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Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 66

2018-12-17T06:25:55Z

108.162.237.169:

==Chapter 66: Encounterers High in the Sky==
[[Image:Horizon6-C790.jpg|thumb]]
''Am I permitted to

''Say hello

''To the world for the first time?

'''Point Allocation (Hello)

Bernard charged forward. He approached the enemy in his dragon form.

He was not very high off the ground, so his former battle companion’s dying form was overhead.

He honestly had few memories of speaking with that Illusory Dragon.

But seeing off the departed and praising their life of combat was the dragon way.

He showed respect for the path his brethren had walked and he approached a new battlefield as a tribute to the departed.

“So off I go.”

The Terrestrial Dragons protecting Paris’s wall nodded at those words.

There were two of them. Paris’s forces were being sent to the east.

The enemy was moving below. The three airborne light warships were forming a wall along with the one already on the ground to protect the transport ship.

They placed that ship behind cover, but Bernard did not care.

He split into multiple dragons.

True to his title of Swarm Dragon, his giant form split into a thousand smaller dragons.

That full swarm attacked the enemy’s barrier.

First, they moved straight ahead to crush the light warships blocking the way in the sky.

Koroku clenched her teeth within Genbu.

…''So that’s how they’re doing it.

The dragons’ movements were far too steadfast.

There were two light warships in the air to the west with her and three to the east. Looking at that, the west would have been the standard choice.

But the enemy had chosen the east.

She knew why.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Hm, you think they’re wary of your presence there, Hachisuka-kun?”

'''□□凸:''' “Because she deflected their dragon cannon the night before last?”

'''6:''' “We also have more ground forces left over here. Because I could take care of the enemy gods of war.”

That was the reason.

That defense from the night before last had been strategically necessary. A certain idiot had been stupid enough to use one of their own as bait, but those materials had been necessary.

But that had led the enemy to mark her as a dangerous foe. And they would be even more wary with the ground forces remaining.

'''6:''' “I hope you’ve learned your lesson, Takenaka.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Yeah, it was because of that that I sent Kiyomasa-kun to the east… The Roi-Soleil sure is steadfast.”

She was not listening. But Takenaka had judged their enemy the same as Koroku had.

Their opponent wielded prideful strength, but he was also steadfast in his pursuit of a solid win.

'''□□凸:''' “Ah! Did they not target my area because they’re wary of me too!?”

'''6:''' “Are you stupid?”

'''□□凸:''' “Y-you don’t have to say it like that! Please explain it for me!”

'''6:''' “I meant your statement was unbelievably foolish in how it tried to compare the two of us.”

'''□□凸:''' “I wasn’t asking you to explain why you called me stupid!”

'''6:''' “Weren’t you, though?”

'''□□凸:''' “…No, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t.”

'''6:''' “No, you definitely were.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Ah, Katagiri-kun! Your blood pressure is skyrocketing! Are you okay!? Are you becoming more manly because something just turned you on!?”

'''□□凸:''' “Someone please! Please give me some peace and quiet!”

At any rate, explaining the current situation was a pain.

It was immediately obvious why Katagiri’s location had not been targeted. So…

“If Kiyomasa’s group can return immediately…”

Just as Koroku muttered that, a large explosion of light appeared in the eastern sky.

One of the light warships firing from the air had been destroyed by the dragon cannons of Bernard’s small dragon swarm. And…

“Did it get them!?”

There was another explosion not caused by the dragon cannon destruction.

There was a reason the bursting light had turned to flames: the explosion spells set up inside the light warship had been activated.

The rumble of the self-destruct attack on the small dragons reached Koroku through Genbu’s auditory devices.

Kiyomasa saw the result of the light warship’s self-destruct.

It happened to occur just as she destroyed Henri’s second sword.

The explosion spray blossoming in the northeastern sky lit up the night, but…

…''It didn’t reach the dragon swarm!

The swarm of small dragons had moved as if they saw the explosion coming. By the time the ship detonated, the swarm was already spread out a good distance away. Bernard had predicted their move and avoided a direct hit.

The small dragons spiraled higher into the sky.

They avoided the explosive blast but rode the wind along a spiraling path up into the night sky.

They likely intended to view the entire battlefield from above and select their next target.

…''And there are sure to be attacks in the meantime.

Her fears proved accurate. Two Terrestrial Dragons sprinted from Paris’s wall.

She knew what they were doing. They were covering for the airborne Swarm Dragon while he was away from the surface.

Kiyomasa needed to quickly intercept them. However…

“…!?”

Without a word uttered, a sword dropped from overhead. It was Henri. And she had two swords lined up side by side.

“Not even your twin spears will be enough to stop this…!”

This was ridiculous, but Kiyomasa also hated that she was honestly impressed by her opponent’s creativity. Still, she had to respond to this.

“Eh?”

All of a sudden, she realized she was floating.

It was the wind. The wind blowing across the battlefield had scooped her up.

The next thing she knew, Kiyomasa found she had been moved away from Henri’s blade.

It was a distance of about 7 meters. That was still within range of Henri and her swords, but her timing was thrown off. And Kiyomasa saw the identity of the wind which had carried her.

“Fukushima-sama!?”

There was surprise in her voice, but not because that girl had picked her up and swept her away.

It was due to how badly injured Fukushima was.

Her face was scraped and stained with dirt while blood still flowed from wounds on her left chest and left side. The injury on her left chest was especially bad. When Kiyomasa placed an arm around Fukushima’s back, she felt the slippery blood of an injury on the reverse side of the left chest wound. The smell of blood rose strongly from her left leg as well.

“Fukushima-sama!”

“Testament. I won thanks to thee, Kiyo-dono.”

Kiyomasa knew she had won. She and Henri had both watched the blue dragon’s flight. However…

“Testament. Kiyo-dono, I cannot fight any longer.”

That was obvious just from looking at her, but Fukushima had more to say.

“But I can carry thee over there.”

“Wait! She is currently fighting me!”

Henri held her right palm out and protested.

But Fukushima adjusted her grip on Kiyomasa and lowered her head toward Henri.

“My apologies.”

“Ah, wait!”

Fukushima did not even listen to those words.

She suddenly accelerated. She tilted her body northeast while still holding Kiyomasa, and…

“Headfirst Fall.”

Katagiri saw battles both large and small on the eastern battlefield.

His position in the south gave him a full view of the gentle slope up the eastern hill.

He had used a telescope spell to observe it all, but…

“Wow.”

The telescope ''lernen figur'' showed the Hexagone Française gods of war and Terrestrial Dragons charging in. Each time, the screen went dark and then the automatic brightness correction kicked in, but…

…''The large ones block the sun and then it gets way too bright once they pass by…

It could not have been harder to tell what was going on. Also…

'''6:''' “Katagiri, fix the image.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Sorry, Katagiri-kun. Right, right, a little more to the right. Yes, there. That’s it.”

He wished his instructions were not so demanding and vague.

One thing was clear: the overall battle was being pushed higher.

The warriors to the east were somehow managing to hold back the middle gods of war, but the heavy gods of war were wearing them down. But even with those efforts, they were forced to fall back when the Terrestrial Dragons made their charge.

Perhaps due to the pressure of having only one shot at this, the eastern group climbed the hill and gathered around the landed light warship.

And they formed a dense formation.

The ocean spread in the eastern sky in order to join with the south where he was and the west where Hachisuka was. But…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “We need to hold out for another 10 minutes, don’t we?”

'''□□凸:''' “That simply isn’t possible!”

'''6:''' “Never say something’s impossible.”

Hachisuka’s words brought him back to his senses.

On the battlefield, you were desperate. It was not an issue of possible or impossible; you were desperate. He had to avoid deciding that for everyone. So…

'''□□凸:''' “Sorry.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Well, that’s just how it is. Deciding when to withdraw is a job for commanders like me. I do appreciate your objective view.”

He was not sure if he should thank her for covering for his mistake. But…

'''□□凸:''' “The Terrestrial Dragons are targeting the landed light warship!”

The Terrestrial Dragons were coordinating their actions.

First, one of the two moved forward.

After sending himself halfway up the eastern hill, he stood up a bit. He aimed his dragon cannon up the slope to the light warship at the top.

The warships in the air noticed and fired on him, but…

“Defense!”

The middle gods of war protected him despite their considerable damage.

Several middle gods of war layered defense barriers, aimed them toward the heavens, and guarded the dragon.

Ether light spray scattered from the other end of those barriers. The impacts shook the air and a few of the gods of war lost their balance and nearly fell. So…

“Testament…!”

The charging heavy gods of war supported them in groups of two. The metallic sounds continued as the weighed-down middle gods of war planted their feet firmly on the ground once more.

The middle god of war unit had originally been vassals for the heavy god of war unit, so they knew how to respond to their superiors’ support.

“Use us as your shields!”

And those shields held their position. The attack was launched before the aerial bombardment could break through their defense barriers.

That attack was a dragon cannon.

The light flew toward the landed light warship acting as a barrier, but defense barriers opened in its path.

Just then, the other Terrestrial Dragon suddenly twisted around.

The light warship’s defense barriers blocked the first dragon’s dragon cannon at almost the same moment the second dragon launched his own.

The first attack shattered the barriers but was dissipated at the same time. But the second attack was set to make…

“A direct hit!!”

When the second dragon cannon was launched, the Hexagone Française gods of war did not understand what had happened.

That second dragon cannon blast should have been a sure thing, but it was launched into the sky instead of at the enemy light warship.

“…Huh?”

“Did he miss?” they wondered while they each tried to find an explanation.

Had the dragon tried to shoot at one of the airborne light warships?

Did he do that because the aerial bombardment was in the way and damaging them?

It did not last long, but the god of war pilots did find those convenient explanations.

Then reality intruded on their thoughts.

The dragon who had fired the dragon cannon was forcefully thrown to the ground.

Also, the thing which had struck the dragon from the sky collided with the ground. And…

“…!”

A wide-range explosion spread out from there, blowing away the gods of war.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Okay! High return!! We can keep this going!”

Katagiri listened to Takenaka while watching the result on the eastern hill.

That hill displayed on his telescope ''lernen figur'' had literally collapsed.

More than 20m of the slope had crumbled and there was a shallow crater at the starting point. Also, the dirt had been torn up and the grass stripped away.

The Hexagone Française middle gods of war were lying on the dirt. A few had escaped the range of the blast and survived, so they were cautiously observing the situation along with the heavy gods of war. However…

…''They must still not know what happened.

But Katagiri knew what that attack from the sky had been.

'''□□凸:''' “The Azuchi’s main cannon isn’t meant to be fired on people.”

This attack had been fired from a distance of approximately 18 kilometers.

'''□□凸:''' “Was that a physical shell so it could slip past the ether detection?”

'''Azuchi:''' “It was a physical shell from my main cannon, a .38 caliber 30cm cannon. As for the targeting, I must confess the calculations were made shortly after the battle began and were nearly guaranteed by the time the sun had set. This hit was the result of the ground forces guiding the enemy to the calculated hit point. Over.”

“Azuchi” paused for the span of a breath.

'''Azuchi:''' “I fired a standard 1m 12cm shell. It passed through the upper levels of the stratosphere and activated an acceleration spell at the start of its fall. A destruction spell activated upon contact, so I can predict it had about three times the force of a transport ship ramming at maximum fall velocity. …However, the arc of the shot creates a 3m margin of error even when we can guide the enemy into position. And targeting a midway point is complex enough that you should assume there will not be a second shot. Over.”

“Oh,” was all Katagiri could say.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “To be honest, we would’ve shot one of those if the enemy tried attacking your group Katagiri-kun.”

'''□□凸:''' “Wh-what if we were caught in the blast!?”

'''Azuchi:''' “You are close enough for the 18cm secondary cannons to fire on directly. I have determined the enemy has not attacked your position because they took my artillery into account. Over.”

The result before their eyes prevented that from sounding like simple bragging.

''And,'' thought Katagiri.

'''□□凸:''' “Why didn’t you attack Paris?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Oh, come on. We’re here to flood the city. We don’t want to provoke them unnecessarily and have that Swarm Dragon come here, now do we? We have placed the Azuchi far enough away that Mouri won’t consider it worth attacking, so it would cause some problems if we convinced them defeating it would be worthwhile after all.”

'''Azuchi:''' “It is my duty to carry all of you safely and comfortably to Kantou, so I would prefer to avoid any unnecessary provocation. Over.”

They scolded him for his suggestion. “Hmm,” he groaned in thought.

…''So if Hexagone Française wants to attack my area, they would have to worry about the distant Azuchi as an enemy too?

And if they extended the battle line that far, they would end up neglecting their attacks on the other three directions.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “That is why Hexagone Française held Swarm Dragon Bernard in reserve. Because he can fly quickly and sink a ship with a single attack. By keeping Azuchi within his range at all times, they are telling us not to try anything funny.”

'''□□凸:''' “So the Azuchi fired its main cannon because they sent out the Swarm Dragon, right? Which means…”

“Testament,” replied Takenaka.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “We’ve reached the final stage. That’s true timewise as well.”

As soon as he saw those words, he saw the color red on the eastern hill.

The light warship, which had landed to protect the transport ship, had exploded.

…''I recognize that…

It was the same dragon cannon which had sunk a transport ship in one shot the night before last. He knew who must have fired it:

“The Swarm Dragon!”

“So that’s how it works!”

Koroku saw it while rushing to the east with the moderately-damaged Genbu.

That high-power dragon cannon had punched through and destroyed the transport ships she had been riding the night before last.

It had possessed the power of a large dragon, but she had failed to see anything in the firing location.

That Swarm Dragon just fired the same thing here.

The trick was simple: the many small dragons had fired their dragon cannons while fusing them together.

“So are those small dragons made of ether?”

That explained the Swarm Dragon name.

Swarm Dragon Bernard was a single dark blue winged dragon, but he could also split into countless small dragons using ether division. That made him both an individual and a mercenary force of more than a thousand.

And something happened when the thousand dragon cannons gathered together instead of scattering.

Those small dragon cannons were compressed into a Celestial Dragon’s large dragon cannon.

Koroku had been hit by that attack before, so she knew it had too much power for her to properly deflect it with Genbu’s gravity barriers. So…

“There’s no way a half-destroyed light warship could survive.”

The explosion on the hill had blown away the entirety of the light warship.

Its armor, frame, and other materials were tossed by the wind and stripped away into the sky.

And Koroku saw the color of the sea beyond the breaking warship.

That meant the transport ship was exposed.

Immediately, Bernard split back apart from his concentrated large dragon form.

Bernard’s more than a thousand pairs of eyes saw the enemy’s counterattack.

One of the two light warships remaining in the sky was charging toward his swarm.

It did not intend to self-destruct like before. Since the deck was deserted, it must have been remotely controlled, but it was firing its cannons and charging in with its belly exposed.

It intended to knock his swarm from the sky.

He could see the other ship descending to protect the transport ship.

''You’re in the way,'' he thought. ''All of you are in the way.'' So…

“…!”

He could not fire that concentrated dragon cannon very rapidly.

Still, he fought back against the charging light warship. He flew toward it and crashed into it, doing damage to the armor and cannons. Then he gave a command to the Terrestrial Dragon below. That lone survivor had not received a direct hit from the earlier bombardment.

“Fire your dragon cannon on the transport ship!”

He was answered with noise.

Something had hit the Terrestrial Dragon on the battlefield slope.

It was an enemy ground unit made up of normal students.

“Bear with it!”

The Hashiba students in charge of protecting the eastern hill did what they could do even as their injured grew in number.

Those with the Schau Essen divine protection took the lead and crashed into the dragon.

The M.H.R.R. students no longer used assault spears or guns. Nor did the P.A. Oda students.

They simply opened their defense barriers to the front. One of those who could jump used wind pressure attack spells and…

“Go…! The attack from the Azuchi must have left him shaken!”

“Testament!” they all shouted.

“Knock over the dragon!”

Those simple words set them all in motion. They formed four rows and collided with the side of the Terrestrial Dragon who was fixed in place thanks to the cannon blast. And those who hit first raised their voices.

“Don’t worry about me! Crush me along with him!”

“Keep your dinner down…!”

After a second, third, and fourth collision, the hits were occurring over their heads. And…

“Open fire!!”

The light warship descending in front of the transport ship began a volley with the secondary cannons on its side.

The dragon’s armor burst off and his giant body tilted.

But the dragon sent his fore legs and hind legs further down the slope. This kept his neck and head aimed at the transport ship.

“Don’t underestimate a dragon!”

“Oh, we aren’t!!”

They all raised their voices as one.

“Klassisch Kunst: Weight of Life…activate!”

More than 200 people used that spell, but they did not cast it on themselves.

The spell converted their volume into weight to provide attack power, but it was already cast on them. So instead…

“Eat our fatso divine protection!”

They cast it on the dragon.

“…!?”

The Terrestrial Dragon’s great volume was converted into weight and his giant form could no longer support its own weight.

“Ha ha ha! You didn’t notice, did you!? When we of Schau Essen use this spell, we can’t move much without these mobile shells!”

“Yeah,” more of them said. “Staying true to your desires is so great!!”

Their commander and the rest pushed more on the dragon who had lost his balance and then fallen as the slope crumbled.

The dragon rolled, but at the same moment, they heard a voice in the wind.

“Sorry. …My fellow musketeer told me to show a little motivation.”

It was a male voice coming from the west.

“I am Armand of the Three Musketeers. I will be cutting in.”

After running over, Armand raised his arms to fight.

His gravitational control hardened the ground below the collapsing dragon. And…

“Ohh…!”

His wide-range gravitational control gave a horizontal pull on the earth’s crust below the dragon’s feet.

To keep the dragon from falling, he pulled along a table of compressed dirt with the dragon on top of it. It was more than 3 meters thick and longer than the dragon.

It supported the dragon.

The dragon had staggered but not fallen. And a moment later…

“Ha.” The corner of Armand’s lips rose and he fixed his hat. “This is why I hate getting motivated.”

Just as he said that, his arms swelled out and burst. Radiators opened all across his body and overheated lubricant squirted out. His red clothing was stained black in no time and he fell to his knees.

But even as he trembled and stopped moving, he faced forward.

“Now.”

His eyes were weak, but they focused on the dragon.

“Do it…!”

He was answered with light. The Terrestrial Dragon had fired his dragon cannon on the transport ship.

…''He did it.

Confident this would hit, Armand shut off all his functions. He entered preservation mode.

But he definitely saw something as his consciousness shut down. A lady in black leaped onto the battlefield from behind him. That was…

…''The Genbu!

Koroku closed her armor.

She restricted all of Genbu’s armor to simply preserving itself. Instead, she sent all the power to the engine system.

…''Make it!

She could not reach it. She did not have enough speed. But while she directed herself toward the launching dragon cannon…

“Excessive Jab!”

She sent all extra power into the destructive right arm and launched it out into the air. She had wanted to hit the dragon directly if possible, but Armand’s presence had shifted her entrance point. So she instead had to hit the dragon cannon and…

“Bend it!”

The dragon cannon flew.

The white light shot out faster than anyone could turn around and raced toward the transport ship.

“Is there no stopping it?” they muttered.

But then the dragon cannon curved slightly.

It was a miniscule thing, but its trajectory did shift just a bit up and to the right.

Koroku’s attack had shaken the dragon cannon.

But the white blast was still on its way to the transport ship. It would hit the top of the transport ship that had landed atop the hill. It had originally been aimed at the center, but this would still be a direct hit.

However, something moved in the way. An airborne light warship moved to cover the transport ship.

The dragon cannon collided with the bottom of the warship.

The light warship’s armor broke with the sound of a wind instrument. After breaking in through the bottom of the ship, the dragon’s attack smashed it from the inside out.

“Abandon ship!”

The students hurriedly jumped off as the deck exploded from below. The dragon cannon had torn through the ammunition depot within. The ship’s armor split and it was engulfed in flames, but while it still remained in the air…

“…!”

It exploded.

The great noise caused the ocean to burst and blasted ether light into the sky, but the people watching it had two different reactions. The split was between the Hashiba and the Hexagone Française students.

“We can still hold this line!”

“Just a little further!”

But the responses were all identical. Both sides raised their weapons, defense barriers, and voices.

“Testament!”

Then another explosion erupted in the sky.

The light warship attempting to ram the Swarm Dragon had been hit by a counterattack.

The thousand small dragons’ tackles and dragon cannons decorated the night with a massive explosion.

Smoke rose from the falling ship while it only managed to sound its alarms and open uncontrollable ''lernen figur''s like a voiceless scream.

The small dragons swarmed its surface and looked down at the transport ship below.

Hashiba’s eastern group had lost its light warship barrier.

Bernard saw the result of his actions.

Five of the six Terrestrial Dragons he had brought with him were no longer able to fight, but they had fulfilled their role splendidly.

It looked like the final one could still move, so…

…''The events of this battle will be passed down to future generations.

With that in mind, Bernard prepared for his next move. He spread all the small dragons’ wings to abandon the sinking warship and dive toward the transport ship visible below.

But just before he took flight, he saw a sudden light. ''Signe cadre''s appeared on the surface of the ship sinking below his many feet. They warned that the falling ship was uncontrollable, but…

“Why are there so many of them?”

This was odd. They just kept appearing and rose up in front of him.

They rose up precisely in front of his thousand forms as if to oppose him.

…''<Program: Transfer>…!?

''What is this bringing?'' he wondered.

Then he saw the light burst. All the ''signe cadre''s that had appeared in front of him shattered, but that light took a certain shape.

The white ether structures took the form of a maid ''Belle de Marionnette''.

These thousand beings had appeared to oppose him and the transferred program’s name was displayed.

'''<Ishida Mitsunari-sama: Transfer: Success: Confirmed.>

Mitsunari perceived the outside world.

This was a first for her. Seeing things, hearing things, and touching things were all new experiences.

…''Ah.

She did not know what to do right now.

No, she did know what her objective was.

But as a program, she felt like she should do something to commemorate her first appearance in the world.

Small dragons existed within arm’s reach in front of her.

They were a Celestial Dragon. These enemies were composed of ether, so they could interfere with a program like her.

That meant the dragon’s attacks could hit her.

''I am in danger,'' she concluded. ''And,'' she thought. ''I am sorry.

She really should have thanked everything for working properly now that she was out here in the world, but she would have to shorten the process given the situation.

…''I am sorry, world.

But she did speak to everything out there.

“Hello, world.”

She gave an abbreviated greeting to the entire world. That was her boot-up signal.

'''Monkey Girl:''' “Mitsunari-san! You are in danger! Leave that ship immediately after the attack!”

She knew that. And the enemy was already attacking.

The thousand small dragons used dragon cannons, tackles, or kicks. A direct hit would fully destroy her and that was likely her fate.

But that was fine. She was a program, so she could be repaired even if she was destroyed. She had simply decided for herself that she could send in enough fighters for this opponent, so she had wished to come here. So…

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Yoshitsugu-kun.”

Mitsunari used the light warship’s divine transmission system which was clearly still functioning since it had transferred her here. And as a Hashiba ship, that system was quite capable, so she used it to call to a friend. She spoke to her virus friend who had been rolled out ahead of her.

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Yoshitsugu-kun, what method should I use?”

'''Super Justice:''' “You still expect a response from me at all times, don’t you?”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “It would be odd if you did not respond, wouldn’t it?”

There was a pause long enough for a sigh, but he responded soon enough.

'''Super Justice:''' “Just use whatever attack you think is best. Unlike me, you are a proper product. …And you are #3 of the Ten Spears.”

Mitsunari nodded. And after ending the divine transmission, she realized she had forgotten to thank him.

But the situation was already underway, so she took action. She used the last of the light warship’s power.

“Unnamed Masamune.”

Koroku saw a thousand intersecting attacks overhead.

The small dragons were attempting to break Mitsunari with their physical strength and dragon cannons, so…

…''She pulled out an ether weapon.

The sword looked out of place with her automaton appearance and the attacks clashed with the dragon attacks.

In an instant, an incredible amount of ether exploded atop the light warship. The ship lost all power, so its lights and alarms shut off. Also…

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “I destroyed a third of them!”

Just as Mitsunari’s voice vanished into the static, the light warship produced a deep explosive sound.

It was obvious what had happened. Mitsunari had hunted down a third of the Swarm Dragon while all of herself had been destroyed.

She would have made it off the ship, but…

…''I can worry about that later!

The Swarm Dragon flew up into the air.

The explosion whipped the wind into a spiral as the enemy arrived high in the sky.

There were fewer of them, but Koroku saw something through Genbu’s vision. With a third of their number missing, the small dragons turned to face the ground below.

They intended to do this. No, they had to do it here.

They spread and flapped their wings to make a powered dive.

And they produced countless lights in midair.

They fired a concentrated dragon cannon while descending so rapidly.

The transport ship was below them, so who could possibly stop them?

Koroku shouted the person’s name.

“Come! Wakisaka!!”

The Schwarz Hexen’s mobility brought her straight down.

She had raced here from Kantou while stopping to resupply just once.

…''I made it!

Yoshiaki had suggested it when Kani had arrived.

…''She told me to go join the attack on Paris.

The thought of working apart from Yoshiaki had brought a sense of loneliness, but that trust had made her happy. So she had smiled and nodded.

She had liked seeing Yoshiaki smile and nod back.

She had done what that smile had asked for. After watching Yoshiaki leave for the battlefield, she had left and arrived in time.

And without lowering her speed in the slightest, she sent Schwarz Fürstin down from high in the sky. Because she knew what to do here.

“When fighting dragons, a Technohexen uses sharp ascents and descents!”

It only took an instant. She saw the dark blue dragon gathering itself together with the ground in the background.

“Here you go!!”

She passed him by.

She shot right past him, but that was fine. A Schwarz Hexen’s greatest attack came from the rear muzzle.

While descending, her ''schale besen''’s muzzle was aimed skyward. So she spun herself around in the powerful wind. And she stuffed a roll of 500-yen coins into the muzzle. Amazingly, it was 50,000 yen’s worth in all.

“You gotta love Tsugi! Ask him for money and he just gives it to you!”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Wait! Please stop deceiving Yoshitsugu-kun!!”

'''AnG:''' “Huh!? No, you’ve got it all wrong! The money is to help celebrate your first battle, Nari Nari!”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “Eh?”

'''AnG:''' “Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell him next time I see him!”

'''Nari Nari Nari:''' “W-wait just a second!”

Angie laughed. She laughed loudly. She was terribly exhausted and the journey here had been lonely, but she did not care. She had made it in time and she could laugh, so it did not matter. She laughed and looked up at the dark blue dragon overhead. ''Umm, what was his name again? I’m terrible at matching names to faces.'' But…

“Herrlich!!”

She fired.

Bernard realized the shell had scored a direct hit.

He had swung his head to dodge, but it had torn away the position of his right lung.

But he could keep going. Half his body was breaking, but the small dragons had yet to fully gather.

…''So I can make it!

He fired his dragon cannon from 300 meters above the surface.

He did not know if this one attack could destroy the transport ship.

But even if he could not…

“Ohhhh!”

The Swarm Dragon launched his dragon cannon while essentially holding his remaining self together.

A white light shot out. It was headed toward the middle of the transport ship’s top surface. If it blasted through the ship, it would likely stop the creation of the virtual ocean.

But he saw two people on the same hill as the transport ship.

One was Fukushima Masanori who had defeated the Illusory Dragon. And the other was…

“Caledfwlch’s wielder…Katou Kiyomasa!”

Kiyomasa hurriedly prepared her weapon.

Fukushima was still on the verge of collapse and she slowly lowered to her knee next to Kiyomasa.

Kiyomasa was also worried about Wakisaka who had fallen into the forest. She had been laughing very oddly.

But she had a task to complete now. She combined Caledfwlch’s two halves, faced the dragon cannon falling from the sky, and raised her voice.

“Finish this! Caledfwlch!”

A white slash was launched heavenward to pierce the dragon cannon.

Caledfwlch’s power moved to slice through the opposing attack.

And everyone on the battlefield saw the same thing

When Caledfwlch’s blade reached the obviously-weakened Swarm Dragon’s dragon cannon…

“…!?”

It broke.

As everyone watched on, Caledfwlch’s long blade broke and shattered in the sky.

And they saw what had caused it.

“The dragon cannon is growing stronger!?”

The falling light was growing denser.

The weakened Swarm Dragon’s dragon cannon was clearly regaining its strength.

Just as some on the battlefield called it impossible, everyone saw it pierce the transport ship.

It was a direct hit.

The Swarm Dragon fell into the forest, leading to a few seconds of silence.

And after that dense period of time, there was a definite reaction.

The transport ship exploded.

The ocean created in the eastern sky vanished and the blast blew away the water and ether light.

And everyone realized that Paris had lost its bright light behind them.

“Don’t tell me…”’

The greatest of Paris’s defenses was the Roi-Soleil’s divine protection.

It came from the Testamenta Arma named Corpus Prudentia – Vetus.

“Its power gives light destructive power corresponding to its intensity. And that is exactly what you see here. Bernard, you did well. Excellent work.”

Everyone turned toward that male voice.

A shining nudist stood at the foot of the eastern hill.

He was the Roi-Soleil and he raised his Testamenta Arma up for the Hashiba forces on the slope to see. The silver structure floated behind him like a disk and he gestured up at it with his hands.

“It was your efforts that brought me out from Paris. You should be proud. You see, I was making some jam in the nude so I could enjoy an extremely calm and classy breakfast with Terumoto, but it all bounced up and hit me for a lot of damage. Fortunately, I have mostly recovered. …Anyway.”

“Don’t expect us to just forget we heard that!!”

Their unified retort was not enough to stop that true nudist. He looked across the entire group and spoke.

“Hashiba, you have lost.”

Katagiri heard the Roi-Soleil’s voice over the divine transmission.

“Even with this eastern transport ship destroyed, you can likely defeat Paris with the virtual ocean created by the southern and western transport ships.”

'''□□凸:''' “Is that true, Takenaka-san?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Umm, well, it would be possible with sufficient power and time. But just listen.”

“However, the time it takes will be a problem.”

The Roi-Soleil spoke with a thoughtful tone.

He was most likely counting on his fingers. He could be even heard humming a counting song.

“With just the west and south, it will take some time to submerge the opposite side of Paris. Probably about an hour from now. Now, let us assume you will be traveling to Kantou after that. It is currently 9 at night. You cannot leave until the virtual ocean is complete sometime after 10.”

''Will that work?'' wondered Katagiri. ''It’s supposed to take around 8 hours to reach Kantou.

“By the time you reach Kantou, it will be past 6 in the morning. You will arrive after the Kantou Liberation is complete. …You will be forced to watch on helplessly as Terumoto and the others achieve victory in Kantou.”

So…

“If you wish to flood Paris as Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, then have your wish, Hashiba. We have defeated you. We may have failed against you at Magdeburg, but today we have found success. And we have taught you what it was we felt then. …We have overturned the result with our recovery here.”

Henri stopped running.

She no longer heard anything in the night. But there was movement in bright Paris.

People were gathering on the city walls.

They were all facing eastward from that elevated position.

The Roi-Soleil was there. And…

“Everyone, look to the east. I am there. Incredible, isn’t it? Not something you see every day. Please stop throwing stones. Now, listen. …Terumoto is in the east.”

''That’s right,'' thought Henri. Their princess was in a distant eastern land participating in a battle to determine their future.

“This is a continuation of that night. That night on which we suffered such a great loss. The night that began at Magdeburg has been long, but the light of Paris has shined on us once more. And tomorrow, that long night will end and dawn will arrive. If we throw a rowdy enough party, Far Eastern mythology says the sun will emerge from the cave. …Tomorrow morning, Terumoto will bring an end to our night. So, everyone, let us offer our final tribute.”

Henri placed a hand on her chest and spoke along with the Roi-Soleil.

“Vive la Anne…amen.”

No one raised their voice.

They simply spoke it as a known fact – as something that would be universal from now on.

And the Roi-Soleil said more.

“Our battle has ended, Hashiba. You have defeated history. We have defeated the past. There is meaning in you feeling proud of your victory. Rejoice that you have fulfilled your history recreation.”

“Now, what will you do, Hashiba?”

Kiyomasa heard the Roi-Soleil calling to them.

They all felt great exhaustion weighing on their shoulders. While enemy and ally stood up and tried to figure out what to do, the Roi-Soleil spoke and illuminated his surroundings.

“I am a third-rate actor who could not stick to the role of villain. So let me say this: If you would opt not to go to Kantou, we would welcome you.”

“Huh?”

Kiyomasa and the others tilted their heads. But the Hexagone Française group was different. Their heavy gods of war and everyone else gestured eastward with their chins or fingers.

Seeing that, the Roi-Soleil stepped forward and looked up at the Hashiba forces while shining on the earthen ground.

“It may be in name only, but you will soon be under Terumoto’s protection. And what husband does not warmly welcome those under his wife’s protection? Or…would you continue fighting a battle not found in the Testament without a win condition for either side?”

''We couldn’t,'' thought Kiyomasa. Both sides had been worn down too much. Any further fighting would become a long, drawn-out affair of Paris vs. the Azuchi. However…

…''Neither side wants that.

That was why the Roi-Soleil had pointed out how both sides’ win conditions had been met.

Welcoming Hashiba had been his way of proving that Hexagone Française’s win condition had been met. And he was saying neither Hexagone Française nor the Testament would allow Hashiba to fight any longer.

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “What would happen if we kept fighting?”

'''□□凸:''' “Um, it would mean we sought a battle outside the history recreation, so we would be making an enemy of the Testament Union nations. We would be criticized by far more than just Hexagone Française for that. My job is to communicate with those other nations, so I think it would be safer to accept this offer and end the battle.”

Kiyomasa nodded at Katagiri’s use of the word “safer”.

They had to leave here soon and they wanted a safe route back.

The Roi-Soleil looked around again and spoke.

“Let me say it once more: If you would opt not to go to Kantou, we would welcome you. Some will likely head off to continue the Thirty Years’ War tomorrow, but tonight, the continuation of that long night has been ended before me. This is a brief gap in which we may ignore the history recreation. …So can’t we party together?”

“Well…”

''Could we?'' wondered Kiyomasa.

It might be possible. It might not be. But a ''lernen figur'' suddenly appeared overhead.

“I must apologize, Roi-Soleil.”

It was Hashiba. She used the ''lernen figur'' to speak.

“We will accept your suggestion to end the battle. But…I, Hashiba, and those under my command will be going to Kantou.”

The Roi-Soleil looked up at the ''signe cadre'' floating overhead.

It was Hashiba. She had fought against Hexagone Française for quite a long time now and would almost certainly continue to be a threat. She was a current and future enemy of the Testament Union and the European nations. However…

“Can’t you ignore everything for now and enjoy yourself with us until tomorrow morning?”

“Some of our people are fighting in Kantou.”

“You will go even when you know you will not arrive in time?”

“Testament. Hashiba always finds a way to arrive in time.”

“Fair enough,” agreed the Roi-Soleil. He raised a hand as if to show he understood. “Testament. Then Hexagone Française demands that the M.H.R.R. and P.A. Oda warriors withdraw once the virtual ocean has finished expanding. And you will not resupply or provide any assistance as you withdraw. Is that acceptable?”

“Testament. Thank you very much, Roi-Soleil.”

He felt some slight disappointment at the relief in her voice.

He then spoke to everyone who had fought in the battle.

“This is a gap in history. We find ourselves in the dark night after all has passed us by. I am sure the spirits of Hexagone Française will celebrate and pay us a visit. So I will have Paris opened. We will hold a festival until Terumoto returns. Everyone is free to come and go as they please.”

…''He sure is generous.

Kiyomasa watched the Roi-Soleil as he walked away. Paris’s gates opened upon his arrival.

The main gates, secondary gates, and every other entrance opened.

“Vive la XIV!”

He raised his right arm in response to the voices.

“Hexagone Française’s rule begins upon Terumoto’s return! So party in preparation, everyone!”

The cries of “oh” and “testament” blended together.

The people and gods of war stood and lined up on the battlefield.

They too walked into that light.

'''6:''' “We’ve created a real threat here.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Yes, there are a lot of lessons for me to learn from this…”

“Now, now,” said Kiyomasa on the divine transmission.

“Hey, what’s all this? Did we lose?” asked Wakisaka with twigs and leaves caught in her wings and Technohexen outfit. “Ahh, I dislocated my left secondary wing a bit, so can you look at it later, Kiyo-pin? …Whoa, Fukushiman, you sure took a beating. Want some anesthetic? Well, do you!?”

Wakisaka laughed. She was clearly exhausted and battered, but she laughed while looking at each of them in turn.

“If we still lose after taking things this far, there’s really not much we could’ve done, huh!?”

Everyone exchanged a glance at that. After a while, they all nodded and bumped fists with someone nearby.

“Yeah, not much we could’ve done!”

That was right. After seeing everyone sigh and stand up, Fukushima spoke from her kneeling position.

“Thou are truly incredible, Wakisaka-dono.”

“Yeah, you’ve gotta keep a positive outlook!”

“Um, Wakisaka-sama, could you calm down a little and help me carry Fukushima-sama? Can she ride on your ''schale besen''?”

“Sure, sure. I’ll send her there at Mach speed.”

“No, you will not,” quietly warned Kiyomasa, but Wakisaka only laughed some more.

“But before taking Fukushiman to the Azuchi, can I go swing by Paris real quick? …Hey, monkey. We’ve got an hour to spare, right? Can I go to Paris and buy some food?”

“Eh? Ehh? Well, um, it is true we have the time, but what about the money?”

“It’s called the barter system! I got some Orei Metallo when I resupplied on Sakuma’s ship!”

“No! You need to return those on the way back!”

Hashiba clenched her fists in protest, but she soon opened a ''lernen figur''.

“Um, each of you may spend up to 3000 yen…”

“We can!? For real!?”

The surprised “eh?” reactions did not come from the Hashiba forces.

It was the Hexagone Française forces. The heavy gods of war, middle gods of war, and all the others looked to the Roi-Soleil.

“Roi-Soleil! Give us 3000 yen!”

“Ha ha ha. You do know that would come from your tax money, don’t you?”

That was true, but separate from all of this, the ocean spread across the night sky.

And the Terrestrial Dragon at the base of the hill stood up. He looked up to someone who stood in front of the forest on the hill.

…''Swarm Dragon Bernard…

He had been broken by Wakisaka’s attack, but the concept of individual body parts did not mean much with him. His clothes were unchanged, but the right sleeve was empty as he beckoned toward the Terrestrial Dragon.

There were definitely those who had fallen. On both sides. The Roi-Soleil included them in what he said next.

“We will continue on to a new age. …How about you, M.H.R.R. and P.A. Oda?”

There was no answer. But Kiyomasa saw this as the end of one battle and the beginning of the next.

What was happening in Kantou right now?

About two hours before the conclusion between Hexagone Française and Hashiba, the Siege of Odawara ended in Kantou and the Siege of Kanie Castle began.

It began with a march through the forest to reach “Kanie Castle” located in an artificial lake. So…

“It’s our turn now.”

Kakei, Unno, and Mochizuki of Sanada stepped forward.

The three of them prepared to intercept the Musashi forces using the forest terrain.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 65|Chapter 65]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 67|Chapter 67]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 65

2018-12-17T06:24:43Z

108.162.237.169:

==Chapter 65: Hopeful One in Illusory Space==
[[Image:Horizon6-C732.jpg|thumb]]
''No battlefield

''Is more unimaginable

''No battlefield

''Allows for greater movement

'''Point Allocation (To Move is to Win)

Henri sensed the auditory and tactile feedback of a swordfight.

She fought to the southeast of Paris. She was about a kilometer removed from the road where she had engaged the enemy.

She stood on what amounted to a field while crossing blades with Kiyomasa.

She had summoned her ''Lourd de Marionnette'' and she attacked with its four long swords.

Her opponent defended and attacked with two half-sickle spears.

Henri was on the attack, but her opponent had the greater defense.

…''Is she primarily buying time while making an attack whenever I show an opening?

And right now was not Hexagone Française’s time to defend.

“Will you not withdraw!?”

Kiyomasa did not answer her shout. She simply moved her mobile shell around as if dancing and blocked Henri’s large swords.

Henri had four blades while her opponent had two.

But Henri’s anti-''Lourd de Marionnette'' swords were heavy. She could not move them as nimbly as Kiyomasa’s Caledfwlch.

She had hoped to make up for the lack of fine control by overwhelming her opponent with the weight of the thick blades, but…

…''I didn’t expect her to use thrusters…!

When their blades crossed due to Kiyomasa’s defense, she would accelerate Caledfwlch. Its force rivalled that of Henri’s swords and metal sparks flew.

This was likely what it meant to excel at defense. But it required more than just skilled defensive techniques to pull this off. She also needed the ability to predict and calculate the force of the enemy’s attack. So…

“Where did you learn this technique!?”

“The basics I learned from someone I am required to call my teacher.” Kiyomasa narrowed her eyes as she answered. “Also, my friend is kind of an attack-only person, so I have lots of practice from sparring with her.”

“Do you refer to Fukushima?”

Fukushima was quite skilled, so it made sense that Kiyomasa was as well.

She took this seriously.

…''If only Armand could do the same…

Having someone so unmotivated around did nothing to improve everyone’s abilities.

“You must have an excellent environment there.”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa while moving forward.

She sent out both spears in quick succession and rushed forward with the same speed.

There was weight behind her steps.

“…Toh.”

Henri found it dangerous how she occasionally deflected her swords. And…

“Got it.”

One of those masses of metal suddenly split apart.

One of her swords’ blades split off of the reinforcing back.

The separated metal blade and frame floated in the air. The hilt just barely fastened them together, but with the main axis gone, they spilled out and various parts produced metallic sounds.

…''It broke!?

The object in the air was no longer usable.

Kiyomasa had made it that way.

…''Was that…?

She knew what it was. When Caledfwlch had blocked the sword, it had made an attack on the area from the tip of the blade to the seam between blade and reinforcement. That was what she had “got”.

Henri had quickly pulled it back, but Caledfwlch had greater acceleration. And after the sword was blocked, there would be plenty of openings to attack.

“Honestly.” Henri lightly fell back. “Humans never cease to provide tasks for us ''Belle de Marionnette''s.”

“Then allow me to provide another task for you.” Kiyomasa glanced down at the sword parts fallen to and rolling along the field. “I will destroy another one. Otherwise, you will be at a disadvantage.”

At first, Henri did not know what that meant.

But after a moment she understood.

“Do you think you are the strongest?” she asked as the iron-smelling wind washed over her. “Since you seem to think I would be at a disadvantage without equipment equal to yours.”

“No. Unfortunately, I am not the strongest.”

Kiyomasa turned toward her with a smile.

But that smile was unique. The ends of her eyebrows were somewhat lowered and she opened her lips to speak.

“There are people stronger than me. At least three.”

“And who are they?”

“Testament. One is Fukushima-sama. Another is the Peerless in the East who Fukushima-sama has set her sights on. And the third,” Kiyomasa nodded, “is the teacher who taught me to swordfight.”

“Testament.” Henri nodded. “I will work to expand that category.”

''That will be no easy feat,'' she thought.

After all, her hearing devices had been picking up a certain noise for a while. The wind carried over the clashing of metal blades.

The density of that noise was abnormal. It would sound like a solid bombardment before suddenly disappearing and becoming a strike as heavy as an artillery blast.

…''Is that Master Danzou and Fukushima Masanori?

What level had their battle reached by this point?

''This is an unusual experience,'' thought Fukushima.

She did not understand her enemy’s attacks.

She understood they were known as illusions, but the method and logic of them made no sense.

She was battling Katou Danzou on the road in front of Paris.

That much was fine. It made sense.

Katou Danzou’s left hand held a long kunai in an underhand grip and his right hand held one in an overhand grip. She understood he was using those to attack.

But what came next was the problem.

Blades would suddenly fall from the sky in the middle of his attacks.

Swords fell from somewhere to attack her openings, as if they were dangling down from an unseen ceiling.

And when she tried to move forward to dodge them, she felt something grab and tug on the back of her collar or hem of her skirt.

When she took a step, the ground below her feet would sometimes become water, but what would have happened if she had completed those steps? It was night, but it had still looked like some kind of enormous silhouette swam below the water.

At one point, she had seen a severed head at her feet.

That one had been bad.

For a certain reason, it had snapped her mind back into focus and she had recalled Kiyomasa being hit by a similar technique. According to Kiyomasa, she had seen a head similar to her own on the ground just before being hit by just such an attack.

Kiyomasa’s words had saved Fukushima.

She had instantly leaped back and escaped unscathed, but she had felt an odd chilly presence at her neck. Almost like two hoe-like objects had just about split her neck open vertically.

…''What was that?

But she could find no answer to that question. She remained confused by the battle as Danzou continued making attacks.

He was fast.

He used his small body to make a barrage of attacks and sometimes used his entire body for a single tackling attack.

That said, he only came up to the bottom of her chest. However, his stamina seemed to let him keep up his speed and agility forever. That was troublesome and creepy.

He kept up the attacks without ever running out of breath, so she was forced to fight a defensive battle even while holding her spear short.

Her blade did sometimes reach him. But…

“Oh?”

Danzou readily let her lop off his arm or hand.

And as soon as she saw the body part spinning through the air…

…''Huh?

For some reason, she found his blade moving toward her hand or arm.

He turned it around.

The following cold sweat and test of her reaction speed left her chilled.

She did not understand.

Also, his movement was ridiculous.

When attacking, he would gain speed in midair and sometimes come to a complete stop off the ground.

She thought he might be using acceleration spells and fall control spells, but that was not it.

If she had to describe it, the term “illusion” seemed to fit best.

“Testament.”

Fukushima thought, ''I can see why he is known as the Sanada Ten Spears’ Great Teacher.

…''So he is the one that trained them.

“There is one thing I wish to ask thee.”

Fukushima sent a question into Danzou’s barrage.

“Has any member of the Sanada Ten Braves been a match for thee?”

“Good question…”

Fukushima heard Danzou speak from beyond the overlapping sparks created by his right and left blades.

When she blocked the long kunai, he jumped weightlessly back.

“If I had to pick one, I would say Anayama did pretty well. His ninja technique is simple, but his focus has some decent idiosyncrasies.”

“Anayama…”

''Uh, oh,'' thought Fukushima.

…''Umm, which one is that?

She remembered facing those ten in the past, but their names had been different back then. And Danzou would not know what she meant if she asked how many from the left he was.

She decided to ask some leading questions while they sent out their blades and sent sparks flying.

“Oh, yes. That short one.”

“He’s tall!”

“…Um, the one with large eyes.”

“His eyes are narrow, you fool!”

“Then, um, the one with the impressive hair.”

“His hair is short, you buffoon…”

“Then that one that doesn’t stand out much.”

“That’s the one.”

“Testament. …All’s well that ends well, right?”

“Not at all, you dullarrrrrrd!”

He made a harsh attack. She just barely caught it on Ichinotani’s shaft, but…

…''Huh!?

It had a lot of force behind it. The impact was enough to knock Ichinotani upwards.

She was sent airborne, so she flipped around and went in for a landing. But when she looked below her…

…''Water!

That had not been there before.

It was an illusion.

Danzou saw Fukushima avoid the ground.

She used Ichinotani to avoid the water below her. She slammed the butt of the spear against the edge of the puddle to launch herself outside its range.

''Well done for a split-second decision,'' thought Danzou.

…''She is quite good.

Not many people had ever endured this many illusion attacks.

The only people this had failed to work on were Shingen, aka Yoshitsune, and Kagetora, aka Marfa. But…

…''Being with those two was a lot of fun.

They had inspired a sense of inferiority since his spell would not work and a sense of peace because he need not use it. Being able to serve someone without reservation was a wonderful thing.

It meant ''he need not win.

But he knew this opponent was different. Because…

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

It had to do with what happened earlier.

“You saw your doll’s head before, didn’t you? …How did you ‘realize’ what that was?”

“Doll?”

Fukushima tilted her head forward for a moment.

But after a while she nodded.

“Testament. So that was a doll? I thought it was my own severed head. After all, it had the same blank expression I always have. That felt so awkward it brought me back to my senses.”

Danzou was briefly left speechless by that answer. He gasped.

“Ha.”

And a quiet voice was pushed from the bottom of his lungs.

…''This girl…

''I can’t let my guard down around her,'' he thought. After all, based on his calculations…

“It didn’t look like a doll?”

It should have. But Fukushima responded without tilting her head.

“It was too well made to.”

“Is that so?” Danzou nodded and took a fighting stance. “Then I shall ''have you kill me''.”

Fukushima felt like Danzou had moved slightly closer.

She then realized power had filled him as internal pressure, but…

“Is that where I am?”

She suddenly heard his words from directly in front of her.

“…!”

It was not Danzou’s blade she deflected with the shaft. It was her own experience.

The memory within her, the training she had repeated with Kiyomasa and the others, and the awareness she had gained through strength all reacted to Danzou’s attack. And…

“Headfirst Fall!”

She activated herself. She used the power she had been holding in reserve because this battlefield was so incomprehensible. And…

…''There!

Danzou had circled to the left.

She “passed” the blade he sent out.

She used the ideal movement.

She could not explain what she had done, but her body did it.

She controlled her body to dive in between the attack and defense. Rather than “seeing” her enemy’s attack or defense, it was more like she was “calculating” the timing.

Before she could even see it, she struck at her opponent’s opening and circled around.

“…!”

She made a horizontal slash of Ichinotani’s tip to slice open Danzou’s side.

A moment later, Danzou’s body burst open. The body popped like a balloon and the head tilted back.

The face had no eyes, nose, mouth, or anything else. And…

…''Behind me!

Before she could turn around, she felt something on the butt of her spear.

She reacted instantaneously.

She spun her body forward and grabbed the spear near the tip. And she turned around.

A white arm growing out of thin air had struck the butt.

There was nothing actually on it. It was an illusion.

The arm disappeared. It became ether light fog and vanished into the darkness.

Fukushima did not even wait for that as she sank down. And from overhead…

“Whoops.”

Danzou descended from above in an attempt to pierce her head.

What had he been standing on? Or had he jumped?

She did not understand any of it. But she gripped Ichinotani’s shaft with the tip still directed behind her.

“——————”

She used a snap of her wrist to send the tip backwards.

She heard the metallic clang of a hit behind her.

At the same time, the Danzou falling from overhead went limp and separated into individual parts.

That one had been a doll. So what had produced the metallic clang behind her?

…''That one is…

It was her.

When she looked back, she saw Ichinotani’s blade stabbed deep into her own gut.

And in that instant…

“Headfirst Fall…!”

Fukushima felt a presence trying to slice open her gut.

It was the same as when she saw the severed head before.

But there was one difference from before.

…''I made the ''ideal movement''!

She had moved to search out the illusion’s identity.

She circled behind the presence trying to slice her open.

“Here…!”

She grabbed and spun Ichinotani with her fingers. She made a slash with enough force to spin it vertically and slammed it into empty air.

A moment later, she found a certain result.

“…Here?”

An attack from behind was launched on her left side.

It was a slash from a long kunai.

Danzou saw his enemy jump out of the way.

He had felt it land. The attack from his right kunai had definitely sliced Fukushima’s side. However…

…''Was it too shallow!?

There was a single reason for that.

His left hand held a long kunai with an underhand grip. That was to protect his left side.

When Fukushima had spun Ichinotani vertically, the butt end had rapidly spun toward him.

Of course, Ichinotani’s shaft was long. While it could have reached him behind her, her body got in the way when it rotated vertically and it could not spin further in than her side.

Or so it should have been.

Fukushima had done something different. While Ichinotani spun vertically, she had swung the tip outwards and made a sweeping blow behind her with the butt.

She had combined attack and defense into a single action.

For a spear-user, doing that with the tip, shaft, and butt was the ideal.

That tended to make them quick to attack and slow to defend in battle, but…

…''This girl…!

This was not how she had fought the other day.

When had she corrected herself? And…

“Now you’ve done it…!”

Her attack with the spear butt had reached him.

It split the left side of Danzou’s head and blood burst out.

Fukushima knew she had misjudged the depth of the ideal movement, but it had still reached him.

And she understood something else too.

She had not predicted Danzou’s attack from behind.

She had only managed to counterattack due to her training. It came down to her defensive senses that Kiyomasa had clued her into the night before. That had allowed her to take defensive action without checking where the enemy was.

Meanwhile, she concluded that the illusions she had seen all fell into one of two patterns.

“The first is an illusion of how I will move or attack.”

That was what transformed her attacks into her opponent’s, sending them back at her.

As for the other…

“An illusion suddenly attacks me when I move.”

That was the water puddle, the sword falling from above, and the severed head.

''But,'' she questioned herself. ''The latter appears to be a surprise attack, so how was I able to avoid them at the last second?

A surprise attack should be unavoidable.

And why had the final attack to her left side been the only one ''from Danzou himself''?

The answer to those questions was simple.

…''They appear to be catching me off guard, but I am actually ''sensing some kind of danger or unease'' in advance.

Below her feet as she landed, overhead when she attacked, in front of her during a gap, and every other enemy movement that brought a sense of danger. She knew what the enemy’s illusion was.

“Thy power allows thee to manifest the fears and hopes within my thoughts, doesn’t it?”

And…

“Thou made that last attack thyself because I had begun to face my own fears, correct?”

[[Image:Horizon6-C752.jpg|thumb]]
Fukushima heard a voice.

“Ha.”

Danzou’s laughter continued from there.

The small old man bent his head back a bit.

“What if it is? …Identifying my illusions gives you no means of fighting them. As soon as you hope to land an attack on me, I manifest that hope as my own. And as soon as you sense a disadvantage, that fear is physically manifested. You will ultimately be killed by your own hopes and fears.”

“Testament. Then we are the same,” said Fukushima. “I only need evade every attack I hope for and strike down every fear I expect.”

“Can you do that?”

Fukushima inhaled when she heard that question.

She felt pain in her left side, but the divine protection was taking effect. So…

“I shall prove it with my own body.”

“You do know who I am, don’t you?”

Fukushima nodded and faced him. Half his face was wet with blood and his features were not those of a human.

That inhumanness was no more than an illusion on her part, but…

“Thou are a dragon, are thou not?”

“Yes, I am indeed a dragon.”

“Thy name?”

“Katou Danzou. …My current form is my form. I am that sort of Celestial Dragon.”

''I see,'' thought Fukushima.

As long as he had his illusions, he had no “true form”. Even if he was a Celestial Dragon, he likely had no definite form.

“So should I think of this as facing a dragon incarnation?”

“No. A Celestial Dragon incarnation.”

Danzou smiled and prepared to fight. He spread his legs and pointed his right hand at her.

“Come! Human!”

The Terrestrial Dragon protecting the east gate of Paris’s wall heard the clashing of swords a few kilometers away.

“Wow…”

The Terrestrial Dragon reflexively shrank down.

While he did so, he saw sparks scattering at blinding speed. The flying sparks and ether light moved at a much denser and more crazed pace than before. And on occasion…

“Oh.”

An intense roar would arrive as a deep noise and shaking.

It was clearly the tremor of a colossal presence stepping on the ground.

“Incredible… He can emit the power of a dragon while in human form?”

“Do you know him?” asked a student on the wall.

The Terrestrial Dragon shook his head. It was a frantic motion.

“No, I don’t. I only heard a bit from Lord Bernard before the battle. Apparently, he led a dragon army in a part of the invasion 800 years ago. …So he’s here, huh?”

After that, he spoke up to the students on the wall.

“Y’know, if that’s who that old man was, you should’ve told us beforehand. The dragons who were already defeated didn’t get a chance to greet him. That’s a shameful thing for our clan.”

“Yeah, but we only just learned he was a dragon, too. The Roi-Soleil and the other officers might have known, though.”

“Oh…”

The Terrestrial Dragon looked up into the night sky and sighed.

“I was wondering why Lord Bernard was keeping his distance, but this explains it…”

“Why would that be?”

The Terrestrial Dragon answered while listening to the sound of artillery fire.

“I don’t really get it myself, but Lord Bernard seems to avoid keeping any Far Eastern acquaintances.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s simply customary for Terrestrial Dragons to offer up their lives to the Celestial Dragons. Just having him eat with us yesterday was an honor to our clan. But…that Celestial Dragon over there is being pretty stubborn too.”

That was obvious at a glance.

Ether light scattered through the battle. They were likely using some kind of spell, but it was scattering at a level close to a fog.

The “mold” composing the Celestial Dragon’s body was breaking down and leaking ether.

That was like a Celestial Dragon’s lifespan.

Without fighting, he would likely last a few more years. But dragons were a combat species. They lived in battle and they died in battle.

“It is a matter of honor,” said the Terrestrial Dragon.

He felt that Celestial Dragon intended to use the outcome of this battle to decide whether or not this would be the end for him.

If he won with few injuries, he could join the ranks of another battle. But…

“But I wonder. Even if he lives a long life after this, he might not ever fight a battle as good as this.”

“Is this battle looking good?”

“I don’t know,” said the Terrestrial Dragon. “But what counts as a ‘good battle’ to you humans? Is it this?”

Danzou’s body trembled from his own actions.

…''Splendid.

He was an Illusory Dragon. His base strength was that of a Celestial Dragon, but he could also place his opponent’s “imagination” on top of that.

In other words, he could manifest his enemy’s imagination and fear as his own power.

And since he was born with this ability, he saw the combination of his power and his opponent’s “imagination” as who he was in that moment.

The power he was given by this enemy was great.

Just how powerful a foe did he appear to be to her? And just how powerful was the fear she felt about herself?

It was splendid.

And he moved.

“Now…!”

He sent his blades toward her and moved forward. He did not keep any strength in reserve. He moved forward while filling each and every movement with a dragon’s full power. So the enemy’s defenses were meaningless. Trying to block his attacks would only send her flying. His feet shook the earth and the tremor restricted his enemy’s movements.

And the enemy used…

“The bare minimum of ideal movement, hm?”

She controlled her body to slip within his actions and then escape back outside of them.

Her movements were predicting his attacks and defenses. In something that was not quite a counterattack, her blade would slip into the gaps between his rapid-fire attacks.

It was troublesome. The more he did, the more his injuries grew.

But his attacks were not meaningless.

He did not land any direct hits, but he was straining and harming her body. Also…

“There.”

He manifested her fear.

The grass grabbed her leg and a blade appeared to try to lop off her head from behind.

Just how much worry did this enemy carry inside? And just how much of it had she shaken off?

She fascinated him.

What was hidden in this enemy’s past? What was the source of the worry and strength in this enemy who constantly carried such a great weight?

Danzou wanted to know. Because knowing would make him stronger. And…

“Danzou-dono…!”

He heard a voice. The enemy spoke through the swordplay.

“I have realized something!”

“What is it!? Tell me!”

She spun her spear around, dodged his blade, and let her black hair fly behind her as she answered.

“Did thou always have that form!?”

That question just about made Danzou lighten his attack.

He briefly recalled his life in Sanada.

400 years ago, when they had moved from Europe to Sanada, the people there had feared them but warmly welcomed them.

…''And later, those 10 arrived.

Had this enemy realized what had happened there?

But he could not say that here.

As a Celestial Dragon, this was something he could not say. So…

“I am not at liberty to say!”

“Testament…!”

How had she interpreted that? But she had said this was something she had “realized”.

“Humanity is so very soft!”

Danzou raised his voice and approached the enemy.

This enemy was interesting. How much did she hope for and what was she reaching for?

…''Show me!

So to pursue his curiosity, Danzou made the battle even denser and deeper.

If the enemy circled inward, he would bend his elbow and pursue her. If she circled outward, he would spin his body and pursue her.

He would rapidly pull on or knock back the jabbing spear to knock her off balance.

And he realized he was gradually outdoing her speed.

The enemy was beginning to increase her judgment of his strength.

Because they continued to fight yet she could not defeat him, she thought of him as a powerful enemy. And that strengthened him.

That was convenient.

He did not consider it unfair to use his enemy’s misjudgments. Illusions were the ''truth'' to his enemy.

He accelerated. He accelerated to live up to his opponent’s expectations.

“Ohh…!”

He rushed toward her.

He placed himself in the gap between her attack and defense.

Danzou directly faced his enemy as their powers crossed paths.

From his perspective, the enemy’s spear circled in from the outer right while he sent his left kunai in on the left.

In an instant, the enemy’s spear spun to the side. She spun the front end of the shaft around her waist to sweep it toward him from the outside.

If he made an attack, her attack would hit him.

Of course, he had the strength of a dragon. A blade might be a problem, but the shaft was not going to do anything to him. However…

“…!?”

Fukushima reached back with her right hand and grabbed the butt end of the spinning shaft.

Her right hand definitely pulled back on the butt end of the shaft as it circled from her waist to her back.

The front end of the sweeping shaft slid back. That meant the blade at the tip would hit him rather than the shaft.

This deterrence attack combined attack and defense.

Danzou had tried to make a backhand blow with the long kunai in his left hand, but now the spear tip was going to hit him on the back of his left side.

He continued the swing of his left arm regardless.

He stabbed at the left side of Fukushima’s back.

She had her right arm pulled outwards. If anything, the recoil of her right arm was moving her body toward him on her left. So he could stab her.

And he made a leap.

He began jumping over Ichinotani’s tip like he was performing a Fosbury Flop.

He leaped.

He arched his navel toward the heavens and continued swinging his left arm toward Fukushima’s back.

And that left blade tip pierced something: empty air.

He saw Fukushima’s body moving away.

The right hand moving Ichinotani outwards had let go of the shaft.

Ichinotani continued spinning around her waist. But she was no longer bound by Ichinotani’s weight and she raised her left arm.

“Toh.”

His blade passed below her left arm.

His attack had missed.

He continued rotating his body from the jump. He made a reverse flip in the midair.

Below him, Ichinotani was spinning around Fukushima’s waist. The tip was passing by her back and the butt was pointed his way. And she used her right hand to strike Ichinotani from below.

The spear butt rose up diagonally and entered the grasp of her raised left hand.

She launched the butt toward him in midair.

It was a sharp strike. However…

“——————”

A hand grew from empty air and grabbed her right elbow. And another her collar.

She frowned at the sudden seizure, but…

“…!”

Danzou sensed her skill in the fact that she altered the spear butt attack into a downward swing instead of a jab.

After all, he had used an illusion to correct his midair course and descend straight down.

If she had attacked diagonally up to where he had been, he had planned to attack her as he landed, but…

…''This girl…!

The clinging hands had vanished from the spear butt attack and the swinging of her body.

''How?'' asked Danzou.

She was filled with such worry and fear, so how could she continue forward and sweep it all away?

Then it hit him.

…''Just how powerful an enemy has she set her sights on?

The Peerless in the East.

That was easy enough to say, but this girl had to know a fraction of what it meant.

This was more than just words. She had come into contact with that level which was nearly impossible to achieve.

And that meant she must know she did not even come close at her current level. So…

“You do not reject your fears and worries, but you possess the determination to shake free of them. Is that it?”

Danzou just barely dodged the spear butt sent his way. And he did so by ducking low so the jabbing shaft effectively rested on his right shoulder.

The shaft was on his right shoulder.

He did not have time to grab it. It would escape before he could.

So he used his great strength as a dragon. As he stood up, he sent force straight down from his hips and knees and the opposite force from the earth escaped through his shoulders.

He converted a dragon stomp into a super short span shoulder attack.

If the force hit the shaft on his shoulder and knocked it upwards, Fukushima would lose her balance.

And the tremor created from a dragon’s full strength did indeed send Ichinotani’s shaft upwards.

This was a hit from a dragon’s physical strength, so…

“It will launch you along with the spear, girl…!”

As soon as he said that, Danzou saw something in front of him: the bottom of a foot.

“…!?”

Fukushima made up her mind in an instant.

As soon as she knew Danzou’s strength was going to knock the spear butt upwards, she moved forward.

“Headfirst Fall!!”

She only needed two steps…no, one step. She took the step, and…

…''Don’t expect it to hit!

This enemy would consume that expectation. So she had to simply focus on her movement.

“…Oh!”

Fukushima held Ichinotani below her right arm and kicked at Danzou’s face.

A moment later, her body bent backwards. She spun to the point that she saw the ground behind her and for a second time…

“Headfirst Fall!!”

She used her kicking leg as a pivot as she took more air into her lungs, accelerated, and spun.

She held Ichinotani close and felt her entire body straining as she rotated.

She was not launched away. She threw even more acceleration into a second, ricochet-like acceleration.

“Ichinotani…!”

Danzou saw it even though the kick had dulled his vision.

A black line drew a circle in front of his eyes.

That was Fukushima’s hair.

However, she had not been launched away. She had used a series of acceleration spells to redirect the dragon force and she spun in midair.

The result was obvious.

He saw Ichinotani’s tip springing up toward him from below after it made a half-rotation.

The way it tore through the ground like a claw was proof enough it carried the strength of a Celestial Dragon.

He had to dodge this, but he had only just forcibly stomped the ground.

He could not move. At best, he could weakly swing his arms.

“Kh…!”

He took Ichinotani’s direct attack on the right side of his chest. And it immediately reached his back.

“———————”

His entire body shook from the slicing.

Fukushima lost control immediately after feeling the tactile feedback.

She had placed two acceleration spells on top of a dragon’s momentum. She was also spinning, so she quickly lost control of her speed. Also…

…''My left leg…!

A hot line ran from her left thigh to her left knee. Danzou’s right blade had hit her during that attack. It had to be a shallow strike, but the force of her spin would have helped it. However…

…''I am impressed he could attack during that!

He should have gone limp and completely collapsed. Even if he had done it with his arm muscles alone, he would have had to defy the rest of his body’s movements to do it. It would have been a strain on his muscles and may have even torn some.

But she did not have time to linger on her admiration.

When she hit the ground starting with the spear tip, she and Ichinotani bounced along the ground like a wheel.

She made three rotations with two long bounces in between. Chunks of dirt filled her mouth and the grass slashed her cheeks until she came to a stop collapsed on her side.

“…!”

She was still conscious. Although she may have passed out for a few seconds.

But she was aware of herself breathing there.

She was alive.

She could tell the first-aid spells were activating across her trembling body. Blood oozed from her left leg and it tickled as it dripped down.

She was alive, she had her senses, and she could breathe. Also…

“——————”

She saw it. She could see the sky illuminated by Paris’s lights and filled with an ocean to the east, west, and south.

So she twisted her body, placed her hands on the ground, and got up.

Miraculously, Ichinotani remained in her hand, so she used it like a cane to rise to her feet.

“Ah…!”

She exhaled, spat out the dirt that had gotten into her solidified saliva, and inhaled.

It was cold.

Had the air really cooled this much? And…

…''Where is Danzou-dono?

When she turned toward the road…

“Fukushima-sama!”

She heard Kiyomasa’s voice from the left, which was to the south.

She turned that way and saw the girl running to her side with Caledfwlch in hand.

“Are you okay, Fukushima-sama!?”

Fukushima listened to Kiyomasa’s voice.

“Watch out!”

Kiyomasa told her to “watch out”.

When she heard that, Fukushima wondered if she was caught in some kind of illusion.

Once, when they had faced Danzou on the ironclad ship to Paris, she and Kiyomasa had seen different things.

Then could Kiyomasa be seeing something different from her?

…''If so…

“Eh?”

Fukushima realized she was collapsed on the ground.

Even though she had gotten back up after striking Danzou and rolling with Ichinotani.

…''An illusion!?

Fukushima realized the substance in her mouth was not dirt. It was blood.

And the air she was breathing…

…''Smells of iron and fire.

This was the battlefield. Then she needed to get up as soon as possible. But just as she thought that…

“Fukushima-sama! Are you okay!?”

Kiyomasa ran over to her from the south.

But Fukushima was trembling and she must have somewhat lost consciousness. She could not speak.

Kiyomasa must have known what state Fukushima was in because she got down on her knees after running over. Kiyomasa reached a hand below her arm and lifted her to her feet with the assistance of her mobile shell.

“You need healing.”

“No, I must continue fighting.”

“You take everything so seriously, Fukushima-sama…”

Kiyomasa had a bitter smile in her voice as she lifted Fukushima to her feet.

Fukushima made sure she kept Ichinotani in her right hand as she nodded to Kiyomasa. And she spoke to the girl brushing the grass and dirt off of her from behind.

“Thank thee, Kiyo-dono.”

“You’re welcome. But what happened? Your right leg is so badly injured.”

Fukushima had a reflexive response to those words.

At the same time, she realized there was a white blade growing from the top of her left chest.

It was Caledfwlch. One of its blades was piercing her from back to chest.

And while standing behind her, Kiyomasa kept her face hidden and spoke with a smile.

“You can rest now, Fukushima-sama.”

Kiyomasa’s words told Fukushima something: ''Oh, so this is an illusion.

And she slowly turned back toward Kiyomasa.

That girl had suggested exactly what Fukushima had been thinking for a while now.

…''Can’t I just give up on it all?

She had thought the same thing the night before. However…

“I am in thy debt.” Fukushima spoke to the smiling Kiyomasa. “Kiyo-dono would never say that even if she thought it.”

That left only one explanation for what she had said.

“The weakness within me was drawn out using Kiyo-dono as a shield.”

''Sorry. I have tarnished thy name, Kiyo-dono,'' thought Fukushima.

But she had something else to say to her own fears and worries that had to exist beyond that smile.

“Thou may stay there.”

“I can?”

“No matter how much thou grab at my back or sweetly tempt me, I shall only shake free of thee and continue onward.”

“And if you can’t escape me?”

“Then Kiyo-dono and the others shall scold me and accompany me.”

After a moment, Kiyomasa smiled bitterly. However…

“You are no longer alone, are you?”

“I never was. But…”

But…

“I only now recalled that fact.”

With those words, Fukushima reached out to the version of herself in front of her and pulled her close.

She pulled in those worries, fears, and everything else.

“So I will no longer fear that.”

As soon as she embraced her, her surroundings shattered.

Fukushima was removed from the effects of the illusion.

“Ah…!”

Fukushima gasped for breath and realized she was down on her knees.

She was on the battlefield. She had collapsed to the side of the road leading to Paris and there was dirt in her mouth.

…''My left leg!

There was indeed a wound on that leg and blood was dripping from it.

It was the wound that had helped her realize something was “off” about Kiyomasa in the illusion.

She was right-handed. She used her left leg as a pivot, so she tried to avoid injuring it. But in the illusion, Kiyomasa had said it was her ''right'' leg that was injured.

That would have been quite convenient for her, so she had decided that was an illusion.

If she had not turned around then, Caledfwlch would have stabbed through the center of her back.

Of course, she still had that wound. When she tried to move her left shoulder, her left shoulder blade strained and a sticky wetness fell from the chest of her inner suit.

…''What an incredible technique!

This was different from the previous illusion techniques. It had not happened in reality. It had entered her senses themselves.

“Does that mean Danzou-dono and I are closer than we were?”

“I suppose it does,” said a voice.

Danzou was there, about 15m ahead of her.

He held a long kunai toward her and was down on his knees just like her.

He directed his sharp eyes her way, but…

“Kh.”

Glowing fog suddenly burst from his entire body.

That Celestial Dragon’s final moments had arrived.

Then his short body slowly fell forward.

The Celestial Dragon ninja collapsed onto the wheel-worn road with his long kunai still aimed her way.

“…Damn.”

He lay flat on the ground.

Danzou realized his end had arrived.

…''So it ends here!

He could still sense worries and fears in his enemy. Her awed fear of him as a Celestial Dragon was definitely reaching him.

His mind was linked to the realization of just how great a being a Celestial Dragon is.

''Indeed,'' he thought. ''I am only connected to you via your mistaken impression of me, but humanities’ feelings about dragons are the proof of our existence.

Also, he had been something of an outcast even among the dragons.

During their battle, Fukushima had asked him if he had always had that form.

The answer was “yes”.

Celestial Dragons were born when the ley lines or another ether source filled a dragon “mold”.

For ones like him, they were created from the emotions of fear and worry.

They were similar to the Loup-Garous who were formed from people’s fear of wild animals, barbarians, and the dark.

Then what about his case?

He had been born as a dragon who had a human form.

In other words, he was born from the dragons’ fear of humans.

He existed as a Celestial Dragon, but he had a human form. However, he could not live with humans since he manifested the fears and worries of others.

So he had constantly fought on the front lines to prove his worth.

But the more success he had in battles against humanity, the more the dragons feared his power and kept their distance.

In the end, he had joined a group of what could only be called thugs and went to Sanada with them.

…''That was a strange time.

Unlike in Europe, they had feared him, but they had not opposed him.

His human form had been strengthened by the people’s awed fear of him, he had learned to clear the mountains and summon water, and Sasuke’s group had laughed at him. When they thanked him, he would tell them his power was a direct result of how they worshiped him.

Then the Unneeded ten had arrived.

Every one of them had essentially been a big ball of worry and fear and they had been well worth training.

But no matter how much he beat them down, they had only ended up calling him their teacher. When he asked why, the second Sasuke had given a troublesome answer:

“I guess because you understand us.”

But it was true he had seen their worries and fears. That was why.

That was why he had made an enemy for them.

That enemy was himself, who had once consumed fears and worries to crush the humans.

But now he did it to cleanse the humans of the fears and worries that had led them astray.

…''And…

He could not move.

Even though his enemy was feeling fear and awe.

This enemy had once defeated a certain group and filled them with fear and worry. As their teacher, he had successfully sent that fear and worry back to the enemy. But could he do no more than that?

…''Move.

He was a Celestial Dragon. As the highest level of dragon, he could not die while shamefully lowering his head before a human.

He could not die in a way that inspired pity.

But he could not move.

His dragon strength was running out. There was fear in the enemy, but it was not enough.

Of course, he had always been an outcast. Surely it would be too convenient to ask for assistance here. In that case…

…''Sorry.

He thought of Isa, Miyoshi, and the other children. He thought of everyone back in Sanada. He had made it here and returned those fears and worries, and yet…

“…?”

Danzou suddenly realized something while collapsed on the ground. The hands holding his long kunai still had strength left.

His strength was returning.

…''Why?

His wondering mind heard something. It began as the blowing of the wind and then…

“———————”

He heard voices. They were coming from Paris in the distance.

But what was happening? Simple voices should not have been able to help him recover.

…''Could it be?

He definitely heard it. The many voices were created by the crowds there and they were definitely directed at him.

“Keep fighting!”

There was no fear or worry there.

“Keep fighting…!”

Those voices were full of hope.

“We heard!”

People climbed to the top of the city walls.

There were so many of them and they had been called there by the Terrestrial Dragon guarding the walls. The dragon had asked the students on guard duty to spread word of Danzou among the people in the city. So…

“What, that old guy was some bigshot dragon!?”

They had come. It was only those who had caught on, but the people definitely exchanged glances and…

“Hey!”

“Let’s go!!”

“Testament,” they all replied. None of these people had ever met before, but…

“I saw that old man patrolling the streets around here even at night!”

“He helped me when I couldn’t get my stand up the plaza stairs!”

“He always listened to our band play in the plaza during lunchtime!”

“Yeah, but he always left without saying a word. He probably thought you sucked.”

“Don’t be dumb! He always stayed to the very end of the performance!”

“Is that so?” said the Terrestrial Dragon guarding the wall. “Please,” he added. “These are the final moments of a Celestial Dragon who has lived for centuries. …Let him hear your voices.”

“A Celestial Dragon…?”

They all exchanged a glance. They were all aware of the historical damage caused by dragons. But…

“So he’s the same as Bernard, right? And he’s on our side now! In that case…”

“Testament. We’ve gotta be on his side too.”

“Yeah,” they all said before turning to the Terrestrial Dragon. “What are we supposed to do?”

“I’m not really sure either. I guess send him your awe or whatever? In other words, let him know how badass you think he is.”

“And how do we do that!?”

Their shouted question was answered by a woman holding a rolling pin.

“We just have to tell him to keep fighting, right!?”

“That’s it!” they all said while turning and shouting it.

“Keep fighting…!!”

“Hey, you, student! We need a name! Not yours! His!”

“T-Testament! His name is, um, Katou Danzou.”

Everyone on the wall exchanged a glance and nodded at that name.

And they all raised their voices as one.

“Keep fighting!”

Danzou heard the voices.

“Keep fighting, keep fighting!”

He had never heard voices like this.

“Keep fighting, Danzou!”

He had never even dreamed of hearing people calling to him like this in Europe after having been driven out of the region so long ago.

“Keep fighting!”

Yes. The people were confused. They thought he was still standing.

“Keep fighting! Keep fighting!”

He understood. He had said the same thing to the people and children so many times.

“Keep fighting, Danzou!”

Only now did he realize that these words were equivalent to awe, fear, and worry.

“Keep fighting!”

He found his illusion was fueling him with the people’s hopes for the first time.

“Keep fighting, Danzou!”

He had never seen someone fail to stand back up after hearing those words.

Fukushima saw Danzou stand up with his back to the cheers from Paris.

She could also tell he could barely move in his state. However…

“Thou must stand up.”

“I have chosen a troublesome life.”

“Testament,” she replied while Danzou stabbed his left kunai into himself. It pierced him from the left side to the left chest as if to pin his detaching left shoulder in place.

“That should do it.”

The dragon prepared to fight even as he hemorrhaged ether light.

And he slowly leaned forward.

“Here I go.”

He came.

Fukushima was on the move.

She moved dead ahead.

Illusory hands grasped at her shoulders, arms, and hips from behind.

But she ignored them as she continued forward.

She copied Seikai’s method of using the wheel tracks to run up the flat surface.

And the chance to attack came to her first.

The length of her spear meant she could reach him first.

Meanwhile, Danzou only had the long kunai in his right hand.

She did not hesitate. She aimed for the bottom of his throat. That was a dragon’s weak point.

She aimed there out of respect for the dragon.

Her attack reached him.

Immediately, she saw something.

At some point, Danzou’s kunai had arrived below her throat.

…''An illusion!

Her hope had been consumed and manifested for her opponent.

Danzou thought, ''This battle is already over.

This was his final illusion. After returning to his feet using the people’s hopes, he had consumed his opponent’s hope and overcome her.

He could do the rest without using worries or fears, so he raised his voice and shouted at the opponent before his eyes.

“Surpass me…!”

And he saw Fukushima staring straight at him within the illusion.

She could see everything from his gaze to the arm and blade tip extended toward her own throat.

Danzou realized what it was she had aimed for in that instant.

“Will you consume my illusion!?”

A moment later, Danzou realized his hope had been consumed.

Fukushima had accepted his attack.

Danzou’s illusion system consumed his opponent’s hopes and manifested them on his side instead.

So Danzou had consumed Fukushima’s hope for her attack and used it as his own attack.

But Fukushima had just accepted that attack.

…''She hoped to be taken out by my attack!

As a result, their attacks had been swapped out once more.

Danzou realized Ichinotani’s blade had stabbed into and through his throat.

“——————”

''Splendid,'' he thought.

He had thought this would happen.

After all, he remembered what she had said at the beginning of the battle.

…''She said the doll’s severed head looked like her own.

How you saw the severed head in the illusion was dependent on how you viewed yourself.

If it looked like a doll, it meant you were trapped by something or you sold yourself short.

But she had seen it as no different from her usual self.

…''That means you have no illusions about yourself.

That was someone who could hold their fears and worries inside.

That ability already existed inside her; she simply had not realized it. But over the course of the battle, she had become aware of the worries and fears within her.

And she learned how to transform those things into hope.

“You fool…!”

She was worthy of aiming for the Peerless in the East.

And Danzou received a direct hit.

Ichinotani pierced him through what would be the weak point of a dragon.

The people saw the conclusion.

Ether light exploded in the field and a dragon stood in the center of it.

“What is that…?”

The dragon was more than 100 meters long and was colored blue.

Wings and tail feathers were visible in the scattering ether fog and wind.

He was an avian dragon. He had dragon horns crowning his head, six wings, and long, decorative tail feathers. The wings and tail feathers loudly pounded on the air.

“It’s a bluebird,” someone said. “A bluebird of happiness. …But this is the bluebird that exists in everyone’s hearts yet can’t be found in the real world.”

“Testament,” said a boy while immediately crossing himself. “See, what’d I tell you?”

He folded his hands and looked up at the scattering blue dragon.

“That dragon is on our side.”

Fukushima realized the blue dragon was looking at her.

She could somehow tell that he was leaving.

“Why?”

“Because,” he replied in a deep voice. “How do you like this form?”

“I wish thou could have shown it to me earlier.”

“Don’t say that.”

The dragon smiled a little. Or so it seemed.

“Thank you for giving me this form,” said the dragon. “I am an Illusory Dragon. But my human form and this form are both very real.”

His gaze scanned across the road.

Seikai was collapsed there. Fukushima turned toward that unmoving form.

“…?”

Just then, she heard a great windy presence as the blue dragon flew up into the sky.

He was scattering. And on his back…

…''Ah.

She briefly thought she glimpsed something like Seikai and something like an ether fragment.

But then she realized something had fallen from above.

It was a small one of the dragon’s feathers.

She thought it would scatter as ether, but it was solid. The blue feather was about 15cm long and it gave off a faint shine.

“Danzou-dono.”

The six blue wings were already high in the sky and his form was unclear as he scattered.

But Fukushima slowly kneeled, held the feather in her hand, and lowered her head.

“Thou have my utmost thanks…!”

Danzou smiled as he scattered.

…''Honestly.

Seikai had come with him, but he found his presence had vanished at some point.

He must have passed on already. He would be meeting with Isa wherever it was their souls gathered.

Danzou did not know where that was or what form it would take.

But he hoped it was somewhere on Sanada land.

Would he be going there as well? Or…

…''Yes.

His lingering feelings about Europe were gone. He had gained something other than awe and fear there. Sanada had not been unique in that regard.

Sasuke, Saizou, and the others would not know about that either.

If he could meet them again where his soul ended up, he would tell them.

Humans and dragons had not changed at all since 400 years ago or 800 years ago, but things had still gone surprisingly well.

He was thankful for the companions who had first taught him that was possible.

He was thankful for the enemy who had taught him that in the very end.

He spread his wings and scattered as that thankfulness filled him.

And he disappeared.

While hoping people had seen that blue form of hope.

Katagiri looked up at the blue form and scattering ether light ascending into the sky.

It was so breathtaking that the ocean obscuring the sky felt like a nuisance.

But he also saw something else.

Something flew from Paris as if following the ether fog remaining in a vertical line behind the scattering.

It did not even come close to reaching that bluebird’s heights, but it drew a powerful arc into the eastern sky.

…''Is that…?

Before he could make a decision, it split apart in midair. It transformed into what looked like autumn leaves scattering in the night.

“That’s Mercenary Commander Bernard!”

That was the #2 dragon fighting on Hexagone Française’s side. He was known as a Swarm Dragon.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 64|Chapter 64]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 66|Chapter 66]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 59

2018-12-17T06:23:14Z

108.162.237.169:

==Chapter 59: Seducer in a Place of Awakening==
[[Image:Horizon6-C478.jpg|thumb]]
''Question One

''What was your first impression

''Of what this looked like?

'''Point Allocation (Heel)

Shigenaga felt her chest shaking.

…''Hm?

She opened her eyes and saw a dimly-lit Far Eastern room.

The cloudy afternoon light shined in through the paper window.

This was a room in a traveler’s inn within the Odawara city. She had rented it out to get some rest, but…

“I slept really well.”

The vibration between her breasts was the alarm function of a sleeping spell.

Sound could have alerted others to her presence, so she had set it to vibrate.

Her pockets were all full of weapons, so she had opened the chest of her shirt and stuck the spell charm there, but…

“I ended up sleeping for about three hours.”

She checked the charm and found the fan-shaped seal that functioned as a timer was completely used up.

The rest period was one hour.

The following two hours had allowed her body and Internal Blessings to recover, but she could have been attacked at any time throughout. However…

…''I had it set to wake me if an enemy approached, but things were awfully peaceful.

Several duels had been held, so progress was being made. She opened a ''sankt okno'' that listed the results of the other participants.

The duels had reached the end of the second wave.

Most fighters were in their second rest period and discussing with their nations whether they should search for another opponent or withdraw.

“It’s nice when you have enough friendly nations around that a negotiated war is possible.”

People could be injured or killed in a battle. But you could only have a battle qualify as a whole “war” with a friendly nation that was focused on making peace.

…''The Far East would probably be much more peaceful if all wars could be done like this.

Thinking that may have disqualified her as a military commander’s name inheritor.

But a commander’s strength was not just measured by their ability to strike the enemy. Their ability to minimize damages to their own forces also mattered. So she felt resolving things peacefully was a good thing. However…

“It doesn’t always work out like that.”

These nations could only hold hands and have a negotiated war because of a larger war awaiting them afterwards.

The Kantou Liberation.

None of the nations had the excess strength to fight a proper war before that.

To put it another way, without a war as large as the Kantou Liberation, the odds were good the Siege of Odawara would also have been held as a proper war.

In that case, Houjou’s list of castles would have been defeated one at a time before they negotiated and tried to make peace. That would have increased and better defined each nation’s share. It would have worn them down as nations, but they might have gained even more.

But the nations wanted to hurry to the Kantou Liberation, so they had shared their interests and viewpoints while hurrying through the Siege of Odawara.

That was partially because things had become centered on the major nation of Mouri and because Musashi held a lot of influence.

Trying to have things your way while ignoring those two nations’ intentions would not help you survive in the age to come.

The other nations had decided their best bet was to cooperate and coexist with those two nations.

…''Honestly.

Sviet Rus had a demon emperor, yet here they were accepting that a nation of vainglory and pride and a wandering vessel were crucial to the Far East.

''But,'' thought Shigenaga. ''We are at least indebted to Musashi.

They had given Sviet Rus’s emperor a dream as a ruler, gotten him to look ahead to the future, and even helped bring Former Vice Chancellor Marfa back.

And while doing that, they had gotten the Shibata forces to withdraw from Sviet Rus and they would arrange a trade route to Kantou.

Even though the trade route could introduce the possibility of an invasion of the Edo region.

If that meant Musashi trusted them, she could only call them naïve. But…

“…I wish we could be as carefree as Mogami.”

Shigenaga got up.

She was not careless enough to position herself on the window side of the room. She kept her back to the closet on the wall and she took a breath.

And when she checked the results again, she saw that Mogami had been acting pretty wildly.

Yoshiaki had defeated Hashiba’s Kani and Yoshiyasu had earned a draw with Houjou’s Genan and with Kani again.

She doubted those battles meant much to Mogami, but if those fighters had been targeting the Musashi forces, then they were probably acting as guards.

Mogami had chosen to protect Musashi.

If another country tried to take advantage of Musashi’s naiveté, the fox and the dog would put a stop to it.

Both of them were from nations with Testament descriptions of decline and they would be supported by Musashi.

If they were both working for Musashi now, they would become very troublesome.

Both foxes and dogs took good care of their families. And both Mogami and Satomi likely saw Musashi as part of their family now. So they would act as their conscience led them.

“I really wish we could give it so little thought.”

She wished Sviet Rus could just ignore the consequences.

But at the moment…

…''I should probably continue fighting…

Shigenaga stood up. She opened one hand and gathered strength until faint ether light appeared there. She had apparently recovered a fair amount of Internal Blessings.

''In that case,'' she thought while standing to the left of the window. Someone could be lying in wait between the room’s exit and the front entrance, so she would leave through the window. With that decided, she steadied her breathing.

Then an unexpected light appeared.

It was a ''sankt okno'' from Sviet Rus.

'''Asa-no-Bu:''' “Shigenaga-kun. Can you hear me?”

It was 1st Special Duty Officer “Zhong Kui” Saitou.

Shigenaga had a faint inkling what this was about, but she asked anyway.

“What do you need, Saitou-san?”

“Testament,” he replied. And after a breath, “Shigenaga-kun. You are being instructed to withdraw. …Can you?”

''I knew it,'' she thought.

She had felt some regret when she saw the results, but…

“I will obey. …But might I ask why?”

The sense she got from the divine transmission changed.

Someone else was going to speak. And it was of course…

“Shigenaga-kun, it is I. …First, let me congratulate you on your victory.”

Kagekatsu.

If he was handling this himself, he had to be pretty bored…no, this had to be pretty important.

“Chancellor. Why are you asking me to withdraw?”

“Testament. The situation is not looking good for Musashi.”

“Testament. Their Treasurer has lost to both Date and Houjou and the other two have each won against Mouri. That does seem a bit different from their original goal.”

“It does indeed,” agreed Kagekatsu. And after a two beat pause, “Shigenaga-kun. …Um, may I make a suggestion?”

She already knew what their emperor wanted to say.

She was thinking more or less the same thing.

“You don’t need to worry about it, Chancellor. …We only need to give Musashi the rights won with our victory over Houjou.”

But…

“Of course, we will take something in exchange. We can view that as our goal here.”

“…Sorry, Shigenaga-kun.”

He could not hide the happiness in his voice even as he apologized, but that was just who their emperor was. However…

“You have my thanks.”

She could hardly complain when he thanked her in such an apologetic tone.

''That’s not really fair,'' thought Shigenaga with a bitter smile. ''This must be what Marfa likes about him.

But it would be difficult to give her rights to Musashi as things were.

“What will we do about this?” she asked. “Will they negotiate with you back in Sviet Rus?”

“Oh, I will field this one,” said Saitou. “Shigenaga-kun? I would prefer if we avoided any negotiations with Sviet Rus itself. After all, we are supposed to be on Hashiba’s side until Sekigahara. If we are too open in our support of Musashi, Hashiba might interfere.”

“Then I just have to duel one of Musashi’s fighters and lose.”

'''KageV:''' “You cannot do that, Shigenaga-kun…! It would not be fair to shame you in that way!”

Why could she hear his exact tone of voice when it was only text?

But she smiled bitterly when she realized what it meant for him to intervene on her behalf like that.

“Then what will we do?”

“Testament. Sviet Rus has another slot for a fighter. We will use that to have someone fight on our behalf.”

“…You mean someone who will intentionally lose to Musashi?”

That was quite something. It would be humiliating for that person. Doing so seemed like it would destroy Sviet Rus’s dignity, but…

“Is anyone in Sviet Rus really willing to accept that?”

“No, that is the hard part,” said Kagekatsu. “We are honestly not sure how to deal with him.”

“Huh?”

She was not sure what he meant, but Saitou spoke up without trying to hide his exasperation.

“We clearly rejected his offer because he would be of no use to us, but he insisted on taking part because it is in the Testament. I doubt he stands a chance against Musashi – or rather, he has already been defeated once – but that is why he wants revenge.”

“Hm… They sound quite brazen…”

That meant there was someone who wanted to strike back at Musashi after a previous loss.

“So we will see how this person does and, if they lose, give our rights to Musashi?”

Saitou thought that person was almost guaranteed to lose.

''Will it really work out that well?'' wondered Shigenaga, but this was a suggestion from the 1st Special Duty Officer.

“Have you considered what to do if this person defeats a Musashi fighter, Saitou-san?”

“Testament. In that case, we will have no choice but to engage in international negotiations.”

If they had planned it out to that extent, she would leave it with them.

Shigenaga sighed and opened a new ''sankt okno''.

She connected to the divine network containing general information on the Siege of Odawara and saw her withdrawal instructions from Sviet Rus. She removed her hat to accept.

Her Siege of Odawara had ended.

“Now, then.”

When she closed the ''sankt okno'', it felt like the surrounding scene and information all carried different meaning.

This was a battlefield, but it was also Odawara.

…''I guess I’ll grab something to eat and head back…

She jumped through the open window and out below the cloudy sky.

The Odawara city was damaged a lot more than before she went to sleep, but…

“Now…”

One thing bothered her.

“How will this other person fight against Musashi?”

Narumi felt she had made an error. She had tried returning to the battlefield for Date, but…

…''This is the second rest period.

The second wave of results was coming in and nothing much was happening.

She viewed a sign frame below the cloudy sky and saw that Musashi was in a slump.

“Will they really make it through this…?”

The screen also showed a few nations or personnel who had decided to withdraw.

Houjou’s multiple withdrawals would be a problem for Musashi.

Houjou Genan and Katou Yoshiaki, who counted as Houjou here, were both withdrawing from the battlefield. Yoshiaki’s withdrawal was especially bad because she had defeated Musashi’s Treasurer.

That meant Houjou could demand one right from Musashi.

And yet Musashi wanted a victory over Houjou so they could gain permission to enter Houjou’s ruins.

…''How is this going to turn out?

Narumi was officially with Date, but she saw herself as part of Musashi’s side.

She knew Masamune would be generous in all this. Katakura did not matter.

''After all,'' she thought. ''I just have to attack Houjou myself.

Something might change if Date had one of Houjou’s rights.

Narumi checked the sign frame.

The available Houjou fighters were Houjou Ujiteru, who was serving food at the café being used as a rest spot, and Kotarou and Houjou Ujinao, who were both in Odawara Castle.

She could conclude Houjou Ujiteru would be the easiest target.

He had been repaired, but the exhaustion and damage from his previous battle would have an effect. However…

…''Since he hasn’t made his move yet, he must have some kind of plan.

Houjou Ujiteru would end his career here at the Siege of Odawara.

He would likely be involved during the Kantou Liberation, but his power as a name inheritor would end here.

So she wanted to let him fulfill that role.

“I sure have gotten soft.”

After all…

“Here I am responding to a surprise attack without exterminating them.”

Someone tried to charge at her from behind, so she turned around and dropped her prosthetic leg’s heel on them.

She scored a direct hit.

The last things Sanada Nobuyuki saw were the colors dark brown and white.

It was a Far Eastern uniform. Specifically, the crotch of a girl’s summer uniform.

He gasped.

…''Is she seducing me!?

But now was not the time. He had to make the most of this surprise attack.

He had gone to the trouble of forcing his way into the Siege of Odawara as one of Uesugi’s fighters.

That old man named Saitou had treated him like a weirdo, but what was that about?

He was only trying to live a serious life.

Yes, he had lived a serious life, been mistreated a bit within Sanada, and was now something like a janitor at Sanada Academy which had lost its main fighters… No, he was a necessary part of the academy.

But that life had left its scars.

Yes, he had no wife. What was more important for a Warring States man than a wife? Nothing, that’s what.

He had thought his wife would be Honda Tadakatsu’s daughter, but now that daughter was trying to become Honda Tadakatsu. He did not really get it himself, but that was what she had said and she had defeated one of his academy’s strongest Celestial Dragons. That had not been pleasant news for him. It completely ruined his plan to comfort her when she returned from a devastating defeat.

But this was a separate matter. Before, he had gone to confess his feelings, but they had nearly crippled him with a group attack. He wanted to make up for that.

By fighting one of the Musashi girls who had participated in that attack, he could prove that was only a careless accident. Thus…

“Musashi giiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrllllllllll!”

He charged.

It had been a serious act. Yes, a truly serious act.

So when she spread her legs vertically and revealed the crotch of her panties right in front of him, surely that was his reward for living such a serious life, right?

Yes, this had to be a reward from god, Buddha, or a bodhisattva, so he was free to look.

He entered staring mode. Oh, but he had a feeling this girl was the wife of someone else from Musashi.

“So she couldn’t date me!”

As soon as he shouted that, he was hit by an attack from overhead.

Narumi buried the enemy in the ground.

It only took one hit.

She had forgotten that the Odawara city was on the ground.

She had carelessly performed an axe kick just like she would on the Musashi with its sturdy surface area.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

She removed her leg and saw Sanada Nobuyuki buried there.

His upper body had entirely sunk into the dirt with his arms raised on either side of him.

She felt like she had gone too far, but he had to have been prepared if he was willing to make a surprise attack.

…''Ah.

The results came in.

The sign frame showed her victory over Nobuyuki who counted as Uesugi.

Both of them were instructed to enter a rest period, but she also saw an instruction for Nobuyuki to withdraw.

And she tilted her head while looking at Nobuyuki’s unmoving form.

…''Why did he even bother showing up?

And another question occurred to her.

She recalled what he had said while charging at her.

“…Musashi girl?”

That was not entirely inaccurate, but at the moment…

“I count as Date, so did he have the wrong target?”

'''Shigeko:''' “…”

'''Shigeko:''' “Um, wait…I just saw the ''sankt okno''.”

'''Shigeko:''' “…”

'''Shigeko:''' “Can anyone explain this to me!?”

'''KageV:''' “…Um, Shigenaga-kun?”

'''Shigeko:''' “What is it? Hm?”

'''KageV:''' “Will you promise you won’t be mad!?”

'''Shigeko:''' “…”

'''Asa-no-Bu:''' “Sh-Shigenaga-kun! Is that any way to respond to your emperor!?”

'''Shigeko:''' “Then you can answer me, Saitou-san.”

'''Asa-no-Bu:''' “Well, uh…we certainly did not expect him to mistakenly attack Date…”

'''Shigeko:''' “And?”

'''Asa-no-Bu:''' “To sum up, well, it turns out he did not know what we just assumed he knew.”

'''Shigeko:''' “In other words, you did not fulfill your duty to explain it to him?”

'''Asa-no-Bu:''' “No, um, I believe, well, someone must have, uh, explained it to him…”

'''Shigeko:''' “…Next. Your turn.”

'''Mayoress:''' “Hey! Shigenaga! Are you the one bullying Kagekatsu!? Do we need to do another ''privet''!? Well!? Hm!?”

'''Shigeko:''' “I wasn’t asking you!!”

''Things are starting to get really chaotic,'' thought Yoshiyasu while soaking in the bath and drinking some honey water.

She had worked her throat hard. She had a feeling her abs would be troubling her come nighttime.

The same had to be true for Kani who was drinking sake next to her.

They were discussing the situation in Odawara while considering and hiding their respective nations’ issues. Kani tended to do more listening and questioning, so…

…''I feel like a teacher…

In a way, Yoshiyasu was the more abnormal of the two since she was Student Council President in the 2nd year, but that also reminded her that Satomi was a small enough nation to require that.

In large nations like P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R., even name inheritors were mostly fighters and specialists like Kani.

And as specialists, they were very skilled in that area of expertise.

Large nations gathered more personnel like that to grow bigger and stronger.

Small nations had to build up well-rounded personnel, which took time, and they had fewer people to start with. So…

“My upperclassman told me to observe the flow of battle!” said Kani. “You have a really good grasp of the battlefield, don’t you!?”

Was that meant as a compliment? But all Yoshiyasu had done was explain the different nations’ circumstances and how that related to the combat status of their representatives.

These duels were more than just clashes. They were an extension of international politics.

“In that sense, Hashiba did a good job of intervening.”

“Do you mean me!?”

“You’re part of it. But before even that, they placed Musashi on the Houjou side, making them an enemy of the participating nations. That did not affect Mouri since they had intended to clash with Musashi in the first place, but it made it more difficult for the other nations to openly cooperate with Musashi. Because Hashiba is watching. …As a result, Musashi’s forces had to be used against Mouri because the other nations could not oppose them.”

Meaning…

“Musashi lost their chance to attack Houjou while acting as a different nation.”

“Why did we want to stop Musashi from attacking Houjou!?”

Yoshiyasu had not expected someone to ask that about their own nation.

But that was something she was having trouble working out herself.

“I can only guess, but I would say there are two reasons. When you get back, try asking someone who won’t get mad at you for asking.” Yoshiyasu raised two fingers toward Kani who was seated politely in the bath. “The first is Takigawa Ichimasu. She is at Kanie Castle which is positioned at the entrance of the Houjou ruins Musashi wants access to. If Musashi receives permission to enter the ruins, they will begin an attack on Kanie Castle, so stopping Musashi’s attack on Houjou means stopping their attack on Takigawa.”

“…Testament! So it’s an indirect thing!”

“Judge. That’s the way I see it. As for the other reason…”

She provided it while somewhat tilting her head at it.

“I wonder if Hashiba might have some reason to keep Musashi away from those ruins.”

Yoshiyasu honestly did not understand this.

But the Ten Spears had intervened at the Novgorod ruins.

And Hashiba had intervened to prevent them from entering the Sanada ruins.

Based on that…

…''Houjou’s ruins are probably the same.

They were currently held in place by the attack on Mouri, but once Hashiba was free to act, Yoshiyasu suspected they would immediately come here to intervene.

In fact, one of the Ten Spears was already here and had defeated Musashi’s Treasurer.

…''What is inside those ruins?

She did not know. It annoyed her that she could not go too far with this since it could all be a misunderstanding.

But Musashi would be considering these problems too. The Vice President and the others would be following the issue. Yoshiyasu was a part of that, but she felt more like she was just helping. So…

“Well, that’s how I see it. And in that sense, Hashiba has done a good job.” Yoshiyasu pointed at Kani’s sign frame. “You’ve been instructed to withdraw.”

“Ah! You’re right! I wonder why!”

“Probably because you fought Mogami twice.”

“But I lost the first time and tied the second time!”

“You can think of us as part of Musashi. You’re a rookie and you lost the first time, but you managed to get a draw the second time. …That’s plenty to say you have a promising future. And the Siege of Odawara ends with reconciliation after the castle is flooded. Hashiba probably sees a draw as a nice compromise.”

Meaning…

“Kani Saizou. When you get back, tell them the song was localized but you actually won. Your superiors should be happy with that.”

“The same goes for you, Satomi Student Council President! You gave yourself a handicap!”

Kani refused to be convinced otherwise on that point.

And just as Yoshiyasu tried to figure out what to do about it, the bath’s sliding door opened.

“Ookubo?”

Yoshiyasu looked back and that was indeed who she saw. The girl had already changed into her summer uniform and she had a towel draped over her prosthetic left arm instead of her stole.

“Hey, you should probably get out soon. I’ve prepared something to eat,” she said. “Also, some other guests need that space.”

''Guests?'' she wondered, but that question was soon answered. A large volume appeared next to Ookubo. No, two volumes. The first was…

“Ohh, Yoshiyasu. You’re taking a bath too?”

“Yoshiaki…!?”

When Kani heard Yoshiyasu’s exclamation, she scrambled to her feet and bowed.

The second entered the bath behind Yoshiaki in a leisurely yet sudden way.

“The Reine des Garous…!”

“Oh? It’s Satomi’s Student Council President.” The woman smiled with a hand on her cheek. “The two of us were just having a lovely chat outside. …And we thought we would clean up before our duel.”

…''Duel!?

Yoshiyasu gasped and checked her sign frame.

A duel request had appeared there:

'''<Request: Mogami Yoshiaki vs. Masuda Motonaga>

These two women planned to duel in some way.

''This is going to be a giant kaiju battle, isn’t it?'' thought Yoshiyasu with a sigh. After all…

…''There’s no way they would do karaoke…

The sky was beginning to change color.

The cloudy sky grew dimmer and the wind blew strongly in from the ocean.

That gust of wind blew the row of Houjou flags positioned alongside a water-filled moat.

This was the entrance of Odawara Castle. A single figure stood in the castle gate plaza.

It was Seki Masasada who wore torn clothing.

She carried a few items in front of the barricades in the plaza.

Large barrels sat on an oddly small cart which she moved with her gravitational control.

She spoke to the barricades in front of her.

“Excuse me. …Will you let me pass? My master wishes for results.”

“That will not happen!” shouted a voice atop the gate.

It was a Mouse. That Houjou representative in a female ninja outfit was Kotarou.

She frowned at Seki’s clothing.

“What do you think you are doing here dressed like that!?”

“Testament. …Like I said, I would like to defeat someone from Houjou and take their rights.”

“…What about Ujiteru-sama?”

“I looked for him but could not find him.”

“You couldn’t find him?”

“I thought he was in the café, but…”

Seki rolled one of the large barrels forward with gravitational control.

Her damaged parts groaned, but she managed to turn the barrel on its side and open the lid.

Its contents were dumped out onto the plaza’s gravel.

“This is Lord Ujiteru’s automaton cowling and damaged parts.

“…!” Kotarou frowned. “He fled without protecting the clan leader!?”

“I have determined he has some kind of plan. …What will you do, Lady Kotarou?”

“…You leave me no choice!”

Kotarou swung both her arms. Several sign frames opened in response. They spiraled around and rose up around the Mouse.

“Fuuma Formation, stand up.”

With those words, all of the barricades in the plaza moved.

What had been disguised as stone walls moved their jackets and materials from within as they revealed their true form. Canopies flew into the air and below them…

“Gods of war…and…”

There were 8 heavy gods of war and 32 automatons. But they all had one notable trait: the lack of a face.

They only had structures with holes opened for sight and hearing devices.

They were remote controlled models and they were being controlled by…

“Fuuma Kotarou. Prepare yourself.”

As soon as she said that, the roar of a cannon shook the air.

The blast had come from one of Seki’s barrels and it tore through a god of war.

Seki drew a long knife from her apron and fired a cannon blast.

She had brought in 5 barrels. One of those had contained Ujiteru’s parts and three of the others contained weapons.

She was up against gods of war and automatons. Remote-controlled ones. It was only a Mouse controlling them.

…''For that I am grateful.

She would have been hesitant with a human opponent. As an automaton, she would have felt the need to pay them respect.

Of course, she would have been hesitant with an automaton opponent as well. She would have worried that she was too flawed to be their opponent.

When facing them, it was best to ''let them defeat themselves'' or distance herself from the act by sniping them.

When sniping, she could close her eyes in the instant she fired.

She could look through the scope afterwards and, if they lay collapsed on the ground, she could simply assume someone else had done it.

She could assume her Princess or the others had assisted her yet again.

Even among the Mouri ''Belle de Marionnette''s, she was a weakling who could not even strangle livestock.

While on the battlefield, she was constantly questioning whether she was fit to be there.

But with an automaton enemy, there was no hesitation.

They were an enemy, so they were not one of her own kind.

She would not question whether she was fit to be there. She would think it had to be her.

After all, they were an enemy and they were not a person. They were not a life everyone had raised.

Her fellow ''Belle de Marionnette''s and her Princess would not need to dirty their hands.

She could defeat them without worrying. And she could fulfill her duty. So…

“—————”

Seki saw her right arm (the one holding the long knife) flying through the air.

It had been severed.

Seki had seen an enemy automaton jump to her right.

The faceless opponent carried a scythe-like outward-curving blade in her right hand. That kind of scythe sword was used to get the tip of the blade to the enemy faster than a normal sword, capture them with it, and cut them. The center of gravity was on the tip and the blade would be diverted depending on how the air resistance hit it, so it was difficult for humans to use.

You could call it an automaton weapon.

It had just severed Seki’s right arm. And in front of her…

“Ah…”

Her cannon blast had been wasted.

The 8 gods of war were no longer in front of her.

Those 8 giant forms had scattered to either side and ducked low.

They were not just crouched down. They were preparing to rush toward her. She could tell they would attack in waves, with 4 out front and 4 waiting in the rear.

Seki concluded the evasive action had been oddly fast for heavy gods of war.

They had likely been given a power system that far surpassed human-scaled muscular strength. These gods of war were meant to dodge cannon blasts and fight with their physical strength.

With no one onboard, they could use forceful actions and coordination.

With Kotarou in control, the gods of war were given ninja movements.

A simple cannon blast did not work even as a surprise attack.

And the 32 automatons worked to fill the gap.

Meanwhile, Seki had been slow to react because she had been watching the one who leaped in first.

Severing her right arm must have been a feint that caused actual harm.

…''She had just one of them jump in as an immediate counter that would draw my attention.

Having them all rush in would have been noticed and putting together a formation that quickly was not easy.

Kotarou must have sent the one in as a diversion and used that short time to build a formation for the others to rush in.

Seki noticed the enemy automatons did not all wield the same weapons or take the same stances.

There were two units of them. A group of 8 took the lead in both units. 4 of them fired guns at Seki, 2 in the lead held her in place, and the 2 following them held spears.

She would be shot, held in place, and then finished off.

“And then…”

The one that had leaped in to her right had drawn a weapon.

She was too far away to use the scythe sword and she would not have been able to eliminate the momentum of jumping in, so she would be using a pistol.

The bullet flew toward Seki. Rapid-fire gunfire also arrived from in front of her.

So she moved. She lightly lowered the long knife in her left hand.

“Now, then.”

And she moved forward.

The damaged automaton took her first step forward.

Nine things happened as if the sound of her foot in the gravel had been a cue.

They happened to the 8 automatons targeting her and the one trying to shoot her from the side.

“——————”

Their bodies suddenly burst and broke.

The sound was their multi-hinge joints breaking and their outer shells shattering. It sounded a lot like an eggshell cracking and as the metal fibers tore…

“————!”

Their 9 bodies burst apart like blossoming flowers.

Kotarou saw what had happened but did not understand it.

The one thing she understood was that she did not understand it. That was all. After all…

…''Why!?

The fight had been very strange from the beginning.

Even the initial automaton leaping in at Seki had been. That attack had targeted Seki’s head.

So why had it severed her right arm instead?

The automaton’s aim had been accurate since the jump had been along a straight line.

The time difference measurements of the sight devices told Kotarou that Seki herself had not moved.

But Kotarou realized something only now.

“The long knife…”

Seki had been holding it in her right hand. That was why that arm had been severed.

So why was she now holding the thick blade in her left hand?

“It would seem you do not know when I switched hands.”

The next rush arrived just as Seki spoke.

There were 8 automatons and they made a coordinated attack with guns, blades, and martial arts. However…

“I shall advance 3 steps.”

With those words, the rush passed Seki by.

But ''nothing happened'' to Seki

Some of those in the rush were meant to hold Seki in place. And Kotarou was controlling them. She used the data from the sight devices and other sensory devices to crush Seki with surefire movements.

“But…”

The 8 automatons passed her by without anything happening and then they “blossomed” below the cloudy afternoon sky.

Three gods of war rushed in soon thereafter. One straight ahead of her and one from either side.

But Seki…

“Step 2.”

…said that as the gods of war reached her.

The first one swung an anti-god of war short sword from a meter above the ground. It reached Seki’s left arm.

“…Oh?”

The arm was severed at the upper arm. The slash skimmed just past her torso.

The god of war on the right threw a punch.

It smashed the left shoulder that had acted as the base of her severed arm and her body tilted to the side. But…

“Ah…”

Kotarou saw something happen to the two gods of war that had attacked Seki. Their weapon and arm flew toward their own body.

The giant arm and sword sank into their own chest or gut and scattered their body’s contents.

“…!”

Two giant metal flowers blossomed in the castle gate plaza.

…''Huh!?

Kotarou saw the destruction of the gods of war. She had never seen anything destroyed like that before.

The gods of war had committed suicide.

It was an abnormal action.

A god of war’s actions were controlled by its spell OS. That control would ensure it did not destroy itself by rejecting or preventing the selection of actions that would do so.

But these gods of war had behaved differently.

They should have been under her control, but they had instead destroyed themselves.

It was almost like…

“A virus…!?”

“Looks like Seki has finally gotten her engine revving.”

Terumoto spoke with the Pension Versailles behind her on the makeshift plaza built southeast of Odawara.

Mouri-01 placed a glass of barley tea on the side table next to her. She glanced at the book that Terumoto was reading while seated on a bench.

“Is that the history of the Roi-Soleil’s mistresses, Princess?”

“I don’t have much of a choice since I promised to inherit every last one of their names. …So I guess I have no one to blame but myself.”

Terumoto then turned toward Odawara Castle.

She was on a small hill, but Odawara Castle was even higher than the Odawara city.

She could not see the gate, but…

“''Belle de Marionnette''s are mass-produced, but due to discrepancies in component quality, some of them have faulty OSs, power systems, or outer shells.”

“Those slight defects can generally be compensated for with our other functions, but she is a rare case where everything was off, all the way down to the soul at her core.”

With that, Mouri-01 raised her right hand.

Her hand carried something white on a plate.

“Would you like a daifuku, Princess?”

“Oh, I would, I would. We’re going full Far Eastern today, aren’t we?”

“Because you seemed dissatisfied with the meal last night.”

“That I was.” Terumoto did not hide her thoughts, but she did look up when she heard a metallic noise from the north. “Odawara Castle must be a sight to behold right now.”

“To her, her components are entirely disposable. …Her face, arms, legs, torso, and even OS are ‘off’, so they have been replaced countless times already. But whenever her core enters them, something always ends up ‘off’ yet again. …So being destroyed on the battlefield is a form of hope for her. Because next time, there might be nothing ‘off’ about her.”

“A ''Belle de Marionnette'' that does not fear destruction, hm?”

“In the past, it seemed like she was harming herself because she actually wanted destruction…but that changed once you scolded her.”

“Well, I had to.” Terumoto spread her mouth horizontally. “Those components are expensive. And when she’s always swapping out parts, it’s hard to recognize her. I’m bad enough as it is at remembering what people look like, so remembering a ''Belle de Marionnette''’s hand or foot is essentially impossible. I just told her I would cover all the costs for the ''Belle de Marionnette''s that serve me, but she had to quit getting destroyed so much.”

“…But I’m impressed you noticed her special abilities, Princess.”

“That was just a coincidence.” Terumoto took a sip of the barley tea. “Remember the cat the other ''Belle de Marionnette''s couldn’t catch? The one that climbed up on the roof and couldn’t get down. When it fell, the rest of you all failed to catch it and ended up in a pile, but Seki jumped in and caught it. I had a thought when I saw that.”

That being…

“She can’t move like normal ''Belle de Marionnette''s can, but maybe she could move in ways normal ''Belle de Marionnette''s can’t. …So I had her fight and the results were immediate.”

Terumoto held her right hand forward a bit. And…

“No matter how much you all attacked, you couldn’t hit her. …Your movements were optimized and accurate, while hers responded with something just off of optimized and accurate. You tried to predict her movements as those of a ''Belle de Marionnette'' and she was trying to move in exactly that way, but there was something ‘off’ about those movements and you couldn’t hit. …But it was the opposite for her.”

Terumoto grabbed the empty air with her right hand. And she pulled that empty air back toward her.

“She wanted an accuracy that was not ‘off’, so she was always looking to that. And to do so, she simulated it not just thousands but trillions and quadrillions of times. Because she couldn’t live her everyday life if she truly remained ‘off’. …Do you get it? She wanted to live an everyday life despite being ‘off’. So felt that way every single day even as she wore clothes that did not quite fit and went to sleep in the mornings. And do you remember why she did not attack all of you even once?”

“She was worried it would be wrong for someone like her to harm us, wasn’t she?”

“Testament.” Terumoto nodded. “She’s only recently learned to fight properly. But her true value is seen when she fights ''Belle de Marionnette''s or ''Lourd de Marionnette''s. Because she has a way of defeating them without actually attacking them. That is…”

That is…

“She interferes with their movements and power systems so they destroy themselves.”

Seki moved forward.

She opened the final barrel behind her. It contained…

“Spare arms.”

She purged the broken left shoulder and arm and did the same for the right.

She pulled the new arms toward her with gravitational control and attached them with her torn maid uniform caught in the joints.

“—————”

The next automaton rush arrived.

There were 8 of them, but the bullets fired by their gunners arrived first.

She did not care.

…''They will not hit.

She was “off”.

Normally, machines would use their optimization and accuracy when confronting each other.

And when an automaton fought another automaton, they assumed their enemy would have that same optimization and accuracy.

So when attacking, they would assume the enemy’s evasion and defense would be done with optimization and accuracy.

But Seki’s optimization and accuracy were “off”.

She was defective.

She was trying to be optimal and accurate, but it did not quite work.

And that was very bad news for the enemy. Both sides would normally have the same optimization and accuracy, so she would be “off” where the enemy expected perfection.

This was the same.

The enemy’s bullets grazed her face and tore through her side.

But it was not fatal. The more precisely they aimed, the more her “offness” would protect her.

And she had been trained in how to respond to this.

There had been a time when she had wanted to move just like her fellow ''Belle de Marionnette''s, found she could not even walk right, and tried to at least not be in the way.

How did those accurate and optimal ''Belle de Marionnette''s operate their systems to move?

What operations of their systems would lead to what movements?

She knew the answer because she could not do it herself.

…''So…

The rest was easy. She only had to help the automatons approaching her.

The blades coming to touch her were linked back to their artificial muscles and power system. By reflecting those just a bit, she could throw “off” their optimal and accuracy and create different movements.

The force meant to destroy her was turned back against them.

That was for the best.

Someone like her could never think of attacking them herself.

A defective model must never defy a proper model.

So she had them destroy themselves.

They were proper models, so they had the right to destroy a proper model like themselves.

She was fine with being defective. Because her master had said it was fine. So…

“I will advance 5 steps.”

Seki advanced.

Gods of war approached. She knew how they would move. They used the same optimal as an automaton.

“So…I will give my right arm and side to your thrusting blade.”

In exchange, she used gravitational control to swing her long knife up toward the god of war’s visible finger joint.

In that case…

“I can predict that immediately pulling your arm back to dodge is the optimal action.”

…''That is exactly what happened.

So she fired a cannon from behind her.

“Do not worry.”

''A defective unit’s cannon blast cannot blow through a proper model. It will only graze the inside of your elbow joint and shake your arm.

''But when that happens, your accurate movements will cause you to quickly pull your arm back.

''As a result, the short sword you hold will stab you in your chest. But the distortion to your elbow will remain, so your accurate movements will lead you to release the blade vertically. And then…

“—————!”

The god of war blossomed.

As a proper model, it destroyed itself with the kind of accuracy one could be proud of.

…''Oh, what a waste.

If only she had come here earlier.

She felt it had been a mistake to make Musashi’s fighters her top target.

She had thought it would work since one of their fighters had a prosthetic arm. She had planned to try sniping and, if that failed, attempt close-quarters combat where she could affect the girl’s prosthetic arm.

She would of course have messed with the arm as a means of attack, not defense or evasion.

She would have had her opponent defeat herself with her own arm.

But that opponent had been incredible. She had not viewed her prosthetic arm as a prosthetic.

She had treated it like a weapon or a detachable part of her own body. There had been no accuracy or optimizing there, so she was not sure why it even had to be fake.

It had been a strange feeling. It was neither a proper model nor a defective model. In a way, that may have been a good description of humans like her Princess.

It was a tricky thing.

So this was much simpler and easier.

The enemy was more powerful and numerous, but they were proper models. And they were attacking with brute force.

They were accurate and optimal.

“That is good.”

Seki looked to the automatons and gods of war surrounding her while keeping their distance.

But it was too late.

She had weapons behind her: spare arms, legs, and…

“A face.”

Seki’s face devices had been damaged and bent by what attacks had reached her, so she used her right hand to replace them. She removed the sensory devices located in front of her artificial brain block and tossed aside the old and defective face.

She used her left hand to attach a new face.

It too was defective. But it was new.

Her Princess worked with the PR Committee to broadcast the shows “Angry Weather Forecast” and “Moto’s Kitchen” and she used some of her pay for these things.

It was such a waste. All the canola oil her Princess used on Moto’s Kitchen also seemed like a waste, but they were likely thinking within the show’s budget. She hoped it was similar for her parts.

“Now.”

Seki advanced. She moved forward.

…''Here I go.

Just then…

“Send in reinforcements…!”

Several silhouettes jumped to the top of the castle gate. They were gods of war and automatons. They lined up along the gate’s tile roof as if they weighed nothing.

…''How orderly.

Seki could not help but marvel at how orderly these proper models were.

So she nodded and spoke before the seemingly-endless waves of enemy attacks.

“It would be a waste for you to spend your time on a defective model like me.”

Kotarou sensed maximum danger when she saw the enemy approaching.

…''I will stop her!

Houjou was a nation that used automatons and gods of war to fight.

They produced automatons and exported localized versions to other nations.

Their value was in their accuracy and their optimization.

Thus, defective models were always discarded upon discovery. That was how they managed product quality.

But this person overturned that value.

Kotarou was aware of this automaton’s origin. Hexagone Française exported automatons as well.

One of those most likely had a distortion in her core. The distortion was too minor for a boot-up check to detect, but it must have manifested itself thanks to the influence of Hexagone Française as a nation.

It would have begun as a small distortion. But how had she viewed that discrepancy while living among so many proper models? Many attempts to correct the distortion had only exacerbated it.

This could not have happened by coincidence alone. Nor could it have happened by training alone. It was a combination of both. And…

“Your master accepted it, didn’t they!?”

For an automaton, their master’s approval trumped their raison d'être.

Seki had accepted her distortion and those around her had helped.

Even though she could have just been discarded at the earliest stages.

Hexagone Française had not done so, but that was likely because they had needed as many automatons as possible – even defective ones – for their conflicts with M.H.R.R., nonhumans within their own borders, and the Hundred Years’ War.

How much had the distortions accumulated and grown to create such a monster?

But there was just one thing Kotarou had to do now.

“I will stop you…!”

This was Mouri’s anti-Houjou trump card.

Kotarou had thought the Reine des Garous was the only real threat, but she had been wrong.

This enemy could not be allowed near Ujinao. Ujinao was human on the inside, but she had an automaton body.

There was a chance something could happen. So…

“More reinforcements…!”

Flowers blossomed in the castle gate plaza.

Those metal flowers were created as Seki walked.

That floral path could not be allowed to reach Ujinao. And on Kotarou’s pride as a proper model…

“I will not let you pass…!”

Seki crossed a field. It was a windy and deserted field of blossoming flowers.

“Now, then.”

Bullets were approaching. As were enemies and blades. But she spoke into the blowing wind.

“I may be defective, but even I have a ''Belle de Marionnette'' spirit.”

These words contained that spirit.

“The doubts of a single component.”

She continued her words.

With incoming attacks punctuating her steps and her torn clothing fluttering in the wind, she brushed back her hair and spoke.

“A defective unit cannot stand against and walk through the warring states’ current of abandonment.”

She recited the words.

“A defective unit is accustomed to having her body and OS damaged, abandoned, and replaced.”

The bullets did not hit her. The enemy sliced and crushed to take her body from her, but…

“A defective unit is already prepared and knows her body’s limits.”

All who came at her self-destructed and blossomed. She too was torn into within the din of explosions and tearing. However…

“A defective unit can use her body and hands for her master.”

Everything blossomed behind her. Even her own components broke and scattered, but she replaced them whenever they did.

She simply moved forward. And…

“A defective unit is already prepared and will use all of herself to strike back.”

Shadows flew like scattering leaves behind her.

The weapons she had brought took flight thanks to her gravitational control.

“Now.”

Once more, she brushed back her hair, but she now held a long knife in each hand.

“A defective unit…”

She faced forward.

“…does not fear…”

Her hair danced in the wind.

“…becoming trash…”

She resumed walking.

“…and faces forward as she goes.”

She advanced.

“Looks like it’s over,” said someone looking up at the bath’s ceiling while soaking in the tub.

It was the Reine des Garous. She and her hair took up about a third of the large tub.

But she was not the only one soaking there.

She slowly lowered her gaze toward the person at the opposite end.

The person across from her was Yoshiaki. She did not hide her nine tails and let them soak in the water. A tray containing a sake bottle and cup floated in front of her.

“With that, my role is more or less complete.”

“Heh heh. Yes, I suppose so.”

“So…what will you do?”

“Testament.” The Reine des Garous nodded. “If I wanted to duel Houjou Ujinao, you would stop me, wouldn’t you?”

“And if I went to stop Seki, you would have stopped me.”

“Seki has gone to defeat someone from Houjou.”

“And what will you do?”

“Defeating someone from Musashi might be nice.”

“You already lost to them once, didn’t you?”

“Testament.” The Reine des Garous smiled a little. “I could always make up for that, you know? I could sniff out their merchant or duel that girl taking a break in the changing room.”

“You can make do with me. I am technically on Musashi’s side.”

“That you are,” agreed the Reine des Garous with a smile. She pulled over her tray floating on the water. “Would you like some of this?”

“Then you can have some of this. …Is that Far Eastern wine?”

“Testament. Some from my daughter’s land was on the menu.”

“Mito, hm?”

Yoshiaki raised a hand of thanks and accepted the wine from the Reine des Garous.

In exchange, she poured some of her bottle’s contents into the other woman’s glass.

“Is this Houjou sake?”

“It is from Musashi,” said Yoshiaki. “Rice grown inside Musashi is used as a base and the brewing is done at the Asama Shrine. It must have a purifying effect because it affects a nonhuman like me pretty strongly. I quite like it.”

“I see. In that case…” The Reine des Garous wet her lips with the sake in her glass. “If my daughter becomes a concubine along with the Asama shrine maiden, purifying effects like that could put her at a disadvantage… The time may have come for me to teach her a good plan for that.”

“Such as?”

“Testament. If she is going to practice with chicken skewers, it is actually better to use chicken meatball skewers.”

“Would kiritanpo not work?”

“M-my! Just a slight misspelling away from disaster!”<ref>Changing one kana turns kiritanpo into kirichinpo, which means “severed dick”.</ref>

“No one is misspelling anything.”

“Testament. And you really mustn’t sever them. You need to treat them with care.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it sounds like a complex situation.”

Just as Yoshiaki sighed, a new result was added to the sign frame.

“It seems we have a result for Kotarou and your Seki Masasada.”

“Testament. I can see it. Winner: Seki Masasada,” said the Reine des Garous. “But Seki has been instructed to withdraw. She must have been pretty badly damaged.”

Kotarou was held in someone’s arms.

Her own tiny arms held a short sword the automaton had dropped.

…''It even got through to her…!

The blade she held was stabbed up to the guard inside her seated opponent’s stomach.

But that opponent held Kotarou in arms that barely kept their original shape.

She could not move.

But she heard a straining sound as the automaton stood up.

And during that unsteady standing motion, she heard several components and lots of lubricant oil spilling from the automaton’s body. She also heard breaking metal and felt herself wobble.

But the automaton had stood up.

Next, that automaton placed Kotarou on the ground.

As she did, Kotarou saw the flower garden of destruction around her.

She had sent in a total of 18 gods of war and 72 automatons, but they had all destroyed themselves.

Of course, to do all this, that defective model would have to have taken an equal level of damage. But…

“It takes a proper model to destroy a proper model. …That is something I cannot do.”

“That’s not-…!”

''Wait,'' thought Kotarou. This opponent was stating the truth, not being ironic.

She was a defective model who would hesitate if told to “defeat” a proper model.

That was what had led to the result before them.

That flower garden of fragments had all come from self-destruction.

Among the broken components and frames, the colors of external armor and torn armored clothing were scattered like flowers.

There was wind. A powerful gust blew in from the ocean.

That air current blew through the automaton’s hair as she turned her back.

“Until we meet again.”

“You’re leaving!? Shouldn’t you call for assistance!?”

“A defective model must not call for her master.”

But…

“My Princess says our pride and vainglory leave room for defective models.”

“What…?” asked Kotarou.

The automaton creaked and swayed as she walked, but she looked back over her shoulder to answer.

“Hexagone Française and Mouri are not shelves to display well-made dolls. They are a toy box in which even defective models are thrown. A toy box belonging to the Roi-Soleil and my Princess.”

She turned her back in the wind once more.

Kotarou exhaled as she watched the automaton leave.

“I will not accept it! …I may have lost the duel, but I did stop you!”

The Mouse shouted at that creaking and swaying back.

“All that matters is that I kept you from reaching Ujinao-sama…!”

“Hey, Mouri-01.”

Terumoto looked up into the cloudy sky that was gaining the colors of evening.

A dull scarlet was mixing in with the clouds.

She moved her eyes to follow the flowing clouds and the colors of the sky visible through them.

“How about we move to the camp entrance?”

“We mustn’t, Princess. …She will return, so let’s trust in her.”

“Ahh, vainglory sure ain’t easy. “

“Testament. But a lot of people follow you because of that. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Testament,” continued Mouri-01. “If you went out to meet her, she would get embarrassed and not have anyone to hide behind. Right now, you need to fix your windswept hair and stack up your books.”

“At any rate, this means one of Houjou’s rights goes to Mouri.”

Yoshiaki thought about this while she got up from the bath.

…''Does this mean Mouri has preserved their reputation?

It meant a lot that the western nation of Mouri had gained a hook to involve themselves with the eastern nations.

If anyone tried to take Houjou’s right from Mouri, they would almost certainly put a stop to it.

So it was best to assume that right was a sure thing for Mouri.

Given that, the only remaining problem was the two women here.

“Hm,” said Yoshiaki as she shook the water off her tails and turned around.

She spoke to the Reine des Garous who was drying off with two towels.

“What rules shall we use for our duel?”

“I’m fine with a physical battle, but in that case…” She pointed toward the entrance. “How about we go to Odawara Castle. We should see some battles on the way. When we do, we can adopt their combat methods for our duel. If we take multiple duel methods into account, we can find something that makes for a fair fight. I mean, I would have far too much of an advantage in a normal battle.”

“Is that so? …I was thinking the same thing about myself. A devious fox would never lose to brute force.”

“Heh heh. What a scary person you are.”

“I could say the same about you,” said Yoshiaki with a bitter smile.

She slid open the door while planning to get dressed and see what kinds of duels were underway between here and Odawara Castle.

“Yoshiyasu? The Reine des Garous and I are about to leave here, so-…”

She was going to ask the girl what she would do, but she trailed off when she saw Yoshiyasu, Kani, and Ookubo having a duel of sorts.

The three of them had dragged a ping pong table to the center of the changing room and they were engaged in a high-speed rally.

When Yoshiaki appeared, they all looked over and Yoshiyasu missed the ball.

The hard paper ball flew to the floor and Ookubo turned the blackboard containing the score toward Kani. And…

“We’re in our rest period, so we decided to have some fun,” said Ookubo. “What’s that look for?”

“I see,” said Yoshiaki with a nod, but the Reine des Garous spoke up behind her.

“…This is it. This will be our duel.”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 58|Chapter 58]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 60|Chapter 60]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 55

2018-12-17T06:21:40Z

108.162.237.169:

==Chapter 55: Surprise Attacker at the Festival==
[[Image:Horizon6-C317.jpg|thumb]]
''Um, uh, I

''…What is happening to me…?

'''Point Allocation (Beginner)

Mitotsudaira heard a sudden voice while she and the silver chains cleaned up after eating.

It was Masazumi who was stacking up paper plates.

“Huh? What is this?”

“…What is what?”

“Judge,” said the girl while holding up something related to the next duel for a Musashi fighter.

A request had been sent in advance of the actual duel in the Odawara city.

“That is from the Representative Committee Head, isn’t it?”

She had evidently found a convenient opponent. But she must have needed time to prepare or something because she had sent in a request to ensure she was not attacked or challenged to a duel by another opponent in the meantime.

It was a solid defensive move that was very much like her.

And it provided the type of duel the Representative Committee Head was requesting.

“…Karaoke?”

“I could see someone settling on that format after some discussion. …Think of it like Uta-awase.”

“Judge,” agreed Kanou who was waiting to the side. She looked to the Odawara city before continuing. “She often participates in karaoke to entertain guests. She can earn very high scores, so I assume she is using that to ensure an advantage over her opponent in this ‘duel’.”

“I see…”

''There are so many different ways to fight,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

“Hey, everyone, the festival stands are about to be switched out for the night ones, so this is your last chance to order any of the afternoon foods.”

Some occasional blue gaps were visible in the sky as Tenzou walked down from the festival stands.

Tenzou pointed back toward the festival.

“The stands are being swapped out and I only stopped by to inspect the new stands, but I didn’t see any problems. The old stands are selling their food for cheap, so if you want to stock up, now would be the time.”

Adele clenched her right fist when she heard that. And Naomasa raised her hand.

“I’m going to go cool off back at the main base. Righteousness has apparently returned to the Musashi up above, so I want to compare the malfunctions and damaged parts to Suzaku’s patterns.”

“Are you gathering autonomous movement data, 6th Special Duty Officer?”

“More or less. And by checking which parts Suzaku tends to damage more often, I can guess where Righteousness will damage itself. Units that can fight autonomously are rare even on the Musashi, so I’ve suddenly gotten a lot busier when it comes to data management and application.”

“Judge.” Tenzou nodded but then looked to Masazumi and the others who were discussing something. “Did something happen in Odawara?”

“Ookubo says she’ll be fighting a duel via karaoke, so we were discussing what kinds of songs are popular these days. …That’s an area I have almost no knowledge in.”

“Is that so? …Well, competing in verse is an ancient tradition used by the Heian nobles and later in renga matches. It sounds perfect for a literary type like Ookubo-dono.”

“That’s true,” everyone agreed.

Just then, Mary stood up within the group. She held up a bag of burnable trash in each hand.

“Master Tenzou.”

“J-judge! If you were about to throw out that trash, I could take it for you.”

“Oh, no. I can go too, so please take this one.”

She handed him one of the full bags. After checking the location of the garbage dump on a sign frame, she opened a few more sign frames and bowed toward Asama.

When she noticed Mary’s action, Asama smiled and waved back.

Then Mary turned toward Tenzou with a smile.

“Okay, let’s go, Master Tenzou. And, um…”

Tenzou knew what she was going to say, so he said it first.

“Mary-dono, how about we take a look around the afternoon festival while we still can?”

At first, Mary did not understand what he had said to her.

…''Eh?

He had ''invited her'' out for some fun while in front of everyone. She hesitated over that fact.

Just as Masazumi had said in the divine chat earlier, they had their diplomatic relations with England to worry about. So it was always her who invited him to share in her interests and curiosities.

Also, he could be somewhat shy. She knew full well that he was taking good care of her and she felt blessed by that, but…

…''He generally only invites me to do something when it is necessary…

And this was in front of everyone. He tended to avoid festivals and other public areas like this.

That was why she had tried to invite him while giving him a good excuse, but…

“U-umm.”

He had predicted it and invited her instead.

''Most likely,'' she thought, ''he invited me himself so I wouldn’t have to invite him.'' But when she thought about it…

…''He doesn’t think I am an indecent girl who does the inviting herself, does he?

She wanted to deny it. She wanted to say that was not what this was about. But…

“Um, uh…”

She could not raise her lowered head. She could feel heat gradually filling her downturned cheeks.

And what was this?

…''Water lilies?

Ether water lilies were starting to blossom around her.

''What do I do?'' she wondered.

…''I’m being indecent, yet I feel so happy that Master Tenzou invited me himself…

Asama saw something unbelievable.

Next to her face, Hanami frantically pointed a sign frame her way. It showed the surrounding ley lines growing abnormally active.

Because Mary had some dryad blood in her veins, her emotions were interfering with the ley lines and raising their energy level. The ether flowers blossoming around her were proof enough of that.

“No…”

Mary brushed away the surrounding flowers without raising her head.

She was embarrassed to have her emotions so visible. However…

'''Gold Mar:''' “You’ve really done it now, Tenzou…”

'''Mar-Ga:''' “That was way too much of a surprise attack… This is the kind of bombshell you drop when you aren’t used to dealing with women.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Um, what are you talking about?”

Asama understood. At times like this, Mary would usually invite Tenzou.

Because Tenzou felt so much responsibility concerning her, he took good care of her. After all, she was a crucial part of England’s future. Carelessly interfering with that would cause an international incident.

Mary understood that as well, so she made a point of inviting him herself.

…''When she does the inviting, the responsibility lies with England.

But Tenzou had broken that rule. He had invited Mary before she could invite him.

It had probably been a casual thing for him. It had looked like he simply spoke up so Mary would not have to invite him out for some fun before a major battle. However…

'''Asama:''' “For Mary, that flipped a lot of things on their head and affirmed everything…”

Mary must have thought she would continue inviting him until she was confident she could act as a part of England’s history.

But that had changed.

The change had probably come from Masazumi and Mary’s earlier exchange.

Tenzou probably had not thought about it too deeply, but he had made a decision.

He had decided to enjoy the present instead of just using the present as insurance for the future.

'''Gold Mar:''' “But Ma-yan has no idea what to do since he sprung it on her without warning.”

Because…

'''Gold Mar:''' “Tenzou’s in the smooth mode he used to confess and he’s saying he’ll continue on like this forever.”

Mary was troubled.

…''What am I supposed to do…?

She could not look him in the eye.

No, he had only invited her to the festival. So couldn’t she just accept that invitation?

She only had to be as detached as her sister.

…''I-I can’t…!

It had been too much of a surprise attack. He had suddenly accepted her and everything that entailed.

This was not the same as going shopping, on walks, or to the academy. Even if it was a history recreation, they were essentially going out for some fun before a battle.

And he had cut her off so she would not have to act indecently in front of others.

Her invitation played no role here.

If anything happened, all of the responsibility would lie with him.

She understood what that meant.

But that was the entire point.

When he had confessed to her, she had felt like she could leave everything with him and trust him. That same feeling existed in the present rather than in some distant future.

Everything from that London night to now had not just been insurance for the future.

It had all been the same.

She had been relieved to have him taking care of her, but she may also have felt a happy resignation about that luxurious time.

So this had been a surprise attack.

She had indecently felt relieved in their happiness and thought it was all about a distant future.

“Um.”

But now she felt she could experience unrestrained happiness in the present.

And when she realized that, she saw a color around her.

It was white.

The ether water lilies were blossoming so wildly that waving her hand around only spread them meaninglessly around.

Just then, she heard his voice.

“Mary-dono, the fun does not really begin until we reach the festival.”

Tenzou suppressed the urge to run away.

…''I need to concentrate! Now is the time to concentrate!

He knew Mary enjoyed the happiness they currently had, but he also knew she felt some dissatisfaction concerning him. On the night that Sanada’s Torahide had fallen on them and caused a commotion, she had gotten drunk and made some complaints.

She was happy the way things were and she thought it was good enough, but she still felt some dissatisfaction.

It was a feeling she could not quite put to words.

She had mentioned moving to another room, but that came from her desire to sleep with their futons side by side.

If she did not like sleeping so far apart…

“…”

''The problem is my lack of assertiveness,'' thought Tenzou.

On that night, Mary had eventually settled down with her head in his lap and she had not remembered it all the following morning. But he remembered it all quite well, including how she had placed her chest on his head while she was awake.

He felt really bad about it all.

…''Mary-dono is always working so hard at everything.

Perhaps because she had lived with the assumption of an imminent death, she treasured each and every day. And she tried to experience and gain as much as possible during those days.

In that sense, he did not treat her right.

He was trying to take good care of her, but that was a form of “preservation”, not a means of mutual improvement.

They wanted to be together no matter what it meant for England or the Far East, so they would have to spend their time together in a way that allowed them to hold their heads high when faced with the people they had betrayed.

So he had tried saying it. And Mary had blushed and hung her head.

Tenzou had not been using a ninja technique like Smooth Response or Tasteful Handling. He had tried to invite her in as carefree a way as he could. That was all. However…

…''Incredible.

Water lilies were blossoming all around Mary.

They were in public and near the others. She must have been embarrassed that everyone could see the flowers that were her emotions because she restlessly tried to brush away the nearby ones. However, they continued to blossom and they began to pile up around her.

All he had done was invite her in public without letting his fear stop him. Was that really enough to make her this happy?

''If so,'' he thought. ''This was for the best.

They had Masazumi and the others for maintaining things between England and the Far East, and they could prepare for battle if need be. Carrying a burden yourself did not mean you could not ask others for help.

They were residents of Musashi.

'''10ZO:''' “Masazumi-dono, on the topic of national sovereignty, where do the people fall into the three factors needed to establish a nation?”

'''Vice President:''' “Judge, they are protected and given a guarantee by the nation’s laws and military might. Even when their opponent is something greater than an individual. …That is why people desire the framework of a nation.”

“Judge,” replied Tenzou before looking to Mary.

Hanging her head did not hide her blushing or her emotions. She was very different from normal.

“Mary-dono.”

When he called out to her, her shoulders finally shook.

“…Y-yes?”

In order to look at him, she lifted her gaze up to around his neck but then stopped.

And he could tell her gaze was dropping back down as if being boiled away.

So he held out his right hand.

“Let’s go.”

She did not immediately respond. Two and then three seconds passed. The span of a breath passed after that.

…''Th-this silence is saying “I’m sorry!”, isn’t it!?

But just as he thought that, Mary suddenly grabbed his proffered right hand between her hands.

She held it tightly.

Her hands were covered in scars which were not immediately noticeable. Those hands and fingers were the proof of her life on England’s third and fourth levels and they had cut down three hundred people.

They held his hand as if biting it. It was a desperate grip that was so like her.

And after fully latching onto his hand, she moved her upper body vertically.

“Y-…yes. Judge.”

She responded with something of a false start and she no longer tried to stop the scattering flowers.

Tenzou gave her his right hand and lowered his hips slightly.

He picked up the trash bag she had dropped. Or he pretended to. Instead, he pressed his lips against the back of her hand as it held his right hand.

“Ah…”

The flowers blossomed all the more. Tenzou stood up and lifted the trash bag in his left hand.

“How about we get going, Mary-dono?”

Asama watched as the couple formed in England walked off.

Mary held his right hand in her left while her right hand held his arm. As for him…

“—————————”

He briefly looked back and nodded.

Once he faced forward again and walked off, everyone else nodded too.

'''Mar-Ga:''' “…Yes, I understand perfectly. …You’re saying I can use this in a doujinshi…”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Tenzou can be really reckless sometimes…”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “But those times almost all have to do with Mary, don’t they?”

While the wolf breathed a sigh of astonishment and envy, Asama felt a cold sweat in her heart.

…''I look that way too, don’t I?

''Both of us look just like “a maiden in love”!'' she thought about herself and Mary.

This likely applied to Mitotsudaira as well.

However, there was something else that applied to Mary as much as them.

…''Mary also seems to have skipped straight past the romance phase and entered the pure love phase.

Since Asama and Mitotsudaira had known him for so long, they had not really gone through that phase either.

But it was hitting them now.

Realizing your own or someone else’s feelings after the fact was not an easy thing. The rebound from the past was so harsh that she was losing sight of herself.

Of course, there was no need to change the relationship from before.

But she had a choice now that she had realized what a truly happy environment she lived in.

Should she treat him even better than before?

Or should she keep everything the same, hide the happiness in her heart, and trust in their mutual understanding?

She felt that everyone was different, but everyone was a beginner when they first noticed that happiness.

So they would not know what to do about it.

Anxiety and unhappiness could be countered with purification and action. Mary was a well-made girl. She would be able to do the same.

But no one was accustomed to that happiness. When you became old enough to look to your future, you would think your life would end within your current framework.

But that was not necessarily the case.

Your life could also become a life spent with someone else.

And if that happened, that framework was easily broken.

Especially if you made an attempt to change your usual self.

That was true even for Mary who had already been so close to Tenzou. Asama watched those two walking away. Mary was hanging her head and being half-dragged along, but Asama smiled a little.

She tried to say “that can’t be easy”, but different words left her mouth.

“How nice…”

Asama gasped.

…''H-how nice!? What am I saying!?

She felt like her emotions had been far too honest lately. But if that was the case…

…''Then this isn’t a lie.

She had thought that things could not be easy for Mary and Tenzou, and that was not a lie. But that was less important.

It could not be easy, but it seemed nice.

“…Wow.”

“Wow what?” asked Mitotsudaira.

…''She heard me!?

Had she also heard the previous “how nice”?

Asama gave her a hesitant glance and saw Mitotsudaira’s cheeks were red. Past her, the idiot sister kept a straight face while holding a hand to her ear and directing her ear toward Asama, but that girl was abnormal and was best ignored.

Then Mitotsudaira elbowed her right arm.

Asama gave her a questioning look and Mitotsudaira whispered to her with a frown.

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. …I thought the same thing.”

“H-ho ho?”

This friend did not often offer her raw feelings like this.

So there was something she wanted to say.

“Um, Mito? I kind of want us to die together right here, but can I ask something?”

“…That is awfully morbid, but what is it?”

“Well.” Asama took a half step toward Mitotsudaira and spoke while still facing forward. “Did you think ‘how nice’ while watching Mary and Tenzou-kun?”

“Judge. I did.”

“And did you also think ‘that can’t be easy’ beforehand?”

“Judge. I did.”

“Then,” said Asama. “If you imagine us in their place, do you think things ‘can’t be easy’ between yourself and Toori-kun?”

…''Wow.

Mitotsudaira was hit by a harsh counter.

That was true. When she thought of them in those positions, she did not think it “can’t be easy” like she did when it was someone else.

It was not a burden. Because it was necessary for her.

So when they thought of themselves in Mary’s place, only the “how nice” remained.

She nearly fell to her knees when she realized that.

“Well done…”

Asama had done an impressive job of guiding her here.

…''T-Tomo really is better than me when it comes to using words…!

Asama had noticed this, so she had dragged Mitotsudaira into it as well.

“Well, um…do you admit defeat?” asked Asama while blushing.

“Wh-why do you sound so victorious!? You stepped on that trap first.”

“Ho ho? So you admit I am ahead of you?”

“That is not something to brag about.”

But at the same time…

“Mary has a ways to go too, doesn’t she?”

While the two of them relaxed their shoulders and watched the couple leave, they heard a voice from behind.

“Heh heh… This is a happy thing for Mary. She doesn’t have to be so obedient anymore.”

“…How long have you been listening in, Kimi?”

“Oh, come now. I wasn’t eavesdropping. …The voices of defenseless girls just have a way of reaching people’s ears.” Kimi narrowed her eyes. “Aren’t you glad you aren’t such a straitlaced girl anymore?”

“Don’t put it like that…!”

Mitotsudaira gave Asama a sidelong glance to say arguing with Kimi was pointless.

But Kimi was already embracing Horizon from behind.

“Now, then. Horizon, let’s review some data afterwards. We need to submit the results of last night’s photoshoot to have posters printed for the two of us.”

“A-are you making more sexy posters, Kimi!?”

“Oh? It is important that you make sure people can see your best side. That way you know what you need to improve upon.”

Just then, he raised his right hand.

“What’s this about posters?”

“…Huh!?”

Mitotsudaira tilted her head and her crossdressing king eventually did the same.

“I mean, I was cleaning up my room and dead last night.”

''That’s true,'' thought Mitotsudaira as she turned toward her friend with a smile.

“Tomo, can you explain?”

'''Asama:''' “You’re getting back at me, aren’t you!?”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “I need to take whatever chances I can get…!”

But Asama formed a smile and gestured both hands toward Mitotsudaira.

“Toori-kun, you didn’t see Mito’s new swimsuit last night, did you? Because Horizon knocked you out as soon as you stuck your head in.”

“Yeah, that really shook my brain… Judge, I’d love to see Nate’s new one. The previous one was so cool.”

“Y-you saw the previous one!?”

“Judge. I got quite a few glimpses of it. You’re the designer type, so I bet it’d be interesting to hear where you got the ideas from. And the curves from your waist to your hips are so cool, so I’m sure the new one looks great too. So when I heard you’d show it to me, I had to go check it out.”

…''Wow…

That was quite the thing to have him say in front of the others. Mitotsudaira thought Asama was going to tease her, but the girl was only blushing, suggesting she had realized the same thing.
However…

“M-my king, shouldn’t you ask Horizon about hers?”

“No, no.” Horizon waved her hand side to side. “Mine was chosen by the Blue Thunder’s manager. Yes.”

“Yeah…” Her king hung his head. “I tried asking about that during the study camp.”

“You did?”

“And she said something like ‘I chose it because it was on sale’ while doing an impression of my mom’s voice. I’m not into the real mom genre, so that did a lot of psychological damage…”

Everyone gave him sympathetic looks.

Ookubo did her best to keep smiling in the bathhouse.

Her opponent was Kani Saizou.

Satomi Yoshiyasu would take her side in the discussion here.

Kani and Yoshiyasu were both in their rest periods, so they would not begin fighting right away.

However, Ookubo had an idea.

…''I could always duel Kani.

Kani had to be the easiest opponent in Odawara right now.

She had lost some of her weapons in the fight against Mogami Yoshiaki. According to her:

“Testament. Four of my ejection cowling spears were destroyed!”

''It’s always worth asking, isn’t it?'' Ookubo had thought.

Based on what she had seen of the battle held on the Odawara rooftops, Kani had eight ejection spears.

If she had lost four of those, her ability to fight would have been halved.

It was hard to tell why she remained in Odawara. Was she just an idiot, or was she making a proper assessment of her strength? Ookubo could only guess at Hashiba’s decisions here, but since Kani had not been ordered to retreat, it was best to assume the girl could still fight.

…''This must not be enough to bring her power down.

But losing half her equipment had to make her feel at a disadvantage.

So Ookubo suggested a different form of competition.

“We will have a karaoke competition.”

The next step was to not let Kani question it or run away.

Ookubo ordered some food from an automaton, both to fill up the girl’s rest period and to recover from her own exhaustion.

Kani had apparently brought some light snacks with her, but…

“You sure are ordering a lot…!”

“Yes, this is for you as well. …Feel free to eat as much as you want. The Siege of Odawara includes the history recreation of a festival held by the Hashiba forces. And if we’re going to do karaoke, it’s best to set the mood.”

“Oh, but I can’t pay you back…!”

“Don’t worry.” Ookubo smiled toward Kani and waved her hand dismissively. “I’m participating in the Siege of Odawara as Musashi’s Representative Council Head. I will be reimbursed for most any expenses and, when you’re ordered to fight on the battlefield, you deserve to treat yourself a little bit, don’t you think? Also…”

Also…

“If you eat and drink on our yen, it means you had Musashi spend more of our budget. Should a member of the Hashiba forces really reject an offer like that?”

“When you put it like that, no!”

Yoshiyasu was silently glaring at Ookubo.

Ookubo operated the ordering sign frame and smiled as she typed on the keyboard of another sign frame.

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “You don’t have to give me that look. Just leave it all to me.”

'''Righteousness:''' “Sorry. …To be honest, I’m terrible at this kind of thing. I’m impressed at how easy you make it look.”

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “I appreciate that you don’t take issue with people who can do this. Also…”

Also…

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “This is entirely ineffectual against the awful people ‘above’ us.”

“Yeah,” said Yoshiyasu out loud while looking away, so Ookubo elbowed her in the bathwater. Kani had tilted her head at the girl’s reaction.

“Did you order some kind of weird joke food!?”

“Eh? Um, yes. Look forward to it.”

She could not lie, so Ookubo ordered something along those lines.

…''The crocodile steak with bananas should be safe enough…

With that, they would have enough food. That left the drinks.

“Kani-kun. Can you handle alcohol?”

“Testament! I can!”

''That’s what I like to hear.

She had guts to drink alcohol in the bath before some karaoke.

For herself, Ookubo decided to go with a strawberry lassi she could pretend was alcoholic. It was an option for the mixed drinks, so Kani would have no way of knowing whether or not it had alcohol in it.

And for Yoshiyasu…

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “I hear you can’t hold your liquor.”

'''Righteousness:''' “I can hold it just fine…! It’s just that I keep getting served really strong drinks!”

That was a new one.

But Ookubo did not want to make an enemy here, so arguing would be a bad idea.

“Fair enough,” was all she said while ordering Yoshiyasu’s drink.

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “I’ll order you an umeshu with super low alcohol content. …You can claim it’s to recover from your exhaustion and get some nutrients.”

'''Righteousness:''' “Thanks. At this time of year, it’ll either have just started steeping or be from last year.”

Ookubo was reminded of umeshu with a steeped and falling-apart plum in it. When pouring umeshu, it was important to strain out the pieces, and she gulped a bit at the thought.

She reviewed the main order while wishing she had gone with umeshu herself.

…''I already ordered the sub order, so it should be arriving soon.

It did.

The door slid open and a bathhouse-equipped automaton walked in with a tray. It carried some light appetizers.

The automatons would treat the fighters like they did not exist, but that apparently changed when they were customers.

“Now,” said Ookubo while leaning her back against the edge of the bath. “Let’s eat and enjoy ourselves until the main order arrives.”

She closed her wings.

Those six golden wings were below the eaves on the road. Katou Yoshiaki inserted a coin into a vending machine and thought about what she should get to stay hydrated. She viewed the options before her eyes and, since this was Houjou, they had an incredible number of curry flavors.

“Right now, this sports nectar is probably better than the black tea or carbonated lassi. Although it looks fairly thick. …But before that, it seems it is time to battle.”

She turned to her right.

“I will make up for falling into the red earlier.”

Musashi’s merchant was there.

…''I see.

Yoshiaki took a breath and nodded.

“Just to be clear, I am part of the Houjou forces here, not the Hashiba ones. So keep that in mind.”

“Then this will kill two birds with one stone.”

''I don’t like that interpretation,'' thought Yoshiaki, but she kept it to herself.

Clashing with someone else’s assertions was such a pain. And the duel would settle everything either way.

She knew Musashi’s merchant had fought and lost to Date. Date would work with Musashi for a long time to come, so if Musashi had given a victory’s worth of rights to them…

…''They could have more and more taken in the long term.

As a merchant, he had to make back what he had lost. It would likely be best to fight Date again and win this time, but he could never recover if he lost again.

He must have wanted a different opponent as a safety measure.

And that opponent was her.

She knew what his choice meant. His mention of killing two birds with one stone explained everything.

She belonged to Hashiba, but she counted as Houjou here. Defeating her would not earn them rights from both Hashiba and Houjou, but it would make it look like Musashi had defeated both nations.

He thought he could make up for his loss against Date and earn something extra while he was at it.

“Do you know the difference between a merchant and a gambler?” she asked.

“Whether or not they prostrate.”

How was she supposed to respond when he said that with a straight face? But regardless…

“A gambler keeps shoving more money into a game they can’t win.”

“That is not a gambler.”

“Yes, it’s a loser.”

The merchant’s eyebrows moved in response to that. And he opened his mouth.

“And if I win in the end?”

“Is fantasizing about a bright future enough for you?”

Just as she asked that, the merchant flicked some kind of power from his hand.

It was a 100-yen coin. It flew toward her in a high-speed straight line.

…''He’s faster than I imagined…

It reached her in an instant.

“So the Treasurer has engaged the enemy,” said Futayo in front of the festival stands built on a hill.

She held a sign frame alerting her of a battle request. Masazumi asked her a question about it.

“Is that a report from Bertoni?”

Futayo looked at the sign frame by her hands.

A brief report on battle information was generally sent to the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor first. However…

“I prefer to leave all the thinking to you, Masazumi, so any reports should be sent to you at the same time as me.”

“Then he must still be fighting. After how quick his previous fight was, I thought this one might be the same.”

Masazumi looked toward Odawara.

“His opponent is Houjou, so I’d really like for you to give us a win here, Bertoni.”

Shirojiro saw the enemy’s response and movement.

Yoshiaki defended against the coin bullet he had launched. And she used…

“A sheet of metal…? No, an armor panel?”

She had ejected a panel of metal from the air. It was about 20cm wide and 1m long.

The panel floated in midair alongside her arm as she turned her right side forward in a guarding stance.

Then she stood up from her low, crouching stance. The metal panel circled around her and came to a stop near the back of her waist.

He could tell this used gravitational control.

And she swung her right arm.

Ether light sprayed out as she ejected something at her hand.

It was a large white blade shaped like a chisel.

The blade portion was thin and long. The flat chisel sword grew to about 4m long. It had a white luster to it and it floated in her hand.

“Carve him…Weiss Fürstin.”

Just as she said that, something shot from atop the blade in her hand.

…''What is that!?

Shirojiro took a defensive stance right before it collided with him.

It was a direct hit.

…''Did that get through?

Yoshiaki spun around the blade that had fired a rapid shot.

She had launched a single coin past the thin mist created by the high-speed shot.

It was a Groschen silver coin. It was growing outdated, but it was equivalent to a Far Eastern 500-yen coin. It was thick for a coin, which gave it a lot of destructive power. It was primarily used as an armor-piercing anti-ship round.

She had used one of those on the enemy.

The shock of impact had created a cloud of dust where the Musashi Treasurer had been.

But Yoshiaki saw something.

“I would expect no less from a merchant with an Urban Name…!”

The Musashi Treasurer was there.

He had caught the silver coin in his outstretched right hand.

But he had not stopped that 500 yen barehanded.

He had used money.

There was a stack of coins in his palm.

“These are 100-yen coins.”

He did not even glance at the coin as it fell from his hand to the ground.

“If it is currency, the god of money can exchange it for an equivalent value. By touching my money, it became my possession, so your silver coin was exchanged for my five 100-yen coins.”

One, two, three – the falling silver coins had something in common.

They had become no more than round and flat pieces of metal.

Yoshiaki tilted her head when she saw it.

“If it was an exchange, shouldn’t that money come to me? I thought this was an equivalent exchange.”

“You consumed its value by firing it.”

“…So you overwrote its existence as money and consumed it using the power of your god?”

“Judge.” He nodded and held up the fourth coin before it could fall. “And that leaves only these plain coins. You are really meant to spend a little extra to ensure the used coins can be used again. But…”

He threw away the fourth coin as he spoke.

“I cannot spare that money at the moment.”

“Because you’re poor?”

“I am not poor.” He squeezed her silver coin in his hand. “I simply have no money…!”

''I don’t care how forcefully you claim there’s a difference,'' thought Yoshiaki as the Musashi Treasurer raised his hands.

He spread his hands like he was drawing a bow and several acceleration spells activated.

“Let us end this in a single blow.”

“Because you’re short on money?”

“No. …I tried to do my best earlier and failed. A simple battle is better.”

It happened just as he said “so”.

“Go, kickback…!”

An impressive water vapor explosion occurred at the Musashi Treasurer’s hands.

The enemy had fired a coin bullet with multiple acceleration spells. Which was…

…''The same technique he used against Tres España’s Vice Chancellor during the Armada battle…!

Yoshiaki did not hesitate. She could not capture the approaching coin bullet. However…

…''I can read its path…!

This used acceleration spells.

Several of them were lined up in a row.

They formed a perfectly-aligned row in order to provide the coin with speed directed straight ahead.

So if they only looked like a single acceleration spell, you were in the target location.

She did not use her own eyes to search for that.

“…Weiss Fürstin!”

Yoshiaki opened a Magie Figur. The enemy’s acceleration spells were visible to the naked eye. She had Weiss Fürstin recognize those spell ''lernen figur''s and opened a sight-linking system.

She set Weiss Fürstin’s autopilot to fire a counterattack once the spell ''lernen figur''s overlapped perfectly.

…''Will it be fast enough!?

It all happened in an instant. And she heard a sudden but quiet sound.

It was the soft knocking sound of a targeting lock.

This would work.

But then Yoshiaki saw Weiss Fürstin’s counterattack location displayed on her Magie Figur.

…''It’s right on my centerline!

That was dangerous. The enemy had targeted a location that was difficult to dodge no matter which way she moved her body.

It was a shifted up toward her chest a bit, so he may have predicted she would fly.

She sensed his intent to prevent her from escaping. And…

“…!”

Something else from the Musashi Treasurer flew over her head.

They were ten 10-yen coins.

He had made change using a distribution spell.

That meant it had originally been a 100-yen coin. If that was flying in now, he must have set it up earlier.

…''When did he do that…?

She could make a guess.

When he had caught her silver coin, he had used 100-yen coins.

If he had defended with the concept of equivalent value, he would have used five coins. But he had given his explanation after raising the fourth coin.

Where had the fifth one gone? Now she knew.

The enemy had paid for insurance on the final coin and recycled it.

He sent a cluster of 10-yen coins from the sky when she could not fly or dodge. And from ahead…

“—————!”

The recycled Groschen silver coin flew toward the center of her body.

There were multiple actions.

The first was Yoshiaki swinging her bullet-accelerator blade in front of her body.

But not even that accelerator could send the high-speed bullet back the way it had come.

So she did something else.

She rotated the blade.

But this was not a normal rotation. The blade itself drew a U-shaped path in the air.

“Spin around, Weiss Fürstin!”

The scraping of the bullet created a burst of sparks as the blade spun around.

She used that arcing path as the margin and supplied the rest of the rotation speed with…

“Fire!”

Yoshiaki had placed a 500-yen coin on the blade. The gravitational control used to fire it repelled the coin perpendicularly instead of letting it slide down the blade. The recoil spun the blade with the force of a ricochet.

“—————!”

It rotated in front of Yoshiaki as she took a step back.

The enemy’s bullet was scooped up by Weiss Fürstin’s blade, changing its trajectory.

And its path was bent all the way around to send it back the way it had come.

Immediately afterwards, Yoshiaki swung both arms toward the cluster of 10-yen coins dropping from the sky.

“Weiss Fürstin!”

Ten blades were ejected into the air.

All of the coins were caught and rotated. And at the center of them all, Yoshiaki looked forward.

She faced the merchant who had launched his acceleration spells and closed his hands.

“Fire….!”

The silver coin already had the force of the enemy’s acceleration spells and the firing of her blade was added on top of that.

She also redirected the 10 shots from the sky.

“Go!”

She released them all.

“Oh?” said Narumi just as she was preparing to pay her bill.

She heard a familiar sound from the distance outside.

…''That was the Treasurer’s cannon blast.

But the sound overlapping it was odd.

It was almost familiar but not quite. If anything, it reminded her of…

…''The 4th Special Duty Officer’s gravitational acceleration ejection pattern?

The Musashi Treasurer’s opponent was Katou Yoshiaki, a Weiss Hexen. So…

“A close-range artillery battle? Talk about reckless.”

“Hm?”

Mogami Yoshiaki turned toward her while drinking sake at the table.

She tilted her head but narrowed her eyes.

“Very noisy, isn’t it?”

“Judge. But it will prove fruitful. …For one of them.”

“Your bill will be 2700 yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!”

Narumi sighed as she pulled exact change from her wallet and placed it in Ujiteru’s hand.

“I need to fight my next duel too.”

Just as she said that, she heard another solid sound from outside.

“Was that…?”

It was a familiar but loud noise.

Yoshiaki watched her attack.

She had honestly not needed much accuracy from the ten shots she redirected from the sky. She had only wanted them to hold her opponent in place.

But they tore through the enemy’s surroundings before the real attack arrived.

The cluster of 10-yen coins exploded near the Musashi Treasurer.

The blasts reverberated out and dust sprayed high into the air.

Meanwhile, the Musashi Treasurer had his hands thrust forward on either side of him.

Was he preparing a wide-range defense?

But the bombing had come from above.

One of them was in position to pass diagonally through his face. If it hit, it would blow a hole through his head below the forehead.

And…

“——————”

He dodged with no more than swinging his head to the side.

Of course, that was not quite enough to fully dodge it.

The coin diagonally grazed his cheek and some of his hair scattered through the air.

But that was all. The Musashi Treasurer had not moved.

…''Why not?

Yoshiaki had sent the silver coin right back toward him.

So why had he not used his body to dodge it already?

She did not know. So she quickly pulled back the ten blades scattered overhead and focused on the Musashi Treasurer’s actions.

She had trained her eyes for firing and aerial battles and she used that to accurately view his movements.

…''Is that…?

The right hand he had spread out for defense was thrust out in front of his chest.

Of course, there was no way that was enough to catch the high-speed silver coin.

Besides, there were no defensive coins in his hand.

But she had seen something else.

“…An acceleration spell!”

The Musashi Treasurer had opened a spell ''lernen figur'' in his palm.

And that was not all.

The vermilion light her eyes sensed did not come from his hand.

It was larger but hidden.

“Don’t tell me…”

It came from behind him.

He had spread his arms and thrust them forward earlier, but there had been acceleration spell ''lernen figur''s behind them.

It was an arc circling behind him. Countless acceleration spells were arranged behind his back in great enough numbers to reach from his right hand to his left.

He had already prepared that many acceleration spells.

He was likely in the midst of stopping her counterattack. He had taken a defensive stance to hide the acceleration spells behind him.

And he had not refrained from moving his body to dodge because he could not let her see them.

His actions had come from a focus on winning.

It was a gamble that erased the fear that she would catch on and respond with some kind of countermeasure.

But he had won that gamble. And his expression had remained stony throughout.

…''That would be where he got the Urban Name of Ice Face!

The rest only took an instant.

The acceleration spells split and the silver coin flew behind him.

After a series of solid sounds and spraying ether light, the Musashi Treasurer swung his left hand forward.

With vermilion light spilling from his left hand, he created an exit to the acceleration spells prepared behind him.

He had established an unbroken path of speed.

“If I am to make money, I cannot sell victory to you. So…”

She heard his voice.

“I will repay you…!”

After its second and third round of acceleration, the shot broke the sound barrier when it was launched.

Shirojiro could tell the fingers of his outthrust left hand had split.

There was no blood yet because a vacuum had formed. The nails were broken, but…

“…!”

He placed his right hand over his left. He had been supplied with a healing spell when he left for the battlefield, so he could place the divine protection on his left arm without it feeling like a waste of money.

A moment later, a water vapor explosion occurred at the leading edge of the acceleration and the surrounding heat and moisture were blown away.

As the silver coin split the air, it flew toward the enemy as if repelled.

It targeted Katou Yoshiaki.

She was one of the Ten Spears that Hashiba had prepared to oppose Musashi. Was her number 4?

If he could defeat one of them, it would be…

…''Three birds with one stone!

He scolded himself for only realizing that now.

Lately, he had gotten carried away and screwed up some business deals.

A lot of money had been changing hands to guarantee Musashi’s finances, but it had been a mistake to try to supply Musashi’s repair materials in order to line his pockets.

Since they were fighting a war, he had worked behind the scenes at buying repair materials for cheap, but when he started having Musashi, the academy, and the Asama Shrine acquire such things, they had begun making changes for the Musashi Mk. 2.

The materials he had prepared were for the old model and they became a liability. He had made the transactions using a secret second account book, so it automatically counted as embezzlement and, as a result, he had sold vegetables.

But this would bring all that to an end. This opponent counted as both Houjou and Hashiba.

“Transaction complete.”

Shirojiro opened his right hand. In the wind, he swung his left hand and snapped the fingers.

“We have the money back, Heidi…!”

With that, he turned his back on his opponent.

Just then, he heard the loud sound of the bullet reaching her.

It was the ring of a direct hit. However, it was…

“…Far away?”

Sensing something was off, Shirojiro looked back.

Yoshiaki was standing a mere 10 meters away.

Or she had been.

But she was no longer there.

…''Did she run away?

No. She was there. He could see her six golden wings.

But she was not 10 meters away.

She was much more distant. She was at the very end of the road they stood on.

That was a distance of 500 meters.

“Huh…?”

The answer to his vocalized question mark was obvious.

Yoshiaki’s entire body moved as she gasped for breath and she held something under her arm.

It was a ''schale besen''.

The thruster nozzle was aimed his way and he recognized that stance.

It was the same one Naito used in the gunner mode that was Schwarz Techno’s greatest attack.

She would load a bullet into the broom’s brush and then fire it.

His enemy was in that exact same stance. So…

…''That loud noise…

It had not been the ring of a direct hit. It was the ring of the enemy firing.

Yoshiaki felt a cold sweat covering her body.

She had constructed Weiss Fürstin’s foundation just before a direct hit from the Musashi Treasurer’s attack.

She had been right to pull back the ten blades she had ejected into the air.

She could not have used them to fly, but she had successfully built the engine that provided acceleration.

And there was a reason she had managed to do it instantaneously.

“Thank you, Weiss Fürstin…”

After all…

“Weiss Fürstin is a ''schale besen'' constructed using gravitational control. And it uses spell composition, so the engine does not use any bolts.”

It was like origami or a 3D puzzle. The main long blades were necessary, but the other parts had specialized roles and no rated value.

Each individual part had a program applied via magic, so while they all combined to form a gravitational thruster, they could also become a controller or armor.

Just now, she had used the bare minimum of parts to build an acceleration system.

She knew Zwei Fürstin could break the sound barrier in just over three seconds.

But what about with only the thruster?

The result was her own survival.

She had produced an explosion of instantaneous acceleration, connected the acceleration gears, and blocked the enemy’s coin bullet with the nozzle.

But she had not stopped the enemy bullet inside the ''schale besen''.

She had added thruster settings to each of Weiss Fürstin’s parts and swung it around at high speed.

She gave it a 360-degree rotation.

In the end, that re-aimed the nozzle toward the enemy.

If she fired like this, she could fire back at the Musashi Treasurer with even more acceleration placed on top of his.

“But I won’t do that.”

Yoshiaki pulled out what was in her right hand.

It was a roll of Groschen silver coins.

Converted into Far Eastern terms, it was a total of 10,000 yen. She shoved them into the muzzle as it spun around.

“…Herrlich!!”

She fired the bottom end of the coin roll.

The silver coin, that had been super-accelerated by Weiss Techno, struck the coin roll offering like the hammer of a gun.

And the coin roll shot out with the force of a ricochet.

The explosion of air blew away four of the blades forming the barrel.

But the projectile had indeed taken flight.

Yoshiaki saw the destination of the blast: the Musashi Treasurer.

It was a direct hit.

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