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Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 7

2017-09-04T03:28:32Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 7: Reporter in an Official Place */

==Chapter 7: Reporter in an Official Place==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3B_061.jpg|thumb]]
''You pass it on

''You ask about it

''But mysteriously

''It isn’t all gathered together until later

'''Point Allocation (Because You are Obligated to Report)

“So Suzuki Magoichi actually showed up.”

There was a nature park in an underground atrium on Murayama.

The person who spoke there was identified by another voice calling over from an ice cream stand.

“Torii, don’t do anything rash.”

“I won’t, Suga. Besides, there’s no way I could win against someone like that.”

That was from Torii who rested her elbows on the stand’s counter and ate an ice cream cone. She wore a girl’s uniform with only a chest band for the top and she looked to Oosuga who was preparing some cream beyond the counter.

“How many wives showed up today?”

“Eleven.”

“It’s amazing that you can actually answer that, Suga. …Were they all regulars.”

“Two were new faces.”

“Did you check them out?”

“Memorizing the faces of my customers is my most important hobby as a businessman.”

“At least try to hide it.”

“But my hobby is also my job.”

“Ohh,” said Torii with a nod. She then looked around where preparations were underway for the spring school festival. Lanterns were being hung in the park and a uniformed guard would occasionally pass through for security.

When they noticed Torii and Oosuga, they would nod, but when Torii saw that, she looked over at Oosuga.

“So when’s the arrest happening?”

“Of my manager, you mean?”

“I see him getting dragged off to the guard station from time to time, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there.”

“Then it’s you? What in the world did you do? …No, wait. Don’t tell me. I don’t want any part of this.”

“…Y’know, you sometimes take things even further than me, but could you stop that? Please?”

“I have no idea what you mean, but you’d better pay for what you ate.”

“Sure, sure.”

Torii stuck a hand in her pocket and then froze in place.

She suddenly removed her side skirt and placed it on the counter.

“Keep the change, Suga.”

Oosuga stared at the skirt sitting on the counter.

It was black with white hemming and lining.

“What is this?”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Again, what is this?”

“You can sell it.”

“No, thank you.”

Torii frowned at his rejection.

“Why? Musashi’s Chancellor and Student Council President just stripped it off. That’s sure to be worth a lot.”

“Yeah, but it’s not from a wife.”

“What would you do if it was?”

“Instead of selling it, I would keep it as my personal-…no, I mean I would confiscate it.”

“Why haven’t you been arrested yet…?”

Torii then removed her tail skirt and placed it on the counter.

“Fine, then. You can have the full set.”

“So what?”

“Y-you can be cruel sometimes, you know!?”

“Pipe down. Besides, these won’t fit in the register.”

“Sell them! Were you planning to use them to barter!?”

“How am I supposed to trade some idiot’s stripped skirt for money that has been touched by a wife’s bare hands?”

“I’ve kept quiet about this until now, but that is creepy… Really, really creepy…”

Torii took two steps back along the counter and Oosuga glared at her.

“A girl trying to sell her skirt has the nerve to criticize a love of wives?”

“Okay, I’ll admit we’re both just as bad, so just take my skirt in place of money.”

“You do not match my belief system, so that is not valid payment.”

“Umm.” Torii thought for a bit. “Oh, I get it! So my skirt would be valid payment if I was a wife!”

“So you figured it out. Clever girl. Now go get married.”

“No one needs to be your idea of clever, so come on over here and be normal!”

“A normal person wouldn’t try to pay for ice cream with her skirt!”

“Then…then what am I!?”

Torii struck a dramatic pose and raised her voice, so everyone in the park turned their way.

After a pause, some applause began and she bowed.

And then she rested her elbows on the counter again. She also pulled a mic from somewhere.

“So to interview myself, what am I supposed to do about this?”

“About paying for your food?”

“No, not that.” Torii sighed. “Magoichi takes everything so seriously, so she can be such a pain.”

“So you met Suzuki Magoichi’s name inheritor, did you?”

The evening light entered a wooden room. The large and longish room was lined with faculty desks.

This was the faculty room on the first floor of Musashi Ariadust Academy’s front building. Adele had arrived to report to Oriotorai whose seat was at a desk near the entrance.

She was reporting on the mysterious phenomenon job in Okutama’s underground.

Asama had gone to report to the Asama Shrine, Mitotsudaira had gone to the Knight’s League, and…

…''As a vassal, I have to report to the academy.

The transport district and warehouse district where the action had occurred were classified as ports that aerial ships could stop at, so they were managed by the Port Management Office which had a transportation official among Musashi’s Public Morals Committee.

Oriotorai and the Asama Shrine had informed the Public Morals Committee about this job in advance and that was why Adele’s group had been given the authority to do the work there.

And now that it was over, they only had to report to Oriotorai and the Asama Shrine who would then submit a formal report to the Public Morals Committee.

…''That’s more or less how it works.

So Adele opened a sign frame and displayed the route they had taken. It showed where Asama’s group and her group had split up in the warehouse district and it showed where they had met Suzuki Magoichi.

“That should about cover it.”

“Oh, yes. That’s plenty. It matches what Asama submitted, so it should be fine.”

Adele could not say that she had actually been given quite a bit of data by Asama.

Of course…

…''This homeroom teacher probably knows that…

After all, when Oriotorai reached for the submitted sign frame…

“Hanami’s auto-mapping really is incredible… We’ll be doing some dungeon training during the summer study camp, so maybe I need to ban Mouse mapping…”

She did not even try to hide it.

But the report itself was complete. And in addition to their witness accounts and reports, Konishi and Masazumi’s father had been watching from outside and they had submitted a witness account that no mysterious phenomena had appeared outside.

“That’s everything I have to tell you, Sensei.”

“You blew up a warehouse and canceled a long block’s buffering spell, but it was to get rid of a mysterious phenomenon. It was all to ensure the safety of Musashi’s flight. Also…”

Oriotorai picked a plain wooden box up from the desk.

“You also discovered a porn game smuggling warehouse.”

“So was it all a net gain or loss?”

“From an official standpoint, a gain.” Oriotorai placed the box back on the desk and smiled. “For the Asama Shrine and the academy, this was a lucky result.”

It was a relief to hear a teacher say that.

''Thank goodness,'' thought Adele once more. But…

…''There’s still a problem.

That was what they had discussed at the Blue Thunder the night before.

The Musashi was surrounded by mysterious phenomena right now.

…''A thin film of mysterious phenomena has formed something like a spherical barrier and it causes them to gather and appear without the Musashi detecting it.

From their perspective, it was like they could purify the mysterious phenomena as many times as they wanted, but more of them would show up.

And there was a problem with this incident:

“We never did get any final proof that the mysterious phenomenon was purified.”

Hearing that, Oriotorai looked her way and nodded.

“Are you talking about Asama’s report from last night about the mysterious phenomena surrounding the Musashi?”

“Judge.”

She did not hesitate to nod.

She did not care if it made her seem anxious. Because she was.

“It might come back even after being purified and it’s really hard for us to detect. …Looking at them like that, these mysterious phenomena are a pretty big problem.”

“Yes,” agreed Oriotorai. “They come from ley line disturbances, so even if you think they’re gone, they might have just scattered and will gather back together elsewhere. And you don’t know when they do appear because it happens outside of anything the shrines or spell users can detect. In that sense, the term ‘purification’ seems quite apt.”

“The term ‘purification’?”

“Judge. That’s right. I mean, we aren’t erasing or destroying them. We’re wearing them away to make them clean again.”

Adele understood what that meant thanks to all the time she had spent with Asama and Shinto in general.

What was it Shinto would do about a mysterious phenomenon like the one today?

“Instead of ending it by destroying it like the Catholics do, Shinto tries to end it by tuning the ley line it comes from, right?”

“It’s like cleaning up. Even if the mysterious phenomenon has a physical form, there’s no need to defeat it. After all, tuning the ley line will leave it with nowhere to live any longer. …If you think of the Catholics as using symptomatic therapy, then Shinto uses a complete cure therapy. So…”

Adele knew what Oriotorai was saying, so she finished for her teacher.

“Yesterday’s Hidden Dragon and the Non-God Sword before that were really troublesome.”

Adele saw Oriotorai nod.

“A mysterious phenomenon on that level creates a ‘field’ for itself. They contaminate the area you cleaned up and make it so they can continue living there. …Of course, the mid-level ones use up all their stamina simply creating the ‘field’, so they are annihilated all on their own. But…”

She opened a sign frame and held it up a little. The pale evening light from the window shined on it, but the diagram on the screen was perfectly visible.

It was…

“This is what Asama sent me last night. …It’s an estimated diagram of the spherical barrier of mysterious phenomena surrounding the Musashi. It’s been with us since Mikawa and it settled down a bit when you punished it last night, but it can apparently create something like a Hidden Dragon with ease. If that’s true…”

“We’ll have to use some symptomatic therapy in addition to complete cure therapy, won’t we?”

Adele glanced to the left and right.

There was no one else here. The clubs were not yet done with their activities.

Once she knew no one else was listening, she continued speaking.

“Just so you know, ‘Musashi’-san sent a purification request to the Asama Shrine. She wanted them to use the Gagaku Festival to purify it all at once.”

But…

“This is Aki…so should we ask the Catholics to do a demon exorcism?”

“It sounds like a good idea to me.”

Oriotorai’s eyebrows rose and she placed her finger on Asama’s diagram. She moved her finger around the three-dimensional image of Musashi and the spherical barrier surrounding it.

“Here and here. And maybe here too. …I think it could work if they placed Catholic forces at about 16 locations and performed a summoning followed by an exorcism. It would certainly be exciting.”

“I see…”

''Can I really trust what she says?'' wondered Adele, but Oriotorai continued regardless.

“Making it exciting is important. K.P.A. Italia has been in a bit of a depression, so letting their warriors battle a dragon would probably improve their national morale. …I bet the Roman Student Council’s Conference Division would send out their Council for Justice and Peace.”

“Don’t they report directly to the Pope-Chancellor?”

''Well, this is their land, so I guess it makes sense.'' However…

“Would they be able to pull it off after coming all the way out here?”

“They would. Or rather, I bet the Pope-Chancellor would stubbornly make sure they did.” Oriotorai spread her mouth horizontally in a smile. “But, Adele, you aren’t serious about this, are you?”

“Well, no.”

Adele came back to her senses when she immediately replied with a smile.

…''Ah.

''Not good, not good.'' She felt like she had been set up with this exchange, but…

…''I do wish we could resolve this ourselves.

She felt like that was impossible and she shook her raised hand back and forth.

“That’s a pretty dangerous thought. Yes.”

After all…

“A second year vassal thinking of resolving an incident that required international-level fighters? I think I’ve let our victories over the past few days get to my head.”

“Really?” Oriotorai closed the sign frame and narrowed her eyes. “I haven’t been teaching you so you could let a mid-level dragon get the better of you.”

“I don’t think egging me on is going to help.”

But then something occurred to Adele.

…''Huh?

She had a single reason for her confusion and Oriotorai provided it.

“You really did defeat the dragon, though. …You need to have more confidence in yourself. Otherwise, my job won’t seem worth doing,” she said. “Also, you’ll be third years next year, so you’ll be out there on the international stage. Keep that in mind, okay? …I imagine Asama’s group will be preparing for the Gagaku Festival at the Asama Shrine, but what will you be doing after this, Adele?”

“I have my part-time job and Suzu-san will apparently be working at the bathhouse. You guessed right about Asama-san’s group, but I think Naito-san and Naruze-san went shopping. …Oh, and Naomasa-san received an interesting request.”

Naomasa sighed as she viewed a sign frame in her room.

Her room was in Takao’s underground area.

“Honestly,” she said there. “I didn’t think I would have preparations to make, too.”

She added “what a pain” as she stood on the dirt floor of the small room.

After returning from the mysterious phenomenon hunt and changing at the Asama Shrine, she had returned home for work.

She appreciated that job because it had paid decently. Her god of war, Jizuri Suzaku, was used for work on the Musashi, so she only had to cover a third of the parts and maintenance costs, but…

…''It’s still pretty expensive.

So she wanted money. And the sign frame in front of her might help there.

“An idea for modifying Naito and Naruze’s brooms, hm?”

Even if this was between friends, she was a professional when it came to maintenance and machine work. They understood that, so they had made an official order asking for an estimate and listing the limit of what they hoped to pay.

They had handed her this information on the way back from the previous job.

Tonight, she was not going to participate in the Gagaku Festival the others were holding at the Asama Shrine.

And since they had surreptitiously passed this to her…

…''I guess it’s supposed to be a secret.

Naomasa did not know how keeping it a secret would help, but she kind of understood why they would want to do so.

Technohexen had a lot of pride. In fact, given their internal hierarchy and history, they could not get by without pride.

The engine division used the services of the delivery businesses which were primarily run by Technohexen. They would use transport ships and transport systems for large materials, fuel, and lubricants, but it was faster to get a Technohexen for hard copies of diagrams or for small parts.

Based on what she had heard from those Technohexen and from Naito and Naruze, their internal hierarchy was quite strict.

They each had their own turf or had dibs on a certain portion of the work.

“And at the lower ranks, they aren’t allowed to travel between ships for deliveries. It really sounds like a pain.”

Of course, the engine division was much the same.

Newcomers were only allowed to work at one station, but as they gained experience, they could move on to other work on the same ship or floor. And if they gained even more experience, they could move on to work on different ships or floors. Eventually, they would be made the manager of a station they excelled at.

Naomasa was a manager. Taizou, the engine division’s chief, had notified her of that when she entered high school.

But even as a manager, she tended to do more actual work than managing since she had a god of war which could do a lot of work other people could not. Although you could say she was still ''effectively'' a manager because she was allowed to do the maintenance work she excelled at on each ship.

And since she had reached her current position like that…

“I do somewhat understand that Technohexen environment.”

The broom modification order was primarily to reinforce both their brooms.

That would make the brooms heavier, but it was not a bad idea. Technohexen accelerated using spells. There was only so much acceleration the broom itself could provide, but they just had to control the peak line using the spells.

Technohexen flight started off quite fast, but that was because the reinforced brooms were designed to withstand a lot of speed all at once.

Naito and Naruze were already flying like that.

They had probably already reinforced the brooms using commercial parts. That would be why Edel Brocken had tried to recruit them as testers.

But if they wanted even more reinforcements from Naomasa…

“That probably means adding in a pretty intense acceleration spell.”

She continued staring at the sign frame, but then she suddenly moved.

“Oh, it’s time.”

She grabbed the metal pot hanging on the wall and placed it on the stove installed in the dirt floor.

She had of course modified the tall stove. She had made it more airtight to increase the heating power and she had made sure she could manipulate the air intake. After putting some charcoal inside, she reached for the sign frame.

She was preparing to close it, but…

“Well, whatever.”

She left it open and reached her prosthetic arm behind her instead.

The rice inside a container on the tea table had cooled. She dropped it into the pot and then added in some sesame oil and seaweed.

“Oh, whoops.”

She frowned and glared at the sign frame.

“I was so distracted I went to the egg ration pickup and forgot to get any. Naito and Naruze probably went to the Blue Thunder, so maybe I can have them bring me some…”

Masazumi met an unexpected customer.

She was in the Blue Thunder. She had gotten to know the manager and automaton there shortly after arriving from Mikawa. That was why she often came here to eat, but there were a few other customers there now. And that included…

“Oh, you come here too, Naito and Naruze?”

“Oh, yes. It’s kind of like a friend’s place for us.”

Naito entered the café and Naruze circled around outside and arrived at the window.

Then someone walked up from the back of the café.

It was P-01s. She bowed toward Naito and Naruze.

“You have guts returning here after what happened last night, Naruga-sama and Nargot-sama.”

Hearing that, Naito and Naruze looked to Masazumi.

Masazumi raised her left hand next to her face and averted her gaze.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 5

2017-09-03T01:15:17Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 5: Evictors in a Place of Accumulation */

==Chapter 5: Evictors in a Place of Accumulation==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3B_005.jpg|thumb]]
''What do you lose

''The more you tell yourself to calm down?

'''Point Allocation (Composed Thoughts)

Adele was a vassal.

A vassal was essentially a knight’s manager. They acted as the knight’s outrider on the battlefield and they worked as the knight’s aide. That was their role.

Of course, the battlefield and general state of affairs had changed in modern times.

They no longer fought in great clashes or group battles with a primary focus on the knights. Nowadays, both groups formed separate company-sized units with individualized roles which moved independently on the battlefield.

The vassal unit would secure the front line and stop the enemy while the knights would perform a charge.

Meanwhile, the normal warriors who could not fight on that level would use their numbers to put together a defensive formation like the Tercio in an attempt to neutralize the knights’ charge and vassal unit’s front line.

That was the standard form of modern warfare.

…''But that standard form is already falling apart.

In the modern knight nation of Hexagone Française, their knights were equipped with gods of war, so a human-level defensive formation was losing all meaning against them.

In the ancient knight nation of M.H.R.R., most of their vassals were quasi-knights, so they could perform a charge with the same high-speed mobile shells as their knights.

In the Mlasi-connected P.A. Oda, they had strengthened their aerial forces, so every nation was constructing city-class defense systems.

“The Far East is really falling behind with all these changes to the battlefield.”

“Not necessarily,” replied Mitotsudaira.

As a knight, she was Adele’s superior, but she was not making a charge at the moment. However, she was holding a BIZEN-made Far Eastern halberd.

“The Far East has changed how it fights on the battlefield, too.”

They were in the Musashi’s underground. Specifically, in the warehouse wide block on the sixth underground level below the academy on Okutama.

…''Or should I say what ''used to be'' that wide block?

The wide block had been mostly destroyed.

The former hallway in front of Adele had been widened by the destruction on the left and right. The walls had been completely blown out, creating an empty space from the unused warehouses on either side.

And that revealed…

“Heh heh. That was a little rough, but increasing the ventilation will get rid of the ley line impurity.”

Just as Kimi said, this destruction had been to eliminate a mysterious phenomenon. However…

…''What kind of technique destroys an entire wide block?

The culprit was the tall figure standing out front. Her black hair swayed as she looked back with a smile.

“Now, I’ll get permission from each corporation and club to apply a divine protection to preserve the rooms with cargo inside, so this won’t be a problem. Our tasks were purifying the mysterious phenomenon and acquiring instruments from the Asama Shrine’s underground storeroom. Let’s get on with it, shall we?”

After stating their objectives, Asama sighed and realized everyone was staring at her.

…''Eh? Why aren’t they saying anything?

She closed up her bow and waited. The others formed a scrum:

“…Who’s going to say it?”

“Well, if no one else is going to…”

Naomasa lightly raised her prosthetic right arm.

She had her ''kiseru'' in her mouth, but it was not lit.

“What is it, Masa?”

“Did you really need any of us for this mission? I feel like you could handle any mysterious phenomenon on your own just by blasting everything.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly do that.” Asama opened a sign frame showing a map of this floor and sent a copy to everyone. “I could only blow everything away like this because there wasn’t much cargo in the front and because the corporations here have a close relationship to our shrine. Further in, I need investigative authority for a lot of the rooms, so I can’t do this there. We do have permission to go inside, but we have to keep track of each one individually.”

“Then, Asama-san, did you blow this area up because…?”

“Yes, to makes sure the rest of you did not have to unnecessarily use up your stamina and focus.”

“Hmm.” Naruze nodded. “So it wasn’t to blow off some stress?”

“Huh? Huh? Do I look like that kind of character?”

The others brought their foreheads together again.

“Wait, does she really not build up stress with her personality? That makes her a lot harder to draw…”

“I feel like extended exposure to Toori-san and Kimi-san made her go crazy so she doesn’t feel stress anymore…”

“Heh heh heh. So my foolish brother and I invited Asama into a stress-free world? Doesn’t that make us sound angelic!? And he’s a nudist, so he really is a cupid! If I see him flying above me, I’ll stick a milk bottle on his dick!”

“I wouldn’t really know, but would it really fit inside a milk bottle?”

“Maybe we could stand to be that carefree, too.”

They appeared to be having some sort of weird conversation, but…

“…Huh?”

A presence moved further inside. It came from the exit beyond the vanished walls and the not-yet-vanished dust.

Suzu contacted them via divine transmission.

“Oh, yes. I heard…something.”

“I thought as much,” said Asama with a nod as the others ended their scrum and faced her.

Kimi tilted her head.

“Did you fail to kill it? You did, didn’t you!? And with that huge boom! Oh, Asama, was this your way of showing you’re a normal girl by saying, ‘Look, I’m not all ''that'' destructive’!? Do you think femininity is determined by destructive power!? What world do you live in!? But don’t worry because that world does exist! It’s right here! Jump in here! Into this boobs gap!”

“Kh…! Th-that wasn’t my intention…!”

She felt a definite sense of “don’t force yourself” from the others, but she ignored it. However…

“Duck down a little,” warned Naomasa out of the blue.

Everyone did so.

Something passed above their heads at high speed. It was…

…''A bullet?

Mitotsudaira had ducked down and she could tell exactly what had pierced the wall behind her.

…''That was a bullet, wasn’t it!?

The shot had not been aimed.

It had only been meant to draw their attention and discourage pursuit.

Of course, they were given defensive divine protections inside the Musashi and Asama had strengthened those to the level of the Hidden Dragon battle just in case, so they would only have received a painful impact had that shot hit them. However…

“Is this…a person and not a mysterious phenomenon?”

“Um, wait just a second, okay?”

Asama began a sign frame search while still ducked down.

She was the Asama Shrine’s representative. Musashi’s residents generally had a contract with the Asama Shrine and their data was shared even if their contract was with another shrine.

If someone had attacked the Asama Shrine’s representative, their contract would allow her to search them out right away. However…

“That’s odd… I doubt it’s a stowaway, but I can’t find anything.”

“Did the automatic anti-crime interception spell not react? They would normally receive a divine punishment if they attacked you, Tomo.”

“Hmmm… This is weird. It wasn’t canceled, but it’s like they managed to get around it… Oh, but more importantly…”

“What is it?”

“It’s fairly common for what you thought was a mysterious phenomenon to actually be a person. And if this search cancelation was caused by a ley line distortion, then it would still qualify as a ‘mysterious phenomenon’. But…”

Asama trailed off, so Kimi continued for her.

“A shrine maiden can’t shoot a person, right?”

“N-no, that wasn’t my problem here…”

Everyone fell silent.

And after a while, Naito suddenly opened a Magie Figur.

She held it close to her face so the others could not see what it said and she spoke in complete monotone.

“Oh, my. According to some information from the Technohexen Guild, that was ''a mysterious phenomenon disguised as a person'' that just fled.”

“Hmm.” Naruze nodded, looked at the bullet hole on the wall, and spoke in complete monotone. “It uses a gun? What a troublesome mysterious phenomenon. But ''since it isn’t a person'', a shrine maiden would be able to shoot it, right?”

“Eh? Eh?”

Asama was utterly confused and Mitotsudaira placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Um, uh, Mito?”

“It’s okay, Tomo. …Let’s go beat up that ''mysterious phenomenon disguised as a person''!”

Suzu sat on the front steps of the Asama Shrine’s outer shrine. The corners of her mouth bent at the sound she heard in the distance.

…''I-I’m…worried.

But not about the others.

…''I’m worried…about Okutama.

“Um, ‘Musashi’-sama? I have a feeling a certain someone is actively destroying my underground area. Over.”

“Listen, ‘Okutama’. You must not make decisions based on ‘a feeling’. And I am busy preparing Sakai-sama’s lunch. Over.”

“Umm, what kind of lunch? Over.”

“He had stir-fried vegetables and stew yesterday, so I have a feeling chicken will satisfy him today. Over.”

“ ‘Musashi’-sama, did you just create a rule that everyone else has to follow but you don’t? Over.”

“You are imagining it. And more importantly…”

“More importantly?”

“The destruction has moved much deeper. I have also detected a reading near the hull that is separate from Asama-sama’s group. Be careful. Over.”

Naito felt somewhat fulfilled.

She was deep inside the warehouse wide block. The area contained corporate goods and important property. Once in here, Asama could not use her large-scale blasts, so…

“It’s Ga-chan and my time to shine…!”

She would fire a coin bullet that followed Naruze’s guideline.

The battlefield was inside one of the warehouse rooms.

This entire district was made up of warehouse wide blocks, a lot of the wide blocks were connected into a single large warehouse, and the layout differed between management organizations. Some were a single large rectangular space and others were divided into narrower rectangles. Some were connected by curved corridors and others had a single large hallway down the center.

A lot had an atrium connecting the lower and upper floors and others had walkways across.

They were filled with large wooden containers which were in turn filled with mid and small-sized boxes, creating a layout separate from the actual corridors and rooms.

To make matters worse, most of the lights were off. The winged pair could fly over all the structures in the way, but there were boxes and dangling winches or chains hidden in the darkness.

Asama had given them night-vision charms as a countermeasure. Once activated, the charms grew transparent and the darkness was purified when viewed through them.

…''Wow, these have got to be expensive…

Naito was somewhat hesitant, but Naruze did not mind.

“These are more useful than light-amplification spells. We won’t be blinded even if we fly out into a bright corridor.”

“Oh, that’s right. And now that I think about it, this method is a lot like my reduction spells.”

The reduction of Schwarz Techno was a lot like the purification of Shinto in some ways. Musashi had lights on even at night, so night-vision spells were not really necessary. Even so…

“I should store a spell of my own in my broom’s Orei Metallo.”

…''Giving myself a wider range of spells is probably a good thing.

With that in mind, Naito held Asama’s charm vertically and stuck it between her Technohexen hat and her forehead. She had it cover her right eye which she used for targeting.

Her left eye was dark and her right eye had the power to see through darkness. ''It sounds like one of Bara-yan’s cringeworthy novels,'' she thought while moving forward.

There were two enemies. They were dressed in white full-body tights. …''No, they’re mysterious phenomena made from white ether. Humanoid ones. Yes, that’s what we’re claiming, I guess.

She did not know how, but those enemies were avoiding Asama’s search while fleeing through the warehouse district.

And if they were fleeing…

'''Gold Mar:''' “Do you think they’re doing some kind of ‘job’?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Who knows. …Should we check out all the cargo around here?”

There was no way they could do that. And that helped them decide what to do.

They would shoot. They aimed for the path ahead of the two enemies who were moving at a decent clip. Fire a bullet there and it was guaranteed to hit. Since this was a warehouse, the cargo was in the way, but…

“Ga-chan!”

“Judge, I’m used to drawing it where I can’t see.”

Once the guideline was in place, Naito fired.

She heard the solid sound of the air being struck and she felt her broom shake.

The bullet she launched was a coin. She had given it a slight angle upon firing and that drew a curve soon thereafter.

“I really wish I could draw a three-dimensional line all the way to them.”

“If you tried to do that now, Ga-chan, you’d have to fly right up to the enemy, wouldn’t you?”

“Do you think that would be too dangerous?”

“If only we had faster and more mobile brooms.”

“I know,” agreed Naruze as she turned her back on her partner to face forward.

A moment later, the bullet reached the enemy.

The bullet dug into the back of the fat mysterious phenomenon that had been running behind the other one.

“Judge!”

The enemy was blown away with an audible impact. It disappeared behind the cargo, but…

“Now it’s our turn!”

A figure rushed forward on either side of the Technohexen.

It was Mitotsudaira and Adele.

Adele ran across the top of the cargo containers.

Once Naito and Naruze fired, it was their job to immediately secure the enemy.

Even if the enemy got away, they would continue pursuit, apply pressure, and finally capture them.

It was the relationship between the hunter and the hound.

The Extra Special Duty Officer seemed to have an issue with doing a dog’s work, but saying her job was to charge the enemy had worked as a compromise. That just left actually doing it.

“…Oh.”

The chains and cranes dangling down from the ceiling were dangerous.

She had a night-vision charm below her glasses, but that did not make the obstacles go away. They were arranged in what seemed like a random layout, so Adele could see why Naito and Naruze were being so cautious as they flew.

But Adele was short enough that those hanging obstacles were not much of an issue.

The power of the charm made the darkness look like predawn.

…''Nighttime maintenance would be so much easier with something like this…

She had been doing that every night lately.

She had to service the mobile shell that was the representative piece of vassal equipment.

Her father had left it for her, but it had been passed down by her ancestors, later modified into a female-model, and sometimes used for work by her father when he was alive.

…''So its parts have gotten really rusty and deteriorated.

Thanks to that, she had needed to dismantle it and reassemble it. She had been working on that since halfway through the previous year. Her father’s death was part of the reason this was necessary, but there was no helping that. She decided to view it all as her father’s love teaching her about the machine and how to service it.

She had earned her mobile shell license at 16 and she had even gotten the restriction on old models removed.

She hoped to make her debut as a vassal with a mobile shell during her third and final year in high school. So…

“Now is the time to prepare for that…!”

With that, she pursued the enemy. She moved across the containers and, when she came to a gap, she ran across instead of jumping. She simply lengthened her stride to cross the gap.

And she continued on.

She had seen the enemy’s location earlier. The only way out of there was the door into the passageway.

''I need to hurry,'' she told herself just as the Extra Special Duty Officer fell behind her.

On a stack of two wooden containers, she had kicked off the edge to leap to the next row, but…

“Oh?”

She had carelessly kicked too hard.

Instead of kicking off of the container, she kicked the container behind her.

…''Huh?

She had meant to catch the edge with her toes to kick it, but the container spun and slammed into the ceiling.

''How much power does she have?'' thought Adele.

Having lost her support partway through the jump, the Extra Special Duty Officer entered a downward spin and crashed into the container ahead of her.

Naruze was gently flying and occasional stepping on a container while watching the two out ahead.

The container that hit the ceiling was destroyed and shattered. Down below, something crashed into a container and smashed it to pieces with a loud noise. As for why this happened…

“Why is that wolf playing around on her own?”

“I think Mito-tsan might have some pent-up frustration since To-chan has been ignoring her lately.”

Margot explained that while loading a sniper spell in her broom, but then…

“Oops.”

She suddenly moved closer to Naruze.

“Oh, dear,” said Naruze as she supported Margot in midair. She liked feeling her partner’s body heat on her left side, but: “What are you doing, Margot? Acrobatics?”

There was something on top of Margot’s Technohexen hat.

It was a large cosmetics case. It had likely been in the container that had hit the ceiling and broken apart.

''What is that?'' wondered Naruze as she picked it up. And from up ahead…

“—————!”

With what sounded like a roar of rage, the row of containers up ahead exploded.

“Huh?”

She wrinkled her brow and the two of them ducked to dodge a chain hanging from the ceiling. Then they moved their wings to fly to the next level of containers. There, they viewed the scene up ahead.

Mitotsudaira had forcefully plowed through the row of containers, causing them to collapse.

And they had not been pushed to the sides. They flew forward through the air.

While they listened to the cacophony of the containers breaking and bouncing from Mitotsudaira’s running speed, Margot wrapped an arm around Naruze’s waist and spoke with some admiration in her voice.

“Good.” She used the night-vision spell to view the scene through one eye. “Mito-tsan has started working off that frustration.”

Adele saw the container explosion pursuing her.

…''Ohhhh!?

She knew more or less what had happened.

“Extra Special Duty Officer!?”

“You pieces of junk!!”

The silver wolf had given up on moving along the top of the containers, so she was running along the floor. However, she was not avoiding the rows of containers.

“…!”

She was forcing them out of the way, sending them flying, and kicking them into the air to clear a path. As a result, her path was drawn out by scattering containers.

It was definitely flashy. Adele thought it was okay for her to destroy the containers, but…

“Wait…what is this!?” shouted the wolf as she bit at and dragged out the contents of the scattering containers.

She held a largish cosmetics case between her teeth. It was printed with a drawing of a girl.

“ ‘The Outrage of Anagni, But Spelled Slightly Differently’? Isn’t this a porn game!?”<ref>The katakana spelling of Anagni is almost the same as the Japanese term for anal masturbation.</ref>

“Um, yes,” confirmed Margot as she and Naruze pursued the traveling container explosion.

Naruze gave a more thorough answer to Mitostudaira’s question while looking at the porn game box in her hand.

“The package art is kind of low quality. This is probably shoddy camouflage for the smuggled items inside.”

“They would go that far?”

“Yes, well, I’m sure they have their reasons. But…”

Naruze suddenly looked at Margot.

Her blue eye viewed Margot through the night-vision spell.

…''Eh?

Instead of a meaningful signal, it was…

…''A request?

No, it was nothing that formal. It was more of a “You understand, don’t you?”

It did not say what Margot was supposed to understand, but she knew what Naruze meant and wordlessly nodded. ''Leave it to me,'' she thought. Naruze’s eyebrows rose slightly and she smiled a little.

Then the Weiss Hexen dressed as a white shrine maiden said what that look had meant.

“If you ask me, those two enemies we’re pursuing…are definitely mysterious phenomena.”

''They aren’t people?'' thought Adele when she heard Naruze.

The Technohexen’s words echoed across the warehouse from beyond the Extra Special Duty Officer’s violent charge.

“Adele, Mitotsudaira. These containers probably contain smuggled porn games. This warehouse district is right next to the hull after all. A few of the porn games being smuggled into the Musashi must have been carried directly here from the transport ship.”

“Hm? Wouldn’t they arrive at Asakusa or Shinagawa?” asked Adele.

“That’s the blind spot.”

“Right,” said Naito. “There are frequent firefights on Shinagawa and Asakusa when smuggling groups are discovered, right? The battles generally get pulled all the way back to Okutama, but…”

“The transport ships at Shinagawa and Asakusa will be evacuated so they aren’t caught in the gunfire.”

That was enough for Adele to mostly figure it out.

“So one of the transport ships evacuated to Okutama was actually already loaded with smuggled porn games?”

“Right, right. And by the time those idiots act as a diversion and draw the firefight over this way, all the games have been loaded in the warehouses already. And since the diversion heads to Okutama and is wiped out before arriving, no one will think of checking the warehouses here. At best, you might think they hid something on the way to Okutama.”

“Then,” said Adele as she ran. “What makes you say those white things must be mysterious phenomena and not people?”

“Umm, they’re wicked thoughts,” immediately replied Naruze. “Wicked thoughts have taken human form and turned into that.”

“Wicked thoughts?”

“Judge.” Naruze made a jump to catch up to Adele. “Wicked thoughts…can be frightening. They have great power. I mean, even if it rains during a doujin event, the weather will clear up partway through if the event has enough wicked thoughts.”

“That ''is'' dangerous.”

“Judge. Do you understand how fearsome wicked thoughts are now?”

She did not really understand, but she was not entirely sure she wanted to understand. Regardless, Technohexen knew a lot about ether, so it was best to trust them on this.

…''I guess this means troublesome mysterious phenomena are appearing on Musashi now.

Mysterious phenomena on the level of pranks would occasionally crop up. The divine network would list spots well-known for occasionally having a few extra steps on the stairs or for a puddle that disappeared when you looked back. However…

“Eh?”

While trying to catch up, the Extra Special Duty Officer had just attacked the last row of containers.

That caused the containers Adele was standing on to shake. And…

“…Oh?”

Adele realized she had missed her footing.

She cried out and flew through the air.

The wicked thought that had been hit by the coin bullet had only just recovered.

The other one continued to flee without stopping.

“Are you okay, Koni-tan!? If you’re going to die, do it on your own!”

“Th-that is some impressive resolve, Nobu-tan!”

Nobu-tan was sent flying when a vassal spun through the air and struck the back of his head with her heel.

The vassal continued on and collided with the containers to the side. She broke through them and seemed to have passed out.

Meanwhile, Koni-tan mercilessly fled without stopping and ran right by Nobu-tan as he tried to crawl along the floor.

“Are you okay, Nobu-tan! If you’re going to die, feel free to do so on your own!”

“I won’t give you a copy!!”

Koni-tan came to a stop.

“N-no fair!!”

As soon as he said that, the pile of containers behind him collapsed. And the Mito Lord’s voice could be heard from beyond them.

“Dosukoooooi!!”

With an exclamation from the latest trend in standing martial arts, the great mass of containers collided with the floor and walls.

“How about that!?” asked Mitotsudaira as she made two flat-handed slaps.

…''Honestly, I can’t believe this place existed below the academy.

The mountain of containers in front of her was slowly beginning to collapse again.

It could not keep its balance, so it fell toward the corridor on the other side, but…

“I need to get out into the corridor to check on some things.”

Now that they knew this was a smuggling warehouse, they had to open up the entire wide block and investigate it.

…''This is going to be even more work.

“Oh, wait, wait.”

A voice reached her from the air behind her.

Naito and Naruze had caught up.

They moved their wings, grabbed a chain dangling from the ceiling, and dropped down. They stepped on a surviving container behind Mitotsudaira and then hopped to the floor.

They went to a lot of effort in that descent, but they must have felt the need for caution in this darkness.

Naito then rushed over.

“Um, Mito-tsan?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Well, y’see? Didn’t you go a little far with your physical attacks?”

“Eh? But catching up to them was my job and they were running away…”

“Ohh…” Naito’s mouth stretched opened horizontally and she began a conversation with Naruze: “Did she not hear?” “Well, she was making a lot of noise.”

“What is this about?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Eh? Well…” Naito pointed beyond the containers behind her. “They escaped earlier…since they’re wicked thoughts.”

Her attack had not been as effective as Asama shooting them.

“So do you agree that ‘officially’ those are wicked thoughts?”

“ ‘Officially’ they’re wicked thoughts?” repeated Mitotsudaira with a tilt of the head.

But those two had clearly been…

“They seemed like humans to me…”

“No, they were definitely wicked thoughts. Or something like it.”

Naito sounded annoyed, so Mitotsudaira decided to just accept that.

…''It’s true that’s a possibility.

Was there some reason they had to view it that way? Meanwhile, another stack of containers collapsed behind them.

“Ohh,” said Naito as she looked up at the collapsed pile of containers in front of them. “Well, I suppose this did help drive them in the right direction.”

“No, we can’t look at it like that now that we know they’re wicked thoughts.” Mitotsudaira was mostly speaking to herself as she breathed a sigh. “I attacked without any anti-spirit divine protections. It’s true no one explained the situation to me, but I should have considered it as a possibility.”

The possibility of a mysterious phenomenon had been stated from the beginning, so she belatedly realized she should not have used brute force just because the enemy looked so very human.

How to fight spirits was one of the main lessons in anti-nonhuman combat classes. She had overlooked that, but there was a reason for it:

“You should have some spirit divine protections as a Loup-Garou and that should give anti-spirit properties to any direct attack you make, but I guess it doesn’t work through containers.”

“Hmm… I wasn’t thinking and just assumed they would gain an extension of my divine protections.”

Because humans and most other nonhumans lacked spirit abilities, they had difficulty touching spirits. They could use charms and spells to make up for that, but Mitotsudaira did not need those things.

That was an advantage of her species, but…

“I completely forgot I need to apply the divine protections to my weapons.”

“Well, it’s not like you have a chance to fight spirits all that often.”

She was ashamed she could only nod at Naruze’s kind comment.

Would such opportunities increase if she officially joined the Chancellor’s Officers?

…''Honestly.

She thought the same thing she had earlier.

…''I’m supposed to be a knight, but I still lack so very much.

And just as she sighed again…

“Um…”

The pile of containers in front of her spoke.

It was Adele.

“I’m completely stuck in a box near the back. Could you help me out?” she asked. “Also, based on the footsteps I heard, the wicked thoughts continued on in the right direction. So, Extra Special Duty Officer, can’t you think of this as doing your job properly?”

The wicked thoughts passed through the gate out of the warehouse wide block and entered a long block that acted as a large passageway.

They were on their way to the hull. Because…

“Now we can escape, Nobu-tan!”

“Yes, that was a close one!”

The collapse of all those containers truly had been dangerous.

They were lucky they had noticed one of the falling porn game containers was for the bonus item. The bonus item for the smuggled porn games was a handkerchief shaped like lace underwear and the container carrying them had come open in midair, so they had managed to have it land on top of them.

The bonus items inside were bulky, but they were only cloth. The two of them had managed to force themselves inside.

“Then the container protected us from the other falling containers and we were moved outside as the container was pushed out from the center!”

The two wicked thoughts raced down the passageway while wearing the handkerchiefs over their heads.

That was when they heard a voice from the center of the ship behind them.

“Hit!”

Asama had stored up her Blessings.

She had been waiting for this moment when the enemy was driven out of the warehouse by the others.

They had initially begun pursuit when the enemy had fled, but Naomasa had stopped them.

“There’s a corridor here that circles around ahead of them.”

It was not on the same floor as the warehouse.

It was a maintenance corridor located between the upper and lower floors.

Anyone from the engine division could freely enter it, so Naomasa, Asama, and Kimi used it to circle around to the long block the enemy would reach.

The enemy had tried to lose pursuit in the confusion, but that had only bought Asama’s group more time. So…

…''We need Mito, Adele, Naito, and Naruze to pursue them as blatantly as possible!

Their pursuit was meant to drive the enemy out here while also hiding the fact that Asama’s group had circled on ahead.

With Naomasa in the lead, they crossed a bamboo catwalk in the dim darkness. And they ultimately reached a long block near the stern.

It was a transport district which was rarely used. And nearby…

…''Oh, there’s our storehouse.

''We need to check out the instruments on the way back,'' Asama reminded herself.

“There they are,” said Kimi.

About twenty meters away, a gate to a warehouse wide block on the left wall opened and two white figures ran out.

They did not notice the girls.

And there was no reason to let them notice. This was not a duel between warriors or a tournament between knights. It was the Shinto purification of some mysterious phenomena. That was all it was.

Kimi caught up from behind and amplified Asama’s spell with a dance.

Asama had already opened up Kataume and set up her firing spell.

…''I’ll use a diffusion-type so they can’t escape!

She could not use this technique in their mock battles against Oriotorai because it could damage the city. She had already used one to blow away the warehouse earlier, but that had been close to firing a blank.

She was now preparing a specialized arrow.

“…!”

The enemy started to look back.

But it was too late.

Asama announced that she had them in her sights and she released her power.

Kimi saw a blast of pressure rather than destruction.

…''Well done.

The arrow loosed from Asama’s bow came to a brief but definite stop in midair. A moment later, wind blew from the tip and spread out like an umbrella.

“Ha ha.”

The passageway created from the series of long blocks was 36m wide. This floor was primarily used for warehouses, so the ceiling was tall.

A pressure flew out and seemed to sweep across the entire passageway.

Kimi could tell her dance had amplified it. But what if?

…''What would happen if I added in a song too?

Asama would not be thinking the same thing. The thought came from Kimi’s love of exciting festivals.

But if Asama, Mitotsudaira, and she could mutually amplify each other with song and dance…

…''Wouldn’t we be able to do just about anything?

With that thought, Kimi tapped her heels as part of her dance.

A moment later, the launched pressure struck the enemy while still spread out across the entire passageway.

But even after hitting the two white enemies, the attack did not lose its momentum.

“Huh?”

Kimi did not know why Asama had tilted her head after blowing away the enemies.

“What is it, Asama? According to my brilliant prediction, that’s going to continue on and blow through the hull door.”

“W-wait! I didn’t plan for that much power!”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, Asama.”

''I wonder what the morning paper is going to say tomorrow,'' thought Kimi.

“If you ask me, this way is a lot more fun.”

Mitotsudaira pushed a container as she ran down the corridor from the warehouse wide block to the long block.

Adele was inside the small wooden container. It had two meter sides and was about a meter tall, so with the top lid removed, Adele could hold onto the edge and look forward.

Warped portions of the floor sometimes made the container hop upwards, but it did not topple over.

The container was filled with some necessary items.

“These confiscated porn games, bonus items, and such should be enough evidence.”

“I really want to avoid thinking about how I was buried in that stuff,” said Adele.

“What’s wrong with doing that from time to time?” unhelpfully asked Naruze from behind.

But then they heard Naito suddenly flap her wings extra hard.

“Hm? What is it, Margot?”

“Oh, um.” Naito nodded and once more flapped her six wings extra hard. “It’s just a bit dangerous is all.”

She used her main wings to flip forward and make an emergency landing. It was a rushed action that did not use her ability to hover. Naruze then flew past Mitotsudaira, but Mitotsudaira soon caught up.

“What is it!?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine, Mito-tsan.”

As soon as Naito said that, the “pressure” arrived.

All the air around them was moving.

It moved from back to front. And…

“Eh?”

As Mitotsudaira’s hair was swept forward, Adele floated up from the container.

…''Ehh!?

It happened so suddenly she did not have time to take another breath.

“Here it comes,” said Naito, but her voice was drowned out partway through.

It was the wind. A pressure pushed at all the air around them.

…''The hull was blown open!?

While waiting at the Asama Shrine with Suzu, “Okutama” felt her ship shake a little.

The reason why was obvious.

“An internal impact triggered an emergency opening of the starboard stern hull door on the sixth underground level. I was prepared for the worst with Asama-sama’s group at work in that area, so I am glad this was the worst of the damage. Over.”

“U-um, what happened…to them?”

''Good question,'' thought “Okutama”.

The Musashi’s ships used buffering spells for atmospheric protection, so damage to the hull would not suck everything outside due to a pressure difference.

But Asama’s arrow had been a problem.

The amplified attack had also purified the atmospheric protection.

That level of attack should have been weak enough to remain inside the ship. Thus, Asama had likely concluded it was safe to use in the transport district even if it did destroy the divine protections in the surrounding space.

But it had been amplified.

The air inside the ship would have been one thing, but the door had been opened by the impact.

That had allowed the purification side effect to reach outside the ship, which meant…

“It penetrated the atmospheric protection, so a portion of the air regained its original pressure. Over.”

“Okutama” heard a sound from aft and starboard.

It was a dry sound much like a popgun.

The suction from the pressure difference had slammed into the air within the ship.

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Glossary|Glossary]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 2B Character Introduction

2017-09-02T22:02:26Z

108.50.214.115: /* Characters */

==Characters==
[[File:Horizon_Kimi2B_004.png|thumb]]

● '''Musashi'''

*Asama Tomo: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. The only daughter of the Asama Shrine and a mid-level shrine maiden. Specializes in archery and in tuning ley lines. Stands at the top of the class’s boob caste system. Childhood friends with the nudist and his stupid sister.
*Aoi Kimi: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Asama’s childhood friend and her foolish brother’s older sister. An Ootsubaki-style musician with plenty of dancing and sexuality spells. More considerate than anything.
*Nate Mitotsudaira: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Provisional inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name, a half-werewolf, from Hexagone Française, rank 1 member of Musashi’s knight’s league, low on the boob caste system, speaks in a somewhat noble fashion, likes chokers, likes meat, and generally the victim. Calls the idiot her king.
*Adele Balfette: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Glasses. Lowest on the class’s boob caste system. Yes, lowest. An Hexagone Française style of vassal. Has leg strength and can perform an excellent assault, but lives a poor part-timer’s life. Loves dogs.
*Mukai Suzu: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Blind girl. Stopper for the horrible actions of the class. Sometimes accelerates them instead.
*Malga Naruze: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Black and white and has nothing. Six-winged fallen angel. Doujin author. Fairly bitter. In a relationship with Naito.
*Margot Naito: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Gold and black and has plenty. Six-winged descended angel. Oh, dear. Oh, my. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. In a relationship with Naruze.
*P-01s: A normal citizen. Or rather, an automaton. Apparently boarded the Musashi at Mikawa this spring. Has no memories, was taken in by the Blue Thunder, and works there. Cement-like.
*Naomasa: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Barely appears so there might be no point in putting her here. Works as a team leader in the engine division and has one false arm.
*Honda Masazumi: Crossdressing girl who transferred in from Mikawa. Let me say that again: crossdressing girl. No, that doesn’t mean she wears a cross. Her gags get icy reactions.
*Ohiroshiki Ginji: President of the Far Eastern Council for the Worship of New Life. Heir to the Ohiroshiki family that runs a food service company on Musashi. Lolicon.
*Torii Mototada: Musashi’s ’47 Student Council President and Chancellor. An upper level Ootsubaki-style shrine maiden. Laughs a lot, gets other people caught in the middle, and pushes them off.
*Ookubo Tadayo: Musashi’s ’47 Vice President. A female knight ranked fifth among Musashi’s knights. A fairly composed person.
*Oosuga Yasutaka: Musashi’s ’47 Vice Chancellor. A well-built carefree person. Writes love songs!
*Watanabe Moritsuna: Musashi’s ’47 1st Special Duty Officer. Blonde girl. Uses a spear. A worrier.
*“Musashi”: Our overall captain automaton. Her sharp-tongued mode is the best. Over.
*“Okutama”: Captain of Okutama. “Musashi” tends to do a lot of the work, so she often ends up emptyhanded. Sometimes uses different bodies for different uses.
*Normal Students: Aren’t going to work hard this time.
*Aoi Toori: Already a nudist at this point.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 2B Preface|Preface]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 2B Glossary|Glossary]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Character Introduction

2017-09-02T20:52:02Z

108.50.214.115: /* Characters */

==Characters==
[[File:Horizon_Kimi3A_004.png|thumb]]

● '''Musashi'''

*Asama Tomo: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. The only daughter of the Asama Shrine and a mid-level shrine maiden. Specializes in archery and in tuning ley lines. Stands at the top of the class’s boob caste system. Childhood friends with the nudist and his stupid sister.
*Aoi Kimi: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Asama’s childhood friend and her foolish brother’s older sister. An Ootsubaki-style musician with plenty of dancing and sexuality spells. More considerate than anything.
*Nate Mitotsudaira: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Provisional inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name, a half-werewolf, from Hexagone Française, rank 1 member of Musashi’s knight’s league, low on the boob caste system, speaks in a somewhat noble fashion, likes chokers, likes meat, and generally the victim. Calls the idiot her king.
*Adele Balfette: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Glasses. Lowest on the class’s boob caste system. Yes, lowest. An Hexagone Française style of vassal. Has leg strength and can perform an excellent assault, but lives a poor part-timer’s life. Loves dogs.
*Mukai Suzu: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Blind girl. Stopper for the horrible actions of the class. Sometimes accelerates them instead.
*Malga Naruze: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Black and white and has nothing. Six-winged fallen angel. Doujin author. Fairly bitter. In a relationship with Naito.
*Margot Naito: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Gold and black and has plenty. Six-winged descended angel. Oh, dear. Oh, my. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. In a relationship with Naruze.
*P-01s: A normal citizen. Or rather, an automaton. Apparently boarded the Musashi at Mikawa this spring. Has no memories, was taken in by the Blue Thunder, and works there. Cement-like.
*Naomasa: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Barely appears so there might be no point in putting her here. Works as a team leader in the engine division and has one false arm.
*Honda Masazumi: Crossdressing girl who transferred in from Mikawa. Let me say that again: crossdressing girl. No, that doesn’t mean she wears a cross. Her gags get icy reactions.
*“Musashi”: Our overall captain automaton. Her sharp-tongued mode is the best. Over.
*“Okutama”: Captain of Okutama. “Musashi” tends to do a lot of the work, so she often ends up emptyhanded. Sometimes uses different bodies for different uses.
*Normal Students: Aren’t going to work hard this time.
*Aoi Toori: Already a nudist at this point.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Preface|Preface]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Glossary|Glossary]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Character Introduction

2017-09-02T20:49:31Z

108.50.214.115: /* Characters */

==Characters==
[[File:Horizon_Kimi3B_004.png|thumb]]

● '''Musashi'''

*Asama Tomo: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. The only daughter of the Asama Shrine and a mid-level shrine maiden. Specializes in archery and in tuning ley lines. Stands at the top of the class’s boob caste system. Childhood friends with the nudist and his stupid sister.
*Aoi Kimi: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Asama’s childhood friend and her foolish brother’s older sister. An Ootsubaki-style musician with plenty of dancing and sexuality spells. More considerate than anything.
*Nate Mitotsudaira: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Provisional inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name, a half-werewolf, from Hexagone Française, rank 1 member of Musashi’s knight’s league, low on the boob caste system, speaks in a somewhat noble fashion, likes chokers, likes meat, and generally the victim. Calls the idiot her king.
*Adele Balfette: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Glasses. Lowest on the class’s boob caste system. Yes, lowest. An Hexagone Française style of vassal. Has leg strength and can perform an excellent assault, but lives a poor part-timer’s life. Loves dogs.
*Mukai Suzu: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Blind girl. Stopper for the horrible actions of the class. Sometimes accelerates them instead.
*Malga Naruze: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Black and white and has nothing. Six-winged fallen angel. Doujin author. Fairly bitter. In a relationship with Naito.
*Margot Naito: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Gold and black and has plenty. Six-winged descended angel. Oh, dear. Oh, my. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. In a relationship with Naruze.
*P-01s: A normal citizen. Or rather, an automaton. Apparently boarded the Musashi at Mikawa this spring. Has no memories, was taken in by the Blue Thunder, and works there. Cement-like.
*Naomasa: A second year at Musashi Ariadust Academy. Barely appears so there might be no point in putting her here. Works as a team leader in the engine division and has one false arm.
*Honda Masazumi: Crossdressing girl who transferred in from Mikawa. Let me say that again: crossdressing girl. No, that doesn’t mean she wears a cross. Her gags get icy reactions.
*Torii Mototada: Musashi’s ’47 Student Council President and Chancellor. An upper level Ootsubaki-style shrine maiden. Laughs a lot, gets other people caught in the middle, and pushes them off.
*Oosuga Yasutaka: Musashi’s ’47 Vice Chancellor. A well-built carefree person. Writes love songs!
*“Musashi”: Our overall captain automaton. Her sharp-tongued mode is the best. Over.
*“Okutama”: Captain of Okutama. “Musashi” tends to do a lot of the work, so she often ends up emptyhanded. Sometimes uses different bodies for different uses.
*Normal Students: Aren’t going to work hard this time.
*Aoi Toori: Already a nudist at this point.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Preface|Preface]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Glossary|Glossary]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 4

2017-09-02T20:20:20Z

108.50.214.115:

==Chapter 4: Deliberators Before the Darkness==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3A_135.jpg|thumb]]
''The things found in dark places

''Are not good things

''They are simply hidden things

'''Point Allocation (Is that a euphemism…?)

''The talented are always in demand,'' thought Neshinbara.

…''As a future author, so many people request my talent even during the festival preparations.

This demand, and thus the task that only he could accomplish, was…

“Do the lettering for an event’s hanging banner.”

A thick Far Eastern brush was soaked with neon pink ink. And with that…

“…Nhn!”

He felt the characters he produced were truly excellent and he quickly filled the 5m hanging banner.

…''You know you did a good job when you splattered ink everywhere! Right!?”

“…Okay!”

He had also been asked to make an abbreviated version, so he prepared to move over to a shorter banner.

“Shaaahh!!”

He twisted his body as he leaped and then landed. He wobbled around in a circle, but that was within acceptable bounds. And then…

“Uraaaahh!!”

The brush and his body raced out.

While he wrote out the name, an event committee member monitored a stopwatch sign frame for some reason and then raised a white flag in his right hand.

“Judge. That’ll do.”

“…Is this some kind of competition?”

“No, one of the conditions for writing it was to ‘not hesitate’.”

“And if I broke that rule?”

“The regulations count that as misrepresentation of skill, so you would be kicked out and the word ‘loser’ would be written on your stomach with ink that cannot be erased for a full year.”

That was a frightening rule. But when he looked back at his results…

“Wonderful. My talent scares me sometimes.”

The banner was for…

“A doujinshi event given the difficult theme of placing sympathy, empathy, and excellence at the foundation of politics in this wild Warring States period: The Party for Promoting Sympathy, Empathy, and Excellence.”

The abbreviated version was written on the next banner over.

“The SEX Party…”

''That’s perfect,'' thought Neshinbara before he noticed something.

Outside the academy, a group of mostly boys were putting together festival stands and carrying materials around, but…

“Where is ‘Okutama’-kun leading Asama-kun and the others?”

Asama looked back and saw Neshinbara waving at them from across the road. The hanging banner he had presumably written had just been lifted up.

Asama and the others all saw it.

“…”

“Hey, what’s the matter!? Won’t you come over here to talk with me!?”

Naruze’s response was immediate.

“You’re the worst.”

“Wh-what was that for!?”

“Place your hand on your chest and think long and hard about it. Oh, and I wasn’t talking to you there, Mito.”

“P-please wait! There’s been some kind of misunderstanding!”

“Heh heh. If you want to know what happened, you should probably look to your own chest and ask there! Oh, and I wasn’t talking to you, Mitotsudaira.”

“I haven’t said anything, so why am I being treated like this!?” protested Mitotsudaira.

“Now, now,” said Asama while patting the silver wolf’s shoulders to calm her down.

Regardless, it was probably best to let Neshinbara know what they were doing. He was in contact with Toori and the others, so this meant the actions of the Class Plum girls would definitely be passed on to the boys.

So…

“We’ve found something I need to shoot, so we’re on our way to the Asama Shrine to get my equipment.”

Hearing that, all of the people working in the area fell silent and turned their way.

And…

“Huh? Huh? Why are you all slowly backing away? It’s okay. I promise. I won’t shoot you unless you have some kind of weird impurity.”

“Come to think of it, you’re technically a dragon slayer now, aren’t you?”

“So are the rest of you. And you did the most work there, Mito.”

“The announcement said it was done by a representative of the Asama Shrine,” explained Mitotsudaira. “So along with the Non-God Sword the day before last, that firepower was your first serious diplomatic debut, Asama.”

“W-wait! I take issue with that! And what do you mean ‘serious’!? You make it sound like my previous firepower was only a ‘so-so’ diplomatic debut!”

Hearing that, everyone took about two steps back. Then they formed a scrum. After about two minutes of conversation, Adele raised her right hand.

“Back in middle school, you shot down a flying dragon chasing an Asama Shrine dove, didn’t you? Hexagone Française had been working really hard to hunt down that dragon.”

“No, that was, um…I think I just got a lucky shot. I was really surprised when he fell down, so I gave him a major scolding and let him go.”

“I see,” said Adele as she lowered her hand, but Mitotsudaira raised hers instead.

“Um, last year on Murayama, yes, in the underground area on the edge where my land is? Well, remember when a fuel leak started a fire in the transport district there, but you converted your firepower to purge the entire blazing wide block from the ship?”

“Well, that was with the support of the Asama Shrine. My shot was only the catalyst for the conversion. A-and the transport district wide blocks are just empty floors with no homes on them, so it was actually pretty easy to-…no, I mean it was still quite difficult even if it was just a floor.”

Kimi raised her hand.

“Don’t you just tend to shoot things a lot?”

The scary part was how she found herself unable to deny it. But…

“B-but my Shinto jobs involve Gagaku or ritual prayers far more often. Compared to the purifications I do every morning, every night, and with every single job, I don’t fire my bow all that often, do I?”

“No one would let you get away with firing that thing every morning and every night.”

That did seem true. And in that sense…

…''Oh, if the Gagaku Festival had only been a few days earlier, my diplomatic debut as a band shrine maiden would have come first…

But reality rarely went the way you wanted. Even now, a sign frame opened, showing Heidi who had returned to their classroom.

“I’ve been gathering some information from outside, but K.P.A. Italia is broadcasting all sorts of excuses to dodge responsibility for what happened yesterday. To show how dangerous a presence Musashi is, they’ve been saying things like, ‘The wicked dragon was repelled by the main force of Musashi’s Asama Shrine: the Dragon-Slayer Shrine Maiden.’ Look, there’s even a Western version of you laughing drawn in the Italian comic style.”

“Couldn’t they take a lesson from the neighboring ''Bandes Dessinées'' and draw some cleaner lines?”

Naruze glared at the drawing and her criticism was hard to deny. Asama had trouble accepting a drawing of herself where she looked thirty and was covered in muscles. Her father even sent his opinion over the experimental divine chat.

'''Asama Father:''' “This is unacceptable! I’m going to contact them via Aki!”

''Um, dad, fixing the art doesn’t fix the fundamental problem. And I’m not sure I want your screenname to be based on me.

But that aside…

“Well, if they’ll make the Musashi sound powerful, it can both help us and hurt us. The diplomats will just have to do their best to make sure it helps us.”

“Hee hee. That’s a lot like the Shinto idea of purification.”

“I guess I can’t really argue with that…”

If she started performing in a band, how would it influence people’s image of her?

“Asama certainly is famous. Is that due to the Asama Shrine?”

Masazumi had returned to Class 2-Plum’s classroom after finishing with the measurements and she spoke to Heidi who was starting work on a few sign frames.

But…

“Wait just a moment, okay? Shiro-kun and I have some things in Okutama’s underground, so I want to protect it from what’s about to happen before any of the other merchants can do the same.”
Heidi had her wait.

Of course, Masazumi appreciated Heidi’s behavior.

This meant someone nearby was already starting to work at a professional level. Given Masazumi’s own position, that was reassuring, but also…

…''I need to work harder.

It was like a rebuke or a reminder to do better. But…

“I can’t just say I’ll do better later,” she said quietly.

Your path through life was not something you would start on later. It was something you had already begun.

She hoped to become a politician, so she was reading books, collecting information about the world, gathering her thoughts, and storing it all inside her. That may be akin to child’s play to a professional or expert.

After all, some of her peers were already going out there and working. But…

…''It means I’ve already started.

Those who were heading out there could contact the real deal.

Meanwhile, those who were not heading out there could ''only'' contact what was not real.

But even so, there was no rule saying it was wrong to contact that which was not real.

…''No.

''It isn’t accurate to say what I’m doing “isn’t real”,'' thought Masazumi.

The political science books she read were feedback from the people working in the field. If reading those things would help her understand the real deal and provide her with a starting point…

…''It isn’t what’s “real” that I haven’t reached yet.

If she had to describe it…

“As I am, I can’t learn what exists at ‘a higher level’.”

She may have only been explaining away her own cowardice, but it would be better to view it like this. Otherwise, she would never go beyond reading those political science books and criticizing the people doing the actual work.

She did not want to be a commentator.

She wanted to be someone who made a difference in the world. So…

“Okay, Masazumi. What was it?”

“Eh? O-oh, right.”

Masazumi focused outwards again and looked to Heidi. She tilted her head just like the white fox on the girl’s head.

“So about what you were saying. Just how famous is Asa-…”

She started to ask how famous Asama was in the other nations, but she changed her mind.

“Just how famous is everyone?”

“Not as famous as the third year officers. They get put in white papers and almanacs.”

“What about you, Heidi?”

“Judge.” Heidi smiled back. “Shiro-kun and I are seen as Musashi international trade merchants…but only at the second year level. If we haven’t improved our standing by the time we enter the third year, we’ll have to go for a get rich quick scheme.”

“Really?”

“Judge. But we’re not going to stop at being merchants within Musashi. We want far more money than that.”

Masazumi did not quite understand their values, but that was apparently how it was. However…

“The most famous one would be Azuma-kun, although he’s not with us at the moment. He’s the imperial crown prince. To be honest, there was a time when it felt like Class Plum’s reputation was singlehandedly supported by him.”

Masazumi had yet to see him, but she knew about him.

“I hear he’s currently in Kyoto, preparing for secular life.”

“Yes, yes. They say he could be the source of some conflict over succession since the emperor is unaging. So to keep him as far away from the Shinto emperor as possible, they’re having him join the Buddhists and also start a secular life. Meanwhile, the Far East is fighting back by strengthening the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism. …Thanks to that, there’s a divine transmission fan community called the Azuma Lovers and they’ll pay a lot for secret photos of him.”

But…

“Azuma-kun is starting to make a name for himself as an individual, so the reputation of Class Plum as a whole has been gradually dropping. Nowadays, we’re known – at best – as the crown prince’s class. …It looks like we’ll have to work individually to get our name out there.”

“We’ll have to work ''individually''…to get ''our'' name out there?”

That was a weird phrasing. She understood what it meant, but it still felt contradictory. Heidi smiled bitterly when she pointed it out.

And she explained.

“Not even I should really be mentioning this.”

But…

“Masazumi, if you do become a politician, then our class can provide you with the most important thing you could ask for.”

“Funding?”

“No, no.”

“Connections?”

“No, no.”

“Then…”

“Not that either.”

Heidi sat on the desk and smiled.

“You’re only looking at your hands. You won’t find the answer there.”

You see…

“Can you become a politician with funding and connections? Well, you’re not one yet, so I guess you wouldn’t know. So I’ll answer as a merchant. …So can you become a merchant with funding and connections?”

Well…

“You can.”

“——————”

“But…that says nothing about whether you can remain a ''good'' merchant for very long.”

“You mean…?”

“I’m not talking about some kind of idealism. But it’s not a physical ‘thing’ either. Sales are found through trust. So instead of a ‘thing’ you can hold in your hand, you need…”

Heidi held out her hand with the palm up.

…''Oh.

“I’m not paying you.”

“But it’s some really good information. It’s a trick you’ll definitely need to succeed as a politician.”

“And that’s why I’m not paying you,” said Masazumi. “A politician can’t buy her trust from a merchant. …I will become a politician who is valuable enough for the merchant to want to pay me. That is best.”

“Oh.” Heidi smiled. “So you won’t become our ‘thing’?”

Her smile became a sigh of relief.

“That’s really good to hear.”

“Judge.”

''I see,'' thought Masazumi.

…''The people in this class are selective.

They would not become hers. They would not just let her have her way. She was surrounded by people like that.

And if someone was careless enough to fall under their control…

…''They would probably keep their distance or reject that person.

So…

“Are we a group of people who need each other but won’t sacrifice ourselves for each other?”

“That information would be very expensive.”

“Why?”

“We all know of a certain remorse that could not be saved. And a lot of it’s on a subconscious level at this point, but Kimi-chan makes a pretty clear distinction about who isn’t one of us and Mito seems to check to see who she can stand side-by-side with. However…”

However…

“I’m relieved that our future politician isn’t someone who will completely understand us.”

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient if I was?”

“No, no. I mean, think about it. If we had a politician who understood us, she would listen to everything we said, but do you know what that means?” Heidi lightly kicked her legs as they dangled from the desk. “That politician would only ever enact the kind of economic policy that a mere merchant could think up. She’d be small-time.”

“You sure are strict.”

“Because I’m a merchant. I have that merchant-like strictness. And the others will of course go right ahead and ask for what they want. That’s just the kind of class this is. Adele, Suzu, and the boys don’t hesitate to ask for something if that person can actually do it. So,” said the merchant girl. “If you need something, Masazumi, just put in an order.”

“…Is that why Asama and the others left earlier?”

“Judge. That’s right. …I think I know what’s going on here, but will they be able to do this right?”

Asama invited everyone into her room to change clothes.

The room was about 15 square meters and it had not been touched since she, Kimi, and Mitotsudaira had woken up this morning. Their presence was still there.

“Oh, my. Just this one blanket is warm. What were you girls doing together…?”

“W-wait, Naruze! Stop digging through the folded futons.”

“Heh heh heh. Do you want to know, Naruze!? We spent a hot night together with Asama sandwiched between Mitotsudaira and me! Then Asama told me she wanted to do it ‘with you until morning’<ref>One interpretation of Kimitoasamade.</ref>, but I said that wasn’t fair since it excluded Mitotsudaira. Then Asama said not to worry since ‘Mito is already right there inside us’ and Mitotsudaira said ‘yes, I am inside both of you, aren’t I?’ Oh, they just looked so happy!!”

“Yeeeesssss!!”

“What was that cheer for, Naruze!?”

''Should we really be making this much noise at the shrine?'' belatedly wondered Asama, but then she started to explain their strategy for today.

“I was caught off guard yesterday because I wasn’t expecting an exciting event like a Hidden Dragon showing up. So we need to be properly prepared this time.”

“Judge,” they all agreed. Asama undid her inner suit and pulled her shrine maiden outfit from a wooden box she had carried in.

“For the most part, we will head out in shrine maiden uniforms. But this is a mission requested of the Asama Shrine instead of an investigation by the shrine, so I can say we hired you for the job.”

“Then Margot and I would like some Technohexen secondary equipment.”

“I…well, engine division equipment is surprisingly ill suited for combat,” said Naomasa. “I guess I’ll head out in a shrine maiden uniform, too.”

“So will I,” said Mitotsudaira. “What about you, Kimi?”

“I’ll use dancer equipment since it’s more efficient for offerings.”

Kimi opened the dresser’s top drawer, much to Asama’s surprise.

“Eh? Ah! Wait! Why are you going through my dresser!?”

Meanwhile, Kimi pulled out a white dancer’s outfit.

There was little point in asking when that had gotten there. Kimi would occasionally work part-time here and she often came over to play. It was not all surprising that she had stored some spare clothing for when she spent the night. Or rather…

…''She’s completely outdone me here…

“Some of my foolish brother’s clothes are stored here too, you know? Since he sometimes works as a part-time shrine maiden.”

“W-wait just a second! My king changes in here!?”

“Eh?”

Asama was confused.

…''I-is there anything wrong with that…?

As she wondered that, Asama somewhat hesitantly explained.

“W-well, you know. He c-can’t exactly do it in the girls locker room or the boys locker room…right? I mean, he’s crossdressing, right? Yes, Shinto has a lot of crossdressing material, so it’s fine that he does it, but, but…oh, I know. There might be some people who would get turned on by it. …That’s the problem, yes. And this room is under my control. Oh, but that doesn’t mean I’m watching. Besides, Toori-kun only uses it when I’m not here. I assume he gets the information from my dad. And afterwards…well, I’m a shrine maiden, right? So I purify it. Yes, so it’s clean! Everything’s perfectly clean! And there’s no harm in the crossdressing! How about that!?”

She had started hanging her head at some point, but she raised it with that final question and found the others forming a scrum.

“Isn’t that exactly like she’s a…what would you call it? …A mistress?”

“Who’s the wife in this scenario?”

“I think we can definitely say she’s been spoiling him too much.”

“Judge. So this is why my king can’t stop crossdressing…”

“Unfortunately, I think there’s another reason for that.”

“E-everyone…we need to…trust Asama…-san.”

''Oh, no. That’s a lot of pressure, Suzu-san.

But Kimi, who had already stripped half-naked in order to change, placed her hands on her cheeks and shook her head in an obvious act.

“No! Asama has reached the point where she can’t live on without my foolish brother and me! Oh, the Aoi blood is such a forbidden fruit! No family causes you more trouble!”

“That’s not a good thing, Kimi.”

“Anyway,” said Mitotsudaira while raising her hand. “If my king only uses this room while Tomo isn’t around, well, I guess that’s fine.”

Just then, the idiot opened the sliding door and tried to enter.

They all turned around.

“Huh?”

With a shrine maiden outfit in his arms, he tilted his head and shut the sliding door.

And through the door, they heard him walking down the hall.

“Hey! Asama’s dad. They’re in there! They haven’t come out yet!”

After his voice faded into the distance, Asama glanced over at the others.

Everyone but Kimi was staring back at her with their mouths spread horizontally.

Then Naomasa raised her right hand and spoke.

“I think you should stand up to him a little more.”

“Wh-what makes you think that!? B-besides, this proves I don’t watch Toori-kun change, doesn’t it? This isn’t a problem.”

“She’s hopeless…” a few of them muttered with drooping shoulders.

Was there something wrong with her if she did not see what they were so worried about? But…

“A-anyway, we were in the middle of our strategy meeting. …Suzu-san.”

“Oh, wh-what?”

“I want you to stay at the Asama Shrine as our backup.”

“Back…attack?”

Everyone fell silent. It was Naruze who decided to ask.

“…Who would be doing that?”

“Just out of curiosity, who would be in the very back?” asked Mitotsudaira. “Who would that be?”

As a bow-user, Asama would be the rear guard, so she raised her hand.

“W-wait a minute, Asama-san! Are you planning to blow us all away!?”

“Just to be clear, I didn’t say anything weird during that scrum meeting.”

“Masa! You’re trying to protect yourself with that, aren’t you!? Tomo! You need to be out at the very front this time!”

“That is certainly an unusual party formation!!”

More importantly, she had to correct Suzu. So she raised her right index finger.

“Suzu-san, what I want you to provide is backup. ‘Okutama’-san, I also want you doing that from outside, so you send us instructions and advice.”

“Instructions? Over.”

“Yes. I noticed in the last battle that it’s dangerous to have your only viewpoints be on the battlefield itself. It’s safer to have someone who can monitor the overall movements, the actions of the enemy, and the ether and ley lines condition. And if things get too dangerous, you can purge the entire area we’re in. Also…”

Also…

“I was in charge of all that during the last battle, so it delayed my participation in the battle. Against an ether opponent like a Hidden Dragon, a shrine maiden with purification abilities will need to go through more preparation before joining in. And that can cause a critical delay. That’s why I want to leave most of that with you instead.”

She truly thought that.

Against a human opponent, a shrine maiden generally could not join the fight and could thus focus on backup. But she needed to stand on the front line when the opponent was a mysterious phenomenon.

“Mito said earlier I should be out in front, but that might actually be the right way of going about this.”

“Then,” said Kimi, who had already changed into her dancer outfit. “If you’re in the lead, what kind of equipment are you going to give us all? And you immediately accepted when Sensei arrived with the request, but why was that? Spill the beans.”

“Oh, yes. As for the equipment, you can use any level of official Shirasago products. None of it will be custom-made to fit you, but the grips and handles can be swapped out and the anchors are detachable, so feel free to use some if you’re accustomed to them from class.”

“Oh, I brought a practice lance, but can I get a divine protection charm for it?” asked Adele. “Charms are consumables, so I can’t just borrow it and return it, can I?”

“As an Asama Shrine shrine maiden, you can use as much as you want as long as we don’t go over the budget allotted for this mission.”

“Ohh,” said Adele, sounding quite impressed.

Asama then looked to Kimi and Mitotsudaira. Kimi nodded and Mitotsudaira tilted her head.

“Below the academy…or more accurately, in Okutama’s underground area, there is a Gagaku instrument storeroom managed by the Asama Shrine. But…”

“But? But what?”

“Well.” Asama had meant to tell Kimi this earlier. “The official Gagaku instruments belong to the shrine, but since that storeroom is below the academy, it naturally includes instruments for students from different nations. …Simply put, it contains a variety of modern instruments.”

Her meaning seemed to get through to them. Mitotsudaira’s expression lit up and the Cerberus barked on her head.

…''Do they share their emotions?

It was not a Mouse, so maybe she was only imagining it. ''There are some unknown things about that Cerberus,'' thought Asama before saying more.

“Mito, you would probably know how to play Western instruments, and there should be some of those there.”

“Oh, could we borrow some of those too?” asked Naito.

“To be blunt, Western instruments aren’t used in Gagaku… We include the latest models just in case, but there isn’t anyone to use them.”

“Then you’ll rent them out? Would twenty reserved copies of my doujinshi cover the rental fee?”

“That’s based on me, isn’t it!? And if they’re reserved copies, does that mean I have to go to the event to pick them up!?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Kimi with a smile while checking through the ear-shaped sensors for a shrine maiden and looking for one that would fit with Suzu’s Noise Neighbor by repeatedly putting one on the girl and then removing it. “It’s time we left…to prepare for the Gagaku Festival.”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Afterword|Afterword]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 2

2017-09-02T17:09:46Z

108.50.214.115:

==Chapter 2: Insufficient One at a Half Place==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3A_079.jpg|thumb]]
''The sufficient ones are the abnormal ones

''To think I would

''Still be using that excuse in high school…

'''Point Allocation (Accumulation from the Past)

“Hey, Tenzou.”

The morning air still hung over the road as a voice joined the sounds of wooden hammers striking stakes and of light gods of war moving around.

“What is our class going to do for the spring festival?”

“That is a good question since our usual supplier, Shirojiro-dono, is focusing all his attention on the Marube-ya.”

That response came from Tenzou who was working with Toori to set up a tent for the Far Eastern Academy Store on the central road below the academy.

“Well, we still have Ohiroshiki-dono and Hassan-dono, so we should have plenty of sweets and curry.”

“Isn’t eating curry with sweets kind of revolutionary?”

“They apparently eat yogurt after curry in India.”

“So it’s actually doable, huh? Asama’s in the tea ceremony club, so if we get some tea from her, I guess we’ll be set for food and drink.”

Tenzou faced Toori who was tying on the tent’s canvas roof. And while he adjusted the height of one of the main support poles, Tenzou said,

“It’s too bad you can’t run the shop this time, Toori-dono.”

“Well, after what happened last time, they’ve banned anyone from starting consecutive events.”

“Yeah, that play café you ran last year was something else. First Mitotsudaira-dono brings a real sword for a prop, then it flies into the audience seating, and in the end you were arrested.”

“That was so not fair.”

“Judge. The guards took one look at Adele-dono and said a girl that small could never throw a sword that large. But Adele-dono can do that easily and she didn’t really throw it; it slipped from her hand. It has a different grip than her spear, after all.”

But…

“I think the real problem was when you shouted ‘That’s right! I did it!!’, held the sword in your crotch, and chased the guards around with it. Unlike the chocolate way back when, I’m amazed it didn’t slip out.”

“Well, I had a spare gravitational control charm from setting up the place. And if you don’t use it all, they’ll cut your budget the following year.”

“By breaking the regulations, you just about had the entire thing eliminated, not just the budget.”

But more importantly…

“I know it’s way too late now, but did you ever apologize to Mitotsudaira-dono?”

“She muttered ‘My heirloom…’ with a blank look on her face, so I said ‘Your heirloom preserved our honor’. But that only made her give me one hell of a glare, so I had Shiro teach me how to prostrate in apology. She took it back saying she would have it cleaned, but then a crazy expensive bill arrived later on and I had to increase my part-time shifts.”

“I see.”

Tenzou looked at Toori who was leaning back and standing on a chair while tying on the roof canvas.

And after a while…

“Toori-dono.”

“Hm? What is it, Tenzou? Is there a problem?”

“Judge.” Tenzou nodded. “Why…are you crossdressing?”

Tenzou looked up at the idiot who was leaning back and standing on a chair.

Frighteningly enough…

“The scary part is that you really do look like a girl.”

“Yeah, figuring out what to do with my dick was a real pain.”

“Please don’t bring that up out of the blue!!”

“It turned out stealth just wasn’t enough, so I’m using a technique to store it in a pocket dimension.”

''I must avoid thinking he should use that passion for something more useful. He is an entertainer.

''There is no helping it.'' But…

“Why are you dressed up as a busty blonde?”

“Huh? You can’t tell? I felt sorry for you, so I had no choice but to go with the busty blondes you love so much.”

“Oh, how considerate of you. Thank-…”

Tenzou trailed off before saying “you”.

“I-I don’t want that kind of consideration!”

“Eh? R-really? Do you hate busty blondes now?”

“I love busty blondes! I rented a video yesterday, waited until my parents left in the morning, and watched it before coming here!”

“So if your faith is real, then why aren’t you reacting to my busty blonde? Oh, is it that thing where you don’t notice the charm of someone who you take for granted!? That’s it, isn’t it?”

“That would never happen, so don’t even try to suggest it! Besides, Toori-dono, if you hang around me looking like that, a busty blonde with a crush on me might say ‘Oh, Tenzou-kun is already dating a busty blonde. Sob.’, and cry with her breasts between her arms like this! Then I would lose a chance at love!”

“So what should we do for lunch?”

“You just ignored all of that, didn’t you!?”

“Just think about it. No busty blonde is ever going to have a crush on you.”

“B-back in elementary school, I would’ve punched you for saying that!”

“And now?”

“Now I think you’re probably right.”

The two of them laughed together and then Tenzou came back to his senses.

“I don’t want this. It will keep other busty blondes away and you’re actually a guy, so I gain nothing at all from it.”

“Don’t say that. You can just look at me and imagine I’m the ideal busty blonde. And I don’t think you’ll need much of an imagination there. I mean, check out this ass.”

Toori stuck his butt out from above and there was indeed nothing wrong with the shape visible through the gap between the side skirt and tail skirt. The color of the white panties portion was also quite nice.

“…This is dangerous. If I was a 1st ''dan'' in ''shudo'', I would have definitely challenged you to a match.”

“Hmm, so you’re saying this sinful body of mine lights a criminal flame in people’s hearts…”

“But,” said Tenzou. “Why the crossdressing?”

“Oh, right.”

The idiot looked up toward the academy.

The ceiling was gaining the color of later morning. And below that, the crossdresser faced the school building illuminated by the faint light of the stealth barrier.

“So I can peep.”

Immediately afterwards, Tenzou saw something.

The crossdresser’s head was blown away.

“Toori-dono!”

He had been sniped.

“How about it, Ga-chan? Did I hit him?”

Naito asked that of Naruze while aiming her broom out of a third floor window in the academy’s rear building.

Naruze was outside the window. She used her wings to float and checked the guideline drawn from the end of the broom. The broom was aimed at a somewhat upwards angle in order to clear the front building and the ether line drew a slight curve from there.

“I think it probably got through. I took our relative positions and his height into consideration, so it should have blown away just his wig.”

Yes.

“Wigs are expensive. Blow away that and he probably won’t think about peeping for a while.”

“I see,” said Asama inside the building, but then a sign frame appeared next to her.

Asama sighed, suggesting it was the sniper victim himself. She then spoke to the sign frame.

“Um, Toori-kun? When you were arrested by the guards due to your nonsense early this morning, they placed a marker on you. So if you say or do anything dumb right now, I will be informed. They want me to nip it in the bud before you get arrested again. …Oh, your wig was blown away? You would have preferred getting arrested? Please stop pretending to cry. You’re troubling Tenzou-kun.”

“They never change, do they?” muttered Naruze.

Naruze thought about what she had just said.

…''I guess it means the usual way of things is best.

That idiot could be thoughtful about a lot of things, like that automaton at the Blue Thunder.

The difficult thing about him was how he did not seem to be observing the others while he actually was. The even more difficult thing about him was how his idiocy made it hard to thank him even if something did warrant it.

Margot would casually say thanks, but Naruze just could not do it. Once, when she had forgotten a combination page rough for a doujinshi in the academy store’s copier, she had thanked Persona-kun when he brought it to her, but the atmosphere had frozen over and everyone had reacted like this:

“Are you having a bad day, Naruze-kun?”

“Naruze-kun, that isn’t very in character for you. Are you an imposter? When the real one tries to spin a pen in her right hand…kh, it got caught and wouldn’t spin!? It seems you are the real Naruze-kun.”

“Um, Naruze-dono… Wait, why do you get your usual look of scorn back when I try to help out!?”

What was with all that?

…''Maybe I should just assume it means they understand who I am.

''But,'' she silently added while entering through the classroom window. The light was fairly dim outside, but it was bright compared to the classroom.

…''It can’t stay like this.

That was how it felt to her.

“Ga-chan?”

Had Margot realized what she was thinking?

Their relationship was not a particularly long one, but it was a very close one. So…

“Judge. It’s just a little something.”

It was not enough to worry about, but it was not “nothing”. That was what she told Margot.

“Okay.”

Margot nodded and the doubt vanished from her face.

They did not need to thoroughly question each other about every little thing. Because they were so close, they could ask for advice at any time and they could embrace each other without forgetting the things they had put off until later.

The way Naruze saw it, if you pretended to be close by resolving everything right away, you were either forced to because you had so little intimate time together or you viewed your relationship as something like a job.

So she passed through the window…

“—————”

…and returned inside.

There was a trick to entering through the window without her wings catching. When she closed her wings, she lost her lift. That would normally turn her wings into nothing but weights, so her body would topple backwards. And if that happened while passing through the window, she could fall outside.

So she would use the closing motion to make a light flap and then scrunch up her body while taking a light step over the windowsill.

She crossed over the desk where the idiot usually slept and she continued on to their seats.

And she looked around the classroom.

“What, are you changing already?”

“Judge. Sensei said she’s in charge in the gym, so she left the paperwork here.”

Some people had no sign frame contract and used a handheld shrine, so paperwork was a fairly common sight at events like this. ''It’s nice that the Far East primarily uses paper media,'' thought Naruze.

…''Maybe I should make a quick sketch.

She began drawing everyone as they changed.

Suzu realized Naruze was occasionally looking her direction while drawing something on a Magie Figur.

Naruze had a certain habit when she began drawing in the classroom.

When she was drawing in serious mode, she would make scratching motions with her right arm, but her left wing would stop moving.

That likely meant she was using the left wing to support herself while her right arm moved her body.

When drawing like that, her right wing would move a bit to match the movements of her right shoulder. The swaying wing looked pleasant, like a baby’s toy, but Naruze must have been unaware of her surroundings because it would sometimes hit a passerby.

Of course, everyone would turn toward Naruze when that happened, but they would hold their tongues when they noticed how focused she was.

…''That must be nice.

Suzu wished she had something she could get so focused on.

How focused was she while sewing? No, any sound around her would catch her attention, so it could not be that much.

And Naruze was now sketching them all changing, including Suzu herself.

…''Yes…

Her parents had really liked the picture Naruze had given her the day before.

“Ho ho?”

That was how their reaction had begun.

“I had heard the rumors, but this – Nargot-san, was it? – is very good.”

“Yes, it’s Nalga-san and Maruze-san.”

…''Mom, dad, you’re mixing them together. But they live together, so maybe that’s fine.

She had decided that was within the margin of error and opted not to correct her parents, but should she have done so?

Regardless, she had enjoyed having her friend praised.

It made her happy to have an amazing friend.

…''But not because it makes me amazing too.

It made no sense to claim it did. If that logic worked, everyone around Toori-kun would be a nudist. So…

…''It lets me believe that my life is something different from normal.

With housework, it was easy to just repeat the same things every single day. But with her friends there, she would never forget that there were people who lived different sorts of lives.

She had to wonder if there was no such thing as “ordinary” and everyone had a different idea of what it meant.

That may have been why her parents had stared at Naruze’s drawing for a very long time the night before.

“Is she always drawing things like this?”

“Yes. She says she…actually draws…the backgrounds too.”

“I see… But kids these days sure are mature. This is nothing like the manga when we were kids. It’s a lot more…realistic, I guess? And you look so mature in it, Suzu.”

“Hm? How?”

Her parents had fallen silent, so she had probably asked an awkward question.

They had then whispered to each other.

“…So Suzu is old enough to be seen as an adult.”

“…The artist is a girl too, so I doubt it was meant to be so sexual.”

She had felt a dull sweat soaking her skin, but when she thought about it, Naruze did like girls even if she was a girl. Would it be best to lie?

And after a while longer…

“Suzu. …If you don’t want to carry on the family business, you can just tell us, okay?”

“Yes, we’re prepared for that.”

“Eh? No, um. That isn’t...what Ga-chan meant by…having me dressed like…a Technohexen.”

It had not been easy to keep them from starting a family meeting right then and there.

But her parents had touched on her life a bit.

…''That was…different from…normal.

What was normal in her life was different from “normal” for her family. And it was different from normal for her to hear their reactions to it.

What was this called? She had a feeling Naruze had mentioned it before…

…''Corruption…?

''No. Well, that does seem to fit, but probably no.

The word “interaction” came to mind. ''Good. I’m glad I didn’t give up on thinking.'' She realized now just how important words were. And…

“…”

Thanks to her parents’ reaction last night, she had a thought about Naruze’s sketches.

…''Wh-what does it mean…f-for them to be…mature?

''Changing isn’t all that different for boys and girls,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

Girls changed their tops just like boys did their shirts and girls changed their tights just like boys did their pants.

Some people changed their top first and some changed their bottom first, but Mitotsudaira was the latter type.

She had a reason for that.

…''If I change the bottom first, I can better respond to an attack while changing the top.

It was her legs that mattered. So when changing into a track suit, doing the bottom first would lighten her body sooner.

As a knight, she had to consider the possibility of an enemy attack at any time, and ''that'' alone was a good enough reason to change the bottom first.

''Okay,'' she said in her heart while reaching into her bag and pulling out tights in a color known as Hexagone Blue.

No girl left their tights in their locker. They were light and could be folded up quite small. And track suit tights were designed to allow sweat through instead of being insulating, so they were not meant to be worn multiple times without washing them.

Thus…

“…Now, then.”

The first step while changing was to bring the front of her skirt together.

She connected the front of the side skirts to close the front and then attached the backs to the tail skirt. By lifting up the top of the tail skirt and having it dig deep into the hard point on the back of her hips, she could hide her crotch, legs, and butt.

Connecting the skirts all the way to the bottom was a fashion style known as the “bell” and it was popular with non-student women, especially married ones.

Mitotsudaira only had to connect them about halfway down her thighs.

…''From there, I just have to change.

She first lifted up the side skirts and stuck her hands to the front of her hips below the fabric.

And below the skirt, she removed the clasps attached to the top left and right of her inner suit’s panties section.

That let the front of the panties section dangle down between her legs, but she ignored that and rolled up her sleeves so they would not touch the floor.

“…Nn.”

She stuck her fingers into the top of her tights and lowered them all at once.

She had known they would be changing today, so she wore a supporter below the inner suit. The trick to keeping the strings from being pushed down was to attach them to the hard points and wrap them around her hips.

…''I generally don’t wear one, though.

Married women generally saw underwear as a necessity, but she usually only wore a set of pads within the tights.

…''The recent ones are really well made, so they don’t shift out of place even with the inner suit pushing at them from above.

''Yes, and the top is the same. Because I have a combat role, I wear something with some thickness in the chest for shock absorption. Yes, that is only natural for a knight and is certainly not about my personal pride at all…!

She made that silent excuse while removing the tights. Released from the insulation of the tights, she felt a ticklish chilly sensation between her legs. She knew that was the spring air, and…

“Now, then.”

She began to put on her track suit tights.

But just as she did…

“Copying my foolish brother: reverse edition!!”

Behind her, Kimi did what Mitotsudaira had done yesterday, but in reverse.

The night before, she had flipped up Asama’s yukata in Suzu’s bathhouse.

As the reverse of that, Kimi did not just pull down Mitotsudaira’s skirt but removed it from the hard points altogether. And that disconnected the underwear below as well.

The skirt’s connections came apart and the underwear fell down.

“——————”

Asama saw the girls silently speed up their changing after hearing a loud scream.

Naruze alone commented while changing.

“Oh, I see. So it looks like that when she’s only wearing the top…”

She continued sketching, but that was normal. That said…

…''Should I call this “lively” or what?

“Wh-what are you doing, Kimi!? This is the classroom!”

“Understood. I’ll strip too, so bear with it! Isn’t this great!? Here, can’t you feel these clever cushions pressing against your back? Well? Well? You can tell I’ve stripped, can’t you?”

“I thought the humiliation wouldn’t start until we got to the measurements!”

It was all far too normal for them.

At any rate, Asama knew she had to get changed while Kimi was focused on a different target.

She had already changed the bottom. In her case, she wore a track suit with the red and white colors of a shrine maiden. It was from the Shirasago Brand that the Asama Shrine belonged to.

She began changing the top.

The inner suit could be worn as-is just like a shirt. If gym class involved some more vigorous activity, she could change out of the inner suit along with the track suit, but that would not be necessary today. Using a deodorant and purification spell through the hard point parts would be enough to clean it.

She had to remove her top and…

…''Fold it.

It might be overly diligent to do that while changing. Heidi and Adele just placed theirs over a chair back after removing it.

It was likely due to the events and mindset of the past few days that she was noticing her diligence here.

She noticed Masazumi also placed hers over her chair. But…

…''The way she does it seems more boyish somehow.

It was like a scene in a TV drama where a guy returned from work and placed his coat on the sofa. Did it only look that way because she crossdressed?

“Masazumi is wearing a different pair of underwear again,” said Naruze behind Asama. “Ever since she transferred in, she’s always wearing different underwear when we change. Is this an unexpected way to maintain her ‘girly’ side?”

''Should I report this?

But standing here holding her folded top would change nothing. She placed it on her desk alongside her skirt. Then she removed the chest band from the side hard point parts and also removed the parts holding the chest band in place.

The collar parts kept the neck airtight, but she removed them here.

She did not forget to place a purification charm on them. That seemed excessive when she had only worn them since morning, but from an ether perspective, they were something she had “removed and set down”. For someone from the Asama Shrine, it was less about physical dirtiness and more about preventing impurities introduced by the situation.

But a divine protection version of these charms was periodically distributed free of charge to anyone with an Asama Shrine contract. So…

“Does anyone need a purification charm?”

“Oh, I’ll take one.”

While receiving a serious lecture from Mitotsudaira, Kimi turned toward Asama with a smile. Past her, Mitotsudaira clenched her fists and protested.

“A-are you trying to escape!? …Oh, and yes! I’ll take one, too!”

“Yes, yes. And, Mito, you should probably put your tights on soon.”

Mitotsudaira quickly continued changing while Asama opened a sign frame and checked a distribution list for purification divine protections. As Technohexen, Naito and Naruze were contracted with Musashi rather than the Asama Shrine. Heidi’s main shrine was the Inari Shrine, so she was not on the list. They all had their own methods.

Masazumi’s name on the list was a recent development.

Asama checked the list for everyone who raised their hand, including Masazumi, and sent out the appropriate divine protection version for each one.

“Okay, you can use it by setting it up from your hard point parts.”

There was no physical charm and the effects would end if the clothing was moved, but they all placed the same divine protection as Asama on their removed clothing.

While they began setting things up, Asama put on her track suit top. It used a Western collar and thus did not require the neck hard points, but she did not really like that type. However…

…''A stage costume might include a Western suit or dress.

It was important not to throw out any interest she had. And with that in mind…

“Hee hee.”

She found it wonderful how her thoughts just assumed she would be performing on stage with a band. Just how much was she looking forward to that future?

“…Heidi-san, Asama-san just started laughing.”

“…I’ve heard any memories that make you laugh like that are usually sexual in nature! C’mon, Adele, could you go ask her what this is about? I’ll give you a cut of the profits!”

The frightening part about Adele and Heidi’s conversation was that they did not have a problem with speaking loud enough for her to hear. But she smiled bitterly when she realized she was excited enough for other people to tell.

''I need to pull it together.

''Right, right,'' she told herself before suppressing the smile and attaching a chest cloth to the inside of her side hard points so it would hold her chest in place from above in place of the uniform’s chest band.

The bottom was cut just below the chest and it tickled her breasts, but there was no avoiding that.

The physical examination here also included some strength testing, so it was important to be able to easily remove the clothing while also being able to move around a bit in it.

…''Well, I won’t have to use my body too much today.

They would probably only do grip strength, back muscles, and flexibility today.

''I wonder how I’ll do compared to last year,'' she thought, while…

“Kimi, Mito, are you done changing?”

“I will be soon.”

“Me too.”

Mitotsudaira was wearing a track suit colored the Hexagone Blue seen in Hexagone Française’s uniforms. Kimi wore a white track suit with a bit of yellow in it.

A lot of students wore track suits in colors other than the official Musashi Blue, but these two stood out due to their hair color or behavior. However, in their class…

“Heidi…what is that?”

Heidi wore a gold track suit that matched Shirojiro’s and, rather than “stand out”, it was completely insane. Last year, they had worn silver lamé made from silver coins, but that had been dangerous when they were hit during an event, so they were simply made to look gold this year.

Naruze’s was white with green lines and Naito’s was black with orange lines.

But everyone was focused on one thing in particular.

“Suzu-san…”

Suzu’s track suit.

“Yes.”

Kimi looked away from Asama and toward Suzu.

Suzu had finished changing at her seat by the hallway. She had just reached for her desk to grab the paperwork carried to her.

But she looked over in confusion when she heard Asama’s voice.

“You’ve retailored that, haven’t you?” asked Kimi. “Could you let us see?”

“Eh?”

Suzu turned toward them and lightly raised her hands.

She was blushing, but from more than just the attention.

“You retailored it because your new one, which you had just made for the second year, was tight in the shoulders last week, right? Twist your body and let me see.”

“L-like this?”

Suzu looked their way and twisted around to show herself off.

It looked like she was wearing a standard track suit, but it was not.

“I can’t believe you tailored that yourself,” said Adele. “That’s kind of amazing.”

“Not just that,” said Naomasa who chose not to wear the coat. The corners of her mouth rose a little. “My team has some people into the latest fashions, and having the sleeves a little puffy is fashionable now due to influence from Europe. Suzu, you did that too, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I-I did it while…I was fixing the…shoulders.”

“Oh?” said Asama while glancing over toward Kimi. Most likely, Suzu had not measured her size wrong.

“Suzu-san must be growing taller,” silently said Asama via eye contact.

“I think some other parts are gradually changing too,” replied Kimi in the same way.

Suzu was slowly growing into an adult. ''We all are,'' thought Kimi. ''Although…

“K-Kimi-san!” protested Adele. “Why did you just give me a look of pity!?”

There were some exceptions.

Regardless, Suzu smiled a little, turned back around, and raised her altered sleeves.

“Nn. D-does it look…weird?”

“No, no!”

They all shook their heads.

Everyone knew how skilled Suzu was. Part of that was because her mother had taught her, but her patient and thorough personality allowed her to properly make each of the many parts for their uniforms. Ever since she started working at her family’s bathhouse, she had started hearing the female customers talking about the latest trends, so she was the best of any of them at showing off those trends with her uniform and such.

They had all asked her to tailor something for them at some point.

Even now, Heidi gave nod.

“Could I get you to do that for mine?”

“Nn. Y-yes. It will take…some time, though.”

“Judge. I’ll make sure to pay you.”

“Right.”

Suzu nodded and Heidi nodded back with a smile.

…''They understand each other.

Masazumi, however, did not understand them, so she looked over at Asama and asked a question, presumably about the divine protection.

“Asama, should I have paid for that?”

“Oh, no, no. Heidi’s a merchant, you see.”

“Right.”

Suzu nodded and turned toward Heidi, so the merchant girl shrugged.

“A merchant will make sure to pay even between friends. After all, Shiro-kun and I are gathering a lot of attention for how young we are. It’s getting to the point that Musashi’s Commerce and Industry Guild is starting to deter us.”

“Deter you?”

“That means they find us to be a nuisance. When the Hidden Dragon appeared yesterday, we took on the cargo waiting to be shipped out. Konishi-sama and the others were hoping to use the commotion to make some money, but Shiro-kun used the harbor laws to prevent any of the cargo from being moved around.”

“So they’re keeping their eye on you…?”

Masazumi looked skeptical, but Kimi smiled a little.

“If they aren’t, it means they think you’re a ‘convenient small-timer’. Right, Heidi?”

Kimi could more or less imagine what the two merchants had done.

That was why she turned her smile toward Heidi and asked for confirmation.

“Since we were on the scene, you lied about us telling you it was dangerous and you used that to keep all the cargo in place, right? You are young merchants starting to make a name for yourselves, so Koni-tan and the others left you with the standby cargo so you couldn’t directly trade with Aki. That way they could show you they are on a higher level than you. But…”

“Judge. Konishi-sama and the others were trying to immediately ship their cargo to Aki to inflate its value, so stopping them was the only option for us. And if it stayed stopped, their deliveries would be delayed and they would completely lose face. Only a really lame merchant would use ‘I had to obey the harbor laws’ as an excuse.”

“So how much did you make them pay?”

“Judge.” Heidi smiled bitterly. “The cost of the loaded cargo…plus the inflated value…doubled.”

“You mean…?” Mitotsudaira put on a bitter smile just like Heidi. “So you demonstrated that that money was only pocket change for Konishi-sama and the others, right? You managed to warn them not to take you lightly while simultaneously allowing them to show off to Aki how successful a merchant they are.”

“Exactly. And thanks to that, we’re seen as small-timers who defy our superiors.”

Heidi’s expression showed she was not sure what to do about that, but she was also smiling.

She was enjoying this. So…

“Yes, a merchant who’s viewed as a small-timer can’t exactly have Suzu doing her a ‘favor’.”

“Judge. To be blunt, I’d really like to pay a whole bunch of money to show I’m a merchant who will spare no expense for something truly incredible, but I know Suzu would just reject all that money.”

“Yes. I-I couldn’t possibly accept it.”

“Hmm, but I wonder.” Undeterred, Heidi smiled at Suzu and crouched down. She looked like she was about to scoot forward on her knees. “Given your character, Suzu, no one would complain if you did that. In fact, I think they would support you. How about it? Will you do it next time?”

“If I did…I would have to make…enough clothes to be…worth it.”

But…

“I would like to…make enough for…everyone.”

That was it.

Kimi was aware a breath of amusement escaped her mouth.

“It looks like it couldn’t be exclusive for you, Heidi.”

“I had a feeling,” said the carefree merchant girl.

''This is a nice atmosphere,'' thought Kimi as Masazumi looked at her and Heidi before sighing. She wondered what Masazumi was going to say.

“You all are incredible…”

“If you work at becoming a politician, you’ll pull it off eventually.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. If you had said ‘Are you sure?’, I would have had to change my assessment of you.”

Saying “I hope you’re right” implied that she had a clear picture of that situation in her head.

But if she implied the opposite with “Are you sure?”, there was no hope. It would mean she did not have a clear picture of her dream. In that case…

“You will become one of us eventually.”

Did her foolish brother understand that?

He wanted to be a king, so did he understand that a future politician was so nearby?

…''I’m not sure.

She had no intention of telling him. If he was going to be a king, he would have to notice it and make that politician an ally on his own. But if he needed some extra help at that point, she would give it to him.

''Not lend it to him.

''Give it to him.

''After all, I am his big sister.

''Just like Suzu and Heidi have their established relationship, I give him help.

''I need no thanks. After all, a big sister is supposed to rejoice in her little brother’s happiness.

''If he does thank me, I’ll probably laugh at how unnecessary it is.'' So…

“Don’t let a difficult future discourage you, future politician.”

“Judge.”

The reply was a little slow in coming, but it definitely came. And at that moment, Asama walked over from the right and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Come to think of it, Kimi, that reminds me of before.”

“Before? You mean this!?”

She pulled Asama’s track suit tights down to her knees and received a lecture much like before.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 38

2017-06-12T22:36:41Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 38: Roller in the Night */

==Chapter 38: Roller in the Night==
[[Image:Horizon5B_325.jpg|thumb]]
''If you are truly resolute

''Will you give a good answer?

'''Point Allocation (Too Much of One)

Two figures stood in the night.

They stood at a slight clearing on an otherwise tree-covered slope.

One was Sanada Academy Unneeded #5 Anayama and the other was #9 Nezu.

Anayama held nothing and Nezu spread out a sign frame.

They looked overhead where the sky was dyed with the colors of night.

And something was flying there.

“I never thought the elder young master and the Principal would call Musashi here.”

“Shall we board them, Anayama?”

“Given what happened last time, I wouldn’t recommend it. Since they’re traveling to Sanada land, I imagine their defenses will be on high alert.”

“How cowardly of you…”

Anayama nodded at Nezu’s comment.

“I’m glad to see your ellipses are back.”

“Unfortunately, I already used one back at lunchtime. When the wasabi fell in my udon at the cafeteria.”

“Did you say ‘how spicy…’?”

“No. I said ‘I don’t like this very much…’ I prefer not to directly reject anything…”

“Well done,” said Anayama, but Nezu ignored him and looked up into the sky.

“The Principal is back, isn’t he?”

“The elder young master was forcibly sent back as well.”

“That guy…” said Nezu as he held his sign frame up into the sky. It displayed the Musashi from when it was on the way to Novgorod and he overlaid it with the current view of the Musashi to view the differences.

After a few seconds of observation, he jotted down some notes on the sign frame.

“The additional thrusters on the port and starboard of the front central ship are sticking out a bit.”

“If Isa-kun was here, she could probably tell us why.”

“Could you not suddenly bring up the sentimentality I was trying to forget?”

“I think the proper way to remember the dead is to mention those things until they fade away naturally.”

“You like immersing yourself in memories more than I do, don’t you?”

“Testament,” said Anayama. And then…

“Nezu-kun. Anayama.”

They heard the solid sound of someone stepping on the grass further up the slope.

It was the light footsteps of a girl. Nezu looked back and wrinkled his brow.

“Yuri. I could hear your footsteps.”

Yuri’s voice reached them from the shadows of the forest’s depths.

“Our great teacher checked the ‘pulse’ in my leg and said I should do some walking.”

“You must have walked quite a bit. And at lunchtime, you could only manage one lap of the schoolyard.”

“Yeah,” said Yuri as she stepped out into the moonlight.

She had long hair and a white uniform. She wore a scythe on either hip, but she carried a staff in her left hand.

“He told me that going to meet someone would mean walking more while also allowing them to help me if I needed it.”

“He’s too easy on you…”

Nezu breathed an exasperated sigh and lowered his shoulders, but…

“That isn’t the only reason you’re here, is it?”

“Testament. The teachers say they’re going into the ruins.”

“They went in there!?”

“Nezu-kun.”

Anayama raised his right hand to stop Nezu.

Nezu had raised his voice and Yuri faced him with a bitter smile and lowered shoulders. And as Anayama faced both of them…

“—————”

“…That’s not how you do it, Anayama-san. At times like this, the polite thing to do is gently say, ‘…Listen.’ ”

Nezu sighed again and placed a hand on his forehead.

“And I was hoping to wish our teachers good luck.”

“I tried, but Saizou-sensei laughed and mocked the idea of humans wishing dragons good luck.”

But…

“He also said he knows we’re on their side.”

“—————”

“Nezu-kun! So was this the appropriate time for a ‘—————’!?”

“What are you hoping to accomplish, Anayama…?”

Nezu sighed and walked toward Yuri.

Anayama looked up into the sky and pointed toward the Musashi.

“What about this?”

“I’ve already recorded plenty, so let’s hurry back. If the teachers have left, we need to inspect the school building. Isn’t that why you’re here, Yuri?”

“Testament. There are places the other students and I can’t reach.”

“Understood.”

Nezu nodded and walked past Yuri. She looked back and started to say something to him.

“…”

“Yuri-kun! So was that the appropriate time for an ellipsis?”

“Are you okay, Anayama?”

“Knowing how you younger children behave is part of my job.”

“I see,” said Yuri as she and Anayama faced forward to see Nezu come to a stop.

“Hurry up. Have you contacted the others?”

“The young master told Sasuke-san and Saizou-san to go on ahead to Osaka.”

Anayama reacted to Yuri’s words.

“—————”

“See? You can do it, Anayama-san.”

“So I did that right!?”

“…”

“What is that silence for, you two?”

“Well.” Yuri smiled with the ends of her eyebrows lowered. “Thank you, Anayama.”

“It’s only natural for an upperclassman to look after his underclassmen. That said, Kakei-kun and Unno-kun are supposed to be your superiors, but they’re gone at the moment.”

“I hope they can make it back soon…” said Nezu as he resumed walking.

Anayama followed from behind Yuri and responded with a frown.

“Hmm, but their mission hasn’t been called off yet.”

Also…

“If the young master is looking ahead to the Siege of Osaka, then that will be our time to shine. The Musashi might be flying overhead, but at this point, it is nothing more than a source of information to sell to the other nations.”

Yuri and Anayama looked up into the night sky and heard the wind moving gently through it.

The Musashi had begun to brake.

“While remaining wary of a battle with us, they will apparently send down a transport ship for ‘sightseeing’ and an ‘educational investigation’. Of course, our teachers have entered the ruins they will be investigating,” said Anayama. “Now, then. We can see what the future holds for us…but what about the others?”

“Roi-Soleil, isn’t it about time you got to bed?”

A voice was carried by the somewhat humid movement of air that was the summer night wind.

A large garden existed at the entrance of a building that stretched out to the east and west. The white entranceway looked like a stage and a nudist stood upon it with his flared hair blowing in the wind.

He looked back with his hands on his hips.

“Have we received word from Terumoto on the front line, Henri?”

“Testament. She said, ‘Cover up and get to sleep.’ ”

“In that case, you could say that Terumoto is both worried and hopeful for me.”

Henri briefly looked up into the sky with a serious look on her face.

Then another figure appeared next to her with solid footsteps.

“Armand. …I was just thinking how confusing people with hearts are.”

“Testament. I have thought the same thing quite a bit. …Now, Roi-Soleil.”

“What is it, Armand? Have we received further word from Terumoto on the front line?”

“Testament. …Oh, but this is actually for Henri, not you. Hey, Henri. The princess said, ‘If the idiot hasn’t gone to sleep after an hour, aim for his crotch with a wooden sword.’ ”

“Heh. Oh, Terumoto… You mustn’t leave this to others just because you have such difficulty expressing your love.”

“No, Roi-Soleil. Are you an ‘idiot’ as she claims?”

“Most every man who has fallen in love could be called an idiot.”

The Roi-Soleil crossed his arms as he spoke.

He then turned away from Henri and Armand and spread his arms.

He spread those arms as if to embrace and support something:

“This is the nightscape of Paris. …A note in the Testament says it will later be divided into different districts and mostly comprised of high-rise apartments, but in my era, it is an extremely dense collection of wooden and stone buildings. However…” He looked back toward them. “That is why I can see the people at work. I believe this Echol de Paris has inherited everything Anne saw day by day from her bed. And at this time of night, I wonder if all of those lights indicate the people performing a more erotic sort of activity.”

“That is something I wish Lady Anne could have heard. Oh, and I sent it to Lady Terumoto.”

“How did she respond?”

“ ‘Swing it straight down at him.’ ”

“With such a specific command, I suppose I can’t say she is simply leaving this to others.”

The Roi-Soleil turned back toward Henri, puffed out his chest, and slapped his stomach with his right hand.

“Now, do it.”

Henri immediately did so. A sharp sound of impact rang out and after a while…

“—————”

With no change of expression, Exiv toppled backwards.

He remained motionless for a few seconds, but then he uttered a “heh” of laughter and stood back up.

“Unlike when Terumoto does it, I can’t really feel it in the core of my being. Terumoto’s really sticks with you after the fact.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

Henri sent a divine mail using a ''signe cadre'' and a response soon arrived.

“Roi-Soleil. She says, ‘Ha ha ha. You actually did it?’ ”

“Heh. Terumoto, these are the acts of a fool in love. Do you understand?” Exiv spread out his arms once more and held them up toward the moon. “Normally, you would not think of letting someone strike you in the dick with a wooden sword, would you?”

“Statistically speaking, I have determined it is indeed a strange thing to do.”

“Yes. So even if someone else loves Terumoto, this dick damage is proof that my love for her is deeper!”

“Then it would be that lack of depth that prevented my strike from reaching the core of your being.”

Henri nodded in understanding and Armand crossed his arms next to her.

“Henri. …So is this what love is?”

“Armand. …This is a special case.”

“Really?” Armand tilted his head. “I hear Musashi’s Chancellor often lets their princess punch him in the crotch.”

“Heh. That false nudist has been doing that?”

“Testament.” Armand nodded. “Roi-Soleil. Which is a sign of deeper love: a bare hand or a wooden sword?”

A room was surrounded by white walls and a white floor.

It was a white-tiled bath, but in the center…

“Lady Terumoto, I apologize that we could only supply a free-flowing bath due to the Pension Versailles’s safety standards. But I made sure the tub was made from the cypress you like, so please forgive me.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. In fact, this is more than I could have hoped for, Mouri-01. You and the other biological '' Belle de Marionnette''s need to join me in here.”

Terumoto said that as she placed a towel on her head and leaned back against the edge of the tub.

Mouri-01 was wearing a towel and soaking Terumoto’s clothes in a bucket of lukewarm water.

“Lady Terumoto, you should probably get a new summer uniform before long.”

“Yeah, I tend to be pretty rough on them.”

As she said that, a ''signe cadre'' appeared next to her face. It displayed…

“Mouri-03? What is it?”

“Oh, um, Terumoto!”

Mouri-03 casually wore a summer uniform and clenched her fists as she answered.

“The Roi-Soleil sent a divine mail asking you to punch him in the dick barehanded!”

“Roi-Soleil. …She responded with a single word: die.”

“Heh. Are you feeling shy, Terumoto! But this is a battle between a false nudist and a true nudist! And it is a physical battle with love on the line.”

Armand typed that line into his ''signe cadre''.

“Henri, should I really be doing this?”

“Why do you always question everything?”

The response arrived.

“Roi-Soleil. …She said, ‘Leave it to me.’ ”

In Musashi Ariadust Academy, they had finished the physical examination and everyone was preparing to leave.

As everyone gathered their things in the classroom while drifting toward the entrance, Asama checked the sign frame that Hanami tossed her way.

“Huh?”

She frowned.

Suzu noticed her odd reaction and tilted her head.

“Wh-what is…it?”

“Oh, well, um… Toori-kun just received an odd spam message from Hexagone Française.”

“Huh? What kind of message?”

“Well, it says something about ‘my di-…’, oh whoops! I almost read that out loud!”

“Heh heh. Silly girl. Just reply with an offensive counter spell attached. They’re Catholic, but the Asama Shrine has been researching spells that will work on them, right?”

“You have a point.” Horizon gave Asama a thumbs up. “I approve.”

“R-Roi-Soleil! We just received a Catholic lightning punishment for illicit sex! I never expected a reply from Musashi to include a Catholic-style trap!”

Henri quickly activated a first aid spell as the sun nudist lay sprawled out on the ground with electricity and smoke rising from his crotch. Next to her, Armand crossed his arms.

“Since this worked on him, he must have a proper division between church and state.”

“Naming yourself emperor does come with its own risks.”

But then the Roi-Soleil moved.

He breathed air into his lower stomach and got up. He then took another breath and slowly swept his flared hair back. He also puffed out his chest and turned his sharp gaze toward the two ''Belle de Marionnette''s.

“My eyes have been opened, Henri and Armand. This is a time of war.”

“Henri. …I think I want to say something about that.”

“You are imagining it. Don’t say anything.”

“Silence required,” added a ''signe cadre'' from Isaac.

Exiv narrowed his eyes.

“There is nothing wrong with Terumoto, so the front line must be safe. …But what about the Hashiba forces?”

“Testament. We estimate they will leave the forest region tomorrow afternoon.”

“I see.” The Roi-Soleil nodded. “Will they make it here by nightfall the day after next?”

“We have determined that is their planned schedule.”

“Then,” said Exiv as he crossed his arms and viewed his surroundings.

But instead of the city of Paris, he was viewing the hills around it.

“Will the flooding meant for Mouri’s fortress be ready by that night?”

“Most likely,” replied Armand. “The Azuchi Castle is on its way here, but it will not immediately join the rest of the Hashiba forces. It seems to be timing its journey on the outer edge of M.H.R.R. so it can join them after they pass through the southern forest and arrive above the urban region. However, nudist…I mean, Roi-Soleil.”

Henri lightly kicked Armand’s leg to get him to change how he referred to their king.

“The Azuchi Castle is traveling at low speed,” he continued. “The most urgently needed of the supplies it carries are being sent ahead to Takenaka’s unit with transport ships.”

“Do you know why they are doing that?”

“Testament.” Henri opened a ''signe cadre''. “Roi-Soleil. …I can only provide our best guess.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Testament.” Henri displayed an image drawn with detailed etching. “This is the Azuchi as observed from the metal tower located near Magdeburg in northern M.H.R.R. …Each ship has construction materials visibly loaded on top. And that includes the 1st ships which bear its main cannon and secondary cannons.”

“I see.” The Roi-Soleil nodded. “Do you think they will be using those materials to block off the river downstream of Paris to flood the city?”

“Testament. …Paris is a large city, so they would need a great quantity of materials.”

Henri displayed a map of Paris.

As a whole, the city was a circle. Henri drew a red arc that surrounded the downstream side.

“Paris’s radius is about 12km. To surround this much space and quickly create a dam that will not break, they will likely need to use transport ships as a dam and use the many materials to fill the holes and reinforce the dam. Now, transporting all of those materials at once would normally require a massive number of transport ships. However…”

“The ability of a large transport ship group to safely carry anything is always a concern and managing the fleet on site can be difficult. So they used the Azuchi instead. Is that it?”

“Testament. But we provided a situation that Hashiba did not expect.”

That was…

“New tactics and new weapons. …I have determined the new shells in particular could bring unexpected danger or malfunction to the Azuchi.”

“So not even you think this could bring it down.”

“…Perhaps if we joined the fight using these new tactics.”

“Heh. This is all thanks to the Reine des Garous’s crazy ideas. Her relative ignorance of standard Hexagone Française tactics allows her to come up with all of these unthinkable ones.”

“Testament.” Henri nodded and then hung her head. “It was difficult rejecting all of the unfair tactics that would have stained the honor of Hexagone Française and the princess…”

“Oh? What’s the matter, honey? Why are you covering your face and sobbing? Hee hee. Come now, I only did what I promised. Yes, just as you begged me, this time is for ‘only looking’. If you let me manipulate you just by looking at you, then you lose. If the time runs out, then I lose. …And whoever loses has to make a request to the winner. All I can do is look, so you have an incredible advantage here. There are still 2 hours to go, but I just don’t see how I can win when I can only look. Hee hee. I think I might just lose this one. Yes, and I will make sure to follow the rules. All I will do is take a look. …Yes, take a look at your flavor.”

“The Reine des Garous is willing to lie even to us, so it can be incredibly difficult to judge how unfair or proper her tactics are.”

“Yes, she is a truly free person. Anne liked that about her.”

The Roi-Soleil smiled and looked into the southeastern sky where the Azuchi would be.

“Now not even the Azuchi can carelessly enter Hexagone Française territory. This is the effect of the Reine des Garous, our new weapons, and our new tactics. They will have to remain at low speed at least until they reach flatter ground. And thanks to that…yes, we can send our front line quite far out there. But,” he added, “Hashiba is doing quite well, too. Instead of forcing their way through to flood Paris, they are using their own strategy and changing it when necessary.”

“Yes, but…”

“Testament.” Exiv nodded. “Hashiba destroyed Edo and Satomi with a dragon line reactor, but the lumber used to construct the two cities would have remained in the forest regions upstream of Edo and Satomi. So Hashiba bought that up and negotiated for the reserve lumber to gather cheap materials in a short period of time. …That is a splendid strategy. After all, that gives them two cities’ worth of materials. That should be enough to surround Paris. Also,” he continued. “Even with all that, it seems to have taken two weeks to reach the amount of materials needed for the task. …But I imagine their original plan during the Battle of Novgorod was to provide supplies and support to Novgorod, carry the materials to Lake Biwa Azuchi, and load even more materials gathered from other regions there.”

“But,” said Henri. She compared what Exiv had said to the reports from the various Committee Heads. “During the Battle of Novgorod, Azuchi was unable to move due to the deterrence from Date and Mogami. Thus, they likely determined gathering materials from other regions at Lake Biwa Azuchi was not the best plan. It seems the materials at Lake Biwa Azuchi were redistributed across their territory.”

“I have not received any information about where that went. Have you?”

“No. The transport ships meant to be used for the dam were most likely distributed as well, so that allowed it to scatter around too quickly to track. That is why we do not know where it went.”

“There is no helping that then,” said Exiv as he smiled in the direction of the Azuchi.

The Roi-Soleil’s eyes then turned due east, toward Sviet Rus.

“In truth, that Battle of Novgorod gave us a bit of breathing room.”

The two ''Belle de Marionnette''s could not respond to that.

Accepting their king’s words would mean admitting Musashi had been effective. And as those two failed to respond, the Roi-Soleil spoke quietly.

“And yesterday, the Shirasagi Castle was lost.”

That was the truth.

“As a result, we no longer need to consider one of the more troublesome ships Hashiba could have sent in to support them. A warship that can remain at ultra-high altitude for long periods of time is very difficult to deal with when defending a city.”

“Roi-Soleil, how do you view Musashi?”

“That is a difficult question to answer. Because I should probably make a joint answer with Terumoto.”

Once he said that, they heard a loud sound from the distant sky.

Henri briefly narrowed her eyes and finally nodded.

“That was a dragon. The southern clan has been making a lot of noise since the other day.” She looked to the south. “They handled the majority of the Germanic migration and nearly conquered the land for a time. After they were held in check by climate change and the Testament Cross-Borders Unit, those which sought reconciliation left to the east during the Harmonic Unification War and those who sought to rule remained in Europe but eventually stopped descending from the mountains.”

“What do you think that distant roar meant?”

“I do not know.” Henri tilted her head. “But it sounded like they were seeking more of their kind.”

Mitotsudaira was utterly exhausted.

Back in her own home, she lay face down in her bed with her butt sticking up in the air.

Returning from the academy and sending some quick instructions to her corporations was all she had managed.

…''This is too much in so many ways!

She wanted to know what was going on, but she could not complain when she had been the one making it worse towards the end.

“Honestly…”

With Horizon in control, Horizon and her king were trying to take responsibility concerning the others.

…''Wh-what does that even mean!?

As his knight, could she view it as serving him in his castle as an aide? Except this was more like being part of his family. Or rather…

…''Sharing him!?

How much was she supposed to share?

Of course, Horizon had said something about “until the day we die”, but…

“…Uuuuhh…”

She still was not sure just how serious Horizon had been.

She also wondered if Horizon would continue to think like this.

After all, she had yet to retrieve all of her emotions. But Mitotsudaira knew they could not agree to this while hoping Horizon would change her mind later.

…''In that case…

“Th-this was just my king being fairly accepting of anything and Horizon could always change her mind, right!? Isn’t that all this is?”

She asked her blanket, but it did not answer her. Why had she not asked them that earlier?

“Khhh…”

''I have no guts at all,'' she thought, but that too was an excuse.

…''I am a knight.

If her king gave her something, that would be one thing, but she could not hope for it herself. However…

“My king did say he was okay with it…”

She groaned in doubt and could not find an answer.

Then she thought in silence for a few seconds.

…''What would I do if my king and Horizon were serious?

''Hypothetically,'' she thought.

“Y-yes, just hypothetically.”

She thought about it.

“Well…”

In their “battle formation” the day before, Horizon had been next to her king and she had been in front.

She tried to think about her king’s castle, but this was the Far East and Musashi. There was no castle. That would make the location his home, but where could they make that formation in his home?

…''The Main Blue Thunder?

She pictured it as sitting across the table from him, but that was different from standing out in front of him. She could not protect him if she was facing him across a table.

If she was to do that inside the restaurant…

“I would have to be below the table at his feet…!”

She imagined herself with a collar around her neck, a rope attached to that, waiting for her king to feed her some table scraps, getting too excited, and climbing up onto his lap.

“M-my mind has been poisoned by our class’s jokes!”

She frantically sat up.

She kept her butt off the bed as she fixed her clothing and cleared her throat.

She slapped her cheeks lightly, but…

“H-he wouldn’t actually treat me like a pet, would he?”

The silver wolf placed her hands in front of her and lay down starting with her chin. She raised her butt and reached her hands between her knees.

“That’s right.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Besides, there isn’t really a place in his house where he, Horizon, and I could recreate that formati-…”

She stopped there.

…''Somewhere where the three of us could recreate that formation.

“Wouldn’t that be…?”

Something came to mind. Her eyes widened a bit as she discovered the answer.

…''The bed.

The bed in his room.

She and Asama had borrowed that bed to sleep in the other day, so she knew it was fairly spacious. Three or four people might be difficult, but they could make it work. And the floor was carpeted. If they closed the curtains, brought in Kimi’s bed from the neighboring room, and combined the two beds, six people could fit easily.

“Sniff…”

Without thinking, she closed her eyes and sniffed the bed below her. However, it did not smell like him.

“…Ah.”

She frantically brought her mind back to reality.

This was her own home. It was not the Main Blue Thunder or his room. And yet…

“Wh-what am I thinking!?”

No, this was not something she should be thinking even if she was at the Main Blue Thunder or his room, so she corrected her statement.

“There’s something wrong with me…”

''That is the correct statement. Yes.

''Besides,'' she began in her heart.

…''In that case, I would be in front…

She thought about what position that would place her in.

And at this very moment, she had her butt sticking up behind her with her face half-buried in the blanket. She imagined having someone behind her while she was in this pose.

And a few seconds after she began…

“Th-that’s far too direct!”

She got up. And after lowering her hips into a sitting position, her hair felt in the way behind her.

“If I’m in front, I need to do this…”

She opened a space between the left side of her hair and her back. Would he be able to sit there? She imagined feeling his warmth enveloping her.

“Uuh…”

And she could also imagine Horizon watching her from the side. Also…

“Oh? Mitotsudaira-sama, why are you holding back? Here, here. Broadly defined, you could call this a meat dish.”

“I-I can’t be the only one doing this! You go first, Horizon!”

“Don’t you dare use a knife on my ‘meat dish’! And don’t try give it a salt massage either!? Got that!?”

“Now, Mitotsudaira-sama, say ‘ah’.”

After her imagination ran that far, Mitotsudaira came back to her senses.

She was already sitting up, so she rolled backwards instead.

“If we’re sharing him, then Horizon would have absolute control, wouldn’t she?”

But wasn’t this the same as when they had fed her yakiniku at England? When she thought about it, she realized it had been the same at IZUMO too. Not to mention when they chose her choker at Mito. Which meant…

“…Is this any different than normal?”

But in that case, there was something wrong with her “normal”.

“Ahyahhh…”

Mitotsudaira covered her blushing face with her hands and curled up with her defenseless belly pointed up. Then she looked to the ceiling. She lowered her hands, sighed, and…

“I…”

''I’m hopeless,'' she earnestly thought.

Mitotsudaira sighed again.

She twisted her curled-up body on the bed and brought her right index finger to her mouth.

“I can’t believe myself.”

…''How could I imagine those things about my king and princess?

She thought her imagination had been quite realistic, but even so…

“Getting this excited about it makes me unworthy to be his knight.”

With that, she narrowed her eyes and looked to the left and right.

There was no one around and no sign frames were appearing.

…''I had a feeling a ''tsukkomi'' would be coming right about now.

''Calm down, Nate Mitotsudaira. When you aren’t at the academy or on the battlefield, no one is going to make a ''tsukkomi'' no matter what you think.

''So,'' she added.

“Am I allowed to have lewd thoughts when I’m in a private location?”

…''Yes! That’s right!

''My public and private lives are separate. I am free to do as I wish in my own space. And if I defile something important there, I only need to act in good faith while in public to purify it.

“Even my king thinks about lewd things when he’s alone in his private life.”

She was suddenly curious, so she sent a divine transmission to connect the private with the public.

“Um, my king?”

“Oh? Nate? What is it? I was about to play another porn game. Sis and I are planning to read it aloud together, but you wanna join us? It’s an adventure type, so it’s pretty fun.”

His insanity was a little too direct, so she ended the divine transmission.

And after a few seconds…

…''Oh, that’s right…

Her king was the type to keep everything out in the open. She remembered that he was nude more often than not and he had that sister with him. Plus, if their sharing life began, Mitotsudaira would have to deal those two and Horizon all at once.

“I get the feeling I would be powerless to resist them…”

''But,'' she thought.

“Why am I always naked when I imagine those scenes?”

Was it because that idiot was her king? Or…

“Ah.”

She grew pale when another possibility occurred to her.

She quickly sat back up.

“Could this be my mother’s blood…?”

That frightening possibility left her dumbfounded. And at that very moment, a sign frame from Kimi popped up.

“Mitotsudaira! The heroine is a dog girl! Come on over! C’mon! Shake! …Oh, you can do it via divine transmission if you want! Repeat after me: ‘Well done making it here. This is Koumon World, the Land of Natto.’ ”

“What are you talking about…!?”

“Silly girl. The study camp starts tomorrow, so we’re finishing up these porn games while we can! We just finished a shrine maiden porn game, so now we’re doing a national pilgrimage game titled ‘Koumon-sama’s Crest’! Ah, foolish brother! Don’t continue on without me. C’mon, Mitotsudaira. Repeat after me: ‘Mh, you’ll give me a bone? Pant, pant, gasp, gasp… No, I can’t take anymore.’ ”

“That heroine fell for you way too fast!”

“What are you talking about? That’s just my foolish brother being really good at choosing the best option! He’s the three-choice technician! The average player would have chosen the peanuts there!”

“Peanuts are from the next nation to the south! And that heroine isn’t modeled after me, is she!?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. No, nothing at all to worry about there, so rest easy. …Yes, she looks nothing at all like you. I mean, all that hair would have been a pain to draw, so they cut it down to three drills. So she doesn’t look like you at all.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever believed something less!”

“Heh heh. You sure are lively. …Oh, what is it, foolish brother? The protagonist can’t stand it anymore after only 3 clicks? You need to do better than that. C’mon, Mitotsudaira, let’s go win over that heroine!”

Mitotsudaira ended the divine transmission, but immediately regretted it.

…''If I had gone along with that, would it have opened up a brand new world for me!?

Perhaps so.

She tried groaning meaninglessly into empty air, but when she thought about it, this was normal for her. If she did try leaping into that world, it would not open up for her. People would only see it as her setting foot on the road leading to it.

“Honestly…”

She decided she needed a change of pace.

She wondered if she could discuss how she felt with someone who had received similar damage and had also been left on the outskirts of that world. So…

…''Let’s see…

“Um, Tomo?”

She heard a voice in response:

“Nn…ah.”

“Wh-what kind of weird noises are you making!?”

Mitotsudaira protested to keep up appearances, and…

“Eh!? N-no, you misunderstand, Mito! That wasn’t me! It was the porn game I’m poison testing!”

“Ho ho?”

“Ah, you don’t believe me, do you!? I’m in the spring to maintain a purified state while I poison test it. Shall I turn up the volume so you can hear?”

This lunatic was rather impressive as well. But Asama said more, perhaps to fill the gap in the conversation.

“The character just now was a lot like you.”

“You’re playing Part 2 of something, aren’t you!?”

Mitotsudaira realized her question had been a careless one. After all, Asama briefly but definitely fell silent. And then…

“How did you know that, Mito?”

“W-well, um. uh…”

There was no point in hiding it. They were friends. So Mitotsudaira cleared her throat.

“I-I received a divine transmission from Kimi just now. She said she and my king are playing Part 1 of a porn game modeled after Mito Mitsukuni.”

“Eh? But just a bit ago, they told me they were playing one based on Konohana no Sakuya, so…”

Asama swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Silence fell.

This time, it was Mitotsudaira’s turn to say something.

“Kimi mentioned that they had just finished a shrine maiden one.”

“Oh, so they went with the one modeled after me first…”

“Yes, and they must have gone with me last…”

When she said that, Mitotsudaira felt a strange emotion appear deep in her chest.

…''Uuh…

First and last.

Tactically, both of those were important positions. Would you head out front or stay in the back? And the same naturally applied to choosing porn games.

You could move out front and launch a high-speed attack.

You could also stay back and launch a surefire ''iai'' attack.

Had he viewed them both as important?

But she could not let those thoughts trap her. So she focused her mind on the virtue of devotion, and…

“Th-they must have been prioritizing the one modeled after you, Tomo. Probably.”

“N-no, they must have been saving the one modeled after you to be the star of the night. Probably.”

…''Oh, no.

She had dug her own grave on this one. And Tomo probably felt the same way about herself. But…

“They probably have one modeled after Horizon for very last, right?”

“No, Mito, automatons and silver hair aren’t very big right now. Things will head back in that direction eventually, but probably not until around fall.”

“A sommelier! Are you a sommelier!?”

''But,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

“I never thought I would be so emotionally involved in how my king played porn games.”

“And Kimi is with him too.”

When she thought about it…

“It would be helpful to have Horizon there too. …She could keep things under control.”

“That’s right…” said Asama before gasping. “B-but I haven’t decided I’m going! I have the Asama Shrine to deal with!”

''She really doesn’t know when to give up, does she?'' thought Mitotsudaira while feeling rather impressed with how stubborn her friend was. However…

“———?”

She heard a distant sound in the sky.

…''Something is falling?

No, that was not it. This was something else. It was definitely an incredibly massive object, but…

“ ‘Musashi’ to all ships! A high-speed flying object is approaching…no, forcibly landing. Over.”

“Musashi’s” warning continued while alarms sounded from Musashino to port.

…''Forcibly landing?

A transport ship collision could be stopped by concentrating several layers of defense barriers, but what could slip past those and then land instead of collide?

''Could it be?'' she wondered as “Musashi” said more.

“We have identified it as a normal student from Sanada Academy. …Sanada has sent identification: this is Student #7, Kakei Torahide-sama. He is a Terrestrial-type flying dragon of the Lindwurm clan. He is approximately 120m long. Any who are capable of shipboard combat, please fight back. Over.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 37|Chapter 37]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 39|Chapter 39]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 34

2017-06-05T20:02:57Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 34: Recipients of the Lap Palace */

==Chapter 34: Recipients of the Lap Palace==
[[Image:Horizon5B_225.jpg|thumb]]
''Please notice

'''Point Allocation (I Am Happy)

Masazumi sighed as she looked out the window and into the night sky.

She was in the Student Council Room on the 3rd floor of the academy.

It was 1 AM, but the members of the Student Council, Chancellor’s Officers, and others were lying or sitting on the tatami mat floor.

They had just finished eating the bentos they had ordered and they were now taking a break.

Those who had been up top had to be exhausted. Since they had been a part of the negotiations after that, they were now sleeping on the floor. Naomasa had been in the engine division instead of dealing with the negotiation, so she must have been able to catch a nap earlier.

“What’s everyone sleeping all over the floor for? Couldn’t they at least take a bath first?”

Even as she said that, Crossunite and Mary were covering them all with the blankets they had brought in.

“Naomasa, your bento is over there.”

“Judge. The Asama Shrine ones have a weariness-reducing divine protection added to the included sake, so I’ll wait until later.”

And then…

“You too, Asama-chi?”

Asama was sleeping in a half-sitting position with the empty bento boxes stacked up next to her. And she had two people using her lap as a pillow:

“Aoi and Horizon were on the receiving end of all sorts of scolding from Asama. But…”

“But?”

“Well…you know how Horizon is. After using the Logismoi Oplo so often, she needed to sleep to optimize herself. Aoi initially said he would crossdress and lend her his lap, but the sleepiness won out and this was the result. From there, Asama and then Kimi fell asleep.”

Asama had placed her track suit over the two sleeping on her lap and she had the Aoi Sister’s track suit top placed over her. The Aoi Sister was sleeping while clinging to Asama’s butt and she had Mitotsudaira’s track suit top placed over her.

Mitotsudaira was still awake, but she was clearly starting to nod off.

“Mitotsudaira, we have blankets now, so you can use one to sleep.”

“Aeh? …Oh, I-I’m fine.”

“Do you think you’re the night watchwoman?” asked Naomasa as she handed Mitotsudaira three blankets.

“Three?”

“One for those three, one for Asama-chi, and one for you.”

Sure enough, that would work. The idiot was sleeping face-up and Asama’s left breast was functioning something like an eye mask, but it must have been an accident with no impure thoughts behind it because Hanami did not react while taking care of some leftover work on Asama’s shoulder.

Mitotsudaira placed a blanket over the three lying on the floor and placed one over Asama. She wrapped it around Asama’s front side which hid Aoi and the others, but was that done out of a knightly desire to protect her king?

She then placed the final blanket over her own shoulders and sat next to Aoi, but…

“Mito, Toori’s arm is sticking out to the side there.”

“I-I am not going to lick his hand!”

“I was actually trying to suggest you use his arm as a pillow, but suit yourself.”

Mitotsudaira blushed, but she showed no sign of leaving Aoi’s side.

…''Yeah.

This may have been the battle formation Horizon had mentioned.

It only looked like Horizon, Asama, and that group were with Aoi, but in fact…

“Oh, Futayo is over there.”

She was asleep while sprawled out on the floor by the entrance. That was likely her position as Horizon’s guard. When someone walked down the hall, she would grab Tonbo Spare’s shaft in her sleep, making a troubling noise. It was just like Crossunite to have intentionally kept the blanket off of her dominant hand when placing it over her.

The Tachibana Couple seemed to be taking a break after eating their bentos beyond the partition placed at the entrance, and the others were much the same.

…''Crossunite, Urquiaga, Neshinbara, Bertoni, and the others are here too.

Those were late night group.

Having finished distributing the blankets, Crossunite and Mary were finally starting on the bentos they had not eaten before. Neshinbara was writing up a report on the events of the day. As soon as Bertoni had arrived, he had said “This is my desk, isn’t it?”, chosen one of the two lined up there, and set up a locking spell and other things while communicating with Augesvarer via divine transmission.

It was unusual for all of the officers to be gathered like this.

Noriki, Persona-kun, Ohiroshiki, and some others who held no office were out across Musashi for their respective jobs, but that too was…

“A battle formation, hm?”

With that comment, Masazumi relaxed her shoulders.

''With Aoi as the leader…well, he is the leader, isn’t he? Technically, at least? Maybe?'' At any rate he was at the center and the others either took up position close to him or around him. They had created those positions for themselves even if they were not aware of it.

…''Is my position over there?

Masazumi thought about her position within the geometric pattern formed by tatami mats and blankets.

With bento in hand, Naomasa sighed and approached the windowsill where Masazumi stood.

“…Toh.”

She sat sideways in the windowsill space as if placing herself inside the window frame. She stuck her left half out the window, but she held onto the window frame with her right false arm.

“Keep up the good work,” she said.

“You can eat inside.”

“I might have a smoke and Adele and Suzu don’t like the smell.”

“I see,” said Masazumi as she turned to see Balfette and Mukai sleeping alongside the Satomi Student Council President. They were by the wall nearest Aoi’s group. But…

“…What is going on there?” asked Naomasa.

Mukai was collapsed in a shallow S-shape with her arms overhead, Yoshiyasu’s head rested on her left hip, and Balfette covered her from right belly to chest.

Masazumi thought back on what had happened.

“At first, the Satomi Student Council President felt sleepy and borrowed Mukai’s lap. Balfette was watching her sleep and almost instantly fell asleep herself. Mukai couldn’t support them and collapsed, so she just gave up and fell asleep herself.”

“Yeah, Suzu has a way of letting people do whatever they want if she trusts them.” There was a slight smile in Naomasa’s voice. She grabbed some food with her chopsticks as she spoke. “This is sort of made for someone on a diet, isn’t it? Instead of a lot of food, it makes you use your chopsticks more often.”

“Oh, so it makes you feel like you ate more than you did?”

“I guess you wouldn’t notice since you take small bites regardless, Masazumi.”

''Is that true?'' she wondered.

Naomasa then asked a question while grabbing some boiled sweet potato.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Well.” Masazumi responded to Naomasa’s question. “Sanada’s Principal has already gone ahead to Sanada territory because he has to get everything in order for our arrival. Sanada’s Chancellor should be staying in our diplomatic building to complete the process on our end. …With their help, the plan is for the Musashi to leave the Ariake early tomorrow morning and arrive in Sanada territory by evening.”

“Judge, judge. And once we arrive, it’s 4 days and 3 nights for the study camp, right?”

Naomasa used voice input to convert Masazumi’s explanation to text and then did some typing to fix a conversion mistake. She likely intended to inform the engine division. That said…

…''There’s no real point in telling the engine division this.

“While moving around, we’ll be taking exams in the mornings and having physical examinations and such in the afternoons, so prepare yourself.”

“…So this ''study'' camp is going to be more about testing than studying, is it?”

Masazumi looked over to see Naomasa grabbing more of her bento. ''You take pretty small bites yourself,'' she thought before correcting the other girl.

“We’re students, so we have to take care of our schoolwork first.”

“I’ve never liked schoolwork. I find war a lot more exciting and fun.”

Naruze sleepily sat up and moved her unsteady right hand as if writing in the air.

“Kindred…spirits?”

After writing out those invisible words, Naruze collapsed back onto the floor.

Naomasa looked past her prosthetic arm and at the others.

“Are those idiots going to be okay?”

“I’d say that they’re idiots, they’re okay, and they’re also dangerous.”

“Saying that isn’t going to fix them.”

Naomasa was quite strict. Could she say that because she had known them for so long?

The word “old friends” came to mind, so Masazumi asked a question.

“Where do you think Principal Sakai is planning to take us?”

“Huh? How would I know?”

“You’re from Kantou, aren’t you? You can’t make any guesses?”

“I’m from south Kantou while Sanada is in central Kantou. This was the first I’d heard of Principal Sakai having friends in Sanada. It does make sense that he would’ve used it as a route on the way to Europe. But…”

“Can you think of anything?”

“You know as well as I do, don’t you? Before he came to Musashi, Principal Sakai was demoted and sent to Edo for failing to stop the suicide of Lord Motonobu’s younger brother. He said he went around visiting some ruins.”

“——————”

That reminded Masazumi.

…''That’s right.

Back at Mikawa, he had indeed mentioned that when disembarking.

And at the time, he had said…

“He caused the name inheritor of Lord Motonobu’s heir to commit suicide…”

“Judge. Lord Motonobu’s younger brother had inherited the name of his heir: Matsudaira Nobuyasu.”

That was not the end of the story.

While speaking with Sanada Masayuki, Sakai had first said…

…''There’s nothing about a place you can’t figure out by going there, is there?

And then he had said…

…''I couldn’t figure it out when I was there. Oh, but that was the second time. And I was ordered to go that time.

“The second time?”

“I’d assume the first time was on his way to Europe,” said Naomasa.

“Judge,” replied Masazumi as she thought about this. If that was his first time, “The second time would have been…when he was visiting ruins after being demoted and sent to Edo.”

“Probably. And if that demotion was the ‘order’ he mentioned, whose order was it? And what for? That’s a bit of a mystery.”

“I see,” said Masazumi with a nod. But then she heard a sudden voice.

“Um, M-Mary-dono?”

It was Crossunite.

Tenzou was faced with a new experience.

He had never before come across this situation.

…''Dealing with a drunk busty blonde!

Mary sat in front of him and turned her unfocused eyes toward him.

Her face was red, and occasionally…

“Nn.”

She would tremble as if hiccupping.

What had caused this? The sake, obviously.

The Asama Shrine’s bentos came with sake. That sake of course contained a weariness-reducing divine protection and it would not get you drunk even if you drank it like sake. The intoxication would be purified away as a burden on the body.

But it had been a poor match for a spirit-user like Mary.

The sake spirits that lived in the sake had permeated her body after the weariness was removed. The intoxication would normally be removed as a burden and the sake spirits would be weak enough to ignore.

…''But she must have welcomed the contents of the sake in order to help remove her weariness.

Mary could normally drink wine, ales, refined sake, or shochu. She had grown up in Europe, so she had a greater tolerance for alcohol than Tenzou did.

But now she was drunk, even if only a little. As for why…

…''That would be due to the burden of the battle.

Their lives really had been on the line this time. And Tenzou remembered that Mary had cried when she came to rescue him. “That ninja” was still the 5th most searched term on the divine network. ''I can’t take this lightly.'' But…

“Listen, Master Tenzou.”

“J-judge.”

“Good. You listened.”

…''What was the point of that!?

But Mary patted her left hand on the tatami mat floor.

“Master Tenzou, you have treated me quite well, but I do have one complaint.”

“Wh-what is that!?”

Tenzou realized Masazumi and Naomasa were expressionlessly looking his way from the window beyond Mary. Naomasa moved her jaw to mouth “go on”, so what even was this situation?

But Mary could not see them and she answered his question.

“Let’s move to a bigger room soon.”

“J-judge! That’s right!”

He wholeheartedly agreed with that. After all, he was running out of room to hide the porn games that were piling up with no chance to play them. And they had gathered more possessions as they lived together. So…

“We can start by moving to a 10 square meter room and, um, you know, we can get that pot rack you’ve been-…”

“No, not that.”

Mary bluntly cut him off and suddenly straightened her wobbling head.

“I want to sleep with our futons side by side. No, if possible, in the same futon.”

Naomasa briefly froze in place, but Masazumi soon nodded to say “don’t let it bother you”. She then had Tsukinowa produce a sign frame from her shoulder:

<It’s a necessary step for the history recreation.>

…''Our relationship is being regulated! This is the dark side of a regulated society!

But Mary could not see the goings-on behind her.

“Master Tenzou, I want to be able to touch you while I sleep. I would be so happy if you were right next to me when I woke up in the morning and when I woke up in the middle of the night.”

“Well…”

“Thank you very much.”

…''I still don’t understand and did she just take that as a yes!?

Mary, however, raised her eyebrows a little and her head nodded a bit. He could tell she was sleepy, but…

“Master Tenzou. Do you know how thankful I am for you?”

Tenzou’s words briefly caught in his throat.

He had a feeling “yes” was the wrong answer, but “no” also seemed like a bad answer.

As he tried to figure out what to say, Neshinbara held up a sign fame by the wall.

<Talk about love. A love that will last more than a hundred billion nights!>

''It would seem people actually calm down when their anger reaches the limit.

But Tenzou used the words that came to him naturally.

“I am thankful for you as well, Mary-dono.”

“I am more thankful for you.”

“No, I am.”

“No, I am more thankful.”

“Are you, Mary-dono?”

“I am, Tenzou-dono.”

Mary mimicked his way of speaking and let her shoulders droop.

“After all,” she said. “Ever since coming here, I have wanted for nothing and felt so much happier than in the past.”

Tenzou did not know what to say or think.

…''Mary-dono…

He saw tears in her eyes.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks with a casual movement of her track suit sleeve.

So Tenzou opened his mouth.

“Mary-dono.”

“Wh-what is it?”

She was drunk, so would she remember this conversation? But he felt like this was something he could only say due to that uncertainty.

And he made sure to check on his surroundings.

…''They’re mostly asleep, aren’t they!?

He felt like his future was forfeit simply because the awful merchant was awake and working, but he had no choice. He also saw Naomasa and Masazumi staring out the window while blatantly keeping an ear directed his way.

But he could not let their presence bother him.

This was about Mary. So he moved his knees up toward her.

“Listen.”

''This is the reverse of earlier,'' he thought as he continued.

“I am no more than a ninja.”

That was true. He had no special ability provided by his species like a lot of the others and he was not skilled with spells.

“So I merely devote myself to the things I can do and live my life without asking for much,” he said. “But there is one luxury for which I was willing to turn my back on that lifestyle.”

“You mean…?”

“That is you, Mary-dono.”

Mary stopped moving. Then he raised his right index finger toward her.

“And now that one luxury in my life is saying she is happy with her life here. That is the greatest happiness for me and I take pride in it. I am glad I made the choices and decisions I did and I am glad I have you and everything about you.”

“Then…” More tears spilled from Mary’s eyes. “I need to make sure you make me even happier. And please tell me what I can do to make you happy. After all…”

After all…

“Your happiness is my happiness too.”

Naomasa could be heard choking on her kiseru smoke outside the window. After a while, Tenzou also heard Masazumi saying “That’s right, Naomasa. I know just how you feel.”

Regardless, Mary seemed to have calmed down. She was still drunk, but…

“Master Tenzou?”

“Judge, what is it?”

Mary patted her thigh.

What did that mean?

…''? Am I supposed to focus on her thigh?

It was a truly splendid shape.

But then Mary once more patted her thigh as if prompting him to do something.

''Eh?'' he thought with a tilt of the head. He saw her wrinkle her brow a little.

She was upset.

…''Huh? Um, wh-why? What is all this?

Mary then slapped her thigh twice, but he still did not understand.

“U-um, Mary-dono?”

“…Master Tenzou.”

She seemed to be saying “you had better understand without me telling you”. No…

…''Mary-dono would say “please understand without me needing to tell you”, wouldn’t she!

He corrected himself, but the situation remained unchanged.

“…Ah.”

Only after observing his surroundings did he understand what Mary meant.

To their left, the idiot and Horizon were using Asama as…

…''A lap pillow.

''I see!'' he realized, but he also shuddered.

At home would be one thing, but if he slept like that here, he could not even guess what the others would do if they woke up first. No, he could actually guess ''exactly'' what they would do and it scared him.

…''I would easily fill the entire top 10 search terms on the Musashi divine network!

But Mary…

“Master Tenzou.”

Looking somewhat drunk, she raised her eyebrows a little, but she looked somehow uncertain of herself. In fact, she looked on the verge of tears.

…''Mary-dono is mustering her courage, too.

When he heard her slap her thigh again, he spoke.

“Mary-dono. We are being watched.”

Masazumi saw Crossunite disappear.

…''Oh?

The ninja vanished in an instant.

“Eh?”

Even while sitting right in front of him, Mary’s shoulders jumped in surprise when he vanished. Masazumi could guess this was a ninja technique, but why use it and where had he gone?

“…Ah.”

She suddenly found Crossunite lying with his head in Mary’s lap.

Mary also finally noticed.

“Oh, dear,” she said. “Master Tenzou? Your hat is touching my chest.”

However, she did not try to remove the hat. Crossunite simply pushed the hat down over his face.

And after checking on his surroundings…

“…This is a luxury.”

“Master Tenzou?”

“What is it?”

“Next time, can I use your arm as a pillow?”

Naomasa gathered smoke into her right cheek so fast the end of her kiseru glowed red.

She then blew the pale smoke out the window through the left side of her mouth.

“…Today has been bad for my heart.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. …Hey, look. Naruze is drawing out a storyboard in her sleep.”

Something was also happening with Aoi’s group. Mitotsudaira had lost the battle against sleepiness and collapsed, so her upper body was draped over the idiot and Horizon like a cat.

And in her sleep, the Aoi Sister was opening the stomach of Asama’s inner suit, so just how fully-automatic was that entertainer sister?

''But,'' thought Masazumi as she and Naomasa looked back at them all.

“We’ll be busy in an entirely different way starting tomorrow.”

A few lights were on in the city that night.

The cross-sword information display at the end of the street said, “London – West Soho”. The display’s clock said it was 1 AM.

The road was illuminated by one light source in particular. The light came from a pub known as the Mermaid Tavern and the customers within were divided into two groups: those standing and those collapsed.

The standing group was represented by Elizabeth, who wore casual clothing and carried Ex. Caliburn, and Cecil, who wore her summer uniform. The collapsed group was represented by Jonson and Howard.

“Are you okay, Howard? Should we call your wife?”

“N-no. I-I can stand, I can stand!”

Howard grunted with effort and managed to get up on his knees.

But at that point…

“—————”

He grew expressionless.

Then he collapsed forward as if the string supporting him had snapped. His forehead made a nice sound as it slammed into the wooden floor, so Elizabeth gave an impressed nod.

“Well done, Howard. So you can pull of a prostration even while drunk off your ass. How about you, Jonson?”

“Jonson hasn’t been moving at all for a while now.”

Cavendish had joined in the festivities using a personal virtual ocean spell, but she now lay on the floor while her mermaid tail occasionally flopped weakly against the floor.

Seeing all of them, Drake spoke to Hawkins next to him.

“We’re supposed to be celebrating Mary’s victory and Walter’s recovery after returning from Russia, so this is just pathetic. I’m personally fond of wine milk, though”

“This was the obvious result of not pacing their drinking properly. And Sir Walter left with Sir Milton after the atmosphere of the celebration started to grow dangerous.”

“Walter’s danger sense is something else,” said O’Malley as she poked the collapsed group with her staff. “Although part of that is his weakness to alcohol.”

Ivy made of ether grew from the floor and gently wrapped around the collapsed people. The ivy was green at first, but it gradually grew red.

“Are you removing the alcohol?” asked Hawkins.

“No, their blood. I’m being selective, though.”

The mermaid started flopping around, but the ivy was stronger than the drunk.

O’Malley took a bite from a skewer of fried fish and asked the Fairy Queen a question.

“You’re in a good mood, Fairy Queen. Is the alcohol affecting you?”

“H-H-H-H-Her Majesty is drunk?”

“Calm down, Dudley. Calm down and eat some desalted chicken.”

Elizabeth made sure Cecil passed some to Dudley, before…

“This is because of that. Look.”

She casually grabbed Ex. Caliburn from her hip and pointed it southeast.

“…!”

Everyone in that direction got down on the floor. And that went beyond just the Trumps in the pub. The people on the street also did so once they noticed. As did those in the building across the street and the building beyond that.

“Wah…!!”

“What is with all of you? I might be drunk, but I still know what I’m doing.”

“Fairy Queen! Fairy Queen!” said Bacon. “How do you fire that!? Show me, show me!”

“If you insist, Bacon. You fire it like this.”

She ended up blowing off the pub’s door, tearing off the roof of the building across the street, and receiving a complaint from northern M.H.R.R. which was along the path of the blast.

“F-Fairy Queen! Tomoe Gozen sent a very disrespectful message calling you a moron and telling you to die!”

“But it ''would'' be dangerous if that hit someone.”

“Fairy Queen! Fairy Queen! How would it be dangerous!? Show me, show me!”

She ended up receiving a second complaint.

Walsingham caught and brought back the blasted door with her arms.

“…Drain?” she calmly asked.

“My sister must be drunk.” Elizabeth turned her flushed face toward the unseen southeastern sky. “We share some sensations. That would be due to sharing our souls. And I have been receiving more from my sister lately.”

“Y-you mean Double Bloody Mary’s power is growing?”

“She was always the one who held me in check. I can produce my wings of light for an instant, but my sister produced enough water lilies to reach the horizon, remember? …That coincided with England’s ley lines and she was trying to protect this country. She has enough power to do so,” said Elizabeth. “But the more our feelings align, the more easily they are conveyed. I am living a happy life, so when my sister becomes aware of her own happiness…”

She laughed a little.

“She must want to let someone know. …I’m not sure if I’m really the person she most wants to know, however.”

“You seem happy, Fairy Queen.”

“This is nothing but an annoyance, Drake. Weird emotions reach me in the middle of meetings. And if they’re strong enough, physical sensations reach me as well. Or they used to. That stopped happening when-…”

“Don’t say it was when she killed the 300. I’m no good with that sort of thing.”

Drake cut Elizabeth off, so she nodded.

“Let’s just say my sister refused to pass any of her pain onto me. And I don’t mean that as an emotional story. It just means Double Bloody Mary looked down on the Fairy Queen. After all, the Testament says Elizabeth was cruel to Mary.”

“That aside,” someone cut in. It was Bacon who had been examining the merchant who had stopped moving in his prostration pose. The Great Seal of England fairy tilted his head. “Can you not send your feelings to her?”

“The thing about my sister is,” Elizabeth grabbed her glass from the counter, “she isn’t used to having things done for her even though she can’t help but want to do things for others.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 33|Chapter 33]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 35|Chapter 35]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 33

2017-06-05T18:41:35Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 33: Freedom Lover in the Forest */

==Chapter 33: Freedom Lover in the Forest==
[[Image:Horizon5B_195.jpg|thumb]]
''How much is certain

''And how much is just for fun?

'''Point Allocation (Being Toyed With)

A large space had moonlight-colored walls, the same colored ceiling, and a wooden floor.

It was a dining hall.

The wall was engraved with the gourd emblem indicating it was a Hashiba ship.

The rectangular tables and the chairs all bore M.H.R.R.’s mark and the menu ''lernen figur'' floating above the tables contained a clock saying it was 1 AM.

The dining hall was currently only being used by those on break or performing routine duties.

Someone with blonde hair walked through those with night duty. It was Kiyomasa who had just completed the early night shift.

She had arrived in search of a light snack, but…

“Oh? Takenaka-sama, are you going over today’s battle results? Hashiba-sama’s unit has arrived from K.P.A. Italia. That means Wakisaka-sama, Yasuharu-sama, and Katagiri-sama have joined us. Did you have that information?”

“Oh, tes, tes. They all dropped by to greet me earlier. Katagiri-kun seems to have had a rough time as a negotiator.”

“Hashiba-sama apparently had a rough time of it as well. And right in the middle of an adjustment phase for her.”

While wearing a long shirt and tights, Kiyomasa regulated her breathing so her chest would not stick out. And she looked to Takenaka’s hands.

…''It doesn’t look like she intends to talk about the battle results…

That was partially because she was focused on her work, but Takenaka had originally dealt with accounting, so she did not draw any inferences before arriving at the conclusion. She always completed her work swiftly and made her decision only after viewing the result.

So while she was willing to chat, she would not make any inferences about what she was working on.

Kiyomasa bowed toward no one in particular and went to get some tea from the counter. She also took a summer orange tart.

“Kiyomasa-kun. Me too.”

“Do you want the same thing?”

“Grab two extras.”

''Eh?'' she thought as she looked back, but she soon found the answer.

Someone was resting their head and sleeping on a table in the opposite corner from the entrance she had used.

It was Katagiri.

…''Oh, dear.

He had apparently come here to eat after finishing his negotiations and arriving here.

With Takenaka as the commander, this ironclad ship had long been used by the Ten Spears. Hashiba would move around the Far East for diplomatic purposes, so she was often not around, but there was generally someone in the mobile academy, in the dining hall, or on the deck.

Perhaps as a special treat from the usual head cook, Katagiri’s plate contained a heaping portion of leftover eisbein as well as some sauerkraut and a wooden container of rice. However, he had not touched any of it and slept with a ''lernen figur'' open. The sleepiness must have hit him when he was checking something like Takenaka.

Kiyomasa placed a tart plate on the table next to him and then Takenaka sent a hollow voice her way.

“Tell him Hashiba-kun was thankful for his negotiation.”

“Why don’t you tell him, Takenaka-san?”

“I’m not as close to him as the rest of you are.”

Kiyomasa did not think Takenaka needed to keep that distance, but everyone had a different comfort zone. So she decided to send Katagiri a divine mail and returned to Takenaka.

“Trouble sleeping?” asked Takenaka.

“I’m fine. I can use a spell to sleep at any time if I have to.”

“That’s a relief.”

Kiyomasa placed a tart plate next to Takenaka. The girl had a bandanna holding down her bangs and she immediately grabbed the tart with her right hand and took a bite.

“My. Takenaka-sama, don’t you want a fork?”

“This cuts out the effort of washing it. I’m not showing off my navel for no reason.”

“Oh, you’re being economical. But please don’t throw up what you eat.”

“I can’t really help that… I grew up in a mountain castle, so I have trouble with the sky.”

Digging too deep into this would interrupt her thoughts, so Kiyomasa grabbed her own tart.

“How does it taste?”

“Did you make them, Kiyomasa-kun?”

“I chose them.”

“It’s sour.”

They apparently were made with good summer oranges. She thought it was improper to eat while standing up, but Kiyomasa still took a bite of the tart. She stuck the point of the slice into her mouth, which seemed like a fresh new way to eat one.

“It really is nice and sour.”

“Do you like them? You are often eating tarts. Then is that the way to get them to grow…?”

“If you are referring to breasts, I can only say it’s a matter of your build and predisposition… Oh, but I do like tarts. I have a prominent memory of one. I think it was handmade by my mother.”

That received no response.

Had she interrupted Takenaka’s thoughts and work? She did not know. But Takenaka said something else instead as she opened a ''lernen figur'' and inputted some bar graph data.

“Trouble sleeping?”

Takenaka asked the same thing as before. But Kiyomasa knew she was not the type to ask the same thing twice. So she nodded and looked to Takenaka’s hands.

“Everyone seems to be too excited to sleep.”

“We didn’t win the battle and we were actually toyed with if anything, but the fact that we returned alive and the awareness of the experience we gained will provide greater self-confidence than even a victory would.”

Takenaka pushed up on one of the bar graphs with a finger to add to its length.

“Do you think this is right?”

That was very like Takenaka who did not make guesses.

…''She asks if “this is right”, not if “this is about right”.

Aware of that, Kiyomasa nodded and spoke

“If you used what I said to adjust it, then I think the addition to the graph is correct.”

“Thanks.”

With her action validated, Takenaka continued her work.

As seen here, Takenaka’s work was more than just money and mass measured in definite numbers. She included her own feelings in it. But that feeling only sought an increase or decrease in the amount. It did not seek a definite amount or absolute correctness.

If she began comparing the numbers, she would get distracted by that.

…''The people below her can decide on the numbers.

Takenaka was their lead commander. What mattered was that she understood the entire situation and had the right people to delegate the details to.

They were replete with personnel and they could rely on others for the tasks they could not complete themselves. Takenaka had often taught them that. Thus…

“What do you think of my charge toward the side of the enemy god of war unit during the morning battle?”

“If you could have prepared a decoy and diversion, you might have been able to target the god of war unit from behind.”

That “if you could have” part was Takenaka’s style of mercy and strictness.

“I will do my best,” said Kiyomasa with a nod.

At that very moment, the dining hall’s lights went out and an alarm blared.

“Unidentified high-speed shell detected off the starboard side!”

Only the emergency lighting and their ''lernen figur''s lit the dining hall and the only sounds were the alarm and the rustling of people bracing for impact.

Meanwhile, Kiyomasa fixed her collar, placed the rest of the tart on the plate, and listened to the divine transmission voice.

“Incoming!”

Outside the dining hall window, several layers of defense barriers glowed as they shattered.

And the people in the dining hall heard the sound of something thin breaking.

“Shell identified! It was a natural object! A 30m tree! The enemy is…”

Kiyomasa knew the answer. There was only one person who could make an attack like that.

''This'' had happened before as well.

…''Throwing a massive object that can’t be detected with an ether scan.

Who could do that? While continuing her work, Takenaka scratched her head and answered.

“Would that be the Reine des Garous?”

'''Still Got It:''' “Hee hee. They seem to be panicking a fair bit.”

'''Shining Army:''' “Was all that throwing you did on the K.P.A. Italia border setting up for this?”

'''Still Got It:''' “If you look at it that way, does it increase my value?”

'''Shining Army:''' “It is true that way is more convenient for us. …I’ll spread that story.”

The M.H.R.R. and Hashiba vanguard fleet had entered a defensive formation on a grassy field in the forest.

They had advanced around 7km northwest since the morning battle. A tall forest rose up on the left and right and they were surrounded by a shallow mountain range, but…

“That’s why we were able to send the fleet forward to search for the enemy!”

On the deck of the ironclad ship moored at the front of the grassy field, people in mobile shells and M.H.R.R. uniforms walked around while holding up night vision ''lernen figur''s like visors.

Their visual data was the only way to respond to the enemy. That was partially due to the dark environment during the night, but more importantly…

“They’re using natural objects instead of shells, so our ether scans are useless!”

A high-speed shell produced a great noise because it broke the sound barrier when fired. In contrast, a thrown object that never broke the sound barrier would not produce such a loud noise.

They were using sound-gathering spells to pick out the sound of the rustling branches of the thrown trees, but…

“Damn, it’s no use with all the noise from the forest creatures!”

They then noticed something floating in the night air beyond the tall forest.

“Here it comes!”

By the time they realized it was a large tree, it was high above their heads.

Some of its branches had broken, but the roots were still attached as it flew artlessly through the air.

They could hear it coming. The tree and its branches shook as they struck the air and the leaves rustled. And…

“Figure out where it’s going!!”

A few students held the spell visors to their eyes and raised their right hands to confirm hey had the answer.

And as soon as the word “transmit” flew from their visors, two lights appeared.

One was the light of the defense barriers that appeared in the sky.

The other was the cannon fire launched at the source of the thrown object from a turretless ether cannon on the side of the ship.

The defensive light shattered in the sky, but the tree was not broken. The ultra-massive object lost its speed, but it fell straight down from there.

Meanwhile, the attack launched on the enemy flew in an arc.

Even if it was an ether cannon, the turretless cannon from P.A. Oda fired a highly-tracking blast. The Garuda riding the glowing shell corrected its course via surfing and then sent the shot towards its final destination with a kick.

“Damn! The trees are in the way!”

The shell had been fired from quite a steep angle, but the forest was very tall. It knocked down a few trees before arriving at the ground where the enemy was.

It did not reach them.

Meanwhile, the enemy moved quickly away and launched another attack.

“Another tree is coming! Determine its location!”

All they could do in response was block the flying objects and fire back.

That was all. They had personnel, they had defense barriers, and they had ether cannons, so they would be fine. But…

“Damn…! How long is this going to keep going!?”

Everyone on the ship was bound by the forest and sky to starboard.

All of them knew the purpose of this situation.

“Are they trying to wear down the frontline warriors!?”

Kiyomasa listened to Takenaka’s words while changing in the equipment storeroom connected to her own room.

Takenaka was working as usual, but she seemed to understand the current situation.

“Shibata-kun would often do this. He would fire blank shells so his enemy couldn’t sleep.”

“But these aren’t blanks. This can actually damage us, so it’s a lot more troublesome.”

“Yes, yes. And that’s why we have to head out and fight back. We’re up against the Reine des Garous who doesn’t mind working at night and she’s gathering her ammunition on site, but she’s forcing us to dedicate some personnel to a serious counterattack. From the perspective of wartime cost performance, she is in a far superior position.”

Takenaka continued with an “And you know what?”

Kiyomasa stripped off her shirt, put on an inner suit starting from the bottom, and fastened it at the stomach and chest.

“What?”

“Testament. This is about morale, which can’t be quantitatively measured, but…”

“Are you saying their morale is quite high, whether we’re talking about the Reine des Garous alone or Hexagone Française as a whole?”

“What do you think?”

Kiyomasa could not immediately answer. Takenaka was working, but Kiyomasa was changing. She quickly fixed the chest cloth in place and fastened it on up to the collar.

…''Kh.

They seemed heavier and more cramped than that morning, but was she just imagining that? Or was there some secret to that tart?

At any rate, Kiyomasa forced the inner suit closed up to her neck.

“Personally, I think we’re being toyed with here.”

She knew it was dangerous to come up with her own image of the enemy, but when she compared the enemy to them…

“I wonder if she thinks this way is easier.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The enemy is not changing her tactics. She simply throws attacks in from long range and lets us respond. That means she’s set this up so we have to deal with her this entire time. That suggests she thinks we will not be able to resist or fight back very much. …Now let me ask you, Takenaka-sama: What do you think will happen to us if the enemy keeps this up?”

“We’ll be utterly exhausted.”

Takenaka’s tone really sold that opinion, but was that because she was working?

“We’re in unfamiliar enemy territory. The morning’s battle ended in a baffling way. Everyone is relying on this frontline fleet. And now the Reine des Garous’s ridiculous presence is forcing us into a defense-focused response. …Even the people following behind will be worn out by the anxiety of it all.”

“…What did Hashiba-sama say?”

“She said she’s been making some decisions about this but we need to keep working a little longer.”

“You mean…?”

Kiyomasa unlatched the waist armor and removed it from the wall.

“Trees aren’t the only thing in the forest,” said Takenaka.

A moment later, a solid sound shook the sky.

…''A stone!?

That was something else found in the forest. And the sounds of them being thrown and destroyed sounded like rain pounding on the ship’s exterior armor.

“Kh…”

''I need to hurry,'' she decided as she grabbed the waist armor in both hands and stood tall, pushing out her chest.

That caused the inner suit to burst open at her chest, opening down to below her navel. She let out a shriek, but more due to the cold air reaching her skin than the opening clothing itself.

“Umm.”

While listening to the alarm rise to the emergency level, she opened a ''lernen figur''.

“Hello, Katagiri-sama? This is a little hard to say, but… Yes, it’s an emergency, so… Yes, I’d like some help getting my armor on. Could you do that for me? Eh? Oh, no, no. I won’t force you…”

The new objects flying through the night sky were not just large trees.

They were stones that two adult men would only just barely be able to carry, and…

“Those are materials for building a military camp!”

And that was not all. The moonlight illuminated what looked like pieces of human bodies.

“Those are light god of war parts!”

This all pointed to a certain fact.

“Was there an Hexagone Française camp set up around here!?”

They had searched for enemies before stopping the fleet here. A scout unit primarily made up of P.A. Oda warriors had supposedly checked everything as far away as the trees and boulders which were being thrown. But…

“The Reine des Garous could probably carry something like that in from a distance…”

“Hey! Don’t worry us like that! Now, how far away are we talking here!?”

“If you don’t want to be worried, y-you really shouldn’t ask that.”

“W-well, I’m worried regardless.”

Perhaps to distract themselves from their worries, the boys discussed the situation like small children. When the girls saw that, they sighed, looked up into the night sky, and held a discussion of their own.

“So do her breasts give her more inertia for throwing things?”

“If anything, wouldn’t it be her height? Not that I have either.”

“I’ve seen images of the Reine des Garous’s husband and he’s pretty cute.”

“He really is,” someone agreed. “She’s tall, she has a large chest, she has a slender waist, she has a cute husband, she smashed a portion of IZUMO, and she held back Sassa-sama of our Five Great Peaks…”

Honestly.

“Is that monster just toying with us here?”

They looked up in the sky again to see the first tree in a while.

It was large. It was a size thicker and longer than the previous ones. After they all confirmed its presence, they set up the defense barriers, and…

“…Eh?”

They heard a solid sound from just in front of the tree.

The tree’s silhouette had been used as camouflage for the object thrown with it.

“A rock!”

“No, a stone!”

“Technically, it’s a boulder.”

“Oh, shut up!” they all shouted as the glowing defense barriers broke and the solid fragments scattered.

The hunk of rock was caught before anything and it shattered.

It broke apart.

But as the pieces of rock rained down on the deck, the giant tree remained intact.

Its speed and angle remained unchanged.

If they had been able to respond quickly, it would not have been a problem. But even if they were slow…

“Starboard side! It’s going to fall into the camp around the ship!”

There were materials and guard personnel there. They had already noticed the situation overhead and the people below had begun to evacuate to the ship, but…

“Not good…!”

The tree was more than 50m long. And due to its angle…

“It’s going to fall on us after it hits!”

Of course, the ironclad ship was 800m long. It was more than 100m tall, so even if a 50m tree fell on them…

“Don’t worry! That won’t be an obstacle to us!”

The girl who had detected the situation around the ship displayed the result of the fallen tree on a diagram of the ship.

It showed…

“Even if this one hits, the secondary cannons on the bow can-…”

She trailed off.

But not because the tree had been caught by the defense barriers overhead.

“Ah…”

Three more large trees were flying toward the bow.

The one would definitely fall on the deck at that angle, but the other three…

“They’re being used to block the bow’s secondary cannons!!”

Defense barriers opened in the sky, but those glowing panels were shattered by something.

It was not a stone. Nor was it a tree. It was not even the materials or ''Grösse Panzer'' parts from before.

“…A cannon blast!?”

It was a volley of anti-ship cannon fire.

“Does the Reine des Garous have a god of war unit working with her!?”

Someone asked that on the deck as the shellfire raced through the sky between the forest and them.

These sharp sounds shaking the night sky were different from the previous noises.

They reverberated across the forest.

The shells were fired along ballistic paths from the distance and they came from several distinct locations. And they passed below the flying trees.

“The defense barriers are going to break!”

The ones opened over the bow did indeed shatter. At the same time, the large trees fell toward the bow.

“Kh,” someone groaned. “What happens if these cover the bow’s secondary cannons and the bow’s deck!?”

“The enemy will only attack from the starboard bow!”

Hearing that from the girl checking on their surroundings, everyone looked up.

The large trees were directly overhead and above the bow. The defense barriers would not arrive in time.

“Will they be too late!?”

Just as that voice reached the sky, a silhouette was launched into the moonlit heavens above.

They heard sounds of breaking and vibrations. Four in all.

“Ah…”

The large trees broke apart into countless pieces.

The four of them were destroyed in an instant.

The giant trees split apart like they were flowers.

A power pierced them from the roots to the top of the trunk.

That piercing force ran straight until it pushed out the moisture-rich trunk from within, causing it to split outwards.

No two trees split apart in the same way, but once the destruction reached the branches and leaves, it rapidly divided into smaller pieces. The splitting returned to the roots as they submitted to the influence of the trunk as it continued to swell out from within.

So with an area near the center as the foundation, the entire tree swelled out in two parts and then burst.

The tearing noise sounded like fibers ripping and separating. The splitting noise sounded like the creaking of a maw opening too wide.

The trunks blossomed.

Then the entire trees were no more than small fibers as the torn branches flew everywhere.

All that remained were the scattering leaves and…

[[Image:Horizon5B_215.jpg|thumb]]

“We made it in time, Angie.”

“Yes, we did, Kime-chan.”

…voices. Two girls called out to each other.

A round ship’s bridge existed on the back of the ironclad ship. The two figures standing on top of it each had 6 wings and held long cannons.

The cannons were longer than 5m and were made of panels.

The long cannons had few definite joints and were instead made by fitting the panels together. As for the colors…

“Angie, what should we do?”

The one with gold wings had a white cannon and clothing.

“Isn’t this good enough?”

The one with black wings had a black cannon and clothing.

They simply looked at each other. Everyone on the deck spoke their names in unison.

“Ten Spears #4 and #5, Gold Katou Yoshiaki and Black Wakisaka Yasuharu…”

Gold and black. The combination of those two colors was known as…

“Zwei Eisen…”

“That’s right,” said gold-winged Yoshiaki. “We didn’t arrive in time for the morning battle, but we can take you on now. …Then again, it doesn’t look like we’ll be needed.”

As soon as Yoshiaki said that with a smile, a sword slash was sent out from the deck and to the starboard forest.

It was a great sword of light. Black-winged Yasuharu looked back as she spoke its name.

“Caledfwlch. …Kiyo-chan, aren’t you a little late?”

From atop the ironclad ship’s bridge, Kiyomasa had sent her glowing sword to the position from which the final tree had been thrown.

…''Did I make it in time?

The question was whether or not the enemy was there.

She thought she had made a complete surprise attack, but she did not detect the tactile feedback that should have been present had the enemy not dodged it.

'''Llaf:''' “How did it go?”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “I missed…I think.”

'''Llaf:''' “It is not often that thou miss, Kiyo-dono.”

'''AnG:''' “Yeah, those boobs are really in the way…”

She glared over at Yasuharu and Yoshiaki and then heard a voice from below.

“W-wait, Kiyomasa-san, don’t move! The fastener will come undone!”

She had needed to get out here in a hurry, so she had let Katagiri attach her armor. But while Katagiri operated her waist hard point with one hand, he held his headphones to his ears while linking them to the ship’s sensors.

“…They’re gone?”

“Did they withdraw?”

When she asked that, Katagiri remained motionless to check what he could hear through the headphones.

But after a while…

“We should be fine. …I don’t hear the cries of the moving animals anymore.”

He stood up and spoke to everyone on the deck.

“I think we are safe for at least a range of 3km. So use this chance to-…”

The ship shook below their feet.

“Oh,” said everyone on the deck as they lightly spread their legs.

The ship had begun to rise. The reason why was shown on a large ''lernen figur'' that opened above the deck. The screen was made so the attacker in the starboard forest would be able to see it.

“Hashiba-sama, are you okay?”

Even if she was in front of everyone, Kiyomasa did not hesitate to show concern about Hashiba’s health.

Concern for one’s superiors was not something most armies would allow to be seen.

…''But it would be best if we shared this.

Everyone understood that Hashiba had great power and was very decisive. From there, they had to balance the scales between the people who could rely on her and those who could protect her.

And they chose…

“We can take command here, so please don’t push yourself too hard.”

“No, I-I’m fine. Testament. Um, I was just making some adjustments to my body, so I got some rest while preparing for that. And, um, everyone?”

“Testament!”

The response came not just from the deck but from within the ship as well.

Hashiba bowed in response.

“We seem to be in a worrisome spot for the other side. It would be dangerous to ascend too far, so we are going to shift the ships a bit to the southwest…to the left, okay?”

Sure enough, their view began to move to the side.

More than a wind, it was like a dense patch of air gently enveloped them as it passed from left to right. “Ohh,” said everyone on the deck.

“Hey, wait. The ship’s moving a lot more carefully than normal.”

“That’ll be because it’s on Hashiba-sama’s instructions.”

“I hope Takenaka-sama is okay.”

''I’m fairly certain she is anything but okay,'' calmly decided Kiyomasa as she looked back toward the fleet behind them.

The 7 ships behind them were moving in the same way.

This would place the vast grassy field between them and the enemy in the starboard forest. If the enemy pursued the ships, they would have to expose themselves on the open field.

“Please stop the ships above the left forest such that the bottom of the ships just about touches the trees below. That will cost fuel, but we can now receive an ether fuel supply through a ley line divine transmission.”

Everyone looked up at that.

They were receiving an ether supply through the ley lines.

This was the system that Shibata’s forces had used to bring their Testamenta Arma into other nations and to receive emergency supplies. This would be crucial for the attack on Mouri and everyone had heard it was being prepared, but…

“We’re using it here, Hashiba-sama?”

“Testament. It was designed with times like this in mind. There is a supply source nearby.”

Once Hashiba said that, another ''lernen figur'' appeared to the right of hers.

It displayed a man with the starry sky in the background.

“Hi, good evening. Are you doing well?”

“Emperor-Chancellor…!”

It was Matthias.

Katagiri noticed that the fastener on Kiyomasa’s side had come undone and her skin was visible through the opening.

…''I should probably warn her about that…

He got down on one knee while wondering what to do.

Everyone on the deck did the same. Next to him, Kiyomasa set Caledfwlch aside and raised her head.

“Hashiba-sama, will this supply be provided by the Emperor-Chancellor?”

“Umm.”

Hashiba did not know where Matthias’s ''lernen figur'' was in relation to hers. She looked up, down, left, and right before finally looking back toward Kiyomasa.

“How should we do this, Matthias-san?”

“First, could you stop kneeling like that? You’re on alert, aren’t you? Also, y’know, when a puppet shows up, it’s just because he wants to be pampered. …Right now, I’m just greeting you concerning the ether supply you want and I’m the one that wants to bow my head low so I can continue being a puppet. If you don’t pick up on that, then I’m not really a puppet. Then I become a supplier or a proper emperor. Got that?”

“Testament,” said gold-winged Yoshiaki as she raised her long cannon and stood up. “That was good, Emperor. You did well. Now keep it up while you hand over the fuel.”

“Yes! That’s it! If you don’t keep acting like that, I won’t be a puppet emperor. You all need to treat me like that. Yes, I will be truly happy if I can be emperor in exchange for a bit of fuel. Being a puppet is nice and easy!! Call me as soon as you’re out of fuel or food.”

…''The Emperor-Chancellor is kind of amazing.

After all, Matthias’s behavior went far beyond modesty.

Katagiri had never seen anyone else who was so optimistically obsequious. But…

'''□□凸:''' “The fuel itself belongs to K.P.A. Italia, doesn’t it?”

'''AnG:''' “Testament. K.P.A. Italia’s trade cities are offering ether fuel in lieu of giving up control of their trade to the Emperor-Chancellor.”

Since Itsukushima had fallen, K.P.A. Italia lacked the military might to resist them. Instead, they were working to increase their trade power which, since the Age of Discovery, had fallen behind that of the nations bordering the ocean. They were shifting focus to local trade with the Middle East and the Mediterranean and they were gaining income from the brand-name products that had been developed as a result.

Money was preserving them. But…

'''Kuro-Take:''' “They are accumulating money through trade, and once they have enough money, they can buy ether fuel from other nations. That lets them adjust the amount of their own currency while also allowing them to support and donate to other nations without disturbing the other nations’ interest rates. …And by sending us the fuel they have bought, they don’t have to waste their own reserves.”

Merchants and nations had a variety of ways of describing this sort of thing, but one phrase in particular came to Katagiri’s mind.

…''Give and take.

Because Hashiba and Matthias had already prepared the infrastructure within M.H.R.R., the ether fuel supply and transportation could be carried out quite swiftly. When sending objects or information, it was often faster to route it through M.H.R.R. instead of sending it directly from K.P.A. Italia to Hexagone Française.

In this case, it was possible to receive supplies through a ley line divine transmission in an emergency.

They were waging war using the supply line that created.

Matthias was the central figure in this plan.

He was a puppet, but he put in all the effort and arrangements he needed to be a puppet.

He would often do as much work as a Cabinet Minister or Committee Head and claim it was all just “to be a puppet”. Even now, he seemed to be holding a diplomatic meeting, as Hashiba pointed out:

“Are you viewing the stars with Pope-Chancellor Olimpia, Matthias-san?”

“Testament.” Matthias smiled bitterly. “She said she wanted to perform the star fortunetelling method developed by Professor Galileo. And it turns out she does not know which stars are which.”

Honestly.

“The emperor is obsequiously teaching things to the pope… It’s almost like the pope recognizes my right as emperor thanks to this, which is simply wonderful. Even among puppets, I have made myself into a puppet.”

“Have the stars told you anything?”

Matthias answered Hashiba’s casual question with a slight smile.

“There is an omen in the west and the east.”

“An omen…?”

Katagiri spoke up without thinking, so Matthias turned toward him.

“Do you know what that means?’

“No, um…”

Today seemed to be his day for speaking with people ranked far above him. He longed to be back with that shrine maiden who was only a normal student.

But he also realized what Matthias meant.

When Matthias had asked if he knew what that meant, he had not been asking about the meaning of the omen. After all…

“That means you don’t know whether it was a good omen or an ill omen, doesn’t it?”

“Testament. Exactly right. Then do you know what that means?”

“Testament. It means the world is splitting in two. Most likely, your view of the stars is an objective one, not a subjective one. So I would suspect that, to the entire world, this can be seen as both a good omen and an ill omen, depending on your point of view.”

“Splendid.”

Katagiri blushed at Matthias’s praise.

He suppressed the urge to modestly reject the compliment. After all…

“As the puppet emperor, I am so glad I can act like a proper puppet by simply providing the facts without having to think about it myself. If I come off as too skilled, I would no longer be a puppet. But if I come off as incompetent, I would just be a nuisance to all of you. However,” he said. “So that I might remain a puppet for as long as possible, I am praying that this omen in the east and west is a good omen for all of you.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 32|Chapter 32]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 34|Chapter 34]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 32

2017-06-05T17:44:52Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 32: Giant Arriving Forms */

==Chapter 32: Giant Arriving Forms==
[[Image:Horizon5B_161.jpg|thumb]]
''I have roared

''Do you ever roar?

'''Point Allocation (Different Paths)

“It seems our teachers have made an appearance.”

A woman’s voice spoke above the dirt and accumulated conifer leaves at the bottom of the darkness.

After a while, there was a mechanical sound, but the next voice came from a different direction than that.

“Stop it, Mochizuki. You’ll just give away our position.”

“Testament. Understood, Kakei-sama. …I thought Unno-sama would be redoing her makeup.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Unno as she looked up into the darkness.

A forest of tall conifer trees gave occasional glimpses of the dark blue night sky overhead. There was nothing visible in those small regions of sky, but instead…

“Takigawa’s accompanying ships have gone to protect the Shirasagi Castle. Based on the sound of their fall, only the Shirasagi Castle’s starboard ship is in any kind of recognizable shape.”

“Maybe this will reduce how responsible we’re held for retreating. I’m hoping people will look at it as the tenants not standing a chance when their landlady was beaten so badly.”

In the darkness, something was heard being stretched out and attached.

“Kakei-sama, about your bone fracture…”

“I’ll sleep with this repair seal attached. It’s forceful, but I can’t move around until the bone is connected again.”

“Are you planning a second round?”

“Of course. Our teachers have shown up and we haven’t been freed from our job working for Takigawa. P.A. Oda hasn’t checked on everything either.”

Also…

“I seriously doubt the academy is going to ask P.A. Oda if their ninjas can come home. They’re more likely to say their ninjas are fine and can keep fighting. I mean, Miyoshi-san is in charge right now.”

“Yeah.” Unno smiled bitterly. “Musashi is apparently holding a study camp, but they’ll be back here in a few days. Until then…”

“Testament.” Mochizuki tossed a dark sign frame to both of them. “This is your recovery schedule for the 2-3 nights until Musashi returns. I have already been repaired, so you two must follow this schedule starting tonight.”

“I think I kinda like that side of you,” said Kakei.

“Thank you very much,” said Mochizuki with a nod. And…

“…”

A long roar rumbled in from the distant sky.

The leaves shook and the sleeping birds stirred.

And at the bottom of that gathering of noise, Kakei took a deep breath and spoke.

“That would be Sasuke-sensei…”

“Testament.” Unno could be heard lightly spreading out a portable blanket as she responded. “Our teacher is already gone. …I wonder if those 2 feel lonely.”

After all…

“That roar sounded really happy.”

Masazumi heard a dragon laugh for the very first time.

Of course, this was her first clear encounter with a dragon. Behind her, the Date Vice Chancellor felt the need to speak.

“I suppose not even a certain idiotic half-dragon would stand a chance against that.”

“Oh? Do you want my help?”

Curious about that, Masazumi asked her about it.

“Date Vice Chancellor… Are you knowledgeable about dragons?”

“A lot of Terrestrial Dragons live in the north…or rather, in Europe and the mountains east of Kantou. The winged Celestial Dragons, on the other hand, wanted a proper home, so they are more scattered around. …They mostly live in Europe, east of Kantou, or along the line from Chubu to central Oushuu. And…”

And…

“I believe the primary faction of Celestial Dragons chose Sanada as their home. …I think Masamune would know more about this.”

“No, that’s enough. In that case, would they be former nonhuman students?”

“Judge,” confirmed the Date Vice Chancellor. “If he poses a physical challenge, I could take him on.”

“Ho ho?” said Sasuke.

He slowly moved his giant body. The people on the Musashi scattered out of the way as he leaned toward the ship.

“We once took part in the suppression of the Germanic peoples and destroyed Europe, but a little girl thinks she can challenge us? I could fire my dragon cannon here and take care of you all. In fact, I kind of want you to give me the opportunity. I could use a warmup exercise before my first rampage in a long, long time.”

“I apologize for interrupting your excitement, but could you possibly leave?” asked Masazumi.

She checked the sign frame in her hand to make sure the firing unit and defense unit primarily composed of gods of war were spread out in a fan shape around Sasuke.

“With such a sudden visit, we can hear what you have to say, but we can’t be very hospitable.”

“Judge. That is correct,” said Horizon to help out.

Masazumi gasped and checked Horizon’s hands. Beyond Horizon, Mitotsudaira prepared for action and communicated with Masazumi via eye contact

''She isn’t showing any sign of a surprise Logismoi Oplo attack!

''Restrain her if she does!

Masazumi was also worried about the way Neshinbara was staring at Sasuke with an autograph sheet in hand. ''Wait, he has 2 autograph sheets…

Then Horizon took a step forward.

“Sasuke-sama was it? Why are you so concerned about us visiting Sanada? Is there some kind of secret there?”

“Indeed there is.”

“Then how about we make a deal? …If you tell us that secret, we will not visit Sanada.”

…''Calm down…!

Masazumi stared at Horizon’s face, but this was simply too novel. ''In fact, I kind of feel like I haven’t been in control of the negotiations today.

The dragon briefly stopped speaking, but before long…

“I would be willing to tell you if you let me fire my dragon cannon here.”

“Fire it at what?”

Horizon looked around and everyone, including the normal citizens down below, fled or took cover.

Masazumi also looked around at them all.

“We might all be in trouble if this ''dragon'' cannon business were to ''drag on'' much longer. …Just kidding.”

Masazumi heard everything fall silent.

A few seconds passed, a few more motionless breaths passed, and she nodded.

“That must have been too novel for everyone.”

With an odd sweat pouring down her face, Horizon silently placed a hand on Masazumi’s shoulder.

And why were Mitotsudaira and Asama looking the other away and hanging their heads? On the folded-up upper armor of the Ariake’s starboard side, Sasuke faced north.

“Kah…”

He produced a noise from his throat as he breathed in.

“Peh.”

The white dragon spat a phlegmy breath into the sky.

…''He’s certainly confident.

Did that come from his pride as a dragon or his power as one?

But Masazumi saw Sakai open his mouth in a horizontal smile.

…''What?

It looked like he was enjoying himself. And as Masazumi tried to figure out why that would be…

“Huh…?”

Mukai held her hands out toward the port-side to the left of the bridge.

She looked like she was trying to grab and enlarge something in the air, but then she hesitated.

“What…is this?”

[[Image:Horizon5B_169.jpg|thumb]]

She tilted her head.

“Just as the 2nd generation said, you are indeed incredible!”

With that voice, something appeared in the sky to port.

It was a dragon. A pitch black one.

“I am the original generation Kirigakure Saizou. Remember that!”

Asama gasped.

…''He slipped past our local quarantine system!?

''No,'' she answered herself. ''As long as the concept of land exists, any intrusion by an outsider will be detected. We also recently increased the sensitivity for security purposes.'' And…

“What is this…?”

Several sign frames judging him non-local opened around Saizou after he appeared. And a report was sent to Asama.

He had been detected.

But not while he was hidden.

…''What does that mean…?

She did not know. But it was true that Suzu had noticed. Asama made a mental note to ask her about that later, but then she noticed something else.

“Ah! Suzu-san!”

“Oh? So your name is Suzu.”

It happened the instant Saizou turned his giant face toward Suzu.

Surprised by the dragon’s sudden appearance and loud voice, Suzu leaned back to look up into the heavens.

“Wah…”

It started as a simple voice.

“Wahhhhhhhh!!!!”

But she soon wailed at the top of her lungs.

“Nwoh,” said Saizou as he leaned back.

…''I screwed up there!

He had spoken in surprise and joy without thinking.

''Not good, not good. Now that I think about it, whether we’re talking about Unno or Isa, all the girls at our place would only laugh if you shouted at them.

''This reaction is certainly refreshing… No, I was simply careless,'' concluded Saizou. So…

“Yeah, sorry about that…”

But she seemed to have completely panicked.

“Ah…!”

Hearing his voice only brought back the shock from before. ''What am I supposed to do about this?'' he wondered as Sasuke spoke from the starboard side.

“Saitou, you’re such a fool.”

“Damn you…!”

“Wahhhhhh!!” cried the girl.

“See? She’s crying again thanks to your voice.”

“Wahhhh!”

The girl named Suzu trembled and accurately pointed at both Saizou to port and Sasuke to starboard.

“I-I don’t l-like…these people!”

Sasuke wrinkled his brow at that.

So Saizou also moved as if looking up at him.

…''That’s what you get!

Sasuke glared at him, but he did not care. However, this situation was not conducive to conversation. As he wondered what to do, Musashi’s shrine maiden took action.

“L-look, Suzu-san? There’s a butt-shaped cushion on my chest. Oh, but there’s nothing impure about this.”

She comforted Suzu with some contradictory statements. Then some students carrying anti-god of war rifles arrived from the bottom of the stairs and from the academy’s front entrance.

“Are you the ones that made Musashi’s precious bangs girl cry!?”

“You might be dragons, but we stand unified against all who defile our genre!”

“Exactly right! This is our courage! It’s a definite trust that will carry us through to tomorrow!”

There were a few dozen of them, but Saizou was more worried about their sanity than anything.

“Your parents would cry,” he warned them.

“Heh heh. Silly dragon! Have you lived so long you’ve forgotten what parents are like!?” Musashi’s dancer pointed at him from the center of the bridge. “Everyone’s parents’ final genre is ‘my husband’ or ‘my wife’! So as they raise us, they can’t complain when we get hooked on a genre that will eventually lead to the next generation! Everyone looks to reality and learns what their heart desires so they can adjust their genre to match their husband or wife. If you forget that and reject the entire idea of genres, then you end up with nothing more than a mechanical act of combining that is void of all dreams!”

“I see. That does make sense.”

“Yay!” celebrated the dancer as she groped a nearby Loup Garou’s breasts. The meaning of that action was unclear, but Saizou guessed it was some sort of ritual. However…

“That said, we are Celestial Dragons, which makes us a type of spirit. We generally have no parents and are born from the natural world’s ley lines or an ether ‘mold’. So, dancer, we can only understand this idea of yours as a feeling.”

“Kimi! Kimi! He defeated your argument on a species level!”

“That’s fine! Now, Mitotsudaira, you grope me!”

The meaning of that was entirely unclear, but in the meantime, Musashi’s shrine maiden, nudist, and automaton princess had comforted the girl named Suzu and stopped her crying.

…''Hm.

They had visited this unfamiliar land for a greeting while having some fun, but…

“What’s so funny, Sakai?”

“Oh, nothing. I know I shouldn’t be laughing.”

“I feel the need to thank you for that time twenty-odd years ago.”

“You know you can’t do that. It wouldn’t make them very happy.”

“…I am in your debt.”

On the other side, Sasuke also nodded. But…

“This is not in lieu of thanks, but we will give you a warning.”

“Judge, judge.” Sakai waved toward Sasuke. “No need. They’re all going. It’s…well, you know. When I destroyed it, I didn’t really understand anything, but my actions still had meaning.”

Saizou remained motionless in response to Sakai’s words. He simply breathed like normal and followed Sasuke’s lead.

“If they go there and enter our land, there will be a battle,” said Sasuke.

“So you’re sending the young Sanada master to Hashiba?”

“Testament. He will be given favorable battle results against Matsudaira for a better position within Hashiba’s forces. Sanada has received word that, if Musashi’s forces fight on Sanada land,” Sasuke breathed a glowing sigh, “it will be counted as a recreation of the First Siege of Ueda between Sanada and Matsudaira.”

'''Novice:''' “Now! Tonight’s Super Neshinbara Time has arrived!”

'''Unturning:''' “The First Siege of Ueda is the post-Nobunaga battle in which Matsudaira fights and drives out Sanada after having defeated Hashiba at Komaki Nagakute. …At the time, Sanada was allied with Matsudaira, but as terms for allying with Matsudaira, Houjou demanded Sanada’s Ueda Castle. When Matsudaira attempted to do so, Sanada fought a defensive battle.”

'''Tachibana Wife:''' “Stating the conclusion first and giving the details second? That is an explanation based on the rules of comprehension.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' You can really see the difference in personality…”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Yes, some people have very roundabout personalities. I won’t name names, but it’s Neshinbara.”

'''Novice:''' “Are you saying that’s just one name and not ‘names’!? Is that what this is!?”

Masazumi crossed her arms.

The request for Sanada to recreate the First Siege of Ueda had likely been made during the previous meeting. A Hashiba member other than Katagiri must have done it.

…''This is real pain.

If they recreated the First Siege of Ueda, they could not withdraw from Sanada and they could not ally themselves with Houjou. But…

“History recreations take priority over school events. For Hashiba, this prevents us from allying ourselves with Houjou. For us, it allows us to complete a history recreation from after Nobunaga’s death.”

“Then will you be doing it?” asked Sakai.

He then asked a sudden question while looking to Sasuke.

“How many are still alive?”

Sasuke took a slow, deep breath before answering.

“Of those from 800 years ago, only 3 Celestial Dragons remain. There are still a lot of Terrestrial Dragons, but not as many as before.”

“Could I visit their graves?”

“Spirit dragons leave no bones behind. The Terrestrial Dragons are different, though. …Have a drink in their honor in Sanada land.”

“I see.” Sakai’s shoulders lowered. “So we ended up as enemies after all.”

“Testament.”

Masazumi saw Sasuke’s body briefly lower down. He was preparing to take flight and leave. His giant body would spring up and float, but…

“Please wait.”

Musashi’s princess fired a Logismoi Oplo at Sasuke.

“Waaaaaiiiiiit!!”

The Sanada father and son yelled at them, but Masazumi ignored it. No true Musashi resident would let this surprise them.

…''I’m not sure how much I want to be a true Musashi resident, though…

“Masazumi! Why are you hanging your head!?”

But it was not just the one attack.

There were two movements.

The first was Futayo, who stood by Horizon’s side, turning to stand back to back with Horizon and raising Tonbo Spare. She then spoke to Saizou who was reflected in the blade.

“Bind, Tonbo Spare…!”

At the same time, something appeared in the sky.

…''Defense barriers!

They appeared in order to separate Sasuke and Saizou from the Musashi group. “Musashi” had lightly raised her hand to protect them. Also…

“I will not allow you to escape. Over.”

The barriers overlapped above Sasuke and Saizou’s heads to form a shallow dome.

Immediately afterwards, the Tachibana Husband raised his voice.

“If this does not hit them, they are the real deal!”

''What does that mean?'' wondered Masazumi just as the result was seen.

Mitotsudaira saw Muneshige fall to his knees with a smile on his face.

Around them, all motion had stopped.

Horizon had fired at about 20% power, Futayo had used Tonbo Spare, and “Musashi” had raised the defense barriers. Those 3 and everyone else spoke in unison:

“They’re the real deal…?”

Sasuke and Saizou had entirely vanished. They were gone. And that meant…

…''They left?

Nothing remained to answer that question, but…

“Nn.”

Suzu trembled while Kimi embraced her from behind. A moment later, a roar reached them from the distant sky. No, two of them did. The first sounded like ferocious laughter and the other sounded like a great sigh.

“I-it’s those…people…”

Asama looked to her sign frame and nodded in agreement with Suzu’s hesitant interpretation. She showed concern for Suzu while also giving Masazumi and Mitotsudaira a raised-eyebrows look.

“They have withdrawn.”

Mitotsudaira gasped a bit at what Asama said.

“I was able to detect them flying away. But…”

“But?”

“I must investigate the sudden appearance of that one dragon. We have increased our security level, so this is nothing but an embarrassment for the Asama Shrine.”

Asama took a breath and relaxed her shoulders.

Mitotsudaira decided to say something to her.

“U-um…”

Even if she said not to worry about it, further investigation was necessary. Not worrying about it would be weird.

Simply telling her to do her best would probably be best for now, but that felt irresponsible.

Trying to cheer her up with an offer to go eat yakiniku would be perfect, but why did that seem too self-serving? And as she considered all this…

…''Wow…

Yet again, she was getting trapped by her own harmless but troublesome thoughts.

But then she remembered something.

About half a month before, on the way from IZUMO to Magdeburg, she had been similarly trapped by these endlessly circling thoughts, but she had managed to shake free of them.

“—————”

She thought back to then. She had been unsure what to do about her situation or how to act around Mary, but what had she done in the end?

The memory she found was not a bad one. What she found was…

…''That’s right.

“Tomo.”

Mitotsudaira realized that her personality caused her to hesitate when it came to worries, concerns, and cheering others up. But if it only made her hesitate, then she only had to look at it this way:

…''It’s okay.

They were classmates and friends. She sometimes found herself questioning their actions, but, well, that was just the kind of relationship it was.

However, that relationship was accompanied by their recognition of each other’s skill. So…

“We will leave that to you.”

Mitotsudaira would not even know where to start with this and Asama had the necessary skills.

So she would leave it to her. That was all there was to it.

There was no need to hesitate.

“Only you can do this, Tomo. If anything happens, just tell me. I will help to the best of my ability.”

The meaning of those words changed Asama’s expression. First, her eyebrows rose and she did not seem to understand what she had just been told. But then her eyes narrowed in a smile.

“I can handle it.”

“You sure can.”

Mitotsudaira looked over to that voice from between Horizon and Futayo. The idiot sat there looking back and forth between Horizon’s skirt and the gap in Futayo’s skirt. He ignored the two armed girls who glared back at him and he spoke to Asama instead.

“You have a pretty good idea of what this was, don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t call it a ‘pretty good’ idea when I have no proof whatsoever.”

Asama’s words were belied by her light tone. She turned toward Suzu in Kimi’s arms.

“Suzu-san, can I ask you about something later?”

“A-about those…p-people?”

“Yes. About them. Also…can I ask you something too, Mary?”

“Judge.” Mary took a step forward from the 1st Special Duty Officer’s side. “There was something that caught my attention about this as well. I think we can figure this out if we all compare what we found odd. And Master Tenzou too…”

“Judge. There was something a little odd about that compared to normal covert ninja techniques. I can at least provide my thoughts on the matter.”

“Heh heh. That settles it then.” Kimi narrowed her eyes toward the distant roars to the west. “We’ll go to Sanada for our study camp. We need to make those dragons cry for mocking us and making Suzu cry.”

“That would be it, yes.”

Masazumi heard a hint of cheerfulness in Sakai’s voice.

He gave a light wave of his hand to tell her to stay here a while longer. And then…

“Hey, Toori.”

“Eh?”

The idiot who had been comparing Horizon and Futayo’s butts was now wrapped in Mitotsudaira’s chains.

“What is it, Principal?” asked the chain-wrapped nudist.

“Well, I can guess how most of this is going to go, so let me tell you as well. …Go to Sanada for your study camp, Toori. These two will probably go on ahead and prepare the place for you. And then fight the 1st Siege of Ueda.”

“Principal, did Sanada help you out in the past?”

“Judge.”

There was a lot they did not know about Sakai’s past, but there was one thing they had learned on the way here. So Masazumi used that knowledge to make a guess.

“Did you pass through Sanada territory to get to Europe when fighting the Pope-Chancellor?”

“Judge. That’s pretty much it.”

He readily admitted it, but that did not account for Sanada Masayuki’s bowing. What had happened?

“Will we find out when we go there?”

“Masazumi-kun, there’s nothing about a place you can’t figure out by going there, is there?”

Sakai raised the corners of his mouth.

“But,” he continued with a hand on his chin. “I couldn’t figure it out when I was there. Oh, but that was the second time. And I was ordered to go that time.”

“The second time?”

“Judge,” confirmed Sakai as “Musashi” glared at him from his side.

“This is all news to me. Over.”

“Well, you were still just an OS back then, ‘Musashi’-san. Do you want to hear about those times?”

“There is no point in discussing a version of myself that I do not remember. Over.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Why does she sound so confident that it would be about her?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Are you gonna draw this one, Ga-chan?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “That would be undeniable defiance of authority… But perhaps that would be perfect for a Technohexen.”

“But,” said “Musashi”. “We have our own security in place using our management system as automatons. Since we did not detect this until they were that close, I can only judge it-…”

Just as “Musashi” prepared to say “a failure”, Ohiroshiki raised his hand.

''What is this about?'' wondered Masazumi, so she prompted him to speak with an “ah?”

“Wh-what kind of pathetic prompting was that!?”

“Just say what you have to say.”

“Okay, then.” Ohiroshiki looked to the two from Sanada. “Since this is a pain, couldn’t Uqui-kun torture them until they spill the beans on all the dragons’ techniques and such?”

“W-wait!” Sanada’s Chancellor frantically got up. “Sanada’s reputation is on the line here!”

“Papa! Sacrifice yourself for my safety!”

“Damn you!”

But Neshinbara shook his head and looked to Ohiroshiki.

“We would not look very cool if we-…I mean, that would look bad politically.”

“Did about 80% of your real reason slip out there?”

“Don’t worry about it, Ariadust-kun. …Now, to get back on topic, if we did that, all of the small nations would grow wary of Musashi. That would be especially bad with how many people should be defecting to Musashi from here on. Even if they were on the run, we do not want Musashi to be seen as a place that forces people to give us their nation’s information.”

“Yes, we can’t have all of our doujinshis being torture ones.”

“Precisely, Naruze-kun. …Wait, that’s not it at all, Naruze-kun. Please listen.”

“Think before you speak!!”

Everyone yelled at him, but Neshinbara only pushed his glasses up his nose and looked to Masazumi.

“Besides, you know what they are saying, don’t you?”

“I do.” Masazumi nodded and looked to the two from Sanada. “We will still prepare a residence in Mito for Sanada Nobuyuki, but we are visiting Sanada territory for a study camp. I would like for you and Masayuki to return to Sanada territory once more. We will send out a ship, so could you arrange for our arrival in Sanada territory for our study camp?”

“Testament…!” Masayuki bowed his head and forced his son’s head down as well. “If that will help preserve Sanada!”

Masazumi glanced over at Sakai who shrugged and nodded.

The people in front of them were apparently not the type to lie. She had already understood that, but the Principal’s confirmation meant a lot.

“Very good.”

That was all she said before facing south from the bridge.

There was a sign frame there and she spoke to the boy displayed on it.

“Katagiri Katsumoto. …Musashi has decided on its destination for the school event. I assume you have no complaints.”

Katagiri slowly nodded at the Musashi Vice President’s words.

He pictured a map of the Far East from Kantou to Chubu and he thought about the location of the various powers there.

…''Sanada is close to Houjou.

They likely intended to head to Houjou after completing their study camp in Sanada.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I think that negotiation turned out well, Katagiri-kun.”

That was Takenaka. She was complimenting him, but he had one thing to ask her.

'''□□凸:''' “Takenaka-san, were you the one that suggested Sanada recreate the First Siege of Ueda?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Are you mad?”

“No,” answered Katagiri.

'''□□凸:''' “It was your instructions that struck back and drove them to action. I was only losing ground.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “You prevented Musashi from reducing the length of their study camp, didn’t you? It’s set at 3 days and 2 nights but with another day and night included for travel. …Do you have any idea how much funding and personnel it takes to keep an enemy stopped for 3 or more days in war? That’s how much you won us in this single negotiation.”

If so, he was grateful.

…''I still have a lot to learn.

Katagiri then began searching for someone beyond Musashi’s Vice President.

Was that shrine maiden there?

He was briefly confused when he saw the Asama Shrine’s gunner shrine maiden, but she was different. The real one was blonde. But…

…''She isn’t there.

He could see Musashi’s Chancellor nude but wrapped in chains and being lectured by the silver wolf and others, but what was that about? He thought that boy needed to take his life more seriously.

However…

“Does Musashi intend to complete its study camp before summer break begins?”

“That is our business,” said their Vice President. “We don’t have to tell you.”

“Testament,” he replied. And…

'''□□凸:''' “What should I do, everyone? I think we could send someone to that place.”

'''Llaf:''' “Even if we could use Takigawa-sama, I do not think we should split up our forces at the moment. …I believe our only option is to prepare ourselves for the worst and rely on Sanada’s Nobushige faction.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “My role leaves me emptyhanded, so once I’m ready, I can head near the border. After all, I can move around if I’m within range of Mori-san’s forces.”

'''□□凸:''' “Then please do.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “…”

'''□□凸:''' “Nagayasu-san?”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Eh? …Oh, um, yes, I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best, okay!?”

Had he said anything to surprise her? At any rate, he sent his acknowledgment and then looked to the ''lernen figur''.

To the Musashi forces visible on that screen, they were a large nation. And he was that large nation’s agent. He had corrected Musashi when it came to school event equality, so there was one thing he had to say without fear.

“I hope you make some nice memories during your study camp in Sanada, Musashi.”

“Judge. To be honest, given who’s going, the odds are slim any of the memories will be worth remembering, but that’s just how it is. …You have my thanks for approving this.”

Just as she ended the divine transmission, Musashi’s Vice President spoke quietly.

“Until we meet again.”

“Weren’t you being a little too charitable back there, Saizou?”

“Ninja techniques are always found out eventually. The question is what you do afterwards.”

A voice responded at cloud level while traveling west.

Sasuke and Saizou, the white and black dragons, tore through the night sky.

They turned their eyeballs backwards in their long slit-like eye sockets to view the Ariake behind them.

Their vision contained the light of the place they had just left.

“Compared to the distant past, mankind has eliminated their anxieties by gathering into groups and surrounding themselves with light.”

“Are you a poet now, Sasuke?”

“You have lived as long as I have, so you should understand, too.”

Sasuke flapped his 6 main wings to lift himself higher in the sky. Saizou turned his body to increase the air resistance enough to knock his body higher.

Saizou was a little slower, but Sasuke glided to match.

“Mankind’s methods of driving out their anxieties are always a threat to us.”

“Meanwhile, we are anxiety itself to mankind. So are we mankind’s enemy?”

“That cannot be the case. …How could we coexist in Sanada now if it were?”

“Well.” The strength left Saizou’s voice. “It must be an issue of intelligence and pride. Once we exchange words, we can generally coexist as long as we do not act on emotion. That is what we did and that is why we came here.”

“It’s a little late to ask now…but was remaining in Europe just too much to bear?”

It took several seconds before he answered that question. But…

“You answer first, Sasuke.”

“That was 400 years ago. My memories have faded a fair bit.”

Sasuke used his wings to move out ahead. Saizou followed and tried to fly up alongside him.

The wind loudly struck the dragon’s giant body and Sasuke spoke.

“Being one of mankind’s anxieties is a difficult thing. The Loup Garous must have experienced something similar.”

“Experienced what exactly?”

“Mankind will isolate its most brutal anxieties and allow them to fade. It is a fantastic method. After all…”

Sasuke raised his head somewhat as he looked far into the western sky.

“Those who remained in Europe proudly proclaimed that mankind was ignoring them because they were powerful, but they were really being isolated. …After all, mankind once defeated the dragons. The isolation was only a way of avoiding something troublesome. We had already been weakened, so nothing would change no matter what we did. Not even fighting us was a way of dealing with us without even viewing giving us the dignity of being their enemy.”

Sasuke breathed a sigh wrapped in ether light.

“The most troublesome thing about mankind is the way they don’t brag about being the strongest of all creatures. We have our pride as a higher being, but that is why we were satisfied with our cage of vainglory.”

“That’s because we’re powerful as individuals,” said Saizou with a tone that said “how many times have we discussed this now?” “They only seem strongest when gathered as a group. And since a group can’t be in absolute agreement, mankind as a whole can’t claim that they’re the strongest. So even as a group, they can’t escape the awareness of how small they are. No matter how many anxieties they drive out, they never think they’re the strongest.”

“Do you pity them?”

“What do you think after living with them?”

“Well,” replied Sasuke. “I do not pity them as individuals or as a group. I suppose they only seem pitiful to me when viewed through my own vainglory.”

“If only you had seen it that way 800 years ago or 400 years ago…Commander of the Gaul Suppression Army.”

“There was no helping that, Subcommander. Did you see that just now? That Loup Garou descendent, that shrine maiden, and the others…they all reminded me of that group that intervened as the Testament Cross-Borders Unit. The ones that prevented us dragons from making a long-term invasion of Europe using the Germanic invasion.”

“There aren’t enough of them and I doubt that knowledge has been passed down.”

Sasuke smiled bitterly at Saizou’s words as they flew through the wind.

“Perhaps they do not see us as all that important.”

“You know, it’s your tendency to be really blunt that made everyone in Europe hate you.”

“You and the rest of the 10 Celestial Dragons that came with me were no different.”

“Now it’s only 3, including you.”

Saizou spat out that comment and eventually spread his wings.

He lowered his altitude in a glide.

“Sorry. I’ll be going on ahead.”

“Testament,” Sasuke replied to Saizou.

But he did not lower his altitude.

Sasuke continued soaring while only looking to the western sky until a voice called out to him.

Of the two at separate altitudes, the lower one spoke into the sky above him.

“Commander, there’s something I’ve noticed over the past 400 years.”

“And what is that?”

“When you fly high into the sky, you always look to the west. And I have a thought on that.”

“…And what is that?”

“Well.” Saizou took a breath. “I think your intent to fight now is born from your intent to have Sanada’s land be the last image you ever see.”

There was no immediate response. But eventually, after the two of them had completely moved apart, Sasuke opened his mouth.

He spoke into the western sky.

“We are Celestial Dragons. From generation to generation, we are born by inheriting the dragon ‘mold’ that was created long ago, so you could call us incarnations of the world itself. …But finding pride in that would be vainglory. But if we find no pride in it, would that be modesty or the pride of the powerful? The only person who could answer that question was that man who left us 30 years ago.”

His words vanished into the night sky.

“800 years ago and 400 years ago. …Did I make the right decisions back then?”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 31|Chapter 31]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 33|Chapter 33]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 32

2017-06-05T16:44:40Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 32: Giant Arriving Forms */

==Chapter 32: Giant Arriving Forms==
[[Image:Horizon5B_161.jpg|thumb]]
''I have roared

''Do you ever roar?

'''Point Allocation (Different Paths)

“It seems our teachers have made an appearance.”

A woman’s voice spoke above the dirt and accumulated conifer leaves at the bottom of the darkness.

After a while, there was a mechanical sound, but the next voice came from a different direction than that.

“Stop it, Mochizuki. You’ll just give away our position.”

“Testament. Understood, Kakei-sama. …I thought Unno-sama would be redoing her makeup.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Unno as she looked up into the darkness.

A forest of tall conifer trees gave occasional glimpses of the dark blue night sky overhead. There was nothing visible in those small regions of sky, but instead…

“Takigawa’s accompanying ships have gone to protect the Shirasagi Castle. Based on the sound of their fall, only the Shirasagi Castle’s starboard ship is in any kind of recognizable shape.”

“Maybe this will reduce how responsible we’re held for retreating. I’m hoping people will look at it as the tenants not standing a chance when their landlady was beaten so badly.”

In the darkness, something was heard being stretched out and attached.

“Kakei-sama, about your bone fracture…”

“I’ll sleep with this repair seal attached. It’s forceful, but I can’t move around until the bone is connected again.”

“Are you planning a second round?”

“Of course. Our teachers have shown up and we haven’t been freed from our job working for Takigawa. P.A. Oda hasn’t checked on everything either.”

Also…

“I seriously doubt the academy is going to ask P.A. Oda if their ninjas can come home. They’re more likely to say their ninjas are fine and can keep fighting. I mean, Miyoshi-san is in charge right now.”

“Yeah.” Unno smiled bitterly. “Musashi is apparently holding a study camp, but they’ll be back here in a few days. Until then…”

“Testament.” Mochizuki tossed a dark sign frame to both of them. “This is your recovery schedule for the 2-3 nights until Musashi returns. I have already been repaired, so you two must follow this schedule starting tonight.”

“I think I kinda like that side of you,” said Kakei.

“Thank you very much,” said Mochizuki with a nod. And…

“…”

A long roar rumbled in from the distant sky.

The leaves shook and the sleeping birds stirred.

And at the bottom of that gathering of noise, Kakei took a deep breath and spoke.

“That would be Sasuke-sensei…”

“Testament.” Unno could be heard lightly spreading out a portable blanket as she responded. “Our teacher is already gone. …I wonder if those 2 feel lonely.”

After all…

“That roar sounded really happy.”

Masazumi heard a dragon laugh for the very first time.

Of course, this was her first clear encounter with a dragon. Behind her, the Date Vice Chancellor felt the need to speak.

“I suppose not even a certain idiotic half-dragon would stand a chance against that.”

“Oh? Do you want my help?”

Curious about that, Masazumi asked her about it.

“Date Vice Chancellor… Are you knowledgeable about dragons?”

“A lot of Terrestrial Dragons live in the north…or rather, in Europe and the mountains east of Kantou. The winged Celestial Dragons, on the other hand, wanted a proper home, so they are more scattered around. …They mostly live in Europe, east of Kantou, or along the line from Chubu to central Oushuu. And…”

And…

“I believe the primary faction of Celestial Dragons chose Sanada as their home. …I think Masamune would know more about this.”

“No, that’s enough. In that case, would they be former nonhuman students?”

“Judge,” confirmed the Date Vice Chancellor. “If he poses a physical challenge, I could take him on.”

“Ho ho?” said Sasuke.

He slowly moved his giant body. The people on the Musashi scattered out of the way as he leaned toward the ship.

“We once took part in the suppression of the Germanic peoples and destroyed Europe, but a little girl thinks she can challenge us? I could fire my dragon cannon here and take care of you all. In fact, I kind of want you to give me the opportunity. I could use a warmup exercise before my first rampage in a long, long time.”

“I apologize for interrupting your excitement, but could you possibly leave?” asked Masazumi.

She checked the sign frame in her hand to make sure the firing unit and defense unit primarily composed of gods of war were spread out in a fan shape around Sasuke.

“With such a sudden visit, we can hear what you have to say, but we can’t be very hospitable.”

“Judge. That is correct,” said Horizon to help out.

Masazumi gasped and checked Horizon’s hands. Beyond Horizon, Mitotsudaira prepared for action and communicated with Masazumi via eye contact

''She isn’t showing any sign of a surprise Logismoi Oplo attack!

''Restrain her if she does!

Masazumi was also worried about the way Neshinbara was staring at Sasuke with an autograph sheet in hand. ''Wait, he has 2 autograph sheets…

Then Horizon took a step forward.

“Sasuke-sama was it? Why are you so concerned about us visiting Sanada? Is there some kind of secret there?”

“Indeed there is.”

“Then how about we make a deal? …If you tell us that secret, we will not visit Sanada.”

…''Calm down…!

Masazumi stared at Horizon’s face, but this was simply too novel. ''In fact, I kind of feel like I haven’t been in control of the negotiations today.

The dragon briefly stopped speaking, but before long…

“I would be willing to tell you if you let me fire my dragon cannon here.”

“Fire it at what?”

Horizon looked around and everyone, including the normal citizens down below, fled or took cover.

Masazumi also looked around at them all.

“We might all be in trouble if this ''dragon'' cannon business were to ''drag on'' much longer. …Just kidding.”

Masazumi heard everything fall silent.

A few seconds passed, a few more motionless breaths passed, and she nodded.

“That must have been too novel for everyone.”

With an odd sweat pouring down her face, Horizon silently placed a hand on Masazumi’s shoulder.

And why were Mitotsudaira and Asama looking the other away and hanging their heads? On the folded-up upper armor of the Ariake’s starboard side, Sasuke faced north.

“Kah…”

He produced a noise from his throat as he breathed in.

“Peh.”

The white dragon spat a phlegmy breath into the sky.

…''He’s certainly confident.

Did that come from his pride as a dragon or his power as one?

But Masazumi saw Sakai open his mouth in a horizontal smile.

…''What?

It looked like he was enjoying himself. And as Masazumi tried to figure out why that would be…

“Huh…?”

Mukai held her hands out toward the port-side to the left of the bridge.

She looked like she was trying to grab and enlarge something in the air, but then she hesitated.

“What…is this?”

[[Image:Horizon5B_169.jpg|thumb]]

She tilted her head.

“Just as the 2nd generation said, you are indeed incredible!”

With that voice, something appeared in the sky to port.

It was a dragon. A pitch black one.

“I am the original generation Kirigakure Saizou. Remember that!”

Asama gasped.

…''He slipped past our local quarantine system!?

''No,'' she answered herself. ''As long as the concept of land exists, any intrusion by an outsider will be detected. We also recently increased the sensitivity for security purposes.'' And…

“What is this…?”

Several sign frames judging him non-local opened around Saizou after he appeared. And a report was sent to Asama.

He had been detected.

But not while he was hidden.

…''What does that mean…?

She did not know. But it was true that Suzu had noticed. Asama made a mental note to ask her about that later, but then she noticed something else.

“Ah! Suzu-san!”

“Oh? So your name is Suzu.”

It happened the instant Saizou turned his giant face toward Suzu.

Surprised by the dragon’s sudden appearance and loud voice, Suzu leaned back to look up into the heavens.

“Wah…”

It started as a simple voice.

“Wahhhhhhhh!!!!”

But she soon wailed at the top of her lungs.

“Nwoh,” said Saizou as he leaned back.

…''I screwed up there!

He had spoken in surprise and joy without thinking.

''Not good, not good. Now that I think about it, whether we’re talking about Unno or Isa, all the girls at our place would only laugh if you shouted at them.

''This reaction is certainly refreshing… No, I was simply careless,'' concluded Saizou. So…

“Yeah, sorry about that…”

But she seemed to have completely panicked.

“Ah…!”

Hearing his voice only brought back the shock from before. ''What am I supposed to do about this?'' he wondered as Sasuke spoke from the starboard side.

“Saitou, you’re such a fool.”

“Damn you…!”

“Wahhhhhh!!” cried the girl.

“See? She’s crying again thanks to your voice.”

“Wahhhh!”

The girl named Suzu trembled and accurately pointed at both Saizou to port and Sasuke to starboard.

“I-I don’t l-like…these people!”

Sasuke wrinkled his brow at that.

So Saizou also moved as if looking up at him.

…''That’s what you get!

Sasuke glared at him, but he did not care. However, this situation was not conducive to conversation. As he wondered what to do, Musashi’s shrine maiden took action.

“L-look, Suzu-san? There’s a butt-shaped cushion on my chest. Oh, but there’s nothing impure about this.”

She comforted Suzu with some contradictory statements. Then some students carrying anti-god of war rifles arrived from the bottom of the stairs and from the academy’s front entrance.

“Are you the ones that made Musashi’s precious bangs girl cry!?”

“You might be dragons, but we stand unified against all who defile our genre!”

“Exactly right! This is our courage! It’s a definite trust that will carry us through to tomorrow!”

There were a few dozen of them, but Saizou was more worried about their sanity than anything.

“Your parents would cry,” he warned them.

“Heh heh. Silly dragon! Have you lived so long you’ve forgotten what parents are like!?” Musashi’s dancer pointed at him from the center of the bridge. “Everyone’s parents’ final genre is ‘my husband’ or ‘my wife’! So as they raise us, they can’t complain when we get hooked on a genre that will eventually lead to the next generation! Everyone looks to reality and learns what their heart desires so they can adjust their genre to match their husband or wife. If you forget that and reject the entire idea of genres, then you end up with nothing more than a mechanical act of combining that is void of all dreams!”

“I see. That does make sense.”

“Yay!” celebrated the dancer as she groped a nearby Loup Garou’s breasts. The meaning of that action was unclear, but Saizou guessed it was some sort of ritual. However…

“That said, we are Celestial Dragons, which makes us a type of spirit. We generally have no parents and are born from the natural world’s ley lines or an ether ‘mold’. So, dancer, we can only understand this idea of yours as a feeling.”

“Kimi! Kimi! He defeated your argument on a species level!”

“That’s fine! Now, Mitotsudaira, you grope me!”

The meaning of that was entirely unclear, but in the meantime, Musashi’s shrine maiden, nudist, and automaton princess had comforted the girl named Suzu and stopped her crying.

…''Hm.

They had visited this unfamiliar land for a greeting while having some fun, but…

“What’s so funny, Sakai?”

“Oh, nothing. I know I shouldn’t be laughing.”

“I feel the need to thank you for that time twenty-odd years ago.”

“You know you can’t do that. It wouldn’t make them very happy.”

“…I am in your debt.”

On the other side, Sasuke also nodded. But…

“This is not in lieu of thanks, but we will give you a warning.”

“Judge, judge.” Sakai waved toward Sasuke. “No need. They’re all going. It’s…well, you know. When I destroyed it, I didn’t really understand anything, but my actions still had meaning.”

Saizou remained motionless in response to Sakai’s words. He simply breathed like normal and followed Sasuke’s lead.

“If they go there and enter our land, there will be a battle,” said Sasuke.

“So you’re sending the young Sanada maser to Hashiba?”

“Testament. He will be given favorable battle results against Matsudaira for a better position within Hashiba’s forces. Sanada has received word that, if Musashi’s forces fight on Sanada land,” Sasuke breathed a glowing sigh, “it will be counted as a recreation of the First Siege of Ueda between Sanada and Matsudaira.”

'''Novice:''' “Now! Tonight’s Super Neshinbara Time has arrived!”

'''Unturning:''' “The First Siege of Ueda is the post-Nobunaga battle in which Matsudaira fights and drives out Sanada after having defeated Hashiba at Komaki Nagakute. …At the time, Sanada was allied with Matsudaira, but as terms for allying with Matsudaira, Houjou demanded Sanada’s Ueda Castle. When Matsudaira attempted to do so, Sanada fought a defensive battle.”

'''Tachibana Wife:''' “Stating the conclusion first and giving the details second? That is an explanation based on the rules of comprehension.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' You can really see the difference in personality…”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Yes, some people have very roundabout personalities. I won’t name names, but it’s Neshinbara.”

'''Novice:''' “Are you saying that’s just one name and not ‘names’!? Is that what this is!?”

Masazumi crossed her arms.

The request for Sanada to recreate the First Siege of Ueda had likely been made during the previous meeting. A Hashiba member other than Katagiri must have done it.

…''This is real pain.

If they recreated the First Siege of Ueda, they could not withdraw from Sanada and they could not ally themselves with Houjou. But…

“History recreations take priority over school events. For Hashiba, this prevents us from allying ourselves with Houjou. For us, it allows us to complete a history recreation from after Nobunaga’s death.”

“Then will you be doing it?” asked Sakai.

He then asked a sudden question while looking to Sasuke.

“How many are still alive?”

Sasuke took a slow, deep breath before answering.

“Of those from 800 years ago, only 3 Celestial Dragons remain. There are still a lot of Terrestrial Dragons, but not as many as before.”

“Could I visit their graves?”

“Spirit dragons leave no bones behind. The Terrestrial Dragons are different, though. …Have a drink in their honor in Sanada land.”

“I see.” Sakai’s shoulders lowered. “So we ended up as enemies after all.”

“Testament.”

Masazumi saw Sasuke’s body briefly lower down. He was preparing to take flight and leave. His giant body would spring up and float, but…

“Please wait.”

Musashi’s princess fired a Logismoi Oplo at Sasuke.

“Waaaaaiiiiiit!!”

The Sanada father and son yelled at them, but Masazumi ignored it. No true Musashi resident would let this surprise them.

…''I’m not sure how much I want to be a true Musashi resident, though…

“Masazumi! Why are you hanging your head!?”

But it was not just the one attack.

There were two movements.

The first was Futayo, who stood by Horizon’s side, turning to stand back to back with Horizon and raising Tonbo Spare. She then spoke to Saizou who was reflected in the blade.

“Bind, Tonbo Spare…!”

At the same time, something appeared in the sky.

…''Defense barriers!

They appeared in order to separate Sasuke and Saizou from the Musashi group. “Musashi” had lightly raised her hand to protect them. Also…

“I will not allow you to escape. Over.”

The barriers overlapped above Sasuke and Saizou’s heads to form a shallow dome.

Immediately afterwards, the Tachibana Husband raised his voice.

“If this does not hit them, they are the real deal!”

''What does that mean?'' wondered Masazumi just as the result was seen.

Mitotsudaira saw Muneshige fall to his knees with a smile on his face.

Around them, all motion had stopped.

Horizon had fired at about 20% power, Futayo had used Tonbo Spare, and “Musashi” had raised the defense barriers. Those 3 and everyone else spoke in unison:

“They’re the real deal…?”

Sasuke and Saizou had entirely vanished. They were gone. And that meant…

…''They left?

Nothing remained to answer that question, but…

“Nn.”

Suzu trembled while Kimi embraced her from behind. A moment later, a roar reached them from the distant sky. No, two of them did. The first sounded like ferocious laughter and the other sounded like a great sigh.

“I-it’s those…people…”

Asama looked to her sign frame and nodded in agreement with Suzu’s hesitant interpretation. She showed concern for Suzu while also giving Masazumi and Mitotsudaira a raised-eyebrows look.

“They have withdrawn.”

Mitotsudaira gasped a bit at what Asama said.

“I was able to detect them flying away. But…”

“But?”

“I must investigate the sudden appearance of that one dragon. We have increased our security level, so this is nothing but an embarrassment for the Asama Shrine.”

Asama took a breath and relaxed her shoulders.

Mitotsudaira decided to say something to her.

“U-um…”

Even if she said not to worry about it, further investigation was necessary. Not worrying about it would be weird.

Simply telling her to do her best would probably be best for now, but that felt irresponsible.

Trying to cheer her up with an offer to go eat yakiniku would be perfect, but why did that seem too self-serving? And as she considered all this…

…''Wow…

Yet again, she was getting trapped by her own harmless but troublesome thoughts.

But then she remembered something.

About half a month before, on the way from IZUMO to Magdeburg, she had been similarly trapped by these endlessly circling thoughts, but she had managed to shake free of them.

“—————”

She thought back to then. She had been unsure what to do about her situation or how to act around Mary, but what had she done in the end?

The memory she found was not a bad one. What she found was…

…''That’s right.

“Tomo.”

Mitotsudaira realized that her personality caused her to hesitate when it came to worries, concerns, and cheering others up. But if it only made her hesitate, then she only had to look at it this way:

…''It’s okay.

They were classmates and friends. She sometimes found herself questioning their actions, but, well, that was just the kind of relationship it was.

However, that relationship was accompanied by their recognition of each other’s skill. So…

“We will leave that to you.”

Mitotsudaira would not even know where to start with this and Asama had the necessary skills.

So she would leave it to her. That was all there was to it.

There was no need to hesitate.

“Only you can do this, Tomo. If anything happens, just tell me. I will help to the best of my ability.”

The meaning of those words changed Asama’s expression. First, her eyebrows rose and she did not seem to understand what she had just been told. But then her eyes narrowed in a smile.

“I can handle it.”

“You sure can.”

Mitotsudaira looked over to that voice from between Horizon and Futayo. The idiot sat there looking back and forth between Horizon’s skirt and the gap in Futayo’s skirt. He ignored the two armed girls who glared back at him and he spoke to Asama instead.

“You have a pretty good idea of what this was, don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t call it a ‘pretty good’ idea when I have no proof whatsoever.”

Asama’s words were belied by her light tone. She turned toward Suzu in Kimi’s arms.

“Suzu-san, can I ask you about something later?”

“A-about those…p-people?”

“Yes. About them. Also…can I ask you something too, Mary?”

“Judge.” Mary took a step forward from the 1st Special Duty Officer’s side. “There was something that caught my attention about this as well. I think we can figure this out if we all compare what we found odd. And Master Tenzou too…”

“Judge. There was something a little odd about that compared to normal covert ninja techniques. I can at least provide my thoughts on the matter.”

“Heh heh. That settles it then.” Kimi narrowed her eyes toward the distant roars to the west. “We’ll go to Sanada for our study camp. We need to make those dragons cry for mocking us and making Suzu cry.”

“That would be it, yes.”

Masazumi heard a hint of cheerfulness in Sakai’s voice.

He gave a light wave of his hand to tell her to stay here a while longer. And then…

“Hey, Toori.”

“Eh?”

The idiot who had been comparing Horizon and Futayo’s butts was now wrapped in Mitotsudaira’s chains.

“What is it, Principal?” asked the chain-wrapped nudist.

“Well, I can guess how most of this is going to go, so let me tell you as well. …Go to Sanada for your study camp, Toori. These two will probably go on ahead and prepare the place for you. And then fight the 1st Siege of Ueda.”

“Principal, did Sanada help you out in the past?”

“Judge.”

There was a lot they did not know about Sakai’s past, but there was one thing they had learned on the way here. So Masazumi used that knowledge to make a guess.

“Did you pass through Sanada territory to get to Europe when fighting the Pope-Chancellor?”

“Judge. That’s pretty much it.”

He readily admitted it, but that did not account for Sanada Masayuki’s bowing. What had happened?

“Will we find out when we go there?”

“Masazumi-kun, there’s nothing about a place you can’t figure out by going there, is there?”

Sakai raised the corners of his mouth.

“But,” he continued with a hand on his chin. “I couldn’t figure it out when I was there. Oh, but that was the second time. And I was ordered to go that time.”

“The second time?”

“Judge,” confirmed Sakai as “Musashi” glared at him from his side.

“This is all news to me. Over.”

“Well, you were still just an OS back then, ‘Musashi’-san. Do you want to hear about those times?”

“There is no point in discussing a version of myself that I do not remember. Over.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Why does she sound so confident that it would be about her?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Are you gonna draw this one, Ga-chan?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “That would be undeniable defiance of authority… But perhaps that would be perfect for a Technohexen.”

“But,” said “Musashi”. “We have our own security in place using our management system as automatons. Since we did not detect this until they were that close, I can only judge it-…”

Just as “Musashi” prepared to say “a failure”, Ohiroshiki raised his hand.

''What is this about?'' wondered Masazumi, so she prompted him to speak with an “ah?”

“Wh-what kind of pathetic prompting was that!?”

“Just say what you have to say.”

“Okay, then.” Ohiroshiki looked to the two from Sanada. “Since this is a pain, couldn’t Uqui-kun torture them until they spill the beans on all the dragons’ techniques and such?”

“W-wait!” Sanada’s Chancellor frantically got up. “Sanada’s reputation is on the line here!”

“Papa! Sacrifice yourself for my safety!”

“Damn you!”

But Neshinbara shook his head and looked to Ohiroshiki.

“We would not look very cool if we-…I mean, that would look bad politically.”

“Did about 80% of your real reason slip out there?”

“Don’t worry about it, Ariadust-kun. …Now, to get back on topic, if we did that, all of the small nations would grow wary of Musashi. That would be especially bad with how many people should be defecting to Musashi from here on. Even if they were on the run, we do not want Musashi to be seen as a place that forces people to give us their nation’s information.”

“Yes, we can’t have all of our doujinshis being torture ones.”

“Precisely, Naruze-kun. …Wait, that’s not it at all, Naruze-kun. Please listen.”

“Think before you speak!!”

Everyone yelled at him, but Neshinbara only pushed his glasses up his nose and looked to Masazumi.

“Besides, you know what they are saying, don’t you?”

“I do.” Masazumi nodded and looked to the two from Sanada. “We will still prepare a residence in Mito for Sanada Nobuyuki, but we are visiting Sanada territory for a study camp. I would like for you and Masayuki to return to Sanada territory once more. We will send out a ship, so could you arrange for our arrival in Sanada territory for our study camp?”

“Testament…!” Masayuki bowed his head and forced his son’s head down as well. “If that will help preserve Sanada!”

Masazumi glanced over at Sakai who shrugged and nodded.

The people in front of them were apparently not the type to lie. She had already understood that, but the Principal’s confirmation meant a lot.

“Very good.”

That was all she said before facing south from the bridge.

There was a sign frame there and she spoke to the boy displayed on it.

“Katagiri Katsumoto. …Musashi has decided on its destination for the school event. I assume you have no complaints.”

Katagiri slowly nodded at the Musashi Vice President’s words.

He pictured a map of the Far East from Kantou to Chubu and he thought about the location of the various powers there.

…''Sanada is close to Houjou.

They likely intended to head to Houjou after completing their study camp in Sanada.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I think that negotiation turned out well, Katagiri-kun.”

That was Takenaka. She was complimenting him, but he had one thing to ask her.

'''□□凸:''' “Takenaka-san, were you the one that suggested Sanada recreate the First Siege of Ueda?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Are you mad?”

“No,” answered Katagiri.

'''□□凸:''' “It was your instructions that struck back and drove them to action. I was only losing ground.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “You prevented Musashi from reducing the length of their study camp, didn’t you? It’s set at 3 days and 2 nights but with another day and night included for travel. …Do you have any idea how much funding and personnel it takes to keep an enemy stopped for 3 or more days in war? That’s how much you won us in this single negotiation.”

If so, he was grateful.

…''I still have a lot to learn.

Katagiri then began searching for someone beyond Musashi’s Vice President.

Was that shrine maiden there?

He was briefly confused when he saw the Asama Shrine’s gunner shrine maiden, but she was different. The real one was blonde. But…

…''She isn’t there.

He could see Musashi’s Chancellor nude but wrapped in chains and being lectured by the silver wolf and others, but what was that about? He thought that boy needed to take his life more seriously.

However…

“Does Musashi intend to complete its study camp before summer break begins?”

“That is our business,” said their Vice President. “We don’t have to tell you.”

“Testament,” he replied. And…

'''□□凸:''' “What should I do, everyone? I think we could send someone to that place.”

'''Llaf:''' “Even if we could use Takigawa-sama, I do not think we should split up our forces at the moment. …I believe our only option is to prepare ourselves for the worst and rely on Sanada’s Nobushige faction.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “My role leaves me emptyhanded, so once I’m ready, I can head near the border. After all, I can move around if I’m within range of Mori-san’s forces.”

'''□□凸:''' “Then please do.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “…”

'''□□凸:''' “Nagayasu-san?”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Eh? …Oh, um, yes, I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best, okay!?”

Had he said anything to surprise her? At any rate, he sent his acknowledgment and then looked to the ''lernen figur''.

To the Musashi forces visible on that screen, they were a large nation. And he was that large nation’s agent. He had corrected Musashi when it came to school event equality, so there was one thing he had to say without fear.

“I hope you make some nice memories during your study camp in Sanada, Musashi.”

“Judge. To be honest, given who’s going, the odds are slim any of the memories will be worth remembering, but that’s just how it is. …You have my thanks for approving this.”

Just as she ended the divine transmission, Musashi’s Vice President spoke quietly.

“Until we meet again.”

“Weren’t you being a little too charitable back there, Saizou?”

“Ninja techniques are always found out eventually. The question is what you do afterwards.”

A voice responded at cloud level while traveling west.

Sasuke and Saizou, the white and black dragons, tore through the night sky.

They turned their eyeballs backwards in their long slit-like eye sockets to view the Ariake behind them.

Their vision contained the light of the place they had just left.

“Compared to the distant past, mankind has eliminated their anxieties by gathering into groups and surrounding themselves with light.”

“Are you a poet now, Sasuke?”

“You have lived as long as I have, so you should understand, too.”

Sasuke flapped his 6 main wings to lift himself higher in the sky. Saizou turned his body to increase the air resistance enough to knock his body higher.

Saizou was a little slower, but Sasuke glided to match.

“Mankind’s methods of driving out their anxieties are always a threat to us.”

“Meanwhile, we are anxiety itself to mankind. So are we mankind’s enemy?”

“That cannot be the case. …How could we coexist in Sanada now if it were?”

“Well.” The strength left Saizou’s voice. “It must be an issue of intelligence and pride. Once we exchange words, we can generally coexist as long as we do not act on emotion. That is what we did and that is why we came here.”

“It’s a little late to ask now…but was remaining in Europe just too much to bear?”

It took several seconds before he answered that question. But…

“You answer first, Sasuke.”

“That was 400 years ago. My memories have faded a fair bit.”

Sasuke used his wings to move out ahead. Saizou followed and tried to fly up alongside him.

The wind loudly struck the dragon’s giant body and Sasuke spoke.

“Being one of mankind’s anxieties is a difficult thing. The Loup Garous must have experienced something similar.”

“Experienced what exactly?”

“Mankind will isolate its most brutal anxieties and allow them to fade. It is a fantastic method. After all…”

Sasuke raised his head somewhat as he looked far into the western sky.

“Those who remained in Europe proudly proclaimed that mankind was ignoring them because they were powerful, but they were really being isolated. …After all, mankind once defeated the dragons. The isolation was only a way of avoiding something troublesome. We had already been weakened, so nothing would change no matter what we did. Not even fighting us was a way of dealing with us without even viewing giving us the dignity of being their enemy.”

Sasuke breathed a sigh wrapped in ether light.

“The most troublesome thing about mankind is the way they don’t brag about being the strongest of all creatures. We have our pride as a higher being, but that is why we were satisfied with our cage of vainglory.”

“That’s because we’re powerful as individuals,” said Saizou with a tone that said “how many times have we discussed this now?” “They only seem strongest when gathered as a group. And since a group can’t be in absolute agreement, mankind as a whole can’t claim that they’re the strongest. So even as a group, they can’t escape the awareness of how small they are. No matter how many anxieties they drive out, they never think they’re the strongest.”

“Do you pity them?”

“What do you think after living with them?”

“Well,” replied Sasuke. “I do not pity them as individuals or as a group. I suppose they only seem pitiful to me when viewed through my own vainglory.”

“If only you had seen it that way 800 years ago or 400 years ago…Commander of the Gaul Suppression Army.”

“There was no helping that, Subcommander. Did you see that just now? That Loup Garou descendent, that shrine maiden, and the others…they all reminded me of that group that intervened as the Testament Cross-Borders Unit. The ones that prevented us dragons from making a long-term invasion of Europe using the Germanic invasion.”

“There aren’t enough of them and I doubt that knowledge has been passed down.”

Sasuke smiled bitterly at Saizou’s words as they flew through the wind.

“Perhaps they do not see us as all that important.”

“You know, it’s your tendency to be really blunt that made everyone in Europe hate you.”

“You and the rest of the 10 Celestial Dragons that came with me were no different.”

“Now it’s only 3, including you.”

Saizou spat out that comment and eventually spread his wings.

He lowered his altitude in a glide.

“Sorry. I’ll be going on ahead.”

“Testament,” Sasuke replied to Saizou.

But he did not lower his altitude.

Sasuke continued soaring while only looking to the western sky until a voice called out to him.

Of the two at separate altitudes, the lower one spoke into the sky above him.

“Commander, there’s something I’ve noticed over the past 400 years.”

“And what is that?”

“When you fly high into the sky, you always look to the west. And I have a thought on that.”

“…And what is that?”

“Well.” Saizou took a breath. “I think your intent to fight now is born from your intent to have Sanada’s land be the last image you ever see.”

There was no immediate response. But eventually, after the two of them had completely moved apart, Sasuke opened his mouth.

He spoke into the western sky.

“We are Celestial Dragons. From generation to generation, we are born by inheriting the dragon ‘mold’ that was created long ago, so you could call us incarnations of the world itself. …But finding pride in that would be vainglory. But if we find no pride in it, would that be modesty or the pride of the powerful? The only person who could answer that question was that man who left us 30 years ago.”

His words vanished into the night sky.

“800 years ago and 400 years ago. …Did I make the right decisions back then?”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 31|Chapter 31]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 33|Chapter 33]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 29

2017-06-05T03:55:03Z

108.50.214.115: /* Chapter 29: Courter at an Unexpected Meeting */

==Chapter 29: Courter at an Unexpected Meeting==
[[Image:Horizon5B_065.jpg|thumb]]
''Which girl do you want?

''I have decided on that girl.

'''Point Allocation (That’s Definitely Not Happening)

…''Oh?

Horizon looked to Futayo.

Similarly, Kimi behind her, Asama and Mitotsudaira next to her, and the others around her…

“Um.”

They all looked to Futayo who was entirely focused on eating.

She was eating an Asama Shrine kudzu leaf meal called Leafstyle and a large yakiniku meal abbreviated as the Large Yak from Mitotsudaira’s restaurant. The Blue Thunder and others had prepared enough for everyone present and more, but the manager had contacted them earlier and said the Blue Thunder’s food was not going to be ready in time.

…''I have determined that is a slight disappointment.

At any rate, Futayo was tilting her head back to stuff more of the Leafstyle’s boiled leaves in her mouth. Then she kept her head tilted back as she poured the tea from the Large Yak in her mouth instead of the sake that came with the Leafstyle.

She used the drink to help swallow the boiled leaves.

“Ngah.”

With a sound halfway between a voice and a sigh, she faced forward and toward Horizon. Then…

“Do not worry. There is enough for everyone.”

“No, Futayo-sama, that is not the issue.” Horizon nodded. “I have some bad news and some unimportant news for you.”

“Then give them in order.”

“She sure is decisive…” commented a few people, but Horizon ignored it.

She sat down and spoke to Futayo.

“Futayo-sama…it seems the food from the Blue Thunder will not arrive.”

“My god…”

The empty container and the chopsticks slipped from Futayo’s hands.

Her mouth fell slightly open and her eyebrows wrinkled somewhat as she looked to Horizon. But…

“Unfortunately, this is reality,” said the automaton princess.

“…How unfortunate indeed.”

Futayo groaned, turned around, and ran off.

Horizon and the others watched her leave. And after the span of a few breaths, Masazumi spoke up.

“Um, hey.”

“No, it is fine, Masazumi-sama. …Uh, Futayo-sama, I secretly brought your serving along with me.”

Horizon pulled a Blue Thunder paper bag from behind her back and waved it around. Futayo returned at full speed. Her feet screeched along the deck as she came to a stop and she fell to her knees.

“If it is a gift from you, Horizon-sama, I will eat it first!”

Futayo took the Blue Thunder paper bag and Horizon said “judge” and nodded a few times. Then Horizon spoke to the girl who was already splitting the baguette and making an extra-thick ham sandwich.

“As promised, I will now give you the unimportant news.”

“Judge. What is it, Horizon-sama?”

“Judge. Someone is saying they wish to wed Honda Tadakatsu-sama’s daughter in accordance with the Testament descriptions. …That’s them over there.”

Futayo looked in the direction she indicated.

Sanada Masayuki and Nobuyuki were there. Futayo viewed the two of them while chewing, but she finally audibly swallowed. And…

“Both of them do?”

“Papa! Were you planning on sharing my wife!?”

“Nobuyuki! How dare you be jealous of your father! Have you no shame!?”

“At least deny the accusation,” everyone muttered as Futayo tilted her head.

“So who do they want to wed?”

“Eh?” said Nobuyuki as his head fell forward. He seemed to be somewhat surprised, but he pointed at the Musashi group after a few moments.

His finger was clearly pointed at Futayo and Futayo looked at herself and then behind her.

“You were planning on inheriting my father’s daughter’s name…Hassan-dono?”

Hassan silently stepped to the right, revealing…

“Oh, it was Ohiroshiki-dono.”

“Eh!? Wh-what!? I-I was only checking my religion’s doctrines on the divine network! I certainly wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

“Ohiroshiki-sama.” Horizon gestured toward Nobuyuki. “He seems to wish to make you his wife.”

“Eh?”

Horizon saw Ohiroshiki look to Nobuyuki. His eyes moved from the man’s feet up to his head.

“Y-you dare imply that is less than 10 years old!? Besides, who decided on this!?”

“The Testament.”

“The Testament!?”

“Yes, it was written in the Testament,” declared Horizon. “As it is part of the history recreation, Ohiroshiki-sama, you must become his wife. Now, you have two options: think of him as less than 10 and marry him, or ask Masazumi-sama or Toori-sama to rescue you. But you will not actually be lost if you are taken as his wife, so I must warn you that our Far Eastern forces will not be very motivated this time.”

“P-please save me! Flat Honda-kun!”

“You think I’ll save you when you call me that!?”

“W-wait!”

Someone interrupted. It was Sanada Nobuyuki. He was blushing and pointing at Ohiroshiki.

“I-I refuse!!”

“Too bad, Nobuyuki-sama. Ohiroshiki-sama refused first,” resolutely stated Horizon. “We win this round.”

“W-wait!”

“If we wait, then we win the second round, so are you sure you want that?”

“What kind of rules are those!?”

“The world of politics is cruel.”

Horizon opened a sign frame to check the time. She counted to 5, and…

“I waited 5 seconds. …We win the second round.”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Aren’t these rules actually extremely simple?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Yes. I thought that too last time.”

'''Vice President:''' “Aren’t any of you going to stop her?”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “Say that into a mirror!!”

Horizon saw Nobuyuki sweat bullets and shake his head.

“N-no, wait!”

“You pointed at Ohiroshiki-sama earlier. Are you saying you wish to defy the Testament?” she said. “The Testament is frightening. After all, if it names you, you must die. If it tells you to get married, you must do so. Of course, you can always die or marry without it telling you to.”

Sanyou had stepped out of the entranceway with some guest tea in hand, but she immediately stepped back inside and closed the door. Asama shouted over at her.

“Ah, Sanyou-sensei! Please at least leave the tea!”

“Tomo! Tomo! You’re really on fire today, aren’t you!?”

''This place always has such a nice atmosphere,'' thought Horizon before speaking to Nobuyuki.

“Now, marry Ohiroshiki-sama.”

“D-do I have no rights here!?” asked Ohiroshiki.

“Th-that’s right, Musashi’s princess! Y-you need to respect his rights!”

“…I ''need'' to?”

“Please respect his rights!”

“Judge.” Horizon nodded several times. “Once you two are married, I will personally monitor the situation to ensure he is not a victim of rights-ignoring abuse.”

Nobuyuki’s face passed red and turned purple.

“We win the third round,” said Horizon.

“W-wait! I was pointing to the person in front of him!”

“Oh, so it was Hassan-sama.”

Hassan shrugged.

“I want to eat curry to forget all about this.”

''Indeed,'' thought Horizon. And…

“Understood. There seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

“S-so you’ve finally gotten it into your thick hea-…I mean, you’ve finally been so kind as to understand!?”

“Judge,” concluded Horizon. “I have it all figured out: Hassan-sama, have some curry. Nobuyuki-sama, marry Ohiroshiki-sama and let the guards monitor you.”

“Listen to meeeeeee!!”

“She demoted him to the guards!” everyone shouted, but Horizon tilted her head.

“You leave me no choice. Could you explain this in a simpler fashion?”

Nobuyuki fell to his knees and spent half a minute or so regulating his breathing.

“U-um!”

Once he recovered, he pointed at Futayo who was reaching for her second croquette.

“I will marry that girl, Honda Futayo, as Honda Tadakatsu’s daughter!”

“Futayo-sama? Do you have anything to say about this?”

“Eh?” Futayo looked back and forth and then tilted her head again. “Unfortunately, I intend to inherit my father Tadakatsu’s name. I no longer feel like Tadakatsu’s daughter. I am more like an almost-Tadakatsu, so that would not work.”

“Wait!”

Nobuyuki shouted that word for the umpteenth time today.

…''Wh-what is the meaning of this!?

He did not understand. It was all so crazy. Besides…

…''The daughter will become the father!?

“Papa!? What is this!?”

“Don’t let it get to you, Nobuyuki!”

“Papa! Can we solve this if I don’t let it get to me!?”

“Yes! We can come up with a good idea if you don’t let it get to you! …And you, girl!”

His father pointed at the Honda girl who was eating some bread with vegetables and cheese between it.

“You say you intend to inherit the name of Lord Tadakatsu the Peerless in the East!? If that is why you are rejecting Nobuyuki’s marriage request, then first prove you are stronger than him!”

“Huh? So you want a duel?”

She stood up.

Seeing her casual stance, Nobuyuki took a defensive stance.

…''What is this?

''The title of Musashi Vice Chancellor isn’t just for show,'' thought Nobuyuki.

She was only standing there, but he sensed a presence that felt like an attack coming from somewhere…no, coming from everywhere. And he was overwhelmed by a desire to flee.

…''Sh-she’s good!

''But,'' he thought.

…''I am Sanada’s Chancellor and President!

He knew ninja techniques and was trained in sword fighting. In a limited head-on battle, he was confident he could hold his own against the Ten Braves.

“In that case…”

Sanada Nobuyuki lowered his hips in a combat stance. He held his left arm out front and slightly raised, he reached his right arm toward the sword at his hip, and he leaned his body to the left.

“Let’s do this!”

A careless horizontal swing of the enemy’s spear caught him in the jaw from the left.

'''Unturning:''' “Oh, I didn’t know humans could make that noise.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Yeah, it sounded like it had to come from something else!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Also, he’s kind of flying away.”

'''Asama:''' “Oh, no. What do I do? He didn’t go through the immigration process, so he doesn’t have a contract and I can’t use any definite healing spells. …Masazumi, quit playing with Tsukinowa. Hey.”

“Hm,” said Futayo as she focused on the tactile feedback.

She had quickly reversed her grip on the spear and swung the bottom end. She had made it look like the attack would come from the right and then instantly switched to an attack from the left.

…''To do that while standing requires anchoring your feet to the ground.

She was only able to pull this off after learning to create an axis line for her strength.

…''I am gradually growing closer to my father’s level.

Meanwhile, Nobuyuki had been knocked away.

“D-…!”

He got up with his hand on his cheek.

“D-damn you! That was a surprise attack! Th-this isn’t over yet!”

She immediately hit him from the right.

'''Scarred:''' “Huh? It sounded different that time, didn’t it?”

'''10ZO:''' “Mary-dono, you don’t mind watching something like this?”

'''Scarred:''' “Eh? But when someone is demonstrating their resolve, you have to watch it through to the end. I see no meaning in feeling displeasure or disgust over something like that.”

'''10ZO:''' “Judge. I agree.”

'''Asama:''' “What!? What is this atmosphere!?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “You don’t know, Asama!? That lovey-dovey couple is using this to rise to their next stage! At the final stage, the air grows too thick to breathe! Here, use this oxygen mask! There’s one for you too, Mitotsudaira!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Why are you pushing up your breasts!?”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Oh, it happened a third time.”

Masazumi watched Sanada’s Chancellor roll along the deck a third time.

He stopped while sprawled out on his back. Even an amateur like her could tell he was taking direct hits.

…''Doesn’t that hurt?

Was this a sign of his pride, or was it something else? Whatever it was, Sanada’s Chancellor looked discouraged. He sat up while crying and with blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

“Papa! Papa! I can’t do it!! There’s no way I can win!”

“Argh! How weak-willed are you!? And you call yourself Sanada’s Chancellor and President!?”

With that final comment, Sanada’s Chancellor hopped to his feet.

''Ohh,'' thought Masazumi as she grabbed Tsukinowa’s front paws and made the anteater dance.

…''That brought back his motivation.

A fourth sound rang out.

Futayo thought:

…''The Sanada Chancellor uses some odd combat techniques.

He left himself wide open and let her hit him.

That was all.

She wondered if he had strong defenses and was trying to wear her out, but that was not the case. She could feel the blows reaching his bones.

She wondered if he had some kind of plan, but after she sent him flying a fourth time, that seemed unlikely.

''No matter how I look at it, his fighting is entirely devoid of technique,'' she thought. He was the leader of a nation, making this a duel against a Chancellor and Student Council President. This had to be some kind of plan.

…''But is there any strategic value to this method?

She was inexperienced, but could she come up with anything here?

“—————”

She could.

“Glasses boy! Is there anything to this!?”

“It isn’t often you see someone rely on others to that extent, Spear Honda-kun!”

''He praised me. Then I need take pride in this.

“Judge. …Because thinking is a pain!”

“Don’t say that so loudly…” someone muttered, but she did not mind. The Secretary would answer her either way. As usual, he pushed his glasses up his nose first.

“This is…yes. Sanada’s Chancellor might be doing this to demonstrate that he will not lay a hand on you. He might be filling you with doubt, wondering why he won’t lay a hand on you.”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Did you hit your head? How about looking at reality every once in a while?”

''That conflicting opinion has helped balance things out.

''But,'' thought Futayo.

…''This is about whether or not I question his actions?

Futayo started by questioning herself and quickly reached her conclusion:

“Thinking really is a pain.”

She could move her body though, so she hit him a fifth time as he got up.

''This is just about over,'' thought Masazumi as she reached for Tsukinowa who was on the floor.

Tsukinowa was always on her shoulder, so he was still not used to the floor. She hoped to teach him how to walk on the floor so she could eventually go on walks with him. But for the moment…

“Okay, we have work to do, Tsukinowa.”

The quick rest and bit of fun seemed to have rid Tsukinowa of his sleepiness. So once on her shoulder…

“Maa.”

“Good, good.” Masazumi rubbed his head and turned to face Sanada’s Chancellor.

“I-I can’t! Papa! If I keep this up, something inside me is going to break!”

“Argh! You sound like a delusional middle schooler! And you call yourself Sanada’s leader!?”

But his father’s scolding did not work a second time. He only continued weeping.

“D-dammit! And I thought I could get a wife in this new land and make a comeback!”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Yeah. Guys have a way of including other people in their schedules without asking.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Well, girls have a way of including other people in their own worlds.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Yeah, that’s how doujinshis are made, isn’t it?”

'''Righteousness:''' “You people don’t hesitate to take swipes at each other, do you?”

Masazumi could not agree more.

But then Futayo sighed and Sanada’s Chancellor got down on his knees.

“Papa! I’ve had enough! I’ll live alone!”

“Argh! How can you say that after inheriting the name of Sanada Nobuyuki!? And you call yourself a man!?”

Futayo tilted her head at the Sanada father’s words.

“I intend to inherit the name of my father, Tadakatsu. Thus, I cannot marry you as Tadakatsu’s daughter, but if you do want to marry me, you just have to inherit the name of Tadakatsu’s wife.”

'''Asama:''' “I’m sorry. I’m not quite sure what she means there…”

That was hardly uncommon.

But then Sanada’s Chancellor gasped and turned toward his father.

“Th-that makes sense! Papa! I’m going to give up on being a man and become a woman!”

“Damn you!!”

'''Sticky King:''' “I think he would have trouble being a woman too…”

'''Marube-ya:''' “Eh? What are you talking about, Nenji! Being a woman is super useful! If your negotiations aren’t going well, you just have to scream and shout ‘molester’!”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “That’s blackmail, not a negotiation!”

''We’ll have to establish a cutoff point when they’re arrested,'' carelessly thought Masazumi.

Then she asked Futayo a question.

“You’re not really thinking about getting married, right?”

“Judge. I have my hands full simply inheriting my father’s name. It would probably take some training for someone to become my mother or Kazuno-sama, but the Far East has bigger things to worry about right now. …Besides, even if marriage interviews are an option, it would probably be best if it was someone I already knew.”

“Then,” said Naruze as she wrote something on her crop mark frame Magie Figur. “If you were choosing someone from our class, who would it be?”

“Well,” said Futayo as she looked around and spotted the Tachibana Wife using her false arms to shield her husband.

'''Girls:''' “Ohhh…”

Next to Tenzou, Mary only said “oh, my” and held her hands to her cheeks. Narumi and Urquiaga silently ate their portable combat food.

''Everyone responds differently,'' thought Masazumi before Futayo nodded.

“I am not worthy of Kimi-dono, so, well, if I had to choose…I suppose it would be Masazumi.”

Adele and everyone else took a step away from Masazumi.

Kimi played a mellow song from a sign frame while singing “Chalala~ Chala, lalalala, chalala~” and wiggling her hips, but Masazumi still turned back toward them all.

'''Vice President:''' “W-wait! What is that distance for!?”

Naruze and Naito pulled a long table and chairs from somewhere and sat down.

Naruze rested her elbow on the table and pointed at Masazumi with her pen.

“This is some top-tier material. You need to let me know what’s going on here.”

“And Asama-chi, how would this work?”

“Hmm, they’re both from Mikawa, so the contract situation might actually work out surprisingly well.”

''Our class really doesn’t hold back at times like this,'' thought Adele as Futayo asked Masazumi a question.

“Masazumi, do you dislike me?”

“N-no, it isn’t that.”

Everyone immediately looked toward a certain person: Horizon.

Horizon opened a sign frame with the Blue Thunder mark on it and then faced the Sanada pair.

“Another case closed!”

“Horizon! Horizon! The Testament says that’s supposed to be my catch phrase!?”

“My apologies, Mitotsudaira-sama. But I thought I needed to say it until you historically began saying it, and I finally managed to do so here.”

''Does that make it okay?'' wondered Adele as she looked to the Sanada group.

“Um, what do you have to say?” she asked.

“Kh…”

Nobuyuki faced Masazumi and took a combat stance.

“M-Musashi Vice President! I challenge you…!”

“Ah,” said Adele. “This could be dangerous.”

He was hit a sixth time.

Asama saw Futayo stand in front of Masazumi and speak in a dignified tone.

“You! Keep your hands off my wife!”

“Papa! Papa! I have no idea what’s going on anymore!”

Asama could not agree more, but she felt no sympathy whatsoever. Was that because she was on Musashi’s side?

…''Umm, how is Masazumi?

Their Vice President had completely frozen and was not moving.

Meanwhile, Horizon had joined Naruze and Naito at the long table.

“Now, I am worried about Masazumi-sama’s decision.”

“Yes. If she makes the wrong decision here, it will really mess with our schedule.”

As the Technohexen agreed with Horizon, Futayo turned back toward Masazumi and asked a question.

“Masazumi, are you okay?”

“…Eh?”

Masazumi came back to her senses and Futayo said more.

“Despite what I said, I already have a lot on my plate these days. I apologize if I got your hopes up.”

“Eh? O-oh! Don’t worry, don’t worry! You didn’t get my hopes up and, um, we can put this on hold, okay?”

“O-of course you will!” someone shouted.

It was Sanada Masayuki. The veins were bulging from his temples as he pointed at Futayo and Masazumi.

“Two girls!? You dare violate the Testament so flagrantly!?”

“I was thinking nothing of the sort,” insisted Futayo.

'''Silver Wolf:''' “I kind of think she was.”

'''Righteousness:''' “Huh? I thought your rules said she wins as long as she says it.”

But someone glared sharply at Masayuki when he mentioned “two girls”.

…''That would be Naruze…

''Could this end badly?'' wondered Asama when she saw how intensely Naruze was glaring at Sanada Masayuki. She spun her pen in her hand.

“You there. What was that about two girls?”

But before Masayuki could answer, someone stopped Naruze.

It was Kimi. She had been behind Asama earlier, but she had circled behind Naruze on the right.

“No! You mustn’t, Naruze! You mustn’t give in to your thoughts that are shouting, ‘No~, I want to be with Margot~ Smoochy, smoochy~’! Yes! Certainly not with these lips here!”

“H-hey! Please don’t egg her on, Kimi! And Naruze, don’t let that moron get to you! Let’s calm down, okay!?”

When Asama worked at a smile and looked back, she saw Naruze hanging her head, opening her eyes wide, and sweating.

'''Asama:''' “Kimiiii!”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Eh? What?”

She was not listening. But Naruze did slowly lower her hips back into her chair.

“Okay, fine. So you refuse to accept two girls, do you?”

“Um, Naruze?”

Naruze ignored Asama and the Weiss Hexen raised her pen.

“Sanada’s Principal and Chancellor, I understand completely. …You say it can’t be two girls?”

“Th-that’s right! Marriage opportunity must be equal!”

''Wouldn’t that mean two girls would be fine?

But Naruze simply nodded deeply a few times. And she stated her conclusion.

“Then I can only assume you’re okay with two guys.”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “Calm down!!”

“Shut up, all of you!”

Naruze pointed her pen at the Sanada pair.

“I made you into a doujinshi.”

She used the past tense.

“Hey! Guericke! What is this!? Your printing factory in the city is running at full capacity! Why are you running your business at night!?”

“Don’t be silly, Tomoe Gozen! This is nothing unusual! We received a request for a father-son forbidden love manga with a promise that they would use Hemisphere Printing exclusively for the summer event!”

“That’s plenty unusual!”

Asama saw Naruze sigh and sit down.

'''Asama:''' “Just out of curiosity, when did you draw that?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Eh? Oh, I was bored when they got here, so I drew it up. With them tripping, falling on their back, kneeling, and falling to all fours, I managed to snap some reference photos. And since the storyboard is important for this kind, I kept them mostly naked in the drawings.”

''Is that how it works? She really is the master,'' thought Asama.

“Ah,” said Naito as she checked Naruze’s Magie Figur. “Ga-chan, I wasn’t doing my job, so look. You missed censoring it here.”

She held it out toward everyone while saying “See? See?”, so Asama quickly covered Suzu and Mary’s eyes.

“Y-you mustn’t look at this! If you do, you’ll fall in the Musashi caste system!”

“That’s right,” said Itoken. He glanced at the Magie Figur and nodded. “You mustn’t look at this, everyone! Everyone’s is different! And we wouldn’t want them feeling inadequate!”

“You’re not helping!”

As everyone shouted their ''tsukkomi'', Masazumi sighed and tilted her head.

“That will get banned, you know?”

“Heh. Don’t be silly, Masazumi. We’ll censor it on site. Obviously.” Naruze sounded entirely disinterested. “Of course, I get the feeling we’ll forget to censor a few which will find their way out into the world. You will forever rue the day you made an enemy of Musashi’s Weiss Hexen.”

“Wait!!”

Both Sanada’s shouted the word this time, so Masazumi held out a hand, said “wait, I guess”, and stood up. She looked to Mitotsudaira and Horizon was the first to react.

Horizon left her chair and held a sign frame displaying the Blue Thunder mark to Mitotsudaira’s right. And…

'''Almost Everyone:''' “C’mon!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Eh!? Ehhh!?”

Masazumi and Kimi told her “Now! Do it now!” via eye contact.

Mitotsudaira finally lowered her shoulders in exasperation and breathed in.

“Another case closed!”

Everyone responded in accordance with the Testament.

“Yes, sir…!”

They bowed down toward Mitotsudaira.

'''Llaf:''' “Oh? It seems Musashi and Sanada have reached some kind of conclusion. …Kiyo-dono?”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Eh? Oh, s-sorry. Nagayasu-sama is a bit upset.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “I-I am not upset! I’m just worried because Katagiri-kun won’t open a line with me!”

Katagiri had long felt some kind of “weight” in his chest, but now he felt it fading away.

…''How can I be more aware of what it means to be a guy?

“You’re right.” He nodded to the Asama shrine maiden. “Because I was focusing on it so much, I was pursuing the ideal instead of focusing on my current situation. There is a lot I lack, but that’s just the way things are, so I think I’ll start by making up for the things I really need.”

“Hee hee. Yes, make steady progress and don’t rush things. …Everyone feels the same way, but we all start rushing things because we feel like we’re under pressure to pull ourselves together. You need to watch out for that.”

“Testament…!”

Katagiri agreed wholeheartedly and bowed.

On the ''lernen figur'' the shrine maiden smiled and waved.

When Katagiri smiled back, the shrine maiden leaned over.

She pushed up her breasts and moved her lips toward the screen while they shined with pink lipstick.

A light sticky kissing sound followed.

…''Ah.

This was nothing. He saw lips and boobs all the time. And with boobs, he could even see bare ones in the ship’s bath. But…

“————”

Katagiri felt his heart pound extra hard in his chest.

For no reason, he felt his face grow warm as the shrine maiden pulled back from the screen.

…''Wah.

He was worried she would notice his reaction, but that only made him blush more. So to distract her as she waved again…

“U-um, what’s your name…!?”

She laughed, but then moved off the right side of the ''lernen figur''. And then the ''lernen figur'' closed.

“Ah…!”

He reflexively reached out toward the vanished image and his hand clawed at empty air.

Katagiri grabbed at nothing with his hand.

“Kh…”

And he pressed that hand to his chest.

…''Huh?

''This isn’t good.

“My pulse hasn’t settled down… D-did I eat something weird?”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Katagiri-kun!”

He trembled at the voice he heard from the ''lernen figur''.

'''Tsurugi:''' “We have a request for you to continue the meeting!”

''Oh, no,'' thought Katagiri.

If the meeting was with that shrine maiden…

…''Wh-what do I do?

Just imagining it caused him to sweat like he was being steamed.

'''Tsurugi:''' “Um, Katagiri-kun!? You seem extremely nervous…”

'''□□凸:''' “Eh!? Y-you can tell!?”

'''Tsurugi:''' “Oh, yes. I’m monitoring your physical state, so I can see all the endorphins pumping through your brain. …This tends to happen at night once every three days, doesn’t it?”

'''□□凸:''' “Give me back my rights as a human being! Please stop this!”

But to distract himself, Katagiri instructed the PR Committee to open a ''lernen figur''.

He would resume the meeting. But…

…''U-um.

Would that shrine maiden appear again?

What if she did? She had just waved goodbye, so if he showed up again so soon, would she laugh at him? But if she did…

“Okay! As Musashi’s Student Council President and Chancellor, I think it’s high time I gave Hashiba’s Ten Spears a good groping!”

The ''lernen figur'' displayed a nudist pretending to grope something like a rod.

“Dammiiiiit!”

As Yoshiyasu left the medical room and arrived on the bridge in front of the academy, she heard a voice and saw motion.

A sign frame showed Katagiri of the Ten Spears putting his full body weight behind his arms as he beat on the screen.

…''That boy is quite emotional.

But she also saw the idiot wiggling his hips back and forth until Musashi’s Vice President kicked him out of the way. The Vice President ignored the nudist as he rolled away and she spoke to Katagiri.

“Katagiri! State your position! If you lack the appropriate authority, this entire meeting might not be possible!”

“…Testament!”

Katagiri got up, put his headphones back on, and fixed his collar.

“I am M.H.R.R. PR Committee Foreign Relations Chief Katagiri Katsumoto! I request a continuation of the meeting with Musashi’s Vice President!”

That title sounded like trouble to Yoshiyasu.

…''A PR role!?

Generally, only a Committee Head, Special Duty Officer, or higher had the authority to directly speak with a Vice President.

Lower than that, the custom was to get confirmation from their superior first. But…

'''Righteousness:''' “A foreign relations official can take independent action when it comes to receiving information from a foreign nation. So he can convey a message from another nation’s higher officers without going through a Committee Head.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “I think Flat Girl here is more useful than a certain nerd I could mention.”

'''Novice:''' “W-well, excuse me! My specialties are strategy and history!”

''Be quiet. Or rather, I’m not done yet.

Then someone asked the perfect segue question.

'''Sticky King:''' “A PR official… But even with that position, can’t Masazumi shutdown all discussions even if there is a rank discrepancy?”

'''Righteousness:''' “Not this time.”

Yoshiyasu looked to Musashi’s Vice President who had clenched her right hand in preparation to make her decision.

'''Righteousness:''' “Katagiri took over in Hashiba’s place. That means he is a PR Chief acting as M.H.R.R. Vice President Hashiba’s replacement. So…”

“Understood.”

Musashi’s Vice President raised her right forearm.

And she spoke.

“I see M.H.R.R. as the current Testament Union representative. So let us continue discussions with their agent.”

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| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 28|Chapter 28]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5B Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
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