinjou and Sayama. …Tell them that Shinjou Yukio was a woman who only ever said the truth.”

With those words, he ended the call.

He stood on the sidewalk and reached out his left hand. He grabbed a long bundle of white cloth that was leaning on the guardrail and turned around.

“I on the other hand will remain in the past.”

As he turned around, he saw a short figure on the sidewalk across the two-lane road.

The boy, Hiba, wore a backpack and had walked here from Akihabara.

Hajji looked to Hiba and Hiba looked to Hajji.

Their eyes met and Hajji opened his mouth, but Hiba cut him off with a shout.

“Th-there is nothing inappropriate in this backpack! Just because I came from Akihabara d-doesn’t mean it’s filled with inappropriate DVDs and games!! A pure minor such as myself…”

He tilted his head and almost seemed to be asking Hajji for his opinion.

“...w-wouldn’t buy anything like that?”

Hajji immediately attacked with the long object in his right hand.

The surveillance plane flying over Kanda reported on the beginning of the battle.

“H-Hiba-sama has…”

The report was broadcast out to the world.

“…done something stupid!!”

Hiba ran through the nighttime city.

He ran full speed down a slope.

He chose to travel down the very center of the two-lane road because the surrounding cars were moving.

There was no one driving them because he was inside a concept space, but their residual speed kept them moving and crashing before slowing down in clumps.

As they moved so unpredictably, Hiba raced down the road while ignoring the traffic lights and letting the lights of the roadside stores wash over him.

He had pictured Kanda and Ochanomizu as a region of musical instruments and books, but he decided to forever abandon that enjoyable image.

Attacks flew in from behind him.

The attacks demonstrated the powers of fire and darkness.

A pillar of fire shot his way from behind and it burned away anything it even grazed.

And the reverberating darkness stopped all things and shattered them like ice.

The sounds of spreading flames and shattering reached him from behind, along with footsteps far wider and calmer than his own racing ones.

…''I can’t believe this.

“Miki isn’t my opponent?”

Even as he said that, he asked himself what that meant.

Was he disappointed or happy he was not fighting her?

To lighten his load, he threw out the contents of his backpack.

…''Ahh, and there were some rare DVDs and games in there.

He cried as he ran and tossed the items backwards.

“A worthless diversion!” shouted a voice behind him.

Multiple flames raced through the air and incinerated Hiba’s rare finds.

Hiba thought to himself as he watched the wind scatter the white DVD ashes into the night sky.

…''Perverted things are being dissolved into this concept space.

The next attack was directed at him, so he took a leap.

“Wah!” he shouted while jumping like a frog, stepping atop a nearby car, and jumping again.

A pillar of fire immediately swept by below his feet.

“!”

The Ochanomizu street was instantly annihilated.

Within a radius of about three hundred meters, everything along the path of the swing was turned to ashes: the trees, the buildings, and even the air itself.

The ephemeral white remnants scattered like confetti.

Hiba ran below all of those paper blossoms filling the dark city.

…''What do I do?

He jumped from car to car as he thought.

…''How do I fight?

He built up the flow of the battle.

His opponent was Hajji. The man’s combat experience far exceeded his own, the man was physically larger than him, and the man had a weapon.

Most of the factors that influenced a fight came down to one’s build.

A height difference of thirty centimeters created a full fist’s worth of difference in reach.

Hajji was about forty centimeters taller than Hiba and he was probably more than thirty kilograms heavier.

On top of that, Hajji had a weapon. The spear was likely B-Sp which Abram had used against American UCAT’s mechanical dragons during the battle with Black Sun.

Hajji had the upper hand in experience, size, and weaponry.

…''So what do I do!?

Just as he wondered that, his vision opened up.

The large intersection leading to Jinbocho came into view down the hill.

This created a valley in the dully glowing buildings straight ahead and to either side. The valleys seemed to be waiting for him there.

“———”

The cars that had collided in the intersection were stopped there, clogging up the road.

Once he reached the intersection, he would run into that group of stopped cars.

One of them was sitting below the traffic light, facing him.

As soon as he began to jump over it, he sensed a presence behind him.

…''Is it coming!?

Something like intent to kill or a premonition stroked his back and flames powerful enough to pierce straight through the car were fired toward his jumping back.

Hajji broke through the darkness that could not be fully banished by the artificial lights.

A pillar of fire shot ahead of him and instantly set a car on fire further down the slope.

The ground beyond the car did not escape that piercing incineration either.

Flames rose from the center of the intersection as the asphalt burned.

A pillar of fire rose and the explosion of air sent the car flying.

As it rose five meters in the air, even the metal parts of the car burned to ashes like kindling and the lingering flames illuminated the surrounding area.

That illumination revealed the burning intersection.

There was the sound of burning, a heated wind, a scorching pressure, and a flickering light.

They all reminded him of old times.

However, something of those old times was missing.

There was something he had always felt with each attack.

“Why didn’t I feel it hit anything!?”

As soon as he shouted, Hajji realized he could not hear his own voice.

…''No, not just my voice. My entire surroundings.

The scenery, the sounds, the temperature of the air, and every sensation besides that on the soles of his feet had vanished.

This was one of the powers of 7th-Gear’s Concept Core.

Hiba kicked off the hood of a car and flew up above Hajji.

He used the sinking and recoil of the car’s suspension to propel himself ten meters high.

The strength for this great leap had come from Nijun’s red sphere which he had pulled from the bottom of his backpack.

He had also pulled out Mitsuaki’s black sphere to seal his opponent’s senses.

Ten meters below, Hajji had stopped moving.

He had only kicked off the hood of the car and jumped after drawing Hajji’s flames in to hide him from view. And as he began to drop, he was certain that Hajji had still lost track of him and had also lost his senses.

…''Even Kazami-san and the others had trouble with this concept.

He knew what the most effective attack was when your opponent had ample experience.

…''You put them in a situation they’ve never experienced before.

[[Image:OnC_v13_0519.jpg|thumb]]

He had run and drawn in Hajji’s attacks before doing this.

Hajji would not have realized he had 7th-Gear’s concepts, so this attack was key. He knew this would not work against this man more than once.

He chose to move straight in and dropped toward his right knee.

But in that instant, he heard a quiet sound like a creaking glass door.

The sound gradually grew like a swinging pendulum.

“!!”

And it broke.

Space…no, the power of the concept shattered.

Hiba saw Hajji remove his eyepatch and…

“You stopped and shattered the portion of the concept space around you!?”

“Did you think I couldn’t?”

Hajji directed his voice up at Hiba and spun B-Sp around in his right arm.

“Now, answer me! Are you a hero!?”

A pillar of fire shot straight up toward Hiba.

“———!!”

In a split-second decision, he chose one of the four colors: blue, red, black, or white.

He chose white.

He pulled Yonkichi’s sphere from the backpack. That white sphere instantaneously swapped his and his opponent’s positions.

Hiba looked up at the rising pillar of fire and saw Hajji in its path.

It was on a collision course, so Hajji would be burned away by his own flames.

However, a denial of that fate appeared before Hiba’s eyes.

B-Sp’s all-consuming fire was stopped.

It was stopped by Hajji’s eye.

The fire stopped moving and became a glowing shape.

“Toh.”

Hajji calmly kicked the pillar of fire, breaking it.

With the sound of shattering glass, the fire crumbled away.

It looked like red and yellow flower petals scattering in the wind.

Surrounded by what sounded like small bells, Hiba realized Hajji was dropping back down with his spear aimed at him.

…''This is ridiculous!

A month and a half earlier, 7th-Gear’s Concept Core had given them so much trouble, but it did not slow this man down in the slightest.

Not only that, but he could freely destroy and manipulate his own attacks.

Hiba leaped down the hill toward the intersection to escape Hajji’s attack, but then he saw something from above the ash-filled intersection.

Hajji had kicked off empty air and was catching up to him.

…''!?

It was only after that when Hiba heard the metallic sound.

Hajji had used his eye’s stopping power to solidify empty air so he could kick off it.

The air shattered and Mitsuaki’s power shattered around him as it continued to expand.

There was no escape. Hajji descended from midair as if descending a flight of stairs.

…''He’s right in front of me!

He back-stepped as if looking up the slope just as the tall form in white dropped down in front of him.

The white cloth seemed to flap around him and he landed on the white ash-filled land in a crouch.

“You do not show your back when you run. You must have been trained well as a soldier.”

Hiba only realized a slash was coming once the man had finished speaking.

Hajji raised his right arm and swung down B-Sp2 without any flames.

“Ah…”

Hiba felt cold air running from his right side to directly above him and from the right side of his chest to the right side of his collarbone.

He also felt chilly air stroke his right cheek.

It felt cold because there was heat there.

The thought of “oh, no” came later.

“!!”

As his heart beat, the clothing covering the right side of his body was torn and color burst into the air.

It only burst out at first, but it did not stop.

He took a step back as if pushed by the pressure of his blood, but then Hajji spoke.

“You did well to dodge that.”

''I didn’t dodge it,'' thought Hiba. ''You intentionally missed.

And that was why Hiba breathed in, wiped the blood from his right cheek, and looked to Hajji.

''That’s right,'' he thought. ''I can’t hope to match him.

''But,'' he also thought.

…''I can’t let myself die here.

“Because a future of flirting with Mikage-san awaits me!”

“Did you perhaps think what you meant to say and vice versa?” asked Hajji. “And can you not take this fight seriously since I am not Tatsumi?”

Hiba gasped at the sudden mention of Tatsumi’s name.

He looked to Hajji’s face and found the man was not smiling as usual. He was staring intently and quietly back at the boy.

“Even if this battle comes to an end and the world is changed, you will still have to face Tatsumi. …And at the very least, you cannot stand before her if you are cut down by me.”

Hiba reflexively asked a question.

He maintained his defensive stance but frowned and tried to ask what Hajji was getting at.

“Why do Miki and I have to fight each other!?”

“Well,” began Hajji. “That is probably because Tatsumi chose you as her opponent.”

“B-but that’s so selfish! Then again, Miki was pretty selfish!”

“Then aren’t you also selfish for not answering her? No matter how weak you are or how much you run away, she has continued to choose you as her opponent. …But have you even once answered her?”

Hajji’s words slammed into Hiba who remained still.

“She is asking a question that can only be answered by fighting you, so until she does so, she has never once allowed herself to lose and she waits all alone. …She is waiting for your true self once you have sought true resolve.”

“But why-…?”

He swallowed the rest of his question.

The answer to that question was something only she would know.

…''I can’t believe this.

He had heard a number of reasons, but he still could not accept it.

However, he had a general understanding that she was indeed waiting for him.

“If I don’t go face her, will…”

He asked his question.

“Will Miki continue to win?”

Hajji gave him a single answer.

“Can you win?”

That question gave Hiba a single thought.

“…Can I not run away?”

“You can,” said Hajji. “But Tatsumi will wait for you even then.”

And…

“Just as you wait for another girl to awaken.”

Hiba hung his head at what Hajji said.

…''I can’t believe this.

He suddenly thought of Mikage.

He pictured her waiting for him at home, in an alley, and in the UCAT lobby.

He quite liked that she waited for him and she said she liked it too.

But that was due to a certain promise.

…''That I’ll definitely be there.

So…

“What does Miki think?” he slowly asked. “Does she think I’m coming?”

He knew the answer without being told.

…''Yes.

''What a troublesome person,'' he thought. ''She really is my opposite.

…''Is she the version of me that likes waiting?

“———”

Hiba sighed and his lungs cooled.

…''I don’t know.

He had yet to decide whether he should fight or what he should do, but…

“Miki will continue to wait for me even if I don’t know, won’t she?”

Hajji slowly nodded and lightly threw out his chest.

“Then do you know what you will do here?”

“Yes,” nodded Hiba.

''What I’m going to do and say here is outrageous,'' he thought. ''But if I don’t go through with it, she’ll probably be waiting forever.

“Please.”

He raised his fists, faced Hajji, and breathed in. As the air entered his lungs, strength filled his gut and he gathered his resolve.

He spoke to the man who had travelled much farther than him down the path of combat.

“Please be my opponent so that I might continue on to where Miki is.”

“You might lose here, you know?”

“She will still wait for me even if I do. But I don’t know what I should do for her. All I know is that I’ll lose again if nothing changes.”

“So you want to grow at least a little stronger by defeating me?”

“Yes,” said Hiba while realizing how outrageous this really was. “Miki is undefeated, but you have lost once. So at the very least, I can’t stand before her without defeating you first!”

Without hesitation, he crouched down, stomped a foot down, and used the recoil.

“…!!”

He charged forward as he wondered if he could reach the person…no, the two people who were waiting for him.

A combination attack required speed and endurance and it could only be pulled off after learning how to segue one movement into another.

It all came down to linking one attack with the next.

For example, if one sent their right fist forward, the right side of their body would also move forward.

The left side of their body would be pulling back, so it became difficult to send their left fist forward.

But what if, when stepping forward on their right foot, they twisted their heel inward?

Their body would slide rightward and it would more easily rotate clockwise.

If they kicked forward with their left foot in that instant, they would be able to move their entire left side forward along with their fist.

By repeating similar actions, they could pull off more than just a series of punches; they could put their hips behind the blows and each attack in the series would be strong enough to actually defeat an opponent.

Hiba was able to do this.

He had the speed, endurance, movements, and experience.

But in his case, that experience was not from flesh-and-blood combat.

Most of his battles against 3rd-Gear had been fought between gods of war and none of his training in the dojo or at UCAT had forced him to put his life on the line.

But he still had definite experience: experience of defeat.

…''How lame.

That was how he viewed himself. He felt he had yet to mature into a proper fighter.

''But,'' he thought. ''But what’s wrong with that?

He just could not let himself be content with that position.

…''I want to grow stronger.

He let loose his combination attack and Hajji received it.

In Hiba’s case, having his fist blocked did not mean his attack had been stopped.

He redirected the recoil of the blocked fist into his next attack.

His fists flew while he seemed to quickly spin. His knees, his legs, and especially his elbows were perfect for this high-speed rotation.

And Hajji put some distance between them.

He put a car between them and then sent his stopping concept toward the car.

But Hiba swung his body toward the slope and side-flipped out of the way.

Once he landed, he leaped towards Hajji and threw a backhand blow.

He heard a solid sound as Hajji blocked with B-Sp’s shaft.

The tip was pointed down and it flew up to scoop Hiba upwards.

Hiba kicked the tip and jumped straight up on his own.

At the same time, B-Sp collided with the car behind him.

However…

“…!”

Hajji continued swinging B-Sp.

As if he were playing golf, he hit the fallen red car toward Hiba.

A tremendous noise rang out and the “golf ball” flew.

Hiba kicked the side of the flying car and prepared to jump from it, but the car fell to pieces.

Hajji had planned this. By destroying the car just as Hiba was going to jump, he had canceled the boy’s jump.

Hiba would inevitably fall without having time to prepare for a landing.

“————”

Except he did not.

He was not acting based on reflex.

He had predicted what Hajji would do and had prepared for his landing while damp with cold sweat and warm blood.

Once he landed, he would charge toward Hajji who had just finished swinging B-Sp. The man’s eyes were turned upwards toward the car, so he would be wide open.

Except that did not work out either.

Hiba suddenly realized he had stopped falling.

“Eh?”

It lasted just a brief moment and then he heard something like shattering glass coming from the empty air below his feet.

…''He used his stopping power to create a path for my fall!?

That meant the man had predicted what Hiba would do two steps in advance.

And as Hiba’s slightly delayed fall resumed, he saw Hajji charging his way. The man rotated B-Sp once and swung it horizontally as if to scoop up the boy.

“…!!”

The spear tip hit.

The automatons in the surveillance plane heard a solid impact coming from one section of Kanda.

An electronic tone came from the surveillance system.

“Hiba-sama was hit!!”

That announcement filled the plane with tension.

Hiba had not been holding back.

When none of a fighter’s attacks could reach their enemy and they were hit first, one thing was more frightening than the injury: the loss of momentum.

Their focus would drop and they would be unable to move as quickly again.

And as if to prove that, an automaton spoke up quietly.

“Hiba-sama is not moving. He is alive but motionless.”

''I can’t believe this,'' thought Hiba.

He could see the sky. The night sky was slanted.

He thought about where he was.

…''Where is this? It looks like the school building of some university.

He was probably on the seventh floor and he was lying face-up near the window of an unlit classroom.

His moonlit bed was made from a windowsill, glass, and a broken wall.

He tasted blood in his mouth.

His back had broken through the window and was intermittently convulsing from the impact.

Pain filled his entire body and he could barely breathe.

This was the result of just one mistake.

…''I can’t believe this.

Suddenly, something blocked the moonlight.

The pale light backlit Hajji and his white cloak. The man’s shoulders rose and fell as he caught his breath and his spear was lowered in his right hand.

“What’s the matter? Hm?” he asked. “Didn’t you want to be a hero?”

Hiba just about apologized because he felt he had been rude to this master fighter.

But the voice that left his lungs said something else.

“You…”

His voice was trembling and scratchy.

“You’re so strong…but can you not become a hero yourself?”

His question brought silence.

For a few seconds, he simply tried to catch his breath and saw Hajji hang his head.

But then the man spoke from the moon’s backlighting.

“That is none of your concern. …Besides, some people do not wish to be a hero.”

Hiba thought about calling that a lie. This man had so much strength and the power to lead.

…''So why does he try to make people hate him?

Hiba did not know.

All he knew was that Hajji had not once done anything remotely unfair during their battle. He had done a few things like that during the attack on UCAT, yet he had done no such thing during this battle that he absolutely had to win.

That meant he was not willing to win at all costs.

“Kh…”

Hiba tried to get up. His entire body ached and he was frozen with pain.

His body was telling him not to move.

And Hajji’s words seemed to respond.

“How about we end this? How about we declare this my victory and thus Top-Gear’s overall victory?”

After a pause, he spoke more quietly.

“You go pursue Tatsumi.”

''Dammit,'' thought Hiba. ''I can’t let it end like this.

…''This man…

''This man still hasn’t gone all out. He still hasn’t put up a fight worthy of the title hero.

''A hero,'' thought Hiba.

''If I was a hero, I’d be able to reach Miki.

He now realized the opponent before him was a shortcut to that goal and he wanted to face him as a hero.

But his body ached and refused to move.

“————”

And then he heard a sudden noise. It came from the cellphone he had dropped on the floor.

After ringing twice, it automatically answered and he heard new sounds: hurried footsteps and a female voice.

“This is Tsukuyomi of Japanese UCAT’s Development Department. …Am I interrupting? Or did I make it in time?”

''For what?'' he wondered as he slowly breathed in and listened to the fallen cellphone.

“Listen. I’m about to let you hear something very important.”

Another sound immediately followed.

It was a heavy, deep, muffled sound, but it was also very short and it played again shortly thereafter.

…''Is this…?

It was a pulse.

“Now that we’ve made it this far, I’m sure she’ll wake up. So…so make sure you come back.”

He heard a hint of a smile in Tsukuyomi’s voice and also heard a chair move.

“Knowing you, you’re probably on the verge of death. But you know what, Hiba boy? The people who return from the verge of death, are the ones who still have something to do in this world. If you die, then why is she even trying to wake up? She has something she still wants to do here and she’s waiting for you.”

So…

“Climb up the hill leading from the underworld. Climb up that hill and you’ll find the land of the living.”

“———”

Hiba breathed in just as the call ended.

But he had managed to breathe in.

He forced in the air he needed to move.

“Ah!”

And as if tearing his own body, he moved.

Two figures jumped out into the dark city.

They attacked in midair, put distance between themselves, and landed on the slope.

They were Hajji and Hiba.

Hajji was to the west and Hiba to the east.

Hajji stood calmly while Hiba’s trembling body doubled over and blood spilled to the ground.

However, Hiba did not hesitate to charge forward.

By taking in a quick breath, he kept his body as tense as he could manage. He used the breath to keep the bleeding to a minimum and began the battle with a fist.

Hajji blocked and then attacked.

Hiba avoided the rising blade with quick footwork.

He moved in by reversing that footwork.

As the two of them continually attacked, dodged, and defended, they raced up the slope.

The top of the slope came into view, along with Ochanomizu Station and the bridge crossing the river next to the station.

The two of them arrived within one hundred meters of there.

Hiba was able to focus, so he gave a yell.

“Why!?”

He asked a question of a man who had fought more than he knew.

“Why did you give up on being a hero!?”

“Because I couldn’t protect them!”

“Neither could I!”

“But you have someone waiting for you to return. …Two, in fact.”

Hiba’s bloodshot eyes saw Hajji smile in a way he had never seen before.

During the meeting, he had seen the man smile normally several times, but never this closed-mouth smile that simply narrowed his eyes a little.

“But…”

Hiba moved quickly so his combination attack would reach.

It was as if getting a blow in would convey his thoughts.

Solid sounds rang out, his evasion and attacks flowed together, and even his own blows shook his entire body.

“But that’s too sad!”

“Emotions that can be described in words lack reality, Hiba. You know what? I no longer have anyone to protect.”

Hiba thought about the man’s words and smile.

''Oh, he might be a different form of me.

''I can stay as I am because the people I care about are still alive, but after losing the people he needed to protect, did he no longer know what to do?

''Did he give into desperation and decide to become a villain?

''Then did my step-sister who now goes by Tatsumi do the same?

He had recovered when he heard Mikage’s pulse, so it was possible he could not understand them.

''But,'' he thought about what Hajji had said.

“Then…”

Then…

“Why did you make your sister’s power a part of yourself!?”

“————”

''Yes, that’s right.

''I’m certain of it. I understand. Or at least I feel like I do. On this point, he’s definitely just like me.

“Once, I put a barely-conscious girl in a wheelchair, took her outside, and showed her this world.”

He sent out another blow that would not reach the man, but still wanted this to hit home.

“You too showed that eye this world! And you must have promised to show her a new world! And…and when you did…”

His voice rose to shout.

“You decided to become a hero, even if no one would know it!!”

His blow hit, but Hajji blocked it with B-Sp.

However, the man’s defense was slightly different from before.

This time, he pushed Hiba away as he blocked.

The next thing Hiba knew, they had reached the top of the slope.

They both let out white breaths and faced each other from a distance of ten meters.

They looked straight at each other with the light of the surveillance plane overhead.

Even as he trembled, Hiba gave a powerful nod with a serious expression.

“I will win. …So that I can continue on to those who are waiting for me.”

So…

“Please lose. …So that you can face those who waited for you.”

Hajji smiled bitterly, but…

“So you have two people waiting for you? …Kids these days are spoiled.”

The bitterness left his smile just before they both leaned forward and moved.

Hajji fought.

He blocked his enemy’s attacks, sent forth his own power, moved his body, and continually searched for an opening to victory.

Sounds reverberated around him. They were the sounds of battle and they were familiar to his mind and body.

It had only been a month and a half since he had fought Abram, so he felt fortunate to hear these sounds again so soon.

His weapons were the eye in which his sister resided, 9th-Gear’s Concept Core, and his own body.

He had no real grudge against his enemy.

That enemy saw himself in Hajji, but it was a one-sided view.

As an emotion, it was sentiment. As a color, it was green. As a texture, it was soft.

However, Hajji felt something nostalgic in that.

He and the others had once been like that.

While attacking again and again and pursuing his enemy’s movements, Hajji recalled days long past when he had fought and trained like this in the sand and below the bright sky.

His enemy here was young. The boy could easily have been his grandson.

As they fought, that boy was catching up. He had caught up in speed, he made up for his weak attacks with combinations, and he would circle around behind Hajji before sending in his fists.

To land a blow, he would make feints, throw decoy attacks, use tricky movements, and do whatever else it took.

But none if it felt underhanded. After all, Hajji was overwhelmingly more powerful.

Hajji’s blows were stronger, the speed of his straight-line movements was greater, and he had the advantage in reach, endurance, build, experience, and so much more.

So the boy used everything available to him as he faced the man.

He moved around Hajji and slipped his own attacks in. A few of them grazed Hajji, but he never managed a solid blow.

All that reached Hajji were the sounds, movements, and breaths of battle.

''Wonderful,'' thought Hajji.

''Do whatever you can,'' he thought. ''I will receive it all head-on.

''I am fighting with my full strength, but you are desperate. I will do nothing to damage that desperation.

''Why? Because a desperate opponent feels that defeat is the same as death.

''It is like a glass knife.

''Strike it on the side and it readily breaks, but to do that is to forcibly break it.

''If the glass knife breaks when received head-on, then it broke due to its own weakness.

''In the former case, the knife will never be made again. No one will know whether it was a poor-quality knife or not, but the fact that it broke still remains.

''But in the latter case, someone will surely decide to make an even stronger knife.

''This boy is the latter.

''I really do think I’m a teacher, don’t I?'' thought Hajji before thinking about his sister.

If she had lived and married the hero, would he have taught her how to use a sword?

That could never be now.

He had not taught Mikoku or Shino how to use a sword. So that they could live in the new world, he had felt they should not wield any more power than they themselves desired.

But lately, Mikoku had chosen to enter that territory and seemed to have gained some kind of confidence.

''If,'' he thought.

…''If I had trained those two, would they have become like this boy?

This enemy was filling all of his inadequacies with desperation in order to defeat Hajji.

This enemy was forming attacks from his desire to defeat Hajji.

These attacks did not come from hostility.

They were the product of a pure desire to overcome him.

''Wonderful,'' he felt.

''A wonderful enemy.

''This boy has something he must protect. He has someone who protects him, who he protects, and who creates a place for him to return to.

''He is a hero,'' thought Hajji.

And he had self-importantly asked Hajji to lose.

…''So I can face those who waited for me, hm?

''Don’t worry,'' he thought. ''You are a hero.

''And I can no longer become a hero.

''That’s right,'' he muttered in his heart. ''I am no hero.

“I am simply a man with strength.”

But his comment received a response.

“No!!”

The shout ran to the side.

“That can’t be true. After all…”

Hajji caught sight of the opponent who quickly back-stepped away.

The boy twisted his eyebrows and looked on the verge of tears as he created the space he needed to charge in.

“Why do you always think about how you can’t be with anyone!? Why don’t you ever think about being somewhere for others to return to!?”

They were ten meters apart once more. Without taking a breath, the boy shrank down like a spring.

“The people you lost are looking at this same world with you and the world you lost gave you this world you stand in now!”

“Do you really think they and their world would rejoice in a world that paves over and hides everything?”

Hajji forcefully prepared for his next move.

He decided to end this here and to win no matter what it took.

“This is a world of lies!”

“But as a false version of yourself, you spoke of them on the night of that attack!”

A voice rang through the air and Hajji calmly saw the boy take the first step of his charge.

“Are you saying even that was a lie!?”

Hajji saw an explosion of speed.

The boy had chosen to dash forward.

In what was likely his final move, he ran in a straight line in order to simply win and overcome Hajji.

The boy’s blood sprayed into the air and his body overcame his speed.

He rushed in and Hajji launched an attack on the coming conclusion.

Hiba no longer hesitated.

He used his power as he ran.

The first thing he used was Mitsuaki’s concept of non-understanding.

The concept’s power was unleashed with a metallic noise, but Hajji immediately shattered it with his stopping power.

Hiba had known it would not work.

But Hajji’s use of that power had made him waste some time, no matter how slight.

Hiba had done it because it could lead to even a tiny chance for victory.

He swung his body, propelled himself forward with the bottoms of his feet, felt a sticky sensation as the soles of his shoes left the asphalt, and continued forward.

Hajji raised B-Sp.

There was still some distance between them, so Hajji would be able to thrust B-Sp forward and send out the flames before Hiba arrived.

That was why Hiba used his next power: Nijun’s concept of truth.

There could be no lies, so all feints and diversions were sealed.

…''My movements will accurately guide me!

His body felt a bit restricted because the feints burned into him by experience were being restrained as unnecessary.

But that restrained power brought his feet more strongly to the ground and Nijun’s bodily reinforcement power raised his speed further.

However, Hajji was faster.

At seven meters apart, Hajji’s arm was just about to complete its swing.

With the nighttime city in the background and the lights of the shops and streetlights as his backlight, the tall figure targeted Hiba.

''Amazing,'' thought Hiba. ''He always uses his full strength to defeat his opponent.

He fully focused on the fight and produced the greatest movements, power, and speed he could.

This was how he had forced back Abram and the others and reached the lowest level during the attack on UCAT.

With the enemy before him, Hiba had another thought.

…''Can I become like that too?

Could he become that strong?

Hajji did not have the divine protection Izumo did. Nor did he put up with the kind of pain Sayama did.

But even without the stopping power of his eye, he would still be powerful. His physical build was a part of that, but he primarily fought with nothing more than his own body.

No one in UCAT had defeated him one-on-one.

''So,'' thought Hiba.

''I want him to be a hero.

''I don’t want him to create a false version of himself because he couldn’t protect what mattered most to him. I want him to protect what matters most to him even if it means creating a false version of himself.

''And isn’t that what he did during the attack and during the meeting?

…''Wasn’t he a hero going by the name of a villain?

Hajji had claimed to have set up bombs when negotiating with Sayama.

Hiba was certain he had intended to press that button.

But in the end, he had not pressed it.

''Why not?'' wondered Hiba.

If he would have pressed it had been willing to press it, then…

…''He changed his mind.

Hidden below the surface, this enemy had the will needed to ''not'' press the button.

And he still did. No matter what methods Hiba used, the man was willing to receive them.

He seemed to be saying that was the proof of a truly powerful warrior.

And the man sped up his counterattack. At this rate, Hiba would be unable to reach him.

So Hiba took action. He too sped up, but once he saw he would not make it, he used his next power.

“Yonkichi-san!”

A moment later, Hiba and Hajji switched places.

Hiba stood still where Hajji had been and Hajji raced toward Hiba from where the boy had been.

The situation was simple: Hajji was moving his weapon forward while approaching Hiba.

So Hiba leaned forward.

“———!!”

And he closed the gap between them.

He used their relative speeds. Hajji had been given Hiba’s speed and Hiba created that speed in himself once more, so they rapidly approached.

But even after that, Hajji was faster.

“Ohhh!”

Before Hiba could reach the man, the muscles of Hajji’s right shoulder swelled out and he thrust his spear forward.

“Go forth, light and darkness of my mother world!!”

As he shouted, B-Sp’s flames and his eye’s stopping power shot toward Hiba.

Hiba did not have time to evade, so they were sure to hit.

Hajji realized he had released his power.

This excellent enemy had faced him head-on and he had overcome the speed that was that enemy’s greatest asset.

…''What will you do about that?

Hajji silently asked while looking at the flying flames, the expanded stopping power, and Hiba beyond them.

…''What will you do about that!?

He had launched the perfect attack to overcome this enemy.

“Can your desperation overcome my best!?”

A moment later, Hajji saw Hiba display his final power.

He threw a blue sphere from behind him. That sphere raised all attack power to maximum.

''But,'' thought Hajji. ''What will he do with that?

Hiba was unarmed.

While he might be able to negate B-Sp and the stopping power with his two fists, his arms would be destroyed and his defeat made certain.

But in the following instant, Hajji saw Hiba throw two weapons.

They were…

“Philosopher’s stones!?”

“Yes,” answered Hiba. “These are the pieces of Mikage-san’s evolution stone!!”

As if to protect Hiba, the pair of blue stones flew with maximum attack power and collided with the flames and stopping power.

And they destroyed them.

The flames and stopping power were shattered by the evolution stones that protected him.

“———!!”

Hiba’s momentum carried him right up to Hajji.

Hiba clenched both his fists and stepped forward.

Mikage could no longer evolve, but she would wake up.

One day, surely she would wake up.

That had already been determined. And once she did, he would be with her.

And at the moment, he felt she had protected him.

He also felt what he had done was selfish, but…

…''If I don’t do this, I can’t protect her!

He avoided Hajji’s B-Sp just before it reached his face.

His bandana tore and the night air reached his forehead.

He had not felt this sensation in a long while. He had worn the bandana ever since being unable to protect Mikage so long ago, but he felt like it had just been removed for the very first time.

The chilly air seemed to wake him up and told himself to redo things.

Even if Mikage could no longer evolve, they could begin much like they had when they had first met, but redone as the people they were now.

And…

…''I need to face Miki!

He would not run. He might hesitate or feel doubt, but he would no longer run away.

He would not fear fighting or try to avoid it and he would try to listen to what she had to say.

And to do that…

“…!”

He stepped forward and sent his fist forward.

In the instant of impact, he saw a smile of resignation on Hajji’s face as the man looked down at him.

Hiba had not hesitated.

He simply produced the greatest strike he possessed.

“————!!”

And he let out a roar.

Even after he was the only one left standing atop the hill, his wavering roar continued on and on without end.

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City Series:Volume3a Chapter 5

2015-04-29T23:52:44Z

86.52.26.103: Typo fixes.

==Act 5: Series of Phenomena (14:11)==

===Part 1===

It was ten PM, the border between night and late night.

Hong Kong Yard was a bit busy because the second night shift was arriving to replace the first.

Akira had started working at six and she had returned from her patrol for some office work.

However, she now stood next to Rin’s desk in her patrol outfit.

Gunmal stood next to her and they both looked to Rin.

“I see. You want to spend the night shift out on patrol instead of in the office…and you want to go with Gunmal?”

“That’s right. If she’s with me, she won’t get lost.”

“That’s my line. You’re the one who was lost when I met you yesterday.”

“Quiet, both of you. …I don’t mind if you work together and Gunmal might find a key to the J-Gun case, so it could help our investigation. But…”

“But?”

“Get permission from Cleared Chief Yong. You get involved in our division too much, Akira.”

“But Cleared only lets me clean up the city. …And Rin, you can Tune better than anyone else in Cleared, so you should join us.”

Rin did not answer and changed the subject.

“Anyway, you need to take this up with your actual boss, not me.”

“I told the General about it, so it’ll probably reach him.”

“Probably doesn’t cut it. …And the General is too easy on you.”

…''Is he?

Gunmal must have read her thought because he spoke up.

“The General is that old guy with the tank, right? The one from the Fourth Divine Punishment War.”

“Yes, he may not look it, but he’s a hero known throughout Hong Kong. Normally, he would have a private office and command the entire Yard, but he insists on working alongside the rest of us.”

“What a nice old man.”

“Gunmal, you couldn’t read his Live, could you?”

He gave a small embarrassed smile.

“You could tell? I could see his Word Color, though.”

“Eh? Eh? You could do that with the General’s?”

Akira’s eyes opened in surprise because she was not powerful enough to read his Live, but Rin quickly cut in.

“Like I was saying, you need to take this seriously.”

“C-c’mon, Gunmal. She’s talking about you.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s talking about you.”

“I’m talking about both of you.”

Rin sighed and reached for a paper on her desk.

“What’s that?”

“A montage. It has to do with you two, so take a look.”

…''?

Akira did as she was told and saw a drawing of a woman’s face.

She had a slender face and well-shaped eyes.

Akira succinctly expressed her thoughts.

“She has me beat.”

“Hm? What was that?’

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Akira looked back at the drawing of the woman and read the Live contained within.

The lines and shading expressed a Message containing the thoughts of the drawer, not the depicted person.

…''Her hair is long and brown.

…''She is beautiful and her eyes are clear yet sad.

…''She has a Caucasian facial structure.

And…

“Is this person a Nein Engel?”

“Looks like it.”

Gunmal and Rin both nodded.

“Come to think of it, my brother said something in his letter about maybe getting married. Is this the woman?”

“I don’t know that much, but Kouga’s investigation has revealed that she visited J-Gun’s house quite a few times. …Do either of you know her?”

“I…”

…''Do I?

“I don’t think I ever met her when I lived in Hong Kong Cave.”

“My brother never told me the woman’s name.”

“I see.”

Rin nodded again and there was no hue of disappointment in her expression or Live. She must not have expected anything in the first place.

Frustrated by that, Akira looked down at the drawing again.

“What do you think about that long hair?” she muttered.

“Eh? I like it,” answered Gunmal.

“That’s not what I meant. …It’s possible she’s cut her hair.”

“Why would she?” asked Rin.

Akira looked up at Rin’s long braided hair.

“You let your hair grow out, but that isn’t because you’re lazy, is it?”

“Eh? What are you talking about?”

…''It’s called women’s intuition.

“It’s a mystery.”

“Hm.”

Gunmal nodded and suddenly looked to the clock on the wall.

It was already ten.

“Shouldn’t we be going?”

“You’re right. Rin, we’ll be leaving, okay? Sorry we weren’t any help.”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, make sure you do what I told you to. …Oh, and Gunmal.”

“?”

“We should finish our investigation of J-Gun’s house tonight, so you can visit it tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

He smiled and lightly raised a hand in parting.

At the same time, the phone on Rin’s desk rang.

…''Who is that?

Akira turned around before leaving and she could tell who it was from Rin’s tone of voice when she answered.

It was Kouga.

“She seems busy,” said Gunmal.

Akira nodded.

There was indeed a lot they had to do.

===Part 2===

Lights of fishing boats could be seen in the distance.

The ocean wind carried the sounds of waves from far below.

Repeated splashes could be heard from below as well.

While soaking his feet in those sounds, Kouga walked alone through the moonlit night.

His voice joined the sounds of the waves and wind.

“Yeah, I’m on Lamma Island right now. I can really see the lights of Hong Kong Island since I’m up on a mountain.”

The wind quickly swept away his voice as he spoke into his cellphone.

The wind carried the saltiness of the ocean below.

Lamma Island was just over three kilometers long and its tallest mountain was three hundred fifty meters. The powerful ocean wind flew over the forest and raced up the mountain ridge.

Not even the locals approached this place.

“But it’s strange. Why was the blood of Archs RDC’s president spilled here? Do you have any idea? …Yeah, I still have to visit Tsing Yi Island and Beaufort Island.”

Meanwhile, a small form rode the wind and flew down through the darkness.

The moonlight illuminated its two wings.

It was a bat.

When Kouga casually reached out his right hand, it landed on his white fingertips and vanished.

It had combined with him.

He gently swung his right hand and brushed it through his pompadour.

“I’m almost at the peak. I’m gonna start some real investigation, so I’ve gotta hang up. …Right. I’ll be careful.”

He ended the call and put the phone in his pocket.

He continued up the steep slope without getting out of breath and the slope suddenly vanished.

A flat space about the size of a small park appeared.

This was the peak.

Some volcanic rock protruded out of it, but it was relatively level and as flat as a stage. Perhaps due to the powerful wind, there were no trees to obstruct one’s view.

“You could probably land a helicopter here.”

Kouga looked around. As a vampire and human mix, he could see in the dark. The darkness of the night was not an obstacle for him. It was his ally.

“The north and south sides are sheer cliffs. I can see why he locals never approach the place.”

He looked back to the bottom of the trail he had climbed. The forest below resembled the kind of jungles unique to the tropics.

Past the forest were a sandy beach and the dark ocean.

The giant mass of light on the ocean was Hong Kong Island and the smaller lights were the other islands.

“That must be Beaufort Island. The scent is stronger over there, so it may be what I’m looking for.”

His nose detected the scent of blood his familiar had found.

That same scent filled this place.

Just as Akira and Gunmal could see Lives, Kouga could see the scent of blood.

The scent before his eyes here was thick and high quality.

It floated around the area with the density of a light mist.

…''Why can I smell so much blood? Did someone perform a Demon Summoning or something?

The scent of blood was strongest two or three steps ahead.

“?”

In the very center of the small peak, he saw traces of a large amount of blood.

The traces seemed to glow before Kouga’s eyes.

“It’s filled with the power of Yang. There’s no mistaking it now.”

This blood belonged to Huang Daquan, an Archs.

As he approached, the bloodstains became evident.

“But that Nein Engel committed suicide in his home, so why is his blood here? …Ah!”

He immediately found his answer.

He saw countless glowing words written there.

The words formed emblems.

Many different emblems made of Chinese characters were joined together into a circle on the volcanic rock ground.

It was six or seven meters across and no one but Kouga would have been able to see it.

“A Tune Emblem. And a huge one at that. …Is this one of the Death Technos lost during the Fifth Divine Punishment War?”

A Tune Emblem was like sheet music that encoded a Live’s Word Color and Tempo in writing.

It was arranged in a circle, it was activated by striking a point in the center called the Baton, and it would Tune the surrounding space according to what was written in it.

“If it’s Death Techno, the General would probably know what it does at first glance.”

Kouga spotted the Baton in the center and noticed it had already been struck.

This emblem had already been activated.

He pulled a Discord Bomb from his pocket and looked at it. A close inspection of the pencil-sized bomb showed it had an emblem drawn on it too.

That small Discord Bomb would destroy the Lives within five meters when it detonated, but the Tune Emblem in front of him was many times larger.

“When you make it this big… Well, the effective Octave of a Tune Emblem is equal to ten thousand times four to the power of how many meters it is, right? This thing has a radius of about six meters, so…”

…''Four to the sixth times ten thousand is an Octave of…40,960,000!?

That was a massive Octave.

Akira was the most powerful Tuner that Kouga knew and even she could only control an Octave of 1,280,000. Rin was called a genius for her 320,000 and a normal person did well to control 80,000.

What could be created or destroyed from controlling an Octave in the tens of millions?

Kouga wanted to call it insane, but he recalled a certain fact.

“There aren’t others like this on Beaufort Island and Tsing Yi Island, are there?”

“Well done. The ADs Device has already reached the depths of the ley line.”

“!”

Kouga turned toward the sudden voice just as his right arm vanished at the shoulder.

“What!?”

The attack had been too intense to feel any pain. Losing his arm threw off his balance and he fell to his knee. He held his right shoulder and found his hand was touching bone.

The ocean wind blew across the peak and onto his exposed bone. It felt hard, but even more…

…''It feels cold.

As soon as he thought that, blood spewed from his shoulder. It was too much to contain with his left hand.

A normal person would have died of blood loss from it all, but Kouga’s eyes remained strong as they faced forward through his sunglasses.

Two men stood before him.

One was a six-winged Seraph wearing a white combat coat. He held a Device-like sword, so he had likely been the one to sever Kouga’s arm.

The other wore a black combat outfit over a Custom Body. A closer look showed his Custom Body swelling out tightly around the neck and shoulders.

…''He had a lot of alterations done around the neck and back? Does that mean…?

Kouga had his thoughts cut off.

“Yes, only a winged-race would need to modify that area. That is what happens when you remove your wings.”

“!?”

The Seraph had read his thoughts.

Before he could ask how, the Seraph smiled and spoke.

“It would be best not to think. I can read your Live quite easily.”

That told him who this was, but if this Seraph could read his Live…

“Ha! So you know Akira. I see, so the Yard has already made it this far in pursuing Huang Daquan’s death, have they?”

The Seraph read Kouga’s thoughts again and stepped forward.

Kouga shuddered at his unhesitating movement.

He held his right shoulder, stood up, and backed away, but the Seraph only smiled.

“I can’t have you viewing me on the same level as Akira. I am not a mere child playing around with Tuning Lives into small animals.”

The Seraph stopped and lightly raised his Device toward the night sky.

“The moon is nice tonight,” he whispered.

He gave a short and simple call to the surrounding Lives using an Over Up.

“Word Accel! Oh, you Lives of 160,000 Octaves.”

The wind immediately produced a shape. It was a leopard colored the blue of the wind.

“That was fast!”

Normally, Tuning took some time.

To transform a Live, one had to learn the target object’s Live, have the Live hear you, and fuse it with your own Message.

Kouga remembered it taking five or six seconds for Akira to create a dog or a cat.

But this Seraph had created a leopard in under a second.

…''This isn’t good.

Kouga let go of his shoulder and let it bleed as he dug through his pocket.

He pulled out his handgun: a Webley & Scott 6-round revolver.

While backing away, he pressed down the hammer.

He heard the metal locking into place.

At the same time, the leopard began to run. And it did so along the wind in midair.

Its roar sounded just like the roar of the wind.

He stopped and held up his Webley & Scott in one hand. He stiffened his entire body to brace against the recoil of the .45 caliber round.

He fired and the blast cut through the wind.

The recoil hit him hard. The blood must have loosened his grip because his arm flew upwards and the Webley & Scott slipped from his hand.

But the shot had been accurate.

The bullet flew straight and light wrapped around it in midair.

Just like the Discord Bomb, it had an emblem drawn on it.

The light trailed behind it like a comet and transformed into a spear.

This was a German anti-demon round.

“!”

The Seraph gave a gasp of surprise.

The leopard stopped, but it could not evade. The spear hit it right in the face.

The weapon stabbed in up to the base.

The leopard rolled along a nonexistent midair ground and roared.

However, that cry ended it.

The floating leopard quickly expanded and burst.

It made a “sh” sound as it did so.

Only the spear of light remained and it fell. When it reached the volcanic rock, it stabbed in with a white sound.

Kouga stared forward while shaking the fingers he had hurt when the gun had slipped from his grasp.

The Seraph still held his Device in the same place as before.

“I see. I suppose you ''are'' part of the Yard that protects Hong Kong. That was quite the strange bullet.”

“But unlike the ones used by our forces, it had not been refined.”

There was no inflection to the cyborg Galgallin’s voice. He must have eliminated his emotions when altering his body.

Kouga sighed and realized the blood flowing from his shoulder was slowing, so he brought his hand back to it.

“What are Nein Engels doing here?”

“We detected someone investigating our ceremony, so we stopped by to…eliminate them.”

“Your ceremony?”

That would be the Tune Emblem drawn on the ground here.

…''That big an emblem is a ceremony?

He suddenly remembered something.

“The General mentioned rumors of an Earth Serpent out at sea.”

“An Earth Serpent?” asked the Seraph.

Kouga frowned and the Seraph continued.

“People thought ''that'' was an Earth Serpent? A ceremony that small can only awaken an Earth Wyvern. …Then again, I am the only one that can create something even at that level.”

The other Nein Engel tapped the Seraph on the shoulder.

He seemed to be saying not to say anything more.

“I know, Fei,” answered the Seraph.

Kouga reacted to that name.

“Fei!? You mean Fei the Galgallin!?”

That was the man Rin was searching for.

The man referred to as Fei turned toward Kouga. His false eyes glowed red behind his mirrorshades. It was a cold, emotionless light.

Kouga instinctually put up his guard just as Fei charged in.

He was fast. He immediately covered the ten step distance.

Kouga immediately made a counterattack.

“Headbutt!”

He did exactly as his shout suggested.

…''It hit!

With that realization, a great shock reached him.

His body was blown away and his bones cried out. Instead of simply breaking, they were smashed to pieces.

…''!?

For just an instant, he saw Fei standing next to him despite having charged in straight ahead.

Only then did Kouga realize he had been kicked.

He saw the sky and the moon and stars filled that night sky.

The only thing he felt was his body falling. He fell from top to bottom and from back to stomach.

To his left was a rising cliff face, so he had apparently fallen from the cliff.

For a few seconds, he felt like he was floating, but he soon completed the nearly one hundred meter drop and his back slammed into the ground.

The ground below was the bare volcanic rock of the mountainside.

His body burst like a melon and his vision went dark.

===Part 3===

Even Hong Kong grew a little quieter by two in the morning.

Even with plenty of nocturnal Glossolalians, the majority of the population was still human.

But one place was reaching its peak business as the final challenge for the day.

The Bird Garden was a famous market west of Mong Kok Station.

The squawking of birds created a great din. Many birds, both large and small, were chirping and tweeting together.

The eaves of the shops on either side of the narrow road were close enough to bump into each other and bird cages were hanging from them all. The smell of birds, chirping, the scissoring and mechanical noises of bird cages being made, the smell of varnish, and the lights all mixed together into a vague heat.

The combined Live of the market was naturally a bright yellow.

The people walking down the road were nocturnal Glossolalians as well as Hong Kong residents and tourists who did not want to waste the night sleeping. A closer look revealed that there were children there as well as adults. Most of the children were locals who were used to being up at this time, so they showed no sign of weariness.

The entire market was filled with bright and lively Lives.

But there was a single gap in that Live performance.

In that one place, the Lives did not advertise their presence. The birds, people, and other things that entered that gap were all focused on the individual at the center.

It was a female Nein Engel with four wings.

It was Genius.

Everyone’s eyes were focused on her wings.

They were wings that no one could ever create and no bird could ever gain.

They were wings that could only exist in one’s imagination.

The birds and people were all focused on those wings.

But Genius did not mind. When the birds stopped chirping and looked up at her, she would look them in the eye and sometimes touch their cage or smile.

She was taking a walk through the city for the first time since leaving J-Gun.

“His younger brother is using the Urban Name of Gunmal, too?”

She smiled bitterly.

…''J-Gun had me call him that when we first met.

The two of them had walked through this area back then.

Even while working at Archs RDC, she had almost never gone out into the city of Hong Kong. She would leave Hong Kong Cave using a dedicated transportation vehicle and she had been able to spend the night in her office.

Also, the idea that Nein Engels were hated by the people of Hong Kong was a fact, not a persecution complex.

That was evident even now.

There was a strange look in the eyes of the people she passed by. They saw her as something that should not be here.

She could sense it all the more when walking alone like this.

“How can Double Lee’s sister manage to live here?”

Genius had never met Double Lee’s younger sister who went by the Urban Name of Akira, but she had long heard the rumors.

She was a Seraph, but she had only two wings due to the deformities all too common in Nein Engels.

She was a tuner just like her brother.

Three years before, she had suddenly left Hong Kong Cave.

And Double Lee had not forgotten her.

“He must have a reason.”

Genius touched a nearby cage. A white dove stared at her from inside the bamboo cage.

She stared back for a while, but finally removed her hand from the cage.

“Sorry,” she said before resuming her walk.

That was when she heard a strange sound.

It was a loud and intense, but it was only a single sound.

It came from a shop that had a rest bench sticking out into the road.

“?”

The sound came again.

It was the chirping of birds, but it was too coordinated. It sounded like they were beginning to sing on some kind of signal. Someone could possibly teach a myna to do that, but this included the voices of much smaller birds.

Curious, Genius walked forward.

A man sat on a bench. He had his back to Genius, he was facing the birds and local children inside the shop, and he held a yueqin.

The birds and children inside the shop were all looking to the man and waiting for him to do something.

“Listen. Basically, the birds just have to make the sound you want. Akira taught you about Tuning, right? This is the same. You let the birds hear your Live.”

The man’s voice sounded a lot like J-Gun’s.

He played a note on the yueqin and the birds sang the same note.

“See? Neat, isn’t it?”

The children nodded and expressed their surprise or amazement.

“From what you said, Akira taught you like this, didn’t she?”

The children voiced their affirmation.

“Then continuing like that would probably be best. At the very least, you won’t become the boring kind of Busters or Tuners that your parents would think of. So when you get home and your mom gets after you, tell her you’re doing it because it’s fun. Ask her what’s wrong with that.”

He laughed and answered someone’s question.

“Me? I’m Akira’s… well, I’m kind of like her friend. We were doing stupid stuff together a bit ago.”

He handed the yueqin to a nearby child.

He seemed to have borrowed it.

When the children saw he had returned the yueqin, they grew excited.

The man rubbed one boy’s head and slowly stood.

Genius recognized the profile she saw.

It was J-Gun.

…''You’re kidding.

“That’s… his brother?”

Before she could accept that fact, he turned his back and she had no way of checking on him any further.

He began to walk away with the children surrounding him.

Even though he was leaving, she took a step back.

…''He mentioned Akira, didn’t he? It can’t be…

Or could it?

Without answering her own question, she bit her lip.

She turned her back on the man.

She ignored everything and hurried away.

She left that market as quickly as she could.

===Part 4===

There was no such thing as a peaceful night at Hong Kong Yard.

Even in the middle of the night, the headquarters had its lights on.

The white fluorescent light shined on a few night shift workers… and Rin.

She faced a desktop computer and wore the same clothes as when Akira and Gunmal had left.

She had been here dealing with this or that for over six hours.

“I finally got the search macro built… Now I just have to gather all the data.”

She removed her hands from the keyboard and stretched lightly.

“You work hard,” commented an elderly worker at a nearby seat, so she gave an arbitrary response and wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes.

She finally looked to the window. It was growing brighter and a blanket with wings lay on the sofa below it.

That was Akira.

“I can’t believe she can sleep face-down like that. …Of course, Kouga can only sleep inside a coffin.”

She tilted her head.

“But when did she pair up with Gunmal like that?”

The two of them had patrolled the streets of Hong Kong ever since then.

Akira belonged to Cleared which more or less dealt with the citizen’s troubles. They would get rid of poltergeists created by disturbed Lives or Tune destroyed houses to fix them.

“That’s a lot like a mother’s way of thinking.”

…''Well, I doubt it will end as pathetically as with me and Fei.

She then changed the look in her eyes and the direction of her gaze.

She looked to the monitor beyond her glasses. The cursor on the screen followed the movements of her eyes thanks to the sight device in the edge of her glasses.

The cursor moved along the displayed results of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and searched for the company names that matched the conditions she gave.

“So Archs RDC really is going to break up at seven tonight. The stocks of the inheriting companies are rising, so the insider traders must already be at work.”

She muttered her thanks for that as she closed the stock exchange page.

The screen now showed the system’s OS.

She looked to the icon on the far left that led to the Yard’s databank.

The cursor moved there and she clicked on the keyboard.

As soon as the databank server’s screen opened, she began typing.

She displayed the business details of the companies from her previous search and saved them.

Overlapping windows of text appeared on the screen. More and more appeared at a pace of about one every three seconds.

“Hm, this is a lot.”

She grabbed her coffee cup and took a sip. It was cold, but she did not care.

She could barely taste anything this late at night, so she only tasted the bitterness.

She thought about the flavor of the bitter coffee while connecting the computer to Hong Kong’s network line.

It immediately asked whether she wished to use any assistance software.

“…”

She silently inserted the MD-ROM she had prepared.

The computer read in the communications assistance software approved by the Governor of Hong Kong.

Once the official title popped up, she forcibly ejected the MD-ROM.

She then pulled a different MD-ROM from her pocket and shoved it in.

“No matter how much the corporations go crying to the governor, they can’t come up with a way of keeping me from doing this.”

Without waiting a moment, the computer resumed reading the MD-ROM.

The title on the screen blacked out and the network map appeared instead.

The commands were displayed on the upper right, but the display was different from the legitimate program.

“These Japanese programs are frightening. This thing can even destroy pursuing programs. …ID spoofing, ID changes every hour, decoy creation, and the option to transfer into a decoy. And it’s all automated from a single command.”

She went through all of the commands and began working.

That was when the headquarters’ door opened.

…''?

She turned around when she heard all of the night shift personnel quickly stand and she found the General standing in the entrance.

“Ah.”

Surprised, she stood too and saluted.

Before she could greet him, he gestured for them to sit. As they all did, he walked over to her.

He looked toward her and Akira who slept over by the window.

“Oh, what’s this? A young girl like you shouldn’t be workin’ so late. It ain’t good for you, Rin.”

“This is my job.”

“I see. …Are you usin’ that machine to search for that cheeky Huang bastard? Oh, you’ve got a lot you’re searchin’ for there.”

Rin looked to the text already displayed on the screen and nodded.

“I always have these in reserve for dummy searches. If they can tell what you’re focusing on as soon as you get your footing, they put their guard up a lot quicker.”

She brought her hands back to the keyboard.

“I’m going to input the search terms I need now.”

She looked at the text lined up on the monitor.

The very top of the search list was the name Fei Garland.

That was a dummy search.

That name had yet to return any search results.

…''I haven’t found anything in five years now.

Just as she began to type, the General spoke up as if he had just remembered something.

“Oh, right. Hey, Rin. If you’ve got the time, could you search for ‘Device’ and ‘J-Gun Maldrick’ too?”

“Are you referring to Akira’s case?” she asked with a bitter smile. “I’m doing those searches at the same time here. The two of them asked me personally, but…as they said, you shouldn’t hope for much.”

No matter how skilled a Buster swordsmith he had been, she could not imagine a personal workshop would have a connection to Archs RDC. Still, she could at least use it as a dummy search.

“What, are things not goin’ well?”

“Why do you think I’ve been up all night? …And does this mean you’re curious about Akira’s case too?”

“Yeah, a little. I suppose.”

After hearing his answer, she continued.

“General, you told me before that Akira’s father was your subordinate, right?”

“…”

“And just between the two of us, her father died in the exact same way as Huang Daquan.”

“Oh?”

“By any chance, do you secretly know everything going on behind the scenes in this case?”

“Why would I know that?”

She hesitated but answered.

“I feel a connection here. A human and a Nein Engel died in the exact same way and you have the exact same scar on your cheek as that human.”

“A connection, huh?”

“You may not have noticed, but you’re a bit of a mystery. What were you doing before the Fourth Divine Punishment War, why do you never call anyone over to your house, and does your wife actually exist?”

“I hear everyone’s bettin’ money on the truth of some of that.”

Hearing that, Rin looked taken aback and quietly cleared her throat.

“I-I apologize. I got carried away just now. …I haven’t gotten enough sleep.”

She then looked to Akira’s sleeping form and gave a deep sigh to shift her focus.

The General looked over, too.

“Is somethin’ the matter with Akira?”

“Apparently she wasn’t able to do anything when J-Gun died.”

“Well, there’s no helpin’ that. Not even a Tuner can just walk up and Tune someone who’s about to die.”

“But she’s kept her Device by her side ever since then. She used to keep it safely in her locker”

That had changed over the past few days.

“I think it’s a good change. Recently, she’s been teaching the local children about Tuning and she’s changed in a number of other ways too.”

“Sigh. I see you’re really watchin’ closely, Rin.”

“That’s just the kind of person I am.”

Rin looked back to the monitor and gently licked her lipstick-covered lips.

“Now, I’m about to make my way into Archs RDC’s databank. This is probably my last chance at this.”

She then hit the enter key to set it all in motion.

It only took five seconds for something unexpected to happen.

===Part 5===

A loud warning sound came from Rin’s computer and the General gave a shout.

“Danger!?”

The fifth window had been caught by a defense program.

Rin quietly frowned and had the fifth window displayed on top.

Her search program was on the run and the defense program was in pursuit.

“That’s a special type. …Does it pursue a specific search term?”

The security check had reacted to the search term instead of her entry into the databank.

“This isn’t good. I’ll scatter dummies and jump to a decoy waiting outside. If I go through a slow local network, I can launch the destruction program while the data’s being consumed there.”

She gave a number of commands and started the process.

The commands ran in an instant.

“Meanwhile, I’ll gather the data I can with the surviving programs. Once I have it, I’ll escape.”

The contents of the fifth window changed as per her instructions.

All the while, the other windows were rapidly completing their searches.

“What was that? This is some security company’s databank, right?”

“Yes, the one in charge of Archs RDC’s security. That company is why Archs RDC doesn’t need the Yard’s help.”

“Kah. That cheeky bastard’s cheeky company sure is cheeky.”

“It goes back to that ‘cheeky’ company’s rival breaking the law and angering them.”

The eleven windows finished their searches and closed.

All of the necessary data had been extracted.

As for the fifth window…

“Did it escape?”

Rin immediately switched networks and jumped to Japan via satellite connection.

“I’ll take it inside Zenon City – Tokyo’s market and…”

She deleted the program there.

The display instantly blacked out, but the system OS screen soon returned.

She had fully escaped from the network.

She sighed, removed her glasses, and rubbed her eyes.

“That last one was definitely a surprise.”

“I don’t know anythin’ about this stuff, so I couldn’t follow any of it.”

“I doubt you could.”

She put her glasses back on and began operating the computer with only the keyboard.

She opened a programming editor and placed the data inside.

In less than a second, she eliminated the test from the dummy searches and began to read.

“…”

Her breath contained a hint of disappointment.

“None of it has anything to do with the case.”

“Did you find any dirt on Huang?”

“If it was that easy to find, no one would do that kind of thing in the first place. …The information you want tends to be the hardest to find, General. Look.”

She made a single search as a test.

Search : “J-Gun” : Run

The name was not found anywhere in the data.

“Hm. You’re right.”

“This is pretty common.”

With that short answer, she went ahead and checked the other search term: Device.

Something suddenly popped up.

…''?

She checked the screen and saw one of the corporations was a trader that dealt in decorations. Devices were sometimes used as gifts instead of for their power.

“Not quite. J-Gun would have made them on his own.”

The Devices the corporation dealt in were all special orders from jewelers, shops for nobles, or sporting goods companies. The orders were mostly sent to factories, used units of dozens or gross, and had numbers like ten or twenty.

However, one odd number caught her eye.

“An order for five. …With four cleared for production? And a request for more?”

All the other deals involved more than a hundred Devices, but this one order was for a mere five.

“The order was placed by…Genius Elias?

She recognized the name.

It was the name J-Gun had called just before dying.

Rin stopped moving for a moment.

“…”

She suddenly gave a large nod, turned toward the General, and voiced her thoughts.

“I don’t have any real proof, but there’s a good possibility this Genius woman was the connection between Archs RDC and J-Gun.”

The General tilted his head, so she pointed to the monitor.

“Look. This order was made about three months ago, but the number of Devices is just right for making in an individual’s workshop. At the very least, it’s different from the other wholesale deals made by the dozen or gross.”

“Hm.”

“And look at the phone number. The three leading digits don’t exist in Hong Kong and the rest of the digits are too short. I bet if you add something…yes, like a ‘#’ in front of those three leading digits, you would get an internal Archs RDC number. Also…”

“Also?”

“According to Gunmal, there’s a good chance J-Gun hadn’t returned home in the past three months.”

At that point, the cellphone sitting on her desk began to ring.

“Hm?”

Akira showed signs of waking by the window, but Rin ignored it and answered the phone.

She recognized the voice she heard.

“Kouga? You’re late. What have you been doing?”

“Sigh. Rin, don’t get too mad at him,” said the General. “Men have a lot we’ve got to deal with.”

After listening to Kouga, she summed up the situation for the General.

“It seems he died a little.”

“Oh? But he got better?”

“Yes. He apparently turned to ash once. …What? You’re heading back there to retrieve your right arm? I wouldn’t. You might get killed again. Go drink some blood at the Human Meat Bar to recover. …Don’t worry. I’ll take it out of your welfare expenses.”

“Ahh, what do we do about his clothes? Last time he came back with bloody clothes, I gave him a hundred lashes.”

“Then he’ll need some new clothes. No, General, I’ll take them for him. …So how’d it go? I assume something happened since you were killed.”

Her expression changed as she asked that.

It stiffened and she slowly asked something else.

“A Tune Emblem…and a Nein Engel with a Device?”

“What about me?” sleepily asked Akira from behind.

Rin ignored her and gasped at what Kouga said next.

“Fei?”

She adjusted her grip on the phone.

“It was a Galgallin!? Yes, white hair and about as tall as you…. He’d Customized himself and…eh? He killed you? …Kouga! Don’t be ridiculous!”

The call ended there.

She briefly heard a quiet electronic tone, so Kouga’s phone had likely had its battery die.

She stared at the phone in her hand and sighed.

She realized the General and the other nearby personnel were looking at her.

“Ah.”

“Sounds like this has gotten kinda tricky.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t be dragging private issues into this.”

“Really? But this Fei you’ve been searchin’ for all this time was at that place Kouga went to. What was it? Where he found Huang’s blood?”

“Please don’t say that!”

Rin shouted and crossed her arms as if holding her body.

“Give me some time to think about what this means.”

She closed her eyes and mouth.

Silence fell and a chilly atmosphere filled the area.

Before long, something broke that chilliness.

“Huh? What is it, Rin?”

She turned toward the voice and saw Akira standing there with a sleepy look in her eyes.

“Rin, your monitor.”

She turned back around and saw the data on the corporation from the fifth window that had gone through the chase.

It had not managed to even start its search, so only the initial search term was displayed.

The defense program had been triggered by that term.

“Fei Garland? Isn’t that the guy you’re…?”

Akira fell silent when she saw Rin staring at the screen.

The woman remained silent without caring that her thoughts could be seen in her Live.

After a while, she forcefully stood from her chair and put on her coat.

“I’m going to meet up with Kouga.”

“Rin!?”

She did not answer Akira’s cry.

Her footsteps rang throughout the office, a stark contrast to her Live that was oddly still and filled with hesitation.

It was a painful Live to see or hear.

===Interlude 2===

Tedious and deep darkness slipped past several metal beams and fell down through a giant pit.

On its way down to the bottom of the hole, the darkness was blocked by some faint light.

There was a small light source on Hong Kong Cave’s 163rd floor down.

It came from Hong Kong Cave’s reserve lights.

A comparatively large number of Nein Engels lived in that area.

The edge of the hole was used as the main pathway and some could be seen walking here and there even though morning had yet to arrive.

Among them, a Nein Engel rested her elbows on the railing and stared at the metal beams far overhead.

It was Genius.

She had been born on this level and seemed to be known around here. A passing Nein Engel would occasionally greet her and she would wave back.

It was a common scene.

“Today is the day of the second repatriation ceremony,” she muttered while looking up at the dimly-lit heavens.

She held her left hand toward those heavens and she wore a plain ring on that hand.

“That city connects heaven and earth, hm?”

She clenched that hand into a fist.

At that very moment, a voice replied to her previous comment.

“But you do not have anyone to smile with. And neither do I.”

She turned around to find Double Lee.

He gave a self-deprecating smile and said more.

“But reviving the destroyed heaven is still necessary.”

Genius put her guard up, hid her left hand by crossing her arms, and gave a deep sigh.

She replied while making sure Double Lee could not read her mind.

“Heaven was destroyed and returned to nothing during World War Two, but you’re going to revive it by destroying Hong Kong. …Which will take more lives? The past return to nothingness or the present destruction?”

“Instead of comparing the two, you must continue adding everything in the positive direction. That will lead you to the proper answer.”

“Are you turning this into a holy war?”

Double Lee smiled bitterly at that.

“Can you call it a holy war before the battle even begins? The distinction between holy and evil is decided by the outcome.”

“That may be true, but…”

“From here on, anyone but a Nein Engel will die if they are caught in the repatriation ceremony. The only ones who can withstand heaven’s air are us and the souls of the dead. …That is why I did the most I could to help. I broke up Archs RDC and matched the timing with Hong Kong’s return to China. Also…”

“Today’s second repatriation ceremony will blow away nearly half of Hong Kong?”

He nodded at her question.

“On the night of Hong Kong’s return in two weeks’ time, the final repatriation ceremony will take place and the entirety of Hong Kong will be destroyed. …This second repatriation ceremony is merely the prelude, but it will be enough of a demonstration that only the truly foolish or indecisive will not leave.”

“Are you sure?”

“?”

“I think the people who love this city will stay.”

“What a sentimental idea.” Double Lee seemed to cast aside the words. “Only the people with nowhere left to go will stay. Those people who have resigned themselves to death will be caught in the ceremony, but that is a net gain for the world.”

“Hong Kong’s greatest Tuner certainly sees things differently.”

“I simply know what is truly important.”

He spoke with a powerful tone and looked up into the sky.

“Once the four Earth Wyverns and the Earth Serpent guided by them reach heaven, that destroyed place will regain its land. The surface will simply lose one small city, but in exchange, the many angels, Nein Engels, and wandering souls will gain a home.”

Could he see the door to heaven in Hong Kong’s sky?

That door would vanish once England returned Hong Kong to China.

“We have no time. This will likely be called the Sixth Divine Punishment War, but it must be done. If J-Gun is resurrected today and he creates the Device in the next two weeks, we can hold the final repatriation ceremony on the night of Hong Kong’s return.”

He took a breath.

“We will only just barely make the time limit.”

“You’re right,” said Genius. “Double Lee, you’re resurrecting J-Gun with necromancy, aren’t you? Fei just left again.”

“Do you resent me?”

“Of course not. …Have you seen his past? A murderer’s soul could certainly never go to heaven. And…”

“And?”

“I was walking through Hong Kong for the first time in a while and I saw J-Gun’s brother.”

“Really?”

Double Lee gave an exaggerated look of surprise and she continued.

“He seems to know your sister.”

“!?”

“J-Gun’s younger brother and your younger sister. …Do you think we’ll end up fighting them?”

He pulled a report from his pocket and glanced at it.

“Yes, just as it says here, Master Huang said someone would oppose me if I tried to connect this city to heaven with Tuning.”

“I heard him say that, too. Whenever he said it, he would give this satisfied smile like he knew everything that was going to happen. …But was he referring to your sister?”

He did not answer her, but he did say something else.

“It seems we really do need the help of Hong Kong’s #1 Buster.”

His expression was as calm as ever and he gently tapped the bottom of his coat so she would see.

It produced a quiet metallic sound.

The ADs Device that J-Gun had created was there.

“He was immensely skilled, just like me.”

Genius had a feeling he was avoiding the previous subject, but she did not pursue it any further.

Meanwhile, he continued.

“Busting is the destruction of your opponent’s Live, but that requires more than simply slamming your own Live against them. To effectively strike their Live, you must have a thorough knowledge of it.”

“J-Gun could do that.”

Double Lee nodded.

“But he was not talented.”

“…? Then what about you, Double Lee? Do you claim to have inborn talent?”

He did not immediately answer.

He frowned and seemed to choose his words carefully for once.

“Do you know the difference between normal people and those known as talented or prodigies? Do you know why he left the formal Maldrick family and moved to this mixture of a city?”

“Well…”

“It is not a happy thing. …And I more or less understand it.”

He once again looked into the narrow sky.

“It is all known by the Flight Song, that single beautiful song passed down from the founding of Hong Kong Cave.”

“The Flight Song?”

“It is a wonderful song. …A wonderful song that’s meaning contains a great contradiction that only I know at present.”

His words were directed at someone other than Genius, but only he knew who that person was.

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| Back to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_4|Act 4]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_6|Act 6]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume13 Chapter 37

2015-04-28T22:07:23Z

86.52.26.103: Fixed the typos I found. Also this chapter was simply far too lewd.

==Chapter 37: What I Want to Do==
[[Image:OnC_v13_0379.png|thumb]]
''Check on me a lot

''And let me check on you

''Because I want you to be with all of me

''Because I want to be with everything of you

Darkness fell over Taka-Akita Academy’s main gate.

A large bulletin board for students was set up on the inside of that westward-pointing gate.

It was used to summon students, inform of teachers’ absences, post notifications of suspensions, and
announce the results of club activities.

Currently, the lights illuminated a single sheet of paper on the board.

The imitation vellum was decorated with white and red artificial flowers and contained writing in ink.

Notice:

The Leviathan Road Meeting was concluded with equal approval ratings for both Top-Gear and Low-Gear concerning their intertwined history.

As agreed to by both parties, five representatives of Top-Gear and five representatives of Low-Gear will conclude the root conflict via combat.

If either side has insufficient representatives, a replacement can be made with approval from all other Gears.

Top-Gear: Toda Mikoku – Hajji – Nagata Tatsumi – Alex – To Be Determined

Low-Gear: Sayama Mikoto – Izumo Kaku – Kazami Chisato – Heo Thunderson (Dan Harakawa) – Hiba Ryuuji

*The battles shall be carried out one-on-one.

*The battles shall begin at noon on December 23. Weapon acquisition shall begin at dawn on December 23.

*Each representative shall acquire a Concept Core weapon at this spot before the battles begin.

*Each representative may freely choose a Concept Core weapon on a first-come, first-served basis.

*A concept space shall automatically expand around each battlefield zone in Tokyo.

*The traits of the concept space shall be influenced by the concept weapons contained within.

*If a representative’s Concept Core weapon is stolen or destroyed, they will have lost the battle.

*The winner shall return their Concept Core along with the loser’s Concept Core.

–December 22, 2005, Leviathan Road Meeting Moderator

The bulletin board’s surroundings were completely abandoned.

Night was falling over the version of the front gate’s bulletin board that had been split off into a concept space.

Distant noise carried through the night sky.

Small lights and shadows could be seen in a dark, dewy yard.

The lights were in the backyard portion of the large yard. They were positioned in front of a small shrine set up near the fence and trees to the west.

The garden lanterns on either side of the shrine had lit candles inside.

A single photograph had been placed in the illuminated entrance of the shrine.

It pictured a woman and her photographed eyes looked out at the boy and girl standing before the shrine.

The boy had sharp eyes and wore a navy suit.

The girl had long black hair and wore a white armored uniform.

The girl took the boy’s left hand and smiled.

“Mom…and dad. And grandpa, grandma, and even great-grandpa.” She nodded. “Have you all been waiting?”

She exhaled.

“Great-grandpa helped the Tamiya family, so they honored the surname Shinjou here. And it seems Sayama-kun’s grandfather looked after you, too. So…”

She closed her eyes.

“You were protected by some strange people, but that’s why everyone is here, isn’t it?”

“Shinjou-kun, I am not sure this is the time to slip in some oddly appropriate judgements.”

“I-I wasn’t trying to do that.”

Shinjou smiled, relaxed her shoulders, and spoke to no one in particular.

“Um, I had always thought I was alone.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I felt helpless, I cried all the time, and I’ve done nothing but rely on you since I met you. But…”

She opened her eyes, looked to the shrine, looked to the mountains and the lights of the city to the west, looked up into the night sky, and stared at the moon.

She moved her gaze from the shrine that honored her surname, across the earth it stood on, and up into the heavens it connected to.

“I can’t reach the moon, but this world only exists because of what my parents and those who came before them did.”

So…

“I always thought I didn’t have parents, but if I truly hadn’t had any…the world wouldn’t be the way it is. And I don’t think I would be the way I am either.”

So…

“I think some portion of the world was made by my parents’ hands.”

She squeezed Sayama’s hand and looked back down to the shrine.

“I can’t see them or speak with them anymore, but as long as this world exists, the things they did will live on and I can add on even more.”

Which meant…

“The world isn’t our body. It’s more like a creature that lives on with our deeds carved into it. The things we’ve done will continue to exchange words in the world even if we’re no longer here.”

In other words…

“The world is like DNA.”

At that point, Shinjou slowly let out a crumbling breath.

“You know what, mom and dad? I care for you.”

Her thoughts could no longer reach them and she wished she could meet them, but that was exactly why she said what she did.

“I will take care of this world. Because I want to see all of you, I’ll take care of the world you all protected. So it’ll reach you, won’t it? What I do will pass through the world and reach what you did, won’t it?”

There was no answer to that question, but she still received one.

“It will.”

She felt a squeeze on her hand and heard Sayama’s voice.

“There is no way our thoughts will not reach the world.”

She opened her eyes wide and turned to the side, but Sayama remained facing the shrine.

“Let us make the world ache, Shinjou-kun. If we work together, it will have twice the effect. No, you count as two people, so I will have to put in some extra effort to bring it up to four times.”

“T-two is enough. It just has to reach my mom and the others.”

Sayama turned toward her and smiled in the moonlight.

“Then we can use the remaining two to make each other ache.”

He took a breath.

“I see you as a single individual, so that is just perfect. Right, Sadagiri-kun?”

He placed an arm around her shoulder and they turned back to the shrine together.

He exhaled and the breath appeared white in the air.

Realizing that their surroundings were cooling down, he spoke.

“The surname Shinjou is no longer alone.”

“That’s right.”

Shinjou looked to the shrine, blushed, and crouched down as if to show her white armored uniform to the small structure.

“How do I look? I wear this even when I’m a boy. But I like this kind of clothing and I have someone who agrees I look good in it, so…”

She did not say “don’t worry”. Instead, she smiled and said something else.

“Isn’t that great?”

She leaned up against Sayama and nodded toward the shrine.

“Now that I know that, I want to be with him.”

After a short pause, she began to sing.

This was the one thing she had remembered.

It was the same song her mother had sung and she directed it toward the photographed smile in the moonlit shrine.

Slowly but surely, the song continued.

As the night grew darker, the festival’s light and noise grew.

Of all the colors on Taka-Akita Academy’s brightly lit bulletin board, the largest was the notice for the night’s costume dance party.

It took place on the general athletic grounds that the students called the Big Emperor. The large sandy area was located directly ahead from the main road and it had been transformed into a four kilometer dance floor.

The stands, decorations, daruma dolls, and other items no longer needed after the first half of the festival had been turned into a large bonfire in the center. Costumed dancers surrounded it in five circles sized extra large, large, medium, small, and extra small.

The extra large circle was four kilometers across and its dancers ran quickly around while the extra small circle had approached within a meter of the blaze. They all danced to the light music club’s original song Stand By Bon.

The emotional cries of electric guitars accompanied the five-stage costumed Bon dance and the fire cast dancing shadows on the surrounding school buildings. The people watching the shadows of those dancing supermen or mystery men generally received a single impression.

“This looks like a demonic ritual meant to destroy the world.”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone dressed like you, Brunhild.”

Kazami looked over at Brunhild as the two of them stood in front of the clubhouse near the main gate.

Brunhild still wore the black outfit she had worn to the meeting. She even wore the three-cornered hat and carried the scythe.

However, she had more to say as she drank a bottle of tea she had bought at a nearby festival stand.

“You’re not one to talk in that armored uniform.”

“But I don’t have anything else that looks like a costume. My band outfit was designed with more emphasis on being showy.”

“Showy? I think you mean indecent. How can you show your midriff in public like that?”

The one who smiled bitterly at that was not Kazami. It was Izumo who stood on Kazami’s other side.

“Still, Chisato, that outfit is going to stand out. Some people are going to recognize it, you know? There are quite a few UCAT members at the school, both as students and teachers.”

“Really?”

Kazami turned toward him and suddenly tilted her head and glared.

“Kaku? Could you not carry around a surfboard wearing only a swimsuit at this time of year?”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m dressed as Borderman, the new hero your old man’s planning!”

“Don’t you mean Boarderman? To match the surfboard?”

“No, his name comes from how he always stops right on the border of unacceptable as he foments rebellion.”

“That is not stopping on the border! That’s running straight past it!”

“It’s nice how energetic you two idiots are, Kazami. But Izumo, were you serious about that?”

“Yeah.” He pulled some sunglasses from his swimsuit and put them on. “Although not many of them are part of the special division. This is the standard place for the naturalized people to send their kids and they end up getting caught up in it somehow or another. And for some, it’s just because their parents were in UCAT.”

He crossed his arms.

“Also, I’m sure most of the teachers are. And it isn’t just the school. I’m sure there are plenty outside too and I think the numbers are growing. Even among those younger than us.”

“I see.”

Kazami nodded and heard the drum and bass Taka-Akita Ondo, so she looked to the dancing and wriggling group beyond the flames.

“A lot of them aren’t even wearing costumes.”

“It really is a demonic ritual, isn’t it?” Brunhild tilted her head a bit. “More importantly, where are the others?”

“Heo is probably enjoying herself somewhere in the festival and Harakawa will be with her. Hiba went on ahead to UCAT because he’s worried about Mikage. As for Sayama and Shinjou…”

Kazami looked to the graduation artwork visible as shadows on the distant schoolyard.

“They were dancing together, but then they saw the artwork their parents made and said they were going to the Tamiya house. Look, it was those creepy hands. There’s one for each of Sayama’s parents and one for Shinjou’s mom.”

She smiled, Brunhild said “I see”, and Izumo said “So that’s where they are.”

Kazami nodded at their replies.

“They’re both idiots, but they’re a good match.”

“The way I see it, idiots have a way of being a good match for each other.”

“Oh? Like you and that black cat?”

Brunhild looked to the cat and it averted its gaze while backing away.

Kazami sighed as she watched the girl swing down her scythe and dash after the animal.

She then looked up at her partner.

“Kaku, let’s go dance too. It is our last year here.”

She pulled on his hand.

“Wait, wait,” he said as she pulled him along. “What about my surfboard?”

“Just stick it in the ground somewhere.”

He looked down at his outfit with a troubled look.

“But without the board, I’ll look like a freak.”

“You already do!!”

“Hey, Sayama-kun?”

Shinjou’s voice filled the wooden room.

She forced a smile below the dim light of a single lightbulb.

“Why was the futon already laid out?”

“Hm. It seems to happen automatically. That is the Tamiya house’s detached room for you.”

“And. Who. Arranged. For. It!?”

She repeatedly slapped the single futon and blanket.

“And it even has two pillows like for a couple!”

“Well, we will not need three for a while yet.”

That comment left her speechless and her face rapidly grew red.

She tried to say something.

“Ah…”

But she found she could not put her thoughts to words and realized this had taken a turn for the worse.

“I-I’m leaving.”

She stood up while keeping her head lowered to hide her heated face.

Still sitting on the futon, Sayama looked up at her.

“Why?”

“B-because…”

She had difficulty gathering her thoughts.

“This isn’t right. Something about it isn’t right. It’s, um, uh…”

She had a single thought.

…''It feels like we’re making other people do things for us.

''I’m such an awful girl,'' she thought.

“I’m leaving. I am.”

She took the first step, wondered what she was doing, wondered why she was not stopping, and started past Sayama.

“Wait, Shinjou-kun!”

He moved in front of her and grabbed her to stop her. And he did so while still on his knees.

His height meant his arms wrapped around the back of her thighs and his face pressed against her lower stomach.

“I cannot let you have that look on your face, Shinjou-kun.”

“Where do you think you’re looking when you say that!?”

“Ha ha ha. Your navel through the armored uniform, of course. And if I look up, I can see the silhouette of your breasts.”

“Y-you never listen! You need to be more open to what I’m saying!”

“Then let us both be open.”

He used his knees to spread her legs.

With a defenseless zone below her body, she shrank back.

However, he excitedly moved his knees further in.

“Now our coordinates are even closer! Not long until we are safely together!!”

To prove that did not mean safety, she rained blows down on the top of his head.

“Y-you don’t have any idea how I feel, do you!? I’m going to keep this up until you lose all your extra lives!!”

“C-calm down, Shinjou-kun! I believe my life comes with no extra continues!”

“No mercy.”

The next blow must have hit in just the right spot because Sayama groaned and shrank down.

However, that movement stuck his face between her thighs.

She cried out and tried to escape by pulling out her legs, but his arms were wrapped around the base of her thighs on the back side. He was also spreading her legs with his knees, so it could not have been more difficult to keep her balance.

“Y-you’re latched on as tightly as some kind of mythical creature! Are you the mythical Crotch-Grabber!?”

“How could you cast such aspersions on the butt fairy!? Still, I think the mythical Old Thigh Man sounds better.”

Hearing that, she frantically looked around.

“A spear. I need a spear. P-preferably something that can ward off evil!”

“While this is entertaining, you need to calm down, Shinjou-kun. With an emphasis on ‘down’.”

Sayama lowered his arms. The arms that had been grabbing at her butt reached the backs of her knees instead and they pulled to send her tumbling down.

She fell onto her legs and found herself sitting on Sayama’s lap.

“See? There you go.”

He grabbed her hands to help her balance in her slightly backwards leaning pose and he placed her hands on his shoulders which left her with no choice but to look at his face.

That face was as expressionless as ever and he looked her directly in the eye before nodding once.

“Then let us leave, Shinjou-kun.”

“Eh?”

Her body suddenly seemed to float.

She cried out as Sayama’s arms wrapped around her butt and the back of her knees.

He then lifted her up.

She panicked, but more at having her vision up so high than at being held. She leaned on his left shoulder and wrapped her arms around his head.

“W-we can leave?”

“Combining when the two are not in sync stereotypically leads to a failed combination or a combination accident.”

“But are you okay with us leaving?”

''I’m sure he is,'' she thought with an inward sigh.

With that in mind, she relaxed her shoulders.

“Maybe I was the only one worrying about Ryouko-san…”

“Oh, Ryouko? I do feel bad for what I did to her.”

“For what you did to her?”

“Yes.” He nodded and glanced down at the futon. “Before leaving with you the day before yesterday, I laid out this futon. Ryouko was quite angry that I left nothing for her to do.”

“Oh? So you were the one that put it here.”

“Yes. I thought it would surprise you.”

“Oh?” she said again while resting on his shoulder.

She then grabbed his head, lightly kicked his shoulder and chest, and leaned back in midair.

“Tell me that sooner!!”

She sent a full-powered knee into his chest.

Three minutes later, Shinjou was fixing the futon.

Even though she complained, she could not deny that she was blushing and, when she turned around…

“I didn’t know an expressionless face could be so filled with anticipation, Sayama-kun.”

“I cannot help it when I think about the fact that you are fixing our futon. It is just so sexy.”

''Don’t let him trick you,'' she told herself while finishing up by correcting the positions of the pillows.

She sighed and reluctantly scooted over toward him.

“Shinjou-kun, why not come sit here again?”

He patted his lap, so she thought for a moment and looked to the four walls, the ceiling, and the window.

“No one’s looking?”

“Ryouko would never allow it.”

She gasped at that name but thought about what it must mean.

“I wonder if this is hard for her.”

“If it was, she would not be so affectionate toward you.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I hope you’re right. Yes…”

She sat facing him on his lap.

He then removed his suit coat and placed it over her shoulders. After hiding her from their surroundings like that, he took her hands and wrapped them around his shoulders.

“Now, then.”

And he embraced her.

Before she could even breathe, he brought their bodies close and the inside of the suit coat tickled at her arms.

''So this is what boys wear,'' she thought just as he raised the head she had pressed against his shoulder.

“…”

And their lips met.

''Wow,'' she thought. ''Woww,'' she added. ''Oh, wow,'' she also thought.

The three thoughts combined into permission.

His tongue came knocking at her lips and she wondered if that was the polite way of doing it.

She accepted the tongue with her lips, embraced it with her own, and felt her tongue held close.

“Nn,” she breathed. He considerately pulled his lips away, but she pushed in to show it was fine.

They twisted their bodies to deepen their greeting and seemed to form waves.

“Ah.”

After parting, they spent a few seconds catching their breath.

Even inside the room, their breaths were white.

“Are you cold, Shinjou-kun?”

“I-I’m not, but… Ah, wait.”

She started to remove his tie.

“I should remove this, shouldn’t I? If I don’t, I might end up strangling you.”

“I have a feeling your initial conditions there are not quite accurate…”

''They are,'' she told herself as she removed the tie and looked at him in his shirt.

“U-um…”

She was unsure whether she should remove the shirt.

She panicked when she realized she was blushing and thought back to their usual nights and evenings.

…''Oh, he always removes his shirt himself.

He would never remove his clothes before hers and he would only ever remove the bare minimum of his own.

''Wow, so this is my first time stripping him,'' she thought as she saw him nod.

“In our doujinshi, you always strip me from below.”

“What have you been reading!?”

He had yet to find out that she had bought one of them on the pretext of needing reference material for her writing.

“Honestly,” she said to avoid the issue.

She unbuttoned the shirt, starting at the top, and his skin gradually appeared below.

“S-Sayama-kun, you don’t have to strike a pose for each button. You really don’t. I-if you scare me…look, my hand is shaking and preparing to poke you in the eyes.”

“That is a dangerous way of expressing fear.”

Before he had finished speaking, she had unbuttoned down to his navel.

…''This is as far as I can go.

She could have sworn steam was rising from between the hair hanging over her downturned head.

Nervous sweat appeared on her back and neck, soon covered her entire body, and made her feel hot and damp. So to hide that fact…

“U-um, I unbuttoned your shirt. Wh-what should I do now? Strangle you!?”

“Please stop strangling me to hide your embarrassment. And unfortunately for you, it is now my turn, Shinjou-kun.”

''Eh?'' she thought as he reached for the chest of her armored uniform.

The soft material could be removed by pulling the clasps from the hem.

“Ah…”

The thin inner suit was exposed, but he immediately used his fingernails to open it from her neck and down to below her navel.

Her breasts were still covered, but everything from her sweaty throat to the flesh below her navel was bared.

The suit clung to her, so the shape of her body was perfectly visible in the dim light.

She looked to the necktie that had fallen between her breasts.

“You aren’t going to remove my tie?”

“I have wanted to see you like this since I first met you.”

“Y-you like it partially clothed!?”

As soon as she said that, he stuck his left arm below her waist and sent her tumbling backwards.

“Ah.”

She now lay face-up on the futon.

It worried her to only see the ceiling and the lightbulb in the darkness, but his face soon came into view and moved in close.

“…”

As their lips met, he removed her shoulder armor, the suit below, and the skirt at her waist.

Fighting it would do no good, but she did not want to just be at his mercy. That contradictory feeling led her to squirm and make his work more difficult while also pulling him closer to feel more of his warmth on her lips.

She felt his left hand remove her inner suit and reveal her body below while leaving only the frame, armpits, side, and waist portions in place.

He stripped the suit way by sticking his hand between the thin material and her skin. His slightly chilly palm would gropingly grasp her sweaty skin and his fingers would ticklishly wrap around her.

…''My sweat.

Her skin would bulge out between his grasping fingers and she felt like the moisture was being squeezed from her.

It embarrassed her, which quickened her breathing. Her lips were sealed by his, so her breathing grew even more erratic and she sweated even more.

His middle finger traced between her breasts, accurately followed the line down to her navel, pressed on her navel, continued further down, and then moved back up. He repeated the process with a set rhythm, but it soon grew random, which made Shinjou realize how impatient she was.

“No.”

She breathed in.

“Quit teasing me.”

“Very well, but you seem to be misunderstanding something. Still, I will be gentler.”

He did it more gently and she squirmed.

Her sweaty breasts were exposed to the cool air, her bare stomach and navel rose and fell as she breathed, and he moved his hand to the bottom of her stomach.

“…”

After a pause, she nodded.

She did not close her eyes. She wrapped her left arm around his neck, placed her right hand on her mouth, and looked.

She was being fully exposed.

He removed the soft armor and she felt a chilliness reach the space from the joint between her legs to her butt.

“Ah…”

Before she could say anything, their lips met once more and he swallowed her words.

''No fair,'' she thought while also feeling relieved. It was a troublesome combination.

He then placed his fingernails on her stockings and tore them from the inside.

“Ah, w-wait! If you tear those…”

“Do not worry, Shinjou-kun.”

He pulled something from the back pocket of his pants.

“I have spare stockings here. …What is that look for? Do you have a problem with my assistance?”

[[Image:OnC_v13_0403.jpg|thumb]]

“At this point, anything I said would be halfhearted…”

“You brought your own spares, didn’t you?”

“D-don’t ask that…”

She then realized her exact state of undress. The front of the suit had been entirely stripped away and opened up.

“Can you see me, Sayama-kun?’

“Yes.” He moved back a bit and nodded. “This is you, Shinjou-kun.”

She nodded and he first brought his lips to her forehead. He then lowered them to her eyelid, nose, lips, throat, and collarbone. He both licked and pecked at her skin.

“You taste just like blood.”

“Stop…”

He pressed his ear below her chest to listen to her pulse, held his cheek to her navel to feel her warmth, and…

“Ah, S-Sayama-kun. U-um… Any lower and…”

“Shinjou-kun, what good is practice if it is not as much like the real deal as possible?”

He lifted her knees up and did as he had said. He did so carefully and she felt some dampness reach her down below.

“———”

She kept silent but trembled a bit, so he realized what she was thinking and spoke.

“I will make sure to do the same when you are Setsu-kun as well.”

“Ah, b-but…”

“People must be fair in all things.”

Before she could protest, he did as he said, as if warming her body.

“…Ah…ah…”

She gasped several times and the ticklishness and embarrassment caused her to raise her knees and bend backwards as if trying to escape. But she twisted too much and rolled over onto her stomach.

“Ah.”

She frantically tried to get up and face Sayama again, but she could not gather any strength in her hips and collapsed.

She sat with her spread knees on the futon and her body collapsed forward, so her hips were raised toward Sayama.

“U-um, Sayama-kun. This was, u-um, an unavoidable accident, so…”

“It would seem people have trouble knowing what to say when they are filled with too much happiness.”

“What kind of happiness are you talking about!?”

She stretched her arms below her body and tried to hide the area between her legs, but Sayama grabbed those hands.

She was lying face down with her butt lifted high into the air and now her hands were being pulled back between her legs.

Before she could think anything, her upper body was pressed against the floor. Her knees were fixed in place as if opening toward her stomach, so the tug on her hands caused her back to arch backwards.

“S-stop, Sayama-kun. And being a butt spirit is no excuse…”

“Oh, so you finally accept the existence of my guardian spirit, Assmodeus III!?”

“I was only making a joke to hide my embarrassment, so don’t respond like that!!”

The spirit brought his lips in close.

“Hyah!” she cried and tried to move away, but her upper body and knees were held in place. Bending her waist was the most she could manage. As she twisted out of the way, the dampness would pursue and she gradually lost track of whether she was the chaser or the chased.

There was nothing to be done about it and her stomach simply rose and fell as her entire body seemed to undulate.

…''Ah.

She realized she was lying on Sayama’s suit.

So she gave herself over to it. Her sweaty skin did not slip on the suit’s material, so she buried her face in it as if entrusting her body to the cloth and sweaty friction.

“…!”

A long tremor ran through her body, she breathed in a few times, and she entrusted her surging body to Sayama.

She no longer tried to escape. She instead did as she pleased.

And after some unknown amount of time passed, she realized the only remaining motion was the rising and falling of her shoulders.

''Ah…'' she thought while twisting her limp body and wiping away the sweat now that she was free.

She rolled onto her back and saw Sayama looking down on her from above.

The embarrassment of realizing he had been looking at her this whole time brought tears to her eyes, but he smiled at her.

“You are beautiful, Shinjou-kun.”

“Y-you’re saying that again?”

She looked up at his bare upper body and realized something.

“This is really not the time to make a joke, you know?”

“When have I made a single joke this entire time? We need to take this seriously, Shinjou-kun.”

“That really cooled me down…”

“Heh heh. It is so lovely how inconsistent you can be, Shinjou-kun. …Perhaps I should try to do the same.”

“You mean you’ll get even worse?”

With that said, she relaxed her body.

She let out a warm breath and removed her hand from her throat. She moved the hand down along her side and found him between her slightly raised knees.

“Honestly… There’s nothing to hide or any need to, is there?”

“There never was, Shinjou-kun.” He smiled. “I have always been looking at you as you are.”

“Why does that sound so concerning coming from you? Well, it doesn’t matter.”

She smiled bitterly because her heart could not deny the heat and sweat covering her body.

However…

“Sayama-kun, are you sure you don’t want my butt facing you? You are a butt spirit, after all.”

“But then I could not embrace you from the front.”

“That’s right.” She felt a little relieved, but her cheeks also flushed. “Then… Can we do it that way later? I like it when you praise me.”

He gave her a troubled look and seemed not to have expected that.

“For some reason, you seem to be under the impression that I am an indecent person.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think that at all. …What I think goes far beyond that!”

“Calm down, calm down.”

He brushed up her bangs and stroked her head.

She narrowed her eyes and he wrapped his left arm around her shoulder and toppled forward.

She felt her raised knees pushed outward, so she raised her legs a bit to wrap them around his body.

“Sayama-kun, will you check on my body to the very end?”

He smiled a little at that.

“I cannot do that.”

“Eh?”

“After all,” he said. “There is also Setsu-kun and I never want to stop checking on you. We can’t have today be the end.”

So…

“So I would like to continue checking on you forevermore.”

“Then…”

She breathed in, formed words from the feeling filling her chest, and raised her arms to embrace him.

“So do I!”

As if to show his agreement, he held her tight and she realized her spoken wish had been granted.

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| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume13_Chapter_38|Chapter 38]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 67

2015-04-27T22:28:42Z

86.52.26.103: A single typo fix.

==Chapter 67: Searcher in the Metal Tower==
[[Image:Horizon3C_0167.jpg|thumb]]
''What resembles the smell of blood

''Resembles the taste of blood

''Yet is harder than blood?

'''Point Allocation (Iron)

The imprisoning tower was made of iron. The floors, walls, staircase, hallways, and even the chairs in the landings were all made of hard metal.

“They certainly were thorough.”

Mitotsudaira heard her voice and footsteps echoing through the metal spiral staircase. The well-built female guard at the entrance had insisted they enter one at a time, so she had gone in alone.

…''I knew it was meant as a prison, but I didn’t expect it to be this sturdy.

The torches and the cloth covers on the chairs were the only non-metal materials. The only other things not made of metal were…

…''Me as I climb the stairs, and…

Occasionally, she would see someone collapsed on the landings or in the chairs placed in the viewing hallways.

Their clothes were disheveled, their skin exposed, and they were gasping for breath.

…''I-is this, um, what I think it is?

She could easily hear the heavy breathing and faint voices in the quiet hallways and staircases. The gentle voices echoed off the walls with an intoxicated quaver to them.

“Master Rudolf… You’re so wonderful…”

“You’re just so rough…”

“I don’t think my body can survive much more of this…”

…''Ehhh!? That’s really what’s going on here!?

Mitotsudaira very nearly stopped walking, but she instead quickly moved past those women while briefly glancing over at them.

…''N-negotiate! I need to negotiate! He’ll understand if I explain the situation!

But what if he demanded her body in exchange for the memo?

“Then…”

She had prepared herself for this from the moment she volunteered to go. This was not a knight’s job, but a knight could not allow her king or another lady to be defiled.

But even so, she was certainly not enthusiastic about this job and had only volunteered by process of elimination.

That may have been why he had spoken to her as she had started to regret her decision.

“Hey, Nate. You don’t have to go, you know? I’m not gonna force anyone to do something they don’t want to. …Hey, Tenzou. Drinks. Three minutes, okay?”

“Y-you’re contradicting everything you just said!”

But once Tenzou returned with drinks in paper cups he had bought at the Thales-style vending machine located next to the tower, Mitotsudaira had taken one and spoken to the idiot.

“What do you mean I don’t have to go? If I don’t, we won’t get this material on the Princess Disappearances. Not to mention that Hexagone Française asked us to perform this investigation.”

“Don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it.” He had waved his hand dismissively. “You know that thing that sounds like a tragic event from a porn game? Was it called the Sack of Magdeburg? Well, once it’s over, this Rud-whatever guy will go away, right? I’m sure the entire tower will be abandoned, but we can always have that cruel merchant buy the memo afterwards. Or if he takes it with him, we can search him out, have Itoken exercise with him, and get it that way. He apparently loves Technomagie, so Itoken might get a bit dispelled, though.”

“If that happened, I think our class would get a little less chaotic.”

As they had spoken, she had started feeling more inclined to go. It was less about knowing she did not have to go and more about knowing her king was worried about her. She felt honored but also felt inexperienced for making him worry.

“So I suppose I came here to prove I’m a proper knight.”

She sighed as she climbed the stairs.

…''Did they say this tower is five hundred meters tall?

She could see the distant landscape out the occasional arrow slit or window. She could tell she was climbing higher because that landscape grew wider and wider.

“This feels like mountain climbing.”

There had been an elevator that used spirit spells on the first floor, but she had chosen not to use it when she did not know where it would take her. There were elevator entrances on each consecutive floor, but they seemed to be for the residents in the waiting rooms and required special keys to unlock. In other words, she had made the wrong decision at the very beginning.

…''How long has it been since I climbed this high on foot?

Musashi’s total height was about one hundred sixty meters. She would run up to Musashino’s bridge during training, but she decided she needed to train more in vertical movement.

She sighed again, placed both heels on the floor, and gathered her strength.

She looked to the wall and saw a metal plate that said “Not far now to Chancellor Rudolf II’s room!”

And after she finished climbing that flight of stairs…

“It really isn’t far.”

The hallway ahead curved gently and ended with only an elevator entrance and a large metal door.

Mitotsudaira sighed yet again and took a light step straight up.

She jumped, landed, and realized her body was a bit weak.

It was partially due to the extent of the climb, but it was also true she had rushed a little too much. At any rate, she checked the elevator and peered down from the window.

…''Oh, I’m not that high up.

She was only able to think that due to the view she normally had from the Musashi. She also felt more relaxed than when closer to the ground, but that too may have come from being a resident of Musashi.

…''There was a time when I constantly told myself I wasn’t one.

She exhaled, breathed in new air, reached for the knocker on the large door, and told herself she needed to give a proper greeting as Musashi’s representative.

“Now, then.”

She pulled back the knocker and swung it forward.

But that light action was enough to move the large door before she could knock.

The door opened and darkness spread out before her eyes.

…''Eh?

Not only had it not been locked, but it had not been properly closed. Pulled by the opening door and the knocker, she took a few steps into the room. And…

“…Ah.”

''Oh, no,'' she thought, fearing they would think she had opened the door without even trying to knock. She feared they would think she had failed to follow the proper etiquette of a visitor.

But then her nose detected a certain scent: blood and other bodily fluids.

“…!?”

All of her body’s hair bristled because this scent did not come from a cow or a pig; it was a human scent.

She smelled human blood, human flesh, and the fluids released when human organs spilled out, but it was far too much to come from a single person.

“Kh.”

To put up her guard, she quickly began to move back, but her back struck something.

It was the door. Once she realized the door had closed at some point, a tremor of caution filled her body. This was undoubtedly a dangerous situation, so she crouched down and swiftly turned her senses to her surroundings.

The room was just below thirty meters across. It had no windows and it had what looked like a giant bed in the center, but something else concerned her more.

…''What is this scent?

There was more here than just the smell of bodily fluids like blood and sweat. A strong, familiar scent was mixed in with the metallic smell covering the walls and everything else.

“Maintenance oil?”

It was the type used on weapons and it was a constant smell aboard the Musashi.

Just as she wondered why the room smelled so strongly of it, a sudden light reached her.

A light panel using holy spells was installed at the center of the ceiling and it lit up the entire room.

The object below the light was not a bed. It was a square stage with short posts at each corner. It looked like a metal pedestal and three horizontal chains connected the posts to cover all four sides.

Also, a thick figure stood in the very center. He had a well-balanced body that almost looked carved from stone, he wore an M.H.R.R. uniform, and he was looking her way.

His facial features and build were solid, his hair was long and blond, his face was adorned with a mustache, and his sharp gaze was trained on her.

But the man had one difference from a normal M.H.R.R. boy: he wore a girl’s uniform.

…''Eh?

Mitotsudaira reacted with a question instead of confusion or surprise.

“A guy?”

“Heh. Well done making it this far, my new challenger!!”

The muscles below the girl’s uniform moved more than necessary as he crossed his arms and thrust out his chest.

“I am M.H.R.R. Chancellor Rudolf II!”

“Matthias, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Leaving.”

“Ha ha ha. Maeda, you and Matsu always get along so well.”

“We do,” said Toshiie as the ship began to float and the deck vibrated. “There’s something I’ve been wondering, though. Chancellor Rudolf II is known as a Wahnsinniger, but why exactly?”

“Oh, that. Well, there are a lot of reasons.”

Matthias put his nail-grooming knife back in his pocket and smiled.

“But the thing about my brother is…he’s a real deviant.”

Mitotsudaira stood before the Wahnsinniger.

…''Um…

She was so busy wondering what exactly she was looking at that she was unable to react when the man named himself. However, crossdressing Rudolf released his tightly crossed arms and pointed at her with both hands.

“You are Nate Mitotsudaira, Musashi’s 5th special duty officer and the Reine des Garous’s daughter, correct?”

“How do you know that!?”

“Ohhhh!? I may be actively imprisoned here, but with such a tall tower, all sorts of divine transmissions come pouring in! They’re all cut off at the moment, though!”

Anyway…

“I know you were beaten to a pulp.”

He nodded and narrowed his eyes.

“You poor thing.”

“M.H.R.R. Chancellor.”

She raised her right hand and cut him off.

This man was a Wahnsinniger, but he was still human. If he could say cruel things, her words would be able to reach him and there was no need to reply to his provocation. She was here on official business, so she lowered to one knee.

“I have come to visit you with a request from Musashi’s Chancellor and Student Council President and from Hexagone Française. To stop the Apocalypse which is quickly becoming an international problem and to pursue the truth of the related Princess Disappearances, I would like to borrow Chancellor Carlos I’s memo.”

“My, my. You certainly are-…”

“Are you willing to do that?”

She cut him off again and she could sense some real irritation inside herself, so she glanced up at him.

…''He definitely is muscular, but…

Persona-kun had him beat in pure muscle volume and Urquiaga probably had a similar level of strength, so she saw no reason to fear him if it came to a fight.

…''But what is this smell of blood and other bodily fluids?

Her only guess was Technomagie. If he really was obsessed with it, he would need animal blood and flesh for offerings.

However, this scent came from humans. She could only imagine humans had been torn to pieces here.

“…”

But was the man she saw here really someone who would do that?

…''Is he?

She did not know, so she spoke while preparing herself to overpower him if it came to it.

“Let me ask again. Might we borrow Carlos I’s-…”

“You mean this?”

He teasingly held up a piece of parchment, rubbed it against the cheek of his square face, and looked to Mitotsudaira.

“You cannot have it. …I might think about it on certain conditions, though.”

She frowned at the word “conditions” and remembered the people collapsed in the stairways and corridors on the way up.

“U-um… You mean…my body?”

“Yes, that’s right. Your body. …You will need to use your body for me.”

…''Ehhhhh!?

She truly did take a half step back, but Rudolf kept his sharp gaze on her.

“Yes, that’s right. I need you to be my sparring partner.”

“What!?”

That unexpected term filled her heart with confusion, but her body managed to react.

She stood up as she thought about what he meant by “sparring partner”, but…

“…”

Rudolf II had vanished from the center stage.

Before she could even wonder where he had gone, something struck her from behind.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 66|Chapter 66]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 68|Chapter 68]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 66

2015-04-27T22:21:07Z

86.52.26.103: Tried fixing this line.

==Chapter 66: Viewers of the Metal Tower==
[[Image:Horizon3C_0151.jpg|thumb]]
''What can only

''Be whispered about?

'''Point Allocation (It’ll be found out eventually)

The tower simply stood there.

“Is it just me or does this thing look really fake?” asked the crossdresser.

The metal tower pierced up into the night. The base was thirty meters across and as for its height…

“I’ve heard it is five hundred meters tall,” said Tenzou as he looked around.

They stood on a hill. It gave them an excellent view and a forest and village were located at the bottom of the hill. They had left the carriage in the forest and spent a few minutes walking the rest of the way.

…''But there was no defensive wall.

Perhaps to house guards, a few small, decorated buildings were located around the tower and they were all connected by a wall. Another wall surrounded the tower outside those buildings, but neither wall was tall enough to be any defense.

“I see.” Tenzou crossed his arms and turned to the Reine des Garous who was also looking up at the tower.

“Reine des Garous-dono, does M.H.R.R. have no intention of protecting Chancellor Rudolf II? I can think of no other explanation for sending the Catholic chancellor to Protestant land.”

“I believe the information and facts you already have cover that. The chancellor and student council president were given their positions due to their family, but the elder brother turned away from politics just as his historical counterpart did. He immersed himself in Technomagie and the arts and was confined to his residence while his brother faced the Thirty Years’ War as a puppet. However…”

The Reine des Garous shrugged.

“From what I’ve heard, Rudolf II was all for the move to this tower.”

“Really?” asked Mary as she stepped up next to Tenzou.

She may have been interested because she herself had essentially been imprisoned for a time.

She wrapped her arms around Tenzou’s arm and asked the Reine des Garous a question.

“Does Chancellor Rudolf II think he is unwanted?”

“That’s a good question.”

Tenzou saw the Reine des Garous narrow her eyes at Mary’s question.

“I think most everyone has thought that at some point or another. …Of course, that’s just a personal worldview.”

Those words pushed Tenzou to look at Mary.

She seemed to think for a few moments but eventually bent the scar on her cheek and nodded.

“Judge. Thank you very much. …That’s right. I think both Chancellor Rudolf II and you are normal people just like us.”

“Testament.” The Reine des Garous’s eyes bent as she smiled toward Mary. “I would say it is especially true of someone from the House of Habsburg like Rudolf II. So many other families want that bloodline, so their personality is often completely ignored.”

“I can imagine so,” said Tenzou as he and Mary nodded.

…''The House of Habsburg, huh?

Rudolf II and his brother Matthias were from that well-known house that had its origins in Switzerland and formed the foundation for M.H.R.R.’s southern principalities and Tres España’s ruling family.

Rather than focusing on a single nation, they let their “house” stretch between nations so they could all prosper.

…''In a way, you could say they’re trying to unify Europe through a bloodline rather than a nation.

Europe was filled with war, but the bonds between two nations were much stronger when their rulers came from the same house. So any nation ruled by the Habsburgs would send more Habsburgs to other nations through political marriages, avoid war between the same house, and work together to develop further.

And because the foundation of that development came from the bloodline…

“They are a…prolific house, aren’t they?”

Their house motto came from the fact that Habsburg women were said to have many children.

“I think it was ‘Let others wage war. You, lucky Austria, shall marry!’.”

That had been said by Maximilian I, the M.H.R.R. chancellor who had brought the imperial throne to the Habsburg family. Mercenaries had been the stars of the battlefield during the late middle ages and he had gained the support of those mercenaries, but he was still popular in the middle ages genre of porn games. Tenzou was fairly certain the most recent title was “The Final Middle-Aged Knight”, but displaying that house motto at the end had become the tradition, especially when the player made the wrong choices and reached an unmarried ending.

…''It really gets to you after an NTR ending.

Mary then tugged on his arm, so he turned to see what she wanted.

“Master Tenzou, you have a game with those words in it, don’t you? You wouldn’t let me see very much of it, but were you studying for today?”

…''Giving me that impressed look makes it hard to know what to say, Mary-dono. I mean, look behind you. Mitotsudaira-dono and Naito-dono are gesturing for me to come over there.

He ignored the gestures, but he did look back and forth between the Reine des Garous and Mitotsudaira.

“But Hexagone Française didn’t want any interference from the Habsburgs and their strong M.H.R.R. influence, so you set up a dynasty with the House of Bourbon, didn’t you?”

“Testament. That is why we have to take the Thirty Years’ War so seriously. Ever since the middle ages, the Habsburgs have been attempting to rule Europe, but Hexagone Française will stop them. When you get down to it, that is what we are fighting over.”

“I see,” said the girls.

Mary and Mitotsudaira had their connections to other nations via family or inherited name, so this topic was closely connected to them.

Tenzou decided not to avoid this kind of topic in the future and to instead discuss it over tea with a newspaper in one hand.

“Anyway, Chancellor Rudolf II seems like a complicated individual.”

He looked up at the tower and noticed the only windows were on the stairway circling along the outer edge. The very top was solid wall.

“What do you think is going to happen here, Toori-dono?”

He looked over but found the crossdressing idiot had vanished. ''Oh?'' he wondered as he looked around and spotted him by the entrance to the tower on the surrounding wall.

“Heyyy! Get over here, everyone! They say they’ll tell us how to get in!!”

“Ahhhhh! Why are you starting this on your own!?”

Tenzou pulled on Mary’s hand and walked over.

“This is enemy territory, so it is too dangerous to act on your own!”

“What!? Acting on my own!? But you do that all the time! Like when you sit in the corner of the room and grin while imagining Mary naked.”

“Oh, my.”

Mary placed her hands on her blushing cheek, but the real danger was Naito recording both that and the breasts trapped between Mary’s elbows.

“Mary-dono?” he said so only she could hear. “Wh-while that may be…a little true, it’s, um, inappropriate.”

“Eh? Oh, judge! I-I suppose it would be. In public at least. Yes.”

Now that he had her understanding, he could make a show of denying it.

“I-I do not do that! Isn’t that right, Mary-dono!”

“Y-yes. Master Tenzou would never do something so inappropriate. He has no interest in his wife’s body and he always focuses on his games when I’m changing. Not that I would mind if he looked.”

Mitotsudaira and Naito started gesturing him over.

The Reine des Garous also said “oh, my” with a hint of warning in her voice.

“What is this about not imagining your wife naked?” she asked him. “Listen. When you see your beloved, it doesn’t matter what they are wearing or if they are in another room. You need to use their scent to imagine every inch of their body and your imagination cannot stop until you have pictured how you will intertwine your bodies, take them into your mouth, and offer yourself up to them. And I am not talking about later that night; I mean five seconds later.”

“W-wait, mother! That’s taking this way too far!!”

But Mary must not have known what the women meant because she tilted her head. All the same, she blushed and smiled at the Reine des Garous.

“I don’t mind if you don’t imagine me,” she told Tenzou. “After all, you can actually look at me whenever you want.”

She averted her gaze a little and smiled.

“You still haven’t taken a good look, but…have you been looking without me noticing? I know I toss and turn in my sleep a lot, but my blanket has never fallen off by morning.”

…''That is far too dangerous to mention without getting into the details!!

“Ohh?”

Naito and Mitotsudaira glared at him from behind Mary and Naito gave an extremely wooden comment.

“I neeeeever would have thought you were so kind, Tenzou.”

“You only look at her in her sleep? That’s just creepy.”

''Th-that is not the case! I asked the female kobolds to fix her blanket for five yen a night! I haven’t been looking! Not to mention that she likes to hold things in her sleep, so she holds the blanket in place. She sometimes grabs one of the kobolds and it gets too tangled in the blanket to escape.

…''She is so lovely.

But the next thing he knew, Naito was recording from behind Mary and Mitotsudaira was checking over the footage with a glare. And from beyond them…

“Heyyy! Hurry up!”

The crossdresser was calling them, so Tenzou pulled on Mary’s hand and continued that way.

Mitotsudaira hurried toward the wall surrounding the tower and heard Naito say that Tenzou had escaped. It did not take long for the idiot to come into view.

“What is it, chanc-…no, um…”

He was crossdressing and she wanted to believe it was a disguise and not his personal preference. However, she was not sure what to call him in that case.

“Oh, c’mon, Nate! My name is Pressie! Call me Pressie!!”

Was that supposed to come from his position as student council president?

Anyway, Naito gave her opinion as she too lined up in front of the tower.

“How about Miss Wit? First name: Dim.”

“Oh, I guess my idea of Miss Stupid was a little too direct.”

“Our girls are surprisingly harsh,” added Tenzou.

At any rate, the idiot was speaking with someone standing at the center of the path leading to the tower. Mitotsudaira looked to the person standing beyond him.

…''A noble?

The woman wore an M.H.R.R. girl’s uniform as a dress. She gave a kindhearted smile and another woman stood near the wide-open entrance to the tower.

“This is looking a lot like a brothel to me.”

Naito sounded concerned, but the woman speaking with the crossdresser only smiled.

“Surely you are at least prepared for that if you came here. Whether day or night, Master Rudolf is always searching for a partner. But by this point, plastering the neighboring city with posters isn’t enough to bring anyone in.”

The tall, well-built woman who seemed to be standing guard at the entrance nodded.

“Master Rudolf’s policy is to never turn anyone away. If you will provide him some entertainment, then please continue. Or are you here to take someone back?”

At that point, she smiled bitterly.

“Surely you did not think you could simply make a casual visit.”

…''Eh? Does this mean…?

Mitotsudaira could not help but gulp.

“Ehhhh!? This is that kind of mission!?”

She turned around and found the idiot gesturing her over.

She ran over and the idiot began a scrum with the others.

“Good, girl. Now, stay, stay.”

“Nate, how are you treated on the Musashi?”

“N-not like this! I assure you!”

At any rate, the idiot, Mitotsudaira’s mother, and everyone else joined the strategy scrum. First, the mother nodded calmly.

“How about we just climb on up and kill him?”

“M-mother, why do you always jump to the most extreme option?”

“Then are you volunteering to go, Nate?”

She could not help but fall silent at that.

“We have no choice,” said the idiot. “I guess I’ll go.”

“Eh!? Wh-what are you talking about, chancellor!? If Musashi’s chancellor had that kind of…fabulous relationship with another academy’s chancellor, it would be like having a black belt in International Shudo and his approval rating would drop like a rock!”

“You really get worked up sometimes, you know that?”

“Personally, I think people would just think it’s one of his usual physical comedy routines.”

Mitotsudaira nearly agreed with Naito but stopped herself. Regardless, the idiot scratched his head and glanced over at Mitotsudaira.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. …But while it’s true something might happen, Maman is way too strong when she gets serious and Tenzou would be ignored from the get-go.”

“D-did you have to throw an insult in there!?”

“What!? If you don’t like it, then get to crossdressing! I’ve definitely got the upper hand in life compared to some hat boy who can’t even crossdress!”

''So you have an upper hand in a race to the bottom?'' wondered Mitotsudaira. And…

“Chancellor, um, well…”

“Call me Pressie. You promised, remember?”

He quieted down when everyone glared at him, but then they slapped him on the back to get him speaking again.

“Anyway… Mary’s definitely not an option here, right?”

“?”

Mary did not seem to understand what any of this meant, but there was no helping that.

“And Gold Mar isn’t an option either,” continued the idiot.

“Yeah, I have Ga-chan.”

“Right? So that leaves me.”

The idiot left the scrum and turned his back. He looked to the tower, got down in a bowlegged crouch, and pulled on the crotch of his clothing to adjust the position. Finally, he slapped himself on the butt.

“Okay, I’ll be going. I’ll probably be back late, but wait to eat until I’m back.”

“Y-you are awful!” shouted Tenzou. “This guy is just plain awful!”

“No, um, w-wait a minute!”

Mitotsudaira frantically called out to him. He had already been licked all over by her mother, so if he was taken away by that side of things as well, she would be a disgrace to the title of knight. And so she spoke more on reflex than as a thought-out decision.

“I will go!!”

Mitotsudaira shouted without thinking, but…

…''Ah.

She was ashamed that part of her regretted the decision.

But she saw the crossdresser turn around in front of her and he looked to her with the ends of his eyebrows lowered.

“Nate…”

“Wh-what?”

“Judge.”

The idiot hung his head, placed his hands on her shoulders, lowered them, and then groped her.

“You just don’t have the chest to pull it off.”

She swung down a fist and embedded the idiot in the earth.

The Seto Inland Sea drifted in the dark night.

A victory celebration was underway in front of the aerial ships that had landed on the beach.

The revelers wore M.H.R.R. and P.A. Oda uniforms.

They were celebrating the defeat of K.P.A. Italia by the southern warriors of the M.H.R.R. Catholics, Hashiba, and P.A. Oda.

The boundaries between nation and religion were crossed on that beach, the bonfires illuminated countless figures, and Garudas and Djinns were sent flying around by celebratory fireworks spells.

The religious gap created a difference in foods that divided the festival stands, but both sides spoke with each other and the beach was perfect for drawing out diagrams to review the battle.

They bragged or talked more rationally, but they were all after the sense of liberation brought on by making such a racket.

There was plenty of music and dancing and the groups of girls were especially loud as they got into fights and hit back.

But in contrast to the commotion below, the ships moored on the beach remained entirely dark.

However, a table was set up next to the railing on the bow of the largest ship in the center.

“Matthias, you did well today.”

“Well done.”

Matthias turned toward a red uniform as he cut his nails with a knife he pulled from his pocket.

“Well done? Well, I’m sure you’re just being polite, but I didn’t really do anything, Maeda. It was all of you that did all the work. …Speaking of which, I heard Kuki was hurt pretty badly. Will he be okay?”

“Testament. The bleeding has been stopped and he is speaking with the health committee about whether they should regenerate the arm or create a new one. Anyway, he is the kind of person who will be honored to hear you were concerned about him, so that is enough.”

“You all really are amazing. And…”

Matthias sat in a chair he carried over to the edge of the deck and asked a question of the red uniform.

“Maeda, are you headed north like me?”

Toshiie nodded, as did Matsu on his shoulder. He then approached the edge of the deck while wrapped in a faint light.

“You don’t have to go to Magdeburg if you don’t want, Matthias.”

“I’m worried about my brother, though. Not that I think he would meet with me.”

“That’s a tricky situation. …But from what I had heard, Chancellor Rudolf II was the one distancing himself from you.”

“Well, he has no desire for fame or anything else, so he’s the normal one. I’m the one at fault. Historically, Rudolf II so loved chivalry, Technomagie, and the arts that he never gave any thought to his nation.”

Matthias crossed his arms and smiled bitterly.

“But I ended up being the one that preferred chivalry and pretending to be a king. And while we’re at it, I also seem to like pretending to be a Sengoku commander. After all, I’m about to supplant my superior.”

“Matthias… Chancellor Rudolf II is…”

“Testament.” Matthias nodded. “My brother isn’t the type to die that easily. He wouldn’t be when he was born from the history of the Habsburgs. He is their one and only success. And…that means no one can ever understand him. Which is why everyone refers to him as a Wahnsinniger.”

He then changed the subject.

“Now, let’s get going to Magdeburg. It might be over by the time we get there, but we still need to go bring an end to my brother’s era.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 65|Chapter 65]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 67|Chapter 67]]
}}
</noinclude>

City Series:Volume3a Chapter 3

2015-04-27T00:17:27Z

86.52.26.103: Two typo fixes.

==Act 3: Running Image (11:42)==

===Part 1===

The morning’s clear air was already gone.

Instead, the air contained the warm afternoon sun and the footsteps and voices of people moving through the streets.

Sounds of cars and trams also covered the streets.

The city was beginning to move again after finishing lunch.

That movement was especially noticeable in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of central Kowloon.

The area contained countless tourist-oriented stores near the station and it could be called the face of Hong Kong.

From the heat-filled street, the blue sky was visible between the towering buildings.

The city had the Word Color of blowing wind and its heat somewhat dulled the color of the sky.

The city’s Tempo was as slow as the walking people, but it contained a powerful stepping sound.

It created a unique flow that breathed powerful life into Hong Kong.

“…”

Akira walked through that flowing Live.

When she turned from Peking Road to Nathan Road in front of Tsim Sha Tsui Station, the road opened up.

The government office was working to develop Tsim Sha Tsu, so it had none of the roadside stands or shops that Hong Kong was famous for. In Akira’s opinion, that made it a bit boring.

…''This isn’t the city my dad told me about when I lived in Hong Kong Cave.

She walked around randomly.

She was on patrol for the Yard, so she simply walked and walked in her uniform.

She had been wandering around since morning. The only thing she carried with her was her Device spear.

She had never been the type to stay put in a building all day and, after the incident the night before, she had wanted some time to gather her thoughts.

…''If only I could speak with Rin.

When she had arrived at the Yard that morning, Rin had not been there. She had asked one of the Searchers and learned Rin had only just left for home.

The General of the Tank Force had been out on some kind of job, so she had not even had anyone to chat with.

“I can’t believe this.”

…''What was that last night?

The Buster rumored to be Hong Kong’s best had fallen injured from the sky and died.

Why had that happened? How had he been so badly injured and where had he jumped from?

“I just don’t know.”

Of course, finding the answer from so little information would have been strange in and of itself.

Still, she stopped walking, crossed her arms, leaned against a roadside streetlight, and groaned.

“Hmm.”

Not even wrapping her white wings around herself produced an answer.

Instead, she heard the Lives of the surrounding passersby.

She came back to her senses once she noticed a few of those Lives sounding in her direction.

The Lives shooting straight toward her like arrows were a pale purple with a low Tempo.

They were Lives of suspicion.

Those glimpses of suspicion also contained a Word Color similar to hostility.

“?”

Once she heard those Lives, she stopped thinking.

She looked up, corrected her wings, and looked around. The surrounding flow of people momentarily hesitated.

“…”

And the unpleasantly colored Lives vanished.

Akira paid it no heed.

She lowered her Yard uniform’s hat to cover her eyes and corrected the uniform’s collar.

Her eyes unemotionally reflected the street of Tsim Sha Tsui and the passersby.

“There are plenty of non-humans, so why do they find Nein Engels so strange?”

Feeling a little down, she began to walk again.

But something suddenly appeared in front of her.

It was a face.

A collision and dull pain rang through her head.

“Owwww!”

She held her forehead and crouched down. The force of the headbutt had knocked her hat to the ground, so she picked it up and faced forward.

A man was crouching down in front of her.

He was a young man in a long coat.

His straight hair stood up from his head and he seemed to be a traveler. He carried an oblong bag on his back and a large travel bag sat by his side.

The insides of his eyebrows rose as he stared at Akira.

“Ow, ow, ow. Are you okay, officer? You hit me somewhere I can’t train.”

His forehead was a little red, so she must have run into him pretty hard.

Akira rubbed her own forehead.

“Ow, ow, ow. Hey, you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Watch where you’re going. And what are you anyway?”

He suddenly looked up into the sky.

“What am I, hm?”

“Eh?”

“That’s quite a philosophical question. What am I…?”

“That isn’t what I meant!”

“Eh? It isn’t?”

“Of course not! You really couldn’t tell?”

“I could, I could. I was just joking. Ha ha ha. …Hey, wait. Where are you going? Hold up.”

She turned her back and started walking away, but he suddenly stopped her.

And he happened to grab the small deformed wing on her back.

The sensation on that sensitive area was hard and cold.

The unexpected action sent a shudder up her spine that escaped as a voice.

“Hyah! …W-wait! You’re molesting me now!?”

“Molesting!? What are you talking about? All I did was touch you.”

“That’s what it means to molest someone!”

“Ehh? Th-then what about between lovers? It always pisses me off seeing them flirt, but i-is that actually a crime? Can I get after them for it?”

“It’s okay if you have consent!”

“Oh, I get it. Then there’s no reason to hold back here.”

“No one ever said ''we'' were lovers!”

“Ehh? Don’t be like that. I’m only touching it because it’s so pretty.”

She crossed her arms at that.

“Pretty? Don’t think you can get out of this with flattery.”

“Flattery? What, has no one ever complimented your wings before?”

“Eh?” she asked.

“That’s a shame. I’ve never seen wings like that before, but they’re a lot prettier than the ones I’ve seen in church paintings.”

He gave her a carefree smile.

His blue eyes were smiling and Akira looked away because she felt those eyes were looking deep inside her.

She noticed her cheeks were a little warm.

She worked her ears a bit and found her own Live was embarrassed.

The Word Color was a transparent red and the Tempo resembled a quiet pulse.

…''Not good, not good. He’s dragging me around at his pace.

With that thought, she cleared her throat toward the ground.

When she looked at him again, she noticed something odd.

She belatedly realized she could not see his Live. She could not even see its Word Color or Tempo.

…''Eh?

She quickly looked around and found she could still see the Lives of the city, the buildings, the cars, and the people.

This young man’s Live was the only one she could not see.

…''What is going on?

She had seen people who had “lost” their Live before.

Those were either the dead or victims of violence who had undergone Balance Fall.

This young man was neither of those.

It would be best to say he was hiding his Live.

Only a minuscule tremor escaped his body into the air.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Even as she answered, Akira did not remove her gaze from him.

…''Who is he? If he can do this, he must be a Buster or a Tuner.

She wanted to ask, but she was naturally hesitant.

Someone’s Live was their individuality. If he was hiding his, he had to have a good reason.

She looked up at him because he was about two heads taller than her.

“Come to think of it, do you need something?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I’ve been wondering. Are you actually a real police officer?”

…''Is there such a thing as a fake police officer?

She frowned but pointed to the Yard hat on her head.

“I’m from Hong Kong Yard’s Cleared division. I’m still on the lowest level, but I am an actual police officer.”

He responded immediately

“That’s wonderful! This must be the work of heaven!”

He suddenly hugged her.

She gave a terribly unsexy shout and slammed an uppercut into the bottom of his jaw.

“Gwoh! Wh-what do you think you’re doing!?”

“That’s my line, you idiot! What are you doing!?”

“It’s a pretty common way of expressing your feelings when someone helps you find your way.”

He took a breath before continuing.

“Then again, this was my first time to ever get lost.”

“Then how could that possibly be common!?”

“Calm down, calm down. You’re disturbing your Live.”

Hearing that, she lowered the hand she had prepared to attack.

She then pouted her lips and spoke.

“Honestly, just tell me where you want to go and I’ll help you.”

“Oh, you’ll act as my guide? That simplifies things.”

“I can’t believe you. I never said I would go with you!”

“Of course not. You won’t be going ''with'' me. You have to lead the way.”

“I don’t ‘have to’ do anything! I am not a guide! I’m a Yard Tuner!”

Her voice grew shrill and the young man suddenly looked up to think.

After a while, he scratched his head and pulled out a traveler’s pocket map.

“Um, I need to get to Canton Road in Yau Ma Tei. But going there alone would be pretty boring, so if you can take me there…”

“Hmm.”

Akira looked down at the map but quickly came back to her senses.

“Hey! Why are you forcing me into this?”

“Eh? Forcing you? You’re imagining things. Hey, taxi!”

The tall young man’s gesture must have stood out because a yellow taxi immediately stopped in front of them. Rare for Hong Kong, the back door opened automatically.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

Grinning, he tugged on her hand. After two or three steps, Akira frowned.

“Wait a second! What are you plotting!?”

“Plotting? Whatever do you mean?”

He threw his travel bag in the taxi and looked to her.

She tore her hand from his and asked him a question.

“Aren’t you forcing me to go with you!?”

“D-don’t be ridiculous. What part of a gentleman like me is being forceful?”

“How about everything from the top of your head to the tips of your toes!?”

As soon as she shouted back, the taxi door closed behind the young man and the taxi itself drove off.

“…”

He turned around and paused for a few seconds.

“Huh?” He tilted his head. “Now, a question for you.”

“Oh?”

“Did I ask them to carry my luggage for me?”

“You don’t know?”

“Okay, time’s up. Next contestant.”

“It was stolen, you idiot!” shouted Akira. “People commit crimes like this all the time. Look!”

She pointed at the speeding taxi with her spear.

The yellow vehicle was already about one hundred meters down the road.

It was still close enough for her to catch up if she flew. The young man looked at it and commented “oh, that thing’s moving fast”, so she performed a roundhouse kick on him.

“I’ll go get it back for you, so wait here!”

She prepared to fly, but then a great roar filled the surroundings.

===Part 2===

The noise was an explosion. A pure white Live instantly raced through the area.

“!”

Akira gave a shout, but her voice was drowned out.

At the same time, the taxi she was preparing to pursue hopped straight up.

Long after the great roar, a solid wind blew in from the road.

The wind’s Live had the Word Color of smoke with the red of flames mixed in and it had a damp Tempo much like a car’s engine.

All of the passersby got down on the ground.

Even Akira ducked down, but the young man alone remained standing and looked down the road.

Akira followed his gaze and saw a tank.

It was a Yard tank.

It was an English-made Grant tank with the main gun on the side instead of on a turret. To match the city of Hong Kong, the midsized tank was covered in red, blue, and yellow labels and advertisement stickers for different shops.

Someone’s upper body was sticking out of the top hatch.

“General!”

The General was checking the spot the shell hit through a pair of binoculars, but he suddenly turned toward Akira and looked at her through the binoculars.

“Ohh, what’s this? If it ain’t Akira.”

“Don’t say that. …And you need to stop firing in the middle of the city.”

“It’s no problem. My aim’s perfect and the shell’s loaded with divine spell powder. No one’ll die.” He smiled. “But, Akira. Why’re you lettin’ yourself almost get kidnapped?”

“Kidnapped?”

“Accordin’ to my wife, things’re gettin’ dangerous. You need to be careful.”

“Be careful, hm?”

Akira glared at the distant taxi burning away in the flames.

…''If just “being carful” causes that, what happens when he actually fights back?

She tilted her head just as the tank began to turn around. Its rubber treads scraped along the ground as it slowly turned to face the young man standing in front of her.

The diagonally-positioned gun came to a stop about thirty centimeters from his face.

If it fired, it would be a direct hit. Even if the young man dodged, he could not escape being seriously wounded by the shockwave.

But the young man made no attempt to flee and stared straight down the barrel.

“I’ve never seen one of these before,” he calmly commented.

“You a kidnapper?” asked the General. “I’ll shoot.”

His words of warning caused the people on the sidewalk and in the nearby stores to run away.

Akira and the young man were the only ones left on the sidewalk and the young man looked troubled.

He scratched his head for a bit but finally turned to Akira.

“What should I do?”

“You brought this on yourself. Why don’t you stick your hand down the barrel? The tank might blow up.”

“That’s not very nice. If I did that and he fired a shell, I’d end up splattered around like something from a Hollywood movie.”

“I’m impressed you can say something like that in this situation.”

“Hey, Akira!” shouted the General. “What should I do?”

She just about told him to shoot the man with the machinegun, but she restrained herself.

“General, he isn’t a kidnapper, so don’t worry. I do think I need to lecture him a bit after this, though. …More importantly, is that taxi you shot okay?”

The flow of cars on the street had ground to a halt due to the smoking taxi in the distance.

“Ahh, if he wasn’t workin’ with a kidnapper, I probably shouldn’t’ve done that.”

“The bastard still stole my luggage, so it’s fine by me. Ha ha ha!”

“Then should I fire another one?”

“What are you two saying!? C’mon! We need to get over there!”

Akira began to walk, so the young man glanced over at the tank.

“Can I ride it? It’s my first time for this kind of thing.”

“Do whatever you want!”

He ignored Akira’s shout and hopped onto the tank with a gleeful look. Akira sighed when she saw it.

…''Why did I have to meet someone so strange?

“It’s rude to call people strange, you know?”

Hearing his voice, she looked back in surprise.

The tank was already moving and he had his back turned to her.

…''He read my Live!?

He had read her thoughts from her Live. Instead of simply seeing her Live or reading its Message, he had directly read it as words.

That required great skill.

Not even she could do it.

…''It can’t be.

She motionlessly watched the tank leave, but finally began to catch up.

===Part 3===

Akira was the first to reach the scene. The tank carrying the young man had activated the rotating police light jury-rigged to the upper armor and it would arrive in another two or three minutes.

“Ahh, all you cars movin’ around in my path? You’d better get outta the way or I’ll move you myself. Got that?”

She heard the General speaking over a megaphone and occasionally heard sounds of crunching metal. That was likely when he had to “move a car himself”.

Akira paid it no heed. In fact, she intentionally ignored it as she worked to organize the site of the blast.

The taxi driver had gotten lucky and survived. He seemed to have been thrown through the windshield when the shell hit.

The middle-aged driver was complaining about the pain, but Akira lightly rapped him on the head.

“Do you have any idea how wrong what you did was?”

“Ow, ow, ow…”

He groaned, but his expression changed the instant he saw her wings.

“W-wah! Why is a Nein Engel out in the city!?”

“Shut up. What’s wrong with that?”

“I-it’s your fault my parents were-…ow, ow!”

“Stop moving. If you don’t quiet down, I can’t heal you.”

She began Tuning the driver.

She rotated her spear around in one hand and touched the back of his neck with her other hand.

“Don’t be afraid. I can’t see your Live if you are.”

With that said, she focused her mind.

When she closed her eyes, she could see it and hear it.

The driver’s Live was sounding out.

Its Word Color was red, its Tempo was quick, and its Message was a state of agitation. Anyone would feel like that after being injured by a shell blast.

She read his Live and its Tempo.

…''Is it “ta ta ta”? Or “ta ta-ta ta-ta”? And then it repeats?

Its original color would be close to orange, but that had been disturbed and grown red and quick.

She suddenly thought of the previous young man.

…''He read my Live, didn’t he? Just how powerful is he? And is he a Tuner or a Buster?

But thinking about it here would not help. She shook her head and focused on picking up the driver’s Live.

…''Got it.

She had picked up that sound and form that could not be expressed in words. It was a lot like a flavor. Some things could not be clearly conveyed no matter how many words one used. But a Live could be expressed with a voice.

To do that, she started by calling out. This was the method her mother had once taught her. It was an ancient Chinese method of calling in Lives and Tuning them known as a Wind Up.

“Oh, you Lives of 120,000 Octave surrounding me. You murmuring of a trembling person. Can you hear my Live?”

She opened her eyes, breathed in, paused, and finally let out her Live.

It began with “la” and its Tempo continued with “la-la la-la”. She accurately and purely sang the driver’s original Live.

The first “la” she gave was a little off, so she calmed down and corrected it. The “la” needed to be a tad nasal.

The Device she held answered her voice and amplified it.

Her wing’s trembled as she sang.

Her voice grew louder.

The Device’s Live quickly expanded as if bursting.

In that instant, she stabbed the Device’s spear blade into the driver’s back.

“!”

In a flash, she felt resistance. The blade had touched the Live core within the driver.

She sent out her Device’s Live to arrange the driver’s Live. The two Lives resonated and blew away the distortion.

It took less than three seconds.

A large tremor ran through the driver’s body and she removed her blade.

“I did it.”

All of the scrapes and bruises had vanished from his body.

There was no mark from the blade either.

Without the distortions to his Live, his body would be in better shape than before the accident.

Akira sighed.

…''Why couldn’t I save that man last night?

She briefly recalled that bloody Buster. Not even she had ever healed someone that badly injured in her work for the Yard.

“Well, it worked this time. Right?”

She tapped the driver’s shoulder and he collapsed from his sitting position.

Normal Tune healing was done using a different form as an intermediary like when she had broken down that ''Qinghu'' into cats the night before.

She had omitted that step here, so the shock of having his Live directly altered had knocked him unconscious.

…''Well, it makes it easier to arrest him for theft.

As she muttered that in her heart, a shadow enveloped her.

It was cast by the tank.

“Hey, the driver alive?”

That dangerous question came from the General.

“Ahh, ahh. My luggage was blown up, wasn’t it?”

That comment came from the young man straddling the tank’s gun.

Akira stood up and looked to the taxi.

It had originally been yellow, but the paint had burned away. It was now pure white and flipped onto its roof. The spirit fuel had likely had its driving force instantly sent in reverse because the trunk had opened like a flower.

“Well, damn. There’s no crane on my Grant, so we can’t get it back without fixin’ it first.”

“That’s fine. I can Tune the taxi too while I’m at it.”

“Tuning, huh?”

Hearing the young man speak, Akira turned toward him.

He gave her a look of brooding hesitation.

“What is it?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that my suspicions were true.”

…''Huh? What does he mean by that?

She tilted her head and he shook his hand toward her.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s nothing. More importantly, can you really fix that pile of junk?”

“I can manage. It is inorganic, after all.”

Despite what she said, this would be a bit tricky.

It would have helped if it had been moving, but the taxi’s Live was unchanging and settled.

Tuners could transform and fix Lives that were changing or distorted. That made it easy to Tune living things, moving things, or anything in the process of being destroyed.

But there was nothing she could do about a Live that had settled in its distorted state.

…''I have no choice.

“Stand back a little. I’ll use a Discord Bomb.”

She pulled a black rod resembling a pencil from a hidden pocket in her tight skirt. When it exploded, it shook and slightly disturbed the Lives in a five meter radius. That created an opening for Tuning, but it was not the easiest thing to use.

It would affect unrelated Lives as well.

“Now, then.”

Just as she prepared to set up the Discord Bomb, a voice reached her from above.

“Hey, are you going to destroy it?”

“This only disturbs the Live.”

“Then I can help you there.”

“What?”

She looked up and saw the young man standing on the tank. He held the oblong bag he had carried on his back.

He stepped along the gun and jumped down.

He landed surprisingly lightly next to her and pulled out the contents of the bag.

His gloved right hand held…

“A Device?”

The young man turned toward her and smiled.

“Yeah, you can call it that.”

“Are you a Tuner? Or are you a Buster?”

“Neither. I don’t like letting people see my Live.”

Akira saw a brief grim look on his face when he said that, so she avoided asking any further.

“Can you really help me disturb the taxi’s Live?”

“I should be able to manage that.”

He gave a casual nod and approached the taxi with the Device resting on his shoulder.

“…”

He tapped his shoulder with the Device and observed the taxi. He crouched down, peered into the crushed inside, and commented, “Wow, you got this thing good.”

“Heyyy! Kid, you okay?”

“General, be quiet.”

She had no idea when the young man would destroy the Live, so she kept her spear at the ready.

“Hm.”

He nodded and lightly tapped the taxi’s chassis.

A small sound came from it.

In an instant, the taxi burst.

It was a solid sound.

“!”

The young man had not used his own Live.

He had not used the Wind Up that Akira used or the Over Up that was the standard for Tuning and Busting.

He had only used the sound of tapping the taxi’s chassis.

He had instantly amplified the Live of “tapping” and used that as a great power.

The Live constructing the taxi flew through the air. Its Word Color was a yellow mixed with scarlet. Its tempo resembled the engine sound that the Live just barely remembered.

…''How can he do that while ignoring the basics of Tuning and Busting?

But Akira did not have time to think. She quickly breathed in and released her Live.

She created a random Message in her mind and released it as an indescribable Live.

It had originally been a car, so she decided an energetic Tempo would be best. It was a Tempo filled with staccato.

…''Okay!!

She nodded, and rotated her Device. She used the blade to scoop up the scattering ginkgo leaf pattern Lives and placed her own image on top of them.

“Oh, you Lives of 80,000 Octaves floating around me. You notification of a machine. Can you hear this?”

She sang her own Live that began with “la”. It was an energetic song that sounded like small balls bouncing about.

It took only five seconds for the Message to gather together.

The raised tip of her spear trembled and the surrounding space briefly shook.

A moment later, a very, very high pitched sound rang out.

That meant it was done.

The Live had taken its new form.

“Oh?”

The young man’s voice was filled with surprise.

His surprise was warranted because the flipped taxi at her feet was now a yellow dog.

It had originally been a taxi, so it was as tall as a child. However, it must have been a newborn because it sat at her feet and begged for attention.

“That’s amazing. That’s definitely worth some praise.”

“Why are you acting like this is so strange?”

“Well… Tuners normally create something that can attack. Like a tiger or wolf.”

It was true Lives were more easily influenced by powerful images like killer intent or intimidation.

“I thought you’d be making something more violent and dangerous.”

“Yes, well, I am a genius.”

Wondering if he had been making fun of her, she looked his way, but he was not smiling and he watched the dog with a serious look in his eyes.

…''Oh, was he really praising me?

Immediately following that thought, his expression changed.

His eyebrows rose a bit and he formed a small, masculine smile. It was almost as if…

…''Can you really read my Live?

But he did not answer her question. Instead, he crouched down.

“I’ve seen Tuning plenty of times, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone make a dog like this. Is it really alive?”

“I don’t think it’s quite alive. It’s just a combination of my Message and the taxi’s Message. Once the Live resonance inside it ends, it will return to its original form. And that would be the car.”

That was obvious when she touched it. Its fur felt cold and metallic and the moisture in its eyes looked like glass.

It would be most accurate to call it a dog made from a car.

“Ahem, this is Hong Kong Yard. We’re about to lift the traffic restriction, so could you all get back on the road like normal?”

After that announcement over the megaphone, the cars started down the road again.

They just made sure to stay away from the tank.

Akira moved in front of the tank and looked to the young man while petting the dog’s head.

“But…you’re pretty amazing yourself.”

“Eh?”

“Don’t give me that.”

She looked to the road where the taxi had been. All that remained was the damage from the taxi crashing into the ground.

…''The Discord Bomb would tear into the road too.

Lives normally radiated outward just like sound, but he had made sure only the taxi resonated with his Device’s tone.

…''How did he do that? And he can read Lives too.

She approached the young man and looked at his Device.

“This has some weird writing on it.”

“Yeah, that says Nein König.”

“König? Is that English?”

“It’s German.”

“Let me see that.”

She looked at Nein König’s blade. A relief of two intertwined dragons was engraved near the hilt. That had to be the Wild Emblem of his family.

Just as she touched the blade partially of curiosity, he spoke up.

“Wait. If someone with any power touches that barehanded-…!”

“What?”

A small Live sounded out.

A direct Live with the sharpness of a blade carried into the distance.

Shocked, Akira looked toward the destination of the Live. Past the various stores and even further north than Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, she saw a group of buildings.

Archs RDC stood at the center of those buildings and Hong Kong’s mountains were visible in the background. They looked small from where Akira was, but they had to be at least one hundred stories tall.

…''No, that’s not possible.

“It could never reach that far.”

Suddenly, smoke rose from that direction.

“Ohh, that’s impressive. You tore into the mountain.”

That comment came from the General who rubbed the scar on his cheek.

Akira felt all color leave her face.

“W-wait! Why are you carrying around such a dangerous Device!?”

“Ah! I told you not to touch it!”

It was already too late.

The young man made a mistake when he spun the Device around to hide it.

With a wind-like sound, all of the glass in the shops along Nathan Road shattered.

The glass turned into a spray of pure white dust.

A moment later, the spray transformed into feathers in accordance with Akira’s subconscious Message when she touched the Device.

The destruction propagated at the speed of sound.

Even the windows of the cars on the road turned to feathers with a well-regulated Tempo.

“…!”

As the afternoon sun washed over Nathan Road, it was filled with a soft white spray like someone had dumped buckets of water over it.

And the process repeated again and again as it moved further and further away.

“Ahh, ahh. That was your fault, Akira.”

“Wait. Don’t use my Urban Name without permission.”

“Oh? Oh? Are you trying to distract me from what just happened?”

“No! I’m used to writing out official apologies.”

After insisting something she was far from proud of, she looked to the young man.

He was a traveler, he used a strange kind of Busting, and he possessed a ridiculous Device.

“Who are you anyway?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?”

“No, you haven’t! You’ve been moving from one thing to another since I met you!”

“Is that so?” he said. “Well, don’t worry. I don’t mind.”

“I mind!”

“Oh, you want to know about me that badly? Have you fallen for- ow! N-not there!”

“I’ll stab you in the gut next time. Now, identity yourself! And you don’t get a choice in the matter!”

“I’m… I’m just a perfectly normal person. …Gwaah! Who jabs someone with a device!?”

“Don’t worry. I used the back of the blade.”

“You can’t jab with the back of the blade!”

The young man finally sighed in resignation.

He lowered his shoulders a little and spoke.

“You can call me Gunmal. That’s only my Urban Name, though.”

“What?”

That was the Urban Name of the man who had died before her eyes the night before.

This other Gunmal turned toward her blank look and narrowed his eyes.

…''Is he reading my Live?

Her heart shrank down.

His expression softened and he apologized before saying more.

“I’m here in Hong Kong to see my brother. But then I happened across a police officer who just so happened to be thinking about him, so I thought I would read a little more of her Live.”

“And you ended up headbutting me? …So you really can read Lives.”

“It’s no different from your Tuning. And if you don’t want me reading your Live, you should be more reserved in your thoughts. They call that Closed Words in England.”

He rubbed the dog’s throat, stood up, and asked her something.

“My brother’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Eh?”

“I saw it in your Live.”

His expression was neither dark nor bright and she still could not see his Live.

===Part 4===

The moon had risen to the top of the sky.

The ruins of Kowloon Walled City were on a small hill in the center of Hong Kong, so they gave a good view of the moon.

Not much remained of the large flat walled city. The moonlight only showed walls without ceilings and a forest of faded stone columns.

Two people stood within that forest.

One was Rin.

The other was the young man named Gunmal.

They sat facing each other on broken columns and they looked into the city of Hong Kong.

They were occasionally lit up by something other than the moonlight because Gunmal was smoking a cigarette.

He had already gone through five of those small lights since sitting down.

He threw away yet another one and it vanished after bouncing off the ground.

At the same time, the wind blew through.

The wind came from the ocean, so it smelled of saltwater.

Rin opened her mouth as if responding to the blowing wind.

“Sorry you had to visit the catacombs so soon after arriving in Hong Kong.”

She looked to the metal hatch embedded in the ground behind Gunmal. That was the entrance to the Yard’s morgue.

“I knew about the underground space below Kowloon left after the Second Divine Punishment War, but I’m surprised to see it’s being used for this.”

There was no hint of sadness in Gunmal’s voice and no stiffness in his expression.

“Well, I’m thankful I at least got to see my brother this way.”

“Were you here to see him?”

“I explained that when you questioned me, didn’t I? I was here for his wedding, but all I found was his funeral. Since I’m already here, I guess I’ll do some sightseeing.”

“If you want to drink, I’ll join you.”

“I don’t have time for that. This city looks pretty interesting. It’s British territory so it has a door to the same heaven as Aerial City and there are both Glossolalians and humans on the surface. Even sleeping feels like a waste of time.”

He smiled and added “I reserved a room for a whole month.”

“Are you planning to look into your brother’s death?” asked Rin.

His expression did not even budge at the blunt question.

“I dunno.”

He sounded casual, so Rin sighed.

She looked him in the eye as if trying to see something there and spoke.

“I think Akira has the night shift tomorrow, so rely on her if something happens during the day. …I feel like the two of you will get along.”

“Get along?”

“Both of you have a unique feel to you. And since you’re from the direct line of the Maldrick family, I assume you’re pretty talented.”

“Can you see my Live?”

“Don’t worry. I may have an official Tuning education, but not even I can see it. …This is about what my instincts tell me.”

“Talented, huh?” He smiled bitterly. “Please stop using that word.”

“Why?”

“Busting and Tuning are a killer’s profession. It’s the same here in Hong Kong, isn’t it? You’ve fought several Divine Punishment Wars against China or the Nein Engels and it had to have been Busters and Tuners at the center of the fighting.”

A brief silence fell.

[[Image:City_v03a_095.jpg|thumb]]

“You’re right about that. It was true of my parents and my grandfather.”

Rin thought for a bit and nodded.

She met Gunmal’s gaze before asking another question.

“You said you intend to quit Busting after you destroy J-Gun’s Device here in Hong Kong, didn’t you?”

She sighed.

“That will be the end of Europe’s top Busting family. And the Maldrick family only took that position from the Borderson family fifty years ago.”

Gunmal said nothing and looked up into the sky with a slight smile.

Rin looked up as well.

Perhaps drawn by the city lights, a single dove was flying south even though it was night.

Gunmal spoke quietly while watching the dove.

“That’s because Busting is boring.”

“?”

“You can’t even make a single bird. All you can make are ugly weapons.”

“Really? I think both Busting and Tuning have their interesting sides.”

She answered on reflex and almost seemed to be making an excuse, so he suddenly looked back at her.

“Do you really think that?”

“Why do you ask?”

“A Message sometimes leaks out of your Live.”

She looked to him in surprise, but his eyes were closed and his hand was on his forehead.

“I’m sensitive to other people’s Lives.”

“I see. Then I guess you read that I used to be so full of myself I thought I could make a dragon.”

“A dragon? You mean one of the three secret techniques of Tuning and Busting?”

“Yes, but ever since the texts on it were lost during the Fifth Divine Punishment War, you only ever hear about it in Peking opera or from Akira.”

Rin gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Also, I’ve lost sight of why I wanted to Tune in the first place. I’m so busy that I just don’t have the time. …And about five years ago, I realized you need wings to fly.”

“Wings, huh?”

Gunmal paused for a moment.

“Her wings are so pretty.”

“You mean Akira’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she is a Nein Engel.”

He started to say something, but stopped and asked something else instead.

“A Nein Engel?”

“It’s Hong Kong slang. There didn’t used to be many of them, but about forty years ago, the angels were nearly wiped out by a bacteriological weapon in the Fourth Divine Punishment War. To leave behind some descendants, a lot of them began procreating with humans.”

“I see. And the person you’re searching for is one of those Nein Engels.”

Her expression changed at that.

It stiffened.

“Why do you know about that?”

“During a break in the questioning, I met Akira at the Yard’s restaurant. She told me while we were eating.”

“The Yard’s restaurant? You mean the Human Meat Bar?”

“Yeah. She was busy putting together her written apology at the time, so we promised to drink there later. …You want to join us?”

“No thanks. That place is meant for Glossolalians. They even serve rocks for Rockbiters.” She crossed her arms. “But Akira does have a bad habit of talking too much”

“She was worried about the person you’re looking for. She said Nein Engels tend to be persecuted in this city, so I would guess your story has something to do with that too.”

“We just happened to be moving in different directions. And don’t dig too deeply into my personal issues.”

A slight seam appeared in the stiffness of her expression.

That seam gave a glimpse of darkness below.

Gunmal must have seen it because he clapped his hands to change the general mood.

“Well, don’t get too mad at her.”

“Hm? Have you fallen for her? If so, you’ll need the General’s permission.”

“Is he her father?”

“No, but he’s an old acquaintance of her father. When she came here three years ago, the General took her to meet her father on his deathbed. I was there too to tend to him,” she explained. “He may not look it, but he’s a decent Tuner. He wandered in from who knows where and saved everyone during the Fourth Divine Punishment War.”

“Oh? Sounds like I’ve got a decent rival on my hands.”

“Are you serious about going after Akira?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. She’s a good girl. She never said it out loud, but her Live apologized over and over for not saving my brother. She really is a good girl. But…”

“?”

“It’s still too soon for me to fall for her. …After all, I don’t like Tuners.”

With that said, he stood.

His eyes looked down into the city lights far below.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_2|Act 2]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_4|Act 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 65

2015-04-26T00:02:07Z

86.52.26.103: Fixed the typos I found as usual. I guess line 383 could also be "once WE get them all back", I can't know what the original text said.

==Chapter 65: Slightly Heated Moaner==
[[Image:Horizon3C_0131.jpg|thumb]]
''What is by your side

''Yet not by your side?

'''Point Allocation (Self-Discipline)

A certain dark room was shaking.

The cramped, oblong room was actually the cabin of a carriage. The room was installed with two facing benches, the left side contained a curtained window and the right side contained curtained double doors.

The only sounds were those of turning axles, of overlapping horseshoes, and of voices beyond the thick curtain to the front.

“Okay, Ture-yan, we can get to Rudolf II’s tower with this, right?”

“We can. It should only take about an hour longer. But Miss Margot, you are surprisingly good at driving a carriage.”

“Well, my family used this kind of thing sometimes.”

Those two were up front in the coachman’s seat.

Mitotsudaira listened to them while sitting motionless in the cabin’s back seat.

The crossdressing idiot was fast asleep and leaning up against her.

…''I-I must not interrupt his sleep!

Her characteristics as a beastman non-human left her feeling more alert at night. That and all the thoughts in her head kept her from sleeping.

…''How can I sleep after that letter a bird delivered to my mother during our break?

It had informed them of K.P.A. Italia’s defeat and that the Sack of Magdeburg had been moved up to eight at night which was only about an hour and a half away.

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

They wanted to confirm the information, but they could not use any wide-range or base-point divine transmissions for fear of having the signal intercepted. And as they approached the Magdeburg region, they entered the effects of the M.H.R.R. Catholics’ transmission blocking barrier, so any divine transmission grew staticky unless they were close enough to speak face-to-face anyway.

Based on what her mother had said during their break, they were still about half an hour away from Rudolf II’s tower on the outskirts of Magdeburg. They needed to get Great Chancellor Carlos I’s memo in the remaining hour and, according to Tenzou…

“We could always break into Magdeburg and meet up with the others there.”

They had a single primary reason for doing something so dangerous.

“Most likely, the Hashiba and M.H.R.R. Catholic fleets in the K.P.A. Italia region will arrive from the south and they will attempt to sink the Musashi as an extension of the Sack of Magdeburg. The Testament Union cannot move with the Pope-Chancellor missing, so no one will stop them or see any reason to do so. The Musashi will need to keep its time in Magdeburg to an absolute minimum, so they will not have time to retrieve us outside the city.”

“Couldn’t you meet up with them later in order to protect your king?”

“Musashi’s next stop is Edo in Kantou. If we wanted to meet up with them, we would have to pass through P.A. Oda.”

“I see.” Mitotsudaira’s mother had nodded and smiled as she climbed onto the coachman’s seat. “Then let us go with that. And I think we will help you out in a few ways. So if it proves too difficult…yes. Until Musashi secures its rule over Kantou and Tohoku and then returns to Europe, Hexagone Française could place you under our protection.”

They certainly wanted to avoid that, but it did function as a backup plan just in case.

However, the idiot had muttered “A party in the candy house, hm?” with a perfectly serious expression.

…''I-if I had to live with my king while surrounded by that smell, I think I would go insane.

“…”

That smell had permeated her memories. It told her that her parents had spent some happy times together, but it also proved that her mother’s story was completely accurate. It scared her when she remembered asking “Why did you scream if it felt good?’ when she had heard the story as a child. She was also unsure what to think of her mother for answering “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

At any rate, she sighed in the dark cabin while supporting the crossdresser with her shoulder and she began to wonder how to spend the nearly half an hour until they arrived.

Tenzou and Mary sat on the opposite bench, but they were both leaning up against each other as they slept. At first, Tenzou had asked if he could get some sleep.

…''It’s quite something to hear the 1st special duty officer say that.

At the very least, she had never heard him say it before. She did think he had spent a sleepless night standing watch the night before and given what was to come…

…''It’s a little conceited to assume it’s because he feels safe when we’re with him, isn’t it?

Not having her mother as an enemy was likely the biggest factor. Mary had initially let him lean on her while speaking with Mitotsudaira, but she had finally nodded off and now they were both gently leaning on each other.

Tenzou was pressing against Mary’s breasts from below, but Naito had already recorded it. Once they returned to the Musashi and everything Naito had recorded in the past few days was released, it seemed certain that Tenzou would receive overkill levels of damage, but according to Naito…

“I’ll release it bit by bit, so don’t worry, Mito-tsan! Even Tenzou will be able to level up!”

If it was going to help him grow stronger, there was no arguing against it.

Anyway…

…''Rudolf II’s tower, huh?

''I suppose my king will handle the negotiation while Tenzou and I support him. I have a feeling that isn’t going to turn out well, but if it comes to a fight, mother or I will have to take over.

“I wonder what’s going to happen.”

Mitotsudaira looked out the carriage window.

A dark forest of thick trees surrounded them. The ground was covered with a complex mixture of fallen leaves and trees, but the headless horse-drawn carriage raced through it all without hitting anything and while only shaking slightly.

But it was not that the carriage was avoiding everything. The trees – even the largest of them – would move out of the carriage’s way before it hit them. Meanwhile, the wheels spewed blue flames while leaping over any stones, slopes, bumps, or cracks.

“..!”

Some gentle wind carried a whinny into the carriage.

…''How does that thing whinny?

She felt that asking would be admitting defeat, but then she saw some silver hair dancing outside the window.

It was her mother’s.

Mitotsudaira looked away from the window and toward her mother in the coachman’s seat up front.

In Europe, a headless horse-drawn carriage was a spirit of misfortune, so only someone on an even higher level could contain its power and control it as her own. In other words…

…''Only the Reine des Garous can use this.

There was a procedure to follow, but if she called for this type of being, they would come. That was her right as a royal of a high-level non-human race.

And since the Reine des Garous and other Loup-Garous had lived in the forests and mountains without obeying the national boundaries, she knew a lot about the forests and mountains of M.H.R.R. despite her affiliation with Hexagone Française.

According to her…

“Normally, the M.H.R.R. Catholics would be watching the forests as well, but their focus on Magdeburg and K.P.A. Italia has left the western border shorthanded. The forests continue almost all the way to Magdeburg, so we should be able to follow them. If it comes to it, we can also run along the river.”

…''This thing is fast.

For brief moments when they moved from the forest to a mountain ridge or leaped across a valley, the night sky would come into view.

They raced onward as if they were rolling uncontrollably down a hill.

Mitotsudaira only now realized why her mother was acting as their guide. Help from a high-level non-human royal allowed them to cross national borders without issue.

She saw Naito sitting next to her mother and navigating with a Magie Figur that displayed a hand-drawn map of M.H.R.R. Naruze had once made the map by drawing the landscape from the air and it had only been allowed because it qualified as a landscape drawing and not a map.

Naito knew the M.H.R.R. land, so she used a viewing spell to search out spots without any Catholic forces or aerial ships. Mitotsudaira’s mother would then speed up to make up for the extra distance needed to circle around the Catholics.

They leaped across a valley and the carriage accelerated as soon as it landed. At the same time, the trees moved out of the way and the fleeing fairies would occasionally laugh loudly perhaps to hide their fear.

Mitotsudaira heard her mother laugh quietly out front and the fairies quieted down.

However, her mother then began to hum.

“Hm, hm, hm. I’m glad I have you with me, Margot. On my own, I probably wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble. I would have taken the most direct path and broken through any kind of checkpoint.”

“Well, I’m only doing this based on Tenzou’s advice. When dropping down from IZUMO, he checked on M.H.R.R’s terrain and on the movements of the ships, so he managed to work out the shortest route.” Naito laughed quietly. “I guess you could say our current situation is thanks to a combination of his good points and your good points. Those goods points don’t conflict at all, so I think we’ve gotten twice the speed out of it.”

…''She summed that up well.

Tenzou had instructed Naito to work as navigator, but that must have been because he deemed her the best at giving Mitotsudaira’s mother instructions. With her mother alone, the odds were good she would intentionally charge right into a checkpoint to “have some fun”. And since Naito was used to moving quickly…

“C’mon, let’s speed up even more!”

She would egg Mitotsudaira’s mother on which allowed the woman to enjoy their reckless journey.

…''Huh? I can rationally analyze this when I’m on my own?

She had a feeling that meant the carriage as a whole was not rational, but there was no point in thinking about it any further.

Meanwhile, she sensed her mother nodding in response to something Naito said. The curtain suddenly opened and the woman glanced at Tenzou and Mary.

“He is a reliable individual, isn’t he? …He even calculated the angle at which I jumped down to catch up more quickly. To be honest, I didn’t expect for you to arrive until midday.”

Her smiling eyes then turned toward her daughter.

“Oh, Nate. You’re too skinny to make a proper bed for your king.”

“Wh-what are you talking about, mother!? Just focus on your conversation! There’s no need to start insulting me!”

Mitotsudaira bared her teeth as she spoke, but her mother only placed her hands on her cheeks and wiggled around.

“Oh, dear. My daughter is jealous that I’m talking with her classmate!”

She had let go of the reins to bring her hands to her cheeks, so the carriage made a large bounce. Naito frantically grabbed the reins and handed them to the woman, but Mitotsudaira was certain she briefly saw the bottom of a valley.

…''Th-that was close!!

She only now realized what it meant to entrust her life to someone so capricious.

But when the carriage shook a bit as it stabilized, the boy next to her swayed and leaned further onto her. Before she could even think, his cheek pressed up against her shoulder and chest.

…''Ehhhhh!?

With the wig on, one could almost mistake his face for a girl’s, but…

“…?”

His scent was different. No, she sensed a new scent on him.

It was her mother’s.

“…!?”

Mitotsudaira felt her eyebrows bend and strength enter her lower lip.

She detected her mother’s scent on him.

She normally only detected his and Kimi’s scents and more recently Horizon’s had joined the mix. Thanks to the Blue Thunder, Horizon’s scent was that of bread, bacon, and butter, so it was especially hard to bear on an empty stomach.

She also noticed Asama, Suzu, Masazumi, and something dog-like, but it was all overpowered by her mother’s scent. Not only that, but it was the scent of her lips.

“Kh…”

It was not a knight’s place to ask what had happened the night before, but when she pictured Kimi and Horizon in her head, her mood took a truly regrettable turn. An awful sense that he had been “stolen” or “tainted” pushed up from the bottom of her heart.

So she brought her nose in close.

“…”

She looked forward and saw her mother speaking with Naito.

“So the M.H.R.R. broadcast committee’s famous divine TV show ‘Burnt at the Stake Around the World’ really is done live? I had a feeling that part where they run around at the very end wasn’t rehearsed.”

“Next week, they’re doing the Celtic version in England, so I wonder what’s going to happen. The craftsmen have been getting pretty crazy lately.”

Mitotsudaira wanted nothing to do with that conversation, but that only left…

…''The 1st special duty officer and Mary.

The two had slipped from their previous position, so Tenzou’s face was now pressed up against Mary’s breasts. He risked suffocation, but he was probably getting a nice dream out of it. Mitotsudaira made a mental note to inform Naito later.

For the moment, she had other business to attend to.

“Nn.”

Her nose twitched as she more closely observed his scent. The strongest scent was a nostalgic one of her mother’s cooking. Salt and herbs were the primary seasonings and the meat was mostly deer or boar. But below that…

…''Ah.

She detected the scent of her mother’s skin as if the woman had held him in her arms. She also seemed to have wrapped her legs around him a bit, but…

…''I-it doesn’t seem like they were lying together!

Part of her felt she had let her imagination run too wild about her mother and king, but one was a capricious beast and the other was a nudist idiot. The latter also seemed to be something of a heroine, so reality could be quite cruel.

At any rate, she found the scent of her mother’s lips on his forehead, cheek, and neck, but it seemed their lips had never met.

“…”

She took a deep sigh of relief. She was mostly glad she did not have to share that kind of a secret with her king, but…

…''My mother’s scent…

The woman had clearly licked him and moved her lips across him.

The mere presence of that scent irritated her, but it especially angered her that it was on her king.

It felt like someone else had marked her king and it transformed her faintheartedness into anger.

So to erase her mother’s scent, she brought her own lips and tongue in close.

“…”

But she stopped.

Her shoulders drooped and she pulled back a bit.

…''I am his knight.

She was not a beast, she was not the princess who was meant to have this sort of intimacy, and she was not part of the family that supported him. In the group here, her role was in combat.

Once they returned to the Musashi, she could ask Kimi to have him take a bath or ask Tomo to purify him.

But just as she told herself this was not her role…

“Nn.”

He shifted position and leaned even further up against her. She did not have large enough breasts to catch him like Mary did Tenzou, so he began to fall straight past her chest.

“…!?”

She frantically supported him in both arms as he collapsed face up.

…''What is this!? Why am I holding him like a prince holds a princess in a school play!?

She remembered when they had done Snow White for a school play in elementary school. Asama had been tall back then too, so she had played the prince. Kimi had been wicked back then too, but for some reason, she had played the princess.

…''After the princess ate the poisoned apple in the forest and stopped breathing, she for some reason shouted ‘Now! Give me CPR! Get that heart massage started!” to the prince. That was a very dangerous play.

It had been so sudden that Asama had forgotten her lines and frozen up, so the idiot had walked out from behind the curtain. He had been naked but coated in melted chocolate and had worn a bundle of greens on his head.

“I’m a tree! A tree of the forest! But I’m a tree with a stamen! Okay! Topknot!”

He had started doing that indiscriminately, so Asama had shot him and brought peace back to the world just in time for the play to end.

Was the current pose meant to be revenge for his sister not getting her massage back then?

…''N-no, calm down! This is a coincidence! Yes, a coincidence!!

She tried to correct their positions, but…

“…Nn.”

She relaxed when she heard him breathing in his sleep.

…''Well, if he is comfortable, I suppose this is fine.

She checked again to make sure no one was paying any attention to her.

“…”

And she gently brushed her cheek and throat on his forehead.

She knew this was just like a cat or dog marking its territory and she placed her own scent on top of her mother’s.

She decided she would have Kimi or Tomo get rid of it all once they returned to Musashi.

“So everyone has finally disembarked, have they?”

Lines of bookshelves filled the library on the starboard side of Musashi Ariadust Academy’s first floor. Horizon sat in the seat in front of the counter and she closed her book after Heidi gave her a report on the situation.

The library’s lights had already come on, but some children were still inside. The evacuation of Magdeburg and transportation of materials had left everyone so busy that a lot of children’s parents had yet to return home.

Horizon handed the children some biscotti she had brought from the Blue Thunder and asked Heidi a question.

“So when can we return to Magdeburg?”

“I think we’ll have to wait another two hours before we can leave. We have to unload the transport ships, unload the people, and unload the materials, so it’s probably going to take some time.”

“In that case...”

Horizon placed a hand on her chin and saw Heidi place Erimaki on her head.

“It will take a total of ten hours to reach Magdeburg? By then, the Sack of Magdeburg will have ended and enemy reinforcements will have arrived from K.P.A. Italia.”

“That’s true,” admitted Heidi while sitting on the counter and looking into the southern sky. “Hexagone Française has Anne of Austria and Mazarin there, the Protestants have Luther aka Tomoe Gozen and Mayor Guericke the Hemisphere Manufacturer there, and we have some of our people there. Whether they’re partially eliminated or simply ‘protected’ will greatly affect the future situation in Europe.”

“It is a difficult situation,” muttered Horizon with a sigh.

Heidi suddenly tilted her head.

“Have you changed, Horizon?”

Horizon tilted her own head at that question about change.

“How would I have changed?”

“Oh, um…” Heidi opened sign frames and took care of some work as she spoke. “You’re still impatient because you want to go rescue Toori-kun, right?”

“Impatient? And ‘still’?”

“Judge.” Heidi’s bitter smile lost its bitterness. “Maybe it’s the influence of your new greed and sorrow. Are you impatiently greedy because you don’t want to experience sorrow?”

“I have no sense of it myself, but is that how I look?”

But then Horizon asked something else.

“Have you ever felt something like this?”

“I think we all did when we went to save you.”

Horizon slowly looked away from the girl and finally nodded.

“Judge. I see. I just found the answer to a mystery I had put on hold.”

“Oh, did I accidentally cause something amazing?”

“Judge. …To be honest, even if I think back to then, I have a hard time judging Toori-sama’s true intentions because he camouflaged them behind so many irregular actions.”

Heidi averted her gaze when she heard that.

“Yeah…”

“But that too must have come from his impatience and his other emotions I have yet to obtain.”

“You should tell him that once he gets back.”

“Judge.” Horizon nodded and faced Heidi again. “Have you ever felt something like that on a more individual level?”

“Hm. I think I’d like it if it was Shiro-kun that felt it instead of me.”

Horizon tilted her head in confusion, so Heidi smiled.

“A lot happened while you were gone.”

“Will you eventually tell me about it? If it happened while I was gone, then it is not something I absolutely must hear about.”

“Judge. It might help you figure out how to use your emotions once you get them all back.”

Heidi typed on her keyboard and tapped Erimaki’s head. The Mouse produced a new sign frame, but Heidi frowned when she read it.

“Ugh… I changed the transport ships’ descent pattern to speed up the process, but it actually slowed it all down…”

“Yes, something similar happened when I was trying to figure out the best way to place my new bread in the Blue Thunder’s oven. My first method fit the most in, but when I tried it again, it seemed impossible to reproduce.”

“Hmm. What to do? With this, it’s going to take us ten hours to reach Magdeburg. It’s seven in the evening now, so we won’t arrive until five in the morning.”

“The Sack of Magdeburg begins at eight, so we would be nine hours late.”

Just as Horizon frowned, a sign frame displaying Shirojiro appeared next to Heidi’s face.

“Heidi, I have brought the Commerce and Industry Guild under control. We will not be transporting the materials. That allows the Musashi to leave two hours early.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“When sending down Magdeburg’s people, we had planned to load the transport ships with materials for the Musashi, but that has been cancelled. We will leave the transport ships here and let the people use them as temporary housing. That should allow the Musashi to begin moving right away. Please rearrange the schedule.”

Horizon tilted her head at their exchange.

“Shirojiro-sama is passing up a chance to make money? Has he gone insane?”

“Shiro-kun! Shiro-kun! Did you hear what she said!?”

“Just to be clear, I have not forgotten about the money,” said Shirojiro while crossing his arms. “I have bought the ships we are leaving behind and their previous owners will use those funds to help buy new transport ships in Kantou IZUMO. …Of course, I have already bought up all of Kantou IZUMO’s transport ships.”

“Way to go, Shiro-kun! You’re so wonderfully cruel!! That darkness makes the glint of gold appear all the more beautiful!!”

Over the sign frame, the treasurer duo formed a yen symbol with their fingers and ended the conversation.

Horizon watched as Heidi sighed and opened a new calculation sign frame.

“This is becoming something of a puzzle, but I guess I have to work at solving it,” she said. “We can’t cruise over M.H.R.R., so it’s still going to take eight hours to reach Magdeburg even if we shorten it by two hours.”

Just as she leaned back on the counter, Horizon spoke up.

“Judge. Then how about I search for a way of fixing that? And I have an idea who might be the best one for the job. Until then, you continue coordinating everything, Heidi-sama.”

“Eh?” asked Heidi.

Horizon nodded expressionlessly.

“If something is frustrating you, I believe you should take action to deal with it.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 64|Chapter 64]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 66|Chapter 66]]
}}
</noinclude>

City Series:Volume3a Chapter 2

2015-04-25T00:26:46Z

86.52.26.103: Two minor fixes.

==Act 2: Take a Reason (5:13)==

===Part 1===

Hong Kong Yard’s main office was in the Kowloon administrative district in the center of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Peninsula.

At first glance, the building looked like a giant bridge. Specifically, a bridge made of junk.

There were a few different reasons for that.

First, the first floor had been entirely removed to make a parking lot for tanks and motorcycles.

Second, the building was connected to Kowloon’s shopping district to form one giant piece of artwork.

And third, gathering all those different buildings created a mosaic of varying structures.

Hong Kong Yard had been created when the British Hong Kong Force had been privatized. Morning was currently arriving there.

The pale light reached the bricks, the wooden walls, and the windows that contained giant bars instead of glass.

The sunlight gradually grew.

It was most bright on the eastern end of the second floor where a single white wall miraculously continued for five whole meters.

That was the center of the Yard’s headquarters where about three hundred people worked.

If one followed the light and looked in through the windows, one would see facilities far more refined than the exterior suggested.

In a room that looked like a great hall, partitions were set up between the different divisions and personnel were gathered at all of the desks.

Expensive-looking sofas were lined up by the windows.

Currently, one person was sitting in a sofa with their back to the white sky.

It was a woman wearing a men’s suit.

Her unrounded glasses eliminated any kindness in her expression, but her braided hair gave her a feminine look that looked out of place with her suit.

“Kouga,” she said. “Have the newspapers caught scent of it?”

She was speaking to a desk near the window.

The young man at the desk had a blonde pompadour and wore a red Hawaiian shirt that did not at all suit the city of Hong Kong.

Despite his appearance, he nodded respectfully to his boss and showed her the newspaper he held.

“Yup. It’s front page news. They’re even speculating about the breakup of Archs RDC and its collapse as a corporation. …But they’re missing one important thing.”

“The predicted unemployment rate? Your calculations said this would leave nearly 5% of Hong Kong’s laborers unemployed, right?”

“And most of those workers are fathers, so their families are in trouble too.”

That meant three to five times that number would have no way to put food on the table.

“I’d like to think they realized the truth but decided not to print it because they didn’t want to cause a panic,” said Rin as she pushed up her glasses. “There’s nothing fun about this case. Not only is the secret king of Hong Kong dead, but it happened in a strange ‘suicide’.”

“That’s right. Did you see Huang Daquan’s face?”

“Yes. For some reason, an ageless Archs had grown old.”

“What does that mean?”

“If only I could see his Live. …I’ve seen that kind of aging once before.”

“Eh!? Where?”

“I don’t have any proof yet, but I’ll tell you eventually. …But Huang’s death was probably suicide after he aged liked that. Maybe it’s some new kind of disease.”

“Sure,” said Kouga.

After a pause, he gave a small sneeze.

Rin glanced his way and reached for the window blind.

It was bright outside and comfortably sunny, but she blocked out that light with the blind.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, boss. Even if I am part vampire.”

“It was too bright for me.”

“Really?”

She ignored his question.

Instead, she let out a quiet bitter laugh.

“But those Nein Engels have caused us quite the problem with only half a month until Hong Kong is returned to China.”

“Rough, isn’t it? Especially since this is your last chance.”

“Are you talking about Fei?”

“You haven’t found him after five years of searching, right?”

“Don’t worry about it. It isn’t your problem.”

“But this time when Hong Kong can act on its own is your chance to-…”

“I said it isn’t your problem.”

Rin’s tone silenced Kouga.

After a while, he cleared his throat and opened the newspaper again.

“What kind of person was this Huang Daquan guy?”

“A dictator. According to the General anyway.”

“Eh?”

“He died at age 140. All I really know about him is that he was an Archs born in Hong Kong and his father was an Archangel. If his personal history is to be believed, he used the confusion of World War One to create Archs RDC and bring it under his control.”

“The article says Archs RDC supports the Nein Engels living in Hong Kong Cave while gaining heavenly knowledge from them by… I can’t read this character.”

Rin frowned.

“Basically, the corporation was made to eliminate the past stigma about Nein Engels. If Huang had lived another hundred years, the Nein Engels probably could have left Hong Kong Cave without having anything to fear.”

“If only they could all come out like Akira.”

“She’s a special case. But…”

“This is a strange suicide, isn’t it? He died of massive blood loss, but not a single blood stain was found in his home.”

“You sent out a familiar to search for the blood stains, didn’t you?”

Kouga nodded as if to say that was only natural.

At the same time, the door into the headquarters opened.

The person who walked in was an old man with a bent back who wore the jumpsuit of the tank force. His gray hair and narrow eyes gave him an Asian appearance, but he had another defining feature to his face.

He had a large scar from a blade on his right cheek.

Rin quickly stood and bowed when she saw him. Kouga followed suit.

“Good morning, General. You’re here early.”

The old man known as the General narrowed his eyes that already only looked like lines and he waved a hand for the two of them to sit.

“What’s with you two? It’s normal for an old man to be up early in the morning.”

He stroked the scar on his cheek and sat in his seat by the window.

He was known as a hero who once saved Hong Kong, but he did not act self-important in the slightest. He turned his back on all the papers scattered across his desk and rotated his chair toward Rin and Kouga.

“It seems somethin’ weird happened last night, so this morning, my wife insisted I actually work every day ‘til Hong Kong’s returned to China. I can’t stand this.”

“Oh, your imaginary wife again?”

“She ain’t imaginary. She’s just too good to let anyone else see.”

“I’d love to see this supposed wife of yours someday,” said Rin with a small smile.

Kouga gave a cheerful smile of his own.

“Don’t say that, boss. The General’s hatred of Nein Engels and guests is legendary.”

“Don’t both of you start makin’ things up. How ‘bout fillin’ me in on this incident instead?”

“The one about Archs RDC? Or the ''Qinghu'' from last night?”

“Both of ‘em were on the news. What I’m interested in is the death. Y’know, the one about that Buster. You two handled that one, right?”

“If you mean J-Gun Maldrick, I just finished the report earlier. It came in after the news about Huang Daquan, so it took some time.”

The General leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and suddenly showed his teeth in a smile.

“I’ve got a bad feelin’ about this. On the same night a big shot Nein Engel dies, Hong Kong’s top Buster falls from the sky and dies. …Is Akira still not here?”

[[Image:City_v03a_055.jpg|thumb]]

“I had her take the day off until noon since I had her show up last night when she was off duty.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

The General gave the bitter smile of someone who found the person waiting for them was not there.

“Do you need Akira for something?” asked Kouga.

“Just a little somethin’. On my way here, the folks at Aberdeen said some of ‘em saw an Earth Serpent out at sea last night.”

“An Earth Serpent?”

Kouga tilted his head, so Rin explained.

“It’s a powerful Live form associated with the earth. The great beast takes an Octave of over 20,000,000 to control, so you could almost call it a fantasy. It’s one of the Death Technos of Tuning.”

“Well, there haven’t been any records of a dragon showin’ up in about a century and an Earth Serpent would appear below Hong Kong, not out at sea. They probably saw it wrong.”

“J-Gun was a Buster, so he wouldn’t be able to create a dragon.”

“I was hopin’ to ask Akira if she knows anyone who could do somethin’ like that. Do you, Rin?”

“I’m the most powerful one I know and I can only control an Octave of 320,000. As you well know.”

She shook her head.

The General nodded and scratched his head with a thin smile on his lips.

“Well, if Akira was too busy to be makin’ that dragon, I really do feel like somethin’ bad’s gonna happen.”

===Part 2===

It was just before noon on the seventy-second floor of the Archs RDC headquarters building.

One wall of the hall was entirely covered with windows which gave a sense of vertigo unique to elevated areas.

Several chairs were lined up in a row. The chairs were pointed in different directions and papers covered in lots of typed text were scattered over the thick carpet.

Earlier, a press conference on Archs RDC President Huang Daquan had been held here.

Once the press conference had ended, the reporters packed inside had all left.

Only one person remained in the room. A six-winged Nein Engel sat in a chair in the center of the floor as he stared out the window.

He was the Seraph who had been on Beaufort Island the night before.

He held a multi-page report and looked down on the city of Hong Kong.

His eyes moved.

First, he saw a large park in Kowloon.

Next, it was the buildings of the coastal Tsim Sha Tsui area.

His gaze moved across the sea to Hong Kong Island’s Central business district.

Lastly, he looked to Hong Kong Cave in the center of Hong Kong Island. The deep hole looked like a giant had dug it for fun.

“It all starts with Hong Kong Cave.”

As he spoke, he heard a quiet noise behind him.

It was only the sound of the elevator arriving, so it was not worth turning around.

“I’ve finished settling things on my end, Double Lee.”

The Nein Engel did turn around once his Urban Name had been called.

Two other Nein Engels stood in front of the elevator in a corner of the hall.

One was a Galgallin. Befitting of a combat Nein Angel, his tall body had been almost entirely remade into an assault Custom Body.

No wings stuck out from the back of his black combat jacket. If not for the unique shape of his Custom Body, he would have been indistinguishable from a human.

The other was a female Nein Engel. She wore a suit and had four wings.

She was one of the Cherubim said to control light in the Bible.

She lightly brushed a hand through her brown hair which was cut at shoulder length.

“After all the work Master Huang put into making it, this means the end of Archs RDC, doesn’t it? Come to think of it, we were the only Nein Engels working here. If only we’d brought more here.”

“There is no helping that now. We simply have to continue on as Master Huang decided. Double Lee, what do you plan to do? The four ADs used in the ceremonies are one thing, but we have lost our method of creating the final one.”

Double Lee stood.

“True. I do think I made a bit of a mistake last night. I also lost one bottle of the blood taken from Master Huang’s body. Genius, I’m sorry about what happened to J-Gun.”

Her brown-spotted wings moved a bit when she heard that.

“It doesn’t really matter.” She took a breath. “He’s just a human, so he couldn’t enter heaven anyway. And I once saw a picture of his old lover. …She looked a lot like me.”

She touched her short hair as she spoke.

Double Lee shrugged when he noticed that action.

“Oh, dear. It seems I’ve offended you. What about you, Fei?”

The Galgallin’s false eyes glowed red behind his mirrorshades.

“I ordered the guard unit to leave. Even if other corporations gather, there is no clear target to protect here. I have written letters of recommendation for all of the personnel. For foreign corporations.”

Double Lee put the report he held into his pocket.

“What a pain. I was reading through Master Huang’s notes. Looking at it again, he really gave us one hell of an order upon his death.”

“Yes. If it hadn’t been for his abnormal aging, he probably could have used a different method.”

“Restoring heaven, hm? Double Lee, how is your sister? Does she know about this?”

Fei’s question brought a sudden change to Double Lee’s expression. It grew dark.

He must have noticed himself because he soon lowered his head.

“Hmm.”

He gave a forced groan of thought and looked back up. By that time, his expression was back to normal.

“Akira probably hasn’t noticed. She’s no different from a human.”

“She left Hong Kong Cave and joined the Yard instead of Archs RDC, right? That’s pretty amazing,” said Genius.

“It’s obvious she is being persecuted, though. Just like your parents.”

“Fei, wasn’t it the same for your parents?”

“Perhaps, but I have lost those memories along with my emotions. I showed you the scar from my Psyche Outer surgery, didn’t I?”

“…”

After a pause, Double Lee spoke.

“Well, that persecution will end before long. …What matters now is the final Device. In other words, the fifth one J-Gun died before completing.”

“?”

“Genius, you said J-Gun had a brother, right? Could you find him?”

“I doubt that would work.”

“Why not?”

“J-Gun once said he doubted his brother could ever make a Device.”

“…? A human of the Maldrick family can’t create a Device?”

“I don’t know what he meant, but I did hear that brother has a prosthetic right hand.”

“I see,” said Double Lee with a nod.

Tuners and Busters had to touch their Devices to send their Live through it. And it had to be with a flesh-and-blood body part.

“In that case, Genius, we will have to find J-Gun’s corpse and use necromancy on him. Is that okay?”

Genius just about said something on reflex when she heard the word “necromancy”, but she stopped herself.

Double Lee must have taken her silence as consent because he nodded.

“Good. You take care of the preparations.”

He then began to walk toward the other two and the elevator.

“Now that we have a plan, it’s time we left this place. The humans can have this company.”

He took a breath and said one last thing as if speaking to himself.

“Because we will have heaven.”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_1|Act 1]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_3|Act 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

City Series:Volume3a Chapter 1

2015-04-23T00:05:37Z

86.52.26.103: Found some typos to fix.

==Act 1: Equals (8:46)==

===Part 1===

“Fire!”

That deep command was given just as gunshots and shellfire burst through the night air.

The bright bullets fired by men in blue uniforms flew straight down a large shopping district road and approached their target.

Their target was a beast that looked out of place in the city of Hong Kong. It was a tiger.

However, it was not a normal tiger. It was colored blue and it was nearly four meters tall.

Several sparks scattered from the large tiger and countless explosions could be heard.

Those bursting sounds were followed by spreading white smoke.

“Did we get it!?”

The men in blue uniforms filled the street like a solid wall and they looked to their victory beyond the smoke.

But that victory suddenly vanished before their eyes.

Something appeared beyond the smoke about one hundred meters away. The same blue tiger had grown even larger.

The ''Qinghu'' shook its head several times to shake off the smoke and lightly snorted.

It showed no sign of damage from the previous attack.

The men were dumbfounded as they watched.

But if the right person had been watching, they would have seen an irregular blue stream of sound surrounding the men.

Those were the Lives that gave form to the emotion of fear.

“Is anyone from Cleared here!?”

The commander cried out as if to sweep away that Lives floating around them.

“What’s that ''Qinghu''’s Octave?”

He was answered by a middle-aged uniformed man carrying a Device.

“Its Live is unsteadily fluctuating between an Octave of 320,000 and 40,000.”

Normal Tuners and Busters could only manipulate Lives at an Octave of around 80,000 and only within a range of just over five meters. However, this ''Qinghu'' had an Octave of 320,000.

“Our attacks are going to be too far removed from it, which is dangerous.”

“What happens when the Octave is so different?”

“We’ll only increase the disturbance in its Live. In other words, it’ll grow bigger like just now.”

“You know that tiger was originally a restaurant, right? Can’t we do something!? If the light bringers of Hong Kong Yard are defeated, who’s going to stop it?”

His fairly hysterical question reverberated through the air.

The Cleared member it was directed at could likely see the commander’s Live and he watched for the man’s reaction as he spoke.

“The offensive Busters and Hounds can’t hope to oppose something on this level. …But we called in Akira who was off duty.”

“Akira? You mean that Seraph girl who’s always talking nonsense!?”

His question was answered by the ''Qinghu''’s roar.

The great beast was now eight meters tall and it roared toward heaven.

“…!”

As British territory, Hong Kong’s night sky contained an entrance to the same heaven as the Aerial City. A long roar rang through that sky and shook the city.

“Is it coming!?”

The commander prepared himself as his body vibrated from the roar.

The Device-wielding man took a similar stance next to him.

“Don’t worry. She’ll definitely be here! She’s Hong Kong’s best Tuner, after all.”

“Can we really rely on a Nein Engel!?”

After that comment, the ''Qinghu'' moved forward.

“!”

The atmosphere around them all stiffened.

In an instant, sharp Lives of murderous intent raced between the ''Qinghu'' and the men.

The Verbal Tempo of those sharp, direct Lives was quite simple.

And that may have been why someone rode on that stream.

Someone flew down from the night sky and landed in the center of the murderous intent between the men and tiger.

It was a girl.

She wore the same color of uniform as the men and she had two wings on her back.

The Cleared member shouted toward the light coming from her wings.

“Help has arrived! She’s the Tuner who can control an Octave of 1,028,000!”

===Part 2===

The winged girl went by the Urban Name of Akira.

She was either twenty or in her late teens.

The wings on her back were nothing special.

Hong Kong was British territory and Britain had long been a nation of monsters, most notably in Aerial City – London.

“…”

She said nothing.

Her tied-back hair was the same color as her wings, those angular golden wings moved slightly, and she raised her head.

Below her thick eyebrows, her eyes moved without missing a thing. Her gaze looked far past the empty shopping district street and to the Yard men wielding a variety of weapons.

She could see each of them emitting Lives filled with the Word Color of tension. That pale purple light spilled like sand and floated below the wall of blue.

Akira gave a small bitter smile.

“The general unit is here along with the combat unit. …Did the Searchers try to lure the ''Qinghu'' away?”

…''I feel like a surrounded criminal.

As soon as she thought that, she heard a growl behind her.

It was the tiger.

The eight meter tall tiger gave off a bluish-white phosphorescence.

It raised its front paw as if playing.

“Wah!”

Seeing white claws approaching her, Akira flew to the side and into the night sky. She avoided the wind produced by its claws and danced through the night air that was heated by the shopping district.

Her sharp wings had a single main section which loudly beat against the wind.

She soared.

“Oh! That was close!”

After only two flaps, she had risen as high as a five-story building and she spread her wings behind her. The wings expelled air to bring her to a stop.

She looked down from this height where the smells of the different food stands and restaurants reached her.

She saw the ''Qinghu''.

The beast was large enough to fill the street and its giant yellow eyes looked up at her.

…''This is a big one.

She licked her lips, nodded once, and held up her Device in midair. It was shaped like a short sword, but a quick shake was enough to extend the hilt into a spear as long as she was tall.

“…”

She swung down the spear and took a breath.

“!”

Without warning, she began to rush through the air.

She oriented her body parallel to the ground and raced straight down at the ''Qinghu''.

All she heard was the sound of the air rushing past her.

Her target was its back. When fighting a four-legged beast, attacking from above was safest.

“Take this!”

She twisted her body to lower her downward momentum and thrust the spear straight into the blue back below her.

The sound was identical to that of tearing paper.

She felt a strange metallic sensation entirely different from flesh.

At the same time, the ''Qinghu''’s Live reached her through the spear.

A Live was the flow that gave form to objects, emotions, and actions. Essentially, it was the rhythm of ether.

As a Tuner, Akira could read the ''Qinghu''’s Live.

“Its Octave is 320,000. Over four times what a normal person can control, hm? No wonder I was called in.”

The Live itself was a heavy sound, its Word Color was a mineral gray, and its Tempo was slow.

That information gave her an image. She was able to read the Message expressed by the Live that the ''Qinghu'' was singing.

It was…

…''A building!?

That was entirely different from its appearance as a tiger.

As soon as Akira read that Message, the ''Qinghu'' turned its head to look at her on its back.

“Not good!”

Instinctively sensing danger, she used her wings to fly backwards.

Seeing the glare of those pure yellow eyes and hearing the roar, she landed on the roof of a bookstore.

She kept her eyes on her opponent and analyzed its identity. She thought about the Message she had seen when reading its Live.

The Message in her mind showed a three-story concrete building.

…''I’ve seen that building before. It’s a fancy restaurant in Yau Ma Tei, isn’t it?

The restaurant’s owner would be leaving in about half a month when ownership of Hong Kong was returned from Britain, so it had been scheduled for demolition.

The building had turned into this blue tiger.

“A disturbance in the restaurant’s Live transformed it into a tiger? Hong Kong is a dangerous place these days.”

A smile appeared on Akira’s lips as she muttered to herself.

At the same time, an electronic tone came from her uniform’s pocket. Her cellphone was ringing.

After two rings, it automatically answered and a woman’s voice came from her coat pocket.

“Are you in your usual place, Akira?”

Akira answered while watching the ''Qinghu'' that stared motionlessly at her.

“I am. I’m fighting, but…”

“But what?”

“Rin, can I ask something?”

“What is it? I’m busy with a new a case that just came in, so keep it within forty characters, punctuation included.”

“Why was the general unit sent out against this?”

“Including the question mark, that’s…forty exactly. You really do give the most boring answers.”

“That’s…not the issue here! What if they get caught in the Tuning!?”

“Don’t worry. If that happens, I’ll use my authority to have you take responsibility.”

“That’s not a normal thing to say, Rin.”

“Sorry, but the cell signal isn’t getting through very well. Well, I can leave all this Live-related stuff to our genius Tuner.”

Akira’s shoulders shook a bit at being called a genius. She imagined the expression on the face of her glasses-wearing female boss.

“You’re just saying that to force me to do something again, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one with the dream of using Tuning to send out a giant Death Techno dragon. Think of this as training.”

“I at least have the right to choose how I train!”

“All personal opinions are rejected.”

“Then don’t use people’s dreams to give them a personal reason for doing things! Honestly, how about you come join me out here!?”

As if reacting to her shout, the ''Qinghu'' began to move.

“Ah! Stay back!”

It ignored her protest and leaped upwards.

It stretched out to the front and back and came to crush the bookstore she stood on.

===Part 3===

The roar of the ground being struck rang out in a great surge.

The destruction occurred in an instant.

“That was close.”

Akira sounded almost carefree as she landed on the red roof of a neighboring shop.

While trying to get up, the ''Qinghu'' slammed a front paw into the roof.

“Wah!”

Akira was launched into the air by the roof’s flexibility and she performed a flip before landing on the road.

By that time, the ''Qinghu'' had gotten back up.

Looking at it a little differently, the two of them could be seen as a bird and a cat.

The predator and prey’s eyes met.

…''This is uncomfortable.

Akira’s fears were justified.

So…

“Try to calm down, okay?”

With that comment, she turned her back on the ''Qinghu'' and began to run.

She began her escape to buy some time. Meanwhile, she sensed the ''Qinghu'' dashing behind her.

…''How am I supposed to defeat this thing?

She continued to run while keeping her wings up so she could take flight at any moment. She rushed through the deserted shopping district.

The light brown streetlights illuminated her.

She heard her racing footsteps, breathing, and pulse as well as the much louder sounds of buildings and storefront stands being destroyed behind her.

The pursuing footsteps were growing closer and closer. She occasionally heard something like stones striking each other right behind her head, and she knew that had to be the tiger’s teeth striking together.

…''Not good, not good, not good! I’m really gonna be eaten!

She faced forward and found the blue wall of police officers a mere thirty meters ahead.

She was shocked to find they were all aiming their guns and cannons her way.

A closer look showed their commander was raising one hand.

But he was not greeting her.

“Eh? Wait! I’m right here!”

“Fire!”

The roar of gunfire reached her.

White smoke rose in front of the blue wall and pure red bullets of light shot out.

“Wah!”

Akira flew backwards as if something had repelled her.

This surprised the ''Qinghu'' pursuing her from behind. This strange action by its prey made it stumble.

She slipped between its hesitant legs.

She quickly moved behind the ''Qinghu''.

An instant later, she heard something explode.

A solid impact slammed into the giant beast and sent it into the air over Akira’s head.

“You idiots! Don’t disturb its Live any more!”

The ''Qinghu'' grew even larger because the bombardment had further disturbed its Live.

Avoiding its giant form as it fell was not an easy task.

She flew backwards just like before.

With a great roar, the ''Qinghu''’s back fell to the ground, but it immediately twisted around and stood up.

It was glaring at Akira, but she ignored it.

She caught her breath and started back down the same path she had run before.

As she did, she struck the destroyed buildings with the tip of her spear. Doing so emitted sound and light from the Device.

She was preparing to Tune.

“Oh, you 640,000 Octave Lives surrounding me! You silent stone, chirping wood, and murmuring glass, can you hear my Live!?”

She cried out and sang her own Live.

It began with “la”.

The Word Color was the white of moonlight and it had a loud, gentle Tempo.

That created a Message.

The Message combined an image of the destroyed building with the flapping wings of birds.

The rubble enveloped by the spear’s light and sound was transformed.

The wooden rubble became brown birds.

The concrete rubble became large white and gray birds.

The glass shards became small blue birds.

More were created as she ran and they flew into the night sky to avoid the pursuing ''Qinghu''.

This was the Live healing that Akira could perform as a Tuner.

Tuning would use some other Message to regulate disturbed Lives.

All of the flying birds would eventually return to their proper locations. Then they would return to their original form as wood or walls. But instead of the rubble, they would have become the original buildings once more.

That was the end result of Live healing through Tuning.

Akira continued singing and brought the blade of her Device to her own body.

Some light raced through her.

The light had an orange Word Color and the Tempo of a slightly quickened pulse.

It was the Live of fear.

She used Tuning to expel the emotion from her body and she manipulated those Lives. The orange balls of light became small orange mice that hid behind the nearby rubble.

She sighed when she saw it.

“Okay. I can do this.”

With that, she returned to her starting point.

She stopped and faced forward to find the ''Qinghu'' charging toward her, but she did not mind.

She could hear a radio that had been playing for a while.

The broadcast was playing a certain song.

彼街通天地 (That city connects heaven and earth)

墜朝地仰雲 (I fall in the morning and look up to the clouds from the earth)

昇夜空謳月 (I rise at night and sing with the moon in the sky)

惟望再笑君 (All I desire is to smile with you again)

That was the Flight Song which had long been passed down in Hong Kong.

…''My parents liked that song, didn’t they?

Listening to it calmed her pulse and breathing.

Her opponent was approaching up ahead. It raised its claws and slammed them down toward her, but she charged forward.

She matched the arcing movement of the lowering claws and moved right up to the beast. She felt a brief, sharp pain in her back, but she ignored it.

She looked up and saw the ''Qinghu''’s throat.

That was the core.

She gathered strength in her legs and slammed her entire body into it as she drove the tip of her spear into that one point.

With the sound of tearing paper, the ''Qinghu'' stopped moving.

And she had her Device send out her own Live.

Her Live was a single sound beginning with “la”. Its Word Color was gray and its Tempo was on the slower side. The Message it conveyed was the Yau Ma Tei restaurant. And the image she included was…

It did not even take three seconds for it all to end.

===Part 4===

[[Image:City_v03a_033.jpg|thumb]]
Akira fell to her knees while surrounded by countless colors of cats.

“Maybe I split it up too much. This is too much noise.”

She had Tuned the ''Qinghu'', but to ensure that the proper Live and the disturbed Live did not reflexively echo off each other, she had split off every 10,000 Octaves into a separate kitten.

“With forty-four of them, I bet a cat-lover could barely contain themselves. …Come here. Good boy.”

She reached out a hand and a green cat approached from the group.

It mewed sweetly and she pet its head.

“…”

She was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and look up into the sky.

The moon was out in the deep night sky.

The sky over England’s Aerial City – London contained a door to the heaven that had been destroyed during the previous world war. Hong Kong was still British territory because it had yet to be returned to China, so the same door was opened in its sky.

“But you can’t see the chapter title pages and celestial dome even in the moonlight.”

She lowered her gaze and looked down the road.

Far, far down the road, the men in Yard uniforms were looking her way and slowly approaching.

She could faintly see their Lives.

Most of them had the yellow Word Color of praise. Some red was mixed in because of the newcomers who had gotten too worked up during the earlier gunfire.

It may have been even less common than the red, but she did see the purple of doubt.

…''Not bad for a Nein Engel.

A Nein Engel was a hybrid between an angel and a human.

But Akira was not bothered by those doubtful Messages.

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

The cats she had unraveled from the ''Qinghu'' tilted their heads at her question.

She smiled bitterly at the action.

A brief dull pain raced along her back.

She touched it and could tell she had been nicked when charging underneath the ''Qinghu'' earlier.

The injury was not on either of her two large wings. It was on the inside of those wings.

…''On one of the small deformed wings. I can’t believe it.

Deformities were common in Nein Engels. As a Seraph Nein Engel, she should have had six wings, but four of them had grown in far too small. They were so small that the average person would not even notice them.

…''Looks like it’s stopped bleeding, so I guess I’ll get it treated later.

That was when she heard what sounded like stone being struck.

“…!?”

That was the sound of a Live being destroyed.

She looked up in surprise and saw a man in midair.

“What?”

Before she could wonder what was happening, the man fell to her feet.

A dull sound and a wet sound reached her ears.

“Blood!?”

The dark red substance spreading along the road came from a terrible wound. She ignored the quickly fleeing cats and ran over to him.

He had messy hair and wore intellectual glasses. He seemed to be in his late twenties. If they had not been stained with blood, his clothes would have been very nice. Lastly, he held the remains of a Device.

As soon as she saw the shape of the Device, Akira realized who the man was.

“Gunmal!?”

She shouted the kind of Urban Name used by Busters and Tuners and she lifted him into a sitting position.

There was no mistaking it.

She had never met the man before, but she had seen him in the newspapers a few times. Despite working as a Buster, he had revealed his Wild Name to the public. That real name he hid with the Urban Name of Gunmal was…

“Hong Kong’s greatest Buster, J-Gun Maldrick.”

Tuners rearranged Lives to change objects’ forms and fix them, but Busters destroyed Lives to destroy objects and remake them. Busters created the Devices used in Tuning and Busting and all Busters were expert fighters.

“Why is Hong Kong’s greatest Buster on the verge of death!?”

J-Gun’s eyes opened at her question.

His weak eyes briefly showed a hint of surprise.

“I can’t believe this. Even after destroying space itself, I can’t escape the Nein Engels.”

“Eh!?”

Despite her obvious confusion, J-Gun gave a smile at being released from his exhaustion and closed his eyes. As he did so, his lips moved.

“Someone, please call…”

“Call!? Call who!?”

“They can…Hong Kong’s destruction… They can…our home…”

His voice and his Live shrank and diminished.

“I’m sorry, Genius.”

With those words as her sign, Akira raised her Device.

…''Will I make it in time?

“I am Hong Kong’s greatest Tuner.”

She reminded herself of that, took a deep breath, and pressed the tip of the spear against J-Gun’s chest.

A moment later, she thought she felt her mind waver.

===Part 5===

After only a few seconds, Akira woke up.

She looked around and found herself in a strange world.

She saw an unfamiliar city of ruins around her.

She saw broken pillars, crumbled walls, scattered rooftops, twisted and broken signs, and other things that were smashed beyond recognition. They were all gathered together to create a city of ruins.

Akira stood at the center of it all.

“!?”

With that question, she realized this was a memory Message sent by J-Gun’s Live. His Live had flowed back through her Device as she tried to Tune heal him.

She was seeing the past from his perspective, so this had to be his life flashing before his eyes in the moment before death.

She saw a boy in front of her. He appeared to be fourteen or fifteen and his hair was the same color as J-Gun’s.

The boy was crying.

Two Devices lay at his feet.

One was only cracked, but the other had completely shattered.

“…”

Her vision suddenly moved. It stared at the fallen Device and reached out a hand.

J-Gun scooped up the broken fragments of the shattered Device and looked to the teary eyes of the boy.

He spoke.

“My Device shattered when it struck yours.”

And…

“Little brother, which of us will succeed the Maldrick family?”

The younger brother did not answer his older brother’s question.

That was enough.

J-Gun pulled a ring from his pocket and the younger brother watched his movements while still crying.

J-Gun suddenly stopped moving.

Akira realized he was forcing a smile.

“This is fine. With the city like this, you won’t even find any bodies to bury. …People who live together don’t need murderous Busters or Tuners.”

J-Gun threw the ring into the surrounding ruins and he said one thing more.

“Don’t turn out like me.”

The vision ended there.

J-Gun’s Live had vanished.

===Part 6===

The moon and stars looked large from the empty Beaufort Island south of Hong Kong Island.

A six-winged Nein Engel stood alone atop a hill of volcanic rock at the center of the island.

The male Seraph wore a white combat coat and he stared up into the night sky.

“That city connects heaven and earth, hm?”

He recited a line from the Flight Song and smiled bitterly.

“The moon is lovely tonight. …It is so unnecessarily bright.”

He held the chest of his coat where the white coat was wet with blood from the inside.

However, there was no hint of pain on his face.

“The dying Buster managed to escape. …What should we do about that?”

His tone was light and he looked around the area.

The island had been oddly transformed. The ground of volcanic rock had been torn, smashed, and melted.

A battle had occurred here.

“Perhaps it would be best to heal this land.”

His lightly raised hand held a Device sword.

It glowed dully, it somewhat resembled a musical instrument, and it was very similar to the Device that J-Gun had held.

He raised it, opened his mouth, and prepared to send out his Live.

But a sudden out-of-place sound stopped him. It was an electronic tone.

“?”

The Nein Engel’s hand reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small communicator.

Static sounded briefly.

“Fei? This is Double Lee.”

He took a breath.

“I made a bit of a mistake. Two of them actually. First, I have… likely killed J-Gun Maldrick. We can hold a meeting about that later. …Yes, call Genius too. And during the battle, the bottle of blood was destroyed. Can you bring the one meant for the final ceremony?”

He lowered his raised Device and began to walk.

He moved toward what seemed to be the highest point of the volcanic rock hill.

“I will complete the ceremony. Nothing will happen during the first ceremony, so don’t worry. After that, we can carry out the second ceremony, but to complete our preparations for the final one, we need an appropriate Device, right? …Yes. I just hope we can find a Buster who can make one better than this ADs. I would prefer to avoid using necromancy. …Yes, we also need the blood of a good Nein Engel. I am aware of that.”

With that said, he switched off the communicator and stopped walking.

He stood at the peak of the hill.

“Now I need to call in an Octave measuring in the tens of millions. And all to prepare the first repatriation ceremony based on the Flight Song. I must revive heaven.”

He returned the communicator to his pocket and reached the same hand into his coat.

He pulled out some broken glass covered in blood.

He threw it away and then pulled out more shards. He repeated the process again and again as he removed the pieces of the broken bottle.

“What to do now?” he muttered. “This means I need to kill a Nein Engel before the final ceremony.”

His eyes were turned toward Hong Kong Island.

The city of Hong Kong looked especially bright in the night and it illuminated the sky from below.

===Interlude 1===

The first thing Akira said after returning to her apartment barely escaped her lips.

“Ahh… What a day. I’m exhausted.”

She leaned against the small kitchen wall and checked the clock to see it was three in the morning.

…''No wonder the city’s Lives are so quiet.

The Lives of Mong Kok were so lively during the day, but this late, she could only hear the roar of the sea to the west.

As the sound of the waves reached her ears, Akira leaned her spear Device against the wall.

She gave a long yawn. While releasing that relaxed breath, she moved to the back room.

It doubled as a living room and a bedroom and it was a British-style room with a wooden floor. It contained a bed, a side table, an oddly new TV, a sanxian that she had long played, and a bookcase with a cloth covering each shelf.

She looked to the top shelf of the bookcase.

A picture frame stood there.

“Can you believe it, mom and dad? Someone died this time.”

She called out to the people in the picture as she picked up the frame.

She blew on it to get rid of the dust.

The photograph in the wooden frame showed her family.

Her father was the only human and the rest had wings on their backs.

It seemed to be a very old photo. The young girl clinging to her mother was Akira.

And a boy stood next to that girl.

“If my brother was here, he’d be so mad at me for not saving someone’s life as a Tuner.”

Her eyes turned to her parents.

Her father had sharp Asian eyes and a large scar on his cheek.

She sighed.

“Dad, this is a difficult thing, isn’t it?”

She tried to keep her tone light and she sat on the bed.

…''What would mom and dad say if they were still alive?

With that unanswerable question in her heart, she set the picture frame down on her lap.

She then reached for the TV remote near the pillow.

She hit the power button and the TV in the corner of the room filled with light.

“Is this the case Rin mentioned?”

The news should have been over by this time, but text would appear on the screen to provide emergency information. Currently, white text was displayed on a blue background.

“Early this morning, President Huang Daquan of Archs RDC, Hong Kong’s largest trading company, died. The cause of death was massive blood loss. The knife he was holding upon discovery was confirmed to be the cause. The reason for his suicide is unknown and the investigation is underway. Huang Daquan was the first Nein Engel born in Hong Kong and this incident is expected to influence a number of fields, including the management of the unnumbered Hong Kong Cave.”

“I see.” Akira nodded. “This Nein Engel named Huang left Hong Kong Cave like me. In a way, I’m following in his footsteps. …An Archs has no lifespan or illness, but he still killed himself. …What a shame.”

Huang Daquan’s Archs RDC was the largest trading company in Hong Kong and it performed some special operations.

“Like material support for Hong Kong Cave.”

Akira looked up and out the window.

The south-facing window showed the lights that were opposing the heavy Lives of the night’s darkness.

Those lights belonged to the mainland area of Hong Kong called Kowloon.

“…”

She looked even further up and to the ocean just barely visible beyond the peninsula.

She stared intently at it and saw some small lights on that sea.

The faint lights asserting their presence there were as numerous as scattered flower petals and as small as the holes of an ant colony.

Those lights belonged to the other part of Hong Kong: Hong Kong Island.

That island was surrounded by the darkness and the sea and it had a strange shape.

Its silhouette looked like it had been pushed down on from above until it bent into a U-shape.

There was a simple reason for that appearance: there was a large hole in the center of the giant island.

The lines of light on the island showed the giant pit that measured at least a kilometer across.

That was Hong Kong Cave.

It was not a mere hole. It contained a large community made up of Nein Engels. The authorities of Hong Kong viewed it as an unnumbered zone outside of their authority.

“It’s already been three years since I left there and saw my dad’s death.”

Akira muttered to herself and looked away. After sighing, she lowered her eyes a little.

Her gaze shifted to the picture frame on her lap.

While looking at her family, she suddenly recalled something her brother had often said long ago.

…''I’ll take the Nein Engels to heaven. And I’ll restore heaven!

On her deathbed, her mother had said that restoring heaven was an impossible dream after its destruction in World War Two. But the woman had also smiled and said it would be nice if it did happen.

“It really would be nice.”

Akira smiled and lay on her side.

…''I’m so tired.

She usually slept in the nude, but tonight her exhaustion won out over her usual habit.

She felt like her body was heavily sinking down and a sudden memory of the past returned to her.

It was from when her entire family had lived in Hong Kong Cave together.

Much like her brother, she had spoken of her own dream in front of her sick mother.

Just as she fell asleep, she muttered those same words.

“I wish all Nein Engels and humans could live together like mom and dad…”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Opening|Morning Section - Opening]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume3a_Chapter_2|Act 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume13 Chapter 30

2015-04-14T22:21:24Z

86.52.26.103: Isn't "onto the road" the right wording here? Even if it isn't, it was missing a "the".

==Chapter 30: How to Advance==
[[Image:OnC_v13_0225.png|thumb]]
''Now, what to do?

''Now, what do I want to do?

''Now, that has already been decided

Rocking had a surprising calming effect.

Shino woke when she sensed light and felt herself rocking.

…''Huh?

The last thing she remembered, she had been lying down. She had collapsed onto the bench atop the central park’s hill and been looking up into the dimly lit sky.

She had been wondering what she was doing.

But she saw something else now.

…''The light is shining on some kind of red wall.

She was clinging to something warm and rocking.

As soon as she wondered what it was, the answer came to her and her body shot up.

“Ryouko!?”

“Wow!! Don’t surprise me like that!!”

Ryouko was carrying Shino on her back. Because Shino suddenly sat up on the back of the woman’s red kimono and because Ryouko bent backwards in surprise, they naturally lost their balance.

They were currently walking along the sunlit sidewalk running alongside a road, but it had no guardrails.

“Whoops. Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh.”

Ryouko staggered and leaned back toward the road.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Eeeeeeek!”

Horns honked along the road and several dump trucks passed by.

Just as the trucks grazed the hair on the back of Shino’s head and she cowered down, the exhaust and wind washed over Ryouko and she dug her heels in to force herself back toward the sidewalk.

Once they settled back on the sidewalk, the two of them breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief and Ryouko gave an exasperated comment.

“Are you okay, Shi-chan?”

After smiling to Shino, Ryouko faced forward and began walking, so Shino frantically spoke up from her back.

“U-um, you can put me down.”

There was a lot she wanted to say, but she decided she had to say that first.

However, Ryouko did not even turn around to respond.

“Nope. I don’t want you going off and leaving.”

Shino shrank down at that.

''What should I do?'' she wondered. She did not know how to explain this, what she should say if Ryouko asked, or what she should do in the future, but she knew she had to say something.

“Ryouko… You aren’t mad?”

She gathered her resolve and asked, but Ryouko paused before simply tilting her head.

“I’m not sure.” The woman groaned in thought. “The people who found you said you had to have your reasons.”

“The people who found me?”

“That would be Taki-san and Ume-san who were homeless children fifty years ago and are still living that lifestyle to this day.”

Ryouko looked back with a smile and noticed Shino had gone pale.

“Don’t worry. They’re not bad people. They just have some problems is all. …And you know what? I’m not too good at getting mad. It’s so exhausting.”

“I see,” said Shino while relaxing her body and breathing in.

She then asked a question to the smiling face in front of her.

“Then you aren’t going to ask why I ran away?”

“Do you want to tell me?”

She hesitated to answer that.

“Sometimes you feel better when you’re asked.”

Still looking at the girl, Ryouko nodded once, twice, and then thrice.

“You know what?”

She immediately followed that question by tripping spectacularly on the curb of the sidewalk.

Shino was almost thrown right onto the road and she spent some more time covered in a cold sweat.

“Y-you can face forward if you want.”

“But it’s rude not to look at people when you speak with them.”

Ryouko smiled bitterly, but then she faced forward and began walking again.

“If it feels better to talk about it, does that mean it’s painful to keep it to yourself? And because you’ll feel better if you talk about it, you want to do so? Am I right?”

“…Yes.”

“Wow! I was just making that up, but I got it right! Maybe I could be a fortune teller!”

Shino smiled a little when she saw Ryouko celebrating so seriously. She also wondered why the woman was letting so much slide.

But that was exactly why she hung her head and pressed her forehead against Ryouko’s back.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hm? Why are you apologizing?”

“Because…”

Ryouko’s back shook slightly and Shino heard a laugh.

Ryouko lifted her up further and rocked back and forth as if to comfort her.

“I don’t know your reason, so why do you need to apologize?”

“B-but that’s because I haven’t told you.”

“Then there’s no need to apologize,” immediately replied Ryouko. “After all, I wouldn’t know what the apology meant.”

Shino was speechless and Ryouko’s back shook in laughter again.

“But that’s fine since you’re so cute, Shi-chan. You can stay with us as long as you want. And if you want to run away, you can do that too. …You can keep trying until you actually get away.”

“B-but I’m…betraying all of you…”

“I don’t know why you’re doing any of that, so…” Ryouko spoke clearly. “I think running away is just part of who you are.”

“But…”

Shino’s response was not quite a full protest and she pressed it into Ryouko’s back along with her forehead.

She then breathed in, but the trembling breath broke apart.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t you hate me?” She opened her mouth to let out her trembling voice. “Someone I thought of like a sister did. She pushed me away… The more I tried to be with her, the farther she would push me away.”

“Did you want her to care for you?”

Shino nodded ever so slightly and the action sent tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

“I wanted to be with her like always…”

“You know what?”

Ryouko’s back shook in laughter again and she shifted Shino’s position on her back.

“A long time ago, I cared so very much about someone.”

“Eh?”

“This really is embarrassing,” said Ryouko with a shrug. “But I never said anything to that person or made any kind of move. Why do you think that was? It’s a simple answer: I was a coward.”

Ryouko stopped walking.

“I knew what they would say if I did say something. They would have been incredibly considerate and tried to keep things the same as always. …And that thought was such a burden on me.”

“So you didn’t do anything?”

“But you said something, didn’t you?”

“…”

“And did the person you care about say anything to you?”

“No,” she weakly answered while slowly looking back in her memories. “But she did try to distance me from what she was doing.”

“Is that so?” Ryouko nodded and began walking again. “Then she didn’t hate you. She would only try to distance you if she cared about you. If she hated you or didn’t care about you, she wouldn’t have cared one way or the other.”

“…”

Shino heard the woman laugh.

“That person must be a coward. She was worried about you and cared about you, but she didn’t know how to say it. And because she knew what you wanted, she had no idea what to do.”

Ryouko laughed again, but bitterly this time.

“I completely lost out when I did that.”

Shino could not even nod, but she did lean up against Ryouko’s back.

…''I see.

She thought about one of the worries inside her.

…''I’m sorry, Mikoku.

She had wanted Mikoku to be her usual self, but she only just now realized she herself had not been acting like her usual self.

And had Mikoku understood that about her? Had Mikoku noticed that she had decided for herself that Mikoku was rejecting her?

…''If so…

What had Mikoku wanted of her but been unable to say?

…''She was always telling me not to fight or not to do some other thing.

What was the opposite of fighting?

“…”

A certain thought came to Shino. It may have just been a convenient idea, but…

“Do I not have to fight?”

She thought it was a selfish idea. She thought it was simply a way of running away from the fighting.

But…

“If you don’t want to, Shi-chan, then that’s fine.”

Shino found her vision blurring at Ryouko’s acceptance.

…''If Mikoku knew I wasn’t fighting and I was living with some kind people…

Would she be happy and not reject it?

While asking herself that, she gently clung to Ryouko’s back to confirm the answer for herself.

“Ryouko…”

There was so much she could not say and likely would never be able to say, but even though she remained silent, Ryouko spoke to her.

“Kouji said he was making some food and would be waiting for us. …Now, c’mon. That idiot said he was making Salisbury steak. How could he make something so greasy this early? And you prefer Japanese food, right?”

That brought a natural smile to Shino’s lips and more tears spilled from her eyes as she relaxed.

“But I like Kouji’s cooking.”

“That pedo has won you over better than I thought!! That is not the kind of news a sister wants to hear.”

Shino’s smile grew when she heard Ryouko’s laughter.

She then closed her eyes and rested on the woman’s back.

She rested on the back of someone from an opposite world, someone from an alternate version of her home, and someone she could perhaps call a sister.

…''Mikoku.

She called that previous name in her heart and peacefully drifted off to sleep.

…''I…

At the final moment, she breathed out and thought.

…''I might have a sister and brother in this world, too.

Lunchtime scenes filled the waiting rooms.

A short recess had followed the end of 5th-Gear’s question-and-answer session, so all of the Gear and UCAT representatives had moved to the concept space used for their waiting rooms.

Team Leviathan had done the same.

Sibyl had used the cafeteria to create a large boxed lunch set as well as some soba and stew. Ooki had been blessed with quite a few snacks and drinks while walking around the festival, so the classroom desks were just about covered.

Everyone grabbed what they wanted, piled it on a plate, and got back to work from their spot in the room.

Heo and Kazami were the ones with the most work to do.

“Shinjou-kun, have you finished?”

“Yes. Now I’m just waiting for Kazami-san and Harakawa-kun’s translation. Once I check over the layout, it just has to be copied. We can probably have it all out before the question-and-answer session with 9th-Gear.”

“Thank you,” said Sayama before Shinjou held a takoyaki out toward him. He grabbed it and looked across the table.

He looked to Heo’s back as she faced her laptop in Harakawa’s window-side seat.

“Heo-kun, thank you for the valuable question-and-answer session. …Now, how is your work there going? Have you found a hole in the world creation theory presented by Hajji-kun?”

Shinjou followed his gaze and first saw Heo facing them.

The ends of the girl’s eyebrows were lowered and she gave them a troubled smile.

“Sorry, but I just can’t seem to find a hole.”

Instead of tensing, her shoulders dropped straight down.

“Whenever the world is created from the mother element, it either plays out the way Kashima said or the way Hajji said. And only the latter is able to produce all twelve Gears.”

“So the world is siding with them? How rude of it. Especially since I own it,” said Sayama. “Well, not to worry. Before long, everyone will be residents of my world.”

That might as well have been an announcement of his victory, so Shinjou exchanged a glance with the others.

And all of the others naturally looked to her as if urging her on.

…''Why do I always get stuck doing this?

She sighed in her heart, faced Sayama, brushed back her hair, and tilted her head.

“How can you be so confident? And what do you mean by ‘before long’?”

She sounded troubled, but he replied with a smile.

“I will tell you once you give me the drink you just set down.”

She thought for a moment, looked around again, and found their gazes begging her to give it to him, but she could not help but worry over it a little longer.

“I-I’ll give it to you after you answer me.”

“Then I will answer,” he said casually while crossing his legs in his chair. “Based on a few different facts we already know, I believe I can tear down Top-Gear’s apparent advantage.”

Shinjou was more surprised by what he said than by the refreshing tone of his voice.

“After the question-and-answer sessions, we will move onto the trial and vote. That will surely involve a comparison of Top-Gear’s righteousness and the benefits of Low-Gear, but they will undoubtedly use their question-and-answer sessions to inform everyone just how cruel we were as we destroyed them.”

He expressionlessly looked specifically at Shinjou as he continued.

“But what if it was not a cruel choice? What if it was inevitable?”

“Inevitable?” she asked.

“What if Top-Gear had to be destroyed like that?”

“…!?”

As the others gasped, Sayama grabbed Shinjou’s cup from the table and gulped it down.

“Delicious! Truly an exceptional flavor!! It looked like coffee, so I never expected it to taste like this!”

“That’s actually the extra soba sauce I put in a cup because I didn’t have anything else to put it in.”

“…Did your mouth ever touch it?”

“Of course not. You’d have to be an idiot to drink that. It’s bad for your liver.”

“For a variety of reasons, I demand a redo!!”

“Calm down,” she said, so he nodded and sat down.

Then, as the representative of the others, Shinjou asked another question.

“Why do you think Top-Gear’s destruction was inevitable?”

“Before I answer, I would like a redo with something your mouth actually touched.”

“Kh.”

Shinjou hung her head and clenched her fist while whispering voices reached her from behind.

“Kaku, why is Sayama so obsessed with indirect kisses?”

“Because a 5th-Gear VIP said direct kisses make babies.”

“Th-that was only because I was negligent in my studies… But how are they really made?”

“Heo, Heo Thunderson. When you get back to the States, turn the TV on late at night. We can talk after that.”

Shinjou sighed as the conversation continued behind her.

“Well, I’ll give you something like that later, so can you please tell us? …Why do you think Top-Gear’s destruction was inevitable? Do you have any evidence?”

“There is evidence, even if only circumstantial. And it can be found in the report you wrote. It is the last of the three things that your mother said only Low-Gear has.”

“Eh?”

Shinjou frantically wondered if she had written anything like that.

“W-wait a minute. You know what that last thing is!?”

“I can only speculate at this point, so I cannot say for sure. Still, it is certain that Low-Gear has it.”

Sayama seemed to be confirming a fact for himself.

Shinjou was left speechless by how sudden this was, so she simply sat back down.

…''Is there really something like what my mom mentioned?

She had used herself to answer Wanambi’s riddle. She did not know what the actual answer was, but Sayama claimed ''something like that'' did exist in Low-Gear.

And he had likely found whatever it was in the past and in the facts they had searched out.

“I plan to use this to our advantage in the question-and-answer session with Top-Gear.”

“I…see…”

Shinjou placed a finger on her forehead and thought for the span of a breath.

“But why would this thing that Low-Gear has make Top-Gear’s destruction inevitable?”

“It is a silly thing. A truly silly thing,” he said. “Yes, and that silly thing is why your mother moved to Top-Gear, why your father hesitated, and why my father decided to destroy Top-Gear. Also…”

“Also?”

“Top-Gear had to be destroyed and it was not in fact destroyed by my father’s hand. Because they attempted to lead all of the Gears, Top-Gear destroyed themselves.”

“!?”

The first to speak was Ooki.

“U-um, Sayama-kun!? Um, I…uh…well…”

“Sayama!” cut in Kazami. “If you say that without any definite proof, none of the Gears are going to believe a word you say! They’ll claim you’re making things up to escape Low-Gear’s crimes!”

“Th-that’s right! That’s what I was trying to say!”

Everyone did the right thing and ignored Ooki.

They all watched Sayama as he placed a hand on his crossed leg and pulled the knee toward himself.

“But stating this is the only way to win. As the evil ones, we must deny our crimes. And that is something only we can do because we were the ones to search out the evidence. Also, this is something only a villain like me can do.”

“B-but are you sure? If they argue back, they’ll be able to defeat such a ridiculous claim.”

He simply shrugged at Shinjou’s question.

“I still lack a few pieces of evidence and a lot still does not fit together, but I will of course be able to compensate for that. I would like to gather my thoughts and finish putting together my argument before the question-and-answer sessions with 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th have ended,” he said. “So please keep working until then, Heo-kun. If you find some kind of answer, it will surely help my argument.”

He then turned to Hiba and Izumo.

“8th’s session is sure to be short. Probably less than ten minutes. And I doubt 9th or 10th will give us much time to work with. So…I have one request.”

“You want us to buy you some time, Sayama-san?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I should be able to organize my thoughts if I have two hours to work with. I can likely extend the sessions with 9th and 10th to buy an hour, but 8th will likely only be ten minutes. So…you two need to buy me the remaining fifty minutes.”

“Fine then.”

Shinjou saw Izumo nod and scratch his head.

“I prefer to make sure every word out of my mouth is meaningful (except right before going to bed), but I guess I’ll have to make an exception.”

Kazami’s elbow struck him in the center of the gut.

In another waiting room, two people stared out the window as they ate.

One was Mikoku who wore a men’s black suit and the other was Tatsumi who wore a khaki-colored combat coat.

Mikoku sat parallel to the window on the windowsill and Tatsumi sat on top of four desks pushed together.

Mikoku patted the head of a large white dog sitting on the floor at her feet.

Tatsumi grabbed a convenience store bag and pulled out a can of beer she had bought off campus.

“I was afraid of this. It’s lukewarm now. Well, that strengthens the taste, so I guess it’s fine.”

“Do not drink too much. It would be a problem of something happened.”

“Don’t worry. My other self still hasn’t fully healed from the injuries he got somewhere.”

“Injuries?”

“That’s right,” said Tatsumi. “His left side wasn’t tensing up properly. He probably has a charm or something there.”

“I am amazed you can tell that.”

Mikoku stared out the window and took a bite of the hot dog she had bought at a festival stand.

Tatsumi’s voice reached her from behind.

“Do you enjoy looking out there?”

“This is my first time at a festival like this.”

“Don’t make excuses. Personally, I love festivals.”

“Even though it is a part of Low-Gear life?”

“We’re living our lives here too. Hating it will only make it feel more oppressive. You and Shino take all this so seriously, but…”

She heard a bitter laugh from Tatsumi.

“Are the two of you okay now?”

“I do not know,” replied Mikoku with a hand on her chest. “I…kind of think I am fine now. And Shino…Shino is apparently somewhere where she can live a normal life if she wants. And that sounds good to me.”

“Quit trying to act strong. Women who do that end up with nothing and lose so much. Did you know that?”

“Then I will head out and take what I want.”

Mikoku saw people in school uniforms and festival outfits walking around outside.

The stands sold their wares, music played, and the people were likely speaking.

But she could not reach any of it from here.

“There is nothing to worry about.”

She clenched the hand on her chest.

“It will reach.”

As soon as she said that, the classroom door opened.

When they heard the scraping of the rail, Tatsumi, Mikoku, and Shiro all turned around.

Someone wearing white stood in the door.

“Hajji?”

“Yes,” replied the man with his right hand covering his mouth. “The second half of the question-and-answer sessions is about to begin. But…”

Mikoku heard him laugh.

“Jord and I came up with a bit of a plan. How about we throw some more pressure onto Low-Gear? Hm? How about it, Mikoku? Are you in the mood for a challenge?”

“A challenge?”

“Yes.” Hajji spread his arms. “We can enjoy a nice debate with Low-Gear.”

At one in the afternoon, the question-and-answer sessions resumed.

Izumo sat with Boldman in the seats for 6th-Gear, but that was because V-Sw had chosen Izumo as its master and because Boldman, the primary representative, had suggested it.

6th-Gear had already joined UCAT and had only just lost the battle from the other day, so the question-and-answer sessions progressed smoothly with few issues.

As the people in the representative seats and audience seats listened to the discussion, they all felt it was progressing too quickly.

They all had their thoughts on the sudden announcement of this meeting, but they generally assumed Top-Gear had refused to give Low-Gear any time to think.

Every minute and second had to be valuable to Sayama, but a puzzled-looking Boldman worked through 6th-Gear’s session without issue.

In general, they agreed that the 6th-Gear people currently in UCAT’s standard and special divisions would be positioned around the world as personnel for the policing and rescue organizations 3rd and 5th would be setting up.

“As 6th-Gear’s people are already familiar with UCAT’s tactics and equipment, I can promise you they will be received as officers.”

With that, Sayama completed the question-and-answer session.

Only about five minutes had passed, making it the shortest of all the sessions so far.

Everyone looked to Sayama, wondering if he had a plan to buy some time to think or if he had thought out his argument enough to no longer need any time.

But just as Sf was going to declare 6th-Gear’s session complete, Izumo stood up from the seat next to Boldman.

“Hold up. Are you serious about 6th-Gear’s people getting to be officers? This bald guy’s gonna be my superior?”

As he spoke to Sayama, he slapped the hairless head next to him.

“That’s just gonna give him a swelled bald head.”

Everyone gulped, but Boldman kept his head low and tried to resist.

“Not to worry,” said Sayama. “If his head swells, he can be used to reenact the ‘Hand-Washing Water’ rakugo story.”

“Ha ha ha. Isn’t that great, Boldman? When you’re bald, people believe you’re just being modest. Isn’t being bald great? It’s hygienic, it helps you cool down, and…”

Izumo slapped Boldman’s head like someone hitting a quiz show buzzer.

“And it looks indecent! It’s just the best!”

Almost immediately, an enraged shout signaled the beginning of a violent brawl.

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| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume13_Chapter_29|Chapter 29]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume13_Chapter_31|Chapter 31]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 64

2015-04-13T21:13:37Z

86.52.26.103: 3 typos corrected.

==Chapter 64: Searcher of a Dark Path==
[[Image:Horizon3C_0111.jpg|thumb]]
''Can you bring the situation with you

''When you make a decision?

'''Point Allocation (Self-Judgment)

Several people wearing black stood in a thicket of dark trees.

A tall woman stood in the lead and several boys and girls followed.

They were the Reine des Garous and the Musashi group sent to meet Rudolf II.

At the back of the line, Mitotsudaira turned around and narrowed her eyes to peer into the forest that was already filling with darkness.

“The unicorns have gone now that we’ve left their territory, haven’t they?”

Mitotsudaira turned her back on the others to look into the darkness and sighed in her heart.

…''We covered a lot of ground pretty quickly, but we still have a long way to go.

Unfortunately, the divine protection had run out on the ivy wrapped around the chancellor. It had happened while they were still riding the unicorns, so she had been forced to drag him along with the ivy. He had yelled with excitement, but she had felt more like an execution rider than a knight.

Mary had reapplied the protection, but the ivy itself had been worn down enough that it snapped partway through and they had planted it in the earth again.

However, they had been unable to find any other suitable ivy.

…''Well, I suppose this is as far as the unicorns can take us.

“But mother, we may have crossed into M.H.R.R., but we still have forests and valleys to travel through. What are we going to do?”

She looked over her shoulder to see a calm smile on her mother’s lips.

“We will wait until our next ‘ride’ gets here. It’s been a while since I called it, so it may take a while. But…”

The Reine des Garous reached into her pocket, pulled out a piece of parchment and an attached ''signe cadre'', and tilted her head.

“Anne and the others must be holding their secret meeting in Magdeburg right now. I can guess most of what they’ll talk about, but what is the M.H.R.R. ambassador from P.A. Oda going to say?”

“I would assume the customary recommendation of capitulation,” said the ninja.

The crossdresser reacted immediately.

“Recommendation of titillation!? Where!? I want to be a part of that!”

“Reine des Garous, you can ignore that. Now, about the recommendation of capitulation…”

“Yes.” The Reine des Garous placed a hand on her cheek. “Even if they claim to be doing it out of mercy, there are sure to be some strings attached. Assuming their purpose is to attack Magdeburg, it will likely be exactly what Anne mentioned in this letter,” she said. “First, they will request all of the documents on the Magdeburg Hemispheres. After all, those could easily be used to assist Musashi. And…”

“And? What else is there?”

“Testament.”

What she said next brought them all to a stop.

“They will similarly request Musashi’s princess and the Logismoi Oplo.”

“…”

They were all speechless, but she said nothing more on that subject.

“Now, we need to hurry on to Rudolf II. We won’t accomplish anything by discussing problems to come after that. …So let’s go.”

She looked deep into the forest and Mitotsudaira did the same.

“Ah…”

Their next “ride” was here to replace the unicorns and Mitotsudaira heard hooves on the ground.

“At night, this will be faster than the unicorns. This monster represents the fear of night in Europe. …A carriage drawn by a headless horse can carry us thousands of miles.”

The black carriage that arrived from the side produced sounds of wind and hooves yet produced no actual wind or clouds of dust.

The headless horse raised its front paw toward the Reine des Garous and spoke.

“Long time no see-mare.”

“M-mother! Why do I feel like we’re living in the Egg Monster series!?”

“How rude. Isn’t he cute? The blue flames along the neck cut will disappoint anyone obsessed with gore, though. Well, no need to wait around for my complaining daughter. Hurry onboard everyone.”

“Me first!”

As soon as she opened the door, the idiot jumped in. “Oh, my,” said the mother as she escorted him inside with a smile. Mitotsudaira was upset that her job had been taken from her, but the idiot patted the black sofa with both hands.

“Get in, Nate, get in! You can have the window seat!”

“Eh? Next to you?”

Just as she began thinking about the proper positioning for a knight and her king, her mother placed her hands on her hips.

“If you don’t want to, maybe I’ll sit there.”

“It would bring shame to the title of special duty officer to allow that kind of danger!”

Just as Mitotsudaira began to climb in, she heard Mary laughing. The girl hid her smile behind a hand, took a breath, and looked eastward.

“I hope those in the meeting at Magdeburg are having this much fun.”

In Magdeburg and below Avalon’s night sky, Masazumi listened to Matsunaga. He was explaining what P.A. Oda was demanding to accept their surrender.

…''Just as I thought, they want the hemispheres and the Logismoi Oplo, including Horizon.

“To P.A. Oda, those things could be a problem for the Genesis Project. You can see how we have little choice,” said Matsunaga. “But I’m guessing the surrender negotiations aren’t going anywhere.”

Guericke and Anne nodded in agreement and Masazumi…

“Removing the Logismoi Oplo from Horizon would mean breaking down her body. …We obviously can’t agree to that request.”

“So you’re giving us conditions we could never accept but claiming you still showed us a ‘merciful compromise’, hm?” said Anne. “Well, I have to admit demanding a surrender with strings attached is pretty amazing. …In a way, I guess P.A. Oda wants power too.”

Guericke nodded in agreement.

“If you have the Logismoi Oplo, you can focus on the Genesis Project but still have a backup plan in case that project fails. Is that it?”

“I don’t really know the details about all this, but…” Matsunaga smiled bitterly. “I kind of wanted to meet Musashi’s princess for a variety of reasons.”

“I bet you did,” replied Masazumi before a sudden voice reached her from the side.

It was Guericke’s. Still sitting, he slid a half spot forward.

“At any rate, as Magdeburg’s provisional mayor, let me respond to the recommendation of capitulation concerning the Sack of Magdeburg.”

He closed his eyes and sighed before continuing.

“I cannot agree to surrender. …After all, Magdeburg’s surrender is not a part of the history recreation.”

The negotiation indeed went nowhere.

Guericke’s decision left everyone speechless.

But just before the silence grew to a sigh, Suleiman opened his mouth.

“In that case, I suppose we’re back to normal or at least the way things were before, right?”

''You make it sound so trivial,'' thought Masazumi, but to him, it really was a trivial matter. And when she thought about it…

…''Musashi may be helping, but we’re really only an observer here.

Even Matsunaga had only been temporarily put under Hashiba’s command because Hashiba’s forces were stretched thin with their strategy placing them on multiple fronts. Matsunaga himself had no connection to the history recreation here.

…''That’s probably exactly why he was sent here as their ambassador.

The others here had to understand that, so Masazumi relaxed her shoulders.

“In terms of the Sengoku period, Lord Matsunaga, we could probably take you hostage to negotiate with Hashiba.”

“That’s a dangerous idea, but it’s just the kind of idea I like. …Then again, I’m not a part of this fight and my history recreation has me rebelling against Nobunaga twice before blowing myself up. If I was captured, they’d probably just leave me here.”

“Hold on. Then how am I supposed to get home?” asked Suleiman with a bitter smile.

Matsunaga laughed.

“Sassa’s outside the city too, so you’d probably have some trouble.”

…''So Sassa and Suleiman know each other.

''There are a lot of connections out there,'' thought Masazumi before suddenly thinking about her connection with Matsunaga.

But if she was ready to let her mind wander like that…

“I suppose that mostly ends the part of the meeting meant to determine Musashi’s position in the fight against P.A. Oda.”

After Masazumi’s question, Guericke, Tomoe, and Anne all nodded.

“Hmm. I suppose. Then I guess it’s time for the discussions between individual nations.”

That noncommittal response came from Matsunaga’s bitter smile.

Eventually, he continued.

“You’re planning to pass through my place after Magdeburg, right? Are you really going to do that? I’ll send out the Shigisan, you know? Are you sure you want that?”

“We can’t allow ourselves to destroy the Hiragumo, so it is a formidable foe,” replied Masazumi with a bitter smile of her own.

Matsunaga’s smile relaxed.

“But,” he said. “If you’re doing Hashiba’s history recreation, then it won’t be long until I retire. I’ll be rebelling, after all. How’s that going to go?”

He asked that final question to no one in particular.

However, it did bring an image to Masazumi’s mind. While at IZUMO the night before last, she had seen Matsunaga drinking at the cafe counter and the nudist cooking in the kitchen.

…''Will that ever be able to happen again?

With that in mind, she made a suggestion.

“Once your role is complete, why not come to Musashi, Lord Matsunaga?”

“Huh?”

Matsunaga had a thought as that question escaped his throat.

…''Oh, c’mon. What kind of pathetic sounds am I making now?

But it had been so sudden.

…''They’ll take me in?

''That’s ridiculous,'' he thought. ''That’s impossible,'' he thought.

After all…

“Wait, wait, wait. I’m a pretty evil person. You’d be in trouble if the other nations knew I was with you. Some would ask you to hand me over and others would refuse to trust you. I’m a shogun killer and the burner of Toudai-ji. That’s just the kind of destroyer I am.”

That was also why he had agreed to work for Nobunaga.

Nobunaga had used the shogun as a puppet and burned Mt. Hiei.

…''As destroyers, I’m the senior and Nobunaga is the junior.

“If necessary, I’ll kill and destroy. That’s the kind of person I am. But you’re different. Just like that idiot and your princess chose at Mikawa, you refuse to think of killing or destroying as necessary. We’re incompatible. And…”

He smiled a little as he spoke.

“In the Far East, I thought you couldn’t be a student past the age of eighteen.”

“Wouldn’t it be interesting if you became the one to destroy that rule?”

When he heard Musashi’s vice president, Suleiman elbowed Matsunaga’s shoulder.

“You’re a popular guy, Matsunaga.”

“It comes naturally to me.”

Musashi’s vice president smiled bitterly at the two men’s exchange.

“Well, just think of it as a suggestion.” The bitterness left her smile. “Our idiot and princess’s policy is to never lose anything. Lord Matsunaga, from what I’ve seen, you’re quite the trickster. In other words, you refuse to let anything go as planned. That’s why I won’t insist that you come. But if you’re ever nearby while on a trip, feel free to stop by.”

“I might even refuse to follow that plan of yours, you know?”

“That’s why it’s only a suggestion. If you visit us…” The bitterness returned to her smile. “You can speak and drink with the idiot who decided on this policy, you can meet the princess you wanted to see, and you can visit Principal Sakai and some others you might know. …Whether it’s porn games or anything else, you’re free to do whatever you want.”

The aide sitting next to the vice president tapped on her shoulder and glared at her. The aide handed over a sign frame and the vice president finally reformed her smile.

“Whatever you want that’s ''legal''.”

“That sounds awfully restrictive…”

However, he let out a single smiling cough as if his chest were vibrating.

“Heh. I see. So that stupid boy and the princess have a policy of never losing anything, do they? Interesting. But…an evil person can’t have people worrying about where he’ll end up.”

“Ha ha. Lord Matsunaga, I think that attitude is just about perfect.”

“Don’t flatter me,” he said. “But what are you going to do? …Musashi has no strength as a nation, isn’t that right?”

''That’s right,'' thought Masazumi as she was drawn in by Matsunaga’s tone of voice.

But…

“I mostly realized that at the meeting the night before last.”

Her tone had gotten lighter which she felt showed her inexperience, but there was no point in hiding it here.

“Before, I had planned on travelling from England to M.H.R.R. to attend the Peace of Westphalia, but…”

But…

“Even if we managed to prove Musashi’s ability to influence the history recreation at England, England was the only nation that really understood us. We also needed more than three weeks of repairs afterwards, so I think we are far too weak to handle the main forces of Hexagone Française or P.A. Oda. Musashi is currently carrying out the history recreation and fighting as the main force of a nation, but that is all. We aren’t a true nation that can rush out into the world at large and continue cruising indefinitely.”

'''Tonbokiri:''' “Sorry, Masazumi.”

'''Vice President:''' “It isn’t your responsibility. These recent battles haven’t even been individual duels. We’ve been using our overall power. And if that isn’t enough, we can never win a war even if we win some local battles.”

Masazumi knew that quite well, so…

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Wh-what is this serious mood between you two!? You’re trying to tempt me into drawing up a storyboard, aren’t you!? No, at this point, I should probably ink it too!”

''Shut up, you idiot. But anyway,'' sighed Masazumi in her heart before opening her mouth.

She needed to express Musashi’s future plans.

“After helping rescue the people of Magdeburg from the Sack, Musashi plans to enter Kantou with the help of Qing-Takeda. Of course, that’s after traveling from Osaka Bay and forcing our way through Lord Matsunaga’s land.”

She looked across the others’ faces.

They were all looking her way, but they looked more curious than serious.

''They’re testing me,'' she realized anew. ''And not just me. They’re testing Musashi as a whole.

So she stated their plan as a response to that test.

“We will travel to Kantou, negotiate with Qing-Takeda, Satomi, Houjou, and – if possible – Sviet Rus to try to bring them over to our side. Our overall strength as a nation does not include just the Musashi itself. It includes the strength and influence we gain through the cooperation of other nations.”

And…

“On the way to Kantou, we will recreate the Battle of Mikatagahara with the help of Qing-Takeda.”

“Oh?” said Tomoe. “That’s quite a decision on Yoshitsune’s part. The Battle of Mikatagahara means the death of that idiot’s inherited name of Shingen.”

“But thanks to that, we can continue with our history recreation. Yes… That’s the starting line. Shingen will die and we will stand just before the Battle of Nagashino that leads to the fall of Takeda.”

Once Takeda fell, Nobunaga’s death would be close. Historically, he had travelled to and from Kyou but been killed by his retainer, Akechi Mitsuhide, at Honnouji before establishing his rule over the entire Far East.

“We’re going to owe a lot to Qing-Takeda.”

“But,” cut in Matsunaga with a tilt of the head. “You can’t rely on Satomi, Houjou, and Qing-Takeda forever. Musashi itself needs its own strength, doesn’t it?”

“We are already making the arrangements for that.”

Masazumi waved her right hand.

“Maa.”

A sign frame appeared in front of that hand and it displayed a line drawing.

“This was made on short notice, but these are the plans for the modifications we’ll have made at Kantou IZUMO.”

Everyone reacted with surprise and for good reason. The image of the Musashi based on Naomasa’s suggested design had a certain addition.

“We will arm the Musashi, including a main cannon. These are the plans for making the Musashi a combat-ready ship.”

“C’mon, now. I thought the Musashi had been disarmed.”

“We need to fight to defend ourselves. Plus, we need weapons when hired as a mercenary. But most importantly, we learned in England that we will sometimes have to fight in order to gain the Logismoi Oplo needed to stop the Apocalypse. So while these modifications are made, we will solidify our position in Kantou and then return here. And when we return, we will have the strength needed to get away with what I just mentioned.”

And…

“When that time comes, please test us again. You’re worried about Musashi’s strength as a nation, but I promise you that we will be strong enough once we return.”

No one immediately agreed or disagreed with her, but Tomoe was the first to move. She placed her hands on her crossed legs and gave a deep nod.

“That is enough. With that, I think I can expect something from you in the future. So at this point…”

Masazumi predicted Tomoe was going to call the meeting to a close, but…

“?”

A sign frame suddenly appeared next to her face and it contained a message from Neshinbara.

'''Novice:''' “Everyone, please remain calm and hear what I have to say. We just received word that the battle between K.P.A. Italia and M.H.R.R. has ended.”

They all turned around in surprise, but the report on the battle’s end was summed up quite succinctly.

'''Novice:''' “Itsukushima has fallen.”

Masazumi thought about what that meant.

…''K.P.A. Italia lost?

They would have had many powerful fighters including the Pope-Chancellor, Galileo, and Tachibana Dousetsu, but Neshinbara had told them what had happened.

“The floating island of Itsukushima…was sunk and split down the middle?”

She had seen a portion of IZUMO break off and fall away the day before.

Itsukushima was a smaller floating island than IZUMO, but…

…''How do you split something like that?

She had questions, but the footage from a PR committee member clearly showed what looked like two islands in the ocean below the dark clouds. Reports of tsunami damage were coming in from the surrounding areas and the remaining K.P.A. Italia forces had sent out a statement saying they would continue their resistance.

“Wow,” said Asama. “The divine network is on the verge of overloading. …Oh, sorry. I’ll switch it over to local mode for the time being!”

Several sign frames appeared around her and Hanami struck a few of them to shrink them.

Everyone exchanged a glance to see what the others would decide.

“That took some time getting here,” said Matsunaga. “I heard about it before I arrived.”

He took a more casual posture and looked up into Avalon’s sky as he spoke.

“Well, as ambassador, I’ll give you one last notification.”

“What is that?”

“Shaja.” He breathed out into the sky as if exhaling tobacco smoke. “Hashiba told me to say this. She said Musashi could easily bring in some supplies or mercenaries when it returned to Magdeburg, so she told me to make an announcement at the end of the meeting. Basically, the Sack of Magdeburg is beginning early.”

“…!?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” he said. “It’s beginning a day early, so tonight at eight. That’s two hours from now, right? Right. …In two hours, the thirty thousand warriors laying siege outside will come rushing in.”

And at 6:12 PM, Matsunaga had completed his job as ambassador, so he and Suleiman left Magdeburg in his primary ship, the Shigisan. At the same time, the M.H.R.R. Catholics used a barrier to cut off all divine transmissions around Magdeburg.

Asama worked with Magdeburg’s academy to restore a Shinto base to the city’s divine transmission environment, but they could not contact anyone outside the city. Essentially, Magdeburg’s eyes and ears had been taken from them in the darkness of the night.

However, they managed to salvage a few pieces of information from the transmissions sent in just before they were cut off.

The first was K.P.A. Italia’s situation. Asama distributed it to everyone else.

“To Whom It May Concern,

How are you doing on this early summer day? Amen.

Thanks to your excellent guidance, we have just had the wonderful experience of defeat. Itsukushima was sunk and the Pope-Chancellor is missing, but all the more, the moderates are working toward a peaceful resolution while the resistors are heading out to the field to resist. Once that begins…”

“Is it just me, or is there a lot of sarcasm in this?”

“Heh heh heh. I do see some hints of resentment here and there. Flat politician, what do you think?”

“It’s definitely an issue that the Pope-Chancellor is missing. That means the manager of the Catholic forces and the Testament Union nations is absent. The different nations will have to begin checking on and trying to take advantage of the situation.”

Meaning…

“The European and Tsirhc nations won’t be able to work together and that creates the perfect opening for Hashiba’s group to interfere.”

Another piece of information was the Musashi’s status.

When the Musashi had been informed of the early start to the Sack of Magdeburg, it had still been in a city on the border with Holland while letting off the evacuees.

It would take eight hours to be towed all the way back to Magdeburg. Even if they left at 6:30 PM, they would only arrive the following morning at 4:30. The divine mail from the Musashi just before transmissions were cut off had been short:

“We will do our best to arrive as quickly as possible. Over.”

The Musashi group in Magdeburg could only interpret those words for themselves.

And at 6:30 PM, the entire city of Magdeburg was filled with a rush of reconsidering or reconstructing their defenses and a state of emergency was announced.

'''Novice:''' “The enemy could receive reinforcements or any number of other bad scenarios could play out, so whether the Musashi can arrive more quickly is going to be our lifeline here.”

Would Magdeburg last until then?

And Asama spoke for all of the Musashi residents there.

“I wonder what Toori-kun and the others are doing right now.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 63|Chapter 63]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 65|Chapter 65]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 63

2015-04-11T23:00:34Z

86.52.26.103: Fixed some typos.

==Chapter 63: Collective Resister==
[[Image:Horizon3C_0085.jpg|thumb]]
''What is it I hear?

''Divided resentment?

''Or joyous relief?

'''Point Allocation (National Circumstances)

Tomoe nodded once and spoke to Musashi’s vice president and Mazarin of Hexagone Française.

“Listen. If Musashi and Hexagone Française are allowed a unilateral friendship, there is no saving M.H.R.R. Just to be clear, the M.H.R.R. Protestants must oppose the Catholics thanks to the Sack of Magdeburg, but we are part of the same overall collective as the Catholics. Do not forget that we did not oppose them until the Sack because we benefit when they benefit.”

So…

“If Musashi opposes the M.H.R.R. Catholics as a sign of friendship with Hexagone Française, the Thirty Years’ War will bring more damage to M.H.R.R. than it otherwise would. The same holds true if Musashi sticks to behind-the-scenes support. So…”

She breathed in.

“The M.H.R.R. Protestants would find it most regrettable if Musashi chose to oppose the Catholics to negotiate a friendship with Hexagone Française.”

Masazumi saw a message from Naruze on her sign frame.

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Why not ignore this pain-in-the-ass old hag and keep going?”

She noticed Asama quickly erasing the log and then heard the girl sigh.

'''Asama:''' “There. But is ignoring her, as Naruze suggested, not an option? M.H.R.R. is Hashiba and they will lose the war. It seems horrible to just ignore them no matter what they say, but as a politician, shouldn’t you keep that option in reserve?”

''Could I really do that?'' wondered Masazumi.

But…

'''Vice President:''' “No, I can’t. After all, M.H.R.R. will be at Westphalia.”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “Oh, that’s right.”

'''Novice:''' “Eh!? I wasn’t part of that ‘almost’! I already knew that!”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Why do you insist on showing off like that?”

'''Novice:''' What’s wrong with it!? And how did you get into our chat again!?”

'''Asama:''' “Eh? Oh, because this is a Protestant city. …I did it to show off the spirit of the Asama Shrine.”

'''Novice:''' “Y-you didn’t have to do that! You didn’t!!”

''Then couldn’t you ask Asama to cut the connection?'' wondered Masazumi, but since he did not, he may not have truly wanted to be separated from Shakespeare.

…''So the M.H.R.R. Protestants and Catholics are pretty much the same?

They were on opposite sides of a war, but M.H.R.R. was a collective nation of principalities that belonged to both groups.

Despite the internal conflict, they were still a solid group when it came to opposing external foes. They were only going to oppose each other after Magdeburg because the Catholics had crossed a line. So…

…''Even as Protestants, they cooperate with the Catholics to form M.H.R.R. as a whole.

When viewed as a single nation, any damage to the Catholics would also be a burden on the Protestants.

So if Musashi’s actions during the Thirty Years’ War caused more damage than M.H.R.R. would have taken in a normal history recreation, the Protestants would not support Musashi.

'''Novice:''' “Therefore, they don’t want us to oppose the Catholics.”

'''Righteousness:''' “…What if you still do it?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Oh? Yoshy is included in the chat? Heh heh heh. We’re all typing, but it’s wonderful how everyone goes the extra mile to add in the ellipses and such! Do you want me to hit you!?”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Who is Yoshy?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “A flat-chested long-lived girl from another academy’s student council who’s staying on the Musashi for the time being!!”

'''Novice:''' “Ahhhh!! Do you have any idea how dangerous that statement was!?”

'''Four Eyes:''' “It doesn’t really matter. …Yeah, I think I’ll go investigate that person, so talk to you later.”

'''Novice:''' “Don’t just assume we’ll be talking later! And don’t cause any international incidents!”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “G-get a room?”

Masazumi had a feeling something horrific was in the works, but she hoped she was only imagining it.

At any rate…

'''Righteousness:''' “How about we get back on topic? What happens if you still oppose the Catholics?”

That was a simple matter, so Masazumi used Tsukinowa to form a reply.

'''Vice President:''' “We would lose the support of the M.H.R.R. Protestants during the Peace of Westphalia. In the worst case, Holland and all the other Protestant nations would turn against us.”

If possible, Masazumi wanted to make sure Musashi sided with the victors of the Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia. And she wanted to do so by earning their gratitude.

If Musashi had Hexagone Française, Holland, and other victors on their side, it would be easier to accomplish their goals with the Logismoi Oplo and freeing themselves from provisional rule.

…''I’d love to do that, but opposing the M.H.R.R. Catholics would mean making an enemy of the M.H.R.R. Protestants and the Protestant nations they cooperate with.

'''Novice:''' “It would be pretty bad to lose the great victor of Holland. They’re Protestant and they cooperate with the M.H.R.R. Protestants, so they could still oppose Musashi even though they come out on top with M.H.R.R.’s defeat. They could claim we caused more damage to their allies than the history recreation required.”

'''Vice President:''' “And that would make it all the easier for the other victors to similarly hide behind the history recreation.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Then we just have to avoid opposing the M.H.R.R. Catholics, right?”

'''Novice:''' “We can’t do that either. You remember the group that attacked us this morning, right? The M.H.R.R. Catholics and P.A. Oda are our enemies.”

'''Tonbokiri:''' “This is getting complicated, so how about a snack break?”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “You sure are honest with yourself!!”

''Futayo has always been like that,'' recalled Masazumi while continuing to think.

Hexagone Française had just revealed the threat of Hashiba and the M.H.R.R. Catholics joining forces, so they could earn Hexagone Française’s gratitude by opposing that combined force.

But the M.H.R.R. Protestants said they wanted to avoid having Musashi join the fight against the Catholics they shared a collective nation with.

…''If only we could split Hashiba from the M.H.R.R. Catholics.

But how could they do that?

…''Physically? Politically? According to their roles? No…

She thought through a number of ideas as she tried to figure out what to do.

“Well…”

She began to wonder what kind of simple conclusion that idiot would reach in this situation.

…''There is a way.

There was. It was a simple yet highly dangerous way of resolving this.

“I have a suggestion for the M.H.R.R. secretary who represents the M.H.R.R. Protestants.”

Suleiman listened to Musashi’s vice president speak.

She leaned forward while sitting cross-legged in the grass and gently spread her arms. She then formed a smile that could be seen as bitter or self-deprecating.

“It is still a vague suggestion, but there is a single method of completely splitting P.A. Oda’s Hashiba from the M.H.R.R. Catholics. Needless to say, this is something that will be proven by Musashi’s future actions.”

“Tell me.” Tomoe nodded expressionlessly. “I will make up my mind after that.”

“As will I,” said Suleiman to urge the girl onward while thinking he knew what she was going to say.

…''If I am right, the Far East will need to be cautious at the very least.

But he also thought they had already made up their minds about this.

…''The question is whether they are aware of this decision of theirs.

He looked to her and asked his heart how he would react if he received the response he was hoping for.

As he watched, Musashi’s vice president breathed in just once and then spoke calmly.

“Listen.”

Here it came.

“Before the Peace of Westphalia, Musashi will destroy Hashiba as a Far Eastern power.”

Masazumi made her suggestion.

“Musashi will destroy Hashiba not as a Catholic or Protestant power, but as a Far Eastern one.”

If they did that…

“Hashiba can be split from the M.H.R.R. Catholics. Due to our history of opposing Hashiba, only Musashi can accomplish this. And if Hashiba is defeated before the Peace of Westphalia, the victors can pay no heed to P.A. Oda as they make their demands and speak of the defeated nations as nothing more than that.”

This was the answer to what she had been asked at the beginning of the meeting. This was their stance against P.A. Oda.

“Musashi is P.A. Oda’s enemy.”

And…

“Musashi will handle Hashiba.”

Asama heard laughter. Suleiman was leaning forward and laughing in his monk’s robe of a Far Eastern uniform. He laughed uncontrollably, but held his right palm toward Asama and Masazumi.

“Sorry, sorry. My apologies. B-but…I am not laughing at your idea.”

''Then what are you laughing at?'' wondered Asama while exchanging a glance with Masazumi.

Suleiman tried to catch his breath before continuing.

“Oh, what is it? To think I had such humor left in me! That must be it!”

'''Asama:''' “ ‘In me’? So it wasn’t that Masazumi was funny?”

'''Vice President:''' “Wait, wait, wait. Don’t say anything that will cause misunderstandings.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “That’s right, Asama. We can’t have anyone mistakenly thinking Masazumi is funny!”

'''Vice President:''' “Huh? Am I being attacked right now?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Then make a joke about Holland.”

'''Vice President:''' “Eh? …Well, I hear tulips cover the ‘whole-land’ of ‘Hol-land’.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Wait, why are you laughing, Yoshy!? I’ll put you in my doujinshi!”

'''Righteousness:''' “Eh? Y-you people are strict!”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh heh. This is the problem with flat-chested fighters who don’t know how to enjoy themselves! You need to get some training at the physical comedy-style solitary confinement hall at the shrine of an entertainer god!”

At any rate, Masazumi waited for Suleiman to calm down before opening her mouth. She did not know why he had laughed, but it was not because he had a poor opinion of her.

“I do not know how we will do so. It’s just a proposal.”

After all…

“Hashiba meets a slow death rather than a decisive one in battle, so it would be impossible to use the history recreation to destroy them in battle.”

'''Novice:''' “That’s right. Hashiba died of old age. That’s one of the main reasons he was known for unifying the Far East and bringing the Warring States period to an end. He lived out his life in the peace he created instead of dying in battle. Matsudaira then plotted to take advantage of the following chaos within the Hashiba forces and took the Far East for himself.”

Yoshiyasu tilted her head when she saw those words in the dancer’s sign frame.

“So you want to defeat Hashiba, but no one can force that death onto her? What are you going to do?”

“There is still a way.” The dancer smiled bitterly. “In this age, you can hide behind the history recreation and force death onto someone as long as you have the power to back it up.”

“You’re going to put someone to death by force?”

“Don’t be silly.”

The dancer’s bitter smile grew, but she pointed to the sign frame where the words of Musashi’s vice president appeared.

'''Vice President:''' “There is no certain way of destroying Hashiba, but the method itself is clear.”

That being…

'''Vice President:''' “We use the rules of the history recreation to end Hashiba’s history recreation.”

…''Can you do that!?

Yoshiyasu gasped at what Musashi’s vice president had said and recalled something.

Not long ago, much the same thing had happened in Mikawa and England.

However, those had been a true forced death based in the history recreation.

…''Everyone was listening with bated breath to the divine radio in the Satomi living room.

Then, when Musashi’s chancellor and student council president had ended the confrontation on the bridge and walked down the stairs, “that man”, Yoshiyori, had left the living room on his own. Yoshiyasu had wondered why he was not listening through to the end, but she had later found a new flower on her sister’s grave.

Musashi’s chancellor and president’s determination at Mikawa had led that man to make some kind of decision and dedicate some kind of feelings at that grave.

Yoshiyasu did not know what he had meant by it.

…''So…

So even as her heart filled with irritation toward herself, she was curious about Musashi because that man had shown an interest in it.

…''How will they handle the kind of situation that set his heart in motion!?

If they were not going to force death on someone, what were they going to do?

“How does Musashi plan to ‘defeat’ Hashiba!?”

Masazumi did not know the specific method, but she had a general policy in mind.

“Listen. Musashi will not carry out the kind of deadly history recreation forced on us at Mikawa or nearly consented to in England. This was decided by Musashi’s Princess and Vicereine Horizon Ariadust and is the general consensus of Musashi as a whole.”

So…

“Instead of an assassination, we will push the Far Eastern history recreation forward and leave Hashiba with nothing more to recreate. In other words…”

She had said something similar to England’s Fairy Queen.

“We will set history in motion and use that result as a weapon.”

Tomoe smiled bitterly in her heart when she heard Musashi’s vice president.

…''The Far East has quite the strict new representative.

She would bring Hashiba to its end in order to strip it away from M.H.R.R.

Everyone here had to have a number of ideas how to accomplish that, but the situation would change greatly if Hashiba was truly eliminated from M.H.R.R. The Catholics would be greatly weakened, the Protestant minority would have much more influence over them, and if it was all done before Westphalia…

…''M.H.R.R. can actually stand its ground during Westphalia.

If Hashiba remained when the Thirty Years’ War ended, the nations attending the Peace of Westphalia would try to strip M.H.R.R. of as much power as they could. But if Hashiba was gone, the Peace of Westphalia could remain a peace conference based entirely on the history recreation. They would have to do something about Student Council President Matthias who had invited in Hashiba, but it would be possible to play the role of victims.

“In that case, our influence at the Peace would be directly connected to how well the Catholics and Protestants could work together to regain our strength beforehand.”

If Matthias could be used as a scapegoat and the Catholics and Protestants could reconcile, the two sides would be able to come together quite quickly.

…''Honestly.

Thinking about that brought the past to Tomoe’s mind.

Tomoe had a long past.

Long ago, she had been used as a scapegoat.

During the Genpei War, she, her husband Minamoto Yoshinaka, Yoshitsune, and Yoshitsune’s brother Yoritomo had worked together to defeat the Taira family. However, their army had been fairly crude and some turbulent times had arrived once they had entered Kyou. That had partially been due to the history recreation, but…

…''Well, we had a lot of fun.

At the same time, the friction between Yoritomo and Yoshitsune had gradually risen to the surface and, as the Minamoto clan had gathered strength to defeat the Taira family, the nobles had realized they were becoming a new threat in the Taira family’s place.

So as a scapegoat for a number of problems, Yoshinaka’s forces in Kyou had been attacked and defeated by Yoshitsune.

Tomoe would be lying if she said she did not hold a grudge. Even if it was part of the history recreation, she could not accept some of it. Most importantly of all, her beloved husband, Yoshinaka, had been killed.

So she had decided to live on. First, she had followed her grudge against Yoshitsune, crossed over to the continent, and fought against Yoshitsune’s Yuan Dynasty. As that horse-riding empire had conquered westward into Eastern Europe, Tomoe had struggled against them in the name of fighting Yoshitsune while taking on a few different inherited names from Eastern Europe and Russia.

Finally, the Yuan Dynasty had fallen and split into various horse-riding nations which changed form and died out.

Was that enough to say she had defeated Yoshitsune? Or had history simply continued on? She did not know, but she did know what she had felt back then.

She had lost her reason to fight.

But by that time, she had become well-known in Europe and a lot of people had gathered to rely on her when the harmonic world was destroyed during the Harmonic Unification War.

She had ultimately chosen this city of Magdeburg.

Magdeburg was where Otto I, the original emperor of M.H.R.R., slept.

She had heard he had used this land as the front line base against the horse-riders and savages arriving from the east. The fact that she had seen herself in him showed that she had still viewed herself as a hero of the Genpei War, but…

…''I decided to take their side.

The Testament had still been updating after the Harmonic Unification War and it had informed them of the Reformation to come from M.H.R.R and it had told them the Protestants would win their position in the world despite being oppressed.

''I see.

''Long ago, we caused trouble and were purged.

''And now, those trying to purify their world will be purged yet will remain.

''And that is why I am here now.

''I do see Yoshitsune from time to time. That idiot always complains that I’m there and tries to pick a fight with me, but she’s probably just trying to get me to hate her.

''Now, then,'' thought Tomoe. ''I need to focus on the present instead of the past.

''The situation might be different, but I can’t make a scapegoat of Matthias. However, that will make it difficult to bring together the Catholics and Protestants without any spilt blood.

“I assume I would be able to play an important role in that,” she said. “It is an interesting idea and it is worth thinking about.”

Masazumi listened to Tomoe.

“Ending Hashiba’s history recreation before Westphalia means advancing history that far in about four months. That will be difficult, but it is Musashi’s problem. We only need to see whether you pull it off and criticize you if you do not.”

“You don’t hold back, do you, old lady?”

Tomoe bared her fangs toward Matsunaga and Guericke slid back two spots.

…''Oh, c’mon. Please don’t start fighting here.

Despite Masazumi’s thought, Tsukinowa opened a sign frame.

'''Wise Sister:''' “Yeah, that was worth getting mad at.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Yes. It was definitely worth getting mad at.”

''Huh? Is there something wrong with me as a girl if I didn’t think that?'' wondered Masazumi with a mental tilt of her head, but Tomoe corrected her posture after only clicking her tongue toward Matsunaga.

She then faced the two from Hexagone Française.

“And I don’t think Musashi’s suggestion contradicts what you want.”

“Testament. That’s true. If Hashiba is defeated early, it will shorten the amount of time Mouri is under their control. It would be nice to have that end while we can still find a way to avoid doing everything they say. And if Musashi has a friendly relationship with my brother and Terumoto, it opens up a lot of options for the later Battle of Sekigahara. …Mazarin, what do you think as treasurer?”

“Testament.” Mazarin nodded. “According to my calculations, a shorter time under Hashiba’s rule will reduce what they can take from us as a sign of our fealty. And Sekigahara will be a lot cheaper if we can use connections with Matsudaira to talk things out.”

…''She sure is blunt.

“Then,” said Anne. “I’d say it’s an option. But listen, Musashi Vice President. There are three problems with your suggestion.

“First, Hashiba’s history recreation is closely connected to the history of a lot of other Far Eastern commanders, so you won’t be able to advance history just for Hashiba. You might get everyone related to Hashiba or even the entire Far East involved and end up with a massive war on your hands. Are you aware of that?

“Second, you say you want to advance the history recreation, but where will you begin? You can’t do anything without a starting point.

“And third,” she said. “Does Musashi have the power as a nation to do this?”

“Listen,” said Anne, but not to Musashi’s vice president. “Old Man Matsunaga.”

“What’s this all of a sudden, little lady?”

“You’re going to tell Hashiba…no, Nobunaga everything that happens at this meeting, aren’t you? After all, P.A. Oda gave Musashi a warning this morning. It was a simple demonstration of what would happen if they stuck their nose in P.A. Oda’s business. And that was on Hashiba’s instructions, wasn’t it?”

“Wait a second.”

Musashi’s vice president raised her right hand and frowned when Anne gave her a look that said, “What is it?”

“Are you saying Hashiba sent Sassa Narimasa, Shibata Katsuie, and Takigawa Ichimasu to determine our strength because she predicted what this meeting would be about and that Musashi would oppose them?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It must have been a good opportunity for Hashiba and for P.A. Oda to learn what kind of a threat Musashi posed to them. So…”

A sudden chill reached Anne and she grimaced a little.

…''Don’t worry.

''I still have plenty of time. I have to believe that. At the very least, I’m not going to disappear here, so focus on that. And I need to say this, even if it sounds harsh.

…''I have the special privilege of saying whatever I want without worrying about the personal consequences.

“If you advance Hashiba’s history recreation, it will involve the history recreations of those with a close connection to her. But based on this morning, it doesn’t look like you would be able to force Katsuie or Sassa’s history recreations onto them. And…”

She said it.

“If you are going to ‘end’ Hashiba, you will first need to ‘end’ Oda Nobunaga, her boss. …Can you do that?”

Masazumi listened to Anne.

“That won’t be easy. Nobunaga still remains hidden yet has earned great trust from P.A. Oda’s leaders. And while Nobunaga’s Genesis Project is still a mystery, we do know they are constructing some massive structure inside the stealth barrier surrounding Lake Biwa.”

“Is there anything else?”

“The Princess Disappearances. Just as Maeda Toshiie stated and demonstrated in England, they must know something about that mystery you are pursuing.”

A response came as soon as Asama sent Anne’s words to the others using Hanami’s voice input.

'''Novice:''' “Vice President Honda-kun, ask about Richelieu again. He was a victim of the Princess Disappearances and he was Hexagone Française’s treasurer during Anne of Austria’s era and before, so I bet Anne knows something about him.”

“Judge,” sent back Masazumi as she faced Anne. This would be a digression, but Lord Motonobu had said at Mikawa that investigating the Princess Disappearances would lead to stopping the Apocalypse.

“Could you provide us with some details on Cardinal Richelieu’s Princess Disappearance? It doesn’t have to be now and it can just be a general summary if you want.”

“He just suddenly disappeared is all. Right, Mazarin?”

“Testament. He was going through the process of handing the treasurer position over to me and he told me to wait for a moment while he signed the paperwork. And then…”

'''Novice:''' “That’s just like Sakakibara-sama!”

Masazumi immediately realized what Neshinbara meant. That situation was very similar to when Principal Sakai witnessed Sakakibara Yasumasa’s disappearance at Mikawa. He had prepared some water and…

“Did Cardinal Richelieu leave behind any kind of message?”

Mazarin’s eyebrows rose and she peered into the ''signe cadre'' she held. Anne then nodded and gave a slight smile.

“It would seem the Princess Disappearances truly are afflicting the Far East as well. To be honest, I was skeptical of these stories, but fine. ‘Because there is a short delay before the Princess Disappearance is complete’, the victim has time to leave behind a message. If you know that, then you must have experienced the real thing.”

She continued speaking.

“This is something I heard from someone long ago. …Before inheriting his name, Richelieu apparently went missing for about three years.”

…''Eh?

“You’ve heard something similar before, haven’t you?”

Masazumi had indeed heard of a Princess Disappearances victim having gone missing in the past.

…''Crossunite gave us bits and pieces and Mary later gave us an official report.

“Judge. I have. Before inheriting their names, Henry VIII, Queen Catherine, and Anne Boleyn went missing for a year.”

“It apparently happened during Richelieu’s high school years.”

''Wait,'' thought Masazumi. Her mind could not keep up with so much sudden information.

However, Anne continued without letting her catch up.

“His final message was, ‘The Princess has a parent’.”

To Asama, something did not feel right about those words.

…''Huh?

''What is it?'' she wondered and opened a sign frame to check the divine network.

But suddenly, Anne’s eyes turned her way.

She was looking at Asama’s hands on the spell keyboard.

“…”

But Anne only smiled. Asama nodded back without thinking and realized the two of them had reached an understanding.

…''Eh?

Anne’s smile seemed to be praising her for reaching the right answer.

…''Eh!? W-wait! But I don’t understand anything yet!

''This is bad,'' she realized. ''Anne is definitely asking me to answer the mystery hidden in those words.

…''U-um… What could it be? Well, anyway, I need to make my search.

But she was away from the Musashi and this was a Western Protestant city. She could not use Musashi’s databank and she would have to convert her query into German to make a search. She started up a translation spell and typed in “The Princess has a parent”, but…

“…!?”

She realized what Anne’s hidden trick was.

“Was that message in Far Eastern!?”

“Yes. It was written just as I said it. After all, Richelieu was originally from the Far East.”

And…

“To kill some time while lying in my hospital bed, I once asked him about when he had gone missing and he smiled. He was already past middle-age and well on his way to being an old man at the time. We had no choice what with the history recreation, but we were always saying nasty things to each other and lying to each other. But this time, he was probably trying to pass it off as a joke, but it contained a hint of something different.”

Anne spoke to Musashi’s vice president.

“He nostalgically told me he had gone to a nonexistent academy.”

“A nonexistent academy?” asked Masazumi.

But she accepted Anne’s words and began thinking on them.

…''If I sum it up, this is what she’s telling me:

●'''The Princess has a parent.

●'''When Richelieu and the others went missing, there were at a “nonexistent” academy.

She had no way of analyzing those two facts here, so…

“You have given us some valuable information and some important hints to guide Musashi in the future. I thank you.”

“Testament. But what will you do? Is Musashi truly going to advance Hashiba’s history recreation from the outside? That decision necessitates conflict with Nobunaga, you know?”

“I need them to do that,” added Suleiman. “My goal is to reclaim my birthplace. I want to take back Mt. Hiei and the Mlasi holy land. That is why I have been working with Matsunaga here.”

“Yeah, because I happen to be the one who’s currently in charge of the Kii Peninsula.” A small smile entered Matsunaga’s voice. “But let me say one thing for now. Let me tell you why someone like me is here under the temporary command of M.H.R.R.”

That being…

“It’s standard practice before a battle, but we need to discuss whether all of you will accept our terms for the Sack of Magdeburg. If you will, you can surrender in advance.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 62|Chapter 62]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 3C Chapter 64|Chapter 64]]
}}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume13 Chapter 28

2015-04-08T15:33:51Z

86.52.26.103: Removed a stray quotation mark.

==Chapter 28: There and Not There==
[[Image:OnC_v13_0199.png|thumb]]
''Want to be together

''Want to be with you

''Want to be

Kazami descended to the bottom of the Kinugasa Library and continued forward.

In the dim light, she noticed how different the library looked without all the bookshelves.

“Now, how about we have a little cha-…”

“Objection!”

Hajji shouted from the darkness behind her.

She did not even need to turn around as his powerful voice reached her.

“Moderator! Are assistant negotiators allowed!?”

She had already predicted this and Sf nodded her way.

“Self-proclaimed assistant negotiator, please state your reason for this request.”

She had expected this question, so she looked ahead and just a bit up to the moderator’s seat.

“If Sayama is the negotiator because he is Low-Gear’s representative, then is there any reason why I can’t negotiate as the other Low-Gear representative?”

She closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and shouted into the floor so it would bounce back to the darkness behind her.

“State your reason for denying my request!!”

She breathed in through her nose and then faced forward once more.

Two plant creatures stood with their front legs on the edge of Sayama’s desk.

She crouched down to put herself on the same level as them and they tilted their heads.

“Kazami?”

“Oh, you know me?”

The one creature nodded and slowly continued.

“Ape Killer.”

“English? Did Heo teach you that!?”

Her shout received a response from the darkness behind her.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean anything by it!”

“Hm. I see. That’s a relief. …So that means it’s what you actually think?”

Heo shrieked and a new voice came from the darkness to her right.

“Colonel, colonel! I believe Miss Heo was at fault this time! Lowering your right hand would be the tolerant thing to do!”

''This has gotten dangerous,'' sighed Kazami.

She ignored all the eyes focused on her and saw the plant creatures looking at her.

“Contradiction,” one said.

In other words…

“You want to know why you’re bullying Sayama when you’re supposedly with him, right?”

“Right!”

The 4th-Gear creatures shouted in agreement, left the desk, and approached her. When she saw them looking up at her, she did her best to maintain a composed expression.

…''Nwah! I want to take them home with me! And they refresh your exhaustion, too!

She forced down those thoughts and spoke.

''It all comes down to this,'' she thought.

“Listen. There is no contradiction.”

Both 4th-Gear creatures tilted their heads in front of Kazami.

“Why not?”

“Well,” she began.

She knew the gist of what she had to say.

…''Because this is somewhat like me.

“The thing is, Sayama isn’t with you yet.”

Sound reached her from the surrounding darkness. It was a questioning sound taking the form of countless people uttering “eh?”

She knew why. During the Leviathan Road with 4th-Gear, 4th had decided to go with Sayama and Shinjou. They were the same, so they went with them.

But Kazami had overturned that assumption and she was not done there.

“Do you get it? Low-Gear hasn’t come to join you yet.”

She did not immediately receive a response.

The two plant creatures first leaned up against each other and then pulled back away from her.

“Tricked us?”

''They aren’t making this easy, are they?'' thought Kazami while mentally taken aback.

However, that would not resolve this situation, so…

“He did not trick you.”

“How?”

“It’s simple. You have gone to be with Sayama, but Sayama has yet to come be with you. You lost your world, remember?”

The two creatures looked up at the ceiling for about three seconds.

“Moved.”

“Yes, yes. That’s right. You moved to a new world. …And you know what? Sayama’s grandfather and his friends had everyone here move too. But unlike all of them, Sayama hasn’t moved, has he?”

The plant creatures thought on that for a moment.

“Sayama didn’t. Didn’t move like that.”

“Then Sayama isn’t the same as you yet, is he? You moved here, so you’re with Sayama, but he was already here and hasn’t moved.”

“Contradiction?”

“Yes.”

Kazami’s smile grew.

…''It’s going to get through to them. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to work.

After making three “it’s going to” phrases in her heart, she continued speaking.

“And you know what else? Bullying Sayama here is instead of having him move to this world.”

“Why?”

“When you moved, your world disappeared, right? That’s because your world was bullied. That means this world needs to be bullied, too.”

“Bullying makes Low-Gear and other Gears the same?”

“Yes. All the other Gears were bullied when they moved, so Low-Gear has to be bullied and move. But if Low-Gear disappeared, we couldn’t be together, so Sayama is being bullied instead.”

“Sayama is?”

“Yes.”

Kazami saw the creatures rise up and look at her from either side.

…''Nwaaah! I want to grab one in each arm and take them home!

She resisted the urge and spoke to the two plant creatures.

“Sayama won’t disappear even when he’s bullied. Because he’s a pervert. That’s why Sayama is being bullied instead of the world, which would disappear.”

“Is okay? Is Sayama okay?”

Kazami finally looked away, past the desk, and to Sayama.

The plant creatures looked that way too and the boy in a suit placed a hand on his chin.

His sharp eyes looked her in the eye, he gave a quick nod, and he thrust his arms out to either side for some reason.

“With ease!”

“With ease!?”

“Yes. I am pummeled day and night by Shinjou-kun’s many terms of affection, yet I have not given in. What more proof do you need that I can easily endure ten or twenty times the bullying that would destroy a world!?”

“Shinjou harsh!?”

“Extremely!! She refuses to be honest with herself!!”

His announcement was followed by footsteps rushing toward the library entrance behind him.

“Wait, Sayama-kun! This is no time for your nonsen- Oh, Sibyl-san. And Ooki too!?”

Her shouting voice was promptly dragged outside.

''What was she hoping to accomplish?'' wondered Kazami as the plant creatures tilted their heads in her direction.

“With ease?”

“Yes, with ease. With utmost ease.”

Kazami took a breath and stood up. The 4th-Gear creatures looked up at the movement of air she caused.

She then looked them both in the eye.

“So listen. Bullying Sayama will allow him to come be with you, so you mustn’t prevent anyone else from bullying him.”

The plant creatures nodded.

“Strange.”

“What is?”

“All the worlds here. So 4th-Gear with the worlds.”

“Everything still here because Sayama here?”

“Yes,” said Kazami. “Because you’re here, because everyone is here, and because we are all trying to be together, the world will not be lost.”

“The same? Everyone the same as Sayama? Pervert?”

“That isn’t how I would put it…”

However, the 4th-Gear creatures looked to Sayama again.

“Sayama wonderful! Wonderful Sayama!”

And they looked around.

“Everyone wonderful!!”

That shout produced a sound from their surroundings.

In the unlit darkness, Kazami saw everyone in the audience seats and representative seats stand up at once.

They all immediately gave a bow or otherwise indicated their respect for the plant creatures.

As soon as they finished, they sat down and calm noisily returned.

“…”

The brief sound and motion had all been in the darkness, so it almost felt like an illusion or a momentary dream.

However, Kazami let out a breath, looked to the creatures at her feet, and faced the representative seats.

“Tell everyone thank you. …Now, let’s get going.”

The creatures lined up, looked up at her, and seemed to nod.

“Thank you, Ape Killer.”

“Heooooooo!!”

A shriek came from the representative seats and Sayama cleared his throat before speaking.

“Next is Heo-kun for 5th-Gear, so please try to remain quiet.”

“How about you thank me first? If you were in need of some help, I’d like to hear some appreciation. And if you didn’t need any help, then I successfully managed to steal your negotiation thunder. …Which would you prefer?”

“How about I say you should mind your own business next time?”

She did not turn around, but the bitter smile she heard in his voice was enough to satisfy her.

…''That underclassman needs to be more honest.

She gave a bitter smile of her own and started toward the representative seats with the 4th-Gear creatures.

“Now, then… Heo! You’re up!”

Heo reflexively stood when she was called.

''Um…'' she muttered in her heart before realizing something.

…''5th-Gear’s question-and-answer session has already started.

''Oops,'' she thought.

She had prepared a lot to say, but she was not yet mentally prepared.

She had been so impressed by Kazami’s discussion with the plant creatures that this had caught her by surprise.

“——————”

She was not sure what to do.

“Oh…”

She suddenly realized her mind was completely blank.

The light was shining on her, but there were a lot of figures visible in the shadows and their eyes reflected the light back toward her. She started by opening her mouth to say something.

“…”

But only a tense breath escaped.

That was when she finally realized something.

…''Am I nervous?

“Eh? Um…”

She forced her voice out, but that was all that left her throat.

It surprised her to realize she had stage fright.

She felt her pulse begin to race and looked stiffly around.

But she could not see very well due to the tears that welled up in her eyes for some reason and she became even less sure what to do, but she knew she could not just stand here silently.

…''H-Harakawa!

She tried to cling to Harakawa who sat next to her, but that was exactly when something tore through her body.

It came from directly in front of her.

“Boo!!”

Sayama’s unexpected shout made her jump and the tears scattered from her eyes.

“!?”

Her stiffness crumbled and became a tremor.

“Ah…”

Her voice leaked out and all strength left her body as if showing how defenseless she was.

Then everyone focused on her.

Their eyes all turned her way.

Her fear and the lack of the tension she needed to fight it caused Heo to seek power instead.

She let out a great cry that began with an “n”.

“Noooooooo!!”

A moment later, Thunder Fellow appeared in the Kinugasa Library.

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