Horizon:GT3 Chapter8

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.

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