Horizon:GT3

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  Front Cover
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  Inside Story 1
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  Inside Story 2
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  Title Page
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  Pamphlet Page
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  Characters 1
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  Characters 2
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  Table of Contents
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  Introduction
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  Glossary
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  Character Introduction
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Cover Flap

Kawakami Minoru:

Born on January 3, 1975. From Tokyo. OO-Formation the King and His Eight Companions, a phone game featuring characters from Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon is set to be released in Summer 2017. Please check that out along with the GT series.

Satoyasu:

Born in Yamagata and raised in Tochigi. “Cocoa is so tasty. The last chocolaty bit that doesn’t dissolve is pretty good too.” Is that why you smell of chocolate lately?

Flowery Passage

Mary ended up spending several nights at the Asama Shrine.

After sending Ishin Suden to the port, they had to discuss what to do about the incident. There hadn’t been an official duel over the Buke Shohatto, so it was hard to call it a history recreation. But it had involved a former pope and the writer of the Buke Shohatto. It would likely be declared a draw so they could delay coming up with a real answer. And until an actual result came out, it was best if Mary and the Tachibana Couple did not return to the embassies which could easily become a site of diplomacy.

Mary did have an embassy staff member bring her some changes of clothing. She couldn’t exactly stay in a tent on the ground, so the boys had erected a festival stage and then added walls to turn it into a room for the girls. The Vicereine had firmly insisted the boys should lie directly on the round pebbles because it would “act like a shiatsu massage”, but they had hung some hammocks between the trees instead.

After they bathed in the spring and enjoyed a late dinner, word arrived that Suden had descended on a ship and that the Buke Shohatto case was resolved more or less as expected.

“It’s pretty late now, but I notice the Musashi still has plenty of lights on.”

“Oh, judge. Repairs are underway, so it will be like this for a while.”

During the spare time before getting to bed, she sat on the shrine steps and sipped tea with Tenzou. Only then did she finally feel relaxed.

“Um, Master Tenzou?”

“Hyes?”

“What did he say?” commented Naito from around the corner and Naruze replied “shush, let him cook”, so was there something at the waterfall back there? Anyway…

“Maybe it’s because I’ve stayed here a few nights already, but it doesn’t feel like I’m camping out anymore.”

“Oh, do you feel like you’re part of the Asama Shrine family now?”

Adele, who was sealing up the area below the stage, began shouting, “Does being part of the shrine family make them grow!? Or do they have to be big to be accepted into the family!?”, so Asama had to drag her away.

How lively they all were made Mary laugh a little. Light scattered from her shaking shoulders. She had been shedding flowers for several days now.

“You keep making those ether flowers since we left England,” noted Tenzou.

“It has settled down some, but not because I have calmed down.”

“What do you mean?”

“Judge. I can just tell that what used to make me so excited will be normal for me from now on.”

“If the others heard you say that, they would get carried away and make a nuisance out of themselves, so can that be our little secret?”

Mary heard Mitotsudaira yelling “My King! You don’t have to pretend to be a cicada to spy on them!” from the roof of the shrine, but she was fairly certain it wasn’t cicada season yet.

Then she spoke while scooping up the ether flowers scattering from her hair.

“If these ever stop, it does not mean I am tired of Musashi. It simply means they are blossoming all across Musashi, so mine no longer stand out enough to be seen.”

But one thing kept her from worrying about that. She asked him about it with a smile.

“Master Tenzou, will you search out my flowers instead of just passing them by?”

Title Page

Genesis Series

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Girls Talk

Fate and Flowers

–Um, what am I to do?

Kawakami Minoru

Illustrations: Satoyasu (Tenky)

Pamphlet Page

[First, everything behind the text boxes]

Title: The Original BK Shohatto!

Below(in purple): 13 Fun Minigames!!

[Now, the text boxes]

Horizon: Oh? Look what I found as my instincts led me to help clean up the bathhouse changing room.

Naito: Oh, are you at Suzu’s Bath? I remember they had that in the arcade corner. 13 minigames!

Asama: It shouts “Hattoooooo!” when you put coins in, right? You can even hear it in the bath.

Adele: Didn’t it get banned in Kansai because the castle in the Tenshukaku Daruma Otoshi game had “Azuchi Castle” plainly written on it?

Nate: I also remember it using Masazumi as a character without permission and then removing her after no time at all.

Naruze: Because she was impossible to beat, so no one wanted to play and their income dropped off a cliff. I think we know who to blame for that.

Masazumi: How is it my fault when they didn’t even ask my permission!?

Mary: …

Color Spreads

Table of Contents

Mary: This is a record of when I arrived on the Musashi after the Armada Battle. There was about a week until Master Tenzou had a room ready for me and this tells the tale of what happened during a few of those days, as well as what does and does not remain. I hope you enjoy it.

World Description

Toori: Sis! Sis! I bet some people will start reading here, so can you introduce our world in a fantasy-ish way?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. Foolish brother, here are the main points.

Kimi: This world exists far into the future. Humanity went to space and had a blast there, but were nearly destroyed by war. That was a real bummer, so they went back to earth. The only livable area was the Far East (Japan) since the environment was more stable, so they tried to redo things there.

Kimi: But since the environment outside was too harsh, silly humanity ended up fighting territorial wars over the limited land of the Far East. They nearly wiped themselves out again, so they decided to create a roadmap for themselves instead of just doing whatever they wanted. They created a history book of the former Earth Age and called it the Testament. Everyone knew civilization could be restored if they followed that roadmap, so they decided to redo history in the Far East (Japan) using that. That made war and such externally managed by politics.

Toori: Did that work out?

Kimi: Not really. The Far Eastern group made a silly mistake that took away the other nations’ land, so the other nations got pissed and started ruling over the Far East. They chose to “educate” the Far East.

Kimi: That led to a world where Japan’s Warring States period and the rest of the world’s 17th Century history are both playing out in the Far East. Since we are being “educated”, the world’s main power is held by the students. It’s restrictive for the Far East, but our aerial city ship named Musashi travels around the Far East engaging in trade as an independent Far Eastern city. …Foolish Brother? Got anything to add?

Toori: Well, here in Musashi, we count as Matsudaira (Tokugawa), but we’re neutral. The rest of the world is fighting against P.A. Oda, which counts as the Oda clan. Also, this story will move back and forth between 3 years ago and the present.

Kimi: The Far East (Japan) has its different regions occupied by the world’s nations like this. Our Musashi travels along the national borders.

Map [More or less top to bottom, left to right]:

Hokkaido (New World)

Floating Island (England)

Tohoku (Siberian Undeveloped Region)

Chugoku Region (Mouri, Hexagone Française)

Hokuriku (Uesugi, Sviet Rus)

Shimonoseki (Oouchi, Ootomo, Tres España)

Setouchi (Aki, K.P.A. Italia)

Kinki (Hashiba, M.H.R.R.)

Kinki – Tokai (Oda, P.A. Oda)

Kantou (Takeda, Qing)

Kyushu (Shimazu, African Nations)

Shikoku (Undeveloped Continent)

Tokai, Kantou (Mikawa Matsudaira, Far East Musashi)

Tokai – Kantou (Houjou, Association of Indian States)

Words

[Top to bottom, zigzagging down]

History Recreation: We’re redoing history in this world, so every nation is required to recreate history. This can be done with war, politics, ingenuity, or whatever else

Name Inheritor: The historical figures necessary for the history recreation. Skilled personnel inherit those names and run their nations.

Chancellor’s Officers, Student Council: The Chancellor’s Officers are the nation’s military organization. The Student Council is the nation’s political organization. The Chancellor and the Student Council President run them like a bancho or a school VIP.

Religion: In the Far East, Shinto is the main religion, but the other nations follow others based on their infrastructure.

Tsihrc: Christianity. Includes a Catholic and Protestant version.

Mlasi: Islam.

There are others, like magic, but they can wait until later.

The Current Stage: The current stage is Totomi. That’s the area known as Shizuoka.

Map:

Upper right: Mt. Fuji

Left: Mikawa

Middle: Totomi

Right: The Musashi’s Course

Ley Lines, Ether: Hm, ley lines are those things from fantasy stories. Y’know, the power lines that run all around the world. And you can think of ether as the MP or fuel extracted from the ley lines.

Musashi: The aerial ship we live on. There are 8 ships in all and each one has a name.

Diagram [top to bottom, left to right]:

1st Starboard Ship: Shinagawa

2nd Starboard Ship: Tama

3rd Starboard Ship: Takao

1st Middle Ship: Musashino

2nd Middle Ship: Okutama

1st Port Ship: Asakusa

2nd Port Ship: Murayama

3rd Port Ship: Oume

Characters

• Aoi Kimi (Wise Sister): Toori’s older sister and worshipper of the god of eroticism and dancing. Fundamentally high-tension and selfish in practice.
• Aoi Toori (Me): Protagonist. Musashi Ariadust Academy’s chancellor and student council president. Mr. Impossible.
• Asama Tomo (Asama): Daughter of the Asama Shrine, Musashi’s main shrine. Childhood friend and overall victim of Toori and Kimi, but has removed her lid recently.
• Adele Balfette (Flat Vassal): From a vassal family that arrived from France. Glasses girl. “Shield” used to be her only special attack, but she has recently added “charge” to the list.
• Itou Kenji (Obscene): Cheerful incubus. Nude, bald, and muscular. Known as Itoken.
• Ohiroshiki Ginji (Worshiper): Gourmet otaku with a Heart-sama style build.
• Kiyonari Urquiaga (Uqui): 2nd special duty officer. Flying half-dragon. Hopes to be an inquisitor. Known as Uqui.
• Shirojiro Bertoni (Money Lover): Treasurer. Young leading member of Musashi’s commerce and industry guild. Former udon god candidate.
• Tenzou Crossunite (10ZO): 1st special duty officer. Ninja and errand-runner who always covers his face with his hat. Busy whipping it out and making challenges.
• Toussaint Neshinbara (Novice): Secretary. Loves history, wants to be an author, and writes doujins.
• Naomasa (Smoking Girl): 6th special duty officer. Older sister type who works in the engine division. Smokes and laughs loudly.
• Nate Mitotsudaira (Silver Wolf): 5th special duty officer. Member of a knight family and inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name. Half werewolf. Part of the Aoi household with Asama and Horizon.
• Nenji (Sticky King): Slime with about 3 HP. Manly.
• Noriki (Laborer): Laborer boy who supports his family. Clumsy martial artist. Silent and unsociable until marriage changed his personality.
• Heidi Augesvarer (Marube-ya): Treasurer’s aide. Shirojiro’s partner. Has a white fox named Erimaki. Former udon god candidate.
• Hassan Furubushi (83): Calpis logo-style Indian. Lives while eating and drinking only curry.
• Persona-kun (Bucket): Super macho man with a bucket helmet. Silent, strong, and kindhearted.
• Horizon Ariadust (Hori-ko): Toori’s childhood friend and current ruler of Mikawa. Currently an automaton. Her emotions were taken as parts for the Logismoi Oplo. Landlord.
• Honda Futayo (Tonbokiri): Former Mikawa student. Honda Tadakatsu’s daughter. Uses a strongly old-fashioned speech pattern.
• Honda Masazumi (Vice President): Vice president of the student council known as a lover of war. Diligent exchange student who arrived from Mikawa the previous year. Has various issues with her family.
• Marga Naruze (Mar-Ga): 4th special duty officer. Black-haired six-winged Weiss Hexen. Member of the manga club. Master of sports.
• Margot Naito (Gold Mar): 3rd special duty officer. Blonde-haired six-winged Schwarz Hexen. Always smiling. Tends to get the tsukkomi ball rolling.
• Mukai Suzu (Bell): Blind but always gives it her all. Acts as everyone’s stopper.
• Tachibana Muneshige (Tachibana Husband): Former Tres España 1st special duty officer. Amore. Currently working to regain his inherited name.
• Tachibana Gin (Tachibana Wife): Former Tres España 3rd special duty officer. Muneshige’s wife and possessor of cannon-style false arms. Fifty times.
• Mary Stuart (Scarred): Half-sister of English Queen Elizabeth. Well-endowed blonde. Living with Tenzou as his future wife. Owner of Ex. Collbrande.
• Satomi Yoshiyasu (Righteousness): Satomi Academy’s student council president. Small but does not cry. Uses the god of war Righteousness.
• Date Shigezane [Narumi] (Unturning): Masamune’s cousin. Vice chancellor of the Date clan and uses a mobile shell named Unturning Centipede. Confident elder sister type.
• Sakai Tadatsugu (Demoted Man): Musashi Ariadust Academy’s president. Used to be a very able person but was demoted.
• “Musashi” (Musashi): Automaton that supervises the Musashi and overall commander. Her sharp comments are hard to put up with.
• Reine des Garous (Still Got It): Turenne. Hexagone Française’s Vice Chancellor. Mitotsudaira’s mom. All-around giant breasts.

Kimi: This story is mostly reminiscing about a few months ago, so the people who weren’t yet with us then are marked with a star. Their divine chat names are given in parentheses.

Prologue: Bathhouse and Flowers

Now, it’s time to go

Now, I’ve been waiting for this

Point Allocation (Entrance to the Past)

●

“So did you end up finding a room, Mary?”

People spoke, forehead to forehead in a somewhat damp and warm space.

They were in a bathhouse changing room. But a partition was currently set up at the entrance, dividing interior from exterior.

After finishing their bath, everyone had donned underwear or swimsuits before putting on kosodes as sleepwear and letting the accumulated heat leave their bodies and moisture leave their hair.

Futons were laid out on the floor and a few of the people were seated on the blankets.

The light shining in from beyond the partition was brighter than the small nightlight on the ceiling.

“I’m not sure if we should be discussing Ma-yan at this sleepover, but it shouldn’t take long to find a room, should it?”

This new question continued on from the previous one.

It was directed at a girl sitting on a futon by the outer wall. She was leaning back against that wall with charms in her blonde hair. This “Ma-yan” had the front of her kosode open to help her flushed skin cool off and she tilted her head.

“Judge. There are plenty of available rooms in the size we are considering. But…”

She held a hand to her cheek as her eyebrows lowered in a smile.

And after some slight hesitation…

“With so many options, I want to make sure I choose a good one, so I’m having a hard time making a decision.”

“So you’re the cautious type.”

A girl feeding a giant anteater Mouse faced the others while seated in front of the clothing racks. As she fixed the baggy sleeves of her oversized kosode, the blonde girl, Mary, responded.

“I would say less careful and more…cowardly, Lady Masazumi.”

●

Flat Vassal: “Can I ask what her standards for cowardice are?”

Gold Mar: “Apparently cowards bathe with a boy before working up the courage to confess to him, kiss him in front of her family, and slice a warship in half!”

Art-Ga: “Damn, none of my characters have even made it to that level of cowardice before…”

Silver Wolf: “By those standards, wouldn’t the 1st Special Duty Officer be a coward too?”

Smoking Girl: “He’s just pathetic.”

Flat Vassal: “You sure don’t sugarcoat things, Masa-san! It sounds like making a move means you’re a coward and not making a move means you’re pathetic. Do I have that right, everyone!?”

Asama: “Um, that definition of pathetic is weighing pretty heavily on my heart…”

●

…They are getting all worked up about something again.

The others had begun some kind of discussion about her.

For Mary, this had become the norm.

She sometimes did take a peek at the divine net, but she felt no real desire to actively participate. Partially at Tenzou’s insistence: “Carelessly join in and the threads will explode with activity, so you need to be careful.” But mostly she just found being a simple observer to be plenty entertaining.

If only they didn’t post so quickly.

She was overwhelmed by the amount of information and the speed at which it scrolled by on the sign frame.

Asama seemed to be panicking about something, but then Kimi laughed and posted something that made Masazumi glare at her and make a post of her own.

But while Masazumi kept a watchful eye on the sign frame with everyone’s conversation scrolling by, she also looked Mary’s way.

“Mary, if you’re looking for a room, you could use your privileges as a diplomat.”

“Heh heh. Silly girl. She wants to perform the search with Tenzou and write up a list of their findings.”

“Judge. Yes. Now that I have some free time, I’ve started looking at Musashi housing information, and that might just be when I enjoy myself the most.”

“I know what you mean.” Naruze looked up while still making more posts on the divine net at dizzying speed. “Margot and I searched out our room while refusing to make any compromises and it turns out that a house hunt where you show each other your recommendations is a great way to learn more about each other.”

“We argued a lot on whether the mirror immediately inside the door should be on the right or the left, didn’t we? Because the entrance is so narrow.”

“We ended up finding an all-stone room with no dirt entranceway and then adjusted the layout to our liking.”

“Also,” chimed in Adele. “I have a mobile shell, but I don’t have the money to rent a garage, so I ended up renting a wide block storeroom. People who own big things like that often end up using half a storeroom to live in, so I searched for a vacancy like that.”

“Kiyonari and I stay in a similar place. What about you, Vice Chancellor’s Aide?”

Gin nodded at Narumi’s question.

“We rent a tiny room. As a reminder that we had our inherited names revoked.”

“That isn’t too small for you, Gin-chan?”

“No. Fortunately, the engine division’s maintenance team and Musashi IZUMO have offered to perform maintenance on my prosthetic arms and Arcabuz Cruz, so I generally keep them stored in their dual pitch space so either group can retrieve them. 3rd and 4th Special Duty Officers, do you work on your brooms at home?”

“The cowlings stay in their phase space so Edel Brocken can look after them. We keep the flight brooms in stockers we have set up on the hallway wall.”

“I see,” said Mary as she nodded yet again. Class 3-Plum had a lot of powerful fighters, so a lot of them had weapons and such. But they didn’t all live in the same kind of place.

“Such diversity…” she commented, impressed, but Masazumi waved a hand dismissively.

“No, they’re just weird.”

“What’s your home like, Masazumi?”

…Lady Masazumi lives with her provisional councilor father, doesn’t she?

Everyone glanced up as Masazumi gave a snort and glared.

“The house might look fancy, but my room is tiny. In fact, the entire house is small. To the point that the provisional council can’t hold meetings there unless I stay somewhere else like I am tonight.”

●

…That said, having that tiny room all to myself is still a luxury.

Masazumi couldn’t let herself forget how limited space was on the Musashi.

There was far less land on the Musashi than there had been at Mikawa. As enormous as the ships were, it was strictly divided into different districts and rooms were always kept to the bare minimum in size.

Six square meters was the standard and ten was considered spacious. But…

“And even the basic 6 square meter ones have 2 square meters taken up by the dirt entranceway and dirt floor in the back, so the actual living space is only 4 square meters.”

“That’s why people use the interior columns to build a loft.”

“Could you build a loft in a house like mine? I’d love to have more space to store books without just piling them up on the floor.”

“All houses are built to the same standards, so you can build one as long as you either have walls on three sides or you have four corners formed from walls or pillars,” explained Naomasa, drawing out a diagram in the air with her left hand. “But for surface houses, I think people tend to just buy shelves and use those instead of building a loft. What’s your room like, Masazumi?”

“It’s true I already have a bed and a bookcase.”

“Surface houses give you somewhere else to store your clothes and odds-and-ends, so that sounds about right,” said Adele.

“It does,” agreed Asama. “My old room and my current one are like that.”

“Oh? Your current room?”

A few of them looked to Asama and Mitotsudaira.

The shrine maiden and the knight tensed a little.

“Th-they’re just ordinary, small rooms.”

“Yes, ordinary small rooms. But when I saw my classmate’s futons in the back of the Main Blue Thunder, I just knew what I would be drawing for the next event.”

“Wow. Ga-chan, are you going to use this insider information for your doujinshis!?”

“And didn’t you open up your Main Blue Thunder rooms for us all to sleep in when we were staying over there?”

In fact, the Main Blue Thunder had become one of the girls’ hangouts, much like this changing room. Since it was the Aoi family home, it had a good kitchen and Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Horizon already lived there, so it was a good place to gather when there was some kind of event.

It was also a surface house, but it was a lot different from Masazumi’s.

“My dad would never let me have everyone over like we do here or at the Main Blue Thunder.”

“Your dad is strict, isn’t he? And we do tend to be noisy.”

“Yeah, the provisional council is apparently meeting there today since I’m out.”

●

“Okay, what should we watch next!? Since Masazumi is gone, we will be staying up all night to watch this season’s shows, so I hope you’re ready! Now, Koni-tan! Play the next one!”

“Judge! So, Nobu-tan, what about we skip to the bottom of the list and watch Plump Pliny’s Natural History!? I hear it’s a collection of delightful lies about foreign furries!”

“You fool! I put that at the end because I already know it’s going to be a masterpiece! Fine, I’ll choose. Let’s go with Soga Story! Yes, Soga!♪ Sing it with me! Sooogaaa!!♪ Okay! I’ve heard it’s about a warrior chasing his dreams until he meets an untimely end, but it’s good to watch a tragedy now and then! If it gets me too depressed, Hayashi, you do something about it! Yes, you need to just – bam! – cheer me up somehow!”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! Stop abusing your power with vaguely-defined demands!”

●

Being a politician sounds tough, commented the Aoi Sister with a bitter smile. Masazumi couldn’t blame her. It was a life of service.

“Horizon and Asama, your rooms are the same size as mine, but yours have tatami mat floors, right?”

“Yes,” replied Asama. “That lets us put the rooms right next to each other and we can rearrange them by redoing the dividing curtain, but it also means we can’t build a loft. We did have shelves built along the wall and some under-floor storage put in.”

Mitotsudaira nodded in agreement and shrugged.

“The closet was going to be filled with my combat dresses, so I use the treasure chest that my mom sent the silver chains in. Its internal space has been expanded.”

“I guess that’s one way to solve your storage problems.”

“It’s perfect…”

“What exactly is perfect, Naruze?”

Was her next doujinshi going to be about the Main Blue Thunder? Masazumi was accustomed enough to this group for that to be her first thought.

But if phase spaces could be used for storage, there was someone else who could take advantage of it.

“Horizon, do you store everyday odds-and-ends in your Logismoi Oplo storage space?”

Horizon waved a hand dismissively.

“No. When in my room, I place them in their stockers to admire them. Lately when I head out, I figure I don’t need to bring a battery with me as long as I have Aspida Phylargia.”

“Shouldn’t you be treating a world-influencing weapon with more care?”

“Not at all. During the previous unplanned sleepover here, everyone gasped in awe at seeing the Logismoi Oplo stockers in my room, which made me feel really good.”

“Um, Horizon? Have you stopped stacking your clean clothes up by the wall?”

“No, the way Asama-sama fold them is a work of art, so I thought it would be best to leave them out where I can appreciate them. Yes, it definitely isn’t that I have nowhere else to put them since the shelves in my room are full of snacks.”

Horizon couldn’t look them in the eye and Asama smiled bitterly with a comment of “I’ll be taking a look at those shelves sometime soon”, so their landlord and tenant relationship seemed to be going well. But…

“Mary, is any of this helping you decide on a room?”

“Eh? Oh, I enjoy all of your stories.”

That wasn’t quite what Masazumi had asked, but at least they weren’t scaring Mary away.

Masazumi was honestly interested in the idea of increased storage with phase spaces and shelves, but why was it more storage was the only advantage she could think of for moving out to live on her own?

…But Mary must be coming up with those advantages in real time as she searches for a room.

It was amusing how everyone’s attention had returned to Mary at some point.

If only it could always work that way, thought Masazumi before Mary began to speak.

“Storage space is something I need. Since I have Ex. Collbrande.”

“Yeah, most people don’t have that…”

Stop being so on the nose, Balfette. But Mary only nodded a little and continued.

“I’m not asking for much. I just thought I should consider a new place since it feels like there is so much more I need now that I am on the Musashi.”

However…

“I’ve gone around looking at different rooms with Master Tenzou, but I honestly would be fine staying in our current place. It is lacking in some areas, but I’ve grown fond of it.”

●

Yeah, thought Naito.

“Fondness can matter a lot. Increasing your capacity can give you more options, but if you aren’t feeling the current limits yet, a new environment can feel like more than you need.”

“Judge.” Mary lowered her eyebrows in a smile. “A lot of people helped us get our current room, so that’s another way it matters to me.”

“So responsible of you,” said Naruze.

She meant it in a pejorative way. And Mary must have known she was taking it too far.

…This must be why she called herself cowardly.

I want to believe she has normal standards for that. Yeah.

“In other words, you’re satisfied with what you have now, so you might as well stick with it?”

That in and of itself wasn’t a problem. Satisfaction with your current circumstances made for a happy medium.

But if this came from “cowardice”, it was a different matter.

…Sometimes you aren’t actually satisfied, but you tell yourself you are to avoid having to do something about it.

That was probably how she had lived back in England.

Mary had to be worried she was falling back into that same pattern. In that sense, Tenzou was right to discuss getting a new place.

But her curiosity and interest in doing this with Tenzou was probably winning out over the personal cowardice.

At the same time, Naito was curious about something else. Mary said she was fond of her current room, but…

“You had a pretty tough time of it before finding a home here, didn’t you?”

Mary had run into trouble simply leaving the embassy.

A few of the people in the dim light stopped moving, maybe from remembering what had happened. Naito was among them, but Narumi tilted her head since she hadn’t been on the Musashi at the time.

“I didn’t have any trouble leaving the embassy, so I didn’t realize it could be a problem.”

“It…usually isn’t.”

Suzu stood up and walked toward the counter. Asama got up and followed after her, so they must have decided this would be a long story and were in need of snacks and drinks.

“Okay,” said Naito. She thought she knew where this was headed. “Let’s gather together the records from back then to see what happened to Ma-yan when she arrived on the Musashi.”

No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, light shined in. The partition at the entrance had sprung up into the air.

“My! I thought I would take a late-night bath, but is it time to tell a love story!?”

●

Mitotsudaira turned around to see a massive presence.

She had picked up on the scent earlier but hadn’t wanted to believe it. But only one person could so easily catch the partition she had knocked into the air and return it to its original spot.

“What are you doing here, mother!?”

“Oh, Nate! Am I in time for the girls talk!?”

“It’s a real stretch to call one of us a ‘girl’.”

“My, my,” said the mother, carrying a tray of bamboo cups over from the counter. Suzu hurried over with a new blanket, which the mother grabbed with her toes and skillfully draped around her shoulders.

“I heard enough to know you are discussing when that English princess defected. That was related to IZUMO, so I know all about it. I am Hexagone Française’s Vice Chancellor after all. So I will join you as the highest evolution of a girl.”

Don’t you mean mutation of a girl? thought Mitotsudaira, but she was hardly surprised to see her mother blending in perfectly as she helped distribute drinks. It was always awkward when a relative possessed a skill you did not. And her mother looked to her and spoke.

“There is one thing about that period I have wondered about. …Nate, can you get us started? I expect we will learn about all sorts of fascinating things tonight.”

–It’s fun.

Chapter 1: Correction and Strategy

Correct your thoughts

To change your world

Point Allocation (Flower Quantity)

●

For around three days after the end of the Armada Battle, Mary wasn’t allowed to leave the English embassy on Tama. Several processes had to be completed first, so it was unavoidable, but…

…But I’m not letting it get me down.

Something had happened the first day to cheer her up, so she had been in a good mood ever since.

Her spirits were high and she would find ether flower scattering from her hair whenever she let her guard down. The embassy workers would tease her for it, but she didn’t mind. In fact, it delighted her that they noticed how she was feeling.

And right now, she was probably in her best mood yet even though it was still morning. Earlier that morning, Tenzou had sent her a divine mail telling her Masazumi would be stopping by that evening to remove the restriction on leaving the embassy and more.

That meant she would officially be able to live as a Musashi resident starting that night.

Freedom!

No, she was already plenty free compared to life in England. She simply couldn’t go outside. Still, she wanted to go out and say hello to so many people.

She wanted to become a part of Musashi.

“Now that’s a dangerous thing to want…comments a Schwarz Hexen who happened to be passing by on a delivery.”

Thank you for that as you fly by the window, Lady Naito.

Anyway, it was still morning. And even if she would be freed that evening, she still didn’t have a place to live and she wasn’t ready to begin classes.

…But I heard Master Tenzou is searching for a home for us.

Wherever they ended up, they would be living together. She had heard the housing situation on the Musashi was more strict than in other nations. They had limited land and the districting was strictly managed both on the surface and below. But…

“A 3 square meter room will be a challenge.”

○

Silver Wolf: “They’re not that small, Mary! Set your sights a little higher!”

Scarred: “U-um, back in England, I lived in a 5 square meter room as a history recreation of my imprisonment and house arrest, so I’m used to living in small spaces.”

Gold Mar: “Now I see why Tenzou hasn’t had any trouble with her there…”

○

Art-Ga: “Have you no shame?”

10ZO: “A-about what!?”

Vice President: “Crossunite, Mary’s family won’t be happy if you don’t treat her to nice things every once in a while.”

Horizey: “Tenzou-sama, do you like cramped spaces? Like an insect?”

10ZO: “Where did these accusations even come from!?”

●

Anyway, it was amusing how she could guess what kind of room Tenzou would be looking for.

Asama had provided her with a Far Eastern sign frame. It was a locked-down version that only acted as an information retrieval device, but she could at least run a search of government processes, Shinto services, and residences.

When she ran a search, she found that most of the Musashi’s rooms were either 6 or 10 square meters. That was true both below ground and on the surface and they were almost all leased. After making a note of the listed rent amounts, she searched the government office’s help wanted list for a way to earn enough money to lease out one of those places.

“It looks like 100 mon a day is the average Far Eastern wage.”

The mon was the Far East’s internal currency. The yen was the Far East’s international currency and 100 mon was equivalent to 10 thousand yen.

The yen conversion was enough for her to more or less grasp the amount. That just left determining how much time she could work by subtracting out her time taking classes at the academy, eating dinner, completing daily tasks, and sleeping.

…This is probably an overly idealistic number, so I can probably only work 70% of that time.

She made an educated guess there because her days on England’s 3rd and 4th levels had been full of labor. So most likely, she would have 2 hours a day to work. If she didn’t include the weekends, that was around 40 hours a month.

With an average of 10 thousand yen for each full day of work, which meant 8 hours…

“50 thousand yen a month.”

With an estimate sum, she looked back at the rents from before.

The 6 square meter rooms on the first below ground level of Tama had an average monthly rent of 60 thousand. For the 10 square meter rooms, that went up to 90 thousand.

That was already over budget.

Of course, she wouldn’t be paying it all on her own. She would be cohabiting with Tenzou…

“Oh, my! Cohabitation! My, my!”

Yes. They weren’t just roommates – they were cohabiting. It sounded even more serious when she phrased it as “living with” him, but she had decided not to take everything so seriously when she left England. But she was only now realizing that this would be a first for her.

“M-my!”

She couldn’t catch all the flowers spilling from her.

Her excitement couldn’t grow much further, so she decided to stop thinking about this for the time being.

○

Asama worked with Adele, Naito, and some others to collect the ether flowers scattering from Mary and tossed them back so they rained down on Mary herself.

“I can see why Tenzou-kun ended up so famous on the divine net.”

…I’m so glad Mary came to the Musashi.

“Tomo! Tomo! I think you just said the quiet part loud!”

“Eh, it basically meant the same thing.”

But as Asama recorded what Mary had said, she looked up and asked a question.

“So, Mary, for you it began on the third day after the Armada Battle?”

“Judge. I believe that is when the incident itself began.

“Incident?” asked Mitotsudaira’s mother with a tilt of the head, but she would find out soon enough since it began on the third day.

Still, Asama felt like Mary’s decision there was being too cautious. After all…

“Mary? You put in the record that ‘something happened the first day to cheer you up’, so didn’t it start there?”

“No.” Mary shook her head, sending more flowers spilling out. And as Asama wondered what this negative could mean, “I was in this sort of mood that first night and the next day I watched the victory party from the balcony and through the sign frame broadcast, but, well, I really was in this kind of mood the whole time. So, um…”

Mary got the words out.

“I feel like we would be here all night long just getting through that night.”

Everyone collapsed onto their backs as if they had taken an uppercut to the jaw, except Asama who barely managed to restrain herself. Well, her and Horizon, who had cleverly propped herself up from behind with her arms.

○

Vice President: “O-okay, if we’re saying the incident started on the third day, then I guess I’m up next.”

Unturning: “You keep calling it an incident, but I’ve been on the Musashi for a while now and I don’t remember hearing about anything happening during that period. So what did happen?”

Tachibana Wife: “Judge. This was indirectly related to us, but once it was over, it was primarily about Lady Mary through and through, Date Vice Chancellor.”

Vice President: “Judge. It really did all come back to Mary once it was over. But there is a lot about it I still don’t understand, so I would like to have everyone record their part so we can figure it out.”

Asama: “Now that Mary has gotten us started, you can take your turn, Masazumi.”

●

It was the third day after the end of the Armada Battle. It was mid-afternoon, so just about time to take a break.

In a track suit, Masazumi got some fresh air and stretched in a “finally” sort of way.

She was up above the ocean and in the air. In other words, out on the Musashi’s deck like usual.

The sun was shining on the Musashino’s bow, but the Musashi’s great form was slicing through some lower clouds, sending them scattering in its wake. It was the kind of sunny day common on the boundary between late spring and early summer, just before the rainy season.

In preparation to dock at IZUMO, everyone on the Musashi was gathering and piling up broken objects and materials and then arranging to have them incinerated or crushed if possible.

The three days since the battle had been enough to complete most of the cleanup work, so the shift into repairs was beginning.

…The past few days have been exhausting…

It had been nonstop work since the end of the battle and holding a victory party had only made it worse.

So much had happened that it all blended together in her memory.

“I can barely remember what day it is anymore.”

The Armada Battle happening at night probably hadn’t helped there.

That night they had stayed up late having an exciting naval battle, individual battles, doing a flip, having the Logismoi Oplo miss, and watching Mary and Crossunite holding a warship-cutting ceremony as their first act as a couple, but when they left the combat zone the next morning, the Musashi had needed to recover from the damage, destruction, and small fires.

The extent of the damage hadn’t been clear, so the first day had mostly been checking on the people and infrastructure. They had also reapplied all the Musashi’s divine protections.

Fortunately, Naito, Naruze, and the rest of the delivery workers had graciously photographed or sketched the Musashi from the sky above. Their memos and the scans they had run from the ground had given a decent picture of the damage. Of course, this information hadn’t been free, but Naito and Naruze had acted as an intermediary to bring down the price and the Treasurer pair had said “We will use that data too, so we will pay for half!”. To make a long story short, Masazumi had gotten Ookubo to work out all the details.

The damage estimate that had come just after noon on the first day had been fairly widespread.

Not counting the stakes driven in by the mechanical phoenixes, the direct damage from the battle had primarily been to 1st port and starboard ships, the port and starboard sides of each ship, and to Tama. Conversely, the accumulation of ruined and damaged materials had been focused on the stern of each ship.

According to Naomasa…

“The initial fire ships hit the 1st port and starboard ships and the bows. The wheel formation by the fishing boats damaged the sides of the ships and Tama was boarded by their sports teams. The rest of the damage should be more or less evenly distributed among the ships.”

And…

“During the Musashi’s flip, the damaged and ruined materials probably gathered at the stern and then fell off under the effects of the surface gravitational control. That’s why so much is left at the stern, but around half probably fell into the ocean.”

“Maybe it will turn into a fish reef… If it’s buoyant, maybe it’ll wash ashore on the continental mainland? But, Naomasa, it sounds to me like the quickest way to get all that wreckage off the Musashi would be to…”

“Judge. We could have the Musashi fly upside down and then weaken the surface gravitational control.”

Knowing Naomasa, she really would do it, so Masazumi had to nix the idea.

With the extent of the damage known, they had spent yesterday approving repair workers from IZUMO requesting to come aboard. But security was important, so according to the Musashino bridge…

“Asama-sama, the Musashino bridge will now enter surface reconstruction mode with a focus on redirecting power to the surface. We ask that the Asama Shrine work with Masazumi-sama to relax the boarding check for workers coming from IZUMO. Over.”

Asama was the expert, so Masazumi had asked her how far they should relax those checks. And while opening a sign frame with practiced ease, Asama explained.

“Anyone boarding will be registered with our shrine and my dad said to set it so they receive immediate divine punishment if they attempt any kind of crime. After that, we only need to manage what areas they are allowed in and supply them with a place to sleep. …That is why the repairs will be done section by section. When each section is complete, we can change their approved area to the next one as they make their way around the Musashi.”

“Hey, that sounds convenient. Could you adapt that system to hire mercenaries for use on the ship?”

“Um,” interrupted Mitotsudaira. “Your Student Council needs to manage their approved areas and mark the work as complete, so while that might keep us safe, it would be a lot of extra work for you.”

Those concerns were well founded. The increased personnel helped get the work done faster, but it meant a lot more management work. Long story short, Ookubo ended up with a lot more on her plate.

○

CAN: “Milady! Milady! I hate to wake you at this hour, but the Vice President just sent a cryptic apology message that just says ‘sorry about that one time’ in all lower case!”

Nagaya-Stable: “One time!? One time!? What about all the other times!? Dammit. and which time does she mean!? Kanou-kun, do you have any ideas!?”

CAN: “Milady! How about we rebel if we can think of 10 different times!? What do you say!?”

●

On the first day, Mary and the Tachibana Couple’s boarding process was started. On the second day, the ruined materials were burned and that was used as a purifying bonfire for the victory party.

And today, on the third day, the partying was over and everyone was focused on their work. With the purifying incineration begun, the ship was looking cleaner and people had calmed down a lot.

Are we doing enough? wondered Masazumi just before a divine message arrived from “Musashi”.

This message wasn’t scheduled, so she had to ask something before even opening it.

“Hey! What did you all do this time!?”

“Why don’t you ask yourself that first!?” suggested Ohiroshiki.

She did so and couldn’t find any fault in her own actions aside from not visiting her mother’s grave as much as she should.

“No, I’ve been a model citizen. It must have been the rest of you.”

“Well, aren’t you confident!? That aside, Takarazuka Honda-kun, shouldn’t you read that message? It’s from the Musashino bridge, isn’t it?”

Oh, right, she realized, asking Tsukinowa to open it.

What could it be? she wondered as she took a look and a noise left her throat.

“Oh?”

At first, she couldn’t seem to understand what the message said.

●

*Correction by Silver Wolf-sama.

“Ohhhhhhhhwahh!?”

Mitotsudaira heard Masazumi make a weird exclamation.

“H-hey! I didn’t sound like that!”

“Oh, yes you did. I thought you were practicing for some new bit.”

“Right? The workers walking by turned your way and made a ‘cuckoo’ gesture next to their head, so I nodded back.”

“They can think what they want, but don’t confirm it for them!”

They were obviously going to ignore Masazumi’s protest, so it was time to ask a question.

“What did the Musashino bridge say, Masazumi? Is there a problem with the recovery work?”

After Mitotsudaira asked that in her track suit, Masazumi responded while petting her anteater Mouse.

“ ‘Musashi’ just contacted me to say that…we’ve been blocked from docking at IZUMO. Indefinitely.”

Meaning…

“The Musashi is stuck in this area. And we don’t know for how long.”

●

…Huh? Blocked from docking?

Mitotsudaira was filled with confusion. And at the same time…

“Huhh!?” shouted her king. He stood up in front of some stacks of papers and magazines left here to be disposed of. “Did I hear that right, Seijun!? IZUMO is kindly giving me a little more time to sort through all the porn here!?”

Horizon sent a low-flying punch into the king’s side. Her form is impeccable.

After he collapsed to the deck, Horizon picked him up by the collar.

“Toori-sama, you should return them to their original order even if you decide you do not want them.”

“What!? Really!? That’s your complaint here!?”

“On that note, the Asama Shrine will be going around doing a purifying incineration of all these papers and magazines, okay?”

After explaining that, Asama went “oh”, looked to Mitotsudaira, and tilted her head.

“We never explained the recording rules did we?”

“Why are you interrupting the recording for that!?”

○

Asama slapped her head in the darkness.

One of the people here didn’t know the rules. That person was Mitotsudaira’s mother. Since this was her first time doing this, she would need an explanation.

“Um, Mito’s mom?”

“Yes?”

Facing her directly like this made one thing very obvious.

…She’s huge…

This makes it so obvious how small my own chest is. Wait, no. Well, yes, but that’s not the point.

“Tomo! Tomo! Why are you staring so thoughtfully at my mother’s chest!?”

“Oh, um, I was just pondering the concept of relativity. …Anyway, Mito’s mom, this is a time for us teenagers to discuss a past incident, but we’re also using that to create a record of a confusing incident that none of us fully understands.”

“My, so if we trade our stories and compile them all, we can search out where my daughter and her king were smooching in secret?”

“Motherrr!”

Asama just about said “yes, we can”, but Mitototsudaira intercepted the response before she could.

Anyway, the rules were simple.

“I will record and edit everyone’s stories, so you can tell it orally. Sections that begin with a ‘○’ are where we tease each other, examine things, and trade thoughts in the present. Sections that begin with a ‘●’ are records from the time of the incident. Anyone who played a role should dig up their old memories and tell us the story.”

“If I have something to add or some teasing to do, should I do it when the timing feels right?”

“Yes,” confirmed Asama. She noticed how the Loup-Garou woman’s eyes glowed a beautiful gold in the dim lighting. She also noticed that Mary had a faint veil of ether light, so that may have been a spirit trait.

Suzu arrived with some snacks. She had prepared some emergency crackers with sliced boiled eggs and ham on top.

Asama took a breath and caught Mitotsudaira’s eye.

It was time for her to resume the record.

●

Mitotsudaira had a question for Masazumi.

“What do you mean Musashi is blocked from docking at IZUMO?”

“This doesn’t say. Even a day’s delay will mean a lot of our preparations go to waste, so I hope they give us permission soon.”

Circle Be: “Hey, Masazumi! I’m hearing rumors that we don’t have permission to dock at IZUMO! Is that true!? If this goes past a week after the Armada, we’ll be suing you for our lost profits!”

Vice President: “Sure. By the way, if I get sued in my position as Vice President, the Treasurer has to make the payment, so enjoy.”

Circle Be: “Damn you corrupt politicians!”

Look who’s talking, thought Mitotsudaira, but that was just who Heidi was. And it sounded like Musashi’s commerce and industry guild was already aware of the situation and would be working to determine how much of a problem it was.

…And if an understanding and some countermeasures are underway within Musashi…

“We should find out what’s happening outside.”

“ ‘Musashi’ only sent this notice. Do you know what that means?”

“Judge.” Mitotsudaira nodded. “It means this wasn’t IZUMO’s decision. If it was, IZUMO would be able to provide a reason for their decision.”

“Then IZUMO is probably currently in negotiations with the responsible party and maybe making some adjustments. We’ll just have to wait until that’s complete.” Masazumi turned to look at Mitotsudaira. “So who do you think IZUMO is dealing with?”

“I would prefer not to think about it, but there is one obvious candidate.”

What nation was found below where IZUMO floated?

“Hexagone Française. My motherland.”

○

“Now, a question for you, mother. Do you have anything to add?”

Mitotsudaira’s mother nodded at her daughter’s question.

“You want to know what was happening within Hexagone Française at the time?”

“Judge. I am curious what you were doing as their Vice Chancellor then.”

“Well, if you insist,” replied the mother. She scanned her eyes across the others before continuing. “This feels sudden, but I can provide that record. Including some state secrets.”

●

The Reine des Garous was very important. Extremely and supremely important. How important, you ask? Important enough to instantly subdue everything within a 20km radius.

As the one who had become synonymous with terror by conquering all of Europe’s dark and uninviting places, women and children trembled in helpless fear before her and the men would try to fight back but would still be devoured in the end.

That same Reine des Garous had been ordered to make an appearance.

The request came from Hexagone Française’s liaison committee. After the Musashi docked at IZUMO, Hexagone Française warriors would move to take the ship, so she was to travel to IZUMO in order to make her debut as Vice Chancellor there.

So she had sent back her reply:

“No, thanks. I’m not in the mood.”

The liaison committee head had shouted over the divine transmission, sounding flustered by the unexpected refusal.

“Eh!? But the Chancellor and President are both participating in this! They’ve both given their assent already!”

“I don’t see what they have to do with me.”

“Would you do it if one of them told you to!?”

“Can you relay a message to them?”

“What message?”

She was currently dashing through the woods. She twirled with a light step, whipping up the wind and shaking the tree branches as she juggled her beloved in her arms to adjust how she was holding him.

“Ask them what part of ‘mating season isn’t over yet’ they don’t understand.”

Our numbers are dwindling, so we can’t slack off about these things.

“This is the one time of the year where I can do whatever I want! Let’s mating season!”

“Motherrrrr!”

She thought she heard her daughter’s cry of protest from the far distant Musashi, but she had to be imagining it.

I’m such a maman girl to be so worried about the daughter I haven’t seen in years.

“You can’t just add ‘girl’ to ‘maman’!? That’s an oxymoron.”

My imagination is getting out of hand. Besides, anyone can be a girl if you call them one. It’s one of those all-powerful words.

This is a touchy subject. That must be why this imaginary protester is so worked up.

Anyway, she had to get back home so the two of them could get down to some lets-lets-ing. But…

“To reward myself for handling that so well, we should go in the shade of that tree and enjoy a quick ‘synonymous with terror’ session.”

A nearby resident would later tell the story of hearing a boy screaming repeatedly and at length in the forest that day, which only served to spread the word of how terrifying the Reine des Garous is. To be continued.

○

“Motherrrrrrrr!!”

“What did I do this time? Oh, I get it. You want a thorough play-by-play of what we did, don’t you?”

What am I supposed to do about this mother of mine? But Mitotsudaira also heard some whispering behind her.

“Leave it to Mito’s mom to require censorship for her very first record.”

“And Ture-yan has a surprisingly youthful writing style.”

“It also sounds like Hexagone Française is more reliant on her than I thought.”

Their high opinion of her mother made this more complicated than it needed to be.

But then Masazumi raised her hand.

“So if I interpreted that correctly, your instructions were based on the assumption that the Musashi would be docking?”

“Oh?” said the mother, turning to look at Masazumi.

Masazumi stared right back at the wolfish look of a predator assessing possible prey.

“I had thought IZUMO’s refusal had been a request made by Hexagone Française. But now we learn you were told to support the attempt to capture the docked Musashi. And that your Chancellor and President had agreed to that plan. That means Hexagone Française was not who was negotiating with IZUMO over the Musashi’s docking.”

“That’s how I see it too,” said Asama.

When the Musashi docked, she was in charge of managing the divine protections and local gods. Looking back at these records from the time must have led her to a further realization.

“To be honest, I didn’t understand why the incident back then happened the way it did and it felt like we were helpless to stop it. But once we start looking at what the other nations were doing, we’ll probably find things weren’t quite as they seemed.”

“Um,” someone interrupted. It was Mary, her eyebrows lowered. “And did this start with me?”

“Like we said, it all leads back to you.”

“My, my. Are you actually using your brains this late at night?” asked the mother, glancing over at Mitotsudaira.

…Eh?

Meanwhile, the mother gave a snort and looked to Masazumi and Asama.

“You two are the smart ones, aren’t you?”

Is she trying to provoke them!? She is, isn’t she!?

●

“Well, this certainly isn’t good.”

Masazumi looked to the others on the deck.

They were on Musashino’s bow deck.

They had wanted to meet in front of the academy, but the academy windows were broken and the schoolyard had become a dumping ground for damaged materials. The bow deck had been cleaned up early, so “Musashi” had directed them there as if to keep a nuisance away from where the actual work was happening.

…This is an inconvenient location when you want to respond quickly.

She wanted to investigate the reason behind IZUMO’s refusal.

Asking the representative committee to investigate was probably the correct course of action for that. But…

“Listen up, everyone. I have several jobs to complete today. And for the past few days, the committees have been busy with the repair work and all the work I tried to pass off to Ookubo was sent back with a ‘she’s out today’ message. So my plan is to head to the academy to learn why IZUMO is keeping us away while I ask everyone in Class Plum to complete my other jobs for me.”

“Oh, judge,” said Balfette while she and the Aoi Sister raised a hand. “I finished the repairs on the Okutama underground dorms I had been working on and all I have left is some dog-walking, so I’m free to do some work.”

“Heh heh. I finished my purification work going around dancing at the shrines across the ships, so I am free too.”

That’s an unusual pair, noted Masazumi. Meanwhile, Asama raised her hand too.

“If Mary-san and the Tachibana Couple’s boarding and release are part of that work, I can complete both of them for you. Once I complete the official process, they’re free to go, right?”

“Judge. It’s been three days, so if no new problems crop up, you can release them.”

“Then,” said Balfette, raising her hand again. “I can go to the Tres España pair. Is that alright with you, Kimi-san?”

“Oh? Adele, you don’t want Mary?”

It was Asama who answered the Aoi Sister’s question.

“The Tachibana Couple were Far Eastern name inheritors, so the process to switch them to Shinto sign frames should go smoothly. But Mary was not under England’s provisional rule, so she probably isn’t familiar with Shinto sign frames or Shinto’s fuzzy rules.”

“Heh heh. I take it she will be receiving a very thorough lecture from our resident Shinto nerd of a shrine maiden! Answers to all the questions you didn’t ask! She will come to fear the phrase, ‘Oh, one more thing’! Now, say it with me!”

Asama raised her right hand to attack and the idiot sister picked Balfette up and made a hasty exit, but where was she even going?

That aside, Asama turned toward Mitotsudaira.

“Okay, Mito. I’ll be going to the English embassy, so you come as my bodyguard.”

“Eh!? M-me!?”

“Yes, you. Lately, Horizon has been at the Blue Thunder baking tons of delivery bread with Toori-kun’s mom and Toori-kun has been getting into so much trouble the guards told me they’re sick of going through the whole process each and every time and asked if they can just detain him at the crime scene next time.”

“Wait, wasn’t Horizon here just a bit ago, kicking the idiot in the crotch?”

Everyone looked to Horizon who faded away into an afterimage before vanishing altogether.

Horizey: “Heh. What are all of you looking at? I am at the Blue Thunder.”

“She certainly has her own style, doesn’t she? Anyway, how would they detain the idiot at the crime scene?”

“They would chain him to the nearest torii-style information terminal and then it would be up to me to go free him some time later.”

The way Asama couldn’t look them in the eye as she explained suggested this had already happened at least once.

○

“Okay,” said Masazumi. “Looks like starting on day three is going to work. IZUMO’s docking refusal was when the incident began to affect things in a noticeable way, so let’s just continue from here.”

Asama, Mitotsudaira, and some others nodded, but the Reine des Garous, Naomasa, Naito, and some others tilted their heads.

…They still don’t know what this is all about, so I can’t really blame them.

That may have been why Naito raised her hand to ask a question.

“So the problem continued to spread from that notice you received?”

“Judge. That’s right. Thinking back, the answer was already right there in front of us, but let’s continue our examination. And this might get tricky later on because we may need to go back to the first day after the Armada Battle at some point.”

“Eh? You mean we’ll rewind time by three days?”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “If we think of the third day as ‘the present’, then there should be something worth ‘going back’ to the first day to look at. But for now let’s continue with the third day. We’re currently at the mid-afternoon and I’m on my way to the academy to get some details on the docking refusal. Balfette and the Aoi Sister are going to Tama’s Tres Españan embassy to visit the Tachibana Couple. Asama and Mitotsudaira are on their way to Tama’s English embassy to visit Mary. Both groups are visiting to approve their release.

“Okay,” she said again. They had established a starting point anyone could understand. “Everything leads back to Mary in that incident. So let’s see what happens next.”

Chapter 2: Size and Capacity

This means

We are thinking of

Size and capacity separately, doesn’t it?

Point Allocation (No Real Meaning)

●

Asama’s job was to work with Mitotsudaira to complete the process for Mary’s release.

That would give Mary freedom to move around on the Musashi. The process was normally completed at the boarding administrative office, but Mary’s situation was too complex. It required too much unique preparation.

…I did Masazumi’s boarding process too.

How many times had she done this process for a classmate now? She had helped her dad with the process even before she entered elementary school.

“In a way, Tomo, you’re better suited for this job than Masazumi.”

“But our positions are a little different in Mary’s case.”

After changing into their uniforms and getting ready, they had walked to a 3-story stone-walled white building near Tama’s outer edge.

That was the English embassy. It was already evening and Asama took a breath in front of the building awash with the colors of sunset.

“For today, I think we should greet Mary-san and decide what needs to be done while we flexibly work through her contract and process. Sticking to a standard script is too risky with these things.”

“Judge. You really do want to adapt this to the person and situation. Sticking to the standard options would be a bad idea.”

“Right. And, Mito? The embassy is a foreign facility, so to guard myself on the Shinto end, I will be using the standard purification clapping.”

“Tomo! You’re already falling back on the standards!”

“Yes, well, it’s a good starting point from a Shinto point of view.”

“Um, you two are free to come in whenever you like.”

Bless Mary for calling out to them from the 3rd floor window.

They opened the front door and walked past a few people who seemed to work at the embassy. When Asama bowed, the workers bowed back with looks of minor surprise, so this was probably a touchy time for England.

●

Masazumi held her head in her hands as she passed by the Asama Shrine on Okutama while walking to the academy.

“I sent them in my place, but I’m starting to think that was a bad idea…”

“Do not worry, Masazumi-sama! Asama-sama is the cornerstone of Musashi’s anti-ship attack force, so not even a warship can get the better of her! If anything, she is overkill for an anti-personnel mission in an embassy! And Mitotsudaira-sama snuck into England under the cover of night, did some ‘lu la la la’ howling, and then partially trashed a block of the city, so you have nothing at all to worry about!”

She decided to note that the auditory hallucination of Horizon only made her more worried.

●

“Tomo, let’s not do anything that would play into Masazumi’s worries.”

“Of course, Tomo. We wouldn’t want to do that.”

The two of them exchanged a straight-faced handshake before Asama faced forward.

…I’ve been in the English embassy a few times before.

The door led into a foyer, which led back into a hall that acted as the dining room. They knew her, so she was free to walk right in. Mitotsudaira followed after her.

“Tomo, have you been here before?”

“Yes. England is a Catholic-leaning Protestant nation, but Musashi’s infrastructure is of course based on Shinto.”

So even if they were Tsirhc, their building would apply a Tsirhc data conversion hub atop the Shinto base. That process required divine transmission authority, so it was a job for the Asama Shrine.

“So you might be more familiar with each nation’s embassy than anyone else.”

“No, no. The engine division stores all the infrastructure plans, so Masa would know more than me.”

Just as they arrived in the dining hall, Mary descended from the stairs in the back.

…Wow.

Light scattered from her.

Asama had never before seen someone who left a trail of ether flowers in her wake.

And it only now hit her that…

…She’s huge…

And I don’t mean her height. I mean her chest- no, um, I mean her capacity as a person. Yes.

“Tomo! Tomo! Did you really just say that!?”

Mito, would you please stop reading my mind?

●

Mitotsudaira sat next to Asama and across from Mary at a table large enough for a light meal.

While she had helped with Mary’s rescue, she honestly felt a distance between them now that they were facing each other like this.

…Because I’m from Hexagone Française and she’s from England.

○

Silver Wolf: “Ahhhhh! Why was I like that!? Ahhhhh!”

Scarred: “Hm? What did you do, Lady Mitotsudaira?”

Still Got It: “Hee hee. Mary-san? I am so happy you have been such a good friend to my daughter. Yes, I hear you are close enough that you sometimes lend her Excalibur.”

Flat Vassal: “I feel like the scale shot up for that last part!”

Silver Wolf: “Can you stop playing the parent card here!?”

●

…W-well, I was still a little tense at “this time”.

That said, this was the English embassy. Asama would be doing most of the work Masazumi had left with them, so it was up to Mitotsudaira to guard Asama.

Mary was here, but her defection had become official English policy. With the embassy cooperating with Musashi, there was no real reason to be on edge.

…Still, the things I’ve always been told and taught are hard to shake.

She had lived in Hexagone Française until she entered elementary school. To Hexagone Française, England was like a disliked relative, so while they had cut all ties, their geographic and religious connections left them in position to “try something” against the other. Whenever they didn’t have anything going on, they would try to wage war with the other or interfere in their king’s authority.

And it didn’t help that she was well aware of that history and that it was still ongoing.

So she became self-conscious about the possibility that she was being overly cautious of Mary and this embassy.

“Heh heh. I love your self-conscious side! You get that way with my foolish brother too! C’mon, say it: ‘I am not a puppy dog!’ But we all know you just want him to ask you to stay! Now bark for me! Bark!”

I believe I pretended to raise a fist and the pretend Kimi ran away.

But as awkward as it felt for Mitotsudaira, Tomo was in business mode. She had a sign frame open and stared straight ahead.

…I feel bad making this awkward for her.

Mitotsudaira decided to follow the Asama Shrine shrine maiden’s gaze. And…

…They’re huge.

She meant Mary’s boobs. Wait, why are you staring at Mary’s chest, Tomo?

●

Right up until Mitotsudaira looked her way, Asama was lost in thought.

There was a problem here. A few boarding processes had been completed for Mary and everything necessary on the national side was done, so Asama was just about to move on to the personal matters.

The most important was her personal infrastructure. The sign frames and other services provided to Musashi’s residents helped support their life aboard the ship.

Yes, a divine transmission contract was crucially important. And if you want a safe, reliable, and affordable contract, look no further than the Asama Shrine’s ‘Tomo Tomo Plan’ (plan named by my father). Act now and the first three months are free! But wait, there’s more! For the first six months, you will also receive ten free Shinto spells – worth as much three substitutions – each month for no extra charge! And you can then choose one of those spells to continue receiving each month for free!

“Tomo! Tomo! That’s not the point of these records!”

I’m telling the story in my own way!

But there was a problem here.

…What is her Blessing level?

Mary was supposedly a half-spirit. There were a fair number of those on the Musashi.

But Mary was also a high-ranking figure in England, which could affect this.

“Um, Mary-san? Have you ever had your Blessing level measured?”

After a pause, Mary shook her head.

…That was a silly question!

She was Tsirhc. In Tsirhc, spells were an act of god and Tsirhc musicians were said to borrow that power from an external source.

So what happened to the Blessings formed inside a spell caster when they meditated and such?

“Because it is believed human actions can never measure up to an act of god, you have a contract that sends all Internal Blessings through the ley lines to your religion’s ether fuel pool, correct?”

“Yes, we generally only have the bare minimum of Internal Blessings and we also do not use External Blessings, so they are never measured in Tsirhc. They would only be measured if there was suspicion that someone was actually a pagan or user of Technomagie.”

…I thought as much.

Then that was out of the question. Even if it was a standard procedure, measuring Mary’s Blessings here would be seen by Tsirhc as if they were treating her as – or suspecting her of being – a pagan or Technohexen. But Mary…

“I do not mind if you measure mine.”

“Oh, um, it isn’t necessary. We have no problem with Tsirhc people who do dabble in paganism or Technomagie, but I wouldn’t ask that of someone who doesn’t.”

“Then…?”

“Yes. We have a template for this that let’s me set a tentative Blessing level. It might not be enough or it might be too much to start out with, but just let me know and I will run periodic checks too.”

That said, Asama was extremely worried about something.

…I can’t even start to read the Blessing level of a half-spirit on her level!

She was a half-spirit, she was Tsirhc, she carried Ex. Collbrande, she was the Fairy Queen’s sister, she was an English princess, and after Tenzou-kun confessed to her, she had produced enough ether flowers to cover not just London but several kilometers around it.

…That alone suggests she’s on the level of a great spirit.

She would be able to support the phase of an entire region. And if the extent of the flowers over London could be used to estimate her Blessing level, there was only one conclusion.

“Absolutely enormous…” she muttered, her gaze drooping a bit.

Then she noticed Mitotsudaira staring at her.

●

Mitotsudaira thought Asama had gone crazy again.

But she knew what was causing Asama’s weird behavior here.

It was Mary. That girl’s chest really was enormous. That was an undeniable fact. So…

“Tomo…I agree that Mary’s is enormous.”

●

“Right?” agreed Asama.

Mitotsudaira was a Loup-Garou, which, from a species standpoint, was similar to a half-spirit. She had some quirks related to Blessings that differed from ordinary people and she had an affinity for ether.

Apparently she had also concluded that Mary’s Blessing level was enormous. So Asama lowered her voice so only Mitotsudaira could hear.

“Mary-san’s really is huge, isn’t it?”

“Judge. It really is. You can tell at a glance.”

“At a glance!?”

“What, you can’t tell by looking?”

Asama looked and saw Mary seemed a little concerned. Oh, sorry. I get a little carried away when it comes to ether-related topics. It comes with the job.

But while Asama could detect the ether of divine protections and spells, she couldn’t visually judge Blessing level with much accuracy.

“Hmm. I guess I’m not a sommelier like you, Mito.”

“I-I’m nothing special. Really, my king has the greatest skill as a sommelier.”

Toori-kun does?

Did he have any spells or protections to that end?

…But he is the kind of person who can just tell these things.

Asama decided to ask Mitotsudaira about it.

“So how much do you think Mary-san has?”

After a pause, Mitotsudaira responded. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head as if visually measuring something.

“More than 100, I’d say.”

●

“More than 100!?”

Mitotsudaira saw Asama turn toward her more forcefully than she had expected.

But she still thought that was a good estimate for Mary’s chest size. It really goes without saying, she thought. But…

“That does go a bit beyond the usual range, doesn’t it?”

She considered the topic further as she spoke.

She could tell Mary’s chest was contained within her uniform’s inner suit. But when she looked up a bit from those enormous things, she saw the neckline. There were strings meant to tighten it, but Mary left half of those undone.

Which meant…

“Tomo, I see now why you had trouble getting a good reading.”

It wasn’t that Asama wasn’t seeing that size. Instead…

“Her inner suit is suppressing the true value, so you need to account for that.”

●

“Her inner suit is suppressing it!?”

Asama hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Mitotsudaira seemed mildly disturbed by Asama’s reaction, but was her suggestion even possible?

…Inner suits are normally designed to increase the Blessing fluidity.

The inner suit helped the circulation of spells and protections. They wouldn’t suppress it instead.

But, she thought. What about in Mary’s case?

If her Blessing level was too large, it could leak out or she could lose control.

“––––––”

Asama’s eyes stopped on the glowing flowers spilling from Mary’s hair and all around her.

They were made of ether. Based on that…

…If she wasn’t suppressing her true level, maybe what we saw above London would be happening all the time.

That makes sense, she thought with an internal nod of understanding.

Mary’s uniform or inner suit might be special made to suppress rather than enhance. That was necessary information – and a concern – now that she would be living in the Far East. So Asama made a note of it on her sign frame.

“Mito, you may be right about that in her case.”

That hint had been very valuable. While Asama silently thanked her, Mitotsudaira said something else.

“Tomo, I think yours is pretty enormous too.”

…Eh?

It was true she put in daily training to increase her Blessing level. She did represent the Asama Shrine, after all. Most people’s Inner Blessing level was roughly equivalent to their age, but she had reached 36 Blessings at the start of spring and she had jumped to 44 since Mikawa. That was a bit of fluke and had a lot do with the changes she had made to her ether usage settings. She could boost it further by rearranging her divine protections, but how far could she get if she used every trick in the book?

…I really don’t think I could get above 100.”

“My best guess is something like 53.”

●

…53!?

Like the stations of Tokaido!? thought Mitotsudaira. But wait, how many of those stations have been created early for the history recreation? No, that’s not the point. Now, I’ve never actually measured Tomo’s size and can only judge it visually, but I personally think she’s bigger than Mary. Kimi probably is too. If I could call my king here and have him do his naked eye sommelier routine, I could get some more accurate figures.

“Tomo, I really think you have her beat.”

“No, no, no. That’s ridiculous.”

But how could Mary be over 100 with Asama being only 53?

…Is she using inches!?

Let’s say Mary’s measure is in centimeters and Tomo’s is in inches. 1 inch is 2.54 centimeters, so that would make Tomo’s size 134.62. Oh, dear. I’m so rattled I did the math in my head. But…

…About 135!?

That’s two Adeles!

“Don’t drag me into this! Use yourself, 5th Special Duty Officer!”

I can’t be dragging you into it when it was only about you in the first place, Phantom Adele. And I don’t count.

But looking at her own family, Mitotsudaira could tell numbers like that were certainly possible.

…Does this mean Tomo is also suppressing her true value!?

No, I know I’ve see them at Suzu’s bathhouse, but I didn’t sommelier them, so who knows. Besides, the number is eye-popping, but maybe seeing them for yourself isn’t so bad. And that number is calculated from the top and under measurements.

“Judge. …I understand now.”

“You do?” sighed Asama. And then, probably trying to be nice: “Mito, I bet you can make yours grow a fair bit too.”

●

Mitotsudaira was a Loup-Garou and nonhumans generally had an advantage over humans when it came to ether. That would suggest that Mitotsudaira’s level would be a bit higher than the average person, but couldn’t she work at pushing that even further?

But the wolf herself was skeptical.

“I know my mother is…exceptional in that regard, but I really don’t think I can ever reach that level. Besides, our god has told me several times that growth there isn’t so simple.”

“Don’t worry. If you do things right, our god will help you out.”

“Really!?”

She really latched onto that. And…

“B-but our god has already told me ‘it isn’t happening’ over a hundred times.”

…She has?

Asama realized she had barely ever called Mitotsudaira over when she did any training to boost her Blessing level or researched new settings. She had been training each term or when the timing seemed right, but…

“Then you should start training for that.”

“Training!? It requires training!?”

“Yes,” confirmed Asama. And knowing it would delight Mitotsudaira, she added, “Sometimes I do it with Toori-kun.”

“With my king!?”

She latched onto that even harder.

“Wh-what have you been doing with my king!?”

Kimi is usually there too, thought Asama, but she’d lost the chance to say so. And due to the Logismoi Oplo, Horizon had been joining them of late. But for now…

“First, you will need a lecture on how to make it grow.”

“There’s a lecture?”

“There is. To teach the theory behind it.”

Mitotsudaira lurched back, looking dizzy. But the most important part came next:

“And after that…you put the theory into practice. It works better if you combine it with a recovery system.”

●

…There’s a whole technique to this!?

“A-and this would be with my king!?”

“Eh? Yes, sometimes it’s faster with a second person and some parts require it. You generally do it all yourself, but it’s more efficient with two,” said Asama. “And once you’re done, you purify yourself in the shrine spring and finish up.”

“I-I would finish…in that spring?”

“Yes. All in all, a session takes around 4 hours.”

She imagined completing a 4-hours-per-session process with her king. A blush rose mercilessly from her neck.

“––––”

Blood sprayed from her nose.

“A-are you alright, Musashi 5th Special Duty Officer!?”

Thinking back, I was worrying Mary even then, but that one hit me hard.

○

Asama: “…”

Silver Wolf: “…”

Asama: “I’m…beginning to think we weren’t talking about the same thing.”

Silver Wolf: “I’m sorry! That one was my fault! Ahhhhh!”

Vice President: “How do you two ever manage to hold a conversation?”

Still Got It: “Hee hee. Oh, Nate. You just don’t get it. Converting your chest size into inches isn’t a trick to use make it seem bigger when returning to centimeters – it’s used to make it sound smaller when yours is just too big.”

Flat Vassal: “When is a normal person ever going to need to use that trick!?”

Scarred: “Lady Mitotsudaira’s ether looked so happy back then it delighted me to watch it. I could tell right away she was a good person.”

Silver Wolf: “A-and there’s the finishing blow!”

●

Thanks to Mitotsudaira’s advice on Mary’s Blessing level, Asama chose 120 as a starting point. That just left some other details to work out, but…

“We can’t provide accurate support if you haven’t chosen a home yet, so please make that decision soon.”

“Oh, not to worry. Master Tenzou said he is working on that,” said Mary. “But I have been looking into some of that and it is a difficult problem.”

“Yeah, there’s no end of things you could want. Is there anything in particular you would want, Mary-san?”

“Well, personally I think soundproofing would be nice.”

Asama had to suppress the excitement that word produced inside her.

…Soundproofing!? For her home with Tenzou-kun!?

Wow, maybe they’ll be getting married at the Asama Shrine in no time. I just hope her family doesn’t storm the wedding with a shotgun. Wow, wowwwww.

“Tomo! Tomo! You didn’t suppress it at all!”

I already told you to stop reading my mind, Mito. Anyway, she calmed her breathing and…

“Y-yes, soundproofing is important, isn’t it?”

“It really is. I have been practicing Far Eastern cooking lately and the knife makes so much noise on the cutting board I’m afraid I would become a neighborhood nuisance.”

Asama repeated Mary’s explanation to herself thrice before responding.

“Eh?”

○

Gold Mar: “…”

Art-Ga: “…”

Asama: “Wh-why aren’t you saying anything!? Cooking is a challenge, isn’t it!? Isn’t it!?”

●

Asama completed the process while feeling irritated for no apparent reason.

Mary bowed her head, flowers spilling onto the table.

“Thank you very much. Then am I free to leave starting tonight?”

“Yes. You can move into your new home as soon as you choose one. …Oh, I do have one more question: do you have any family on the mainland, in IZUMO, or on the Musashi?”

If she did, it would be easy to put together a plan with a family discount. If they lived off the Musashi, she would be able to benefit from it even when she wasn’t aboard. That would come in handy for Mary since her situation was so delicate. But…

“I’m sorry, but I don’t. …Well, on paper I have the inherited name of Mary Tudor, who marries Felipe II of Tres España. And as Mary Stuart I marry Francis II of France.”

“They are both Tsirhc, correct? And have you already cut ties with them?”

“Yes,” she confirmed and Asama felt bad for asking.

…But as fuzzy as Shinto’s rules can be, connections like that are still important.

Once ties had been cut, their relationship became something else and an appropriate ceremony or process was needed to change it back. But then Mary raised her head in realization.

“Um, they aren’t exactly family, but can you look into someone for me?”

“Oh, yes. Shinto is great at finding people. Who is it?”

“Margaret Pole. And also Elisabeth of Valois.”

Those names sounded vaguely familiar. Mitotsudaira, who had been collapsed on the table with a handkerchief over her nose, straightened up and raised her right hand.

“Excuse me. I don’t know the former, but the latter is a French princess who goes on to marry Felipe II of Spain, correct? When Mary Stuart went to France to marry Francis II, they became friends and their friendship is said to have continued even after Mary lost her husband and returned to England and after Elisabeth was wed to Spain.”

“Yes. My marriages were only on paper, but – maybe for the history recreation – I received kind letters from Hexagone Française and Tres España and we became pen pals.

“But,” continued Mary. “While I never met Elisabeth, I heard she had passed away. I was just wondering…if that only means she gave up her inherited name.”

●

Adele watched Gin and the embassy workers moving back and forth between the hall and the back room an awful lot.

She knew the document she had brought was the cause. It backed up Gin and Muneshige’s choice to give up their inherited names and accepted them as Musashi residents.

…Principal Sakai works fast…

But they must have had certain expectations. When Adele and Kimi arrived at the embassy, they passed by some workers walking out, but those workers tilted their heads at the two girls.

“Why do you think they looked so confused, Kimi-san?”

“Heh heh. Two of their major name inheritors are trying to cast off their own inherited names. I expect they at least wanted a personal visit from the Vice President. Then again,” added Kimi, opening an authorization sign frame in front of the embassy door. “Their homeland was likely considering removing their inherited names anyway, but this is still going to cause a stir among the embassy workers.”

That had all happened earlier. Once inside, they had passed the document to Gin and Muneshige and asked them to confirm the process. The two of them appeared ready to do this. One female worker was moved to tears, but Muneshige bowed to all of them, thoroughly gathered their luggage, and began moving back and forth with Gin to complete all the necessary work.

Adele and Kimi mainly had to wait while Gin occasionally came to check on something. They sipped on some New World coffee and listened to the progress of Asama and Mitotsudaira’s work at the English embassy.

“Elisabeth of Valois, huh? I know her. I’ve never actually met her, but I’ve done a lot of research on Hexagone Française because of my dad.”

○

Gin raised her hand while handing Suzu her glass as the girl went around collecting empty glasses.

“I also have information on Elisabeth of Valois, so give me a chance to supplement the record later. …Also, I will add that this was three days after the Armada battle. On the first day, I was freed as a prisoner of war. On the second day, I was reunited with Master Muneshige the night of the victory party. The third day was when I spoke with the Vice President about Master Muneshige’s suggestion that we give up our inherited names.”

“Yeah,” nodded the Musashi Vice President, turning toward Gin. “We had the same idea in our discussions on the first day, so we already had the paperwork ready. I remember being impressed by how quickly their Vice President responded. That must have been one of the possibilities they had already prepared for.”

“Lady Juana always sets aside her personal feelings and makes the best choice for the nation. …Which only causes her more stress in the long run.”

“Sounds rough…”

“I experienced no stress whatsoever when I made the best possible choice at Mikawa,” added the Vicereine.

“Now, now,” said the Asama Shrine Representative, patting the Vicereine’s shoulder to calm her down. Meanwhile, the Musashi Vice President recalled what had happened.

“If I remember right, it was on the morning of the fourth day that Tres España sent their response, so we went to Principal Sakai to ask him to let you two in, and then the committees had to get to work.”

“I believe you are correct. And the document you sent us by proxy led Master Muneshige and me to truly make up our minds. It was a busy time, but you can continue the record for us.”

●

Adele opened a sign frame with information on the person Asama had mentioned.

“Elisabeth of Valois is a princess who seems like a decent enough person. When I was researching Europe in this era, she stood out as a particularly good person. As for Margaret Pole…”

“I know her, Adele!”

Kimi yelled that, so all the embassy workers turned their way and it was really awkward. Why did Kimi love being the center of attention so much? Regardless, Adele nodded back.

“Margaret Pole is from the time of Mary-san’s father, Henry VIII. England did not have just one royal line, so while Mary-san and the Fairy Queen were from the rising House of Tudor, Margaret Pole was from the House of Plantagenet, the royal house that continued after the House of Normandy born from the Norman Conquest.”

“And why is Mary asking to find her?”

“Judge,” replied Adele. “According to the Testament, Margaret Pole was Mary-san’s…that is, Mary Tudor’s teacher.”

Chapter 3: The Past and a Bird’s-Eye View

Her trademark gag is

A ghost panic attack with

An Ina Bauer

Point Allocation (Stop Being a 5-7-5 Nuisance!)

●

Mary did not hesitate to bring up an element of her past.

What kind of person was Margaret Pole?

“Before I entered elementary school, I was given a teacher. Because I had the inherited names of Double Bloody Mary, I required education separate from what my sister received.”

Mary thought back on that time as she spoke.

“She was pretty and young…maybe in her late teens? But I was still a young child, so it seemed like she knew everything and could do anything. Since we didn’t have a mother, my sister was very jealous. That was why I had her revise the ‘save you from anything’ line I created with my sister.”

“That’s some incredible behind-the-scenes information there, but does this mean she was the one who taught you everything before you entered elementary school?”

“Yes,” she replied. “She taught me about England and the other nations, as well as the basics of cooking, sewing, etiquette, combat, and spells. She created the foundation of everything I know.”

“I see,” said the Asama Shrine Representative. Mary sensed real understanding within her.

“Did you have a teacher like that?”

“Well, my mom played a similar role for me…”

She trailed off as if to redirect the conversation. Mary could understand why. And…

“That teacher was a name inheritor, right? Where is she now in terms of the history recreation?”

Sensing a hint to move on in the 5th Special Duty Officer’s questions, Mary went ahead and answered.

“She was executed.”

○

Silver Wolf: “Ahhhhhh!!”

Tachibana Wife: “Wasn’t it just an unavoidably awkward situation?”

Scarred: “I thought Lady Mitotsudaira was pushing me to come out and say it because we wouldn’t get anywhere talking around the issue.”

Asama: “Yes, Mito has a way of going straight for the kill.”

Silver Wolf: “Um, Tomo, you’re not helping.”

●

Mitotsudaira asked Mary a question.

“Was her execution meant as…an example for you?”

“No. In the history recreation, her family started a rebellion against my father – perhaps as descendants of the House of Plantagenet – so they were executed for the conspiracy. I have heard the Testament says it started with her brother Edward and then her child. But England had a more important issue to focus on. Namely, my sister and me.”

“So she wasn’t actually executed?”

“One day, she was gone. We had a party to celebrate when I entered elementary school and that was the last time I ever saw her. So I don’t think she was truly executed.”

But in that case…

“Is Margaret Pole still alive?”

●

Mitotsudaira sensed a further question in her own question.

“What does her name inheritor data say?”

“In my third year of elementary school, I realized I could look that up and I had the authority to do so, so I discovered her inherited name and history recreation had been officially ended. They were complete.”

Mitotsudaira had a reason to be hesitant to respond.

Interpretations or not, when people’s history recreation was complete, the records would only provide what the Testament said happened to them.

So the record would end with the Testament version, not what actually happened to them.

For people whose influence would continue after their death, their death could be more of a fluid thing thanks to the favors, interpretations, and interests of their nation, but once their history recreation was truly declared complete, then their story was over. Margaret Pole’s history recreation was likely handled well, but she hadn’t been all that important to mainstream history.

“The people who were with you had their recreations ended early so the other nations couldn’t interfere with the events leading from your execution to the Armada Battle, right?”

That was perfectly fine according to the rules of the history recreation. In fact, a nation was supposed to complete their recreations in a timely fashion.

“Ow ow ow ow ow owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! That idea acts as a harsh attack against those of us who can’t stand doing things the right way!”

“That was only the sound of Horizon’s ghost, so don’t panic, Mary-san. This happens a lot.”

“O-okay…”

Looking at Mary, it was obvious she had no way of checking on Margaret Pole from inside England. But Mitotsudaira did have another question.

“What makes you think she might still be alive?”

Mary tilted her head with her eyebrows drooping in a smile. She seemed to be saying she wasn’t all that sure about it herself.

“When I escaped from the Tower of London with Master Tenzou, some familiar ghosts saw me off. But she was not among them. At least…I didn’t see her there.”

●

Adele saw Kimi suddenly lurch backwards in the next seat over.

“Aiyahhhhh! The 300+ ghosts!? Why did you have to remind me of that, Adele!?”

“I-if it scares you so much, don’t talk about it so bluntly! Think of it as the 1st Special Duty Officer carrying Mary-san while they were picked up by the transport ship’s rope ladder and Mary-san was seen off by her executed mother and the 300 she had slaughtered in the past.”

“Are you trying to finish the job by adding in all those details!? You are, aren’t you!? Look, my fainting meter is filling up! Ahh! I’m going to pass out! But I can still fight it!”

“Um, is fainting really something that builds up gradually?”

“By the way, Lady Vassal, I happened to overhear while walking by, but isn’t ‘slaughtered’ too harsh a word?”

“Oh, you’re right, Gin-san! Um, what’s a better way to put it!? Would it be more elegant to say she filleted them!?”

Gin tilted her head.

“Filleting doesn’t seem like a particularly elegant thing to me.”

“I don’t know what the right word for it is, but the sashimi you make always looks really elegant.”

“So elegant it immediately comes out the other end like a stick of brown sugar,” came a divine transmission comment.

“Since I’m in this time period too, I’ll add that it wasn’t like that at all!” added Mitotsudaira also via divine transmission.

“Anyway,” said Gin. “You could say she ‘got to know them in terms of the history recreation’.”

“That’s great!”

Gold Mar: “We all got to know Adele in terms of being a human shield.”

Art-Ga: “We all got to know Adele in terms of a black-and-white comic.”

Horizey: “We all got to know Adele-sama in terms of leftovers.”

“C-could you please at least drop the ‘-sama’ for consistency in your joke!?”

●

The Tres Españan embassy sounds like an exciting place, thought Asama.

She hadn’t gone to London on the night of the Armada Battle, but…

“Mito, you were on the transport ship when we rescued Mary from England, weren’t you? Did you see anyone who looked like Margaret Pole among the 300+ ghosts there?”

“No…but I didn’t get that close a look.”

Mary’s mother had apparently been there. If so, those ghosts would have been her allies. Or more accurately, they had seen her off without letting anyone, even the Fairy Queen, touch her. In that case..

“If she were dead, she would have been there to see you off, wouldn’t she?” asked Mitotsudaira.

…Is that really so?

Asama had some doubts about that conclusion. But Mary had her own answer.

“But that means she is either alive or in another nation. If she did die somewhere else, I don’t think she would have appeared there in England.”

○

Scarred: “Ahh, why do I always come out with a conclusion that only acts to limit the possibilities. Looking back, that bad habit was especially noticeable during this period.”

Unturning: “I can’t say for sure, but maybe you had gotten in the habit of being executed.”

Flat Vassal: “What kind of habit is that?”

Horizey: “But don’t worry! This is the dangerous warrior nation of Musashi where someone always comes up with a premature answer and ends up making a fool of themselves for it! Now, someone tell the tale of when you did that to yourself!”

Circle Be: “Yes, yes, coming through. It’s me, the one who tried to overthrow official policy and nearly became a god of Sanuki!”

●

“Excuse me!”

Gin saw the vassal shoot to her feet and raise her hand.

Gin held out a hand to silence the concerned workers, but she also gestured for them to keep their guard up. A baseball player readied a pitch and a track runner readied a metal ball while watching the oddly-behaving vassal.

“What do you want, Lady Vassal?”

“Gin-san! Gin-san! Come join us for a bit!”

“Even if this is only a record, we must provide a realistic account of how it would happen if it did happen this way.”

“Heh heh heh. Don’t worry about it, Gin! Okay, Adele, to keep this realistic I will start dancing in fear, so you endure all the blows when they start swinging their bats and throwing their metal balls!”

“Ahhhh, we left realism behind ages ago, but I know that’s not going to stop you from going through with this!”

“So what did you want to say, Adele?” asked Asama via divine transmission.

“Listen to this, Asama-san! Gin-san and Kimi-san are-”

“Hm, I should probably just give up on her. Or I could call for Toori-kun…no for Muneo-san.”

“Why are you retreating twice in a row in the middle of your explanation, and why is your final option so dependent on Gin-san’s mood!?”

“Incidentally, Master Muneshige is currently on the 2nd floor repacking the cart with the souvenirs he brought from Tres España, so he will not be here for a while. Unpacking them all to have something to talk about last night was a mistake.”

“A-are you saying my cause of death here is souvenir discussions!?”

“Okay, Adele, you can just hide behind Kimi once Gin-san starts shooting. No, wait, Kimi would just dodge it all and it would hit you instead. Sorry, scratch that idea.”

“Asama-san! Asama-san! Now you’re rushing to a conclusion and limiting the options!”

They can’t stop attacking each other, noted Gin.

…How did Tres España lose to these people?

Meanwhile, the doorbell rang and someone walked in carrying a basket.

“Hello. As a Horizon Judgment, I ask that you accept this in exchange for overlooking Adele-sama’s behavior! I have brought a gift of bread. Stamp herrrrrrrrrrrre!”

A worker stamped the form with their seal and the bread was delicious. And after the delivery worker left…

“Now that that has been worked out, please explain your odd behavior, Lady Vassal.”

“Oh, judge! I bet I know what happened to Margaret Pole. You know how we mentioned Queen Elisabeth before?”

How did that tie into this?

“I bet after Margaret Pole finished up as Mary-san’s teacher, she went to Hexagone Française and inherited Queen Elisabeth’s name!”

○

The Reine des Garous jotted down a thought she had.

“I said I would supplement your records in anything related to Hexagone Française, didn’t I? As you’ve already said, the Testament said Queen Elizabeth, wife of Spain’s Felipe II, became friends with Mary Stuart, wife of Francis II, when she was in France. During that time, they were both taught the manners and knowledge they needed as royals. Spending time together while dreaming of their life as queens in their respective lands would unavoidably lead to a friendship. Thanks to this, their friendship was a long-lasting one.”

So…

“Margaret Pole taught Mary Tudor and Elisabeth was educated alongside Mary Stuart. But in the history recreation, Mary Stuart’s marriage was only on paper, so Mary and Elisabeth wouldn’t have met. So if they did still develop a friendship, it could mean that Margaret and Elisabeth were the same person.”

●

“My phantom mother’s suggestion is a bit of a stretch. In more ways than one.”

Gin considered the Musashi 5th Special Duty Officer’s words which arrived over the vassal’s divine transmission.

That is an interesting idea, she thought, so she decided to join the conversation.

“Excuse me. I believe that is a plausible line of conjecture. The English Princess was apparently pen pals with Queen Elisabeth despite never meeting her, but that was due to the history recreation, was it not?”

“Yes. That history recreation happened when I was finishing elementary school. I still had a fair amount of freedom then, so I exchanged letters with her while I was traveling the English countryside and moving from academy to academy.”

“What impression did you have of her?”

“Based on her letters, she seemed older than me.”

“Then maybe they were the same. Mary Pole was in her late teens when she taught Mary-san, right? And if this was a few years later…”

Gin shook her head at the vassal’s suggestion.

“No, Queen Elisabeth was a child. We do have art of her.”

“…Huh?”

The vassal’s head tilt probably meant she had been certain her theory was correct. But it wasn’t.

“Elisabeth of Valois, aka Queen Elisabeth, was from the generation before mine. In the history recreation, she gave birth to Felipe II’s children, but they were all girls, the last one being a stillbirth. She died shortly afterwards herself. Of course, they couldn’t ask a name inheritor to go through that, so a name inheritor was set up for her children and then her history recreation was declared complete. …How about I check on this for you?”

Gin still had an important position in Tres España, so she accessed the Tres Españan divine network to find the information.

<Not happening: Juana.>

…Lady Juana is too strict!

●

Asama groaned in thought before deciding to ask.

Asama: “Neshinbara-kun, do you have an image of Elisabeth of Valois?”

Novice: “Eh!? I can grab you a screenshot of her rare character art in the fighting game Burning Rage Dance!”

No, not that. Wait, does he think she’s a game character?

…Okay, let’s try someone else.

Asama: “Tenzou-kun, do you have an image of Elisabeth of Valois?”

10ZO: “Judge! She is one of Mary-dono’s friends, correct?”

Horizey: “What’s this!? Tenozu-sama has earned 3 points! And in exchange Neshinbara-sama has lost 7!”

Silver Wolf: “Horizon! Horizon! Why is the drop in points so much higher!? And why do you know about her, 1st Special Duty Officer?”

10ZO: “Well, remember when I snuck aboard that Tres Españan ship to steal their secrets? You know, when the nudist fell from the sky and ruined everything. Once we regrouped, Toori-dono told me to gather information on Tres España again. Long story short, I ended up with a lot of information related to Mary-dono.”

Silver Wolf: “Horizon? He was acting on my king’s instructions, so how many points does my king get!?”

Horizey: “I’m too lazy to do the calculations, so I’m taking away all their points.”

Silver Wolf: “Isn’t that the god of comedy’s punishment seen in the Age of the Gods, Horizon!?”

Anyway, Tenzou sent over an image. It was a portrait with a black background. Asama and Mary viewed it together.

“She…really is young.”

The girl in the painting could easily have still been in elementary school.

●

Gin gasped when she saw the image of Elisabeth the vassal showed her.

…Exactly like the one I saw.

“Lady Juana had already taken over by the time I arrived, but I recall hearing that those involved thought it would be safer for Queen Elisabeth to prioritize Mary Stuart’s history recreation. And I heard a young name inheritor was chosen since she died at only 24. …Given her importance, there were those who wanted to choose an adult for their greater knowledge and judgment, but the younger option was chosen in the end.”

“That would mean Queen Elisabeth was around my age,” said Mary over the divine transmission.

“Testament,” replied Gin. Because based on the image here, she didn’t appear to be long-lived. “After her short exchange of letters with you, her history recreation came to an end. Just like the people involved in the Armada, her inherited name was considered complete.”

●

Asama groaned in thought. She had honestly thought Adele might be right. So as she showed Mary the image…

“Does this look like her? I mean, there are ways of making yourself look younger.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. Asama! Don’t think you can make these dangerous statements just because you’re still young yourself!”

“I wasn’t trying to imply any- oh, Sanyou-sensei. Where are you going!? You only just arrived! You still look plenty young!”

“Tomo! Tomo! You’re only making it worse!”

Anyway, looking back at Mary, she was tilting the image diagonally and narrowing her eyes. Eventually, she arrived at a conclusion.

“There are some similarities, but also some differences. …Oh, but Teacher – that is, Margaret Pole had a large chest, but this girl does not.”

“If you thought hers was big, just how big are we talking here?”

“Oh, but that was the impression I got when I was little! Now…”

Mary trailed off before blushing and smiling bitterly.

“Now mine is plenty big too. Yes.”

Asama glanced out the window to see the Technohexen pair out on a delivery. They gestured as if they had sand or something spilling from their mouths.

I should include that in the record, decided Asama, but also…

“If their builds are different, then they must be different people.”

“Agreed. You can fake a bigger chest, but not…the other way around.”

It bothered Asama how Mitotsudaira said that while glaring at her and Mary, but she decided not to let it bother her. Wait, which is it? Oh, who cares. Meanwhile, Mary held up her hand.

“Back when Teacher was teaching me so many things, I thought she had the hands of a worker. She had the flat nails and round fingertips of a manual laborer.”

Asama’s hands were similar. But in her case…

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. You have the hands of worrier, don’t you!? Don’t you!?”

Asama: “And whose fault is that!? Well!?”

Anyway, this completed the job at the English embassy they were handling in Masazumi’s place. And looking back on it…

…Was any of this a problem?

Masazumi had made it sound like it would be tricky, but Asama hadn’t noticed any danger.

Vice President: “No, you got things started just fine. I can take over now. You head back to the Blue Thunder.”

●

After being literally turned away at the entrance, Masazumi was preparing to depart the academy.

…What do I do now?

Evening was just about over and she had nothing to show for it. The representative committee head and the rest of the committee heads were currently out and they had claimed to be too overworked to help her now.

She had intended to ask the committees to investigate why the Musashi has been blocked from docking at IZUMO. So…

…I figured I could stop by the academy and ask whoever was in charge, or at least one of the committee heads.

They might not know the answer, but she could put in an investigation request. This was on short notice, but anyone could see this was an important matter. She had shown up in person to avoid having the request buried under other work, but…

“I do apologize, Vice President. Milady is extremely busy and is thus out doing work.”

As soon as she entered the academy, Kanou met her in the entranceway.

Kanou was on the public morals committee, so after reconfirming everyone’s posts for securing the victory party last night, she had been going around today managing traffic and accepting complaints.

…Normally she’s always with Ookubo.

“Are you that shorthanded right now?”

“Judge. I also have my hands full preparing the guards and such to return to their usual duties today. The damage to the Musashi was primarily to the surface areas, but new damage continues to be discovered, meaning even more work setting up ‘no entry’ warning charms.”

Asama: “Oh, sorry, Masazumi! Let’s just say my work as a public morals committee member is tied up performing Asama Shrine duties!”

Yeah, I get it.

“Kanou. Asama in my class says she…has her hands full dealing with our idiot.”

●

“Look at this, Horizon! Do you see how this part of the Blue Thunder’s floor sounds hollow when you step on it? That means there’s a hidden storage space below!”

“Ohh, and it is crammed full of porn games, Asama-sama! This was his doing!”

“I think these are the ones he traded for on the 2nd Special Duty Officer’s birthday. The packages still smell faintly of burning wreckage.”

“Hmm.” Asama inspected them and removed two from the stack.

“Asama-sama, why are you swiping a couple? Will you be playing them in full for future reference!?”

“No, these ones have ‘tragedy’ and ‘tearjerker’ on the package, so they could kill him. I will attach a warning sign frame and put them back.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You sound like the stories of a mother stacking her son’s hidden porn magazines on his desk!”

○

Vice President: “I know I mentioned this before, but with all the work I was sending Ookubo’s way, her hate for me must have really been stacking up.”

Art-Ga: “That was something other than hate, so don’t worry about it.”

Flat Vassal: “Hey, Date Vice Chancellor? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Unturning: “Eh? Oh, well…I’m just glad I didn’t hear about this before. Because this means I was cleverly deceived.”

Bell: “Oh.”

Gold Mar: “What’s this? Narumin and Bell-rin are smiling together. I wonder what that means.”

●

I need to figure something out, thought Masazumi in the late evening darkness.

She didn’t know why the Musashi was being blocked from docking.

If nothing was done, the Musashi would run out of resources. They had resupplied at England before the Armada Battle, but not since. Most of their current supplies were meant for fighting a naval battle, so she could tell they were running out of food faster than normal.

She wanted to quickly find out why they were being blocked and fix it.

But if she couldn’t investigate as a student…

“What else can I do?”

As things were, they were in danger. They had received no official response and if they ignored the problem, nothing would change. And the Musashi wasn’t in a strong enough position to keep on like this.

An aerial city ship was reliant on trade.

…When I first arrived on the Musashi from Mikawa, there was a restriction on people coming and going, but this is a more extreme version of that.

Augesvarer and other merchants were already making a fuss and the entire commerce and industry guild might begin acting on their own if nothing changed.

…So the first thing I need might be time to lay enough groundwork to prevent internal dissatisfaction from growing.

“Hm,” she thought, sitting on the long stairs in front of the school below the lights that had just come on.

She was at the middle level where paths on the sides led to he 2nd schoolyard.

Below the reddish-purple sky, she faced the waking Musashi nightscape as she summoned Tsukinowa onto her shoulder. She then opened an overly-detailed color-coded diagram of how much work was underway within the academy. Sure enough, the representative committee was colored red. Then again, the festival committee had it worst since they were still cleaning up after the victory party. They had passed red to reach purple.

“Like they’re swollen with blood.”

She tried to make a joke, but really everyone was just too busy.

…I guess I’ll have to do it myself.

The process required placing her feet on the steps herself. The committees couldn’t do it for her. So her next best bet was the teachers.

…Where is she?

Asama: “If you want Oriotri-sensei, she’s drinking at a bar on Takao’s first underground level. They’re passing it out for free as a benefit for all the workers.”

Thanks for reading my mind and sending me the answer. So when would Oriotri sober up? If Masazumi talked to her now, she might not remember it later. In fact, she might not even understand what was being said. She would be useful to talk to if the chance arose, but she couldn’t be the top candidate.

So who was the next best choice to ask to investigate this matter?

Silver Wolf: “Is my king not an option?”

Yeah, about that…

“Hey, Seijun. What are you loafing around for?”

And there he is.

●

“I’m thinking,” she replied with a glare, but the idiot walked up next to her in a track suit.

“I heard the Musashi can’t go to IZUMO.”

“Oh? So someone contacted you too?”

“Yeah, just a bit ago.”

She wanted to ask who, but the answer was probably “everyone”.

“Anyway, after hiding my sorted porn mags, I was working part-time at the boarding office. They were all convinced Asama or some other shrine maiden would be showing up, so I cross-dressed for them.”

“Stop ruining Musashi’s reputation.”

“Almost none of them realized I’m a guy, so it’s fine.”

“That just makes it worse when they do find out later on!”

“Calm down.” The idiot held out his hands to stop her. “My point is, I’m still in a helping-out kinda mood, so I was wondering if you were having any trouble.”

“Got any idea how we can remove our ban on docking at IZUMO?”

“Hmm.” The idiot leaned back to an exaggerated extent. “Yeah, I know exactly how I’d do that: ask you for the answer.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m serious. How would I know how to do that? But you – you’d know.”

When he put it like that, it sounded right. But it was also true that she already felt stuck. So how was she supposed to “ask herself” for the answer?

“–––––”

Oh? she thought upon hearing some footsteps.

She thought she heard them from both sides and that proved to be accurate.

Rapid footsteps were rushing this way from the entrances to the 2nd schoolyard on their right and left. Was something being delivered to the academy? Or did someone have a petition to make to her?

“That’s the Musashi Chancellor and Vice President!”

Men with their faces hidden behind cloths emerged from the shadows at a run.

…Eh?

She didn’t even have time for that monosyllabic thought. They were under attack.

Chapter 4: Expulsion and a Visitor

Lightly

Lightly

Lightly

Counterattacking

Point Allocation (Variety)

●

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, Seijun! What kinda timing is this?”

Uh, oh. This idiot is useless. In fact, he’s even less help than I am here, but he’s also the Chancellor and President. For now, Masazumi faced to the sides and…

“Wait! We can talk this out!”

“You faced to the sides? Seijun-kun, you’re facing forward.”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do when this happens! Fine, I’m facing forward as the midpoint between the left and right! That shows I’m impartial! Now, if any of you have a complaint, line up in front of me! And sit down!”

That was when Futayo arrived and knelt about seven steps down the stairs in front of Masazumi.

“Masazumi, I have a complaint! When I went to the Takao restaurant, Sensei was drinking there and they said they didn’t have any of the grilled Nagoya Cochin I had last time.”

“Just save me!”

●

Mitotsudaira arrived at the academy.

…I’m too slow!

She had dashed from the English embassy after her king sent a “Can you come to the academy?” message.

“He needs my protection.”

●

*Correction by Asama-sama.

Mitotsudaira arrived at the academy.

…I’m too slow!

She had leaped from the English embassy after her king sent a “Can you stop by the academy? But only if you’re free” message.

“My king! My king! What do you want!?”

○

“I’m not that much of a dog!”

“When the divine mail arrived, you did go ‘C-can you handle the rest here, Tomo!?’ and run out. Mary can back me up on this.”

“Having a close relationship with your king is a good thing, Lady Mitotsudaira.”

“Wh-why is it so much harder to defend my past actions than my current ones!?”

“Nate? Look to me, your mother, as a role model. Just forget that all the inconvenient things exist and life becomes so much more enjoyable.”

“That’s just being irresponsible!”

“Anyway, Mito, continue your record.”

●

Mitotsudaira rushed toward her king.

“He could easily have run into trouble these days!”

IZUMO had sent a lot of workers and cleaners aboard and there was a high probability of a spy among them. The Asama Shrine handled the boarding procedure, but Musashi had asked to have the process simplified. They had also placed a focus on security, but there were a few loopholes.

…It would be a pain if someone took advantage of those.

They did have countermeasures in place just in case, but they couldn’t stop all incidents in advance.

This was one such case.

“My king!”

If only I could run faster, she thought as she looked up to see the attackers blasted to either side simultaneously.

Futayo was responsible. She had used Tonbokiri’s extension device to jab the lead enemy on either side.

●

From Futayo’s perspective, Masazumi and the other one were seven steps up. The landing being used for the attack was five steps up.

She could cover five steps in a single step. She rose from her knee and converted that force into a low jump. She really only caught the edge of the 5th step with her heel and kicked off to send her body further up.

By then, she was already activating Tonbokiri’s extension device with the weapon oriented horizontally.

She held the center and sent the blade to the right and the butt to the left.

She chose to send the blade right due to the nature of the attack.

The pathways the attackers were taking had a railing on the fore side.

Most people were right handed.

The attackers to port wouldn’t have their right arms restricted by that railing, so they had more freedom of movement.

So she sent the blade toward them on her right.

She sent the butt starboard where the enemy would be slower but could still hold their ground. And with that impact…

“Got them.”

She struck the lead enemy on either side. The spear butt on her left struck the guarding enemy in the chest and the spear blade on her right crashed into the weapon the lead enemy had drawn and guarded with.

That man on the right protected himself well for what was more or less a surprise attack, thought Futayo, before using her right arm to jab the blade out.

Sparks flew as the enemy had to focus on deflecting the blade.

What would happen if she made another attack just as he was feeling a mixture of relief and tension?

…Let’s find out!

The enemy ducked low.

But not to evade.

He had given up resisting the series of attacks.

That meant it was only a fluke he had managed to block the first one. The second attack had told him he couldn’t keep it up.

So instead of evading, he realized battling this was a bad idea and crouched down. So…

“Kh!”

The attacker to Futayo’s right was stopped by his own crouch.

Confused by the sudden obstacle in their way, those behind him hesitated over which side to circle around him.

That caused a bottleneck behind him.

They couldn’t swing their weapons when packed in tight like that. So Futayo shifted to…

“The left!”

She used her left arm to swing the spear shaft toward the attacker on the left who she had already hit with the butt.

Jabbing the blade toward the right had created about a meter of clearance, which she used to slam the butt into him again.

However…

“Ohh!”

When she had hit the lead attacker with the butt before, there must have been a tempo of delay in her action because he managed to hold his ground. A blow like that had likely broken a few ribs, so his resolve was impressive.

…No, I went too easy on him.

I still haven’t gotten over my battle with Gin-dono during the Armada Battle. I must still be concerned by how far I went there.

She didn’t think she had let her guard down, but there was a discrepancy between the version of herself she knew from the past and the real one here. She sensed a slight shift in her actions.

That is a danger, but I must endure for now.

So she poured her strength into this second attack.

“Hh.”

As she made the attack, the attacker took a defensive stance. He intended to block it rather than evade.

As he should.

His job in the lead wasn’t to evade or to attack.

He had to take a position and then let the others know.

He didn’t know what was going to happen to him, but he had told the others to keep going. Which meant attacking him would not stop the others.

If they had been even halfway decently trained, they would split to the sides and continue on past him. That would be a problem for Futayo, so…

“Excuse me.”

She struck again with the butt. First she shrank the spear down with the extension device and then…

“Between the legs!”

●

Masazumi saw a physical action.

Futayo rested the front end of Tonbokiri on the stairway railing and sent the bottom end diagonally down between the starboard group’s legs.

The extension device could give the spear a maximum length of just over 6m.

With the front end resting on the railing and the bottom end racing out diagonally down, it passed between the legs of the first man and continued through a few more before it began sliding along the floor.

“Oh?” said the idiot, standing up to take a look.

Just then, Tonbokiri’s shaft bent while passing between the attackers’ legs.

It appeared to bend downwards, but this was a combat weapon. The bend was absorbed, causing it to snap sharply back. This was meant to increase the force of a jab and prevent the shaft from breaking if the spear was blocked, but…

“Whoa!”

Tonbokiri had been extended from the railing of the aft-side stairs toward the starboard pathway, but now it was extended diagonally toward the bow.

Those above it had their legs leave the ground and the “snapping back” of the bent shaft launched them toward the bow.

“–––––”

A few attackers were thrown into the air above the park located below the 2nd schoolyard on the primary surface level.

The three following after them cried out and focused on their airborne comrades.

That created an opening. Or rather, it gave Masazumi and the idiot some time to act. So…

“Hey, idiot! We need to get up the stairs!”

“I don’t think we do.”

“The port group is still there!”

The starboard side was clear for the time being, but the port side was untouched except for the lead attacker.

“Futayo!”

Just as Masazumi was going to ask Futayo to deal with that, two things happened.

First, a shadow was cast down from the sky.

…Eh?

But it’s already night, she thought before a falling food stand crashed down onto the port pathway.

An English-style fish and chips stand had come to save them. Or more accurately…

“Nice one, Nate!”

“I wasn’t sure that would reach, but it did!”

Below, Mitotsudaira was catching her breath on the central street. Then, as the starboard group fell into the park, Masazumi heard clanging armor, rustling branches, and…

“Ah!”

Those left on the pathway had a Shinto sign frame open on their backs.

…Is that…?

Just as she recognized them as divine punishment spells, one of the three attackers pointed toward the Musashino bridge.

“We’re only tourists! Ooh, look how cool the Musashino bridge is!”

“It sure is! How about we go buy some souvenirs!? Where would be best for that!?”

“Oh, no! We’re just some harmless tourists, but some of our friends fell into the park! We’d better go collect them, buy some of the Asama Shrine’s divine figurines, and get back to our hotel!”

What was all that about?

●

Asama stood on the thick rope passage between Tama and Okutama as she received Hanami’s report.

“Umm, so they were identified as ‘trying to harm our people’, but just as the divine punishment was about to get them, they became ‘tourists’ and the punishment was rescinded?”

“They were sus.”

“Yeah, but there’s a tiny chance it’s true. We’d have a hard time defending ourselves if we hit them with divine punishment and then they insisted they were only tourists. I think you made the right decision, Hanami.”

Silver Wolf: “Just out of curiosity, what kind of punishment would that have been?”

Asama: “My dad likes the more unusual ones, so it would inject a bottle’s worth of sake up their butts, an alert frame would begin singing an aria, their urine would be dyed pink for an entire year, and then they would be struck by lightning.”

Horizey: “As usual, I have to wonder why the Asama Shrine does not lead with the lightning.”

Asama: “Then it would hit whoever was around them, so it’s best to alert anyone else while making it clear to the target they can’t get away. Or that’s the usual excuse.”

Silver Wolf: “Did you just call it an excuse!? You did, didn’t you!?”

But these attackers had realized what was happening and found a way out of it, allowing some of them to escape.

Sakuya wouldn’t insist on hunting them down because they had stopped before actually making their attack and because they had displayed a fear of her divine punishment. Whether or not that frank personality was a good thing was a separate issue.

“Well, at least no one was hurt.”

“But Toori was attacked too.”

“How about we shorten the alert period for next time, Hanami?”

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! How about at least setting some conditions!?”

At least the divine punishment had activated in the first place. They would have been in real trouble if it hadn’t done so before the attack began.

Asama: “Mito, who was it?”

Silver Wolf: “Judge. We captured some of them, but they are exercising their right to remain silent. Still, they are Tsirhc Catholics, just as you feared.”

Flat Vassal: “Why would she think that?”

Asama: “Generally, Tsirhc people use the ‘hidden’ setting on the Musashi to maintain compatibility with Shinto. But with the recent influx of people, there hasn’t been time to set up the ‘hidden’ setting for them, so they have little compatibility with the Shinto musicians. That’s why the spell took so long to activate. Based on Hanami’s measurements, the trigger wasn’t the attackers’ actions. The activation was triggered by detecting that something was being done to Masazumi and Toori-kun.”

But, she thought.

Asama: “They may have underestimated Shinto. While Futayo’s arrival helped, they were far enough away that I doubt they could have completed their attack on Masazumi and Toori-kun unless they really, really hurried.”

Gold Mar: “So was this only meant as a threat?”

Vice President: “”But wait. I can’t think of single thing I’ve done that would warrant being threatened.”

Almost Everyone: “You can’t?”

Vice President: “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Me: “So, uh, hey, Asama? Can I go pick up my laundry?”

Asama: “Eh? Um, yes. That would be fine. We can discuss this further at the shrine.”

Me: “Judge. See you there. You coming, Nate?”

Silver Wolf: “Oh, um, I have to hand these attackers over to the guards. Do you mind if I show up a little late?”

Asama: “Then let’s gather at my place tonight.”

The Asama Shrine was open all night since it acted as a supply point for various divine protections and a management point for the ether pathways. People would be coming and going in the outer area without a spell barrier protecting it, but the inner area became a dead space at night.

Plus, everyone would be wanting a bath after a day of work.

Asama: “Okay, Toori-kun. You contact Horizon and we can all meet up at my place.”

○

“ ‘Okay, Toori-kun. Come over to my place tonight…’ ”

“Wait, Naruze! Don’t rewrite my line and then add an 18+ tag!”

Narumi got up while the Technohexen insisted “It’s only for my manuscript!” with a straight face and the shrine maiden got to work correcting the record. The Acting Captain noticed her and looked up, so she asked for a drink. And…

“This is getting complicated. Where were those attackers from?”

“The answer to that will only complicate things further…but can we move back to the first day now?”

“Huh? Why?”

“That can help us focus on the international situation. So-”

The Musashi Vice Chancellor stopped there and tilted her head.

“Masazumi, wouldn’t it be better to explain what happened next first?”

“Judge. I was just thinking the same thing,” said Mitotsudaira. “Before looking at the big picture, we should make sure all the players are on the stage.”

“Fair enough,” said the Musashi Vice President, but this brought a question to Narumi’s mind. What player still wasn’t on the stage?

“Is it someone important?”

“It would be hard to say otherwise. …Just watch the record. You will soon see a fairly unexciting figure who played a critical role for the Far East and for Musashi.”

●

Mitotsudaira estimated the distance she had thrown the food stand and gained newfound confidence in how far she could throw things without the silver chains. At the same time…

…It would be better if I could just run in.

This had highlighted how problematic her slow speed was, so that was a task to deal with in the future.

As she resolved to improve herself, she completed the process to hand the attackers over to the guards.

She worked for Futayo when it came to these things, so…

“Um, Mitotsudaira-sama…what am I supposed to do when this happens?”

“What did you do when you were with the Mikawa Guards?”

“Judge. I was generally on the patrol squad, so if I spotted anything, I would tie them up and then leave them for one of my subordinates to deal with.”

The term “hit and run” came to mind, but if the rules said her subordinates were supposed to handle it, then that was probably the best way of doing it. Mitotsudaira was used to calling the guards thanks to her king. She didn’t have Asama’s level of expertise there, but when she called them here…

“Is it the Chancellor!? No!? Then we’ll be right there!”

What was that about?

In the end, the public morals committee was sent out as well and around six of the attackers managed to escape as tourists. Three had fallen below and failed to escape and three had been hit by the food stand and failed to escape.

The six captured ones were taken to the nearest guard station and apparently remained silent throughout. But…

Flat Vassal: “So are they mercenaries?”

Silver Wolf: “They were awfully sloppy for professionals.”

They had been captured too easily and making an attack on the Musashi had been a poor decision thanks to the Shinto divine punishment protection.

…What were they thinking?

Mitotsudaira didn’t know. The day had been full of mysteries.

Futayo had gone to an Oume restaurant on Masazumi’s instruction and Mitotsudaira’s king had gone to the Asama Shrine. Masazumi was still here to inspect the scene of the attack, but after they had some time for a break, Mitotsudaira should probably take her to the Asama Shrine.

She wanted to exchange information. But…

“Listen up, you two.”

An unfamiliar girl’s voice came from below the stairs.

Who is that? wondered Mitotsudaira, turning around to see a girl climbing the stairs.

She had black hair and wore a red hat. Her hard point parts were in the K.P.A. Italia style, but her clothing itself wasn’t a uniform. She had a medium level of equipment.

Mitotsudaira didn’t recognize her.

●

…Who is she?

Mitotsudaira descended a single step and turned her side toward the girl.

With the attack so recent, the guards approached cautiously, but…

“It’s alright. Stand back.”

She didn’t have her silver chains, but she had her training as 5th Special Duty Officer and as a knight.

Based on her movements, the girl appeared to have standard middle school level training and little to no combat experience. Her openings were large and numerous.

But she raised her right hand and opened a sign frame. It was a Catholic one and Mitotsudaira resumed wondering what nation she was from.

“Don’t bother investigating. I’ll introduce myself soon enough, half-Loup Garou.”

Next, the girl displayed two names.

One was in Italian and the other in kanji. The Italian one may have been an ended inherited name because the text wasn’t lit up. But the kanji one was.

That was why Mitotsudaira’s eyes first landed on the kanji. They said…

“Ishin Suden?”

The name sounded vaguely familiar.

She could also read the Italian name through her translation protection. It was an ended inherited name, but it was still presented here.

“Former Pope…Urban VIII!?”

“Ha! Surprised it’s just some kid? With that history recreation over, all the portraits have been swapped out to be some old guy to match the Testament, so I don’t look anything like them, do I?”

The girl grinned and doffed her cap. She bowed and her black hair spilled down, revealing its considerable length. The hair was glossy and bright.

“I’m supposed to be retired, but I heard about something interesting happening here. So I felt like joining the fun. Surely Musashi’s Vice President is at familiar with the name Ishin Suden.

“Now,” she said. “Do you have the guts to determine the state of the Far East right here and now?”

Chapter 5: Position and Footing

I look up

And look up

What a pain

Point Allocation (An Unexpected Big Shot)

○

On Narumi’s suggestion, Suzu prepared drinks for everyone. Adele helped her while they listened to everyone’s confused reaction to the 5th Special Duty Officer’s ‘cliffhanger’. First, the 3rd Special Duty Officer…

“That was really how Ishin Whoever introduced herself!?”

“I remember thinking ‘that sounds like trouble’ when I heard about her arrival during our meeting at the Asama Shrine, but looking at it now she was even more trouble than I’d thought.”

“Also, Vice President, what’s her deal? Why was the former pope there? Was that really her?”

“I checked the name inheritor almanac later on and she was who she said she was. I’m sure some of this will be hard for the Tachibana Wife and the Date Vice Chancellor to follow, so we should provide some supplementary information while we continue the record.”

“Oh, can I say something?” asked the Reine Des Garous, raising her hand while Suzu prepared some tea. Since they had been drinking carbonated drinks before, she had served them spiced snacks, but it was about time to switch to the sweet things.

This would do a lot of damage as a late-night snack, so she decided to do twice her usual run tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Reine des Garous spoke.

“I know a bit about Urban VIII, so I can provide some amusing supplementary information there, even if it isn’t entirely true. …Can I write the record for a bit?”

●

A man sighed while seated in a large chair inside a dimly-lit hall.

He was old enough to be considered elderly, but he was also tall. He wore a K.P.A. Italia uniform large enough to cover up his shoulders and it bore a Catholic symbol.

A massive form stood by his side. This other person had red armored skin and horns.

“Galileo…what are you going to do? Hm?”

“I’m not sure why you’re asking me that, former boy. You are her underclassman, aren’t you?”

“Her former teacher is better suited for the job, don’t you think? Hm?”

“No, I don’t think so. If I said the wrong thing, she would excommunicate me…”

They both sighed just before someone in a girls uniform arrived at the hall’s entrance. She led the liaison committee’s foreign relations team. She bowed before speaking.

“Papa Schola, Urban VIII has arrived at the Musashi.”

“Testament. I’ve heard. And what happened? Hm?”

“Testament. She told us ‘I’m Ishin Suden right now, so don’t worry about it’.”

“She asks the impossible,” said Galileo and the Papa Schola nodded.

Eventually the foreign relations team lead tilted her head at those two.

“Your Holiness, she was from before my time here, so what kind of person is Urban VIII? Knowing that would help us avoid making any mistakes while pursuing this matter.”

The Papa Schola pointed over at Galileo.

“Galileo here? When he was advocating his heliocentric theory, she protested and made him reject it.”

“Testament. She suggested that we keep my heliocentric theory within K.P.A. Italia and work through it with an interpretation, girl.”

“Testament. And was this interpretation done ‘correctly’? For K.P.A. Italia’s sake?”

“No. She suddenly changed the deal on him and really forced him to reject it. Didn’t she?”

“Yes,” confirmed Galileo. “In the end, you could say it was best for me to actually reject it to the world at large than to keep it an internal matter, because that connected me to so many foreign academics. Anyway, the point is that she hates interpretations, backroom deals, keeping your story straight, and such things.”

“That’s for sure,” said the Papa Schola. He adjusted his position in his seat and crossed his legs. “When I was battling it out with Sakai in Europe and Mikawa, she-”

Urb8: “I can hear you, my underclassman.”

“Wha-!?” Just as the Papa Schola’s brow creased, a cadena firma appeared next to the foreign relations team lead’s face

Urb8: “One perk of being a pope-class name inheritor is retaining your access privileges even after your history recreation is complete. Let’s hope you can do the same at some point. Learning something?”

“Also,” continued the vocalized divine transmission. “Innocen, I wasn’t the one who gave Sakai a way through Europe. That was Suleiman. Now, if anyone asks how Suleiman knew a route through Europe, you should excommunicate them for being too clever for their own good.”

“And when Mikawa’s Sakakibara stormed the Testament Union HQ, who was it that contacted the other nations and paved a path toward confirming Shimabara and the religious ban? Hm?”

“Mikawa wasn’t rejecting the Testament Union. Being fair is what it means to be Catholic. A spirit of ‘giving to those without’ is our greatest pride and helps evangelize Catholicism. I could also note, Innocen, that the Papal States don’t reach their greatest territorial size during your time. It happened during mine. And since I did such a good job, you could have gone ahead and given up some territory.”

“What kind of idiot would go ahead and do that!? Hm!?”

“If an idiot tries to expand their territory and someone else smartly gives away some territory, it’s the latter everyone will love. But you did a good job recovering after you were beaten by Sakai and had Suleiman pull a fast one of you. It worked out to the territory I was hoping for in the end. Yes, I misjudged you. You do good work after someone humiliates you first.”

“Former boy, take a drink of water and a deep breath.”

“I was about to!”

“Ha ha ha,” laughed the other pope. “Have some fun, current pope. After moving on as pope, I had taken on a useless inherited name to kill time and pursue something that interested me, but I didn’t expect it to prove so meaningful. Also…”

“Also what? Hm?”

“Oh, a private matter. Anyway, I won’t do anything that will harm K.P.A. Italia. So just shut up and watch.”

“That is precisely what I had planned to do! But…” The Papa Schola took a breath and leaned back in his chair. “Don’t do anything reckless. Times have changed, you know? Hm?”

“You can actually be considerate? Times really have changed, my underclassman.”

After a quiet laugh, the divine transmission ended.

Silence fell over the three people there, like they had been abandoned.

The Papa Schola rested his head in his hand and then the foreign relations team lead spoke as if breaking free of her bonds.

“Your Holiness, what should we do?”

“Report everything that happens.”

And…

“We will prepare for battle against M.H.R.R. and Hashiba. That is all. Got that? Hm?”

○

“Anyway, that about sums it up. That’s mostly just my imagination, but I think that’s more or less how it must have happened.”

Adele tilted her head at what the Reine des Garous had said. And the woman must have noticed.

“Oh? Did you find something confusing?”

“Not really. It’s just…that made it sounds like Suden-san wasn’t acting on K.P.A. Italia’s instruction. But she’s a former pope and from K.P.A. Italia, so how does that make sense?”

“Adele? Mito’s mom? We can always make corrections later, so what do you want to do?”

“Hee hee. I will wait until I have seen it all.”

If the person who had told that part of the story saw it that way, Adele saw no reason to disagree. So she focused on the other part that had her interest:

“Vice President, you can keep going!”

●

…The name inheritor of Urban VIII and Ishin Suden!?

Since Urban VIII’s history recreation was complete, that didn’t make her a double name inheritor. And it wasn’t uncommon for talented people to gain another inherited name once their first one had ended.

But the question remained: what was a pope-class name inheritor doing here?

Uqui: “Perhaps she is here to get back at you for what you did at Mikawa, Masazumi.”

Vice President: “Hey, Aoi! Get out here! That was your responsibility! Even if I did go along with it!”

Horizey: “Now, now, Masazumi-sama. You mustn’t try to shift the blame like that. Now, I wonder who was ultimately at fault for that one?”

Could they earn this visitor’s forgiveness if she apologized with the idiot and Horizon?

…No, probably not.

“So, Masazumi, who is she?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Judge. Urban VIII was the pope before Innocentius. He engaged in a foreign campaign that expanded the Papal States to their largest territory in history. But despite having a deep understanding of Technomagie, he was hardheaded, forced Galileo to reject his heliocentric theory, and practiced a lot of nepotism. He is known as the last pope of the middle ages.”

Masazumi could only say she wasn’t sure what to do. Really, what was someone like this doing here?

…I did do some research into the Papa Schola.

She had done a lot of research to prepare a cheat sheet for Mikawa. If anyone had asked her then who in the world knew the most about the Papa Schola, she could have confidently said she did.

But that didn’t mean she knew so much about the previous pope. For one, that was a figure from the past. The period before the Papa Schola and Principal Sakai’s time as students was before even her parent’s generation.

The only knowledge she had was what she knew from her study of history and political history as well as what she had learned through her research into the Papa Schola. But despite knowing so little, one thing bothered her:

…She’s so young.

This girl looked even younger than Masazumi. In fact, she had to be.

Her lack of long ears meant she wasn’t long-lived. Then was she a spirit? Or could the Urban VIII name have been split and given to multiple people?

“––––––”

Masazumi considered looking up the name inheritor data to figure this out, but she stopped.

The girl had already said that inherited name had ended. The only information left would differ from the reality.

And she was curious about something else even more.

“You said Ishin Suden, right?”

“Testament. That I did. Urban VIII’s history recreation is also one of the Papal States’ economic collapse, so it was best to end it quick. So after leaving Innocen in charge – since he’s good at making money – I decided to pursue what I’d done for a bit.”

“Eh?” said Mitotsudaira. “Ishin Suden…is a Far Eastern name, isn’t it? I know I’ve heard it somewhere before, but what connection does it have to Pope Urban VIII?”

“Judge. While Pope Urban VIII was expanding the Papal States, he put a number of policies into action. For example, he banned the enslavement of indigenous people in the southern New World who participated in religious evangelism and protected their free evangelism. And in Asia, he banned the monopoly some sects had on evangelism on the continent and in the Far East and again made sure everyone was free to engage in Catholic evangelism there.”

Asama: “So are you saying he made sure Catholics of any nationality or sect could evangelize in the New World and the Far East and he even protected them?”

Vice President: “That’s right. Evangelism to the Far East began more or less by accident, but Urban VIII’s papal bull played a big role in helping get it properly established.”

“Then,” said Mitotsudaira. “I…just remembered, but is Ishin Suden…?”

“Judge. And do you see now why Ishin Suden would be coming to see me?”

Masazumi saw Mitotsudaira nod, but she still spoke to the others via the divine network.

“That allowed Catholicism to spread to the Far East, but a few incidents in Kyushu led to its ban in the Far East. That was the religious ban made in the Matsudaira era. And it was Honda Masazumi who suggested Matsudaira issue such a ban after the primary incident. That means the man whose name I use worked against Urban VIII’s policy.”

And if they were going to follow the Testament further…

“It was Ishin Suden here in front of me who drafted the religious ban.”

●

Flat Vassal: “So according to the Testament, Ishin Suden-san and the Vice President picked a fight with the Catholics?”

Horizey: “This is a raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. So we can fix this by tying up the flat politician and the mini pope and sending them to K.P.A. Italia!? That’s so easy!”

Vice President: “Ishin Suden and the pope are the same person!”

Novice: “Heh, so destroying her own past actions is her aesthetic ideal? Yes, I understand. …Oh, how I understand. The aesthetics of destruction! Like missing the deadline you set for yourself!”

Art-Ga: “The next time you do that, I’m not doing any more discount group printing deals with you. Got that?”

●

“That should be enough to understand why I find Musashi so fascinating,” said Urban VIII from down the stairs. “Just to be clear, you have me to thank for the Shimabara Rebellion established by Sakai and the conditional religious ban, but I had nothing to do with the earlier original recreations of the Shimabara Rebellion and the religious ban. 50 years ago, I hadn’t inherited the Papa Schola’s name yet, but I found it all very odd when I heard about it. The Far East had already done their religious ban themselves, which seemed like a suicidal narrowing of their possibilities, or like a desire to escape the Tsirhc Testament Union nations even if it meant harming themselves.”

So…

“I wanted to know if the Far East still intended to resist the Catholics even with the Harmonic Unification War in their past. So after my Urban VIII name ended, I wanted to have complete control over the religious ban and chose to inherit Ishin Suden’s name.”

●

…She is an odd one.

That was Mitotsudaira’s heartfelt reaction. The religious ban was related to Masazumi’s name, but it would go on to cause a few later incidents.

And it all began with the Shimabara Rebellion from 50 years ago.

The Far East claimed to have used the religious ban to escape the influence of the Tsirhc Testament Union nations, but since the Far East had led that history recreation, the other nations had generally ignored it. But twenty-odd years ago, when K.P.A. Italia had tried to enter the Far East in the name of evangelism, Sakai, a student at the time, and some others had resisted and other European nations had assisted the Far East in order to suppress K.P.A. Italia. That had established the Shimabara Rebellion and the religious ban.

Novice: “To provide some additional details, something known as the 2nd Shimabara Rebellion occurred within the Far East. It occurred around 30 years ago in Sanada where the Shimabara survivors had found shelter. It was suppressed by Lord Motonobu and his brother Lord Nobuyasu, but since the conflict was not based on the Testament ideology, it was not accepted as a continuation of the Shimabara Rebellion and became a conflict in name only.”

“Sanada, huh? We might end up going there one day.”

Tachibana Wife: “Sanada? I hear their academy has a peaceful view of the mountains.”

Tonbokiri: “I sort of remember my father and his friends going there a long time ago.”

“Wh-what is with all these deadpan comments!? And a deadpan Gin is rare indeed!”

Anyway, this had clarified some things about the religious ban. But looking just at the current situation, Mitotsudaira had some questions.

“If the religious ban has already been established, what does it matter if Ishin Suden visits us? Besides, Masazumi is named after Honda Masazumi, but she isn’t a name inheritor. If you want this to count as some kind of history recreation, you need official name inheritors, which would mean having Masazumi inherit her name.”

“Hold your horses, Loup-Garou girl.” Urban VIII spoke through a smile. “The religious ban was just a hobby of mine and it was only what initially got me interested in all of you. I came here on a request.”

“A request?”

“Testament. I thought it would be about my religious ban hobby, but it wasn’t. But it is about someone that interests me, so I still accepted. Now, do you know why I’m here?”

Mitotsudaira did not. She was only familiar with Ishin Suden through the religious ban related to Masazumi’s name.

…Does Masazumi know?

Mitotsudaira turned to look and saw Masazumi’s eyebrows somewhat raised.

“The pieces are coming together.”

Because…

“Ishin Suden. You’re the one keeping the Musashi from docking, aren’t you?”

○

“Oh.” The Reine des Garous raised her hand. “Um, I know a fair bit about Ishin Suden, so can I be in charge of writing her part? You can add in the parts you know while I provide what I can based on my knowledge of her as a person and of the situation in Europe.”

Asama’s mouth was full of a cheese tart brought over from the Main Blue Thunder, so she raised her hand first.

The woman only smiled with a grownup confidence as she waited for Asama to finish chewing.

…Sh-she really is the highest evolution of a girl!

Asama broke up the sticky and sour cheese part and the salty tart part before swallowing. She washed it down with some black tea. The Main Blue Thunder usually made green tea, so how good the tart was with black tea was a new discovery for her. But, um…

“Since you aren’t her, it will be listed as a supplementary record. Is that alright?”

“Perfectly. Let’s think of it like practice to help tear down any walls in our way so it can all go more smoothly.”

“Walls…” said Adele while staring at Mitotsudaira’s mother, but Asama decided not to record that part. If this would help the process go more smoothly, then it was for the best.

“Okay, Masazumi and Mito’s mom. I’m ready.”

●

“That’s an interesting accusation.”

Ishin Suden saw this situation as the time to test Musashi. So…

“You think I’m keeping Musashi from docking? What makes you say that? Have you given any thought to who you’re accusing just in case you’re wrong?”

“Thank you,” replied the Musashi Vice President. “So if I’m not wrong, you will reward us in kind?”

●

Gold Mar: “Wow, that was bold, Seijun!”

Horizey: “You’re so cool, Masazumi-senpaiiii!!”

Wise Sister: “Nice excuse, Flat-senpaiiii!”

Vice President: “What is that last one even supposed to imply!?”

●

Mitotsudaira asked Masazumi a question.

“What makes you so certain you’re right?”

“Since Ishin Suden drafted the religious ban, we know he was on Matsudaira’s side. In the Testament record, he was a specialist who managed the Matsudaira shrines and temples and drafted their official documents.”

Mitotsudaira considered this.

…We can set the religious ban aside for now, can’t we?

If so, this would be about the shrine and temple management or about the official documents. But if this was about shrine and temple management, this girl would be meeting with Asama, not Masazumi.

That would mean it was about the official documents.

Plus, that girl was also Urban VIII.

“Urban VIII issued papal bulls on the protection of and other matters relating to evangelism, right?”

Creating one’s own laws was a privilege of the pope and other popes did it as well, but Urban VIII’s had been for the purposes of expansionism.

So what if that expansionist pope was here to restrict the Far East?

“Does Ishin Suden ever draft a document to restrict the Far East?”

“Judge. Ishin Suden goes on to create a law that gains quite a few supplementary additions.”

It was known as…

“The Buke Shohatto. The edict’s 13 articles describe how all Far East daimyo must be role models in all things.”

●

Masazumi understood what this girl intended and how it related to what was happening.

“The Buke Shohatto are like laws for the daimyo all across the Far East. Issuing the 13 articles will change the nature of the Far East as a whole, but deciding to do that here would require Musashi and the reservations to reach an agreement.”

Meaning…

“IZUMO is preventing the Musashi from docking because, if Musashi agrees to issue the Buke Shohatto, then it will ‘cease to be internal to Musashi once we dock’.”

“Their concerns are such a bore.” Suden twirled her cap on a finger. “The religious ban I love so much is basically fixed in place unless you really worked at dislodging it. And I’m not a fan of the current trend of forced history recreations. I want to enjoy this as a hobby. So join me in my hobby.”

“Y-you’re not making any sense.”

Suden answered Mitotsudaira’s confusion with a snort.

“I’m not? Where did I lose you? I’m Ishin Suden and that there is Honda Masazumi. She may not be a name inheritor, but she is the Far East’s representative. If we’re gonna do the history recreation of the Buke Shohatto, we need me and we also need the Far East’s representative. We’ve got both, so I don’t see the problem.”

“No, if we do this your way, there is a problem.”

Masazumi didn’t know that much detailed information about the Buke Shohatto. For one, she had assumed the Far East would be in charge of its history recreation.

…Do we really have to do it now?

In the Far East, it was still the age of Hashiba and Oda. But this was from the upcoming age of Matsudaira.

“It’s too soon for this history recreation. The Buke Shohatto history recreation isn’t even for Matsudaira Motonobu, it’s for Hidetada, the second shogun.”

“Too soon?” Suden smiled bitterly. “It was issued in 1615. What year is it now, Far East? If you don’t have that second shogun yet, that’s on you for taking your precious time with your history recreations. Don’t blame me.”

And…

“When was the Shimabara Rebellion? 1637. That was done 40 years ago, so don’t even try to tell me you can’t do a 1615 recreation now. Do you really think you can get away with that?”

Horizey: “Masazumi-sama! We are waiting on the Asama Shrine’s roof, but I was thinking I could solve all of this by firing a Logismoi Oplo in that direction!”

That would hit us too, so don’t.

But Suden had a point.

…Why was the religious ban done so early?

Still, there had to be a response here. For example…

“Wait! You called me the Far East’s representative, didn’t you!? Well, I’m sorry to say it – really sorry – truly sorry – but I am not the Far East’s representative. That title belongs to Chancellor and Student Council President Aoi Toori.”

“Did you have to emphasize your sorriness so much?” asked Mitotsudaira.

Masazumi chose to ignore any comments showing sympathy for the idiot. But Suden nodded.

“You mean Musashi’s Chancellor and President? But are you really sure you want to leave him in charge of this? Are you crazy? Snap out of it.”

She couldn’t have been more right.

○

Horizey: “Her lack of trust in you is on par with a national treasure, Toori-sama.”

Me: “Eh!? What!? Did you say something, Horizon!?”

Flat Vassal: “See!? See!? Now say something biting, Asama-san!”

Asama: “Toori-kun, shouldn’t you be getting to bed early tonight?”

Flat Vassal: “Ahhhhhh, that is not biting! Really let him have it! None of that babying!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Foolish brother, Adele wants something sweet, so can you bring something over and pass it on to Suzu for us? Aaaaand go!”

Me: “Hm, I’ve got some twice-baked biscotti soaked in butter. Bell-san, can you come pick it up at the guard station?”

Flat Vassal: “Ahhhhhh, I don’t know how this happened, but thank you so much! I don’t care that I lost!”

●

Mitotsudaira sensed danger in the situation.

…Wait, are we about to do the history recreation for a law that applies to the Far East as a whole!?

It was all moving so fast. They hadn’t had any time to prepare.

“When a history recreation includes multiple parties, doesn’t it need each party’s consent?”

“Do you have an actual argument against doing it here?”

“Well…” she trailed off, but Masazumi raised her right forearm.

“Whether or not we have an argument is not the same as whether or not we consent.”

“Oh, it isn’t? Then are you saying you will not participate in determining the Buke Shohatto – the rules that will bind the Far East’s most powerful?”

…We can’t do it now!

That was Mitotsudaira’s thought, but Masazumi did not react behind her.

She looked back to see their Vice President frowning.

“I would like to ask one thing before we get into consent or refusal. I need to confirm something before I make that decision.”

“I am not a patient person. You said one thing, so this had better really be just one thing. Is it?”

“Yes. Although it might be linked to another question I’ve been wondering about.”

Masazumi asked her question.

“What is your affiliation, Ishin Suden?”

●

“Oh?” said Suden, wondering why that breath had escaped her lips.

…Am I impressed or relieved?

Her affiliation wasn’t a hard thing to figure out. She was a former pope, after all.

But she appreciated this cautious stance of making sure before making a decision.

“Then I will tell you: I am with K.P.A. Italia.”

“Judge. Understood. Then I can make my decision.” The Musashi Vice President swung her right hand outwards. “Let’s do the Buke Shohatto.”

But…

“I will need some documents and such so I can investigate the matter. Will you give me time to reach an understanding there?”

●

…She agreed to do it!?

It was so sudden.

Of course, Masazumi had insisted on a condition. Needing to read the relevant documents would buy them a fair amount of time.

But even with that, this seemed sudden.

Silver Wolf: “Masazumi, what is going on?”

Vice President: “Judge. Knowing Ishin Suden is with K.P.A. Italia tells me this is dangerous.”

What does she mean by that?” wondered Mitotsudaira just before she heard a voice.

“That was a smart question. You really did need to confirm my affiliation before you could ensure this was all safe. I am from Matsudaira after all.”

Mitotsudaira thought about that and then realized what it meant.

…If Ishin Suden is from Matsudaira, then she should be with Musashi, shouldn’t she?

Then why was she with K.P.A. Italia instead? The Secretary’s words arrived to provide an answer.

Novice: “Because the 13 articles of the Buke Shohatto can influence the Far East.”

It was true the Buke Shohatto could be used to bind the daimyo forces held under the provisional rule of the other nations. From Musashi’s perspective, it could be used to bring together the reservations and increase their influence.

But this only applied to the Far East. The other nations had used the provisional rule to absorb the daimyo forces, but they would also be able to say “this doesn’t affect the world nations”.

Then why? wondered Mitotsudaira before arriving at an answer.

“Ishin Suden. I know why you didn’t come to Musashi despite being from Matsudaira.”

Suden smiled a little while Mitotsudaira hastily checked a few things on the divine network.

“Oh? And why is that? Do tell.”

“Judge. Very well.”

She had finished her checks. As she had suspected from the fact that Ishin Suden managed the shrines and temples, he had originally been a Buddhist monk. And what Far Eastern location held the most power in regards to shrines and temples?

“Ishin Suden…was originally from the Isshiki clan in Kyoto, wasn’t he?”

She opened a sign frame displaying Ishin Suden’s information. Instead of the name inheritor almanac, this was the generally available information. But…

“Control of Kyoto will shift from the shogun to Oda. Oda grows powerful as a Far Eastern force and then Hashiba takes over Kyoto, so it would have been too dangerous to leave control over the Buke Shohatto there. Thus, once you were confident of P.A. Oda’s expansion, I am guessing you chose to go to K.P.A. Italia, knowing your influence as pope would protect you there. Am I wrong?”

●

Masazumi heard Suden’s voice: “Ha ha.”

She was laughing. It was bitter, mocking laughter, but it was also relaxed laughter.

She was happy.

“Excellent. Great job, you rebellious Far Easterners. This is what I was hoping for.”

Suden turned to look at Mitotsudaira.

“Far Eastern knight, I will address you as the Mito Lord, not as Loup-Garou girl. Your mother is sharp, but her daughter isn’t stupid either. You are just hopelessly lacking in information.”

“You know my mother?”

“Testament. She helped me out long ago, when I had ended my first inherited name and was searching for my second.”

…When she ended her first inherited name, huh?

Would that be when she quit being Urban VIII? wondered Masazumi just as Suden looked her way.

“It looks like you have some sense. …Because you must have had some understanding of what the Mito Lord just pointed out.”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “If you are with K.P.A. Italia, it means the Testament Union nations decided that treating you as part of the Far East would be a problem. And only two Far Eastern forces would have inspired that kind of caution before we came along: Oda and Hashiba.”

Once she had figured out that much, the rest was easy.

“You said you would be negotiating with ‘the Far East’s representative’, not with ‘Honda Masazumi’. So if we refused to negotiate, you would find some other representative.”

Meaning…

“You were threatening to bring the Buke Shohatto to P.A. Oda or Hashiba.”

“Threaten is such an ugly word,” said Suden. “All I want to do is have fun sharing my hobby with someone.”

Now.

“Do you understand your position here? Then let’s get to the Buke Shohatto.”

Chapter 6: Views and Opinions

Cicada?

Point Allocation (Cicada!)

●

“Huh? Horizon? What are you doing up on the shrine’s roof?”

“That should be obvious, Toori-sama! I am currently playing the role of the cicada that slurps up the Asama Shrine’s holy juices! Kiiiiii ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki!”

That is not your usual cicada, thought Asama.

Horizon did actually have a reason to be up on the roof. The primary reason was that she had wanted to, but the Armada Battle had left wreckage and dust strewn across the shrine down in its atrium area.

Most of it had been cleaned up, but not what had been on the roof. Some of the armor divine protections had still been active, so there was concern it could negatively impact the shrine’s functioning. Horizon was currently working to remove that, but…

“Kiiii kii kii kii kii kii ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki!”

“Hee hee. Oh, Horizon. She’s really giving it her all now that Toori-kun is here.”

“That’s not the main point here, Asama-san! Does her inaccurate representation of a cicada not warrant a comment!?”

I didn’t realize Adele was the cicada police.

Then he raised his hand in greeting from the group of boys who had just arrived.

“So what’s going on? Are they playing some kinda game in front of the academy?”

“You mean Masazumi and Mito? Some kind of confrontation is happening, so they’re in trouble.”

“Oh, is that so? Hm, a confrontation, huh? Then maybe I should’ve stayed there…”

While he muttered “what to do?”, Asama synced his divine chat with the one coming from the two in front of the academy.

…I should probably send everyone a link to this.

Then Neshinbara approached her from the group of boys.

“What!? Ishin Suden-sama is here!? That’s amazing! Incredible! Stupendous even!”

“Close the thesaurus, Neshinbara-kun. …But, anyway, it’s a bit of a problem.”

“So it seems. …And without Crossunite-kun here, I guess I’m their backup.”

“Tenzou-kun isn’t here?”

“He said he would be giving Ma-yan a tour of the Musashi. Last I saw him he was sneaking into the English embassy.”

“Oh, really?” said Naruze while typing something onto the divine net, but no one stopped her.

●

Mary couldn’t tell the difference between the inside and outside.

…This is quite a city…

For the past three days, she had gazed expectantly from the terrace and through the windows, imagining what was waiting down the roads and pathways.

But the actual ship-top city Tenzou guided her to was greater than she could have imagined.

The density was so much greater. She had changed into her casual clothes and went out in the late evening, so the lights and the moving people made the city seem in constant motion. There seemed to be something and someone everywhere she looked.

The surface city was even more densely packed than London and most of the buildings stood at least three stories above the surface.

When she looked up at the upper floors connected by walkways, she could see Technohexen and small ships moving about even further up, as well as advertisement sign frames moving along with them.

London likely had the greater population, but the density here was something else.

“Incredible…”

The roads were divided into sections and the sections known as wide blocks created seemingly endless straight roads with plazas where the long blocks connected to them.

“The surface city’s wide blocks contain shopping districts with a lot of local color, while the long blocks have parks, chain stores, and markets.”

While Tenzou explained this, a floor rose up from below within a large atrium at the center of a long block.

…Eh?

Mary looked back and froze in place because she saw metal giants standing atop that large floor. The yellow giants stood about 3m tall.

“Those are light gods of war used for work. The heavy labor handled by giants and similar races in England is usually handled by gods of war like these on the Musashi.”

Four light gods of war began to walk, carrying a large container full of rubble like it was a palanquin.

What looked like tails were the cranes used at the ports and they were likely being used as ballast. That was kind of cute, but their walk led to sounds of splintering wood followed by yelling.

“You idiots! Are you trying to ruin our pan-style Musashi cakes!?”

“Dammit! They got our apple candies, iced shaves, and candy cotton too!”

“What is any of that supposed to be!?”

The god of wars’ argument was lively, but Mary liked that this place allowed people to be so open with each other.

When he heard the sounds of a fistfight breaking out, Tenzou shrugged.

“The work is still underway tonight and the stands from yesterday’s victory celebration are still out in the busier areas. How about we grab something to eat at one of them?”

Mary didn’t hesitate to accept the offer. She felt like testing Tenzou a little, so…

“Do they have Musashi-style fish and chips?”

“I hope I have enough cash on me.”

His immediate response made her smile. She had already exchanged her money for the local currency. That was just how excited she had been over the past three days. But this time, she had made the suggestion and he had responded. So…

“No, I will pay.”

“Very well.” Tenzou raised his right index finger. “I believe there was a stand for that on the path leading to the academy.”

○

Silver Wolf: “Ahhhhh! I threw that one earlier!”

Flat Vassal: “Don’t worry, 5th Special Duty Officer. That shames the 1st Special Duty Officer, not you.”

Scarred: “Oh, we found another stand on the way there, so it wasn’t a problem. Yes.”

Asama: “It’s weird that I can tell just how excited Tenzou-kun was from the text alone.”

●

They had even more than I was expecting! thought Mary.

They had arrived at Tama’s rear deck. On the way here, she had gasped when the financial district’s carriage road came into view in front of her or when the nature district’s forest had suddenly appeared among the buildings. Furthermore…

“The belowdecks atrium parks are open as rest areas now that the wreckage has been cleared away.”

Tenzou had explained this while they looked down at a park made from a wide block that created a belowdecks atrium. It was located about three levels down, it had woods and a stream, and people were resting alongside the row of festival stands.

The scent of greenery and the stream joined with the aromas of food and oil.

“It’s so overwhelming.”

When they did arrive at Tama’s rear deck, a purifying burning of wreckage was underway in the center.

“Student bands are offering songs to keep the fire burning. They have to keep it up at all times, so right now I think the Greek band Caca Ignition is playing to increase the firepower as the night begins. They are a hard rock band that primarily uses harps and flutes. Do you listen to music, Mary-dono?”

“Yes. Irish punk, I think it’s called? That Celtic music with lots of intense ups and downs was popular where I lived. Although I’m not a huge fan of ‘THOAHAAAA!’ and such.”

“Hm, they’re doing an England special on Tama’s bow the day after tomorrow, which should include songs from major artists like ‘Hey Enya’.”

Mary nodded without thinking, but then it hit her.

…The day after tomorrow!

She had been counting down to this third day the whole time, so it had felt like the end point. But it wasn’t. She had tomorrow to look forward to. As well as…

“The day after tomorrow, you said? I look forward to it, Master Tenzou.”

“Judge! Great. By then the ship should have calmed down enough for us to take a look at a lot more.”

She nodded at that. Then a sign frame appeared by her hands. A few of them, actually.

“What’s that? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh, um. I was searching for a home…”

She hesitated but went ahead and said it.

“I was imagining so much about Musashi over the past three days. What would this room be like? Or that one? I had a lot of fun that way. But…the real Musashi is even more than I had imagined. My ignorant ideas can’t compete with what I can imagine now.”

“I’m glad to hear you like what you see of Musashi. But there is still so much left to see. You might just change your mind again after seeing more.”

“Probably so. So maybe I should send these sign frames into that purifying fire.”

“No, I will take them. To reference for the house hunt.”

“Eh? No, this was just me being silly. I can’t let you see it.”

During that conversation, Naruze-sama flew by on a delivery and made a gesture like something sand-like were spilling from her mouth.

“Incredible… Yes, I’m going to make so much progress.”

“W-with what!?” protested Tenzou.

Everywhere on the ship was lit up and they still had plenty of time until lights out at the diplomatic building that Mary was still using for lodging. So there was one more place she wanted to visit.

“Could we go right up next to Musashi’s academy?”

○

After finishing her oral dictation, Mary realized the others were collapsed on the floor.

“A-are you all alright!?”

“Seeing you back when you were still so pushy is difficult on the heart. It makes for a really powerful attack.”

“By the way, Ma-yan, did you ever give Tenzou your list of room candidates?”

“Yes. The Shinto-style sign frame Lady Asama provided me with allowed us to share our settings. I considered changing the divine mail address, but I ended up leaving it as Mary10.”

Most of the others were blasted to the wall, but Mary wasn’t certain what kind of event this even was.

●

…Oh, my body feels so heavy. Maybe I’ve been purifying too much?

While Asama took a break, she listened to him. He was discussing the confrontation in front of the academy.

“So who is that Ishin whatever person?”

“I know!” replied Neshinbara. He struck a pose before continuing. “Ishin Suden is…you know! The Buke Shohatto and religious ban guy!”

“That’s not much of an explanation,” noted Naito while catching the wreckage Horizon was dropping from the roof. Neshinbara turned her way and struck another pose.

“Heh. What matters is that Ishin Suden is from Matsudaira! And the name of the temple he used as a base was used for his other name: Konchiin Suden!”

“Konchiin!? Is it just me or does that sound delicious!? Kooooonchiiiiiiiiin!”

“Heh heh! It’s not just you, foolish brother! Strike a pose and shout Konchiin! Spelled backwards that’s ‘inchinko’! But that’s ‘in’ plus ‘chinko’, Far Eastern for dick! So it must be talking about shoving something in your dick! Shoving what in!? A tamagushi!? Ahhh, I’m being purifiiiiiied! C’mon, Asama! Get that ‘inchinko’ divine punishment ready!”

While Asama raised a fist and Kimi fled, the text “connected” appeared on everyone’s sign frames. Everyone was linked to the site of the discussion.

●

Masazumi noted that Tsukinowa had opened a sign frame next to her face.

…Looks like Asama connected me to the divine chat.

She knew what she had to say there.

Vice President: “Don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

Horizey: “Aiiiiiiiiiiii! I am presently a cicada, so nothing I do could qualify as trouble!”

And you’ve already lost me.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, decided Masazumi before Suden opened a sign frame in front of her.

“Do you know what the Buke Shohatto are?”

Masazumi was about to reply “judge”, when Mitotsudaira raised her left hand to stop her.

Mitotsudaira was saying she would reply instead.

She was Mito Matsudaira and had the provisional inherited name of Mito Mitsukuni.

The Testament said the origin of her inherited name was born after the Buke Shohatto. So as a name inheritor, her education in Hexagone Française had likely been based on them already being in effect.

Still Got It: “Eh?”

Masazumi briefly froze after hearing the imagined voice of Mitotsudaira’s mother.

If her train of thought had led to that imagined reaction…

Silver Wolf: “Hey! Wait a second, mother’s imagined voice! Are you trying to sabotage their trust in me!?”

Vice President: “Excuse me!? Are you telling me it was a bad idea to let you field that question at the time!”

Gold Mar: “Ouch.”

Art-Ga: “Cause of death: a poor education. We’re approaching the darker side of society here.”

God, they’re fast! thought Masazumi as she watched Mitotsudaira breathe deep.

“A-anyway, I will answer.”

What were the Buke Shohatto?

“The Warring States period leads to the Edo Shogunate that Matsudaira begins in Edo. In order to preserve the stability of the Far East, the shogunate issued some statute laws regarding the buke. Buke Shohatto literally means ‘various laws and measurements for the buke’.”

●

Mitotsudaira saw a nod.

Suden inclined her head before speaking.

“Testament. You don’t actually need that deep an understanding of what the term literally means, but what you gave is the explanation for outsiders. So answer me this: how would you explain them for Matsudaira…that is for your future selves?”

Mitotsudaira knew the answer.

The Buke Shohatto had set various standards to preserve peace. They restricted matters that would likely lead to conflict, but that answer changed when taking a different point of view.

…They were meant to strip power from and suppress any forces that could threaten Matsudaira’s rule.

There were a few different ways to bring about peace, but a few elements of the Buke Shohatto made it blatantly obvious the true intent was to strip power from opposing forces.

From a Matsudaira viewpoint, it was meant to crack down on those who would oppose the Edo Shogunate.

…Then I need to consider how to explain this.

Suden was testing them. No, in the worst case, she was trying to trap them.

“This is a test for us since we utilize the Buke Shohatto, isn’t it?”

Suden was viewing them as the future shogunate. But from the shougunate’s viewpoint, the Buke Shohatto were meant to suppress the other powers to secure the shogunate’s hold on the Far East.

However, what would happen if Mitotsudaira spoke from the viewpoint of “the future shogunate” here?

…I would be saying that Musashi intends to suppress the Testament Union nations once our rule begins.

The Testament Union might be using this response as a pretext for deepening their hostility toward Musashi.

So how should she respond?

Silver Wolf: “My king. Masazumi.”

She didn’t need confirmation of this, but she asked anyway.

Silver Wolf: “I am your 1st knight, am I not?”

Me: “Yeah. You have been for a long time.”

○

In the dark changing area, Mitotsudaira stayed low and focused on her surroundings.

Her eyes swept across the others who were remaining silent.

“No one is correcting that?”

“Well,” said Asama. With a smile. “I think what you said was perfectly fine. Yes. Perfectly fine.”

“That’s right, Asama-sama,” said Horizon. “I think it is perfect for the current situation.”

“Eh, we can overlook it every so often,”

“N-Naruze, that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence!”

Among the group, Kimi smiled bitterly.

“But, Mitotsudaira? You weren’t openly referring to him as ‘my king’ back then, were you? It wasn’t until after IZUMO that you started using it in front of people.”

“I definitely said it there. Because I was speaking as a knight to her king in that moment.”

She was confident of that.

That must have gotten through to them because Kimi laughed and slapped her on the shoulder. Her mother laughed too.

Then her mother jerked her chin toward her.

“A poor answer would mean a direct threat to the Far East – no, to Musashi. So what were you confirming with your king and how did that give you your answer? Tell us, Nate.”

●

Depending on her answer, more nations could join the fight against Musashi before they arrived at IZUMO.

Suden’s test was more like a trick question.

So Mitotsudaira gave her answer.

“The Buke Shohatto removed the power to wage war from the buke and established Matsudaira’s rule.”

And…

“Looking to our own future, our king announced he would take over the world. The Buke Shohatto will provide stability after that and indicate a direction forward.”

She admitted that they were applying pressure to the other nations.

●

After hearing an “oh?” from Suden, Masazumi was ashamed of herself for considering interjecting.

…She can handle this.

She had been worried how Mitotsudaira would answer Suden’s test.

The worst answer would have been to try and avoid receiving any hostility from the other nations.

…In other words to deny and misrepresent what the Buke Shohatto say.

Mitotsudaira hadn’t done that.

And Suden had brushed her hair up and looked up at them with the corner of her mouth lifted in a grin.

“So after you take over, you’re gonna rob the world of its ability to resist you?”

“That is what the Buke Shohatto do.”

As the wolf clearly indicated, a look at the Testament showed that the Buke Shohatto did suppress the buke. But if they didn’t preserve that, it would lead to other problems.

…Then they could claim Musashi was altering the history recreation.

Suden was from K.P.A. Italia. Musashi had repelled them at Mikawa, but the Papa Schola made that nation the leader of the Catholics and they still acted as the Testament Union’s representative.

In Masazumi’s opinion, they had the greatest pull when it came to interpreting the Testament and ratifying history recreations.

But Musashi hadn’t gone back on their word. Mitotsudaira had properly indicate their intent to continue with the announcement the idiot made to K.P.A. Italia at Mikawa.

Vice President: “I can see Mitotsudaira was well educated.”

Still Got It: “My, how embarrassing. That you think this proves anything, that is. She can do far more than this.”

Silver Wolf: “I-imagined voiiiiice!”

Never a dull moment with that loup garou family, thought Masazumi as Suden moved. She lightly spun her hat on her finger while using her other hand to tap a sign frame displaying information on the Buke Shohatto.

Had Mitotsudaira’s words gotten through to her? She scrolled through the information on the sign frame and…

“Hm. I can wait to assess you later. For now, I want to look into a few matters.”

●

“Did we pass?” asked Adele.

Kimi tilted her head. She was currently setting up a table below the tent they had set up on the shrine grounds and placing food on it, but…

“You can’t take someone’s measure that quickly. Besides…you can only do that when you differ from the other person. If you’re too similar, you have to take your own measure first, which makes it more difficult.”

●

“Now,” said Suden.

…So they won’t take the bait.

She had planned to take control of the situation if they had fallen for it. But they hadn’t, which meant…

“Musashi must have a lot of trust for their king.”

“Judge. Shoving responsibility for everything onto him is nice. Which makes it hard to get that mad at him.”

“I see.” Suden smiled a little and tapped her cadena firma. “Now, let’s go over the Buke Shohatto real quick. You know what the 13 articles say, I hope?”

●

Adele saw the Secretary already searching for the answer.

He struck a pose as he slapped the key to run the search.

“Heh. Can anyone match the search speed I’ve built up gathering so much data!?”

“No one’s competing with you, Secretary.”

“Adele, no need to be so mean. Bara-yan hasn’t bragged about how much he knows this time.”

Oh, that’s being awfully nice, thought Adele, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want to get the Secretary worked up.

…Way too many of us have thick skin which only gets thicker as the others attack us.

Meanwhile, the Secretary had opened a sign frame. It displayed a list he had taken from the divine net.

“The Buke Shohatto actually receives four major updates after they are first issued. The third and fourth times happen beyond the future shown in the Testament, so we only know about them due to notes in the Testament. The first version has 13 articles. That isn’t very much compared to the second’s 19.”

Past the Secretary, Ohiroshiki was expressionlessly rotating his hand in a “wrap it up” gesture, so the 6th Special Duty Officer raised her left hand.

“Just get to the 13 articles already.”

“Eh? The detailed context is fascinating, but have it your way. Judge. I’ll get to the point. And provide my own interpretation.”

He displayed the following list:

1. Dedicate yourselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship.

Work at cultural and military skills, mkay?

2. Show restraint in drink and amusement.

Don’t be a drunk or a lazy bum, mkay?

3. Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto.

Report anyone who disobeys these laws, mkay?

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

9. Each daimyo must periodically visit Edo to serve the shogunate.

Come visit us from time to time, mkay?

10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

11. Restrict who can ride a palanquin regardless of status.

Don’t squander money riding around on palanquins all the time, mkay?

12. Be frugal.

Don’t waste money, mkay?

13. Domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles.

Domain leaders need to focus on skill and capability when filling government jobs, mkay?

“And that’s it. There was actually an earlier three article pledge for the daimyo of the powerful western domains and Ishin Suden later gathered it all into these 13 articles.

“But,” said the Secretary, smiling with his mouth spread horizontally. “The current provisional ruling nations are going to be pissed if they’re subject to the article about not building or fixing castles without advance notice. Not to mention the ban on marriages.”

Someone tilted her head at that: Kimi. She pointed at the 13 articles.

“If these go into effect, won’t we have to follow them too?”

“Huh?” said the rest, looking to Kimi, just before Suden’s voice arrived via divine transmission.

“Interesting, aren’t they?”

●

Masazumi listened to Suden.

“We are currently discussing the rules that will govern the nations ruled by the Far East once it takes over. Do you get what that means?” she said. “If you take over the world, these are the rules that will secure that rule. How you handle these could turn the world into a paradise or into hell. But the laws created in the distant past, deep in the Age of the Gods, were designed to create complete subordination. And…”

“And the rules about following the history recreation mean we will be criticized or attacked if we don’t do what those laws say?”

“Yes. Yes. That’s right, Far Easterner. If you don’t make them your servants, they will attack you. But if you do make them your servants, they will feel hostility toward you. We know because the provisional ruling nations already did it to you. You probably think this is old news and I agree, but I too would selfishly harbor hostility if I were ruled like this. How fun, right? So I forgive you your hostility. I did used to be pope, after all. I’ll forgive anything if I feel like it.”

Suden put her hat back on and shook her head to let her long hair fall behind her.

“Now, let’s play a game, Far Eastern Representative. What will you do with the Buke Shohatto?”

●

This is crazy! thought Mitotsudaira, honestly kind of disturbed.

…How serious is she about this!?

Suden wanted them to decide on the laws for after they ruled the world. But those laws would make the ruled nations their vassals, so deciding those laws now would leave Musashi surrounded by enemies.

The other nations would join forces and attack Musashi to keep them from enforcing those laws.

But if Musashi compromised, they would be in violation of the history recreation.

They would win more enemies no matter what they did.

…We’re in a bind!

Horizey: “Asama-sama! Your attacks put warship artillery to shame, so one of them should be able to reduce a mere pope to ashes! So show us how it’s done, teacher!”

Asama: “Um, Horizon? Shrine maidens aren’t allowed to shoot popes.”

Tachibana Wife: “Now there’s a sentence no one has ever said before…”

You’re going to be hearing a lot of those, thought Mitotsudaira, but they had bigger things to worry about.

“Masazumi.”

“Judge. If Bertoni or Augesvarer were here, we might have gotten out of this with a prostration.”

“You’re trying to avoid thinking about the problem, aren’t you, Masazumi!?”

But that might have actually worked, she thought at the same time.

Circle Be: “Sorry, but we’re busy dealing with the backlash to the docking ban while securing what rights we can! A merchant’s prostration isn’t free and don’t you forget it!”

At least those two were their usual selves. But how were they going to get out of this one?

“…Masazumi.”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “We aren’t prepared at the moment. Working out the details of the Buke Shohatto could cause trouble for the history recreation, so I say we should take some time to prepare.”

“Are you stupid?” asked Suden. “Wield history as you see fit! That’s the right we’ve been given! Why even represent the Far East if you aren’t going to exercise that right!?”

“No,” said Masazumi waving her hand forward. “We can’t do that! Musashi doesn’t work that way!”

●

“We decided as much at Mikawa! We will not use the Far East’s people or Musashi’s residents to improve our position in the history recreation. And the same goes for other nations.”

Masazumi pointed a bit left of the bow – to the southeast. She was pointing toward…

“Mikawa! We made that our policy at Mikawa! And now you are asking us to wield the history recreation with an iron fist! But through our experiences at Mikawa and England, we purified ourselves of self-interest in the history recreation and chose to instead make use of interpretations. So even if we must take over the world to have our way, we refuse to do that and we won’t force any other nation to do it either!”

“Then was I mistaken!?”

Suden pulled her hat deep over her eyes. She shattered her cadena firma with a snap of her left wrist and let the spray of shattered ether light wash across her left arm.

“When the time for action arrives, cowards always find an excuse to stop. That too is a form of self-interest. If you insist on finding meaning in your own inaction and if you believe no one else sees it that way, then the Far East hasn’t changed at all over the past 160 years!”

“Then what would you do, Ishin Suden?”

“That couldn’t be more obvious. Hexagone Française’s Mouri Terumoto and M.H.R.R.’s Hashiba are both Far Eastern powers with a Catholic connection. I’ll go to them and see if they’re willing to establish the Buke Shohatto.”

“So you don’t recognize us as representatives? Do you really think that is your choice to make?” asked Masazumi.

“I hold political power!” replied Suden. “Of course I can have my way!”

●

Masazumi breathed in.

…Judge. You’re probably right.

Suden was a former pope and had inherited a name critical to the futures of the other nations.

She could have her way.

She was an absurd negotiator. She was as childish as she looked. She had political power and wielded it in a rebellious way. She assumed everything would go her way and she got upset when it didn’t.

“Judge. Your Holiness, you do indeed have political power. You can have your way in anything.”

But…

“Then why is it you can’t have your way when it comes to us?”

“Because you are cowards!”

…No hesitation, huh?

Gold Mar: “I bet Seijun’s thinking, ‘Caught her in a contradiction! Yahoo!’ ”

Circle Be: “Yeah, complaining customers like that will get violent no matter what you do, so watch out.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. You do sometimes come across people who have a way with words despite constantly contradicting themselves.”

Vice President: “S-s-sounds like all of you!!”

Oops, I stuttered. Whatever. As long as I don’t do that in the actual negotiation.

But if Suden would respond immediately and undaunted after being caught in a contradiction…

Vice President: “I might be able to convince her.”

Masazumi more or less knew what Suden wanted.

…When you get down to it, we’re just smashing each other’s arguments.

The former Catholic head was using the vast experience of Catholic history to select the best argument and neutralize her opponent’s words. Playing along would only let her use her near limitless supply of responses until Masazumi couldn’t continue on. No individual could stand up to Catholic history.

But Masazumi thought this opponent had a hook she could use to make this a more direct confrontation. So she raised her right hand and spoke.

“Your Holiness, it is true I am a coward. I admit to that.”

●

So that’s how you’re playing it? thought Suden, looking up at the Musashi Vice President who had stepped down a step on the stairs.

“Then what? Are you going to accept the label of coward and hand all your rights over to me?”

That would be an option.

Give me all your rights and Musashi is under my protection and I can have my way in all of this.

That would begin with the coward throwing out her silly pride and accepting what she was.

A coward like that was worthy of respect and should be protected by the powerful.

Besides, that was the purpose of Catholicism. The people who feared death, power, and loneliness could rely on and be connected to god, who stood above all else.

Everyone feared the unreasonable things they had no power over.

All people were cowards.

And Catholicism reached out its hand to allow them to live their lives as cowards.

Only a handful of people need not live that way.

But what about these people? They had called themselves cowards, but if so…

“What will you do as a coward?”

“As an unprepared coward,” replied the Musashi Vice President, “I don’t think I can make that decision at the moment.”

She refused to make her own decision.

●

Suden realized this girl was playing right into her hands.

…Is she planning to leave everything in our grasp?

Suden didn’t lower her guard. This girl had admitted she was a coward. That would leave only two options: rely on Suden, or use her. But…

…Which is it?

However, this refusal to make a decision appeared to have surprised the girl’s companions.

“Masazumi!?”

The Mito Lord called out to her, but the Musashi Vice President raised her right hand to stop her.

That likely meant “don’t say a word”.

So was she planning to submit? But something bothered Suden.

“When you admitted to being a coward…you said ‘I’, didn’t you?”

So as an individual.

She hadn’t been talking about Musashi as a whole. That meant this submission would be for her alone. So would she hide that fact and, once she received Suden’s understanding, turn around and claim it didn’t apply to Musashi as a whole?

The Musashi Vice President briefly froze before responding.

“I am Musashi’s Vice President. I have the right to choose for Musashi. My decisions are Musashi’s decisions. And you are treating me as a representative of the Far East, aren’t you?”

“Testament. But you have a superior – the Chancellor and President. Does he agree?”

“So that’s it, hm?” said the Musashi Vice President, opening a sign frame.

“Maa-”

A giant anteater!? Nice! I don’t have anything like that since I quit being pope. Nice! And while Suden was thinking “nice” twice…

“Hey, idiot. The little pope wants us to obey her. I was planning to agree since arguing would be a pain, but what do you say?”

…You could at least try to hide your rebelliousness!

She had guts. Once she was under Suden’s protection, Suden would work her as hard as she used to the different committee heads.

But the response came quick.

“Hm? What? So she’s one of those ‘rely on me’ types? Sounds fun!”

Fun? thought Suden, but she chose to nod in agreement.

And the Musashi Vice President spoke with the sign frame still floating next to her.

“Judge. So this means we’re now working for you and we’re going to do the history recreation of the Buke Shohatto, right? Okay? No going back now.”

“You sure are insistent.”

Whatever the case, they had submitted to Suden and left this matter in her hands.

She used her next words to confirm this fact. I won’t let them turn it around on me.

“Testament. Agreed. I will place you under my protection.”

“You will? That’s a relief.” The Musashi Vice President smiled and tapped the sign frame next to her. “A huge relief. After all, this means she’ll protect us from the blame and harassment we’re bound to receive when you inevitably screw up the history recreation and it’s declared null and void. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“Ohh,” said the idiot on the Musashi Vice President’s sign frame. “That sounds fun! Little pope, it’s okay if we make you cry, right!?”

“Damn youuuu!!”

○

Silver Wolf: “See, this is why I shouted ‘Masazumi’ to try and stop you…”

Gold Mar: “No one who knew us would agree to place us under their protection.”

Circle Be: “But didn’t you do something similar when you and the Papa Schola were tearing down each other’s arguments at Mikawa?”

Vice President: “Judge. But the conditions were different here. Suden doesn’t hide the power she wields as much as the Papa Schola does, so we might’ve been in trouble if she had been at Mikawa.”

●

“Now,” said Masazumi. “Let’s do this, Ishin Suden. If you try to use your authority to twist the Buke Shohatto, we’ll do everything we can under your protection to trip you up and give you a very bad day.”

“How bad a day!?”

“Well, I’ll omit the details, but let’s just say it would make you a stain on the pages of history. And we’ll make sure everyone knows.”

“Do you really think you can do that!?”

Masazumi raised the sign frame, which showed the nudist (who was back to his normal appearance) holding three ‘Asama Shrine Mud Pack – 1 Sho’ bottles between his thighs.

“Now, let’s get that skin nice and warm! Oh, Horizon! Wait! Don’t push!”

“What are you planning!?” shouted Suden.

“I don’t know myself,” said Masazumi. “So what will it be? We will interfere with your actions at any hour of the day, ruin everything you try to do, and rewrite whatever you say.”

“Are you saying you will defy the history recreation!?”

“Defy it? Perish the thought. Like I said, I’m an unprepared coward. So it’s all under your protection. …Which means whatever happens is your responsibility.”

“You have guts, I’ll give you that!”

Suden bared her teeth in a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you I couldn’t make a decision on my own?”

“Then.” Suden swung her right hand. “None of you are to act on your own decisions until I grant you permission! That is an order!”

●

Asama looked to her sign frame.

When Masazumi had directed the footage their way, she had used Tsukinowa to send a message. A brief instruction was written there, but…

…Is this really a good idea?

Her mouth twisted into what might have been a look of exasperation or absurdity, but when she looked to him…

“Let’s do it! This could be fun!”

“This will only shut off the pathway and your individual protection settings will remain intact, so please don’t do anything too crazy.”

Asama sighed once. She was honestly fairly curious herself as she called up the approval button onto a sign frame and pressed it with her authority as a representative of the Asama Shrine.

“Musashi bridge – full area sync. Halt all ship movements.”

●

The first thing that happened across the Musashi’s eight ships was a change in the air.

Everything around the Musashi turned white and that white scattered as if being stripped away from without.

“Oh…”

Everyone on the ship cried out.

What was more a chilly atmospheric wave than a gust of wind flowed in from the area around the Musashi.

The wind groaned like a settling house and the responding motion came from within the ship.

As if resisting the chilly atmospheric wave, the ship’s interior atmosphere was pressurized by the arriving chill and burst out, primarily from the atrium parks.

The mist created by the temperature and humidity differences seemed to erupt from the atrium spaces at the center of each ship and elsewhere across the ships.

The mobile barriers used to withstand atmospheric pressure changes were already closing.

The wind crashed into them, spiraled around, blasted upwards, and the eight ships shook like a wave had struck them.

None of it ended there.

The Musashi’s nightscape vanished. Starting with the bridge and the various shrines, the city lights vanished.

The darkness of the night arrived, dyeing the white and black ship in non-daylight colors.

Then the tremor arrived. This one wasn’t from the impact of the wind.

The virtual ocean surrounding the ship vanished as the wind struck it. If it didn’t return, the massive ship would lose its buoyancy.

Which was precisely what happened.

The gentle tremor of pressing down on the ocean atmosphere below caused everyone to shake as the 8km ship began to fall.

It didn’t fall straight down. The Musashi was shaped like a boat.

First, the 1st port and starboard ships took a course forward and down, as if they had lightly thrown themselves.

The 2nd and 3rd ships were dragged along with them. By then, the 1st and 2nd central ships were following too.

There was noise. Not even the atmospheric buffering was active. After losing all power in the sky, the massive structure continued to lose altitude while it pressed down on the atmosphere and produced a low rumbling.

●

“What is that I hear from the northern sky? Is the atmosphere splitting?”

The Reine des Garous was not in the forest. She was on the grounds of their mansion which included an orchard.

On a certain person’s request, they had shifted the site of their lets-letsing from the forest to this mansion.

And when she poked her head out from the farming hut with a blanket draped over her to check on the noise, she noticed a signe cadre open next to her face. It came from the Chancellor’s Officers’ 1st Special Duty Team.

“Vice Chancellor! Something’s happening with the Musashi out at sea!”

The hurried voice provided hurried words.

“All of its ships have stopped moving! They have all taken a descending trajectory!”

“My,” she said, imagining the scene. “So after their loop-the-loop, they have decided to mimic a free-fall ride!?”

“Lou Garou-san, I don’t think that’s what this is.”

She nodded at the voice spoken from atop the blanket placed over the straw in the hut to act as a bed.

“Yes, a free fall may be too rough. Then how about we go for a ‘reverse coaster’ this time if you know what I mean?”

●

“Damn you!”

Suden realized what was happening.

She had told them not to move until she gave permission, so they had stopped moving.

The wind was racing by in the sky to either side and the atmosphere was rising up into the heavens. She could feel her body gradually slanting backwards, toward the bow.

The deck pushed up below her feet. If that grew much stronger, she would start to float.

“Nice!” Her honest thoughts left her mouth. “Even cowards are worthy of respect when they take it this far! You’re going to claim the entire Far East had to stop because I was speaking to a representative of the Far East, aren’t you!?”

“Your praise honors me,” said the Musashi Vice President without so much as a smile. But Suden was nothing but smiles.

“Interesting! So after using everyone else, you fear being used yourselves!? Why is that!?”

“Because we’ve been used enough already.”

“Hah! But isn’t that how international politics works!? If you want to avoid it, then you need power! It was because the Musashi won the Armada Battle that you could control that history recreation!”

“And our enemies are trying to defeat us so they can control a new history recreation.”

“Oh, you know the future? Why fear a future that hasn’t even happened yet!?”

“This is not a future that has yet to happen,” said the Musashi Vice President. “It is a fact we created. And as a fact, it will happen if the conditions are right.”

“Why!?”

“Judge,” said the Musashi Vice President. “Cowards seek salvation. But not because they have succumbed to difficulty or fear. They want a way to fight back against their difficulties and fears. Catholicism acts as a weapon to that end. A weapon of support. But once a coward loses that weapon, they must resist on their own. Yesterday’s cowards become tomorrow’s resistance.”

“Then what does the future hold!? If your resistance is a fact, then what does tomorrow bring!?”

The Musashi Vice President inhaled. And…

“Only those who resist today can be tomorrow’s victors. Am I wrong, Urban VIII?”

●

Mitotsudaira heard a “ha ha ha” of laughter.

Her feet were already beginning to lift from the deck and everything in the air around her was roaring upwards, but…

…She’s tough!

This had to be a first for Suden, yet she showed no fear. She knew full well that this was all a negotiation.

“Tomorrow’s victors, huh!? Yes, a nice turn of phrase! That is no different from how cowards insist they will change their ways ‘tomorrow’ but never do! Is that how you can endlessly resist in the face of eternal defeat, Far Eastern Representative!?” Suden raised her right hand. “I was Urban VIII yesterday! I am Ishin Suden today! Then what will I be tomorrow!?”

“Being a victor doesn’t come from your name. If it did, we never could have won at Mikawa.”

“Must you argue with everything I say!?”

“We are today’s resistance.” Masazumi raised her right hand. “For us tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and every other day is ‘today’. Do you get what that means?”

“Do you intend to end my history recreation with resistance?”

“If you stay with us.”

Suden sucked in a breath at that. And she looked Masazumi in the eye and said,

“––––”

Eh? thought Mitotsudaira.

…What did she say?

Subtle movements of Suden’s lips formed a definite word in the wind. No, Mitotsudaira clearly heard the word. Or she thought she did. Maybe she didn’t actually hear the sound, but she still sensed something reaching her.

…A word I know?

What was it? She tried to search her brains, but she couldn’t think of any word that fit both Suden and Musashi and she failed to find the answer. What had Suden said? And before she could try further…

“God, you’re such a stubborn coward!”

“I do try to be flexible. What with who our leader is and all.”

“He is the most stubborn of you all!”

That’s true enough, thought Masazumi just as Suden raised her voice again.

“Start up the Musashi! And from here on, I grant you the right of freedom while under my protection! You are free to act beyond my commands!”

Listen.

“Tomorrow’s victors belong to me! Which means I win this debate!”

●

“Papa Schola! We have word that Urban VIII has defeated Musashi!”

“Former boy…that woman has never achieved anything less than victory, has she?”

“Testament, she is such a pain. I have so many bad memories of her. Don’t you? Hm?

“But whatever,” added the Papa Schola, shifting diagonally in his seat and taking a breath.

He pointed at the international relations head standing at the entrance.

“My former upperclassman has made herself useful. She even made good use of my recommendation. But do everything necessary to make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. Also, call in the Catholic Representative Collaboration Team. I would like to contact the Testament Union and set a countermeasure in motion.”

He lifted the corner of his mouth and sighed.

“Honestly, to think my first collaboration with my former upperclassman would result in this minor harassment! I’m sure it will come to light soon enough, but Musashi will have to figure that out on their own, don’t you think? Hm?”

○

Wow… said Adele, realizing an exasperated breath had left her throat.

“I remember thinking something bad had happened to the Musashi, but I didn’t realize it was quite that bad.”

“All of the Musashi’s ships did actually need to be rebooted to fix some errors after the Armada Battle, so we took care of that there. We were planning to do it after arriving at IZUMO, but since we were banned from docking there, that got delayed and the errors were beginning to accumulate.”

“That’s right,” said the 6th Special Duty Officer. She had been on duty in the engine division back then. “We made full use of the gravitational thrusters during the Armada Battle and we even did a flip. The Musashi wasn’t even remotely designed to do that, so it caused a significant number of errors in the OS and various smaller programs. So the reboot was necessary to fix issues on the software side rather than the hardware side.”

“Oh, sorry for making you do that flip then…”

That said, it sounded like they had summed things up pretty well. But…

“What happened with Ishin Suden-san after that?”

The Vice President nodded and then shrugged.

“Two unexpected groups arrived. Although after the fact, it would be clear we already had the answer at this point.”

●

It’s all going to happen tomorrow, thought Masazumi.

“We can talk tomorrow evening at four. Let’s meet at…”

The earlier attack bothered her. She wondered who had arranged it.

Silver Wolf: “Given the timing, can’t we assume it was arranged by Ishin Suden?”

Vice President: “I do have questions, but somewhere out of reach would still be best.”

“In that case,” came a voice via divine transmission.

Asama: “What about our shrine? I can ensure your safety there. And with a spell barrier in place, no one will be able to see in from the outside.”

Masazumi had no problem with that, but Ishin Suden might.

She looked to Suden because she would have heard Asama’s suggestion too.

“The Asama Shrine, huh? I had hoped to visit it as a tourist, so I can kill two birds with one stone.”

“Then, let’s go with that,” said Masazumi, bringing the conversation to an end. But just then…

“C’mon now, Masazumi. A little warning would be nice before you perform a stunt like that.”

A voice reached her while descending the stairs from the academy. The deep male voice belonged to…

“Principal Sakai.”

“Judge. I too am here for a report concerning the previous reboot of the Musashi. Over.”

Chapter 7: Reunion and Happiness

It occurs to me

That piloting the Musashi wildly

Has become normal since Mikawa

Point Allocation (Abnormal)

●

Ishin Suden smiled bitterly. A man and woman calmly descended the stairs. She didn’t know the woman, but the man she knew. They had met briefly twenty-odd years ago.

“That was when I was taking a trip to M.H.R.R. after finishing my inherited name, wasn’t it? I don’t know who told you I was there, but you suddenly showed up to greet me at the cafe.”

“The Protestants were looking for you and I deduced where you would be hiding from them. That aside, Urban VIII, have you chosen a place to stay the night?”

Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer gave her a questioning look.

…Cautious, are we?

They likely wanted as many hints as possible about who she was working for.

“In that case,” said Suden. “Woman. The one next to Sakai. You arrange a safe location for me. That’s your job, isn’t it?”

“Sakai-sama? Over.”

The woman glared and Sakai looked away.

“”Um, ‘Musashi’-san? She helped me out a long time ago.”

The woman responded to this by shutting her eyes and sighing. Suden could feel a hint of a smile on her lips.

“What’s the cheapest option?”

“Dangling from the Musashino’s bridge. We can ensure your safety better there than anywhere else, so is that what you would like? Over.”

“And the most expensive?”

“You can sleep inside the Musashino’s bridge. We will not speak a word to you while on duty, so you will have a safe and restful time in a fully air-conditioned space. The only flaw is the high frequency of the Chancellor stopping by for ‘fun’. Over.”

“Hm, that sounds like the safest option in the long run.”

“Very well,” said the woman. She nodded and the cadena firma by Suden reacted. Based on the information displayed there…

…No point in staying here.

“Okay, I’ll get going. Musashi Vice President, I look forward to tomorrow evening.”

●

She seemed in a hurry, thought Mitotsudaira.

Sakai raised a hand in parting as he and “Musashi” left with Ishin Suden, but was that supposed to mean “you take care of the rest” or “we’ll take care of the rest”? Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure, but for now…

“We got out of that one.”

“That’s right. This gives me a lot more I need to research and consider by tomorrow.”

That was true, but one thing was bothering Mitotsudaira. After confirming that Sakai’s group had left the central street and disappeared down Remorse Way, she checked for any signs of nearby listening devices and…

“Ishin Suden was awfully concerned about her surroundings, wasn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

Horizey: “Could the mini pope have a stalker!? Oh, look! Toori-sama is here for some unexplained reason!”

Me: “It’s not me! It’s not me! I’m not into girls that little! So it must be Ohiroshiki!”

Worshiper: “ ‘Must be’ my ass! Besides, I’m not into loli grannies who’ve been around longer than Principal Sakai! Young life has no need for all those extra factors! Got that!?”

Me: “Okay, clear out, everyone. The speech is over, so it’s time to go home!”

…They never change, do they?

But Mitotsudaira had noticed something.

“One of the sign frames Ishin Suden opened was scanning her surroundings.”

Asama: “Was it an ether scan of some sort?”

Silver Wolf: “She didn’t bring a bodyguard with her, so it may have only been for security. And after checking that, she left with Principal Sakai and ‘Musashi’. In what looked like a hurry.”

Tonbokiri: “You mean…an attacker like before might still be nearby?”

Vice President: “Futayo, after grabbing something to eat, go stand guard near the Musashino bridge. We’ll look into the people arrested in the previous attack and send you whatever testimony they give.”

Hearing Futayo’s “judge” in reply, Mitotsudaira sighed.

A lot had happened. And if her king was already at the Asama Shrine…

“Then we will join the rest of you at the Asama Shrine. …Oh?”

Just as she was preparing to descend the stairs with Masazumi, she saw someone familiar on the central street down below.

A boy and a girl were looking up at them.

“Oh? Masazumi-dono, Mitotsudaira-dono, what are you doing here?”

The 1st Special Duty Officer was there. And bowing their way next to him was Mary in casual clothing.

○

“Just out of curiosity, what were the two of you doing?”

Mary smiled and nodded at the Reine des Garous’s question. She thought back to remember.

“Judge. I had felt the Musashi suddenly stop, but Master Tenzou said they were only rebooting the ships as part of the repairs and showed me to some stairs leading belowdecks. He wanted to walk to the academy that way so he could ask for details.”

But the Reine des Garous shook her head and placed a hand on Mary’s shoulder.

“That isn’t what I meant. I asked what you were ‘doing’. You know what I’m asking, don’t you?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. …I was taking a walk with Master Tenzou while sipping on the matcha latte he bought me.”

“That’s it!” shouted Naruze and everyone else nodded deeply. Eventually, Mitotsudaira spoke up.

“The 1st Special Duty Officer is reliable, if unexciting.”

Asama and Mitotsudaira shook hands, but Mary wasn’t sure if she could join in.

●

Mary joined Mitotsudaira and Masazumi in visiting the Asama Shrine.

Masazumi suggested she go meet everyone there and she thought that was a good idea.

She had already greeted the others after the Armada Battle ended, but doing it in an everyday context would be different from on the battlefield.

So she arrived at the Asama Shrine.

…Oh, so this is a Far Eastern shrine. And that is one of those torii things.

The place was very different from a Tsirhc church. The ritual of passing through the torii reminded her of indigenous festivals and the ceremonies for new members of a mercenary group, but the size, color, and design were different here.

She could tell she was entering holy ground. And the way it was such an open space yet a clearly artificial one was fascinating. When she stopped to take a look at an Asama Shrine advertisement poster, Masazumi turned around.

“Crossunite, have you shown her around the shrine yet?”

“Well,” cut in Mary herself. “Shortly before he could come here, we received word that Lady Asama and the others had arrived. But…”

“Judge. I had hoped to bring her by when Asama-dono would be here, right? And with Asama-dono here, it would inevitably turn into a sales talk regarding divine transmissions, Shinto services, and whatnot, right? So I thought we should wait until we had more time…”

“Good idea,” said Mitotsudaira who had gone on a bit ahead. Mary looked that way to see a light past the torii at the top of the stairs.

…The others must be there.

The shadows moving in the light told her people were gathered there. She could also hear voices.

“Go! Just one more! One more!”

“Excuse me, everyone! Mary has arrived!!”

The way Mitotsudaira rushed up the stairs told Mary she was a good person.

Then Mary climbed the stairs, passed through the torii, and bowed.

The others were there in front of her. She had already met most of them when they held that “eating yakiniku bought with someone else’s money” party at England.

The lamps illuminated the shrine’s main building, the boys grappling and hitting each other for some reason, and the girls laying out the food. They all turned her way and Masazumi spoke to them.

“Everyone, Mary is here.”

“Hello,” said Mary and Tenzou stepped up to stand at her side. “Thank you all. I am Master Tenzou’s wife, Mary Stuart.”

They all collapsed outwards like they had been hit by an uppercut.

●

Gold Mar: “Tenzou, you’d better settle this quick.”

Art-Ga: “Yes. You need to go for it, do it right, and then go to the government office to sign the form.”

Asama: “Oh, make sure you do that through the Asama Shrine, okay?”

10ZO: “What are you people talking about!?”

○

Gold Mar: “Tenzou, I still think you need to settle that quick.”

Art-Ga: “Yes. You need to go for it, do it right, and then go to the government office to sign the form.”

Asama: “Oh, you already know to do that through the Asama Shrine, right?”

10ZO: “Again, what are you people talking about!?”

●

Thanks to the excitement over Mary’s introduction, Naruze felt like Mary had made a place for herself here.

…She knows how to leave an impression.

After Asama gave her a dinner of grilled chicken and rice balls filled with beans, Naruze got to thinking inside the tent they had set up on the shrine grounds. Margot sat next to her with a plate containing an identical dinner.

“So we have to establish the Buke Shohatto here? I wonder how this is going to turn out.”

“It all comes down to that Ishin Suden person.”

And that Ishin Suden had previously inherited the name of Urban VIII.

…She’s from K.P.A. Italia, right?

That suggested this was all being led by K.P.A. Italia.

With that in mind, it wasn’t too hard to figure out the purpose of the attack on Masazumi before Suden arrived.

If they could end this with an attack, so be it. If not, then Ishin Suden could make an appearance.

But maybe it was her rough speculation as a Chancellor’s Officer that made her think that explained everything.

…Still, this feels weird.

“What has you so lost in thought, Naruze-kun?”

“Judge. Just that we’ve been attacked and toyed with on our own turf.”

But then a thought occurred to her.

…Huh? Isn’t this when…?

“Hey, um, Horizon?”

“Judge. What do you need, Naruze-sama?”

Naruze nodded and pointed toward the entrance torii and stairs. Horizon climbed the stairs in three large bounds while holding a large wicker basket.

“Eh?” gasped everyone as they watched Horizon skid to a stop on the gravel.

“Judge! For today’s delivery, the Blue Thunder’s owner and I have spent all day punching the bread dough, burning it at the stake, and hanging it up as a lesson to others! Then I brought it here without assigning it a price! Thanks to this, every meal for the next few days will be bread with a side of bread and an appetizer of bread! For water, I brought water!”

“Yeah, water would have to be water…” said Margot, looking away, and Naruze agreed, but Horizon ignored the comment and placed the basket on the table.

“Now, it’s time for bread, bread, and more bread for three meals a day! But I am sure you will tire of that eventually, so as a bonus the owner provided a large quantity of English-style fish and chips!”

“Oh, is that true, Vicereine Horizon!? Bring it out!”

Horizon reverently opened the basket. It contained…

“Bread.”

●

“What is the point of this, Horizon!?”

To deal with the immediate problem, Masazumi looked to all the bread the others were dejectedly lining up and taking.

“And I know beggars can’t be choosers, but surely there was something else.”

“The owner did prepare a wide variety of foods for you, but we got carried away and used it all for Naito-sama and Naruze-sama’s deliveries. The owner said ‘bread should be enough for my kids and their friends’, so if you don’t enjoy it, you will receive her bread-kneading palm strike from point-blank range next time you visit the Blue Thunder.”

The starving boys suddenly started chowing down on the bread.

“Man, this is good! Plain bread is the best!”

“See, Masazumi-sama? It is extremely popular. Girls, you had better enjoy it too! Naito-sama, I want to see you rejoice! You are rejoicing, aren’t you!?”

“Woo…yay…”

“Why are you people so willing to throw out your pride for a joke? Oh, and Horizon?”

“What is it, Masazumi-sama?”

Masazumi pointed to a part of the shrine grounds.

“Naruze was trying to point out that you were with us over there a minute ago. What happened to that?”

“Over there?”

“Judge. You at least did seem to be here when we all arrived at the Asama Shrine.”

Horizon looked to an empty space just big enough for a person to stand. The Aoi Sister was dancing next to that space, but that was probably meaningless. Then Horizon pointed alternately between the empty space and herself.

“…”

Eventually, she mimed grabbing some luggage in both hands and moving it from right to left.

Apparently satisfied with that, she gave a confident nod, looked to the others, and spoke.

“You were all hallucinating.”

○

Asama: “Ugh, n-noooooo. I-I’m going to need a host of corrections for this…”

Horizey: “Asama-sama! Hallucinate! You just need to hallucinate all your problems away! Now, try it!”

Unturning: “I think she’s trying to hypnotize her.”

Vice President: “So, Asama, can we just move on?”

Asama: “Fine, we can just call it a hallucination…”

Horizey: “Asama-sama, don’t let this get you down! This means we have moved beyond mere auditory hallucinations!”

Gold Mar: “Doesn’t that mean we’re getting worse?”

●

Mary listened to Asama’s question while eating her meal.

“This is going to turn into a sleepover here, but what will you be doing? Will you be joining us?”

If Asama had ended with “what about you?”, Mary would have left. But thanks to the second question…

“I would love to join you.”

The girls behind her reacted with cheers, so that must have been the right answer. Asama and Tenzou exchanged some quick words, probably out of concern for her and she was thankful for that.

That aside, this appeared to be a political discussion. Mary joined in since they didn’t stop with her here and Masazumi raised a hand to draw attention to herself.

“Now, we’re looking at two issues: the ban on docking at IZUMO and the Buke Shohatto brought to us by Ishin Suden. I’ve figured out how the two are related. See, the Buke Shohatto will influence the Far East as a whole, so we should assume IZUMO is considerately giving us a chance to resolve this internal to Musashi.”

Masazumi had her Mouse open a sign frame and then drew a simple map of IZUMO and the Musashi. She drew a red line separating the two.

“The Buke Shohatto are a Far Eastern history recreation, so the provisional ruling nations can ignore it. But they still won’t like it if we suppress the Far Eastern forces they rule over and our world domination could free those forces from the provisional rule. If that happens, every single nation will be affected, so they could use this as an excuse to join forces and crush Musashi.

“So.” Masazumi looked to the others. “My concern is what nation is leading this push for the Buke Shohatto history recreation.”

The others were already holding their plates of food and seated on rush mats below the tent. Most of them had removed the ends of their tights and their shoes and attached purifying charms to the soles of their feet.

The white of the charms and the faint ether light of their activation stood out as Tenzou raised his hand next to Masazumi.

“First, do we have any evidence that any nation is ‘leading the push’ as you put it?”

“Judge. Suden said she was here on ‘a request’.”

“I see,” said Tenzou with a nod and Mitotsudaira raised her hand.

“Ishin Suden is from K.P.A. Italia, so wouldn’t they be behind this?”

“If so, why would they want to establish the Buke Shohatto?”

“Eh?” said the others and Masazumi shrugged.

“Listen. I took some notes about whether or not we should do the Buke Shohatto with Suden, but I was left with a question. After all, the Buke Shohatto will bind the Far Eastern nations under provisional rule and also influence the provisional ruling nations. So if the Buke Shohatto are established, it will work against the provisional ruling nations to some extent. So why would K.P.A. Italia be trying to to establish them?”

Mary made a guess based on what she had heard. She also had a document to work from, so as her first question…

“Master Tenzou, are the things happening here related to establishing the 13 articles of the Buke Shohatto?”

“Judge. Those articles will restrict the nations after we take over the world. But they are rather strict and could lead to abuse of the history recreation, so we are uncertain why Ishin Suden-dono is bringing this issue to Musashi now. So we told Suden-dono about the stance we took at Mikawa and England and that we remain an enemy of the Testament Union.”

“I see,” said Mary before realizing everyone’s eyes were on her. Naruze tilted her head.

“She catches on so quick. Being able to omit the opening exposition pages will be convenient.”

Mary had no idea what that was about, but it had sounded like a compliment. Then Masazumi turned toward Asama.

“Asama. Do we have any reports of protests or concerns from the other nations after what we said?”

“No, not a single one.”

Asama’s response pointed to a single fact.

“Suden hasn’t let the other nations know about the statement of hostility she provoked us into making. If she were only interested in taking us down, our previous conversation would have been enough. So why hasn’t she done it?”

●

Masazumi tilted her head.

“This is a big deal. And we were attacked. I think something is at work on a national level. But then what nation is behind it? Who requested that Suden provoke us into making a statement of hostility while also demanding we establish the Buke Shohatto that will give the Far East an advantage?”

It was all so contradictory and confusing. But…

“I don’t know who’s behind it, but conditions are different for each nation, which puts them each in a unique position. Their reasons, their interests, and what they would demand of us will change based on that position. So I think we need to start by learning what nation is behind this and only then work out the ‘why’.”

“Well to start with, do you have a list of possible nations?” asked Naomasa.

“The top of that list,” replied Masazumi, “is Tres España. With England next.”

●

“Why do you think Tres España and England could be behind the Buke Shohatto, Vice President?”

Adele asked this while eating the bread Horizon brought and commenting ‘It’s good! It’s so good!” The Vice President turned her way and pointed into the western sky.

“Listen. Tres España lost to Musashi in the Armada Battle and Futayo repelled the Tachibana Couple. That proved they can’t effectively attack Musashi. So from now on, Tres España will have a hard time using their military might as a factor in negotiations with other nations.”

“But,” the 2nd Special Duty Officer continued for the Vice President. “By pushing for the Buke Shohatto, they can apply pressure to the other nations while working with Musashi to preserve their own interests, right?”

I see, thought Adele. Tres España had hit rock bottom, so they were tripping up the other nations while joining with Musashi in order to preserve what power they still had. But…

“Didn’t they make that decision awfully quick? I mean, this would require predicting a loss to Musashi at the Armada Battle, so the decision would have had to happen shortly after Musashi was hired by England as a mercenary force.”

“Yes, there was barely any time for consideration. But to be honest, I think Tres España’s Vice President could manage this level of flexibility and preparation.”

“Agreed,” said the 5th Special Duty Officer. “She did a great job of ‘staying several steps ahead’ before too.”

“Judge, exactly. And Tres España is close with K.P.A. Italia, so they could easily have a connection to Ishin Suden. …That’s why I put them at the top of my list.”

Once the Vice President was done, Mary raised her hand.

“Then why is England second on your list?”

●

Mary thought maybe she shouldn’t be asking this.

Tenzou had told her a lot about the others, but aside from that she had sensed that they were all very considerate people.

She was sure of it when she looked at Mitotsudaira. That girl wasn’t avoiding her because she disliked her. Instead, Mitotsudaira’s knowledge led her to fear she might hurt Mary or just make her uncomfortable, so she was keeping her distance to avoid that.

○

Silver Wolf: “Th-this story is really hitting me hard!”

Bell: “A-a lot happened with Mitotsudaira-san…in the past.”

Scarred: “Judge. And I had the pleasure of learning all about that after IZUMO.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. And it was all the trouble she got into in the past that brought her to my foolish brother, so you never do know how things will turn out, do you?”

Silver Wolf: “Y-you’re just trying to make it worse for me, aren’t you!? Aren’t you!?”

●

To show the others their concern was unnecessary, Mary asked a question.

“That would mean England is trying to use the Far East. Is that what you are saying?”

“Judge. I think England might very well want to use the Buke Shohatto.”

Masazumi shrank the simple map of IZUMO and the Musashi. This created blank space at the top and bottom of the sign frame. In the upper space, she placed a simple map of England at the correct scale. In the bottom space, she placed the mainland’s coast.

“The mainland will now see England as a friend of Musashi. Our arrangement allowed England to preserve their forces and they will have an advantage negotiating with the other nations.”

“Hm? Won’t the other nations attack them for joining with us?” asked Naomasa.

“England has preserved their forces and they are guarded by a barrier of sea and sky, so any nation attempting to attack them or apply economic sanctions will only harm themselves. Hexagone Française and the M.H.R.R. Catholics are engaged in the Thirty Years’ War and the M.H.R.R. Protestants are on friendly terms with England. Sviet Rus are friendly with England in the Fairy Queen’s time and Scandinavia will think twice before beginning a conflict with England since they view Russia as a threat. Outside of the history recreation, no nation will want to mess with England right now.”

“But,” said Mary. “There is still a nation that will clash with them, isn’t there?”

“Judge. They aren’t new to this conversation, but Tres España will. And Tres Portugal too.”

Mary had to nod at that.

“Even after the Armada Battle, England remains at war with Spain, but England ends up in a situation where they have almost no chance of defeating Tres España’s fleet in naval battles. For its own reasons, Spain’s plans for another expedition to England stall and the two nations end up in a struggle over the New World, but I don’t think the later history recreations will happen until both nations agree on how to cleanup and recover from the Armada Battle.”

“Judge. That battle left both nations worn down. Which is why I think either one would want to attempt to deter the other nations before that happens. They will want to avoid being attacked in that state.”

“That’s true,” agreed Mary, thinking about Tres España and England.

…England won the Armada Battle and their later battles only preserve the status quo.

They only needed a small recovery after the battle, so while they might want the Buke Shohatto, it wasn’t urgent.

On the other hand, Tres España had lost the Armada Battle and their later battles also only preserved the status quo.

…But they do need to recover after the battle and they are promised further decline in the future.

The urgency after the battle was greater for Tres España. Plus, Tres España was friendly with K.P.A. Italia.

“So that’s why you put Tres España first and England second.”

“Yes, it’s a more urgent matter for Tres España,” said Masazumi. “So while other nations have their own possible reasons, none of them compare to those two.”

●

Masazumi saw Neshinbara raise his hand.

She gestured at him in a “what is it?” way and he pointed at the mainland on her map.

“I have to ask: why didn’t you include K.P.A. Italia or Hexagone Française on your list?”

“Judge. While they are opposed to M.H.R.R., they are facing Hashiba and Oda, who are from a period before the Buke Shohatto. They would only focus on the Buke Shohatto after their opposition to M.H.R.R. ends.”

“Naturally. Yes, exactly the answer I hoped you would give.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Naito, making everyone laugh quietly.

It was nice to see Mary among the laughing people.

But Crossunite raised his hand.

“Masazumi-dono. If it must be either Tres España or England, which do you think it is?”

○

Unturning: “Which was it?”

Tachibana Wife: “I think I know the answer, but I am curious too.”

Vice President: “Judge. I will be explaining the answer to that and I have evidence for it. So like I said before, I would like to turn back time a little. Back to the first day. Asama, can the records be sorted by time?”

Asama: “Yes, they can. …The first day, you said? As a record, we can make it a flashback. And by tagging the time, it can be correctly sorted chronologically.”

Vice President: “Good, let’s do that. On the day the Armada Battle ended, we were still calculating out all the damage to the Musashi and both Mary and the Tachibana Wife still hadn’t been allowed out of their embassies. …Now, let’s see what information we can find there.”

Horizey: “It is now time for Masazumi-sama’s Super Flashback Time!”

●

Masazumi thought back to the day the Armada Battle ended.

…I remembered this earlier, but I guess now it’s a proper flashback.

That day had been so bad that “busy” seemed inadequate a descriptor.

After all, the committee heads were out working, so she had to actually do her own work. So she had been out visiting different locations since morning and she had designated the Blue Thunder a meeting place so she could contact the rest of Class Plum, but that had been a mistake.

“Masazumi-sama, I deeply apologize! All the failed experiments I had intended to serve you were sent out on deliveries, so all I have for you to eat today is bread. Yummy bread!”

“Could you not serve people failed experiments? But anyway, are you saying I can’t eat here?”

Horizon went to the kitchen and returned. She set down a glass of water and gestured toward it.

“This is water.”

“…Are you sure?”

Horizon couldn’t look her in the eye, so Masazumi grabbed the glass and Horizon’s shoulder.

“Hey, this really is water in here, right!? Is it or not!? At least tell me if it’s safe to drink!”

Two Technohexen spoke skeptically in through the open window.

“Ga-chan, I think Seijun’s lost her mind.”

“Yes. It’s unusual to get such water-like water at the Blue Thunder.”

“You know what this really is, don’t you!?”

“Calm down,” said Horizon before gesturing outside. “Now to explain, Masazumi-sama is about to visit the Tres Españan and English embassies.”

“Yeah, but first I want some time to gather my thoughts.”

Meanwhile, the cafe was getting busy as more and more people arrived to pick up deliveries. The owner seemed to be endlessly kneading some dough in the back, but…

“Kieeeeeeeeee!”

There was the occasional impact that shook the entire Blue Thunder. Each time, the workers and regulars from the nearby stores would peek inside and say things like, “I see not even the Armada Battle can stop the Blue Thunder’s deck-rattling stomps!” So this was all probably normal.

Still, Masazumi doubted she could concentrate in here, so she left. She wanted to prioritize her work.

“First, I’ll head to the Tres Españan embassy.”

She wanted to check on the boarding process and other information related to Tachibana Gin.

Chapter 8: Conversation and Preparation

How can I

Punch her

In the personality?

Point Allocation (Compatibility)

●

Masazumi had walked from the Blue Thunder to the Tres Españan embassy.

She had two remaining jobs: one here and one at the English embassy. Since she needed to visit two different locations, she had to hurry.

And when she stood before the red brick building of the Tres Españan embassy, she was suddenly hit by deja vu.

“Why do I feel like I’ve already been here today?”

“Perhaps you’re so busy your memories are becoming confused?” asked Mitotsudaira, who was working as Masazumi’s bodyguard. She had changed into her uniform for this diplomatic job and now she tilted her head. “But are you sure I was the best choice of a bodyguard?”

“Futayo fought the Tachibana Wife, so bringing her could be viewed as a hostile act. You’re from Hexagone Française, but you also have a Far Eastern inherited name, so they shouldn’t be too cautious about you.”

“You gave this a lot of thought.”

“Judge. Because this could determine the future of a major nation’s name inheritor.”

Masazumi was a little concerned about that.

She had waited until things had calmed down some to visit the Tres Españan embassy because they needed to make some decisions and complete some paperwork related to Tachibana Gin.

That said, this wasn’t the kind of job the Vice President would normally do personally. However, she couldn’t get a hold of the head of the Liaison Committee or the other committee heads right now. Not even Representative Committee Head Ookubo.

“Oh. Come to think of it, Ookubo has her own work to do along with being equipped with a prosthetic arm and the rehab to go along with it, so it makes sense I can’t reach her. Now I feel a little bad.”

○

“Milady! The Vice President sent another bizarre apology saying she is ‘sorry about that one time’!”

“Again, what ‘one time’ is she talking about!? Does she mean now!? Like right now!?”

“Milady! If this irritates you, you must rebel! Let’s try for one rebellion a day! Hurry!”

●

Gin had chosen the Tres Españan embassy’s hall as her spot. Because…

…I am actually a prisoner of war, but Musashi has left me with the embassy for my safety and out of respect for my position.

She could easily be stripped of her inherited name, but her current position placed her even higher than the ambassador here.

That meant she didn’t belong here and she could easily obstruct these people who were accustomed to Musashi.

She arrived at a belated understanding of what Muneshige had said about them being a political presence.

And aside from that, the embassy workers had been forming a wall at he entrance and looking out, but a few of them now ran her way.

They were female students. They had removed their aggressive-looking skirt armor given the state of affairs after the Armada Battle. The red cloth caught the nighttime lights as they approached and surrounded Gin as she remained in her seat.

“3rd Special Duty Officer! Musashi’s Vice President is here! With their 5th Special Duty Officer as a bodyguard!”

The human wall at the entrance parted and two people bowed and entered. Gin recognized both and had spoken with them, so she nodded in their direction.

“Musashi Vice President and 5th Special Duty Officer.”

“Judge. We’re here to check on your situation. Anything significant to report?”

“Testament,” replied Gin. “While I am here in the embassy, I am in fact a prisoner of war. Nothing of significance is happening to me as I await further news.”

●

“Eh? Tachibana Gin is a prisoner of war?”

The girls of Class Plum had gathered at the Blue Thunder as they waited for Masazumi and Mitotsudaira to return from the Tres Españan embassy.

Among them, Naruze pondered Musashi’s relationships with the other nations formed during the Armada Battle.

…We’re really starting to feel more like a nation now.

Much more than at the start of spring, she thought, while she and Margot helped themselves to the vegetable finger food laid out on the table.

The vegetables were so good. Especially when she had been eating nothing but combat rations before the battle in London and after returning to the ship.

The rations were more nutritionally balanced, but fresh vegetables were enough to improve her mood.

Maybe because the freshness made her feel like she was receiving “life”. The dip had dried bonito mixed in, giving the leafy vegetables a touch of meatiness.

“We were enemies with Tres España, but now we’re neutral, right?”

“Because we were mercenaries,” said Adele, standing outside the window where she was feeding some dogs the food she had gotten from the Blue Thunder. “That arrangement lets us lay claim to anything we took on the battlefield, which means Gin-san and any other Tres Españans who didn’t manage to escape are our prisoners.”

While she spoke, the dogs played with her, grabbed at her, licked her, licked her some more, pushed at her, pushed her down, and climbed up onto her so they could-

“4th Special Duty Officer! Calm down! Calm down and describe this like a normal person!!”

Oops, it’s best not to draw up the storyboard while they’re watching.

But Futayo, who was chowing down on bread in the seat by the back wall, turned their way and spoke.

“Gin-dono was taken prisoner, but there is nowhere for her to run on the Musashi. That is why she was left with the Tres Españan embassy.”

“Doesn’t the embassy have extraterritoriality?”

“If you board the Musashi while in our care – that is, as a prisoner – you are registered with the shrine,” said Asama. “It’s different from being a normal resident.”

“Really?” said Margot. “What happens if the embassy tries to let her escape or shelter her?”

“There are Shinto myths about assisting or sheltering an escapee and since Tachibana Gin-san is registered with the shrine, that assistance would count as protecting a Shinto musician, so our god might just accept it. Of course, this is all assuming Tachibana Gin-san doesn’t break any laws.”

“Eh? Then what if they plot an escape along those lines?”

“Gin-san will be protected, but the criminals who assisted her will have an ether bamboo shoot pierce their butt every time they sit down and will be forced to publicly release a video of themselves dancing in the nude whenever they lock a door from the inside – including the bathroom. …A light punishment by Shinto standards.”

“Asama-san! Asama-san! How is that light!? That would ruin your life!”

●

Gin hurriedly opened a cadena firma and sent a notification to the embassy staff.

“No one attempt to hide me or help me escape. It is dangerous!”

Staff: “We know… Don’t worry…”

The ellipses were most curious. Had someone already tried it?

●

“Anyway, what happens when we take a name inheritor prisoner?”

Mito-tsan might know about this, thought Naito as she asked the question. But it was Adele, who also knew a lot about the warrior class, who answered with her elbows resting on the windowsill.

“When a mercenary takes a prisoner on the battlefield, they can negotiate with their opponent and exchange them for a ransom or something without going through the peace process first. Enemies in battles between mercenaries wont’ necessarily remain your enemy, so once the fighting stops, you make time to exchange prisoners for money and to demand reparations from each other. It’s more like a sport, really.” Then Adele tilted her head. “But that gets tricky with a name inheritor as important as Tachibana Gin. The name inheritor’s very existence is political in nature, so it really depends on what their home nation chooses to do.”

“I bet the other nations know all about this.”

Naito knew what Naruze meant by that. The Chancellor’s Officers took special classes and had to pass a test to hold their Special Duty roles, but Musashi had been a noncombatant.

“In fact, we only decide to act as mercenaries right there at the Armada Battle. …I get the feeling we have a lot more trouble awaiting us now.”

Naruze’s tone said she planned to avoid that trouble any way she could, but…

…She doesn’t reject what we did and what we chose.

In that case…

“We’ll just have to learn it all one at a time as beginners.”

Just like when they had met with the Fairy Queen in England. Masazumi had been given a crash course in many things then, but now it felt like time for Musashi as a whole to receive a crash course.

Win or lose, this wasn’t going to be easy. But they did have a reason to keep at it.

“Musashi is independent now. Preserving that status is going to be a challenge.”

Asama was right. And she turned toward Horizon who was serving the food.

“But if we don’t do that, there will be times when we have to accept losing something because of the Testament Union or a major nation.”

“Heh heh. That nearly happened with Horizon and now Mary. But never once have I told my foolish brother to live the kind of well-behaved life where he could just sit there and watch as something is lost before his eyes.”

After a breath, Kimi continued speaking while bringing in plates from the kitchen. She silently slid the empty plates onto the table where they came to a stop.

“Food is meant to be enjoyed around a table with all your friends. And you need to follow certain etiquette rules to join in.”

“True,” agreed Naruze, moving her finger along her storyboard to check the flow of panels. “Besides, even before Mikawa, Musashi wasn’t free to trade or fly as it liked. We were monitored and oppressed. It was hard not to notice while working in the delivery business. And every negative placed on Musashi acted as a positive for the other nations. Our freedoms and rights were handed over like a tax and we received a restricted form of ‘freedom’ in return.”

So…

“If we say we’re quitting that, the other nations will come to stop us. And that trouble isn’t going to go away.”

○

Vice President: “Why did you have to have such a fascinating conversation while I wasn’t around?”

Art-Ga: “Huh? If you were there, I would’ve been talking about making a doujinshi out of you. Wake up.”

Flat Vassal: “When these topics come up with you present, it’s usually when we’re face-to-face with someone picking a fight with us, so I think this was a more peaceful example.”

Gold Mar: “It’s called playing to your strengths!”

Vice President: “Oh, shut up!”

●

It hadn’t even been a full day since the Armada Battle, but Asama felt everyone had calmed down a lot.

The battle had happened at night, so some people had been napping until the next night, in other words about now. And those who weren’t napping had begun cleaning up the Musashi during the day, so their actions were solidly in the “post battle” category.

That had allowed their mood to shift. They were only discussing prisoners now because they no longer felt at battle and were moving on to the next stage.

“I’m sure we’ll be reviewing the Armada Battle later on, but I can’t believe Futayo managed to defeat the Tachibana Couple.”

“Judge. I have not fought many foreign opponents, so I can only assume my father and Kazuno-sama taught me well.”

“Really?” replied Asama and Naito joined in expressionlessly.

“I’m sure we’ll be reviewing the Armada Battle later on, but I can’t believe Asama managed to defeat the entire Tres Españan fleet.”

“Eh?” Asama turned around just as Naruze joined in equally expressionlessly.

“Judge. Asama hasn’t fought many foreign opponents. So I can only assume her Shinto power is just that formidable.”

“Y-you two fought their mechanical phoenixes!”

“Asama-san, that doesn’t dispute what they said about you.”

Asama realized that was true. But she also realized they were getting off topic.

“I have been left in charge of all our strategies, equipment, and spells, so in a way you could say any of the past Asama Shrine Representatives could have done the same. …Personally, I think true strength is the strength to immediately take on any opponent like Futayo can.”

Kimi formed a plate with her hands and said “Respect! Give me some respect too!”, but Kimi was a special case and didn’t need to be discussed here.

But Asama did see Futayo tilting her head like she didn’t understand what Asama had meant.

“I honestly am not sure if you can call me strong… There was a member of my family I never came close to defeating.”

“In that case.” Naruze tilted her head. “How did you defeat Tachibana Gin?”

“Really, it was less that I defeated her and more that she let me have the win. …I feel like I was once more shown Muneshige-dono’s strength – this time through Gin-dono.”

○

Tachibana Wife: “Why must you all have these conversations when I am not around?”

Art-Ga: “Huh? If you were there, I would’ve been talking about making a doujinshi out of you. Wake up.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, Ga-chan, you don’t discriminate, do you!?”

Art-Ga: “Judge! I only discriminate based on how well their doujinshi sells! Oh, Adele, you earned points in that regard at the previous event!”

Flat Vassal: “I don’t want those points!”

Wise Sister: “But it sounds like Futayo already had great respect for Gin back then. Heh heh. Now I want to see the warrior girl blushing after hearing it here.”

Tachibana Wife: “…Eh?”

●

Adele felt like the number of dogs was growing.

During the Armada Battle, most of the pets had been kept in animal transportation containers in the warehouse districts belowdecks on each ship, but their owners must have released them. With all the damage to structures in the surface cities, a lot of the residents had lost their homes or dog houses. If they had let the dogs go free until a new place could be secured for them, then was it Adele’s duty to look after them since she worked part-time with the dogs?

…I’ll have to ask them to pay for more hours…

She hadn’t been able to use Raging Beast in the Armada Battle since it was being repaired, so she had personally barely been harmed at all. Could any extra money she earned make up for what she had to spend on repairing her mobile shell?

While that heavy armor was meant to protect the others, she knew she needed to come up with a way to use it without damaging it. While Adele pondered that issue, Futayo rotated her stool to face the others and crossed her arms.

“Aside from matters of winning, losing, and strength, I learned a lot in my battle against Gin-dono,” she said. “You could say I had some very powerful sex with her.”

●

While everyone else fell silent for some inexplicable reason, Futayo crossed her arms and recalled that battle which her body still hadn’t fully cooled from.

“She was incredible from the very beginning.”

She recalled the memory.

“She announced that she would ‘make up for her husband’s disgrace’ so that she could call on the extra resources that Muneshige-dono’s disgrace brought her and then we went at it with such force the city seemed to burn around us. I used quick movements from above to try and get the better of Gin-dono.”

“…Quick movements?”

“Judge. I attacked from above and Gin-dono from below. But Gin-dono was so rough she could have flipped over a house. It was almost too much for me, so I came up with a plan and went at her from behind. And then Gin-dono swapped her arms for ones that can be manipulated with greater skill and made use of weapons.”

“You mean she used tools!?”

“Ones that move using gravitational control. Two large ones and two small ones.”

Everyone audibly gulped.

“But why four?”

“To have enough for both of them, probably.”

“…Tres España really is the a passionate nation.”

“Indeed. Gin-dono proceeded to use the large ones on me, but I managed to get through it by sticking my face between the two round parts she held out toward me.”

A few of the others mimed holding up spheres and pressing them against the sides of their face.

“She’s short, but did she have enough size for that to work?”

“The size was perfect.”

“Perfect?”

“Judge. But that is where things got difficult. Gin-dono resisted, so I shoved a rod into the hole to alter the direction, circled below and stopped the rod there, and somehow managed to avoid her attack against me, but that was when she pulled out the swords.”

“So it ended with blades, huh?”

“Judge. But while I did ultimately get her to give up, she did so for the benefit of her husband Muneshige-dono.”

“My, you mean her husband likes to see her defeated? Yes, there are people who are into that!”

“Mother! You weren’t here!”

“Hee hee hee. Neither were you.”

“Anyway, I believe I can sum this up for us all.” Horizon pulled a microphone from somewhere and began a shipwide announcement. “Futayo-sama had some powerful sex with Gin-sama, but failed to claim her for herself due to Gin-sama’s love for her husband.”

○

“Honda Futayoooo!!”

Naito was truly glad she hadn’t been there.

Regardless, Gin’s anger couldn’t faze this group. But Futayo averted her gaze looking somewhat troubled.

“I didn’t want to say anything because Gin-dono gets angry like that. Although why she gets angry about being complimented I can’t imagine.”

“W-well, it’s just that…”

“Oh? Oh? Gin-chan, are you under attack?”

Kimi mimed holding some hips and made some “quick movements”. That much was normal. Ture-yan joined in, which made sense. Horizon did too, which was more unusual.

At any rate, Naito knew what she had to say here.

“Gin-chan? You would be up next for making a record.”

“Eh?” said a surprised Gin as two shapes approached her.

They were Horizon’s arms. The right arm was holding a mic and the left stood alongside it.

Then Horizon spoke softly in the dim light.

“Judge. If you have any corrections to make, now is your chance, Gin-sama.”

○

Gin made some very precise corrections, but they were removed from the record at her own request.

Chapter 9: Alone and Stance

Oh

Wait

Um

Uh

Point Allocation (It Really Starts Tomorrow)

●

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.”

Chapter 10: England and a Daughter Leaving Home

Worries

Can disappear

Or be eliminated

Like bubbles popping

Point Allocation (Joining Forces)

●

Masazumi and Futayo entered the English embassy. In the hall that had been turned into a dining room, they exchanged words while seated by a window which gave a view of the sun setting in the Musashi sky.

○

“Hey, wait a second, Masazumi. We have some information from the Blue Thunder to give first.”

“You just had to interrupt me right when I was getting started, didn’t you!? So what information do you have?”

“Judge,” replied Mitotsudaira. “When I went with Kimi and Tomo for practice, we encountered someone.”

●

Mitotsudaira spotted Kimi and Asama standing in front of the Blue Thunder.

They would be gathering at the Asama Shrine for a meeting regarding their performance at the next day’s victory celebration. The performances this time were intended as a purification, so the program didn’t give them much time.

So they had already decided they wouldn’t play any new songs and would simply play a few of their past hits and some covers, but…

“1st Special Duty Officer? The meeting at the Blue Thunder already ended.”

The 1st Special Duty Officer was there. He was looking inside the cafe.

“Has Masazumi-dono left yet?”

Oh, thought Mitotsudaira in realization. Asama nodded in apparent understanding, so Mitotsudaira matched the head movement and…

“If you don’t get to the English embassy soon, visiting hours will end.”

“Tenzou-kun, I recommend arriving just as Masazumi and Futayo leave. Mito, how long do you think it will take them?”

“Good question,” thought Mitotsudaira. Unlike with Gin, most of Mary’s boarding procedure had been completed by Asama when she arrived on the Musashi. There was still the process with England, so she couldn’t go free right away, but…

“The paperwork on this end should only take another 20 minutes, I would say.”

Visiting hours were until 8 at night. It was currently 6:20, so he would have more than an hour of time to speak with Mary.

…However…

Mitotsudaira exchanged a look with Asama, who smiled bitterly.

“I never imagined you would be in this position, Tenzou-kun.”

“I honestly can barely believe it’s real myself.”

“Barely? Bare lie? Lie? All a lie?”

“No, it is very much true, okay?”

The black algae must have known the fighting was over because they were in a very good mood. Meanwhile, Kimi must had gone inside to order a gift he could bring with him, so they were apparently going to stick around until he left.

“Mom? Can you whip up some pretzels or something real quick? Oh, you can spread some bean paste on naan right away? Then cut that into bite-size pieces and pack them up in a case please. …Eh? Oh, you know. We need to help Tenzou look good for the English Princess he abducted.”

“Really!?” said the owner, sticking her head out from the back. She pointed toward the 1st Special Duty Officer. “Your dad’s gonna be furious since he loves busty blondes and his wife’s always hitting him for it, Tenzou-kun!”

“I-is that how people see my dad!?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said the owner with a dismissive wave of her hand. She also gestured for Horizon to pull out a knife and a cutting board. “So are you going to move out? Are you getting ready for that?”

●

Asama saw Tenzou’s hat’s eyes form horizontal lines.

…Yeah, that has to be pretty awkward.

“Well…”

Tenzou scratched his head. Asama couldn’t really blame him.

“The Musashi still hasn’t recovered from the Armada Battle. The people whose homes or dorms were damaged are getting priority when it comes to homes and that should start going through tonight, so it might be a bad time to be looking for a new home.”

“Oh? Can’t you get some help from Tomo-chan or Masazumi-san’s privileges?”

“The thing is,” said Tenzou. “Even if I could, I want to find it myself. But…”

That he swallowed the words “maybe I’m being naive” made Asama want to help him if she could.

So she quickly checked through the available places on Tama.

“I’ll avoid acting as an intermediary, but can I suggest locations for you? Tama would be a good fit since the English embassy is there, right? Oh, and it would have to be soundproofed.”

“Tomo! Tomo! Why is that where your mind goes first!?”

Asama leaned in close to Mitotsudaira.

“Soundproofing on the Musashi is usually based on divine protection rather than building material and, due to the diplomats living there, the protections on Tama tend to be designed to prevent spying. And with quality protections, you also know you will be getting decent security, climate control, and ether fuel management, so it is a sign of a comfortable home.”

“Oh, really? I thought you meant it in a more 18+ kind of way.”

“Well, Europeans do tend to be passionate and kinky, so that is another reason for the high demand on Tama.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You just ruined your explanation!”

There were times when VIPs with the “hidden” setting would go to her father with deadly serious looks on their faces. And when they left, they would be profusely thanking her father and saying “I can’t believe that’s allowed!”, so she did think Shinto could maybe be too lax.

“But my biggest concern is all the flowers Mary-san produces. Those are ether, so a room with a decent defense protection will be needed to keep them from leaking out. Otherwise they would become a nuisance for the neighbors.”

“Hm,” groaned Tenzou when he heard that. “But rent for a room like that would be high, wouldn’t it?”

“But that also means the room wouldn’t have been assigned as one of the shelter homes being assigned to people right now, so you could sign a lease right away.”

“Heh heh. Tenzou, sounds like you can solve everything by starting to earn enough to support your family.”

“Couldn’t he just forgo his usual three porn games a month?”

“I need those to keep up with the conversations with the other guys, so it’s not that easy…”

Why are boys such a pain? thought Asama, but then Tenzou nodded.

“It sounds like I won’t have trouble finding a room with help from Asama-dono or Masazumi-dono. That just leaves being able to afford it, so I should probably visit an employment agency tonight.”

“After the battle, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding work,” said Mitotsudaira. “But even if it doesn’t pay as much, I would recommend finding a job at a major or local company that you can keep longer term. Those places should be looking for help right now too. And don’t be shy about using your position as 1st Special Duty Officer and Mary’s presence to help you keep that job.”

It was times like this that reminded Asama that Mitotsudaira owned a corporate syndicate.

And Tenzou gave a deep nod.

“I don’t want Mary-dono seeing me look bad, but staying with her is the most important thing right now. I will do what I can.”

“I imagine Mary-san will want to work too, so don’t stop her when she makes the offer. Besides, I can just see you getting so obsessed with the work you forget your goal is to earn money and end up using up time you could be spending with her. So whenever you’re away from your room, you can both work and then spend the rest of your time together.”

“It pains me to admit it, but I could see myself doing that too. …Thank you for all of this.”

“Heh heh. You think too much. …Being together is a meaningless concept while on the Musashi. As long as we’re somewhere on these eight ships, we’re all together.”

“True,” said Tenzou just as Horizon stepped out with the Blue Thunder’s lights shining from behind her.

She carried a wicker basket wrapped in a Blue Thunder handkerchief.

“Horizon-dono, that is actually food, I hope?”

“Judge,” nodded Horizon, opening the basket’s lid. As Kimi had described, it contained bite-size snacks made by cutting up hard, thin naan with bean paste spread on top.

“It is naan-food.”

I suppose that technically counts as a pun.”

○

Adele saw Mary prostrate herself toward Asama and the 5th Special Duty Officer.

“Eh?” they said in confusion. “I-is something the matter, Mary?”

…You could say it’s a ‘naan-issue’, Asama-san!

Adele noticed the Vice President swaying and warming up in preparation to speak, but she chose to ignore that. But after her prostration, Mary wrapped herself in a blanket and lay down.

“Thank you so much! Oh, Master Tenzou…!”

Adele wasn’t certain, but it seemed like the 1st Special Duty Officer was responsible. Mary then sat up with her face flushed and took a breath.

“U-um, my discussion with Lady Masazumi ended awfully quickly, didn’t it?”

“Judge. Some real naan-sense if you ask me. Completely naan-sensical.”

Adele knew everyone’s lack of response was a kindness.

●

Masazumi organized the sign frames Tsukinowa produced, took the ones she was giving to Asama, “Musashi”, and the committee heads and stored them on the divine network, and directly handed over those she was giving to Mary.

“Now, your boarding and release processes are complete. We’re still waiting for a response from England, but the current plan is to release you on the evening of the third day. I should visit again then to let you know.”

“Thank you so much for all of this.”

Mary started to bow, but Masazumi stopped her.

She wasn’t done yet. To get a grasp of the current situation, she wanted to ask similar questions to the ones she had asked Tres España earlier.

…What decisions have England made after the Armada Battle and what is their situation with the other nations?

The English embassy’s staff were all around here. But this place was meant for discussions like this and Futayo was waiting behind her if anything did happen. So she got straight to the point.

“Currently, Musashi is said to have won the Armada Battle. And we have invited some guests, such as Tachibana Gin. If you have any ideas about what nations we should be concerned about in this situation, I would like to hear them.”

“Well,” replied Mary. She raised her right hand toward the nearby staff members to tell them this was fine. “At the moment, I think Musashi should be most concerned about England.”

●

Mary didn’t hesitate to give her analysis.

The Musashi Vice President listened without expression or comment. But their Vice Chancellor…

“Are you saying England will turn on us, Mary-sama?”

“Yes. Looking at the nations that participated in the Armada Battle and are currently close to the Musashi, Tres España cannot keep such a large fleet in this airspace long term, so they will return home. And until they can fix up their domestic issues, they will want to avoid any conflict against foreign opponents. Plus, from a history recreation perspective, Musashi is a nonexistent factor for the provisional ruling nations. Battling an opponent like that would generally be a negative, so Tres España cannot attack Musashi at present.”

“Judge. We heard much the same thing at the Tres Españan embassy earlier.”

That meant they could trust what Mary had to say.

…I need to live up to that trust.

If she didn’t think through her responses, it could hurt their future trust of her. And that would affect Tenzou’s honor.

○

Adele saw Mary curl up in a blanket and roll lightly atop a futon.

“Honestly! Why was I so clueless!?”

So the 1st Special Duty Officer is to blame then? Adele understood that much.

●

Mary took a breath and continued speaking.

She gave her answer to the Musashi Vice President’s question. Her job here wasn’t to give them the answer they wanted to hear or an answer that would make her look good. She simply had to provide a reasonable response.

“And in our current position, I am also concerned about Hexagone Française since IZUMO is located there. But the Musashi has not yet docked at IZUMO, so Hexagone Française has no right to approach the Musashi. I imagine the Musashi will be immobilized after it docks and you will need to be careful then, but Hexagone Française is currently focused on the Thirty Years’ War. I think they should be paying more attention to the actions of M.H.R.R. and other relevant nations there.”

The point was she felt both Tres España and Hexagone Française would have a hard time messing with Musashi at the moment and they had little right to do so. As for England…

“There is a chance some Tres Españan students failed to escape the Musashi in time and are still hiding onboard. Have you already sent students like that from the embassy to Tres España?”

“Judge, we’re in the process. The problem is that Tachibana Gin is a name inheritor, so a record would remain of her presence on the Musashi. So instead of a prisoner, we freed her as a guest. That means she has chosen to remain on the Musashi of her own free will.”

“That was a good decision.”

Mary was relieved for a few different reasons.

She had barely met Tachibana Gin, but she knew the girl had participated in the Armada Battle because her husband had lost to the Musashi Vice Chancellor who was here now.

The wife had hoped to avenge her husband to preserve his inherited name.

…So there are those who suffer to preserve an inherited name.

Mary herself had nearly been killed for the inherited name she couldn’t get rid of. From her position, she wondered if Tachibana Gin would be happier freeing herself from her inherited name. But…

…She did it for a loved one.

She had someone just like the loved one who had saved Mary. For Gin, their inherited names would be what tied the two together. And the same could be said for Mary.

So Mary was glad Gin hadn’t fallen into even greater suffering after her loss. Also…

“With Lady Tachibana Gin and any others you have taken prisoner, England might declare their connection to Musashi as part of the cleanup after the Armada Battle and then request you hand over Lady Gin.”

“Your sister would go that far?”

“This isn’t about what my sister wants. I imagine the academy is safe now, but the people who actually live on the coast will still be afraid.”

So…

“Anything that could put their minds at ease can be seen as necessary to protect the people, even if it isn’t strictly necessary.”

“And handing over Tachibana Gin would qualify?”

“Yes.” Mary nodded. “But with Lady Tachibana Gin freed, England has no right to demand Musashi hand her over.”

“Do you think an English spy could board us and abduct her?”

“She proved herself superior to Lord Drake. If anyone capable of abducting her boarded the Musashi, wouldn’t you detect them right away?

“And so,” said Mary. “I think your arrangement drastically reduces the threat posed by England. The only thing to worry about would be if England claims the Armada Battle remains in effect until Musashi docks at IZUMO, but…”

“Even if England did send out a fleet, we would be docked at IZUMO before they arrived.”

The Musashi Vice President smiled a little. And Mary…

“–––––”

She felt her expression relaxing too.

She was on the Musashi now. Even if she was still in the English embassy, she felt like she could create shared secrets with them here.

“If my sister does send out a fleet from England, it will be to demand I return home. I won’t say it isn’t possible, but I don’t find it very likely.”

○

Gin felt herself rapidly awakening while slumped on the floor.

She sat up. And faced the English princess.

“Mary-sama, I failed to think things through that far back then. Thank you very much for hinting at what might have happened to me.”

“I don’t see how you could have viewed the situation rationally with the loss of your inherited name looming like that. If you had been as calm as you are now, I bet you would have had even greater insights than mine.”

Her kindness soaked into Gin. Meanwhile, the 3rd Special Duty Officer spoke from behind her.

“She’s a goddess…”

Gin kind of agreed, but why did she suspect the two of them meant it in different ways?

○

Masazumi thought as she created the record of that first day’s conversation with Mary.

…So England was innocent too.

“Tres España didn’t have time to set up or interfere with the Buke Shohatto. And England…”

“Yes,” said Mary. “Looking back at my decision now, I can see that I was considering measures based on the Armada Battle because I honestly knew nothing about the Buke Shohatto. That said, I am confident my close involvement in England’s history recreation gave me an understanding of England’s circumstances on par with the Fairy Queen. She might have interfered with Musashi and called it a continuation of the Armada Battle, but I don’t think England could have chosen to interfere with the Far Eastern history recreation of the Buke Shohatto at that point in time.”

“Ohh, that’s a bold statement, Ma-yan.”

Mary suddenly blushed and wrapped herself in the blanket again.

“No, I’m not bold at all.”

“So Masazumi and Futayo left and then the 1st Special Duty Officer arrived, right? What happened then?”

Masazumi was a little interested in that herself. Partially because they hadn’t had an easy topic for a bit now and partially because she was puzzled by the lack of an answer.

“Yes, we can use that to take a short break. Mary, what happened when you met with Crossunite on the first day?”

“Well, Master Tenzou showed up and gave me some treats which I shared with everyone in a casual tea party.”

“Hold it! We need to start a new chapter in the records for this one! Okay!?”

Masazumi was sort of appreciated Naruze taking charge here.

Chapter 11: Expectation and Waiting

With an “oh”

And an “oof”

The world expands.

Point Allocation (Squish)

●

To be honest, I was worried, recalled Mary.

Even if Musashi was her ally and even with Tenzou there with her, it was a strange land.

…What is going to happen to me?

So many unknowns stood before her, but none of them were harming her.

On the other hand, she would now be responsible for everything that happened to her.

She could tell just how reliant she had been on the history recreation before. It had been convenient to be able to blame the history recreation for everything that happened to her.

So something had scared her now that she was on the Musashi.

…I have nothing left for anyone to care about me.

This was a strange land and she couldn’t build up her own character.

So while speaking with so many people from day one had been a challenge, she had feared her alone time even more.

She had appreciated having someone in the hall even during the day when Tenzou was at work and couldn’t be with her.

That evening, the Musashi Vice President and Vice Chancellor had arrived and had a serious talk with her.

Then Tenzou had arrived and they had talked. They had shared stories about what had happened that day, which had taken enough time for visiting hours to end. But…

“Master Tenzou.”

She wasn’t sure if she should reveal what was worrying her so.

…Being alone worries me.

She knew she could just tell him, but part of her feared that would shatter the expectations he had for her. Another part of her felt childish for worrying about that.

So she ended up holding her tongue on that matter.

Visiting hours ended, Tenzou left, and they waved goodbye through the window.

“Hold on. That’s news to me…I’m muttering to myself as I pass by.”

Lady Naruze sure goes on a lot of deliveries, doesn’t she?

At any rate, Mary definitely felt the loneliness building as she took a bath and climbed into bed. And just as she was telling herself she shouldn’t be feeling this childish opposition to Tenzou not being with her at all times…

“Mary-dono.”

She heard a voice from the window.

She hurriedly looked over and saw no one there, but she did hear a voice.

An ether tremor told her this was a ninja technique, but…

“When you are freed in three days’ time, I was hoping I could show you around.”

So you can look forward to that.

“Can you see the lights of the Musashi night? You will be able to see the city in the light of day tomorrow.”

On his advice, she took a look at Musashi’s night. The repairs and cleanup after the Armada Battle had begun here and there, so the place was anything but sleeping. It looked so much different from the land of England she was accustomed to. But…

“This is where you will live now and this place will protect you. You are free to live whatever life you want now.”

“But…”

“You want to know if what you see here aligns with the reason I took you with me? I hope to hear tomorrow what it is you expect from this place.”

So…

“Just remember that you aren’t alone. You are a resident of Musashi now. Everything you can see now is a home that has already accepted you…I guess?”

○

“Cooling! Cooling spell stat!”

Adele felt the heat rising fast. Next to her, the Date Vice Chancellor spoke while lying flat on her futon.

“Incredible. That’s the 1st Special Duty Officer for you.”

“But why couldn’t he stick the landing confidently?”

Ouch, that’s some tough scoring, thought Adele, but Mary herself was holding her hands to her overheating cheeks and smiling just a little. The glowing flowers blossoming all around her meant that memory was accurate to her feelings back then, even if the specifics had been embellished.

Asama lightly slapped her cheeks, lifted the collar of her sleepwear to let air in, and stuck a hand in below the chest to wipe up the sweat. Was that a sign of the trouble that came with that size? But the Reine des Garous tilted her flushed face and…

“So how did you respond?”

Mary smiled in response and Adele watched on, knowing they were essentially watching a ticking time bomb. And at the center of the group that knew that, Mary blushed with the ends of her eyebrows lowered.

“I said, ‘Then when we meet tomorrow, I want to know what you expect of me.’ I had a lot of nerve back then, didn’t I?”

The unexpectedly powerful attack left the group collapsed back in a radiating circle around Mary.

●

Mary had been hit hard.

She hadn’t been able to calm herself at all after hearing what Tenzou had to say.

She had expected for the heat to cool, the loneliness to creep in, and to be keenly aware that the person who had saved her wasn’t with her, but that short conversation had overturned all of that.

She looked out at the nighttime scene visible from her room on the third floor of the embassy.

“All of this is now a home where I am free to live without reserve or blame.”

This was the place. Here she could live the life she wanted without anyone harming her.

She didn’t have to let the heat cool, she didn’t have to feel lonely, and she could be with someone at any time.

She had forgotten that.

She was not a stranger here. All the people who knew her and had saved her were here and she would be living among them now.

“Phew.”

The breath that left her was already filled with heat.

Her coolness and loneliness seemed to have been overwritten by heat and friendliness.

…It’s so simple!

He wasn’t with her right now. But he was in this city. And she was in the city too.

If she called to him, he would hear her and come to her. And once she was released from the embassy, they would begin living together. Musashi as a whole would be her home.

She could go anywhere in the city, she wouldn’t need to hide her identity, and she wouldn’t have to worry about status or inherited name.

This place and its people had accepted her, scars and all, and they wouldn’t leave her.

“That must be why Master Tenzou returned to his room.”

He hadn’t “left” her. They were still together in spirit – only their coordinates differed.

The walls and windows of the embassy stood between them, but she was free to wish for what she wanted beyond that glass.

She had a feeling that the Musashi itself was a single big room. Perhaps she was letting her excitement influence her thoughts, but she felt like she was safely in the bed of that large “room” while Tenzou and the others were on the floor, the table, or the bookcase.

She opened the window.

The wind carried a burnt smell. The fires across the Musashi had already been extinguished, but they had begun burning the unsalvageable wreckage.

The battle was over and the recovery had begun.

The scarred city before her would eventually be changed into its proper new form.

This shape of the city was something she could only see now, on her first night here.

So she leaned out the window and looked around. The windows of the Tama embassy’s visitor rooms were directed toward the center of the Musashi. That may have been meant to give visitors a view of the changing city at night.

“Or maybe the wall on the outer edge means there isn’t much of a view in that direction.”

Mary silently thanked the person stomping past in a god of war.

She wanted to say something as she took a look around at the 8 ships, but she wasn’t sure what she should say.

“Good evening” seemed wrong, but so did “nice to meet you”. So the best she could come up with was…

“Thank you.”

Perhaps she needed to say that to everyone here eventually. But…

…Oh, Master Tenzou was right.

What would she do tomorrow?

She was suddenly impatient for the day she would be released from the embassy.

“That was mean, Master Tenzou.”

He had filled her with such intense expectation when she still couldn’t leave the building.

This was a problem. She could tell she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep. She still tried lying in bed, but it accomplished nothing.

What would she do tomorrow? No, what did she want to do from now on? What did she want to do once she was released? What did she want to do once they were living together? She had seen a shopping district that sold clothing, bread, and more among the buildings visible from the window. Knowing that it wouldn’t be that much longer before she was out shopping there filled her chest with heat.

“Oh, really…”

She wished she could share some of this impatience with him, but how could she do that?

○

Scarred: And that is how I spent my first night on- um, why have you all fallen down? It doesn’t look like you fell asleep, but, um- oh, oh, you’re applauding while lying down? Thank you! Thank you very much! I intend to continue making progress with Master Tenzou in the future!”

Tachibana Wife: “I admit defeat… Utter defeat…”

Asama: “Gin-san! Gin-san! I thought this might happen, so Suzu-san and I whipped up some ginger soda to wake you up!”

Gold Mar: “Oh, we could use some of that. Ga-chan is dying over here.”

○

Masazumi got up after taking an unusual sort of damage.

“So we know now that both Tres España and England had nothing to do with the Buke Shohatto and that Crossunite dropped a bombshell on Mary.”

“Hmm.” Naito tilted her head. “But wait? Ma-yan told us about England, Gin-chan told us about Tres España, and Ture-yan told us about Hexagone Française and K.P.A. Italia, but it sounds like none of them were involved.”

“Judge. That means we need to consider the involvement of another nation or some other group or organization, doesn’t it?”

Masazumi didn’t know who, but some force out there had been working against Musashi.

…Not knowing isn’t fun.

Mary nodded as if she had read Masazumi’s mind.

“On the third day, the discussion at the shrine dragged on so long that I ended up getting permission from the embassy to spend the night there on the same day as my release. And the next morning, there was a review…and did that lead into a conclusion of matters with Lady Ishin Suden?”

“It did. Even after exchanging and double-checking so much information, we still didn’t know what nation was behind it all. So the next morning, we prepared for the meeting with Ishin Suden and spent the evening preparing for how we would deal with the Buke Shohatto.”

“Oh, don’t forget that we never did find the Margaret Pole and Elisabeth of Valois that Mary-san had mentioned.”

Masazumi remembered that. And it was then that everything had been decided. The unknowns had remained unknown, but…

“Then how about we continue from there? And we can see if it guides us to all the answers.”

Chapter 12: Meeting and Spring

Seeing her asleep

Turns me on

Seeing her change of clothes hanging up

Turns me on

Point Allocation (Time to Eat)

●

“Hey, wait, Ga-chan. I’ll bring you some breakfast.”

Naruze turned toward her her partner’s voice at Okutama’s Asama Shrine, which was awash in morning sunlight.

They had been sleeping on the grounds there, but not on the gravel. A simple campground had been set up with rush mats, blankets, and waterproof cloths hanging down from the tent surrounding them.

…It takes guts to sleep all together like this when the English Princess is with us.

The boys were in a different tent set up further back. And most of them were awake by now.

“Seijun and Mito-tsan are apparently having a meeting with Ma-yan in the spring bath.”

“I’d love to go spy on that after getting some breakfast, but won’t our wings get in the way in that spring? If we want to join in, it would be best to wait in the changing area for them to leave. But if we’re only going to make jokes via Magie Figur, we can do that here.”

Naruze realized a faint light was hitting the waterproof cloth acting as a wall within the tent.

It’s going to be a hot and humid day, isn’t it? she realized as she looked to see Margot holding a plate of pickled vegetables and three rice balls.

She took the plate, thanked Margot, and sighed. The rice balls were still warm, telling her they had salmon inside.

…We ate so much bread last night I appreciate the rice.

Anyway, the others were probably discussing things in the spring. Joining in via Magie Figur wasn’t enough. I should go spy on all those art models gathered there, she decided.

“This discussion all started with us being banned from docking at IZUMO, right? And there was some extra stuff about some old friend of Mary’s. And now there’s the Buke Shohatto.”

Now then.

“But like Kimi said, the Buke Shohatto introduce a problem other than cracking down on other nations. But does she realize it herself?”

●

Asama tried her best not to interrupt the discussion.

Masazumi currently had a sign frame open so she could exchange opinions with Neshinbara who was in the boys’ bath. Heidi’s occasional interjections meant this was likely about the state of the nations.

Asama was occasionally asked to give her opinion as a Shinto and ether expert, or Mary would provide an opinion from her foreign perspective.

…This is getting deep.

And in addition to the political matters, Asama was looking after Mary.

There was a reason they were in the Asama Shrine’s spring with Mary so early in the morning. This wasn’t just a morning bath. Asama had needed to put together Mary’s divine protections.

Mary had been lent a swimsuit designed to Asama Shrine shrine maiden standards. It suited her quite nicely, which earned her applause from most and silence from Adele, but that was beside the point.

“After this we can get some breakfast and then I want you to change into my uniform in my room. Suzu-san says she will tailor a uniform for you, but until it’s done one made for me should work well enough.”

“Are you sure that’s alright?”

“Of course,” said Kimi, seated on the edge of the spring. “When something is alright, there’s no problem. When something isn’t alright, you just have to purify it and there’s no problem. That’s the Shinto and Far Eastern way. Keep that in mind.”

“Thank you very much.”

Meanwhile, Masazumi opened a sign frame. Tsukinowa also opened and subsequently closed a few more. Eventually, Masazumi stored them all.

“Okay. I think this should do it. There are still some holes, but writing down our opinions helped me organize our thoughts and work out the reasoning behind them. I hope to use this to set things up later on.”

Art-Ga: “What’s the basic plan?”

Vice President: “Get Ishin Suden to lower her guard and then wallop her.”

Everyone exchanged a glance at that. Eventually, Horizon raised both hands and…

“Masazumi-sama! So you’ve finally learned how it’s done!?”

“Learned how what’s done? …Anyway, I’m sure Ishin Suden will try to get us to crack down on the other nations. With everything she’s got.”

“Why? She’s with K.P.A. Italia and I doubt she’s stupid enough to not realize that would hurt her nation’s standing.”

Adele was right. The simplest answer would be “that’s just how she is”, but how far could that take them? Not to mention…

“But, Masazumi, didn’t you dramatically tell Ishin Suden yesterday that we have no problem with cracking down on the other nations since we’re trying to take over the world?”

“Yes, I did. But words can mean multiple things. And I think Ishin Suden has a reason for wanting to establish the Buke Shohatto in that form. I want to pursue that any way I can.”

“I can imagine so,” said Asama. And that just left: “Mary-san, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get you measured for your uniform before this evening. And if you have any questions or concerns, we can deal with those as well.”

“In that case.” Mary raised a hand and Asama wondered what this could be about. “Um…I had a thought last night when I heard about the Buke Shohatto.”

Everyone gave her questioning looks, so Mary opened a sign frame with an obvious lack of practice.

“Um, it’s about this part.”

Mary displayed the 13 articles of the Buke Shohatto.

She had already marked a few of them.

“For the history recreation, these rules for the buke would apply to the equivalent classes under European feudalism…which would be the nobles, knights, and royals, correct?”

“Judge. Once Musashi rules the world, the world nations under our rule will be bound by those rules. So that would be a valid interpretation. And those likely are the classes that would be considered equivalent to the buke.”

“Then,” said Mary. “What does this mean for Master Tenzou and my marriage and new home?”

●

“Oh,” said Asama, reeling back a bit.

Last night, Kimi had said “If these go into effect, won’t we have to follow them too?” But…

…Was she referring to Mary-san!?

Kimi herself was basking in everyone’s attention and accepted a bamboo drink bottle from Horizon.

“You can’t say it can’t happen, can you? Musashi accepts interpretations, so won’t the other nations start using interpretations against us like we used them at Mikawa?”

“Ugh,” groaned Masazumi, reopening the sign frame she had just closed. And she turned toward Mary who was lowering her troubled-looking face.

“It’s true we need to be on the lookout for this. Our win won’t really matter if you end being restricted anyway, Mary.”

●

Mary indicated the articles she had marked.

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

“Th-that’s a lot of them!”

Asama pursed her lips, but Mary agreed that she may be worrying too much about this.

Then Asama looked to the others with an “um” and Masazumi raised a hand.

“Can you tell us what you’re worried about, Mary?”

“I can.” Mary nodded and listed three articles that were fairly similar.

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

“My history recreation violates all three of these. I’m from England, which can be seen as a neighboring domain for Musashi, which makes me someone from a neighboring domain who plotted to assassinate the Fairy Queen.”

“It feels like you were dealt a yakuman.”

“Yakuman?” Mary tilted her head and Asama smiled bitterly and waved a hand dismissively.

“It’s a really good winning hand in a game.”

I see, thought Mary, but that confirmed that her existence was a major problem. Which may have been why Masazumi raised her hand.

“To start with…it looks like we need to settle this in our meeting with Suden to make sure none of this will be forced onto you. Besides, this also poses a risk for the Tachibana Couple and any other defectors living in Musashi.”

“For #5, the boarding procedure ensures that any Musashi resident will register with a Shinto shrine, which makes them a child of Musashi. Can we use that to get around that one, Masazumi?”

“A single justification prevents them from gathering around a single opposing argument, so that should be enough.”

“Then,” said Mary. “What about my treason and rebellion?”

“For #4, we can point to the fact that your child will be the next King of England. You left to protect England’s future, so we and England should be able to decide whether or not you count as a rebel. For #7, there’s no point in reporting something that’s already ended.”

Masazumi answered those quick. She must have already been considering a response to these things.

In that case, Mary moved on to her next concerns.

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

“What about those two?”

This part directly affected her and Tenzou.

●

Smoking Girl: “Hey, Tenzou. Are you giving proper thought to your future?”

10ZO: “Huh? I’m asking around for information on possible homes. Masazumi-dono is in charge of the political side, so I intend to focus on the parts I can handle.”

Smoking Girl: “Hm… Fine, whatever. You basically already gave away a yakuman anyway.”

10ZO: “B-barbs from you are rare, Naomasa-dono, but what is that even supposed to mean!?”

●

Masazumi nodded and Balfette raised her hand.

“For the marriage and home, is submitting the proper paperwork within Musashi not enough? Besides, #6 is about castles. That’s a little different from Musashi’s small rooms.”

“Judge. But the Testament says Mary lived in different castles, so someone could use an interpretation to say anywhere she lives must be a castle. And this doesn’t just apply to her. There’s a chance someone will insist that any name inheritor that can be seen as a buke must live in a castle.”

“Then they could force that on me as well,” said Mitotsudaira. “The Tachibana Couple too.”

“Right. And what do we do then, Masazumi?”

“Judge.” Masazumi nodded. She knew the solution for this one. “We look at the Musashi as a colossal collection of castles.”

●

So that’s what they’re going, thought Naomasa, opening a sign frame. It displayed the structural layout of the Musashi’s base hulls.

“The other nations are already counting aerial ships as castles. So would we be defining the Musashi as a castle and dividing up the interior?”

“Right. If the Musashi is a castle, then any room given to a buke is part of a castle. That just leaves the question of what to call things. If someone asks where the ordinary people live, we just have to define certain areas as the ‘castle town’ or ‘fortress city’.”

“Judge.” Naomasa nodded. “Let me know If they gripe about that. I’ll figure something out.”

●

…They can actually do something about it?

Mary had thought the confrontation with Ishin Suden would be a discussion on an international scale. And yet these people were saying they would “figure something out”. Then she considered what had happened in England a few nights ago.

…These people can actually do it.

No. Just as Tenzou had indicated on the first night, all of Musashi was like this. In that case, she needed to ask her next question without fear or hesitation. She planned to leave her and his future in their hands, so…

“What about the permission for marriage in #8?”

“Like we said before, receiving permission within Musashi should be enough. And if someone complains…”

“I’ll handle it,” said Asama, raising her hand and opening a sign frame advertising the Asama Shrine as a wedding venue. “If paperwork isn’t enough and they want it done right, you should only need to hold the wedding at our shrine or some other Shinto location. That way the wedding was held in the presence of a god. And if they insist on doing it in the style of the provisional ruling nations, then Masazumi can handle getting permission there.”

“Judge. We have some inroads there, so it should work out.”

“I see,” replied Mary. She at least had an answer to her biggest concern.

…All of that worrying for nothing.

“Then I leave Master Tenzou and myself in your hands.”

“You don’t need to worry. We don’t know the exact tactic they’re going to try, so it could be easy and it could be a real pain. But…” Masazumi raised her eyebrows in a smile. “Just knowing we’re protecting your future in accordance with our proclamations at Mikawa and England really motivates me to figure it out. …So thanks for the motivation, Mary.”

●

…Does that address most of her concerns?

Just as Mitotsudaira wondered that, a sign frame appeared over Tsukinowa’s head.

“…!?”

Tsukinowa must have been surprised by its sudden proximity because the anteater moved to hide behind Masazumi seated on the edge of the spring, but the sign frame’s coordinates were relative to its head and followed.

Oh, dear, thought Mitotsudaira as Masazumi collected the sign frame.

It was from Futayo. She wasn’t with them because she had left after breakfast.

Tonbokiri: “Masazumi? The guard HQ summoned me to their station and it turns out they have identified the attackers from yesterday.”

●

Masazumi read and listened to Futayo’s words.

…Does that mean we know where those attackers were from?

Vice President: “Where was it? What nation sent them?”

Tonbokiri: “Um…K.P.A. Italia.”

“Really!?” shouted Naito’s voice from the changing room. Eventually, the curtain separating the changing room from the spring swished open and Naito poked just her head and hand out. And from the direction of the boys’ bath…

“G-get out of here, Naruze-kun! This bath is a no-old-hags zone! It is strictly a stew for old men!”

“Oh, shut up. Models don’t need to talk. And, Tenzou, you’re the main this time, so hold still.”

Nice to hear Naruze was making progress with her art.

Then a new sign frame appeared above Tsukinowa’s head.

It too was from Futayo. As for what it said…

Tonbokiri: “Are you there, Masazumi? Apparently some of the attackers are from Tres España too.”

●

Mitotsudaira heard an exclamation of “huh?” from outside the bath.

From the changing room. She recognized the voice, but it was a fair distance away.

…I know that voice.

Meanwhile, she heard footsteps on the changing room floor. Two sets.

…Is that Naito and Naruze?

No. The reaction to the mention of Tres España came from…

“Tachibana Gin?”

That was who stepped past the curtain held open by Naito.

Her eyebrows were raised and she surveyed the people present. And from the boys’ bath…

“Ohh! Hey, is that Tachibana Muneo!?”

“Indeed. I, Tachibana Muneshige, became an ordinary citizen just last night!”

After completing her survey of the group, Gin spoke.

“Wh-what is this gathering!? It’s indecent!”

○

Gold Mar: “Indecent!”

Art-Ga: “Indecent!”

Wise Sister: “Indecent! So, Gin, how did we look to you then!?”

Tachibana Wife: “W-well, at the time, I, uh, was just taken aback…”

Vice President: “Really, it’s hard to argue they aren’t indecent.”

Still Got It: “I know what you mean. How else would you describe boys and girls with only the bare minimum of clothing crammed into a small space, soaking in warm fluids, and exchanging words they wouldn’t dare speak in public?”

Bell: So…what were you doing…there, Gin-san?”

Tachibana Wife: “Judge. I had tried to gather up my things the night before so I could move out as soon as we had chosen a home, but we didn’t know much about Musashi or about the available divine protections. When we visited the Tama bridge to inquire, we were directed to the Asama Shrine. At the shrine, we were told ‘oh, you’re Tomo’s friends?’ and shown to the spring.”

Asama: “Why is my dad always causing trouble?”

●

Gin felt she had mostly been going with the flow of late. She had only come here for information on the Musashi and to arrange the necessary protections, but here she was taking a bath. It was part of the contract process, but still.

In the boys’ bath, it sounded like Muneshige was demonstrating his interpersonal skills and making friends already.

“Hm. Muneshige-dono, I too am looking for a place to work at the moment. How is your leg? You ran all the way through Hexagone Française? Then how about we share contact information?”

“If you need money fast, join us after school. Transporting building materials pays decently without requiring any detailed work.”

“Hey, Muneo! Need any recommendations for places to eat?”

“As you are Catholic, I recommend this restaurant if you live on Tama. A truly wonderful elder sister waits tables there.”

With all that going on, Gin felt left behind.

…Is it childish of me to feel frustrated and lonely?

But things were lively in this bath too. The Asama Shrine Representative was serving drinks and fruity desserts, but at the same time the Musashi Princess produced a bamboo bottle.

“The hot bath will make you sweat, so have some warmed sake to stay hydrated.”

“Thank you very much.”

When the recommendation came from Musashi’s Vicereine, she couldn’t exactly refuse. She drank it down in one gulp while the others turned toward her.

“That was kudzu custard,” said Musashi’s Vicereine.

Gin choked.

●

“Now she’s done it,” commented Mitotsudaira as she watched.

Gin was wearing the same type of swimsuit as Asama but with a kosode worn over it to cover her shoulders. However, Gin had frozen in place with the bamboo bottle tilted upside down to drink the contents.

“That’s a lot of hang time,” said Adele.

After around 5 seconds, Gin audibly gulped. Then she slammed the bamboo bottle on the edge of the spring. She let out a breath that earned her honest applause from the others. Mitotsudaira applauded too. Impressive, Tachibana Wife. Even if that is an entirely useless skill! But Gin shook her head, raised her eyebrows, and…

“What is wrong with you people!?”

Just as Gin raised her voice, Horizon made her move.

She gasped, turned toward the girl who was currently mad at her, and nodded once. She placed a hand on Gin’s shoulder as if to say “I understand completely” and pulled out another bottle with her left hand.

“I forgot to put the adzuki caramel at the bottom of that one. This one is done right.”

Gin silently slumped to the side, giving Horizon the win.

●

“So what was that you mentioned? I knew your Vice President was attacked yesterday, but now you say the attackers were from Tres España?”

Gin asked this while actually using a spoon this time around.

…Oh, this is actually quite good.

It helped that she was hungry, but if you ignored the overly thick consistency, the flavor was decent.

I should ask her for the recipe later, she thought while the Musashi Vice President opened two sign frames.

“Not all of them were. Earlier, we received word that some were from K.P.A. Italia. …Any thoughts, Tachibana Wife?”

Gin did have thoughts about those two nations.

“K.P.A. Italia and Tres España are close allies. They may be working together much like they did at Mikawa.”

However, Gin was the 3rd Special Duty Officer and she hadn’t heard anything about an attack like this. Also…

…Ishin Suden and the Buke Shohatto?

None of that had been mentioned yesterday when the vassal and the Chancellor’s sister had met with her. Apparently that information was still being kept secret. It felt careless of them to share that kind of secret with her, but she chose to think that a sign of how important they considered her and Muneshige. Also…

…They already addressed the issue of our home and marriage.

She had been given a sign frame listing the 13 articles plus some notes by the Asama Shrine Representative, so Gin inclined her head toward her and toward Mary who was at the center of the discussion. She and Mary had been from enemy nations just a few days before, but…

“Thank you very much for being so considerate of our situation.”

“Of course. And I hope you will support Lady Masazumi in this.”

Mary’s comment really drove home what Gin’s situation was here.

…I’m “one of them” at this point.

They might be dealing with K.P.A. Italia here. That nation had been her ally, but they had effectively been the superior in that arrangement.

So was she now overthrowing those superiors? She inhaled and…

“May I speak? …Up until the Armada Battle, I heard nothing about this in Tres España. So if anything was being planned then, K.P.A. Italia may have been in the lead.”

Just as she said that, a sign frame appeared above the Vice President’s Mouse. Two, in fact.

The Vice President took them and frowned with a “hm?” And eventually…

“We have new information from Futayo?”

“New nations for the list, Masazumi?”

“Judge,” said the Vice President. “Hexagone Française and M.H.R.R.”

Just as the Vice President added “also”, the Mouse lifted up a divine mail sign frame on its own.

The message addressed to the Vice President contained…

“The Testament Union Name Inheritor Almanac. Data on name inheritors not part of the Chancellor’s Officers or Student Council is strictly controlled by their nation.”

The Vice President pursed her lips and raised the information for a certain name inheritor.

“But all the information on Ishin Suden has been overwritten with ‘updating’. What is going on?”

What did that mean? As a name inheritor, Gin knew quite well.

“K.P.A. Italia has moved to protect Ishin Suden’s data. And her Pope Urban VIII data – including images – was replaced with Testament accurate information once the history recreation was complete. So that means all of her data is now unavailable.”

She had been searching the divine network for data on Ishin Suden and Urban VIII and could only find actual historical data. Even comments by people who had met her in real time had been changed to use male pronouns.

“Could it be a split inherited name?”

“No, based on what she said yesterday, she’s the only one. I think this is either an extension or a modification.”

If so, this was trouble. From past to present, that person had stubbornly remained true to herself as a single being, but now she was hiding herself.

“So in our upcoming meeting with Ishin Suden, we’ll have to search out her intentions from the ground up.”

●

“Innocen is being overprotective here, don’t you think, Sakai?”

“Anyone would be overprotective seeing you now, Urban VIII.”

They were on Musashino. Three figures were eating at a cafe terrace known for its view of the bridge towering overhead.

One was Sakai and another was Urban VIII. Their seaweed pasta with toppings, salad, and tea were served by “Musashi” who stood alongside them.

Urban VIII poured some olive oil on her pasta and then added some egg crumbles and garlic. After mixing it together, she skillfully gathered it on a fork.

Sakai used chopsticks to grab the pasta and artlessly carry it to his mouth, but…

“Hey, Sakai. Don’t slurp it.”

“We’re in the Far East and this is soba. Pasta? Never heard of it.”

“Oh, so that automaton is on your side, is she? I see, I see. How sad.”

“I am on no one’s side. Over.”

“Oh?” said Urban VIII before pointing her fork at Sakai. “I just negated your ally, so I win.”

“Judge, judge. That’s fine with me. So-”

“You coming to tonight’s…debate, I guess I’ll call it?”

“No, I like to let the young take care of their own business. That’s what the adults did in my time as long as I didn’t go to them.”

“Fair enough,” said Urban VIII before gathering up her pasta again. “I’ll probably grab lunch somewhere on my own tomorrow, so don’t bother searching me out.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re supposed to say, ‘But I know a great place we could eat’! How clueless are you!?”

“Okay, okay. ‘Musashi’-san, search for a decent place. Also…what are Masazumi-kun and the others up to?”

“Judge. They appear to be gathered at the Asama Shrine for a meeting. Now, Urban VIII-sama, I have something to say.”

“Well, that’s ominous, automaton. But what is it? I’m in a good mood, so I’ll hear you out.”

“Judge,” began “Musashi”. “Do not push yourself too hard. That appears to be what our youth dislike the most. Over.”

“Ha ha! Then I’ve practically already won!”

Urban VIII looked into the sky. Into the blue sky with a straight line hidden by the Musashi’s bridge overhead.

“It begins once that sky glows red and ends in the night. By then, everything I must do will have ended in my victory. And then…”

And then…

“I can finally go see them. It will be a long journey, but I can go tell them all that I have won. Sakai, I’ll be leaving on my own then, so don’t bother searching me out.”

“Are you sure?”

Urban VIII laughed at Sakai’s response.

“You’re supposed to say, ‘Wow! You’re so cool, Your Holiness!’ How clueless are you!?”

○

“I never heard it from them directly, but I know them well enough to guess what they might have said.”

The Reine des Garous smiled a little and accepted the others’ applause.

“Mitotsudaira-sama’s mother is proving again why she is the highest evolution of girl. She recreated Sakai-sama perfectly while also cutting down on ‘Musashi’-sama’s presence to avoid reducing the accuracy. Masterfully done.”

“Oh, you could tell? But what were all of you doing then?”

The Asama Shrine Representative looked to their Vice President.

The Vice President responded with a nod.

“I set up as much as we could. By thinking up as many countermeasures as I could.”

“What was your overall plan?”

“Still to get Ishin Suden to lower her guard and then wallop her. But,” said the Vice President, spreading her arms some. “The idea was to take everything we had seen and overlooked and then hitting her with every single one we understood.”

“That is exactly the kind of opponent Urban VIII loves. …Very well. I want to see what response that eccentric found. Allow me to join you as you reveal the answer.”

●

At 3:50 PM, the Asama Shrine grounds were cleared of people while the tents with cloth walls remained intact. Three people waited for another person there.

A meeting table had been set up in front of the main shrine building and Masazumi stood on the starboard side.

Asama in her shrine maiden outfit and Mitotsudaira stood next to Masazumi.

They had no seats. But there was a single chair across the table on the port side.

A small figure climbed the stairs to reach them.

“Musashi” accompanied her partway up, but the automaton bowed and let the small figure continue alone.

“Ishin Suden – here as arranged. I see you actually set things up instead of running away. Good.”

Suden sat in the chair and raised her eyebrows as she looked up at standing Masazumi. The corners of her lips rose.

“Now, let’s decide what to do about the Buke Shohatto that will change the course of history for the Far East as a whole!”

Chapter 13: First Move and Victory

Listen

What matters here

Is that Tsukinowa

Is mimicking me

Point Allocation (Super Cute)

●

Masazumi made the first move. Before Suden could do anything, she opened a sign frame displaying all thirteen articles.

1. Dedicate yourselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship.

Work at cultural and military skills, mkay?

2. Show restraint in drink and amusement.

Don’t be a drunk or a lazy bum, mkay?

3. Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto.

Report anyone who disobeys these laws, mkay?

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

9. Each daimyo must periodically visit Edo to serve the shogunate.

Come visit us from time to time, mkay?

10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

11. Restrict who can ride a palanquin regardless of status.

Don’t squander money riding around on palanquins all the time, mkay?

12. Be frugal.

Don’t waste money, mkay?

13. Domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles.

Domain leaders need to focus on skill and capability when filling government jobs, mkay?

“Ishin Suden, this is our reading of the 13 articles from your Buke Shohatto. If you have no objections, I would like to discuss what form they will take.”

●

It’s finally started, thought Suzu, taking a deep breath. But…

…M-me being…nervous…doesn’t help any…does it?

She just had one major question.

“How are we…supposed to handle…a debate like this?”

It was Gin who responded. While checking a few sign frames she had been given, providing the details of what had happened so far.

“We have determined that, for whatever reason, Ishin Suden is planning to restrict the other nations using the Buke Shohatto. However, Musashi has protested restrictions of that sort, so Musashi must accept the Buke Shohatto as a history recreation while also changing what is open to interpretation.

“Meaning,” continued Gin. “The 13 articles brought by Ishin Suden are meant to protect the Far East’s rule, but they are too much for the future Musashi wants.”

And…

“The Musashi Vice President is using this debate to weaken her allies’ excessive power while using our opinions to create a version of the 13 articles that can be used to work with the other nations.”

“That’s right,” replied Mary, who had changed into her English uniform. The specifics of the 13 articles being determined here would influence her relationship with Tenzou and where she could live, but she showed no timidity here. “Lady Masazumi told me earlier that she will be engaging in 13 arguments, so I only need to watch the two of them pit their arguments against each other each time. Even if I do not understand what they are talking about, I will be safe as long as she wins.”

Couldn’t you explain that a little more to her, Masazumi?

●

With the 13 articles displayed, Masazumi was ready to fight.

…This includes Neshinbara’s notes, but that should help put her on her guard.

Suden wanted the 13 articles to be enacted “as is”.

Her reasons and purposes behind influencing this in that direction were unclear, but if these were enacted in their current form, it would lead to considerable hostility toward Musashi from the other nations. It would also directly influence Mary’s life as well as some others.

…So even if I can’t tear it all down, there is room for interpretation!

It helped a lot that they had made it this far using interpretations. Maybe they were being too idealistic, but this was Musashi’s policy. They had chosen that policy, so they had to stick to it even if it meant betrayal from the other nations.

Vice President: “We’ve chosen a really pain-in-the-ass national policy, haven’t we?”

Novice: “But we announced it at Mikawa and applied to England. We prevent abuse of the history recreation and use interpretations to their fullest, but the Buke Shohatto are the opposite of that. Even if we do make them our own, we will lose the trust of the other nations if we don’t prevent them from being abused and don’t allow interpretations.”

She knew that.

…But Suden knows what she’s doing.

Suden knew how to twist her own opinion and use alternate interpretations to get her way.

That was why Masazumi had displayed clear definitions. That way, at least, Suden couldn’t twist the original text.

“What do you say?”

They were surrounded by the colors of scarlet-tinged shadow. They were on the starboard side, which currently meant west. The sun was setting, but the Musashi’s altitude wasn’t low enough for the sunset to fall upon the Asama Shrine’s belowdecks atrium.

The Asama Shrine was bathed in shadow at this time. So when they looked to each other, they saw the other within the shadows.

This masked their expressions. The atrium structure turned sunset into a haunted time of day.

Suden’s voice rose from within that.

“I see no mistake in these 13 articles. …I assume you have also considered the supplementary items in the actual articles?”

“Judge. We have. For example, the actual Article 2 includes a supplementary restriction on lewdness and gambling, but we have simply chosen not to display that here.”

“Testament. Very good then. So what now? I would like to proceed with the articles as they are. And you said yesterday that you would not relax these restrictions to avoid trouble with other nations, didn’t you?”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “We will not relax any of these restrictions to avoid trouble with other nations.”

She repeated the phrase to recognize Suden’s intent.

And Suden responded with an “oh?”

“You have an idea, don’t you? One that won’t let this go my way.”

“Judge. Because these 13 articles will go into effect once we of the Far East have taken over the world.”

“Hah! I hope you aren’t about to suggest you’ll give up taking over the world in order to keep the 13 articles from going into effect as a way for me and the world as a whole to save face.”

“We will not be doing that. We will take over the world. Because our idiot doesn’t have a light enough touch to understand walking right up to the line and not crossing it.. …But I do have a question.”

Masazumi ignored the “what kind of question?” look directed her way and responded.

“Do you think we will complete the history recreation properly on our way to taking over the world?”

“Not a chance.” Suden didn’t hesitate. “You already used interpretations to oppose the Testament Union at Mikawa. The Testament Union also used interpretations to a pretty ridiculous extent, but you did the same. And you did it again at England. So at this point, it simply isn’t possible for you to take over the world without interpretations.”

“Judge. I see. In that case…”

Just as Masazumi was about to continue, Suden jabbed her index finger down onto the table.

“Are you saying you’ll allow the other nations to ‘interpret’ these 13 articles in the same way you do?”

Suden laughed.

“Fool. Do you really expect me to allow that!? Think these things through, coward!”

●

Art-Ga: “Oof.”

Horizey: “I am listening in while grabbing some popcorn in the neighboring tent, but does this mean Masazumi-sama will be hitting her with a bad one in about 3 minutes’ time!? Make it a really devastating one!”

Me: “Hmm? Hold on, Seijun-kun. What’s this about you not thinking it through? Maybe you need to read some more books? Or get more social experience?”

Vice President: “Sh-shut up! She’s saying we can’t change our attitude or our view of the issue! So just watch!”

●

Suden watched the Musashi Vice President breathe deep.

Did this mean she had a response for Suden’s accusation?

But Suden did know one thing for sure.

“Testament. So you plan to officially put my 13 articles into effect while secretly not applying them to the world, is that right?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Ishin Suden.”

…Trying to play dumb?

“Then you’re agreeing to all 13 articles and this meeting is over? That’s what this will mean.”

“Judge. That’s fine with me if it is with you. …But are you sure about that?”

“What if I say I am?”

“Then to establish the history recreation of the Buke Shohatto’s 13 articles, I was thinking I would issue a single article as a trial.”

“As a trial?”

The girl nodded in the shadows.

“These 13 articles were decided by Ishin Suden, aka Urban VIII. So they must be good, right? So to see how they work in practice, I was thinking we could recreate one of the articles ahead of time.”

The Musashi Vice President tapped a spot on her sign frame. The very top. The article there said…

1. Dedicate yourselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship.

“I want to issue this one early.”

●

Suden froze.

She became a being only capable of breathing and directing her eyes.

Because she needed to work out what the Musashi Vice President’s angle was here.

And perhaps to assist her, the Musashi Vice President spoke.

“Literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship. This effectively means to regularly practice both literary and martial skills plus anything that will be useful in wartime. In this age, this one should fit right in for any nation, whether they are engaged in the Warring States or the Thirty Years’ War.”

That much was true. Suden had also felt that a few of the articles would fit right in during this era and for Tsirhc.

This was one of those, but…

…She wouldn’t bring it up now unless there was some trick hidden in it.

Suden needed to consider Musashi’s strategy.

…They intend to recognize each nation’s discretion.

Their strategy was to allow interpretations to reduce the articles’ restrictions to mere guidelines.

If that happened, the other nations could remain safe even after Musashi completed this history recreation. The breadth of a nation’s discretion would split the nations between those that benefited under Musashi’s rule and those that did not.

“Testament. So that’s it.”

Suden finally allowed herself to move.

“1. Dedicate yourselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship. This would fit right in for any nation during the current era. But not all nations have the same options when it comes to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship. And the extent they can ‘dedicate themselves’ to those things differs as well. This article and its supplementary item cannot be realistically followed based on a strict definition of dedication and of the listed skills.”

What happened then?”

“Each nation would be given the discretion to follow Article 1 as a mere guideline. And then, when the remaining 12 articles are issued later on, those too will naturally be followed at each nation’s discretion. …Isn’t that right?”

●

Next to Asama, Mitotsudaira watched Masazumi’s back as she realized where this discussion was headed.

…So Suden figured out our policy is to make the 13 articles discretionary.

Silver Wolf: “By the way, should I really be here? Wouldn’t Futayo be a better choice?”

Vice President: “Judge. She used to be Urban VIII, but now she’s Ishin Suden, no more than a civil official. Placing our Vice Chancellor against someone without a bodyguard could be taken as a hostile act.”

Asama: “And given the location, I was chosen to record the proceedings instead of Neshinbara-kun. Mito, you can help me with that to an extent and you’re really here to guard me and the Asama Shrine more than anything.”

Tonbokiri: “I am currently in the surface nature district overlooking the Asama Shrine to ensure there is no repeat of yesterday’s attack.”

Novice: “And I am providing knowledge support. Open a dedicated sign frame and you can get real-time information from me.”

…Oh, so the Secretary is the one behind the sign frame displaying endless theories as if to say “Look at everything I noticed. Eh heh heh.”

With that, Mitotsudaira understood their formation and strategy. Now she only had to see how this would play out. But…

Novice: “Really, it would be safer to restrict the other nations to wear them down. That was the original point of the 13 articles, after all.”

Silver Wolf: “But that would mean rejecting Musashi’s usage of interpretations, allowing a convenient way to ‘erase’ the things we’ve done.”

Tachibana Wife: “So the question is whether to prioritize your own safety or your trustworthiness and rationality. Ishin Suden has chosen the former while Musashi has chosen the latter. But…why has Ishin Suden chosen the former?”

That is a good question, thought Mitotsudaira.

…Why is she so insistent on making more enemies like this?

Mitotsudaira sent a questioning gaze toward Suden who sighed. After the audible breath, she crossed her arms and formed words.

“Discretion? I’m not allowing that. If you want people to dedicate themselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship, you need to define your terms. What are you recommending? How exactly are they meant to dedicate themselves to those things and to what extent? Don’t leave it up to their discretion – provide instruction. That way you can place the other nations’ military forces under your control and subservient to your own. Can’t you see that giving them discretionary freedom will only lead to them using broad interpretations to bolster their military forces!?”

○

Circle Be: “Fantastic! I wish I could talk to the customers like that!”

Flat Vassal: “I thought you did, just not quite so directly.”

Still Got It: “Now, I know I’m playing the Suden role…but could you really do that?”

Tachibana Wife: “Judge, we can. After taking over the world, we could demand just about anything.”

●

Masazumi listened to Suden.

“Have you forgotten!? Or did you just not notice because you’re not in that position!? There’s already a way of defining and controlling the world nations’ military forces!”

Masazumi knew what Suden was talking about. So she responded.

“Do you mean the academies?”

“Yes, the academies!!”

The reflexive response came with a raised-eyebrow smile.

“The current academy system was put in place by the provisional ruling nations. Once you take over the world, you need only place that system under Far Eastern management! Then it just becomes an issue of curriculum! Literature can be taught in classes and controlled through the textbooks! Swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship can be included as part of the curriculum! And if any further military forces are needed, the Far East can provide them! That’s all it takes! Then the other nations lose their military might and the Far East can tighten its grip by sending forces to the national borders ‘for security’. And with your physical education making the entire world healthier, no one has any room to complain! Give up yet!?”

Masazumi wasn’t quite sure what to make of that last question, but it did seem to fit her character. Also…

Circle Be: “Oh! That’s a great idea! As the ones choosing the approved textbooks and equipment, we can make tons and tons of money from the sales! Let’s do it! I sense profit, Masazumi! Can I side with her!?”

Vice President: “Aren’t you being a little open about your treachery!?”

But Masazumi did have something else to say.

“Doing that for the Far East is one thing, but defining what can be taught in other nations’ academies is the same as rejecting their cultures and overwriting them with Far Eastern culture!”

Also…

“If we did that, the entire world would work towards abandoning the 13 articles. It could even lead to a war with the entire world opposing the Far East. What’s the point of creating a law that would end so quickly?”

“Fool! This is why cowards can never take the first step!”

Suden uncrossed her arms and slammed her hands against the table. She sighed before continuing.

“That’s what the Buke Shohatto are! Bad laws!? Unworkable!? Foreign culture!? Who cares!? These laws were issued in the Far East in the past and many domains were punished or even taken over for violating them! And now we’re the ones doing it! So you need to be ready!”

Furthermore…

“Listen! Think carefully! My 13 articles will not be abandoned! Why can’t you see that we can use the promise of future hope as bait? Answer me, Far Eastern Representative!”

●

…Huh? They won’t be abandoned? Hope as bait?

What is she talking about? wondered Masazumi.

…Is she saying we can bait them into keeping these bad laws in effect?

What bait was there regarding the Buke Shohatto?

“The revision to the Buke Shohatto!?”

“Testament! My 13 article Buke Shohatto was issued in 1615, but they were issued again in 1635! That version was more restrictive than my version and created an even greater hell, but it isn’t mine. Do you get what I mean!? It isn’t mine! Not M-I-N-E – mine! So the nations hoping to do what they want will see that as their hope. If they follow the Far East and Urban VIII’s bad laws for just 20 years, they think they’ll be back in control!”

Suden pounded on the table again.

“How about that!? For 20 years, the Far East can push for its own interests and reap the benefits. And when the next Buke Shohatto – the one with 19 articles – comes along, then you can play your games when it comes to those restrictions! It couldn’t be more perfectly set up, so why hesitate!?”

●

Adele heard Suden’s dignified voice ringing out through the tent’s cloth wall.

…Now that is a voice that carries.

Behind her, Ohiroshiki sighed deeply.

“The precious sound of a little girl voice. …Oh, if only she wasn’t a loli hag.”

“Is Ishin Suden-san really that old?”

“Judge.” Ohiroshiki put on a firm smile. “”But based on her voice and the lung capacity used to lay out her words, her body seems to be that of a child. However, her knowledge, her wisdom to link that knowledge together, and the way she verbally wields that knowledge comes much more smoothly than your average adult. So while she looks like a child, she is an adult – or even older – on the inside.”

“Is she an automaton like me, Ohiroshiki-sama?” asked Horizon.

“Creating little girl automata is challenging and her movements are those of a child’s musculature, not of mechanical control. I suspect this is the result of body modifications by a divine protection or spell.”

“That’s impressive, but schwarz creepy, Piroshki.”

“Yes. It’s incredible, but weiss creepy, Ohiroshiki.”

“Why is it always you two!?” shouted Ohiroshiki as someone else stirred. It was the 1st Special Duty Officer. He turned to face Mary where she sat next to him.

Adele looked over to see Mary’s head was lowered and her expression tense.

“What’s the matter, Mary-dono?”

“Well, um…I’m not certain, but this seems to fit with a question and hope I’ve had for a while now.”

While Adele wondered what that could mean, a new question arrived.

From the Vice President. A sign frame appeared in front of them all.

Vice President: “What’s going on here? Suden is compromising?”

●

That’s right, thought Mary, agreeing with Masazumi.

…Before, all Lady Ishin Suden did was tell us what she wanted to do and demand we obey.

But this was different.

Asama: “She said the Far East can push for its own interests and reap the benefits for 20 years.”

Mary saw that as a compromise. Suden had been pushing for her own benefit and for the accuracy of the history recreation, but now she had pulled back from that.

Scarred: “She’s said a lot now, but ultimately she’s saying we only need to follow the 13 articles for 20 years.”

But why the change of heart? Why suddenly compromise on the length of time?

●

Masazumi read Asama and Mary’s thoughts and realized her shoulders were tensing.

…Oops.

She had had a few doubts and concerns, but this compromise seemed to start linking them together.

This was a risky situation, but she felt the need to take the first step. So…

“Ishin Suden, I have a question. What obstacle currently stands in your way?”

Suden looked up. She had been sharply glaring up at Masazumi before, but now she viewed her head on.

“Your silly ideas of justice. Your silly cowardice saying the conditions should be identical for you and the other nations. If you want to call that equality or fairness, then the laws and regulations governing culture must also be made equal and fair. Understand?”

“Judge, I understand. And I agree we need to form an international committee to come up with a common curriculum with the bare minimum of knowledge and skills that should be taught alongside that nation’s own culture. I believe the two can coexist.

“But,” she added. “I would like to set aside our ideas of justice for now.”

“And do what?”

She wanted to check something. Immediately.

…About Ishin Suden herself.

Masazumi wanted to know what Suden was thinking, how she was acting, and what she wanted. Of course, Suden wasn’t the type to answer a direct question. So instead…

“I want to know what you will do with the 13 articles.”

●

Suden scooted forward in her chair.

“Hmph. So with your justice set aside, you’re finally willing to hear me out?”

Even as she spoke, she thought to herself.

…Has she figured it out? She does seem sharp when it comes to the workings of people’s minds.

Whatever, she decided, eliminating her concerns. She was honestly making a gamble here, but the other side hadn’t figured out what really mattered. If she kept pushing, she could get through this. Also…

…Innocen and his group are on my side.

It wasn’t perfect, but she could hold her position. This would have unraveled faster if she were on her own.

If she contacted them later on, she knew she had to warn them to not put on an unconvincing act. But…

“Very well.”

It was time to compare their views of the 13 articles.

Chapter 14: Resistance and Strength

Nowwww

What’re you gonna doooo?

Point Allocation (No Regrets, Okay?)

○

Silver Wolf: “Um, mother? I know you’re playing the role of Ishin Suden, but your hints like ‘has she figured it out?’ do actually have a payoff later, I hope?”

Still Got It: “Don’t be ridiculous, Nate. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Silver Wolf: “R-really? That’s good. So you were basing that hint on something?”

Still Got It: “Testament, nothing at all to worry about. Because I’m having fun with it.”

Flat Vassal: “Asama-saaaaan! Asama-saaaan! Prepare a correction!”

Asama: “Well, the thing is, we’ve started on a new chapter, so any corrections will have to wait until after we’ve compiled everything together.”

Vice President: “Hmm. Well, for now, we might as well keep going.”

●

Masazumi had some thoughts on the matter, but she decided to go for it anyway. She tapped the sign frame displaying the 13 articles of the Buke Shohatto.

“We’ve already discussed Article 1, so let’s skip it here. To start with, I want to see if we have a consensus on the 12 remaining articles.”

2. Show restraint in drink and amusement.

Don’t be a drunk or a lazy bum, mkay?

3. Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto.

Report anyone who disobeys these laws, mkay?

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

9. Each daimyo must periodically visit Edo to serve the shogunate.

Come visit us from time to time, mkay?

10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

11. Restrict who can ride a palanquin regardless of status.

Don’t squander money riding around on palanquins all the time, mkay?

12. Be frugal.

Don’t waste money, mkay?

13. Domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles.

Domain leaders need to focus on skill and capability when filling government jobs, mkay?

Suden viewed the indicated 12 articles and nodded.

“Musashi Vice President, I will let you lead here. Give your thoughts on these 12 articles. But no need to go in order – you can start with the simplest ones.”

“Judge. We have already categorized them, so I appreciate that.

“Now,” she said, selecting three from the list.

2. Show restraint in drink and amusement.

Don’t be a drunk or a lazy bum, mkay?

11. Restrict who can ride a palanquin regardless of status.

Don’t squander money riding around on palanquins all the time, mkay?

12. Be frugal.

Don’t waste money, mkay?

“I think both the Far East and the other nations can manage these three without issue.”

“Why?”

“Because many religions say the same things Tsirhc does: control your gluttony and sloth – and the same goes for lust if you include the addition. Not seeking the easy way out and avoiding waste is a basic restriction seen even in the deadly sins.

“Also,” she added. “The palanquin in article 11 can refer to any similar human-powered vehicle. Vehicles of that sort have existed in other nations and the article establishes a restriction to their use. Not a full ban.”

“Then,” said Suden. “What if I told you to precisely define that restriction?”

Masazumi knew what she wanted to say to that.

“The Catholics and Mlasi can use their similar doctrines. That will allow the Testament Union nations to take part without any negative influence from the provisional rulers.”

“So you’re taking their religion’s teachings hostage?”

Suden leaned back in her chair and shrugged.

“Fine. …This much is so basic there’s really no point in even restricting it. If anything, you could say the Far East will be applying the other nations’ lifestyle to themselves. Continue.”

●

…So she’ll allow me that much, will she?

Masazumi breathed a sigh of relief on the inside.

It was true that articles 2, 11, and 12 were related to lifestyle and, as Suden had said, most religions made similar commands.

Horizey: “Hm, restrictions on gluttony, sloth, and lust? We gave those articles a very Horizon flavor.”

They were like that to begin with, actually.

But this was a big step forward.

…Now we know Suden isn’t the type to only be satisfied if she wins every single round, whether or not it actually matters to her overall goal.

If Masazumi had a proper understanding of the article and could make sure there were no flaws or deficiencies when it was issued, then Suden would accept her view.

Masazumi’s relief must have shown on her face because Suden smiled bitterly.

“You sure look pleased.”

“Only because I don’t know the difficulties awaiting us. Feel free to smile with me.”

Now it was time to move on. If those three were accepted…

…The next safest category would be these.

3. Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto.

Report anyone who disobeys these laws, mkay?

9. Each daimyo must periodically visit Edo to serve the shogunate.

Come visit us from time to time, mkay?

“I would like to provide my view of articles 3 and 9.”

●

“Takarazuka Honda-kun is testing her this time.”

Naito responded to Neshinbara’s comment.

“What do you mean, Bara-yan?”

“Judge. The two articles she just presented are fairly risky when it comes to checking them. Article 3 is similar to those Stuart-kun was worried about. It deals with the treatment of criminals who break the laws. And then article 9 relates to visits to Edo. Do you know what those visits mean? The daimyo of each domain must visit Edo to complete the government matters Matsudaira prepares for them. That rule will mean visiting Musashi as their ruler. She has to tread carefully here.”

“First he asks the question and then he answers it.”

Naruze’s comment made Mary “pft” with laughter, forcing her to look away.

…Easy laughers are valuable.

Naito felt like the rest of them were so well trained it took too much to make them laugh, but that was fine, she supposed.

“But what is she testing?” asked Naito with a tilt of the head.

Just then, Masazumi spoke from beyond the tent.

“Article 3 concerns harboring violators of the Shohatto. Depending on the severity of their crime, violators will be subjected to a Shinto divine punishment in which fruit is jammed up their butt, luminescent ink periodically comes from their urethra, an ‘I violated the Shohatto’ alarm blares around them, and any accomplices receive a bamboo shoot up the butt for a minimum of three years.”

And…

“For article 9, anyone who does not visit the Musashi at their set time will – using our Chancellor as a basis – be forced to visit us in the nude with ‘loser’ written on their gut. If they attempt to put on any clothing, a Shinto divine punishment will cause the clothing to explode and they will receive an electrified lightning rod up the butt for three years.”

“Wait!” Suden shouted in response to Masazumi’s “test”. “No one ever said to take it that far!”

●

Masazumi glared at Suden.

“Oh, c’mon. Yesterday you wouldn’t shut up about how we couldn’t take the world so lightly.”

“The original Shohatto says nothing about fruit from the butt or an electrified rod!”

Asama cleared her throat behind Masazumi.

“Excuse me, but that is an electrified lightning rod, not just an electrified rod. Because it is a Takemikazuchi punishment.”

Oh, the nitpicking begins, thought Masazumi as Asama continued, glaring at Suden.

“Listen. When it comes to gods, you must be precise in your language. Also, Shinto punishments for failing to visit also include sinking a bamboo leaf to the bottom of a hot bath and having them perch naked atop the bath to see how long they can last before falling in, but that one was rejected for taking too much time.”

“Tomo? What’s the point of the bamboo leaf in the bath?”

“Well, as a nudity-based punishment, the original version had them perch atop the bath with all four limbs and see if they could collect the bamboo leaf with their ‘hand of god’, but someone inevitably shoved them in from behind and it was decided that went too far. The bamboo leaf is a relic of that time, so you can really see the depth of divine punishment history. …But anyway, please continue.”

“Riiight,” said Suden, with a nod and a breath. Then she opened a sign frame with hooded eyes, navigated to the main Shinto site, and searched for punishment information.

“It’s real!? What the hell!? How do you people live here!?”

“Word of warning: protesting my personal opinion is fine, but I wouldn’t defy Shinto if I were you. It’s a rare example of an underground religion that was opened up to the public. It’s a bit much for amateurs.”

“Hm,” groaned Suden as she bookmarked a few reference pages. And, “So you’re turning these articles into a show?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well.” Suden smiled bitterly and tapped the table once. “The original text for article 3 creates an unworkable loop.”

●

Masazumi considered Suden’s words.

…So she’ll even take issue with what amounts to wordplay!?

Well, she is the one who trying to make use of all this.

Then Suden pointed at article 3 on the sign frame.

“Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto. The original text says, ‘those who violate the Shohatto, must not be hidden in the domains.’ But if harboring violators is banned, than the ones doing the harboring are violators themselves. You see what happens to them at that point, don’t you?”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “If the ones being harbored don’t report on the violation of the ones harboring them, then they too are harboring violators.”

So if that law was applied as written, something unusual happened.

“The positions of harboring and being harbored swaps places endlessly, creating an infinite loop.”

“Ha ha,” laughed Suden. “I’ve shown this to a few people before, but – while it admittedly isn’t a huge sample size – the only ones who’ve been able to identify that on sight were Galileo and Innocen. Well done.”

●

While laughing, Suden decided to deal with article 9 as well.

“The visiting requirement is also no more than a show because it’s either voluntary or it requires you to demand a visit before it holds any real power. So what would you say if I demanded you request a visit?”

“Judge. I would refuse, saying you don’t have the authority.”

“Why not?”

The Musashi Vice President opened a sign frame.

“These are the Buke Shohatto. But not yours. This is the second version issued in 1635.”

The second Buke Shohatto established a certain rule.

“Article 2 says that both daimyo and minor lords must alternate between living in their home domain and Edo. It also requires a visit during the fourth month of each year.”

What did that mean? The Musashi Vice President gestured toward Suden’s Buke Shohatto.

“Your Buke Shohatto did not specify a time for the visits and not even the additions established the number of people required. The actual system was only established in 1635. Thus, the visits in your Buke Shohatto were not an alternating system. They could be done voluntarily or on request, but whether or not they would happen at all was beyond the scope of those Buke Shohatto. That leaves it up to our discretion.”

Meaning…

“It would be a shame to get rid of article 9, so it should be used to make a show.”

●

Gin sighed.

…Systematizing the visits would be a bigger problem for the western nations.

Tres España had just lost the Armada Battle and were in the process of recovering. If a law were established requiring systematic visits, that future debt would weight them down even if it would only happen after Musashi’s rule began.

“But when creating the 1635 system, the Buke Shohatto warn that the visits should not be made too extravagant. I imagine the shogunate wasn’t interested in being a huge burden on the other domains – they only wanted to test those domains’ allegiance and to centralize their regional thoughts.”

The Secretary began explaining even though no one had asked, but…

…They’ve asked to have my inherited name revoked, yet I am still worried about my homeland.

Still, this was a time for battle. The Musashi Vice President, who would be her and Muneshige’s representative from now on, and the rest of Musashi were taking on the world using their speech. And…

“Now, let’s move on,” began the Musashi Vice President.

●

Masazumi decided to end this all at once.

…I have momentum on my side.

She doubted momentum was enough for an opponent like this, but she wanted every advantage she could get. So…

5. People of other domains must not be employed.

No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

13. Domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles.

Domain leaders need to focus on skill and capability when filling government jobs, mkay?

“I would like to do these three articles together. Is that alright?”

●

“So she’s doing those three at once.”

Mary checked those articles on the Shinto sign frame Asama had lent her. Next to her, Tenzou nodded and drew three red circles around article 1 and the other five articles they had covered.

“Completing them at once will be easier.”

“Won’t that complicate things?”

“No, because she has categorized them. First, article 1. Then articles 2, 11, and 12. And then articles 3 and 9. Each of those categories can be resolved with a single argument. Article 1 with a curriculum. Articles 2, 11, and 12 with religious guidance. And articles 3 and 9 as a show. And Suden-dono treated each article in a category the same way, which is convenient for us since it makes it easier for us to get them through.”

In that case, thought Mary.

“The next three articles can be treated as a group in the same way?”

“Judge. Once those three are through, our total will be up to 9. That brings us past the halfway mark. We can only hope Masazumi-dono keeps up the good work.”

●

…Suden has to have noticed our ‘Cram It All Through’ strategy (named by Horizey).

Masazumi decided to be as cautious as possible.

…Just like the meetings in England.

The idiot had left her in charge of the meetings at Mikawa and England.

And now the idiot was in the tent behind her, but he hadn’t done anything.

That meant everything was fine for now.

“I’ll get right to the point. For articles 5, 10, and 13, I say…”

A breath.

“They are all already established by the academy rules, or do not need to be established to that extent. That means these three articles have already been resolved by each nations’ academies. So issuing them will not cause any form of restriction.”

“Oh?”

Suden leaned back a bit.

Just as Masazumi felt a “here it comes” of anticipation, it did indeed come.

“What are you, a fool!?”

And there it came.

●

Suden raised her voice and slammed down on the table.

“Article 5 bans the hiring of foreigners and you’re trying to claim the academy rules already do that!?”

“Judge! The academies hire their Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council. Since those are selected from that nation’s students, they are automatically people of that nation and not foreigners!”

Without a “so”, the Musashi Vice President waved a hand.

“It goes without saying! There’s no need to write up a rule for something that happens automatically!”

“Then what if circumstances lead an academy to hire a student from another nation!? If no one suitable is found among an academy’s personnel, they could call in someone foreign! What then!? If you allow that, someone is bound to take advantage of it to bolster their strength!”

“If it is part of the history recreation, then it is based on the Testament and can be allowed. If not, they can be considered an aide with someone else designated as their supervisor!”

“You fool!”

Suden raised her voice.

…Why would you give the world nations a way to gather strength!?

But before she could say that out loud, the Musashi Vice President spoke up with the intensity of an interruption.

“The history recreation must take priority above all else! You can apply restrictions using the Buke Shohatto, but you can’t restrict the history recreation! Or are you trying to say you stand above even the Testament!?”

“My Buke Shohatto are a history recreation!”

“Then your Buke Shohatto only need to complete a history recreation of ‘preventing the hiring of foreigners’!”

●

…This girl!

The Musashi Vice President is different from yesterday, thought Suden. She’s switching between arguments a lot faster.

This was the Catholic-style pitting of arguments against each other. Suden’s arguments were based on an imagined future, not on the past, which gave her little in the way of precedent to work with.

But during their debate yesterday, she had overwhelmed the Musashi Vice President. Yet today…

…How is she suddenly capable of dealing with me!?

She looked to the Musashi Vice President and the light in her hand.

That was a sign frame. But not just one. And none of them stayed there long.

As soon as they appeared, they would shatter and vanish, only to be replaced by a new one moments later. The process repeated with dizzying speed, so it looked to Suden like a single, vibrating sign frame.

“Is that…?”

She knew the answer. That was for use against her.

Several different countermeasures for Suden’s arguments were being displayed.

“Hah! So you made sure you were good and prepared, did you!?”

After a slow start to lower Suden’s guard, the Musashi Vice President was pushing to finish this. These three articles would bring them well past the halfway mark. So the Musashi Vice President had decided now was the time.

“You have good instincts!”

●

Mitotsudaira saw Asama’s hand racing along a sign frame.

…Wow, she’s fast!

She was only using her right hand, but she wasn’t extending that arm and she had her left hand reaching around from behind to steady the arm by holding it just above the elbow. At a glance, she only appeared to be standing with her chest sticking out. And…

…They’re enormous…

Mitotsudaira couldn’t help but notice that, but steadying the elbow gave Asama more stability when operating the sign frame.

The others knew what she was doing. She was sending Masazumi a condensed version of the information Neshinbara and the others had written up last night.

This was Proxy Speech, an anti-Suden response spell. It had been hurriedly thrown together, meaning it was mostly reliant on Hanami and manually controlled, but the program always supplied an appropriate response to whatever Suden said. It wasn’t perfect and it only provided suggestions. And since the number of responses was limited, it was only useful for a short-term debate, but…

“Masazumi!”

As Mitotsudaira quietly called her name, Masazumi opened a sign frame by her hand and responded to her opponent.

The debate had begun.

●

Masazumi heard Suden raise her voice.

“Article 10 restricts clothing based on status. You say the academy rules accomplish that!?”

“Judge! The academy uniforms are made by corporations in each nation and the officers and students in different clubs wear whichever version suits their needs! Thus, I say article 10 is already satisfied by those rules!”

“Then what about your nudist!? Are you telling me that’s a uniform!?”

“His nudity violates the academy rules, so that is a matter for the teachers!”

“Are you sure!? You’d damn well better be!”

“Come visit our school if you don’t believe me! That guy is a nuisance! Not even the guards know what to do about him!”

As soon Masazumi said that, the nudist stepped up behind Suden after having left the tent and circled around the shrine.

…What are you doing!?

●

Asama saw the nudist dance by behind Suden.

“My-”

Asama shushed Mitotsudaira before she could speak and kept her eyes on the two continuing their discussion in front of them. But on the inside, she was rapidly dealing with the situation.

Asama: “What are you doing, Toori-kun!?”

Me: “Huh, she isn’t noticing me at all. Maybe I should try this with a major figure sometime.”

After completing his dance, the nudist left. Meanwhile, Suden spoke to Masazumi who was clenching her fists.

“If you don’t restrict their clothing, the other nations could always designate combat gear as their uniform! Did you not consider that!?”

“Um…Tres España, Hexagone Française, K.P.A. Italia, M.H.R.R., and Sviet Rus all use uniforms designed for physical and spell-based combat! Yet the Far East gets by with a mid-weight uniform not designed for physical combat, but we’re still winning battles!”

…Huh?

Something bothered Asama about what Masazumi had said. She had omitted a few words from the original response on her sign frame.

…Am I mistaken, or did she simply overlook it?

But Masazumi continued before Asama could check.

She swept her left arm around horizontally to indicate the Musashi as a whole.

“Battles are not decided by uniforms! They are decided by how those uniforms are used! And that usage is influenced by national strength and religion, which is beyond the purview of the 13 articles!”

Masazumi raised her voice and snapped her fingers.

“Now for article 13!”

“That isn’t your decision to make, Far East Representative!”

“Then are you going to dig back up an issue I have already resolved!?”

“Hah!” sharply barked Suden. “If you’re that confident, then out with it!”

●

“Very well then.”

This is the final group, thought Masazumi as she spoke.

“Article 13 says the domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles. Now, the selection of Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council members are sometimes done by vote, but a test to ensure they have the necessary abilities will be needed. That will require excellent capabilities from the academy staff and not just government roles!”

“Including your Chancellor?”

“Judge!”

Asama and Mitotsudaira gave me a cheat sheet for this part, she thought as she read it off.

“Listen! Listen carefully! Our Musashi Ariadust Academy’s Chancellor and Student Council President Aoi Toori is plenty ca-cap-capa-capab-b-b-b-b-”

10ZO: “Masazumi-dono! You need to try and get the word out even if you don’t believe it! You can do it!”

Gold Mar: “Oh? You mean like you managed to confess your love without tripping over your words, Tenzou?”

10ZO: “I was simply nervous about doing something as personally unthinkable as confessing my love for Mary-dono.”

…Is this really the time get lovey-dovey!?

It also didn’t seem like the time for tripping over her words. But she had her momentum already.

“Well, you get the point!”

“Liar!”

It took a lot to suppress the urge to honestly confirm that accusation.

●

“I am not lying!”

Probably, she added silently.

“Whenever I negotiate, I do so with our Chancellor and President’s support! That means my words are his words!”

“So you accept the idea of a puppet government!?”

“If the history recreation demands it, I will go along with it. But at Mikawa, our Chancellor and President supported me – supported us – and everything we were doing! I! We! All of this is his will!”

“Nonsense!” Suden slammed her hands down on the table. “You’ve just been lucky so far! If the conditions are wrong and you have the wrong Chancellor and President, then it all goes wrong! You could end up creating a permanent puppet state! And…do you really think you can apply your nonsense to the other nations as well!?”

●

Adele heard Mary gasp.

The 1st Special Duty Officer looked her way.

“Mary-dono? Did something occur to you?”

“Um, yes. …I noticed a pattern to Lady Suden’s words.”

Mary took a breath and shut her eyes before continuing.

“This might be my last time relying on Tsirhc, but I must still thank god.”

●

Masazumi realized Suden was building momentum.

…She’s making her move here on article 13!

Did she think of this as a turning point? Suden leaned forward with her hands on the table.

“Things are going well for you now! But what about before all this!? The other nations forced you to choose incompetent leaders, preventing you from holding any real international negotiations or raising your national strength! If you don’t restrict and correct that now, your later generations and the rest of the nations will be at risk!”

“Sorry, Ishin Suden, but our current Chancellor and President was chosen in that same way.”

That had happened through a Student Council election she could only describe as a wild party, but…

“We were required to select the puppet from among ourselves. But it’s going well. Yet you see our leader as incompetent, don’t you?”

So she said it.

“You’re contradicting yourself, Ishin Suden. You can’t seem to decide if we’re capable or not, so you can’t define the terms in this case!”

Suden grimaced, but Masazumi didn’t care. She kept talking as if shoving her away.

“It’s the same for any other nation. Even if they create a puppet out of an incompetent leader, even if that leader is surrounded by people hoping to take advantage of that incompetence, and even if the history recreation demands submission, those who will stand up will stand up. And those who will not stand up won’t stand up. We stood up.”

“That is a luxury only afforded to the capable, Musashi Representative!”

“Then we will use that luxury to save the incapable! Maybe you were unaware and maybe you’ve forgotten, but Musashi didn’t need the Buke Shohatto to go save those in other nations who had death or injustice forced upon them by the history recreation!”

Masazumi thought she saw a change in response to that. It looked like Suden’s expression had changed.

…What was that?

She smiled. But not a daring or intimidating smile – just a smile.

“Do you really think you can do that!?”

The next thing Masazumi knew, Suden’s critical expression was back, so Masazumi took a breath.

“The entire point of our path to world domination is meant to show that we can! At Mikawa, England, and everywhere we go from here on, we will never lose sight of that!”

●

She got the words out. And immediately afterwards…

“–––––”

Suden loudly kicked up at the table.

Her body was small, but she used her chair for support, allowing her to kick the table diagonally over onto its side.

And Suden stood up, her feet audibly sinking into the gravel.

“The chair and table are only in the way. …They give the appearance of respect for me, but seating me restricted my movements with the table. Was that your plan?”

Smoking Girl: “Oh, damn. Was it a mistake to shorten the chair legs to make it hard to get up out of?”

You took it that far? Masazumi wasn’t sure if she should be thankful or disturbed. But…

“Finally ready for the real debate, Ishin Suden?”

“No, not yet.”

She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck before opening a cadena firma.

They had already dealt with 9 of the 13 articles. That left 4, but the next group would be…

4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

“These two? They do both deal with crime.”

Novice: “Kh! She saw right through my groupings!? How good is she!? But now she must argue against the criminally good arguments I put into these two articles!”

Suden crossed her arms as she viewed the two articles.

“These ones look challenging, but you plan to reuse one of your earlier conclusions, don’t you? You’re going to claim the history recreation takes precedence.”

“Judge. Article 4 could be violated by someone with a double inherited name. And, Ishin Suden, you yourself took on consecutive inherited names. You’ve been in situations like that before, haven’t you?”

“Testament. Which is why your past names are ignored and the one fitting the current history recreation takes precedence. And of course, there’s no problem with following the Buke Shohatto when that isn’t the case.”

“But…what if one of the non-name inheritor criminals happens to be one of the aforementioned ‘capable people’?”

“Once they have completed their prison sentence or reformed, then hiring them can be seen as purifying their sin. Tsirhc also accepts this thinking through the process of confession.”

…She’s being a lot more lenient now.

Suden seemed like a different person, but that probably wasn’t true.

…She’s probably already focusing on the later debate.

“Then that is good enough for that one. Let’s keep it simple, Ishin Suden.”

Novice: “Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Are you really going to skip past my criminally good arguments!?”

Silver Wolf: “No, my list of my king’s good qualities comes first!”

Laborer: “Both of those sound like hell.”

…The point isn’t to use every argument we prepared.

Asama was already making the eye contact that signaled preparations for the next one. So…

“Article 7 requires reporting anyone plotting rebellion. This is meant to discourage crime, but a requirement to report doesn’t mean much when there’s no way for an outsider to know what you do or do not know.”

“But when a domain rebels, the requirement allows you to reward the surrounding domains that did report it.”

“Yes. But if the rebellion is a history recreation, then any reports would also be part of the history recreation. Anything else would be a violation of the history recreation, so the Testament Union would caution them and it would be beyond the purview of the Buke Shohatto. And if anyone tries to use the history recreation to gain more than they should, then it will generally be our job to deal with it.”

“Because you would move in to stop any unjust deaths?”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. That completed articles 4 and 7.

She regulated her breathing and checked what to say next.

“We have now gathered our thoughts on 11 of the articles, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Even if your thoughts are often questionable at best.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

They both raised their sign frames.

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

Only those remained. It was time to debate the two articles that had concerned Mary.

Chapter 15: Fate and Flowers

Give an answer that isn’t

A direct answer for either of us

Give an answer in the middle

That binds us together

Point Allocation (Fulfillment)

●

“It’s gotten quiet.”

Mary nodded at Adele’s comment.

They had heard raised voices and yelling outside the tent before, but now it was horribly quiet.

Two articles remained of the 13 Suden had prepared. And they were the two Mary had been worried about.

6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

Musashi’s Secretary viewed a sign frame displaying that same information as he spoke.

“Not only was Stuart-kun concerned about them, but in my opinion articles 6 and 8 are unique among the 13. After all, they are related to national polity and aren’t covered by the academy rules. And to make matters worse, they were both carried out a few times in the history recreation of the Buke Shohatto.”

The Secretary sighed once. Mary thought that was meant to preface something and, sure enough, he opened his mouth to speak.

“The previous 11 articles could be handled by religion or the academy rules and, even if they come into effect, they are no more than guidance or defining a crime. But these two are different. They restrict the bases and marriages that influence the very root and continued survival of the other nations. And these do not just set punishments or provide guidance – they are outright bans.”

Mary understood what he meant based on the discussions reaching this point.

“If these get through, will Musashi be forcing the history recreation onto the other nations?”

“Judge,” confirmed Adele. She looked back and forth between the sign frame and Mary. “It will if they’re enacted as is. And that’s fine as far as making an enemy of the world nations is concerned, but we’ve already decided we won’t use the history recreation to force death or injustice onto others as we take over the world.”

“That means we need to find some way to keep these two articles from causing injustice or being abused, doesn’t it?”

Mary had expressed her concern over her marriage and new home with Tenzou, but this was an even bigger deal.

…I was only thinking about myself!

She was ashamed. But she could correct her faults. And to keep things running correctly…

Silver Wolf: “Secretary? What happens if we do end up forcing this onto the other nations?”

Novice: “For the castles, the other nations generally treat their aerial warships as castles. That makes them count as castles instead of a type of weapon not found in the real history. But this would require them to notify the shogunate whenever they built an aerial warship.”

Asama: “Um, as for the marriage, it isn’t looking like we’ll be able to get out of that one. …Tenzou-kun? Mary? Are you listening?”

“Huh?” said Tenzou, tilting his head forward while Mary squeezed his hand.

Scarred: “What is it, Lady Asama? Will the shrine registration method you mentioned before not work?”

Asama: “No, it won’t. So far, Suden-san has been deciding whether or not to apply the Buke Shohatto based on whether or not the history recreation is involved. In that case…”

Mary knew what Asama was getting at. She knew what the problem was.

Scarred: “If my marriage is considered part of my history recreation, then I will not be allowed to marry a non-name inheritor like Master Tenzou, will I?”

●

Mary thought, This is a lot like fitting puzzle pieces together.

Scarred: “First, if I am to wed Master Tenzou under the Buke Shohatto, I must get Musashi’s permission since I am a name inheritor and a royal and royals are considered equivalent to the buke.”

The Testament said who she was meant to marry.

Scarred: “My third husband is James Hepburn. Master Tenzou would have to inherit his name.”

She felt him squeeze her hand back at this. And…

“If it comes to that, I will do whatever it takes to acquire that inherited name.”

●

Well said, 1st Special Duty Officer, thought Mitotsudaira.

Sliver Wolf: “But does this mean Suden thinks we have that much of a backbone?”

That’s a troublesome sort of trust, she thought, but this involved her as well.

…I am a knight sent from Hexagone Française and the Mito Matsudaira name inheritor.

Novice: “Judge, that’s right. The nations who will be bound by Musashi need to see us an example who will follow the rules even more strictly than themselves. This applies to article 8’s marriages and also article 6’s castle construction. If we are to restrict the other nations, they will demand the maximum restrictions on Musashi.”

“Meaning,” he said.

Novice: “Musashi will be bound by these two articles more than the other nations.”

●

“What will you do, Musashi Vice President? Musashi will strangle itself as the issuer of the Buke Shohatto.”

Masazumi stood facing Suden.

The sun had already set. When did that happen? she wondered, but the sun still set early this time of year.

The lanterns and fires set up around the Asama Shrine were beginning to cast a pale light. It was in that scene that she met Suden’s eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

“Expecting that much of us is a tricky issue. But I will provide an answer.”

“You will, will you? Glad to hear it. I would love to find out if it’s the same one I came up with.”

“Judge. But first, will you keep the promise you made?”

Suden raised her eyebrows with a small smile at this question.

“Musashi Vice President, you said yesterday that you were under my protection, didn’t you? Very well.”

Suden nodded and Masazumi nodded back.

“With yesterday’s promise confirmed, I will give you my answer. Articles 6 and 8 require for castle construction and repairs and for marriages to be fully managed by a Far Eastern representative. I wish to enact those requirements unaltered.”

“Oh, really? And you do know how the world nations will respond to that, don’t you?”

She already had an answer there. Mary had clued her in to the risk there.

“The world will tell us that the Buke Shohatto are a history recreation for the Far East only and thus has no meaning to the world nations. But they will demand the Far East strictly adheres to the Buke Shohatto.”

“Correct. If you try to bind the other nations, they will say the Buke Shohatto do not apply to them while forcing them onto the Far East. It is the obvious response.”

“Then,” began the Musashi Vice President. “Ishin Suden, what should the Far East do if we make an enemy of the world and are permanently bound by the 13 articles? What option does the Far East have then?”

“The solution is simple,” said Suden. “Sakoku.”

●

Suden said it. She revealed the secret she had kept thus far.

“According to a note in the Testament, the isolationist policy that will later be known as Sakoku is completed in the year 1639. But it begins in 1612 with the religious ban we issue. The religious ban cuts off interference by Tsirhc forces and the Buke Shohatto will cut off interference from the provisional ruling nations, but by keeping portals for trade open, a legal and economic Sakoku policy will be completed within the present dual system.”

Meaning…

“Complete isolation of the Far East, Musashi. What you want is found right here.”

●

…Is that really possible!?

Mitotsudaira silently questioned it. She understood what Suden was saying. Once the religious ban and the 13 article Buke Shohatto were issued, the provisional ruling nations would be unable to keep up with them. But…

Silver Wolf: “Sakoku? Will the world nations really allow that!?”

Novice: “It isn’t a question of allowance, Mitotsudaira-kun. Even now, the exchange between the provisional ruling nations and the Far East reservations are an interpretation of trade and ‘items drifting ashore’. Ishin Suden is saying to remove the ambiguity and make it official. So the justification to the provisional ruling nations will be doing the history recreation correctly.”

Tachibana Wife: “Furthermore, if the provisional ruling nations attempt to remain involved with the Far East, the Far East can insist they follow the religious ban and the 13 articles as part of the history recreation. And because the 13 articles ban the hiring of foreigners, the provisional ruling nations strictly speaking cannot directly intervene. There is also a possibility that double name inheritors with a provisional ruling nation name and a Far Eastern name will no longer be allowed after the Sakoku policy goes into effect.”

“Correct,” agreed Mitotsudaira. If some nation attempted to use a double inherited name to interfere in the Far East during Sakoku, the nations that couldn’t do that would protest or punish them for it.

The world nations would join together to attack the Far East for the 13 article Buke Shohatto, but once the Far East closed itself up, the cooperation between the world nations would collapse as they sought Far Eastern interests.

Once that happened, no nation would be able to remain actively involved in the Far East.

…From there, the Sakoku policy would be automatically upheld.

“That’s why.”

Mitotsudaira heard Suden’s voice.

“Now do you see why I asked you to just wait the 20 years until the second Buke Shohatto? If my religious ban and Buke Shohatto put the Far East into Sakoku mode, then twenty years later the world nations will be more focused on their own history recreations and interests than in any interests involving the Far East. That’s why the second one matters. You just have to say the second Buke Shohatto – which will only apply within the Far East – will allow interpretations.”

How about that?

“That will ensure the Far East’s safety and freedom. It’s up to you if you want to remove the Sakoku policy at that point.”

●

Suzu suddenly felt the strength leaving the core of her body.

“What…?”

Suden was being too heavy-handed. And in a different way than Musashi liked. But…

“Why is…Suden-san…helping the…Far East?”

“That’s a good question,” said Adele. “Was she refusing to budge on the 13 articles and refusing to accept any interpretations to leave no opening for the other nations to get in during Sakoku?”

If so, Suden was not their enemy. She might do things differently, but she would be an ally of the Far East. But…

Me: “Seijun.”

The nudist scratched his head and spoke.

Me: “When you started this debate, you said something about making your decision ‘later’. Well, do that now. You need to tell her now.”

●

Judge, silently replied Masazumi as she raised her right hand. She took a breath and then another. And…

“Are you listening?”

With that, she spoke to Suden who was illuminated in the dim light by the pale lantern light.

“Our justice tells us that Musashi will accept the full text of the 13 article Buke Shohatto.”

But…

“We will allow interpretations and leave that decision to each individual nation. That is our answer!”

●

“Are you stupid!?”

Suden’s reaction was expected. Masazumi nodded.

“So now we are stupid as well as cowards? Fine with me. Also, I believe I promised yesterday that we would do everything we can to trip you up and give you a very bad day. That time has come.”

“Damn you.” Suden pointed at her. “Then what about articles 6 and 8!? How do you escape the restrictions on castle construction and repairs and on marriage!?”

“If notification and permission are needed, then so be it. But…that will be an extension of each nation’s existing processes.”

What did that mean? She thought of what they had protected and gained at the Armada Battle and in England.

…If we are to continue forward with Mary and the Tachibana Couple, we need to protect them like this as well.

So she spoke while swinging her right hand forward.

“Every nation and region already provides their land or nation with a notification of construction or marriage and are granted permission as long as nothing about it breaks their laws. A system of notification and permission already exists. So all we need to do is grant those existing system’s the authority to grant permission in our name. And we can grant the Testament Union and religions the same authority. That makes it all entirely fair.”

“You have a chance to claim the other nations’ strength and you would water it down and give it up!?”

“Don’t you get it, Ishin Suden?” said Masazumi. “You are attempting to do the history recreation ‘properly’. But that concept of ‘propriety’ is currently being abused to attack people, leaving them no recourse. The history recreation does need to be done properly, but we will not allow anything to be lost in the process. Whether that loss is to us, to you, or to anyone else.”

“You would throw out peace of mind and freedom after just 20 years of patience for nothing more than your ideals!?”

“We aren’t throwing them out.”

Masazumi pointed at the tent behind her.

“We will bring peace of mind and freedom to the Far East without having to wait 20 years. By working with that idiot in there. And…with our new friends!”

She snapped the fingers of the hand indicating the tent.

“Ishin Suden. I appreciate your concern.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“”Judge, I’m finally certain of it. You have been focused on one thing both as Ishin Suden and as the former Urban VIII.”

“Again, what are you talking about!?”

Suden raised her voice and took a step forward, but Masazumi simply continued talking.

“You have opposed and resisted everything, but today your concern was for the Far East.”

●

Suden gasped. She tried to feign calm, but it wasn’t possible.

She gulped hard, her shoulders shook once, and she tried to purge the feeling inside her by…

“I have no idea what you mean! I am Urban VIII! And Ishin Suden! I manage Tsirhc for the world and the Far East and I am here to pave the path toward closing the Far East!”

“That’s not all, though. You’re a liar.”

“Huh!? Have you forgotten how to show respect, Far Easterner!? When have I lied!?”

Just as she asked that, a single figure emerged from the tent behind the Musashi Vice President.

She wore a blue and white uniform. Her blonde hair swayed as she walked.

“Join us, Mary Stuart. You will find the person you were searching for.”

“What is the meaning of this!?”

“You know what it means, Ishin Suden and Urban VIII,” slowly said the Musashi Vice President. “By issuing the 13 articles, the Far East would be protected by the Sakoku policy and gain 20 years of safety. During that time, all marriages within the Far East would be governed by the history recreation, so there wouldn’t be any problems. Well, there would be some who would have to take on inherited names to marry, but that would be doable with enough effort and preparation. And if any children were born, 20 years is plenty of time for them to reach adulthood. This would provide a certain benefit to a certain person: Mary Stuart who has sought asylum in the Far East.”

The English Princess calmly approached. The sound of her feet in the gravel was drowned out by Suden shouting at the Musashi Vice President.

“What are you talking about!?”

“I am talking about your lie, Ishin Suden and Urban VIII. No, to be more accurate,” said Masazumi, “your true identity is Edward Pole, younger brother of Mary’s teacher Margaret Pole.”

●

Mary came to a stop. She crouched down and faced forward at Suden’s eye level.

She wondered what look she had on her face. She didn’t know. She was too bewildered to know. After all, she had no way of knowing for certain if this was true. But…

“Lady Suden, I have one question. Asking you is the only option because your inherited name data has been hidden by K.P.A. Italia and there isn’t enough time to send a formal request.”

“What question!? I have nothing to tell you!”

“You don’t have to.” Mary nodded. “I can tell just by looking, Lady Suden. You are a reverse ager, aren’t you?”

●

Asama: “A reverse ager? This is getting weird.”

Novice: “That’s an extremely rare ether species! So rare I’m surprised there are any alive right now!”

Art-Ga: “How about an actual explanation?”

Novice: “W-well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. They’re born from the ether looking elderly. And each time they sleep and dream, their appearance gets younger until they finally turn into a child and disappear.”

Silver Wolf: “You mean that’s why Suden looks like a child?”

Uqui: “So Ohiroshiki’s assessment was right for once!”

Worshiper: “See!? Did you see that, everyone!? I told you!”

Almost Everyone: “What a creep.”

Worshiper: “Wh-what kind of reaction is that!? I’m not telling you next time a loli hag shows up! You’ll regret this!”

Gold Mar: “And why don’t you already regret saying that, Piroshki?”

●

Mary watched as Suden didn’t respond.

But while Suden hung her head in silence, Mary took her hand. And she realized something.

“Oh…”

Her hand. While it was young, childlike, and small, there was something familiar about it. Not because it had remained that way, but because it was being maintained that way.

“My teacher taught me how to do housework, how to study, and how to live was naturally. She was a hard worker who did all those things herself.”

The nails were flat and the fingers round. That showed even these child’s hands were used to complete all the daily work of life.

“My teacher had these same hands!”

“Nonsense!”

Suden reflexively tired to tug her hand away, but that was when Mitotsudaira said something from behind Mary.

“Save you from anything.”

…Eh?

“I heard you, Ishin Suden! I heard what you said yesterday in front of the academy. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place the words in relation to you. But seeing you with Mary now reminded me!”

Why?

“Why do you know that phrase that only Mary and her sister should know!?”

“Those words…”

Mary did not let go of the hand she held. And…

“My sister and I had my teacher look over those words.”

And…

“She smiled!”

●

“Damn…”

Asama heard Suden speak with her head still lowered.

If Suden was a reverse ager and Mary’s implications here were accurate, then a lot suddenly started to make sense.

…Mary-san’s teacher was a ‘young’ person, but if she was a reverse ager, she must have been quite old by then.

Mary hadn’t realized what species her teacher was. So…

“Tomo. …Now I know what happened to Mary’s teacher after she was ‘executed’.”

The Testament said Mary had a friend: Elisabeth of Valois, who was born in Hexagone Française and married into Tres España.

In the history recreation, she exchanged letters with Mary, but her portrait in Tres España was younger than Mary.

“If her teacher survived and was a reverse ager, then she would have been about that ‘young’ at that time.”

They had no proof, but if that was the case…

“After her ‘execution’, Mary-san’s teacher must have moved to Hexagone Française and worked from there to again support Mary-san.”

She was talented, but she had been “executed” in England. She must not have been able to make her presence known.

That’s right, thought Asama with a nod, but then Suden shouted.

“She was a fool!”

●

Mary heard a trembling voice coming from the lowered head past the hand she held.

“If you closely follow the history recreation but are still ‘executed’ and lose everything, why would you try to help the child who led you to that execution!?”

Suden sucked in a breath.

“I was treated as a man, but my sister’s guidance set me free and I realized the history recreation was an absurd system! I realized you had to be a fool to follow it! But she still obeyed it to the end! And…!”

Mary knew what came after that “and”.

Her – Edward Pole’s – “execution” likely happened when they were still much “younger”. She had inherited the younger brother’s name and, after her “execution”, she abandoned England.

But her sister remained in England and followed the history recreation. That would have happened before Mary was born. And what did the younger brother who fled do for the older sister who remained?

“Urban VIII was pope when England was shaken by the issue of religion.”

The pope when England switched their religion to the Anglican Church was Urban VIII. That history recreation would cast out her sister in the same way that sister had executed and cast her out, but she still made full use of it. And…

“You gave her a path out…but she didn’t take it, did she?”

“She’s so stupid. My sister was a fool. She was bound by the history recreation and it consumed her!” said Suden. As Edward Pole. “If it wasn’t for you, that wouldn’t have happened!”

But Suden did not raise her head. A sparkle dropped from below her bangs.

And she raised her voice.

“But she was so worried about you, you made her smile, and she died satisfied!

“So,” she said. “If I don’t protect you, she truly will die…”

●

So that’s it, thought Masazumi.

…She had a reason to inherit Urban VIII’s name.

Inheriting the pope’s name and applying the history recreation without interpretation to all those around her had been revenge for what happened to her and a way to support her sister. The House of Tudor coming into power and England switching to the Anglican Church had been a rough time for religion in England.

Most likely, she had inherited Ishin Suden’s name once that was over as a way to distance herself from all that. Her revenge was complete and her sister was on her path. She had obtained a way to protect them from the history recreation.

…So was Suden’s path to Sakoku originally meant to help her sister, not Mary?

But her sister had not gone to her, had continued supporting Mary, and had died.

Afterwards, Ishin Suden had not appeared on the center stage of history, but…

“Why did you step onto the stage now?”

“Mikawa.”

Suden smiled bitterly and raised her head.

Tears fell from a weak smile.

But she didn’t wipe them away.

“Until my foolish underclassman was driven away at Mikawa, I hoped Mary Stuart would die. I hoped she too would be killed by the history recreation that had taken so much from me and consumed my sister.”

But…

“I enjoyed your sharp tongue there. You said you wouldn’t allow the history recreation to be abused and that you would prevent any forced deaths. So much was taken from my sister and me, but we weren’t killed. Which is when I realized I had been hoping for the death of someone in an even more tragic position than ours. And I realized that my sister must have done all she could to save that girl because she had realized that same thing.”

So…

“When Musashi arrived at England and saved her, this pathetic little sister decided to follow in my sister’s footsteps the best I could.”

She shook on her feet there.

Because Mary had hugged her. A “heh” escaped Suden as her lips formed a small smile.

“But I guess it wasn’t necessary. …My sister’s student was already working toward her own dream.”

●

“Thank you very much.”

It’s over then, thought Suden when she heard those words from Mary.

How long had it been since anyone hugged her?

…Her chest is bigger than my sister’s.

No, she didn’t know what her sister had been like in her prime. But…

“Mary Tudor Stuart. I have one thing to say as Margaret Pole’s brother.”

She took one of the hand’s hugging her.

“You have the same hands. …So not everything was taken from me.”

●

Mary heard Suden say “now” as she extricated herself from her arms.

Mary understood. Suden was a pure spirit race while Mary was only a half-spirit. She was also “younger” than the portrait of Mary’s teacher in Tres España.

She realized Suden was trembling as she pulled away.

“I’ve been really pushing it these past few days. Musashi Vice President, you took this way too seriously. What is wrong with you?”

Masazumi pursed her lips terribly hard, but Mary was impressed by the self-control it took to stay quiet here.

“I’m leaving. If you saw the name inheritor almanac, then you must more or less know the truth.”

“Judge. You came here after requesting to relinquish your inherited name.”

“Testament. If this went well, I was going to stick with it. If not, I would give it up. That was the plan anyway…”

Suden sat back down in her abandoned chair and tossed a cadena firma to Masazumi.

“This is a summary of all this. I haven’t submitted it to the Testament Union or K.P.A. Italia yet, but I’ve already receive a notice of receipt. And it has my authorization. That means it’s all on hold for now and will remain effective even after I’m gone. No one and no organization will be able to change the 13 articles we’ve made. Take that and continue on.”

“Continue on to what?”

“You still have the next Shohatto, remember? I’ve paved the way. And by the next time you need them, mine will already be out of date. So take this and continue on.”

“Judge. I will take this as a means of protecting Mary.”

“Hah,” laughed Suden. She took a breath before standing up. Mary moved to support her, but…

“Leave me be. I can’t accept help from my sister’s student.”

“What about help from us!?”

“Eh?”

Mary turned around to see Tenzou crossing his arms along with the others. Mitotsudaira, Asama, and some more had prepared a palanquin by removing part of the shrine.

“Tomo? The ships to IZUMO are running 24 hours a day, aren’t they?”

“Yes, there should be one ever twenty minutes even at this late hour, so that shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Y-you fools! What do you think you’re doing!?”

“Hee hee,” laughed Mary. She took Suden’s hand, squeezed it, and guided her.

“Lady Suden, your position is sufficient to ride a palanquin, isn’t it?”

●

On the night of the third day after the end of the Armada Battle, reports came in from Okutama and Tama of a mysterious palanquin racing along the Musashi. This happened at the end of twilight when the streetlights still weren’t all on and it was said a nudist stood atop it shouting orders and it was borne by a ninja and others.

Those who saw it at a distance kept far away from this new form of Hyakki Yagyo and those nearby fled to the nearest streetlight or building, but they all said the palanquin caused quite a stir and…

“Hey…”

The girl riding atop the palanquin appeared to be a spirit because she was wrapped in light even at night.

“That looks kind of fun.”

○

“Sorry to suddenly bring you back to reality, but is there anything anyone isn’t clear on?”

Everyone took a break and began resupplying even though the clock was already pointing to 2.

Masazumi sipped the barley tea Suzu brought her as they all took their seats. And Naruze raised her hand.

“We ended up docking at IZUMO four days after that, right? Meaning we waited a week in all. Why wouldn’t we be allowed to dock immediately after Ishin whoever-it-was left?”

“Oh, there was another reason for that. Related to all docking in Hexagone Française. That’s a long story in its own right, so I’ll leave that for another day.”

“Right,” said a few of them, glaring at her. They must have known what that reason was. And now Naito spoke up.

“Ma-yan, when did you realize Ishin whoever-it-was was a reverse ager?”

“Judge. When I was investigating Urban VIII, I accessed information related to the popes. And…”

“At the time, I guess we have to say now, it mentioned that Innocentius’s stepsister Olimpia was a reverse ager.”

“Judge.” Mary nodded. “And you had more or less figured it out yourself, hadn’t you, Lady Masazumi? During the debate, you intentionally avoided mentioning England a few times and Lady Suden let you. When I heard that, I grew ever more certain I was right.”

The Aoi Sister and Adele slowly took each other’s hand sand hugged in an eerily perfect impression. Stop that.

But Mitotsudaira spoke up while viewing the K.P.A. Italian Chancellor’s Officers site.

“Then perhaps Olimpia is Margaret Pole’s relative or part of her family.”

“Yeah,” everyone said together with a bitter smile. And Masazumi raised her hand among them.

“So who do you think was ultimately behind the attack? Futayo, what ever became of that?”

“Judge.” Futayo raised her hand while eating some dango. “The attackers were released after the Testament Union paid their bail. But since none of them were name inheritors and no actual harm was done, they were only required to repair the site and do some other labor.”

“They were probably mercenaries, Vice President. Most likely K.P.A. Italia’s Kriegs Georgern,” said Adele.

Gin opened a K.P.A. Italia academy organization chart.

“K.P.A. Italia is strictly Catholic, so they do not have their own army. Thus, much like the Far East, they gather their warriors as ‘guards’ and rely on outside help for anything more. One domestic source they rely on is the Swiss mercenary group known as the Kriegs Georgern. But while it is a Swiss group, it has become fairly multinational in the current day and age.”

“Judge,” replied Mitotsudaira. “The attack was probably an act put on by the Papa Schola who would have known Suden’s true age. They were probably meant to stop the confrontation between Suden and Masazumi. But Suden managed to give them the slip and then they spotted Masazumi. The records mention you passing by some people in front of the embassy on the third day. Those were probably mercenaries waiting for Masazumi rather than the embassy staff you thought they were.”

But their ambush failed, so they quickly found some data on Suden and pursued her.

“But they didn’t know what Suden would try to do, so they instead tried to eliminate Masazumi, only to find Futayo was with her.”

“Looking at the records, Suden-san did indeed mention the pope.”

“So if Suden had been captured then, that argument never would have happened?”

“Um.” Asama hung her head and raised her hand. “I think we might have Toori-kun to thank for that…in fact, I’m sure of it. When he arrived at the Asama Shrine, he asked if the confrontation in front of the academy was ‘some kinda game’. He wouldn’t have asked that if he was just talking about Masazumi and Mito.”

“Right,” agreed Mitotsudaira. “That day, my king dressed up as a shrine maiden and helped with the boarding procedure.”

“Is nowhere safe from him!?” exclaimed Horizon.

That made Mary laugh. She then nodded and spoke.

“Lady Suden must have met the Chancellor and confirmed certain things. That was why she could negotiate so strongly right away.”

Then she lowered her head.

“Thank you so much for everything you all did.”

“It was nothing,” they all replied to complete the standard sequence. This is going to require some extra work.

○

After everyone else went to sleep, Asama felt a tap on her shoulder.

She could guess who it was, so she got up. Sure enough, she found Mary kneeling and bowing and accompanied by Mitotsudaira’s mother.

Given the previous discussion, she could guess well enough what that pairing indicated. But just to make sure…

“Mito’s mom, you knew Suden-san when she was Edward Pole, didn’t you?”

“Testament. When she escaped England and traveled to K.P.A. Italia, she took the shortest and cheapest route, which meant passing through my forest. She still looked like an energetic old woman then and we discussed a number of topics late into the night.”

“Then, um, Lady Reine des Garous…may I ask something?”

“Testament,” she replied to Mary and Asama readied a sign frame.

“Go ahead. This is important, isn’t it? Please give us the end of those sisters’ story.”

●

A giant island floated in the night sky: IZUMO.

It was visible from a landport made of a vast stretch of leveled dirt.

The floating island’s port was primarily used by the academy and industrial guilds, so most people used the IZUMO surface facilities and the landport that was shared with Hexagone Française.

Currently, the landport was being used by the workers who would be boarding the Musashi via IZUMO. Those former students were in a sightseeing mood, but they were primarily making this aerial trip for work.

“Hexagone Française has resolved its food supply issues and has plentiful trade, but the people not involved in those industries are losing work. I can see why so many are volunteering for military work.”

That voice came from the gathering area in the forest just south of the landport. That was for people departing for K.P.A. Italia, but with the situation so touchy between Hexagone Française and M.H.R.R., no one was heading that way. The only ones there were…

“But what made you want to return to K.P.A. Italia, Urban?”

The Reine des Garous saw Suden seated on a bench. And in response to the question…

“Some weird people in a weird place took a weird liking to me. I need to head home and make them dislike me all over again.”

“Really?” The Reine des Garous smiled bitterly. “That’s about halfway the opposite of me. I’m about to go to a weird place to meet the daughter who dislikes me and make her dislike me all over again.”

“Wait, mother! I was going to ignore you sneaking around over there, but don’t drag me into this!”

Thinking of her daughter summoned the girl’s imagined voice. I need to absorb some of my husband to fix that.

But she did have one thing to ask.

“Did you complete Anne’s request? She wanted you to check on Musashi before she made her final decision, didn’t she?”

“Huh!?”

“Wow, that was the request!? Sorry for all the complaints about who you were working for!”

Now she was imagining the Musashi Vice President and vassal’s voices.

But that’s fine. What I want to hear is what Suden says as she shrugs.

“Musashi isn’t going to take the easy way out. My sister’s lessons live on with them. When I told her that over divine transmission earlier, she smiled. These Protestant connections are quite useful.”

“I see. …Well, I’m glad she’s doing well.”

The Reine des Garous looked east. There was nothing but forest there, but she knew her friend was far beyond that forest. And she had wanted to ask something else as well.

“Suden? You met my daughter on the Musashi, didn’t you? How was she?”

“Don’t take the easy way out, Reine des Garous. Those kids aren’t going to. Honestly.” She smiled bitterly and adjusted her hat. “I also met the boy you mentioned in your letter. Pretty sure that was him, anyway. The one you met who wouldn’t give up on his dream of becoming a king.”

“…Huh?”

“When I wasn’t sure where to go, he ditched his job to take my hand and show me the way. And you know what he said? ‘Hey, shorty, you’ve got the hands of a hard worker.’ I didn’t think twice about going with him. And Musashi’s residents gave him a wide berth. But that fool claimed it’s because he’s ‘important’.”

“It takes a lot to embarrass you.”

“Testament. Mary managed that too. For some reason, it felt like old times,” said Suden. “Yeah, I should’ve learned to love a lot more things. Then when someone showed me affection, I could’ve returned the favor.”

“I think you were loved by a lot of people. You just didn’t notice it yourself.”

“Yeah, right. You’d have to be a fool to believe that.”

As she said that, she went limp. Her hat fell but she didn’t retrieve it.

“Edward.”

Only after calling her name did the Reine des Garous realize the girl was looking out ahead.

To the south. A ship was visible there. The massive white ship had come from K.P.A. Italia. It was not the pope’s flagship since that had been lost at Mikawa, but it was definitely his ship. It and its escort ships were hurrying this way.

“Edward, I am certain that you taught people a great many things and made many a smile.”

“You fool.”

As the light scattered and vanished, the spirit who had used up her reverse aging viewed the approaching ships and spoke.

“This isn’t part of the history recreation, you fool.”

●

The light rose into the sky. The ether which had formed the spirit was a poor match for the local phase and local spirits, so it first flowed skyward. The ships looking up at it aimed their cannons into the sky.

“Our Catholic Church must use our full strength to clear the way for Her Holiness Urban VIII!”

“Tes, tes, tes.” In the name of the testament, they fired into the sky ahead of the spirit.

And they all saw the figure of a girl ascending into the sky and…

“Is that…?”

Another ether light shape descended from the western sky.

This figure looked a bit older than the girl. They reached toward each other and grasped each other’s hand.

“–––––”

And with a nod of acknowledgment toward the ships, they vanished into the sky together.

○

“Okay, that’s enough! That’s enough mushy stuff for tonight! It is my policy to end these tear-jerking stories quickly! We all need to get to sleep and enjoy a good bowel movement in the morning! Okay!?”

“Um, Horizon? You don’t really need to do that when Toori-kun isn’t around to get sad.”

Mary smiled and waved a hand to brush off Asama’s protest.

“No, this is fine. My teacher was that kind of person.”

She whispered “save you from anything” to herself and pulled up the blanket.

“Thank you.”

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