Editing Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 5 (section)

==Chapter 5: Visitor at Harvest Time==
[[File:Horizon10A_p0161.jpg|thumb]]
''It’s not morning!

''It’s not midday!

''It’s not evening!

''It’s a weird time for a meal!

'''Point Allocation (Combat Provisions)

●

Kani had been really looking forward to this chance to see everyone while getting some food.

After all, her boss Fukushima was back and fully recovered and there were some of the Ten Spears here who she had basically never met before. And to add to that…

…''I have an underclassman now!!

That was amazing. She was still in the first year, yet she already had an underclassman. Not to mention who this underclassman was. She was nearly twice Kani’s height and her mobile shell OS was Kamakura Shogunate Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, so she was a super elite.

Everyone first sat in a circle with the ordinary warriors behind them.

“Okay, I’d like to get things started,” said Takenaka. “But the ship is rocking way too much here, so you do it, Hirano-san.”

“Oh, sure, sure,” said Hirano, who was wearing an M.H.R.R. girls uniform modified to look like a shrine maiden outfit.

Kani knew Hirano was #6 of the Ten Spears. She was a talented girl who excelled at Shinto spells, managed the ether conduits and such, and even controlled the divine transmissions, but she also represented the Tsurugi Shrine, the head shrine of P.A. Oda.

That meant she was quite capable in combat too.

Kani had heard the reports from the different training camps during summer break. The talk of Hirano working with Kasuya and Sakon to hunt down ether Terrestrial Dragons below Aki had been something else.

Hirano took a position a step removed from the ring of people, with her back to the transport ship. She opened a lernen figur.

“First, a question. Who doesn’t know everyone here?”

Hirano raised her own hand and Kani did too. Kani, Sakon, and most of the Ten Spears raised their hands. The only ones who didn’t were Kasuya and Kiyomasa, who Kani had indeed met and worked with before.

But Yoshiaki, who also had her hand up, asked Kasuya a question.

“Huh? When did you meet Kani?”

“We fought the Reine des Garous together during the Keichou Campaign. In that absurd battle.”

Thinking back, Kani had to agree with Kasuya that had been absurd. They had been fighting against an individual, yet the overall scale had felt more like battling a god.

“We were going back and forth between Kantou and Sanyou then, so it was pretty hectic for us,” said Angie.

And the training camps had come immediately after that.

“There are probably people we met and promptly forgot so it doesn’t really count as meeting them.”

Hirano said this with a bitter smile, but that was about how it felt for Kani regarding Hachisuka. She felt like she needed to fill in that gap now, but first Hirano continued speaking.

“From here on, we will be seeking a confrontation with Musashi. We intend to start the Battle of Yamazaki. The Akechi forces lose to the Hashiba forces in that history recreation, but Musashi remains the Akechi forces at present, giving us room to interpret things that way.”

So…

“Let’s all do our best.”

●

“Testament! Let’s do our best!”

Koroku recoiled a bit from that forceful response.

…''She sure has a lot of energy…

She had thought of Kani as somewhat annoying before, but the girl seemed to have taken it to another level. People could develop the weirdest parts of themselves into a strength, but did this count as a strength or a weakness for Kani? Kani was the type to have a super resilient mind, so it was probably a strength. If only it didn’t rattle around in Koroku’s head so much after she got so little sleep.

But what they needed right now was a fighting force. Based on the records Koroku had seen, Kani had the skill of a special duty officer. And capable people tended to have some kind of fault. ''Thank goodness I’m normal at least. I can take comfort in that.

“Do you need something, Katagiri?”

“Well, Hachisuka-san, it’s just that you look like you’ve reached an odd sort of understanding. …Hey, what’s that look for!? You think I’m being annoying, don’t you!?”

Pretty much anyone who had enough energy to talk so much this late at night was annoying in her opinion. ''Or maybe that’s just a universal truth?

Meanwhile, Hirano viewed the group and spoke up again.

“For that purpose, the Azuchi is currently hurrying south. Lake Biwa Azuchi should be coming into view soon and it shouldn’t be long to Honnouji once we pass Lake Biwa. And that is where we will find the Musashi.”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” said a tiny armored warrior made of ether.

That was Ootani Yoshitsugu. Koroku didn’t think this was her first time seeing him, but she wasn’t certain if she had seen between the Azuchi returning from Edo after the Keichou Campaign and everyone leaving for their training camps. Her memory of him wasn’t exactly vivid.

He had gone to Aki for that training camp, so he would already know Kasuya, Hirano, and Sakon.

…''I see.

By giving everyone a chance to speak here, everyone could make connections with those they didn’t know and create a position for those people inside themselves.

As someone with a 100% chance of fleeing if they started going around introducing themselves, Koroku appreciated this method.

●

'''Tsurugi:''' “It looks like Koroku-chan is itching to introduce herself, so do you think I should call on her?”

'''AnG:''' “Does Shouroku even need to introduce herself? Pretty much everyone already knows her.”

'''The Boy:''' “Yeah, everyone sees her as the Unbeatable Queen of Lake Biwa Azuchi’s arcade.”

'''6:''' “I can hear you. And I’m not unbeatable.”

'''Majority Rule:''' “That’s right. Koroku-chan was only celebrated for a little while before I took her down several pegs. I am the current Unbeatable Queen. …Hey, I heard you say ‘someone else please’, so get down here to the harbor stall right this instant.”

'''Black Wolf:''' “Sensei! Sensei! What are you doing there at the Lake Biwa Azuchi!?”

●

''Nothing changes her,'' thought Koroku. But if their teacher Ishikawa Kazumasa wasn’t drunk at this hour, she must have really been worried about them.

…''She probably is.

They were about to face Musashi. And this would begin a full clash between the two groups.

“That’s right,” said Hirano, agreeing with Ootani’s previous comment. “The Musashi is currently waiting in the sky south of Honnouji. They may intend to battle us, but we have two things to do first.”

“Testament,” said Mitsunari as she appeared. The way the warrior boys looked up and cheered suggested their commander was well known.

She bowed next to Hirano while scattering ether light fragments and waved once she spotted Ootani.

Come to think of it, weren’t those two data entities created as something like two sides of the same coin?

'''Kimee:''' “The boys’ hate for Ootani is spiking…”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Yeah, threads are starting with titles like ‘'''Who’s he?'''’, ‘'''Protect Mitsunari-sama'''’, and ‘'''Antivirus Prayer'''’. It’s a little hard to work out what they mean, but I think Ootani-kun has earned some new online haters.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I would really prefer we didn’t have any infighting at this point, but I guess this is fine if it helps everyone get to know Ootani-kun.”

'''Super Justice:''' “It is not fine! But if I started responding to all this hate on the Azuchi’s internal net, it could affect our navigation, so it’s best to ignore it!”

So would he normally have responded?

But if he ignored it now, it seemed like this would end up becoming the norm.

Which was the norm in its own way.

''So it all comes down to those of us here,'' thought Koroku.

She didn’t feel she had received enough help to really think of them as her upperclassmen, but those upperclassmen were gone now and it came down to the people here.

…''That’s right.

Things were much better than they used to be. But there was more they needed to confirm about the facts that had become clear.

“Are we really okay with doing this?”

This question got the Ten Spears to turn her way. The others wondered why she was asking that this late in the game, but the Ten Spears saw things differently. After they exchanged a glance, Fukushima finally spoke up.

“We were called here and we have dedicated ourselves to that end.”

“I see.” Koroku turned back toward Hirano. “Then what two things do we need to do before confronting Musashi?”

●

Suzu had the status of Musashi’s systems in her hands.

On the floor at the front of the bridge, she touched a model of the Musashi and sensed the output trough the heat level.

When she wanted to change the heading of the ship, she generally grabbed it and moved it, but that required some subtle adjustments. For that, she grabbed the output bars extending from the ship and adjusted them as if manipulating them from the outside.

When she made the adjustments to one ship, she could apply them to every ship or sync them.

Along with the movement predictions and the “color” representations of speed and such, she operated the Musashi in every way she could. She had tried to do everything she could. But…

…''Have I…really?

Compared to the current Musashi Mk. 2, the old Musashi had been no match for the Azuchi.

That wouldn’t happen now, but their specs were about equal.

The two ships were separated by the differences between a trading ship and a warship. But to Suzu…

“It’s…strange.”

“What is, Suzu-sama? Over.”

Suzu asked “Musashino” the question that had been on her mind for a while.

“The Azuchi is supposed to be the same model of ship as the Musashi…so why does it have six ships?”

“A good question, Suzu-sama. Over.”

Suzu hadn’t expected an answer, but “Musashino” got right to work. ''Oh, just like Neshinbara-kun,'' she thought, but that comparison felt rude and she kept it herself. Meanwhile, “Musashino” was looking around to make sure everyone’s work was continuing smoothly. And she raised three hands.

“The Musashi did not originally have eight ships.”

“Didn’t it start out…with 6 or 5?”

She had heard this before. When the old Musashi was made in the general reform thirty years ago, what had been originally been support ships had been reconstructed to bring the number of ships up to the current number.

But “Musashino” shook her head.

“Even further back, I have hard there were three groups. Over.”

“Three groups?”

“Judge,” said “Musashino”. “During the Age of Dawn, a fleet was built to protect the transport ships traveling the Far East’s skies. The ships of that fleet were divided by function into three groups: command, residential/development, and transport.”

Meaning…

“The number of ships is not relevant to being the same model as the Musashi. The power system, functions, and size would be more important factors. Over.”

“Then the Azuchi is…?”

“A six-ship version of the Musashi would be the best way of viewing it. And I have determined that gives both sides something to exploit. Over.”

Suzu knew what she meant. Or really, she kind of understood and kind of didn’t. She felt like automata were better at putting things like that to words.

This is what “Musashino” was saying:

“We need to use the advantages of having eight ships…and exploit the weaknesses of having six ships?”

“Precisely, Suzu-sama.”

“Musashino” looked to the rest of the bridge. Everyone there turned around as one and she nodded.

“Everyone has sent an average of more than 6700 instances of agreement and praise for your answer, Suzu-sama. Thank you very much. Over.”

“You don’t have to…make such a big deal out of it.”

But she did understand they supported her. ''I need to shape up,'' she told herself. After all, she could sense the Azuchi taking several different actions.

First, it aimed each of its ships’ cannons their way.

And when it arrived above Lake Biwa…

“Supply transport ships…are joining it!”

The transport ships ascended out ahead of it. When the Azuchi caught up with the accelerating group, it began resupplying without slowing down.

●

Kuki and Konishi were in charge of the midair resupply.

It was Kuki who had calculated the Azuchi’s course and positioned the transport ships along it. He had worked out the starting time for the acceleration and determined the supply positions, but…

“Konishi-kun! You handle the docking!”

“Testament! It costs money, but it is necessary!”

“Yeah,” replied Kuki as they both commanded different groups and made sure the division was correct. But almost immediately…

“Hmm!? Kuki-kun!? Why is so much of the work falling on me!?”

“My group ascended from Lake Biwa, but it’s running a little late! The destruction of Honnouji caused the southeast side of the lake to collapse and the water level has fallen somewhat!”

“You’re supposed to report these things! You’re getting lazy in your duty to report!”

“You’re the one one who didn’t answer the divine transmission because you were too busy grilling takoyaki!”

“Ha ha ha! If I’d been grilling fish, the share I gave you would’ve made you a cannibal!”

“Just control the docking!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Konishi laughed, but she did use her money to intervene in the power and control systems of the transport ships. She received a navigation god’s protection for direct use of a “hand of god” which controlled the ships better than manual or automatic navigation.

The bell sound indicating an accepted contract rang in the sky and torii-style sign frames appeared on the bows of the transport ships approaching the Azuchi’s course.

Konishi waved a hand on her ship to open a sign frame and checked to make sure the sign frames had been applied to every ship. She raised her eyebrows in a smile when she saw the monetary deposit for each ship had gone through.

“That’s the ship maneuvering control spell called Free Flowing River! Let’s do this!”

●

Konishi shook.

Her transport ship was caught in the air current caused by the Azuchi, shaking it every which way.

But in addition to that…

…''Here it comes.

The Azuchi. She had ridden it back from Kantou not long ago, but…

“They’re preparing for a showdown!”

She would be participating too. Which was why she was joining them now.

The Azuchi was on its way to a battle that would determine everything going forward.

With that on her mind, the supposedly familiar sight of the Azuchi shook her.

Yes, from now on, their battles would not be about celebrating and thinking about what came after victory.

They would end it.

End it, but not let it end.

She wondered if thinking this way meant she was opposed to the Genesis Project, but she wasn’t. In the history recreation, Konishi Yukinaga sided with the Western Army that opposed Matsudaira at the Battle of Sekigahara and was executed for it. That was why she had left Matsudaira’s Musashi and joined P.A. Oda.

And while she hadn’t gone as far as siding with Hashiba, she had worked pretty closely with them behind the scenes of different battles until she learned the truth.

It was Kuki who had told her and he said he had learned it from Takigawa. And he said Takenaka had given him permission to tell her.

That had honestly seemed careless to her. After all, when she came to P.A. Oda, she had received permission to stay in contact with her father on the Musashi for inherited name reasons.

…''Of course, I’d get divine punished if I tried to leak anything.

That said, because Shinto allowed the use of substitutions, it was relatively easy to remove divine punishments using financial god spells. That of course required a hefty payment, but it was still doable.

But she hadn’t told her father. Because of what she had thought when she first heard the truth of the Genesis Project.

…''Is that really possible?

She would be executed at the Battle of Sekigahara. She was of course working to avoid that and she had a lot of groundwork and allies to help her there, but…

“If we end it without letting it end, the current history recreation won’t matter at all.”

Her parents were extremely worried about the approaching end of her history recreation.

A lot of other people felt the same way, but they couldn’t change the way the world worked.

It wasn’t just them. The ordinary people lived in this society too. Many towns had been harmed in the war, some were beyond recovery, and her side was responsible for several of those cases.

So couldn’t they just reset everything? ''Yes, it’s business.

Looking at it from a human perspective, which was better: continuing to follow the Testament or losing everything? Thinking of it as a societal change, she thought their way had a greater chance of working.

If they threw out the past, things might improve.

Was it wrong to think of it as making a gamble where, even if it failed, they could make a getaway? Regardless, this would remove the depressing part of her inherited name and everyone would be free.

She thought that was a plus for humanity.

So she was eager to help and had come all this way, but…

“Here it comes!”

The Azuchi was coming.

It was finally happening.

She was at the midpoint. Were they coming or going? What would she do?

This was a borderline.

As she leaped across that line, the wind shook her and she shook herself.

The wind roared as an air current and her sign frames scattered into the sky at each ship’s bow.

They were torn to pieces and collapsed. More and more blue sign frames vanished, reappeared, and shattered, but she could tell the course of the transport ships was changing each time.

Thanks to the spell, the gods on the other end of the contract were carrying the ships where they needed to go.

'''Nine Horns:''' “Konishi-kun! That is some rough maneuvering! Are you alright!?”

'''Three Legs:''' “Oh, this isn’t looking good. I can tell. And the problem is from Kuki-kun’s side.”

'''Nine Horns:''' “Suzuki-kun! How can you say that while you launch your rifles into the sky!?”

'''Koniko:''' “There are gods onboard, so you don’t need to interfere!”

When a ship the size of the Azuchi used gravitational acceleration, not even buffering spells could completely eliminate any changes to the atmosphere around it.

As the six fast-moving ships created turbulent air currents, the shaking transport ships approached.

…''That’s right.

Konishi had participated in a lot of history recreations as part of her inherited name. She had been involved in P.A. Oda’s economy and often helped smaller academies recover or get off the ground. For her parents on the Musashi, the information reaching them from the Musashi’s ports of call mattered most and she had done a lot to prove herself in those places.

She had made sure not to worry them.

And she had enjoyed doing it.

The Genesis Project would erase those worries. It would erase the fun too, but even after everything was lost, there would still be fun to be had. There might be new worries too, but she wouldn’t be forced to die or have options closed off to her.

The same would be true for the people in the industries and towns she had been involved in.

The world’s worries would be reset and everything would be restarted, including the fun things. Looking at it that way…

“I see more worries than fun in this world.”

Was that really true? She didn’t know.

And in her ignorance, the wind whipped around her as the sign frame on the bow shattered extra hard. The shattering started happening at a faster rate than before and she suddenly saw a dark color past the shattering light on the starboard side.

That was the exterior armor for the Azuchi’s 2nd port ship.

They had arrived. Arrived so they could continue on.

“Okay!”

She breathed in and raised her voice to link it all together.

“Time to begin the midair resupplying for the Genesis Project!!”

●

“The Azuchi has begun midair resupplying. It has not reduced its speed at all. In fact, it is speeding up as it approaches us! Over.”

“Musashino” considered the report that “Nishi-Kunitachi” had received from Asakusa.

…''The Azuchi is clearly moving too fast.

The Musashi was currently to the south, using the crater left by Honnouji as a shield against the air currents. Even if the Azuchi was speeding up to cut across the crater…

“Like this, they will collide with us if our altitudes are the same, Suzu-sama.”

She started to say “over”, but she stopped herself. Suzu was gently holding their model, but her face was directed to the north.

The Azuchi was modeled there based on their scans and estimates.

Ordinarily, it took four automata to calculate estimates for the Azuchi’s movements, but Suzu’s senses and hands could read those movements in an instant.

The others were constantly showering Suzu with praise, but at the moment the girl was sensing something else entirely. She was curious about something other than the approaching Azuchi. It was…

…''A point in the sky?

No, that wasn’t it. Suzu’s northward-facing head was slowly turning to the right.

Something was moving in the sky a bit to the east of the Azuchi.

Something that hadn’t been there before.

Suzu pursued it, turned her head, held a hand to her right ear, and suddenly…

“A transport…ship?”

The questioning tone confirmed that wasn’t accurate. This scale was too small and it was moving too fast to make an easy judgment, but that most likely wasn’t a transport ship. The Azuchi had launched…

“A mechanical dragon!”

●

“Musashino” saw Suzu raise her head and voice.

“It’s that mechanical dragon… from when Nagaoka-kun? When that boy came…here before!”

“Musashino” remembered. In fact, it had forcibly landed on Tama and torn up the deck pretty bad. She remembered the difficulty of having no way to calculate out or demand repayment for the repairs to the deck.

That was an enemy the automata could never forget.

“Judge! I have determined that is P.A. Oda’s Nabeshima Naoshige’s mechanical dragon named Unambitious! Over!”

But she realized why Suzu was so focused on the mechanical dragon.

…''Why did they launch the mechanical dragon now?

It was clearly taking an eastward course. It wasn’t headed toward Lake Biwa Azuchi. It was headed in a direction that could only be described as “in the mountains”.

But “Kokubunji” spoke up after taking a hurried scan of the area in question.

“I have found something!  An optical sensor recorded an aerial ship arriving from the north and descending to a shrine in the mountains there during the Honnouji Incident! Over.”

The ship was identified as a transport ship, but it had been too far away for any further details.

During the Honnouji Incident, they had confirmed that no P.A. Oda or M.H.R.R. ships within a 50km radius took a course toward the Musashi.

Which meant ships could have come and gone outside of that 50km range.

…''So only doing the bare minimum of checking outside the alert range backfired!

Since P.A. Oda was such a strong Far Eastern power, its aerial ships were quite advanced. That meant they always had transport ships flying within their territory and, due to the Battle of Shizugatake and the Honnouji Incident tonight, a lot had taken previously unseen courses and there had been aerial traffic congestion.

What if something had been done outside Musashi’s alert range separate from the Honnouji Incident and the Battle of Shizugatake?

They had been fortunate to even catch this ship descending into the mountains, but…

“Suzu-sama. Why are you so interested in that mechanical dragon? Over.”

It was certainly curious that a mechanical dragon had been sent out alone, but “Musashino” wanted to hear Suzu’s explanation for her interest.

And Suzu nodded.

“Because it’s probably…headed toward something…the Hashiba people want?”

“You mean…?”

“Judge.” Suzu pointed to the north.

And there…

“The Azuchi, right? The Azuchi…is being resupplied right now, right? And it’s surrounded by so much wind…the transport ships have a hard time approaching.”

A few of the automata on the bridge noticed the discussion and began turning their way.

This would affect their work, but “Musashino” allowed it. Because Suzu’s decision could change things.

“The Azuchi is…receiving supplies. Enough to make up for…everything they lost at Shizugatake.

“But,” said Suzu, reaching her hand east.

Toward mechanical dragon Unambitious’s destination. Toward the ship that had surreptitiously descended to a mountain shrine. And Suzu’s senses told her…

“This is the one thing…the Azuchi is sending someone…to go get.”

●

''That’s weird, isn’t it?'' thought Suzu.

“The transport ships are using lots of spells to approach the Azuchi…and we can guess they are loaded with…food, spells, ammunition, and fuel. They’re receiving everything they can…for the upcoming battle.”

So why?

“A mechanical dragon…can only carry a small amount. But it can ignore the barrier of turbulence…created by the Azuchi at full speed…as it leaves and returns.”

…''Then what was that?

The mechanical dragon was probably picking something up at the shrine in the mountains.

“The Azuchi received support from their upperclassmen at Shizugatake…and they’re receiving supplies and personnel from Lake Biwa Azuchi…but they still need something else.”

What was it? Her senses couldn’t figure that out, but the Musashi was scanning the Azuchi’s status at the moment.

To be honest, the turbulence and ley line disturbance caused by the Honnouji crater were in the way. But Suzu knew they would be at risk without those things acting as a shield.

And she moved when she heard something like a sound suddenly reaching them.

From the north. From a mountain temple among the mountains a bit northeast of Lake Biwa Azuchi.

A distorted shape was there. A shape gently surrounded by fog.

…''I know that shape!

She touched it and zoomed in. Once it was big enough to hold in her arms, she slid her hands across it, tearing away its surface.

By adjusting the length, width, and height, it could take on approximately the shape of a transport ship.

It did.

That just left adjusting the details. The front and the bridge’s position and shape were distinctive. Also the number and position of the cannons. But at that point, “Koenji” spoke sharply.

“Excuse me. I have identified it.”

She opened several images on sign frames. They displayed samples of the model in Suzu’s hands. It was in fact…

“That is P.A. Oda Treasurer Maeda Toshiie’s transport ship. Over.”

●

Nabeshima felt a chill in her gut.

…''Yikes!!

She was fine now, but things had been pretty hairy immediately after she was launched from the short-range catapult installed on the side of Azuchi’s 2nd port ship.

She had flown north, giving her the opposite course of the southward-bound Azuchi. She had immediately taken in air and triggered a compression explosion to redirect her course east, but then an extra transport ship had arrived from below.

After shifting the mechanical dragon from launch mode to forced flight mode, the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji shouted to her.

“Hey! You’re going to hit them, milady!”

She knew that. But she didn’t join with the mechanical dragon the way you did with a god of war. She made sure to receive a lot of feedback, but it wasn’t perfect.

That meant the relative speed between her launch and the approaching ship were pretty dangerous. In fact, it was super dangerous. If she had to place blame, it would be on Asano who had been placed in charge of the launch timing despite still being in training, but…

'''Nabe3:''' “Asanoooo!!”

'''Asano:''' “Yesss, perrrfect timing. Nowww you’ll make it in tiiime.”

…''Were you so focused on getting me there in time you didn’t consider the risk!?

That was the problem with the genius types. So Nabeshima steeled herself and addressed the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji who were inside the mechanical dragon.

“You five! This is going to be a rough flight, so grab onto something!”

It was already rough enough, but it was about to get worse. Realizing that, the five in the support room shouted back.

“What!? So we really are in danger!?”

“Okay! It’s up to us Four Heavenly Kings to fix this!”

“That’s right! The five of us make up the Four Heavenly Kings! So what can we do!?”

“That should go without saying! We dump a person’s worth of weight to lighten up Unambitious!”

“It was your idea, so jump out yourself!”

The scary part was how the hatch actually opened and a red warning light and alarm activated.

But it helped put Nabeshima at ease.

She felt like those old men would all be laughing even if they did die. Maybe that only meant they were resigned to their fate, but it definitely wasn’t a normal reaction.

So what to do?

She leaned forward in the arm bar control system that fixed her entire body in place and she used her shoulders to tilt the balance forwards.

“Unambitious, get us on course!”

●

“Oh?” Toshiie looked up at the explosion of white mist in the sky.

He was looking to the western sky from the 10m grounds of a shrine in the mountains.

…''Is that the Nabeshima-kun who Kani-kun mentioned?

The mechanical dragon Unambitious had fought the Hexagone Française gods of war during the Keichou Campaign and Nabeshima had traveled to Sanada territory, which could be seen as the home of dragons, for further training. He had heard about her work via divine transmission and he knew her combat records, but her piloting was even wilder than before.

Several white streaks formed in the sky as the mechanical dragon’s thrusters broke the sound barrier and produced explosions of water vapor, but there were an unusual number of them.

Could she not fly more smoothly, or…

“No…she’s probably decided not to. Since her summer training camp is already over.”

“You’re doing well. So do you think you can become an old man?”

“Macchan, the Honnouji Incident and the Battle of Shizugatake only just ended.”

Matsu’s colors looked faded as she leaned on his shoulder.

He knew why. They had summoned and controlled ghost warriors at both of those important battles. He had used the spell and she had controlled them behind the scenes, but the control role required a lot of small but constant work, which meant she had actually done more work in all.

But he couldn’t ask if she was alright.

Since she was in her original form, he knew she was. That was how it worked.

And he knew why.

“Our upperclassmen have moved on and our underclassmen will be taking over for us.”

The younger students were coming. This night would change everything. Their upperclassmen had wanted it to be that way, so why should Maeda Toshiie’s wife stick to her more efficient form?

…''Macchan is so manly at times like this.

She could be much more picky about appearances and pride than him. She had dragged him along in those things several times, but…

“She’s here.”

He raised his right hand

Matsu raised her left hand.

Then light arrived in front of them. The nearby ley lines seemed to act as their turf. The ley line defense net laid out from Honnouji was gone, but he still had the management right he had used for that. So…

“I’ve gathered up what you want. This should bring an end to it.”

Lightning ran across the shrine grounds at his feet and took on two shapes.

A giant male right arm.

And a giant female right arm.

The two arms were holding something up in their hands. The red mechanical dragon flew in from the west and passed through there.

…''Oh?

It snatched away the object without even scratching their hands.

●

Toshiie looked up into the sky.

He heard a roar, the wind blew, and the passing mechanical dragon produced an explosive blast as it launched itself straight up.

The mechanical dragon’s buffering spell opened several lernen figurs to ensure no damage occurred to the ground down here.

But by the time he looked up, nothing remained. By the time he turned around, he couldn’t even see the mechanical dragon flying back toward the Azuchi in the western sky.

He found himself commenting on the high-speed touch-and-go.

“Not bad.”

Next to him, Matsu lightly tapped his shoulder and spoke.

“That mechanical dragon? Its rear right hatch was open and five old men were saluting us. Did you see that, Toshiie-kun?”

''Macchan really is manly.

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    | [[Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
    | [[Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
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