Horizon:GT3 Chapter9

Chapter 9: Alone and Stance

Oh

Wait

Um

Uh

Point Allocation (It Really Starts Tomorrow)

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Masazumi reviewed the process used to secure the Tachibana Wife after the Armada Battle.

…Wasn’t it Persona-kun who captured her?

They had known some Tres Españan fighters remained on the Musashi. The Musashi and the Asama Shrine had worked together to run an emergency shrine registrant position check and determine any differences in life sign readings to more or less locate them.

Some of them had used decoy charms meant to misdirect attack guidance, but the information was still mostly accurate. Altogether, they were less than 70. The Tachibana Wife had been one of those.

Most of the prisoners had been loaded into a transport ship and sent to Tres España the next day. Plenty of the Armada ships had been safe and remained in the same airspace to receive prisoners and negotiate.

With the non-name inheritor prisoners, it wasn’t a big deal. It might sound overly convenient, but they were processed as “numbers” and sent to Tres España where their own people could work out the details.

In that aspect, it had helped a lot that they were mercenaries hired by England and not England itself. If they had been an agent of England, they would have had to stay “true to English history” and the process would have required Testament Union inspection, dragging the whole thing out.

“Because the Musashi was damaged and took prisoners, the post-Armada Battle negotiations would have mostly been handled financially and through ‘agents’ on the English side. I imagine their Treasurer Howard used his position as owner of the English fleet to settle it all.”

It seemed like Mitotsudaira had read her mind there, but maybe that just showed how in sync they were.

At any rate, Gin had been discovered by the critical loss information team, a group of guards who had patrolled the Musashi and reported on any significant damage they discovered.

“Heh heh. And how exactly would you abbreviate that team’s name!? Well!?”

“Um, I suppose it would be C.L.I.-”

“Mary, you aren’t here, so you don’t have to answer that hallucination.”

That aside, when Persona-kun, who was on that team, had discovered her, she was seated below the eaves of a partially-burned house and it was said she put up no resistance. Said by who? By Persona-kun, supposedly, but it was unclear if he had really “said” it. He may have gestured it.

Once all the prisoners were gathered, the non-name inheritors had been loaded aboard a transport ship that Tres España embassy staff had flown in pursuit of the Armada fleet. But…

“Tachibana Gin.”

With a name inheritor, there would be a record of her as Musashi’s prisoner. So if she did return to Tres España, she would be returning after being “freed from imprisonment”.

It was hard for Musashi to decide if that was acceptable for a member of the Tachibana family and for Tres España as a whole, so they had made a decision.

“Tachibana Gin, the report of you being taken prisoner was in error. You are not Musashi’s prisoner.”

Meaning…

“Musashi will not treat you as a prisoner. Since you ended up remaining aboard the Musashi after participating in the Armada Battle, we have welcomed you as our guest. That is Musashi’s decision.”

●

Gin didn’t understand what she was hearing.

She was a name inheritor. The Tachibana name held great sway in Tres España.

…So wouldn’t it be to Musashi’s advantage to hold me prisoner?

She thought there had to be more to this. That suspicion must have shown in her eyes because Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer moved ever-so-slightly forward. Her gold eyes were directed toward Gin.

“Tachibana Gin. Welcoming you as a guest is not part of some sort of stratagem. Got that?” asked the wolf. “We are about to enter IZUMO. That is neutral ground, but it is still located above Hexagone Française. Hexagone Française’s influence within the Testament Union has been growing of late, so if we brought you there as an Armada Battle prisoner, they would demand we deal with you more swiftly.”

“…You have a point.”

Just as Musashi could use her as a negotiating card against Tres España, the other nations could use her in that way against Musashi.

“The Musashi can’t move while receiving repairs at IZUMO, so you wish to rid yourself of any cards that could lead to complications with the other nations?”

“Judge. At IZUMO, foreign agents will try to find some way to board the Musashi…or a change could come over those already aboard. We want to avoid giving them any reason to act.”

That seemed like a very defense-focused decision to Gin.

Instead of holding onto a means to attack, they were trying to avoid being attacked. It seemed to her that would hurt them in the long run, but maybe that opinion came from the sensibilities instilled in her by the Tachibana family and Tres España.

Directly ahead, the 5th Special Duty Officer turned to face the Vice President. And…

“Isn’t that right, Masazumi?”

The Vice President had been playing with her Mouse anteater, but this redirected her attention toward Gin and their eyes met.

“Huh?”

“No, not ‘huh’. We are welcoming Tachibana Gin as a guest to avoid foreign influence while in IZUMO, correct?”

The Musashi Vice President responded to their 5th Special Duty Officer’s question by starting to nod, stopping, and keeping her head tilted.

“Wait, was that the reason?”

○

Vice President: “Oh, yeah. That did happen, didn’t it? Sorry about that.”

Unturning: “Should we really be leaving the 5th Special Duty Officer’s error in the official records?”

Gold Mar: “That one must’ve hurt, Mito-tsan. Ouch.”

Silver Wolf: “Th-that was not an error! It was a valid alternate opinion!”

Tachibana Wife: “So what was the real reason, anyway?”

Vice President: “Well, it really didn’t have anything to do with the foreign issues in IZUMO. It was honestly just us not wanting any more internal work. The estimated amount of damage told us that the repairs at IZUMO weren’t going to be quick, so we wanted to avoid having to deal with keeping a foreign name inheritor as our prisoner.”

Art-Ga: “Gin’s presence was too heavy a burden, so Masazumi wanted to lighten the load…”

Flat Vassal: “4th Special Duty Officer, what are you drawing?”

●

“I see. So to lighten your workload, Musashi doesn’t want me as a prisoner.”

Gin and the Musashi Vice President were seated on opposite sides of a table by the hall’s window. A staff member was positioned behind Gin to record the proceedings and the 5th Special Duty Officer stood next to the Vice President.

The Vice President sent Gin a few Shinto sign frames.

“These are the documents related to your presence as our guest. Musashi is Shinto, but since you are Tres Españan, you will be treated as Catholic. The religious ban prevents you from having complete freedom, but you shouldn’t have any trouble living on the surface of Tama or the other ships.”

“What do you mean by ‘living’?”

“You are free to leave the embassy. But do you see all the ads on the side of those sign frames? Try to visit as many of those shops as can. Those are the members of the commerce and industry guild that approved letting you go free.”

Gin knew how the world worked well enough to accept that with a simple “I see”. Tres España was also strong in commerce, so the committees and private businesses often worked together. As 3rd Special Duty Officer, she had taken part in those deals herself.

She noticed the ads were mostly for shops or chains run by Tres Españans.

…I appreciate it.

Was she being weak-willed if she felt like she was being a nuisance? Then the Musashi Vice President placed her hands atop each other on the table

And directed her gaze straight at Gin.

…I see.

The last time Gin had confronted that girl, she had noticed the power that a gaze could have during a negotiation. The rest of the girl seemed almost bored, but she was probably the type to work her mind and face everything head on during a negotiation.

Gin felt she could trust her. So…

“What is it?”

“Once you sign this paperwork, you will be free.”

“You don’t think I will immediately take up a weapon and attempt to sink the Musashi?”

“Your weapons were left with Musashi IZUMO. Would you like them back?”

Arcabuz Cruz and Cuatro Cruz had been nearly destroyed. They couldn’t be so easily copied by analyzing the internal structure, but it would also be mostly a waste of effort to bring destroyed weapons back home.

She had a reason to see it that way. And…

“I expect my weapons will be confiscated.”

“Do you expect to lose your inherited name?”

She was sharp. But she was right.

“Tachibana Muneshige already lost to you and now I have admitted defeated as well. Our Vice Chancellor withdrew from his attack on the Musashi and the San Martín was ineffectual, so Tres España lacks any effective means to attack you.”

Meaning…

“Musashi is the next task the Testament Union nations must face, but Tres España will be no help there. However, the name inheritance system can be used to appoint a ‘different Tachibana Gin’ who could attack Musashi more effectively.”

“So you think they will remove your inherited name and reorganize around a new Tachibana Gin, or…”

“Or sell the rights to the name to another nation to assist in negotiations.”

“Which nation do you think they would sell it to?”

That was an easy question. Only one nation was currently friendly with Tres España and also relied on the Tachibana family.

“Likely K.P.A. Italia. My father is already working for them.”

○

“Gin-dono, you’re famous.”

“Because of my father and that is over now! Besides, I am currently a Musashi resident. I only hope this will help confirm what happened back then.”

“…Why are you always so upset with me, Gin-dono?”

“Now are you sulking, Honda Futayo!?”

Gin noticed the 3rd and 4th Special Duty Officers whispering to each other behind her on the right, but she chose to not worry about it.

Then Kimi raised her right hand.

“Heh heh. But you were reunited the next day, weren’t you? While we were doing our victory performance.”

“Judge,” replied Gin, thinking back to that moment. “Even after I was freed, I couldn’t just walk around in the open like nothing had happened. I also had to complete the process to reclaim Arcabuz Cruz, Cuatro Cruz, and my arms.

“But on the third day, an agent of the Musashi Vice President learned of our situation and sent us the paperwork needed to enroll in Musashi Ariadust Academy and to officially become Musashi residents. This leads into what happened later, so that effectively ends our recollection of the first day.”

○

I see, thought Masazumi. Based on the conversation so far…

“It sounds like Tres España still wasn’t in any state to respond to Musashi. They were clearly reacting after the fact when they removed the Tachibana Couple’s inherited names.”

“Judge. Tres España allows a high level of autonomy in each district, so the Chancellor and the others had to travel around the nation with his supporters before returning to Henares. That likely created a delay in their response.”

“In that case,” said Mitotsudaira, raising her hand. “Masazumi? Could Tres España have been the nation behind the Buke Shohatto?”

“Judge. We could find reasons why they could have done it regardless, but given everything we’ve heard, it seems unlikely they were in a position to do that. I say Tres España is innocent.”

Masazumi noticed tension leave the Tachibana Wife’s shoulders. Futayo watched it happen as well and the Tachibana Wife must have thought she had exposed an opening to her. So she glared at her and…

“What do you think you’re looking at, Honda Futayo?”

“I was only thinking of the Tres Españans I have fought and noting how glad I am that Tres España is not the kind of nation that would push the Buke Shohatto onto us for their own advantage despite you being here.”

“Judge. Lady Juana and the rest would do what must be done to preserve their nation regardless of what it did to me. Nevertheless, they did show some concern for me back then and I too am glad of that.”

Horizon applauded the Tachibana Wife’s statement. After a pause, the others joined in and the Tachibana Wife grew flustered.

“I-I was only showing the resolve any buke daughter would show! Ahhh, stop applauding! All the noise will wake the neighbors!”

Mukai was applauding too, so that seemed unlikely. But once the Tachibana Wife slumped to the side and stopped moving, Balfette glanced over toward Mary.

“So that rules Tres España out. That means the next candidate is England. The Vice President visited the English embassy afterwards, right?”

“Heh heh. But Mitotsudaira had our Kimitoasamade performance at the victory festival the next day, so we took her back home with us for a meeting. Samurai girl took her place.”

The Aoi Sister’s explanation finally clued Masazumi in to why Mitotsudaira hadn’t been able to continue as her bodyguard back then.

…All of our actions are fitting together like a puzzle.

Making records like these really was important. She looked Mary in the eye.

“Mary, Asama had already handled most of your immigration processing while you were in the embassy, right? We already discussed how you were freed on the third day. Honestly, it was easier with the Tachibana Wife because we only had to switch her prisoner status to visitor status, but with you the negotiations with England meant it took until the third day before we could give you permission to leave the embassy.”

“I had a lot of fun in that time, but I can discuss that later.”

Mary searched for the paperwork she had signed back then and set it to the side.

“I think I can explain a lot regarding what was happening in England back then, so I can provide a supplementary record there.”

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