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Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 49

2018-12-02T02:14:52Z

162.158.186.195:

==Chapter 49: Queen of a Tasteful Place==
[[Image:Horizon6-C113.jpg|thumb]]
''Oh, my, my, my

''What kind of service is this?

'''Point Allocation (As You Like It)

The Reine des Garous’s seafood curry.

Mitotsudaira immediately responded when she heard that title.

“That is dangerous! It will not work on my mother! She will refuse it!”

She had a reason for saying this. And it was a simple one. There was only one way to look at it:

“My mother was raised in the mountains! She does not eat much seafood. She generally prefers meat over fish.”

So…

“The Reine des Garous’s seafood curry is something that cannot exist! The title alone will turn her off of it!”

At first, everyone responded with silence. But eventually, they exchanged a glance.

“…If you ask me, that is judging the dish too much by its name,” said Horizon.

“That’s right,” said Naruze. “If you ask me, it probably just means a seafood curry made based on your image of the Reine des Garous.”

“So what kind of seafood fits your image of Ture-yan?”

“Polar bear, Margot.”

Mitotsudaira just about nodded in agreement with the choice, but it was not actually seafood.

“In that case,” said Gin. She placed the lewd mark bread Muneshige had given her on top of her own, cut it in half, and returned it. “Can’t he just make it ‘Reine des Garous Style’?”

“I doubt that will work,” said Asama. “If it bears the Reine des Garous name then Mito’s mom will see it as a present.”

…''Ah.

Everyone else tilted their heads, but Horizon nodded.

And she spoke quietly.

“…We are doomed if it does not have polar bear in it.”

“W-wait, isn’t that being a bit harsh?”

But there was one thing they already knew. Namely…

“Now that it’s been announced, there is no taking back that dish name…”

“Then we can only watch and see what happens.”

With that calm comment, Horizon pulled a pot out of the air behind her.

“Would anyone like some roast beef sashimi?”

Mitotsudaira was curious what was happening with the duel, but she was the first to raise her hand.

The duel was ruled by a calm atmosphere.

Silence had fallen.

The Reine des Garous placed a hand on her right cheek with a bowl on the table in front of her.

…''Now, then.

There was not much time, but she also wanted to make the best use of that time.

“You said this was the Reine des Garous’s seafood curry?”

She asked just to be sure.

“I am almost a complete beginner when it comes to seafood, you know? The mountains and forests are a Loup-Garou’s territory. …You still want to go with seafood despite that?”

“Judge, I do.”

She answered her opponent’s deep nod with a “testament”.

He seemed to have plenty of resolve and confidence.

Thus, she did not need to hide the possibility of regret in her heart. This was a duel.

“You know what will happen if it is not to my liking, don’t you?”

“Judge. …If you cannot enjoy it, then the curry has lost.”

“Testament,” agreed the Reine des Garous.

This purity and integrity may have been the charm of the Far East as a Shinto nation.

“Understood.” The Reine des Garous reached for the spoon in the glass and nodded. “If I take issue with this curry, it is a loss for Shinto and its Far Eastern creation story.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Asama-san! Asama-san! Stop aiming your bow toward the Odawara city!”

'''Uqui:''' “And I’m pretty sure this isn’t really a crisis for Shinto. It is clearly something else entirely.”

'''Tonbokiri:''' “Either way, I want to hear about this delicious curry.”

The Reine des Garous looked at the bowl her opponent had served her.

It was curry. However, the contents of the large pot-like bowl were quite thin for curry.

But from the looks of it, it was sticky and some ingredients appeared to be submerged below the brown curry surface. In other words…

“Soup curry?”

“Judge, I made it fairly thick.”

''Ridiculous,'' she thought.

“Surely you did not do what I think you did.”

“Are you asking if I made watered-down soup curry because I was afraid of running out of curry?”

“Testament. That is always the question with soup curry.”

“Ohh,” he said with a shrug. Then he shook his head and showed her what was behind him.

There was a large pot of curry. It of course should have contained soup curry, but…

…''It doesn’t?

It contained a substance with a deeper color than the curry.

“That is the concentrated curry I made for the soup curry starting last night. I am dissolving that and serving it, so I am not watering down the curry I have now.”

The Reine des Garous knew what this was. On the way to the Blue Thunder the day before, she had seen something similar in the construction zone starting at Musashino’s atrium park.

A concentrated stew or soup had been carried in a large pot to feed the workers.

The cooking had been split up between different parts of Musashi and concentrating it allowed for easier delivery in a separated land like the Musashi.

And if he had used that method here…

“This is not watered down. You can experience true soup curry.”

“…Testament.”

The Reine des Garous nodded.

Soup curry meant he was using quantity to attack. However…

…''I have an advantage here too.

There was no rice.

Soup curry was a type of curry, but it belonged to the internal category of soup. This differed from the dry curries which were rice dishes.

It was possible to have rice as a side dish, but that would be too much effort. So…

“You aren’t going to insist I eat the rice separately, are you? Rice alone does not count as a dish.”

“Judge, I will not do that.”

He had already begun mass-producing the soup curry. That meant he no longer had time for the dry curry.

But she did not have time either.

And that was why she reached for the soup curry bowl.

She directly drank from the bowl. That option was one strength of soup curry.

…''I’ll just chug it!

She had little experience with seafood, so she decided to finish it off all at once as she resumed the duel. She poured the thin curry into her mouth.

“…!?”

And she came to a stop.

…''Wh-what was that!?

The Reine des Garous had been told this was seafood curry.

The defining trait of seafood curry was the seafood stock used in the curry.

The seafood ingredients would generally give it a strong salty flavor and it would sometimes taste like blood.

But this was different. She tasted…

“Is this just normal curry? It’s…”

She had a reason she trailed off.

She had a question. And one she could not find an answer to.

She had supposedly just eaten some normal curry. But…

…''Oh?

She felt a strange flavor lingering on her tongue.

This was normal curry, but she also felt like it was not.

Why was that? It was the lack of evidence for that question that left her speechless.

''Strange,'' she thought. But…

…''I need to calm down and not rush this.

Most likely, this soup curry contained a number of different phenomena.

But the first thing she noticed was what she needed to figure out first.

“This is not normal curry, is it?”

“Also,” she continued.

The flavor in her mouth was odd.

It was curry, but she detected a flavor other than curry on her tongue.

It was a seafood flavor, but it was not too salty and it had the meatiness that she preferred. Also…

…''It is such a soft flavor.

Seafood would normally be salty. The saltiness would only sharpen the curry’s spiciness.

But this was different. She could detect some of the unique saltiness of seafood, but it was not too strong. If anything, it seemed to surround the curry flavor and soften it.

“You dissolved something in the curry, didn’t you?”

“Ohh,” said her opponent with a smile. He approached with something in a small bowl. It was like heated clay, but it was actually the concentrated curry from the big pot.

Its viscosity had increased somewhat as he heated it and the Reine des Garous ate a spoonful.

When she crushed it with her tongue, she found a strong flavor.

The taste dissolved in her saliva and returned to its proper form. And…

…''Oh?

“This is normal curry…”

Curious, she took a bite of the soup curry in her bowl.

It was different.

But how was it different from the contents of the big pot? She compared them once more.

“…Ah.”

She figured it out. There was a definite gentle seafood flavor on her tongue, so how could he have introduced that into the curry?

“You dissolved something into the soup used to dissolve the curry, didn’t you!?”

“Judge.”

He raised the insulated container sitting next to the big pot. It contained the soup stock for the soup curry, but when the Reine des Garous sensed its scent and color…

“…Soba sauce!?”

“Judge. Technically, it is bonito stock ''kaeshi''.”

He pulled a few bottles out from his stand. They included soy sauce, mirin, and sake.

“In the Far East, soba shop curry is seen as something special. The curry at soba shops is made with ''kaeshi'' soba sauce, but that is why it has the gentle flavor of Far Eastern cuisine despite being curry.”

“Then this bonito stock…?”

“Judge. I considered using kombu stock to soften the flavor further, but you live in the world of meat. Bonito stock has a wild flavor, so I thought it would be best to base the curry on that solid fish flavor.”

…''He’s right.

If she had been given the same conditions, she would have made the same choice. ''In that case,'' she thought.

“Is this what you are calling the Reine des Garous’s seafood curry?”

“Judge. You are a mother. So if you were attempting to make seafood curry, I figured you would not go straight for the seafood you are unfamiliar with and would instead attempt something simpler and more familiar.”

In other words…

“Bonito stock curry. Instead of a seafood curry made by adding seafood to curry, I thought you would make the entire curry into seafood. And as a mother, I thought you would give the curry this softer flavor.”

“…You think I am this kind of soft and gentle woman?”

“Oh.” He smiled. “Could you scoop out some of the contents?”

…''The contents?

She was puzzled, but she stuck her spoon in all the same.

At the bottom, she found something with some weight to it.

“Meat…”

It was not mincemeat like with the keema curry. Nor was it chunks of meat or thin slices of meat.

…''It has the bone in…!

She had found pork ribs. Due to the concentration process, they were in soup curry, but they had been fully dyed the color of curry and even the fat was faintly yellow.

The Reine des Garous noticed something as soon as she decided to eat it. The sensation when she had scooped it up with her spoon had been odd in a few ways.

So she scooped up another piece.

“Is this…?”

It was definitely rib meat. But the color and thickness were different from before.

“That is venison,” explained her opponent. “Venison is cooked by continually heating it at around 80 degrees. That is easily done by parboiling it while making the curry.”

She stuck her spoon in some more and found different types of meat.

Boar. Lamb. The small ones were rabbit. There was also duck. And…

“What is this…?”

It was meat. And it looked like a tongue. One side was cut in a grid pattern and the large body bent back as if to open that up. But even with the curry color dyeing it, she could tell it must have been white to begin with.

It had an odd meaty texture different from fatty meat. She hesitated a moment, but then bit into it.

She placed it in her mouth and bit down. She found a chewiness similar to hard cheese, as well as a sweetness.

She recognized the flavor.

“This is squid, isn’t it…!?”

“Judge. It is the largest seafood meat that you can get in a single piece.”

The grid pattern cut in one side increased the meaty chewiness and made it easier to bite through. The unique smell of squid had been erased by the curry and grease entering through the gaps in that grid.

When she searched along the bottom, she found scallops. They felt good between her teeth and she could tell they had been cooked in butter for flavor. He had done his best to eliminate the seafood smell.

''Yes,'' thought the Reine des Garous. ''This is interesting.

And she belatedly realized something else.

All of the meat inside had bones in it.

With the previous curry, the curry would have stuck too strongly to the bones.

But with soup curry, the curry only formed a thin film over the bones.

When her opponent placed a handwashing bowl and hand towel on the table, she knew what to do.

She could grab the bones with her hands and eat it like a wolf.

“Excellent job.”

With the bowl in her left hand and either a bone or her spoon in her right hand, the Reine des Garous got to work on the soup curry.

The battle had begun once more

The Reine des Garous’s seafood curry.

''This was a good idea,'' she thought.

It was full of meat, but the stock, squid, and scallops excused the name. If a resident of the mountains and forest were to serve her child seafood as a mother, it would likely take this form.

She thought while eating the meat, drinking the soup, and feeling satisfied.

…''But this is missing something that my cooking would have.

“Um, excuse me.”

“You want this, don’t you?”

Her opponent set a plate down on the table.

The large plate contained a small mountain of citrus fruits. They were thumb-sized and had the same traits as oranges despite their small size.

“These are kumquats.”

Citrus was an important accent for her cooking.

She was slightly amused to have these presented to her like this. Just how well had he read her? But when she scooped up one of the small fruits and bit into it…

…''Ah.

The word “refreshing” filled her mouth. It was sour and had the aroma of fruit juice, but most of all, it was sweet.

“I lightly preserved them in sugar.”

That explained it.

The flavor went perfectly with the soup curry. The small citrus fruit would have been overpowered by the previous stronger curry. And a larger fruit would have been too strong.

The sugar-preserved kumquats were the perfect match.

Give one to a child and they were sure to complain about the sourness but enjoy the sweetness.

After eating two or three of them without thinking, the Reine des Garous realized something about herself.

“I need to eat the curry.”

With that, she started back at it. Given his stock, she could catch up if she used her full speed. After all, this was no more than meat and soup. It was far lighter than before and she was in the right mood.

…''I do kind of wish I had some rice.

Of course, she would run out of time before finishing if she added rice to this.

But she selfishly did want some of that staple.

However, rice did not go with soup curry. It would not work. That realization brought a thought to mind.

…''That is a little disappointing.

And just as she sighed…

“This is the last dish.”

Her opponent walked over with a long plate.

It contained rice.

But the white grains alone were not enough to serve as a dish.

However, what he placed on the table was different. It was no more than rice, but it was also not being served as a simple staple. It was known as…

“These are rice balls.”

“Honey?”

Mitotsudaira heard her mother’s voice on the divine transmission.

She had called out to Mitotsudaira’s father. And she continued from there.

“I had such a wonderful time ''thanks to you''.”

And…

“I still have time left, but this is my loss.”

The Reine des Garous took a breath.

The Musashi curry artisan bowed toward her.

She bowed back and thought to herself.

…''He did a splendid job of defeating me.

The keema curry and the seafood curry had both been prepared entirely with her in mind.

That meant he had joined the battle solely to defeat her.

It had taken her too long to realize that.

“This plan was thought up by my daughter’s king, wasn’t it?”

“Judge. I came up with the curry varieties, but he had the original idea.”

Then it made sense to her.

She was reminded of the previous night.

Her daughter’s king and her own husband had discussed cooking. The king must have used that to learn her tastes and come up with this plan.

She was also impressed by the opponent who had worked out a concrete form for that plan and then prepared the food. He had to have stayed up all night working.

And that was why she understood.

“I am not shameless enough to insist I won after receiving this kind of hospitality. And even though I lost, it was on my husband’s instructions.”

She could not keep a smile from her lips.

“How many times have I been ‘ruined’ by his cooking now?”

She could not beat him.

And so she took another breath and reached for the rice balls she had been served.

The white rice was gently pressed together just enough to remain in a perfect triangle.

When she took a bite, a slightly salty flavor and the damp rice steam spread through her mouth.

Her mouth still contained the flavor of the soup curry, the meat, and the citrus fruit, so this tasted properly “white”.

The next thing she knew, she was pushing the last corner into her mouth with a finger and she had finished eating it.

…''This is Far Eastern culture.

They could make a dish out of mere rice by pressing it together in their hand.

That was unthinkable in a culture of flour and meat. But for something that just barely qualified as “prepared”, it had a simple but deep flavor.

That was especially true after eating something so strong.

This was the staple of Far Eastern foods. She did wonder if it all led back here in the end, but now was not the time for that. There was something else she had to say.

“…That was an excellent battle.”

“No, no. It isn’t over yet.”

“Eh?”

She tilted her head and he pointed at the table and the large pot behind him.

“There is still more left. The fun can continue a while longer.”

“True enough.”

She had an hour of spare time after the duel, so relaxing here sounded nice.

“Do you have any keema curry left?”

“Judge. I have a spare pot of it.”

He was so very reliable. So the Reine des Garous placed a hand on her cheek and knew she had a smile on her face.

“Then let’s go back to that for a while.”

Also…

“Could I get the recipe for that? I want to try cooking it for my husband and Nate.”

“Yes…!”

Masazumi stood up when Mitotsudaira reported on the result.

“That’s one victory over Mouri! It means a lot to have something that counts as ‘victory’ in the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.”

…''We can finally start the negotiations…!

“Honestly,” said Masazumi as she looked across the others. “I’m glad all of you chose paper! All of you losing is the best!”

“Th-that’s not a very nice thing to say!”

But one person stood up from among them: Horizon.

She raised her right hand and took a step toward Masazumi. Masazumi also approached and slapped her palm against Horizon’s right hand.

“Yes…!”

“Well done.”

As soon as the forceful high five hit, Horizon’s right shoulder disconnected and the arm flew off.

It immediately rotated like a throwing axe and flew into a stand across the way. It paid a sudden visit to the person cooking Far Eastern pizza on an iron skillet.

“What…!?”

Then they realized what had flown in.

“It’s an arm…!!”

That began a commotion. The arm tried to flee, but a passerby saw the wrist sticking out when it hid below the stand.

“A dead body…!!”

They screamed and a panic fell over the entire festival ground. After a while, the right arm returned after sneaking through the commotion by hiding in the grass. But according to its owner…

“I made this peaceful festival much more dynamic without even meaning to.”

“Has that connection gotten loose?”

“No, I thought the looser setting would be funnier. And the response was even greater than I expected.”

''I should’ve known…'' thought Masazumi while hanging her head, but then the idiot walked up.

He raised his right hand.

“Okay, Seijun. Let’s try that again.”

“Judge. I’m not sure what that will accomplish, but fine.”

When they shouted “yes” and brought their hands together, the idiot twisted his arm around.

“A true celebration demands a rotating high five!”

That was probably the mistake. Because Masazumi swung her arm forcefully around in an attempt to match the strange movement. And…

“Ah.”

When her hand hit, a light popping sound came from the idiot’s right shoulder.

“Eh?”

Everyone looked to him. And Mitotsudaira…

“M-my king! Did you just dislocate your right shoulder!?”

“Eh?”

The idiot looked at his right arm and saw the shoulder was sticking out to the side oddly.

He tried to move the arm, but only the forearm would move.

“Oh?”

“Foolish brother! An opportunity like this doesn’t come every day! It’s time to prove your worth as an entertainer with some adlibbing! Now go!”

“Ohh, sis! Just leave it to me! …Okay, everyone, face this way.”

Masazumi looked away, but the dislocated idiot took a bowlegged stance and ran toward someone who had the bad luck of turning toward him. The dislocated crossdresser grabbed his limp right arm with his left hand and waved it back and forth.

“Ohhhhhhhhh! Adele! Look, look, look! It’s a big meat stick. With bone inside.”

“Waaaaahhh! Don’t show me that gross thing! Stay away!”

“Don’t call it gross! It’s just a crossdresser waving his meat stick around so you can high five it!”

''What kind of situation is that supposed to be?'' wondered Masazumi despite somewhat being the culprit here, but Asama soon stood up. She placed her hands on Horizon’s shoulders from behind to tell her to calm down.

“Okay, Toori-kun, come over here instead of creeping out Suzu-san. Umm, Masa? Please pop Toori-kun’s shoulder back into place. You can do that, right?”

“Hey, Toori, over here.”

“Sure thing!” said the idiot as he approached Naomasa who immediately grabbed his arm.

“Owwwwww!”

He screamed and Asama began healing him.

…''But, well…

Masazumi watched the series of events and the current situation.

Asama sat next to Horizon and the Aoi Sister and she placed the idiot’s head in her lap. She pasted a charm on the crossdresser’s shoulder and began the healing while Mitotsudaira slowly approached in the usual way. However…

…''The idiot is taking it easy.

So was Asama. At Sanada, the idiot had been hesitant to receive healing and Asama had insisted on taking things more seriously. But now the idiot was entrusting himself to her and Asama was naturally accepting it.

Although it was a bit worrying how Horizon was messing with the idiot’s fingers and trying to tie them in a weird knot.

“I see.”

“…You see what?”

“Nothing really,” was all Masazumi said at first.

She did not know what had happened at the Aoi home last night. Nor did she know what had happened in the study camp tent before that. But even though that group had known each other for a long time…

“Relationships can change, can’t they?”

Asama must have heard her because her expression changed.

In the past, she probably would have been visibly flustered and even panicked, but now…

“Well, you know… Mito’s mom talked a lot about presents…”

Her cheeks lightly flushed and she smiled bitterly.

Masazumi had a thought about that expression.

…''Will I ever have that kind of look on my face?

She wondered who it would be with, but that would all come with time. Although there were some people like Sanyou-sensei who it had not come for. And their homeroom teacher did not count since she did not seem interested in that sort of thing. However…

…''I’ve changed too.

A year before, she had never imagined she would be thinking about this sort of thing. Her only vision of the future had been whether or not she would take her first step as a politician.

And…

“Masazumi.”

Futayo raised her hand from where she stood next to Masazumi.

“Futayo?”

“Would you like to do it with me once?”

“If I do it too strong, I’d probably dislocate my own shoulder this time.”

She lightly swung her arm, and…

…''Oh.

A nice sound came from Futayo’s hand. Futayo had barely swung her hand. She had only caught Masazumi’s.

Masazumi felt the need to say “judge” because of how nice it felt. And…

“Was that good enough, Masazumi?”

“Eh? …Yes, I’m satisfied.”

“Excellent. I too am satisfied that we could have sex.”

''Hold on.

She looked around in search of assistance, but everyone was already facing the other way. Mary tilted her head as if she thought she had misheard Futayo, but that was Crossunite’s problem. ''Will they continue eating lunch together to avoid the issue? I see. The Tachibana Couple haven’t reacted at all. They sure are tough.

But Futayo smiled and spoke to her more.

“Masazumi, I must treat you right as you may become my wife.”

“Wait just a second…!”

“Hm? Do not worry. I have not earned my inherited name yet, so it is still too soon for marriage. So we will remain friends for now. In other words…”

Futayo placed a hand on her chin and nodded like she had had a good idea.

“We are sex friends.”

Three seconds passed. Then Naito noticed something.

“Ga-chan, your nosebleed is dripping on the Magie Figur.”

''Can she make a new doujinshi out of this? Wonderful. Simply wonderful…

…''What do I do about this?

The person who had started all this back in England was bleeding and Masazumi had taken damage.

She looked over and saw the Aoi Sister teasing Asama and Mitotsudaira.

“Heh heh heh. You two are sex friends too! Isn’t that right!?”

They glared back at her and the idiot was laughing.

''I see,'' thought Masazumi. A year ago, she could not have imagined anything about herself now, including this stuff with Futayo, so even if she could not imagine it now, that sort of thing and other things were possibilities for the future. So…

“Well, we’ll see, okay?”

She could not deny the exasperation in her voice, but there was no helping that. She saw Kanou walking over again. When the automaton arrived, she bowed.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it, Kanou? A further report on the Treasurer’s embezzlement?”

“Judge. I received word of a corpse being found in the festival, so I am on a patrol. And I have a report from Lady Ookubo.”

Which was…

“She has engaged in battle with one of the Houjou representatives: Houjou Ujikuni, aka Genan.”

Ookubo was being chased.

She was running.

She had clearly been running too much. She had been doing it at full speed for more than half an hour.

But she had to do it. Because behind her…

“Hey, are you about ready to give up yet?”

A mechanical phoenix was chasing her.

It moved a lot like a chicken.

It had thundering footsteps and it sometimes thrust the point of its bow out to attack. She could tell it was toying with her, but the frequency of those occasional attacks was increasing. And…

“Click.”

The cannons at the base of the closed wings fired bullets of light.

She was focused on dodging. Luckily, the enemy projectiles could not gather very close together from the left and right, so she worked to stay between them. And…

“…!”

Ookubo swung her body and let the bullets pass her by.

Then she resumed dashing.

And she thought about how there had been an oversight in the duel rules.

…''The duel never begins if you keep running away!!

The duel could not begin if they did not begin the duel. It was a simple definition, but it had tripped her up a fair bit. After all, she could run away from an unwanted opponent for more than 30 minutes, but she would not be spared.

If she was to escape, she had to begin the duel.

The rules had clearly been created by a belligerent group who were only interested in fighting. Farewell, liberal arts. Everyone was only interested in the fighting.

But if she did begin the duel, she could not win. So…

“Ah.”

She belatedly realized something.

…''Couldn’t I have started the duel and then run away for 30 minutes?

If they could not end the duel, it would probably be counted as a draw. That was a big discovery. It was definitely a loophole in the rules.

“Ha ha.”

…''I didn’t expect such a simple loophole.

“Ah ha ha ha ha.”

She laughed as she ran.

…''But it’s too late to do that now!

She was about to run out of energy. She could smell curry from somewhere, but who was eating that? Had they brought it here?

…''I’m so hungry.

“—————”

''Oh, no,'' thought Ookubo. Once she noticed her hunger, it came rushing in at her. An odd sleepiness filled her. This was what they called hitting the wall.

''Not good, not good,'' she scolded herself as her mind was dragged down.

…''If only I wasn’t so smart…

She knew exactly what happened to people when they hit the wall.

Their vision narrowed and weakened, their body trembled, they perspired, and their body temperature dropped. As all that hit them at once, their knees would give out, and…

“…!”

Ookubo came back to her senses at the last second.

…''Are you stupid!?

''That'' was not happening to her now.

So if ''those'' effects were happening, it was no more than mimicry.

She was restricting herself and giving up in accordance with her knowledge.

How stupid.

She could not let herself mimic her knowledge. If she did that, she could never leave her own boundaries.

She had already experienced what it meant to think only with her own standards and subsequently fail to reach her goals.

It had happened at the special student general assembly before the battle at Novgorod.

She had meant it as an admonition and her side’s justification had been for show, but she had been shown something even greater than that.

She should have pushed at her opponent and resolved the issue with her own power, but they had given a better answer.

That negotiation and debate was a bond within her.

She had two inherited names and people had long had high hopes for her, but she had been surpassed by someone with neither of those things. That was reality and it was “outside”.

“Honestly.”

She had corrected herself then, but here she was returning to her former self.

That was the problem with being smart.

It was not time to end this yet. Surely not yet.

…''That’s right.

Her mind rose back up. Her vision widened. She had simply been sweating and highly focused. The weakening in the knees was only her exhaustion.

If you ran, you would get tired. That was an obvious fact. So…

“…Next!”

Ookubo approached a turn. It was a 90-degree curve to the left.

This was a good spot. The enemy’s pursuit would slow at the sudden corner. If they moved too fast, they would crash into the building. So she had to increase her speed here.

…''Okay!

She ran around the corner. The scenery seemed to rotate around her and her sweat flew into the air to her right.

A moment later, an impact hit her body.

She had been hit by an attack from what she could only call an ambush.

Kanou opened a sign frame while watching Class Plum eating dessert.

…''Milady.

“What is it, Kanou? Or should I call you Public Morals Committee Head?”

“For now, Kanou is fine. More importantly, Vice President, about Lady Ookubo…”

Kanou titled her head and opened her mouth. The dot on the sign frame indicating Ookubo’s position had stopped moving.

“I have determined that she has been captured by the enemy, built her resolve, or run into some other situation.”

Ookubo’s vision grew distorted.

She rolled a few times before stopping on her back.

…''Oh, no.

Her legs were trembling and she could not move them.

Her arms were bent at the elbow and seemingly stuck like that.

No, she could still move her left arm. Its autonomous functions must have kicked in because it was supporting her heaven-facing body.

Her sweating had gotten a lot worse. Stopping so suddenly had been a bad move. The sweat poured out as if pushed out by the pounding of her heart which was no longer so heavily burdened.

Her summer uniform’s inner suit allowed moisture through, so the sweat beaded up on her tights and suit before tickling her as it dripped to the ground.

But even with tears and sweat distorting her vision, she could see beyond her heavy breathing.

Someone stood there in a combat pose.

They were small, they were no taller than Ookubo, and they wore a brimmed hat.

“Satomi Student Council President…!?”

“Did I surprise you? But it looks like I arrived in time.”

Yoshiyasu did not glance down at the Representative Council Head who lay on the ground.

She had sobered up. She needed to look dead ahead where the Houjou mechanical phoenix had stopped in front of the corner.

She also saw a column in the corner of her vision.

It supported the eaves of a house on the corner.

It was positioned like a pillow for the collapsed Representative Council Head.

There was a hole in it.

It was a bullet hole.

…''That was a close one.

She was glad she had been able to circle in front of the Representative Council Head. That girl was quick on her feet, so getting ahead of her had not been easy. The hangover as she had started to run had not helped matters.

That meant someone else was targeting that girl. Yoshiyasu had noticed and knocked her out of the way, which led to the current situation. However…

“…”

There was no sign of the person who had targeted the Representative Council Head.

Had they distanced themselves from here, or had they gone to a different battle?

…''Either way, she’s safe.

So Yoshiyasu lightly lowered her hips while facing the mechanical phoenix.

She reached out a hand toward the Representative Council Head and the girl’s prosthetic left arm reached back.

She grabbed it and pulled her up.

…''It isn’t going to pop off like with Musashi’s princess, is it?

Was that strange concern a sign that she was being contaminated too? In that case…

“I cannot afford to lose if I don’t want them to laugh at me. …Genan.”

Once the Representative Council Head stood up on wobbly legs, Yoshiyasu pushed her below the eaves and then tilted her head.

“It’s been a while since I fought against Houjou, so I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Ho ho? You only ever followed after Yoshiyori-kun or charged recklessly ahead, so what could you possibly show me?”

“What I will show you should be obvious.”

With that, Yoshiyasu crossed her arms. And in that instant…

“Come! …Righteousness!”

Ookubo saw it from her position below the house’s eaves.

It was a god of war.

Satomi Student Council President Yoshiyasu’s Righteousness landed behind her.

After a brief rumbling, the wind arrived.

Her sweat was blown away and she felt like her exhaustion was taken with it.

“Mogami Representative Satomi Yoshiyasu! I begin this battle with righteousness!”

The girl’s loud voice announced the beginning of the battle.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 48|Chapter 48]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 6C Chapter 50|Chapter 50]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 19

2018-12-02T02:13:20Z

162.158.186.195:

==Chapter 19: Gifter at a Promised Place==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi4B_433.jpg|thumb]]
''In the past

''I didn’t even hope

''It would reach you

'''Point Allocation (I’m Glad I Did It)

Torii awoke in a white room.

…''Huh?

“I didn’t expect the spirit world to look like an infirmary.”

“No, you idiot.”

When she turned her head to the side, she realized she was lying down.

She was on a bed with a blanket over her, and…

“Whoa, I’m naked! Wait, who are you calling an idiot, Tadayo? And, Suga too? What are all of you doing alive?”

Oosuga looked up from the light novel he was reading at the foot of the bed.

“To make a long story short, once I graduate, I’m headed to the surface to travel around with my teacher.”

“You’re running away after causing so much trouble!? Not that I actually know how much trouble it caused.”

“I’m staying behind to help bring up our underclassmen, so I’m not too happy about that trouble, you moron.” Tadayo sighed in a chair by the head of the bed. “Besides, I might have gone along with it up until the false god showed up, but once Suzuki failed, I worked on regaining control of the ship. I just about fell off the bow, so I made sure to get the ether fuel stopped.”

“So you weren’t willing to make yourself an enemy, huh?”

“I’m still supporting you, but I’m also a little angry.”

Tadayo glared at Torii, but she also pressed on the girl’s forehead to get her to lie back down.

“What are you doing, Tadayo?”

“Well,” said Tadayo. “For now, I’m telling you congratulations on completing your history recreation. You died.”

After a pause, Torii spoke to Tadayo.

“Pretty sure I’m still alive.”

“Not as a name inheritor, you’re not.”

You see.

“It seems the Testament Union decided it would be trouble to let us keep a name inheritor who could complete a god summoning. But…”

Tadayo lightly tapped Torii’s chest.

“According to the Asama Shrine Representative, your ‘mold’ was damaged enough to keep you from using spells for a while and, even once you recover, you’ll be back down at the low level.”

“Is that because I made myself a vessel for stagnation?”

“Don’t ask me,” said Tadayo while lifting her legs.

She rested both her feet on top of Torii.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow! Pinning me down in the nude!? You’re into some kinky stuff!”

“Shut up. Well, whatever the reasons or justifications are, you really have caused a lot of trouble this time. How are you going to explain yourself?”

“What is a festival without a little excitement?”

Oosuga smiled bitterly at that.

“Deep down, you’re probably far more of a poet than me.”

“Anyway, I don’t mean to change the subject…but where’s Nabe?”

“You know this is the Fushimi Castle’s medical room, right? With all that stagnation, everyone on the ship is under quarantine, so only the head of the Asama Shrine is allowed in or out as an inspector.”

Tadayo opened a sign frame displaying a divine transmission from Watanabe with “we need to talk later” for the subject. Torii grimaced when she saw it.

But after a while, Torii threw her arms up over her head.

“So I can’t do anything anymore, huh?”

“You can still sing and dance, can’t you?”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile. And, “Huh?”

She heard music from the ceiling.

“What’s this? A second Gagaku Festival?”

“With a certain idiot making a mess of things at the end and the Asama Shrine Representative’s band unable to play with their instruments destroyed, anyone who wants to play was given the right to an encore. Everyone who can still play is performing when they feel like it.”

“What were the votes like before our performance? Who was at the top?”

“Oh.” Tadayo pointed toward the ceiling. “The Technohexen pair. Include the votes after that and it went to the Asama Shrine Representative, but her band didn’t even play.”

“I see,” said Torii.

“Torii, you need to talk with people more,” said Oosuga.

“I do talk with people.”

“Not what I meant,” he replied. “You need to say what it is you really think. …Do that and I bet everyone will understand what you did today.”

“What if I don’t care if they understand?”

“Then why are you still alive?” Oosuga took a breath. “Everyone wants to hear from you. Before you graduate, you need to practice doing that, including how to let them know how powerless you are now. That’s your senior project.”

The half-destroyed stage was unusable, so they instead used the tiered seating below the open-air bridge.

They had simply added some scaffolding partway up, but the wall behind them reflected the sound nicely.

Naito and Naruze were singing there in the light of illumination spells.

They had changed into their school uniforms, but…

“Kin kon kan kon…!”

They held hands and twirled around while singing the most requested song.

Some of the audience had removed their equipment and some had not, but they all sat on the badly damaged deck and ate a dinner comprised of the surviving stands’ products.

Time passed slowly there and the bonfires of the festival’s final night burned on the ships visible directly horizontal of the Fushimi Castle.

Everyone sighed as they occasionally waved at those lights and looked up at the fireworks.

“Honestly…” they said while singing along to the “kin kon kan kon” part. “The closing bell just never seems to ring.”

When most of them were taking a break, someone stood by the deserted half-destroyed stage.

“Okay.”

Mitotsudaira placed the Cerberus down on that raised part of the deck.

The small three-headed wolf looked up at her and tilted all three heads.

“…!”

The creature barked, but light enveloped her body.

That bluish-white light was occasionally scattering up into the sky.

The ether forming her body was breaking apart and disappearing.

Mitotsudaira crouched down and looked at the Cerberus.

…''This girl…

She was Mitotsudaira’s justice.

Such a small and proud thing.

But the three heads seemed ignorant of the fact that she was disappearing. She stuck out three tongues as if waiting for some food.

So Mitotsudaira pulled three small treats from her shrine maiden outfit’s hard point.

These were the last she had on hand.

She had more at home, but she was glad she had not calculated everything out to use them all up.

“Here.”

Each of the heads bit at one of the bone-shaped treats.

The Cerberus must have been happy because the three pairs of eyes narrowed.

“Tomo.”

“Yes?”

“Could we keep her from disappearing by continually giving her ether treats?”

“That would require an incredible amount since it would be supporting her very existence instead of just fueling a biological body. …You would essentially have to submerge her in ether fuel.”

“I see…”

''Only the owner would like that,'' thought Mitotsudaira with a bitter smile.

But she was glad the creature was happy as she disappeared. And most importantly…

“I’m glad I came to understand you.”

Because…

“I enjoyed being with you and it made me happy.”

She picked up the Cerberus.

Kimi immediately began mock crying behind her.

“Oh, this is such a tragedy! Mitotsudaira doesn’t have any boobs to bury her in!”

“Why you…!”

Mitotsudaira felt a flash of anger, but Kimi may have been trying to keep her from feeling too sad.

However, the Cerberus was looking up at her from her arms.

Just as their eyes met, the three heads nodded. Or she thought they did. And…

“Ah.”

The light left her arms and rose into heaven.

…''She’s gone.

Mitotsudaira was still looking up at the light ascending into the sky.

The bluish-white ether light was vanishing. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and threatened to spill out, so she held her breath, kept herself perfectly still, and held her own body. And then…

“…Eh?”

While staring up into the sky trying not to cry, she noticed something odd.

She felt like there was something in the arms wrapped around herself.

There was a definite weight in them.

She gasped while still looking upwards. This was an illusion. Her body was desperately trying not to forget what it felt like to hold the Cerberus.

“————!!”

She gasped again when she heard three barks.

She looked down toward her chest even though that let the tears fall.

There she was. The three-headed wolf was right there in her arms.

The small forelegs were tapping at her chest as if to complain she was squeezing too tight.

…''Eh?

“What does this mean?”

Mitotsudaira lifted up what she held.

This was real.

She held the exact same Cerberus in her hands and the creature was exposing its belly in resignation.

“Huh!?”

Mitotsudaira belatedly raised her voice and placed the Cerberus on the half-destroyed stage. That put the three- headed creature at her chest height.

“…”

The Cerberus sleepily stretched forward and yawned with all three heads at once. And then…

“Okay! Mito! I’ll register her, so let me see your hand!”

Asama tugged on Mitotsudaira’s right hand.

Asama rushed through the process in front of a noticeably bewildered Mitotsudaira.

She opened several Mouse-related sign frames and used her Asama Shrine Representative privileges to give approval.

She placed Mitotsudaira’s hand on the sign frames in a few places as a signature.

“Um, that should do it. …Complete!”

“Clap!” said Hanami.

“Huh?” said Mitotsudaira. “Wh-what is going on!?”

“A good question, Mito!” Asama could feel the excitement of explaining Shinto matters rising within her. “I just registered the Asama Shrine’s first…no, probably Shinto’s first Cerberus Mouse!”

“Th-that doesn’t really answer my…um…what is going on!?”

Mitotsudaira pointed alternately between the night sky and the Cerberus going to sleep in front of her.

“She just disintegrated up into the sky, but then she was in my arms and now she’s going to sleep like this. So, um…”

“Calm down, Mito.”

Asama patted Mitotsudaira on the shoulder and held out a hand to surround the Cerberus in a torii-style cage.

“Basically, it means you looked after her properly.”

Mitotsudaira did not know what Asama meant.

She was unsure whether or not she could celebrate what had happened.

“Um, what do you mean I looked after her properly?”

“Well, you see.” Asama was in full-on Shinto explanation mode. “She was born when the stagnation and Musashi’s pure ether was shaped by the ‘mold’ of a local spirit and a portion of your emotions. Do you understand that much?”

Mitotsudaira did. But saying the wrong thing here would only encourage Asama’s Shinto explanation mode, so she simply nodded.

“Good, good,” said Asama. “But ‘molds’ can change. She might have started as a ‘mold’ of your emotions and a local spirit, but your care allowed her to understand what she is and that made her ‘mold’ more like you.”

Meaning…

“Even if the Musashi leaves this airspace, her ‘mold’ will not be broken. Because her ‘mold’ is now more like you than the local spirit.”

“B-but.”

Mitotsudaira understood what that “mold” meant.

The change must have occurred during the previous battle. Mitotsudaira had come to understand the meaning of the “mold’ and had taken action based on it. So the Cerberus had fully accepted herself.

Of course, it was their brief life together that had built them up to that point.

This small justice had decided to look to her and join her. But…

“Why did she ascend into the sky just now?”

“That was probably just the stagnation portion.”

Mitotsudaira was dumbfounded by how casual Asama sounded.

…''Is it really that simple!?

But Asama picked up the torii cage and held it up.

“Losing that much of its base ether has left her deficient as an ether life form, so it’s a good thing she didn’t try to hide or run away. I’ll preserve her, so we can replenish her ether and return her to normal. …Oh, you’re okay with me looking after her until then, right?”

“I am. So, um…you can fix her?”

“Yes.” Asama nodded. “A spirit with a ‘mold’ is the same as a Mouse. I’ve already registered her, so she’ll be protected like a stray spirit. She’ll probably continue sleeping for a while, but I’ll make sure she’s running around again eventually.”

“H-how long will that take!?”

“I don’t know.” Asama kept her eyebrows flat. “She isn’t a Far Eastern spirit, she wasn’t created naturally, and she transformed herself for you. That balance has to be maintained, so I can’t say how much ether it will require. But…my guess is it will take 2 or 3 years.”

“I see…”

Mitotsudaira’s shoulders drooped.

Then tears dripped from her eyes and down her cheeks.

“Oh, dear,” said Kimi while wrapping her arms around Mitotsudaira’s shoulders and wiping the tears from her cheek. “Isn’t that great? Aren’t you glad we told you to look after it?”

“I am,” agreed Mitotsudaira. But then, “Wait, did you know this would happen?”

“Eh!? N-no, no!” insisted Asama. “I had no way of knowing this would happen. None at all! …Besides, I didn’t want to get your hopes up just to have it not work out!”

Kimi laughed and Asama’s smile grew stiff.

But Kimi took the Cerberus cage from Asama and held it up in front of Mitotsudaira’s eyes.

“Is that really the point here? You have to say goodbye to this girl while she stays at the Asama Shrine for a while, so aren’t you glad you could give her a treat and watch over her as she went to sleep?”

Mitotsudaira had to agree. ''Kimi always knows what to say,'' she thought.

“Tomo, if you feel bad, then you can buy me something at a stand. Maybe a crepe.”

Hearing that, Kimi laughed, narrowed her eyes, and tossed something shiny to Asama.

It was two 500 yen coins. Asama caught them and nodded toward Mitotsudaira.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Now that I’m out here, there sure are a lot of stands.”

The stands had been lined up on the outer edge of the ship and the ones to aft had mostly survived.

There were people inside them calling out to gather customers, the lights were on, and sweet or savory smells wafted over from them as food was cooked in sugar or soy sauce.

…''A lot happened today.

''Oh, I need to stop by the Blue Thunder to thank P-01s for the “water”,'' thought Asama while viewing the stands.

…''Um, where are the crepes?

Was it a bad thing to simply search for the example given to her? Since it was Mitotsudaira, part of her thought a meat dish might be better, but…

“Ah.”

She spotted the perfectly-ordinary Seventeen Articles of Ice Cream run by the Ohiroshiki family. It had originally been run by a couple who had trained at a major ice cream shop, but the Ohiroshiki family had bought it and expanded it. They had stopped by there in Murayama’s underground area before, but it looked like Ohiroshiki was not running it right now.

She walked into the light of the illumination spell below the stand’s hanging curtain.

“Excuse me. Do you serve crepes? My friend asked for one.”

“Sure thing. If it’s for Nate, do you want the yakiniku flavor?”

She just about agreed, but then she frantically faced forward to see who was beyond the counter.

“Toori-kun!?”

“Hey, great work out there.”

The naked apron boy pulled the crepe stove closer.

Asama asked a question while watching his skilled movements.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, you see, I was thinking of starting some part-time work and the previous guy in charge is apparently quitting, so I was able to slide right on in here.”

The nudist pulled some pork from the refrigerator below the table.

“I guess I’ll start with the ginger pork.”

“Why are you actually cooking yakiniku?”

“Just because.” He looked around. “Umm, the meat is going to take a while to cook, so it’s going to be a wait. Also, your dad was here earlier.”

She knew that. He was onboard as a quarantine inspector. She had not seen him yet, but given how much time had passed, he had likely finished his work and was probably viewing the encore performances.

…''He’ll be taking a break too.

Her father was always busy, so maybe he chose to visit places like this for a change of pace.

While she nodded at that thought, Toori suddenly spoke up.

“Want to eat something to pass the time? My treat.”

“No, no. I can buy my own.”

“It’s fine. Really.”

She could hardly say no to that, so she put the problem off until later and looked inside the counter.

That was when she realized what was there: ice cream.

Toori saw Asama briefly freeze in place.

He watched her for a few seconds without rushing her or asking her what flavor she wanted.

“Um, Toori-kun,” she said while viewing the buckets in the counter. “Which is the white one with thin black specks inside?”

“That explanation sounds like something from a horror story, but is it the cookies and cream?”

“Which is that?”

“This one.”

He pointed and Asama placed a hand on her cheek.

“That doesn’t look quite right…”

“Then is it this one?”

He pointed at the rum raisin.

Asama’s gaze stopped on it and she crouched down.

“That looks a lot like the previous one. What is it?”

“Rum raisin. Um, it’s made by crushing rum-soaked raisins and mixing them into the ice cream.”

Asama’s eyes widened slightly. And…

“Um.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll be eating it right here, won’t I? …Which would be the more mature choice?”

“I guess the rum raisin one because of the rum.”

“I thought so… Ah ha ha. I’ll take two of those.”

“Sure thing,” said Toori while pressing the ice cream into two cones.

“I-isn’t that a little much?”

“Business isn’t exactly booming here and we’re under quarantine, so I couldn’t bring it back anyway.”

“Then is it really safe to eat?” she asked as he held out the ice cream. “So how much is two cones?”

“Telling someone you’ll treat them and then having them insist on paying is pretty humiliating for a guy, you know?”

“In that case.” Asama thought for a moment. “I’ll let you pay for one of them.”

Asama heard Toori agree to that suggestion.

“That’ll be 200 yen.”

“Then will this cover it?”

She held out two coins and he stared at them with a straight face. And after a bit…

“That was quite the response there. Really makes you sound like part of the out-of-touch upper class.”

“Eh!? Oh, whoops. I was so nervous I got confused! I’ll need 300 yen in change!”

She kept one of the coins and he gave her 300 yen.

She thought as she held that change.

…''Yes, I really am nervous.

But she wanted to do it right, so she held up the two ice cream cones. First, the right one.

“Toori-kun? This is the one you paid for.”

“Yeah?”

He made that into a question, but answering would only let him control the conversation. So instead…

“And this is the one I bought. Got that?”

She held that one out toward him.

“Here, my treat.”

Toori accepted it.

For some reason, Asama could not look straight at him as she ate the ice cream.

Then she pulled back her tongue.

“Cold…!”

“You really are something else,” he said. “But I’m impressed you remembered something from so long ago.”

…''Eh!?

Asama was speechless.

A dull, heated sweat dripped down her back.

“U-um, what thing from so long ago?”

“ ‘I can eat it because you purified it, Asama.’ ”

It was exactly what she had thought.

…''Wow…!

She could not speak a word, so he smiled bitterly.

“I was wondering if you still remembered, so I decided to treat you.”

“B-but, Toori-kun, why!?”

“Because I promised,” he said. “That was about 10 years ago, wasn’t it? I still remember it pretty well. I made a lot of other promises with you too, like with the contract and stuff.”

That only made her blush more.

“U-um, Toori-kun? Do you plan to keep your old promises with me?”

“Yeah. I mean,” he put a hand on his cheek and spoke in an affected way, “I will be a king.”

Asama felt her heart skip a beat at that.

At the end of its battle, the Non-Dragon Sword born from Musashi had turned back toward the stern.

Anything born of the ley lines would know that land and have seen what happened there. So…

“Yes, you are a king, aren’t you?”

“You got that right. I’ll come through on those promises when you least expect it, so don’t you forget them.”

“When I least expect it?”

“Judge. That’ll make you happier, right?”

''If so,'' she thought. ''I don’t have to expect anything of him.

No, she was certain he would grant her wishes whether she expected anything of him or not.

…''So even if we do things differently, it would be best to stay carefree.

He was a hopeless person, but to her, he was more than that. He was…

“—————”

She decided to stop her thoughts there and make it a “promise”.

When he did eventually keep that promise, she could think back to this time.

A lot was bound to happen in the meantime. For example, what would happen between him and the Blue Thunder’s automaton, P-01s? So instead of worrying about what was to come…

…''I’m glad.

He had kept a promise from a decade ago.

“Hee hee.”

It was funny. It had bothered her so much and she had hoped so much it could happen even if he had forgotten, but now it had happened so easily and she knew they had felt the same way about it.

“Hee hee…”

It was so funny she laughed until she cried. She decided to think of them as tears of laughter.

The ice cream was sweet and warm in her throat, but it tasted of alcohol on her tongue.

…''This is because I made and drank sacred sake back then.

''He thought that was a mature thing to do, so he gave me rum raisin.'' But if that was true…

…''Ah, Toori-kun thought I was mature…

Did that give her some kind of advantage? He had turned away from her to chop up some garlic chives, but he asked a sudden question.

“Aren’t you going to play an encore?”

“No, our instruments were completely destroyed. I need to apologize to dad for that.”

“Then can you sing here? You had an encore song prepared, right? Sis mentioned it.”

…''Kimi!

''There’s no way out now,'' she thought while glancing around.

No one else was around and she did not mind even if there were. So…

“Then, um, just right here, okay?”

She quickly fixed her collar, took a breath, and cleared her throat.

''Calm down,'' she told herself while speaking to him.

“It is called Kimitoasamade.”

Asama sang.

The song described the night on which she first decided to start a band.

“The sky is windy like usual.”

These were the lyrics she thought of while walking.

“I can see the night once more.”

They had changed form a bit since then.

“But my heart will not stop.”

Kimi opened a sign frame while watching the sleeping Cerberus with Mitotsudaira.

It contained Asama’s lyrics.

It was the song they had set aside for an encore and she sang it along with Mitotsudaira.

“It occurs to me during class.”

“The scent of hair and the sky overhead.”

How much did that girl keep inside?

“The view out the window sets my heart aflutter.”

Asama had gotten help from Kimi to write the melody. They had practiced with Mitotsudaira, so they all knew the flow of the song. From here on, the song grew restrained while also building up.

“When I think about it, I can feel my pulse.”

“That usual joyful feeling.”

“That alone changes the position of my heart.”

''Silly girl,'' thought Kimi.

…''You’re only talking about a slight change to the usual.

''But what you really want is a much bigger than that.

Asama sang.

The song described when she had confided in Kimi and Mitotsudaira that she wanted to start a band.

“What to do after school?”

That had been a lot of trouble.

“Walking home with you again.”

She had been desperate about so very much. But…

“But my heart will not stop.”

She sang.

“The pale scarlet of sunset.”

If the others had not been there, she might have simply panicked.

“I face the darkening night.”

She would have been left behind by everything happening around her.

“Even the unseen sky is in a rush.”

But that was not what had happened.

“Let’s make things a little different.”

There had been so much excitement around her.

“Let’s place our futons by the window.”

''Oh, I invented this part.

“So we can lie there looking up at the night sky.”

''That wouldn’t be possible with how my house is built,'' she thought while continuing to sing.

Mitotsudaira smiled bitterly at the fact that Asama was capable of trying to look good in her imagination. But…

“An excited voice speaks in my heart.”

When Asama had made that confession below the bridge, when they had spent the night to discuss it, and…

“Once it starts, the fire blazes bright.”

…when they had such stupid fun in the bathhouse.

“I bring my hands together and undo the clasp.”

Mitotsudaira had felt the same excitement in her heart.

“I know I’m asking for the impossible.”

They both needed each other.

“But I will set even more fires burning.”

''That’s right,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

“The wind in the trees blows through my heart.”

Asama’s hidden heart had set a fire in their hearts.

Asama sang.

The song described when they had all decided to start a band.

“Walking to school with you.”

Things had changed.

“Our hair dancing in the wind is a melody.”

Everything she saw and heard now had a connection to the band.

“Our steps up the stairs are a rhythm.”

Even those little things were fun.

“The sound of flipping textbook pages.”

That exciting sensation may have been a recent discovery for her.

“And when we look out the window together.”

She was ashamed to admit she had even wished class would end more quickly.

“The sky is shining brightly.”

Kimi thought about the past several days.

“The sunset turns to night.”

They had slept over every night to plan for the Gagaku Festival.

“The unseen sky.”

At some point, their worries had transformed into enjoyment. So…

“Looks so lovely as we walk together.”

When they slept over, they always ended up in the futons.

“By the window with you.”

''Liar,'' thought Kimi with an inner smile. ''We were in the center of the room. Oh, but with her room, pretty much anything could count as “by the window”. Still, every night was a big gathering of girls.

“Our hair spills out as we lie around.”

They had thought for a long time about how to make this exciting. They had decided it would be best to describe what made them excited.

“A racing pulse explained through words.”

''That was time well spent,'' thought Kimi.

Asama sang.

The song described what was to come – what was sure to come for the rest of her life.

“I cannot even see the stars.”

But even on the Musashi…

“I trust in you and my dream.”

That made her blush when she recalled what had happened earlier. But…

“The wind in my heart is forever changing.”

That was about the future, but for now…

…''Yes.

She sang while thinking about what was happening now.

“The sky is windy like usual.”

But what counted as “usual” had changed.

“A fire burns in the night.”

A hopeless person had reminded her of the past. However…

“It started by being with you.”

Yes. And now…

“That will not change.”

Toori nodded while listening to Asama.

…''I need to do things right.

Lately, he had been thinking about a few different paths for his future, but to do any of them right would require a lot of work, a lot of diligence, and a lot of improvement on his part. However…

…''I’m a king.

With that thought, he gave himself over to Asama’s song like it was embracing him.

Just then, he saw a familiar figure in the distance.

It was Asama’s father.

He stood on a corner of the deck, but he was clearly listening to Asama’s song. And…

…''Huh?

A woman stood next to him.

But that woman, who was surrounded in ether light, was not among the living.

She looked a lot like Asama. Just like her husband, she was likely here to see her daughter.

…''Don’t worry.

''Your daughter’s doing things right. I need to work on that myself.'' When he gave a mental bow in her direction, the woman noticed him while apparently listening to Asama’s song.

She gave a slight bow and then raised her index finger in front of her nose. She apparently wanted to keep this a secret.

And Asama finished her song.

Asama took a breath and faced forward. She was aware how nervous she was.

“Um, that’s about it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s a nice song to listen to. It really sets a mood that makes me want to get started on something too.”

“Can you please keep it short?”

“Then…could you only sing it for me from now on? It’d be a shame not to.”

Asama felt heat rising from her neck and she could not stop her mouth from spreading horizontally.

“But, well, um, that’s not really possible. Kimi and Mito can sing it too…”

“Yeah, I was just saying what I’d like. I don’t really expect you to do it.”

She was really glad he kept it at that.

“But,” he said. “You didn’t really get to perform today, so will you keep doing this?”

“Eh? Y-yes. Mito and Kimi said this was a real disappointment too. …And I enjoyed it, so I want to keep doing this while having fun with everyone.”

“Will the Asama Shrine be able to take it?”

“That won’t be a problem.”

By this point, she was used to it all and could say something like that. That may have been the biggest change for her. But in her current mood, she knew just what to say:

“I’ll make sure we don’t just use my place next time.”

“Huh?”

He tilted his head forward, so she took a bite of her ice cream. She let the alcohol flavor envelop her tongue and she smiled.

“You won’t get a moment’s peace, so I hope you’re ready.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 20|Final Chapter]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 18

2018-12-02T02:11:36Z

162.158.186.195:

==Chapter 18: Endorser of the Usual Garden==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi4B_387.jpg|thumb]]
''Instead of rejecting

''Or accepting it

''You are simply glad it exists

'''Point Allocation (Go and Meet It)

“Musashino” heard the false god’s roar.

That explosive blast was released into the sky and nearly horizontally.

Was it protesting the failure to kill it? The way it bent back and swung its body forward again was a lot like a dance. The lightning launched by its striking hands swept across the deck and the surrounding air.

This produced wind.

But for “Musashino” something else was more concerning than the false god’s actions.

“The ship’s ether fuel is being absorbed. Over.”

“Eh? What!? It’s slurping down the ether!?”

“Heh heh. Silly foolish brother! It’s sucking up the ether! Isn’t that right, ‘Musashino’!?”

''These siblings are even more of a nuisance when they are together.

But the ether fuel level was dropping quickly enough to reduce the power output. And she knew what was causing it.

“I have determined the false god requires ether to maintain its current form! Over!”

“Musashi” received a sign frame report from “Musashino”.

It contained a diagram of the Fushimi Castle and the Musashi.

…''At this rate, the Fushimi Castle will fall toward the Musashi in another 318 seconds?

“Musashino” was asking if she should keep the ship horizontal or tilt it vertically so it could fall into the gap between the Musashi’s ships.

She must have decided there was no keeping the Fushimi Castle airborne.

But everyone rapidly put together two tentative plans for stopping the fall.

The first was to send the Fushimi Castle enough ether fuel to surpass what the false god could absorb.

However, that was determined to be nearly impossible since they lacked the time and means to transport the ether fuel.

That left the second plan. Those on the Musashi could not reach the Fushimi Castle in time to help, but…

“Sakai-sama, what is it they would need to slay a false god? Over.”

“A divine weapon, right?”

“What about yours?”

“Mine is pseudo-divine, so it wouldn’t really work. It’s for mobility.”

“Thank you very much for being no help whatsoever. Over.”

“Now, now.” Sakai smiled bitterly. “There have to be others, so let’s try a little harder, ‘Musashi’-san. Also, there are some things we need to deal with here. First and foremost…”

A rumbling arrived from directly overhead and far closer than before.

“Isn’t there more lightning overhead now?”

“Musashino” saw a new power in her vision.

The false god now held weapons.

After consuming the Non-Gods, the lightning emitted from its hands had formed a pair of hammers.

They were lightning hammers.

Also, the false god stood on a pair of legs and something spread from below its feet.

“Is it spreading its influence!? Over.”

It was intervening in the ley lines to create a space in which it could exist.

It was trying to stagnate the newly-tuned ley lines around the Musashi. At the Non-God level, it would use up too much of their own energy and they would be destroyed in the process, but this false god was different. It was a collection of all the stagnation. Even if it disappeared, a clear “stain” would remain on the Musashi.

''And if that happened,'' calculated “Musashino”.

The result was immediately reached by the calculations of several automatons.

“A mysterious phenomenon production area with a diameter of about 50 meters would remain directly over the Musashi!”

She did not end that with “over”. She had more to say.

“Asama Shrine Representative! You are in control here, so please provide a plan.”

Because…

“If the false god is not slain within two-and-a-half minutes, I will have this ship self-destruct. That is the best plan to keep the stagnation’s spread to a minimum! Over.”

“Understood.”

That response came from the lightning-covered deck. The Asama Shrine Representative fired an arrow on a Non-God while speaking.

“So we have a whole two-and-a-half minutes to work with, do we?”

“————”

“Musashino” was left speechless.

…''Truly…

''I do not understand humans.

The best plan was to self-destruct the ship after two-and-a-half minutes. Trying anything else before then would not be the best. Which is why she had said what she did, but…

…''Why do humans interpret things in such selfish ways?

But an interpretation was no more than an interpretation. And as if to prove it…

“…!? I am detecting an ether fluctuation around the false god! It is-…”

The explosive blasts and lightning attacks were being duplicated. The pair of lightning hammers amplified the attacks to an even greater scope than before.

Thunder was said to be the cry of a god. With these strikes, the false god sent precisely that to the humans.

The dancing movements continued and it attacked with the lightning hammers as if playing a game.

Some of the god’s twin attacks got through and some did not.

Asama prepared a defense barrier in expectation of some direct hits and then she saw it.

A giant form leaped forward over their heads.

It was the Non-Dragon Sword.

That white sword was hit by the lightning attacks and struck by the explosive blasts from the hammers.

“…!!”

But the dragon continued its charge and hit the false god with a roar.

…''A dragon cannon!!

It had not used that white dragon light during the earlier battle against the Hidden Dragon. The Non-Dragon Sword must have been worn down, so it had finally used the one attack it had held in reserve.

“——————!!”

But Asama saw that the Non-Dragon Sword had not targeted the false god’s body.

Instead of going for the weak point where Torii was, the dragon cannon tore into its right leg.

The false god attempted to dodge.

But it had just released an explosive blast. That forcible action would not work as a dance. It made a large, gentle movement, but the beast’s movements surpassed that.

The right leg shattered into light.

A moment later, the Non-Dragon Sword received a direct hit from the lightning and explosive blasts.

The hits from the twin hammers shook the night with the explosive sounds of lightning and pressure.

The impact caused the giant form to swell out, and…

“Non-Dragon Sword…!”

While calling out to it, Asama thought, ''This dragon was definitely on our side.

It had been born because of the stagnation, but it must have been born with the Musashi’s proper ether at its foundation.

''But,'' she added in her heart.

…''Why didn’t it shoot Torii-san?

That almost made it seem like the dragon knew what they wanted.

But the current situation was more important than her questions.

The Non-Dragon Sword had blocked multiple explosions from the enemy. It could not cover the port and starboard sides and those had broken, but the white dragon had stood up a bit on its hind legs and spread its front legs and wings to catch as much of the blasts as possible.

And the dragon shattered.

The white light, the sword-like texture – everything.

The Non-Dragon Sword broke apart without even roaring.

Asama clapped her hands toward it.

“Thank you very much.”

That had to be Musashi’s dragon.

The ley lines were closely connected to the people who lived there, the history of the land, and the time spent there. That Non-Dragon Sword had been born from Musashi’s ley lines, so it must have seen all of that and acted accordingly. However…

…''Eh?

Asama realized the dragon had taken one final action.

It had turned its head toward the open-air bridge behind it.

Someone stood there.

…''Toori-kun?

“Hey.”

''He'' raised a hand toward the dragon.

“I don’t really get it, but thanks.”

And…

“You’re something of Musashi’s right? Then if you ever have another chance, help us out, okay?”

…''What is he even saying!?

Her nerves would give out if such a rare being just kept showing up.

But she also saw the dragon’s expression change. The sensory portion that functioned as eyes definitely narrowed.

“————!!”

And it gave a roar as it broke apart.

They had been protected.

Protected by a being that risked everything to do so.

“Yes.”

That fact directed Asama’s attention forward once more.

A false god of lightning attacks stood before her. Superheated ether spread from it like a lake and it sent power their way.

But the false god did not step forward. That was thanks to losing its right leg.

The knee and lower leg were still there and they remained spatially connected to the hip, but this false god used the “mold” of an entertainer god. If it could not dance, then each of its movements would reject is very purpose and it would fall apart.

Thus, the false god danced with just its upper body while letting its leg recover. It swung the lightning hammers, swayed its body, threw lightning at them, and explosively sang.

“————!!”

The Fushimi Castle’s deck became the false god’s stage. And…

“Two more minutes!! Over.”

''What do I do?'' wondered Asama.

What she lacked was strength.

She did have the willpower.

She just needed the strength to act on it. But that was why she had companions. So to start with…

“Mito!” called Asama.

Someone lay collapsed on the bow of the deck after being hit by the false god’s initial attack.

It was Mitotsudaira.

She had taken a nearly direct hit from the explosive blast and that had knocked her face down on the deck. Asama had thought her defense spell had just barely activated in time, but…

“Mito!”

She could reach the false god from that position.

Adele began to move forward.

The wreckage that had once been the audience seating was spread out in front of them. The only people beyond that were Asama, Naito and Naruze in the sky to port and starboard, and Mitotsudaira who lay collapsed in the distance.

“I need to get out there.”

But what could she do there?

She had no weapons and this opponent could shatter their defense barriers in a single hit.

Even if they attacked as a group, those explosive blasts would nullify their superior numbers. And yet…

''Mar-Ga:''' “We’re in, Asama. We’re with you on this.”

Rapid-fire shots began to fly toward the false god from the port and starboard sky.

It was the Technohexen. Their Weiss Hexen and Schwarz Hexen classmates were prepared to support the front line on their own.

''Gold Mar:''' “Everyone, if it gets too tough, you should withdraw. Ga-chan and I can pick up two each, but not any more than that.”

Adele had a thought about that.

…''Wow.

She sighed and started forward.

It was nighttime and she caught occasional glimpses of that sky beyond the lightning. The thunder was loud and the situation could hardly have been worse, but…

“What good is a vassal who can’t act as a shield, right?”

Those words placed a smile on the corners of her lips.

“Fine, then,” she said.

She had once charged at and been sent flying by the Non-God Sword and Hidden Dragon.

So she realized something.

“A vassal’s job is to be sent flying!”

“I’m not sure that’s what a shield’s supposed to do.”

She ignored the rational critique from behind her. And…

“Knight Rank 1!”

The vassal shouted to the knight collapsed near the false god.

Adele knew that girl had given a quick instruction just before the blast hit. She had urged everyone else to withdraw and defend while she moved forward to act as a shield.

That had saved everyone else.

But it was wrong. It was shameful for a vassal to be protected by a knight.

Adele wanted an opportunity.

An opportunity to redo it. A chance to support the knight’s charge. And to get it…

“Knight Rank 1!”

Adele raised her voice while viewing the racing lightning and Mitotsudaira’s defense barriers that were automatically defending her and shattering.

“What are our orders!?”

She did receive a response.

But not in Mitotsudaira’s voice. It did not come from her at all.

It was a trio of barks. It was the Cerberus’s cry.

Mitotsudaira came to.

She had heard the same thing she had woken up to for the past several mornings: a trio of quiet barks.

…''The Cerberus?

That was exactly it. However…

“————!?”

Once she sensed the situation around her, she slowly got up from her face-down position.

She faced forward and saw a false god with a shattered right leg.

The battlefield had become a wasteland of racing lightning. Her immediate surroundings were only preserved by the automatic defense barriers supplied by Asama, but the approaching lightning was shattering those as well.

…''Is this what I think it is?

She understood the situation: the battle was ongoing, the enemy was powerful, and she was on the front line.

“…Ah.”

She tried to stand up but failed.

Her body slumped to the left and she rolled onto her side.

She could guess she had been hit by an explosive blast which must have shaken her inner ear.

She figured she was too shaky to stand.

…''No, that isn’t it.

She did not know what to do.

They were up against a powerful foe and the situation was pressing. She might have the willpower to fight, but she lacked a weapon. Adele was asking for orders behind her, but…

…''There is nothing we can do like this!

And just as she wondered what to do…

“…!”

She heard some barking.

Her collapsed vision saw the small Cerberus’s back.

The creature’s tail was raised to make herself seem bigger as she barked at the false god.

She refused to back down.

The bristling of the fur made it clear she was afraid.

But the Cerberus would not back down.

…''That girl…

Asama and the others had said the Cerberus was made from the “mold” of some part of Mitotsudaira’s emotions.

In that case, what emotion was sending that small creature after the enemy?

''Courage? No. This is pure recklessness.

''Pride then? No, not that. She isn’t hiding her bristling fur.

''Then a protective love? No, not that either. She isn’t viewing the target of her protection.

In that case, this had to be a foolish emotion.

…''Yes.

Even if it was reckless and even if she was afraid, she would do everything she could to approach and reject the enemy.

“This is…”

Just before she finished that thought, the false god turned to face the Cerberus. Its swinging right arm brought lightning and a giant hammer attack.

“…!”

Adele saw the knight move.

…''Watch out!

The knight had forcibly moved herself to save the Cerberus.

She moved forward. She took a shaky but definite step and picked up the Cerberus.

Even though a lightning hammer larger than her was descending overhead.

The action was reckless and filled with the trembling of fear, but she gave no thought to her own safety.

“Extra Special Duty Officer…!”

Without warning, she shot up into the air while holding and protecting the Cerberus.

But this was not from a lightning strike. The Extra Special Duty Officer had been launched by something that flew in from behind.

…''Was that…

“An arrow!?”

It was. Asama waved from the deck in front of Adele while Kataume automatically restrung its bowstring.

It was a rough method, but it had protected the knight.

The action taken by their commander, the Knight Rank 1, could be described as foolish.

But Adele knew what to call the emotion that led her to recklessly have her way here.

“Justice…!”

Mitotsudaira embraced her justice.

Be reckless.

Reject not your fear.

Think not of your own safety.

It was all identical to something she had once been shown.

Someone had tried to protect her even though it was clearly reckless and the result had proven it. What he had shown her still existed within her.

So she trusted in it.

She trusted that she was supported by the justice within her. Thus…

“My king!”

The hammer was raised once more and lightning raced after her.

She did not care. Confident she would be given something to do, she raised her voice without even looking back.

“My king! …Give me strength!”

“Sure, sure. I put in a request earlier.”

…''I’d prefer it if you sounded more serious!

But ''that'' arrived.

It pierced the heavens above, shattered the lightning, and stood tall before her. She recognized it.

“Sensei’s sword!?”

“Makiko-san, should you really have lent that to them?”

“Yeah, it is a bit dangerous for kids, so I made sure to lock it in the scabbard. But it is an IZUMO prototype, so it works against ether targets. But more importantly…”

Oriotri gave Sakai a look that said “look to the side”, so he turned to his right.

“ ‘Musashi’-san…why are you looking up in the air? Are you mad?”

“No, I am simply worried about the outcome of the gravitational launch. Over.”

“Oh, yeah. That was really impressive. Was it your first time launching something so big?”

Hearing that, “Musashi” slowly turned her eyes toward him.

Then she nodded and spoke.

“It was. Did it really look that impressive? Over.”

Mitotsudaira held a sword as tall as she was.

She placed the Cerberus on her head and raised the sword in both hands.

…''It’s pretty heavy.

Oriotri must have used her balance to swing it around. Although Mitotsudaira would have to use her strength to do it.

“To swordfight, I need to practice how to move it quickly and lightly.”

She sighed and viewed the ether light slowly rising from the scabbard.

The scabbard was locked in place, but that did not matter. Just as a shield attack could shatter a Non-God, if the sword was capable of ether attacks, she could use the impact of the scabbard as an attack. And destroying the false god with a wider surface would be more convenient than a slash anyway.

Her mission was to shatter the false god’s left leg. However…

“…!”

The multiple lightning strikes were dense. Plus, the false god seemed to slowly look up at the sky a few times.

It was likely preparing another explosive blast from the lightning hammers.

''In that case,'' thought Mitotsudaira While getting a feel for the sword by smashing the lightning, the silver wolf voiced what it was she lacked.

“Vassal Unit! Suppress the false god’s lightning! And Tomo!”

She had to stop there.

Multiple gusts of wind were approaching her.

The false god was using the same attacks the Non-Gods had.

They came from dead ahead.

She could smash the racing slashes of wind with the sword, but once a few of them had passed behind her…

“Tomo! Do you have a divine weapon capable of piercing the false god’s ‘mold’!?”

Mitotsudaira looked over her shoulder and saw Asama frantically shaking her head about 120 meters behind her.

Asama held a bow named Kataume, but it was not a divine weapon.

There was no appropriate equipment for Asama. So…

…''I have to destroy the entire thing myself!?

“Well, I think I can manage as long as I have 5 minutes or so of support from the others…”

“1 more minute! Over!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “…Eh!? What does that mean!?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Yeah, ‘Musashi’ was getting us all worked up while you were out cold, Mito-tsan.”

'''Mar-Ga:''' “Okay, Mitotsudaira, can you destroy that false god in 1 minute? My money is on needing to pick you up and fly away to safety.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Don’t give up so quickly! She is giving up too quickly, right!?”

'''Asama:''' “Y-yes, it’ll be fine! Wait just a moment. Toori-kun asked my dad for a new weapon for me and Masa is launching it!”

Just as Asama said that, a straight line of cloud stretched through the sky.

“Is that it?”

Mitotsudaira blocked the wind slashes as she looked up.

'''Smoking Girl:''' “It was a bit big and the warehouse was nearby, so I used a god of war launcher. I hope you’re ready to catch it, Asama-chi.”

“I am,” replied Asama. She spread her arms so she could grab it as soon as it fell in front of her.

And fall it did.

In an instant, a solid sound dropped down with enough force to partially embed itself in the deck.

It was a transport case that resembled a 3m spike. It was white with the Shirasago Enterprises emblem and Asama Shrine logo in red. Also…

“High-level…!?”

Asama was only mid-level, so she must have been given special authorization for this. There was indeed a sign frame by her hands that said something about a user contract.

It was a divine weapon.

It had reached them, but Mitotsudaira still shouted out.

“It’s right behind me!”

It was easily more than 120 meters away from Asama.

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Wait, you didn’t want it at the same location ‘Musashi’ used?”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “That was my location on the front line! And if I hadn’t moved forward a bit, it would’ve squashed me!”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Oh, whoops. Well, figure something out, okay?”

Mitotsudaira hurriedly threw the transport case.

“Here I go!”

She threw it, but it immediately burst open and split in two.

“…Eh!?”

There were two things inside. As far as she could tell, it was a bow and glove set and a binder set that resembled a closed fan.

They flew nicely since they were lighter than they looked, but…

'''Asama:''' “Eh!? Wait, they aren’t even close to reaching me! Mito, did you even try to throw them!?”

'''Marube-ya:''' “Are you sure that’s the problem here?”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “It was supposed to open from the impact of landing, but the timing must have been off.”

The two contained sets split to the left and right as they flew through the air.

They fell to port and starboard. Unfortunately, they were about 100 meters away from Asama.

Not only had they failed to reach her, they had split up, making them much harder to collect. Also…

“The false god!!”

The false god must have decided the two objects falling from the sky were a threat.

It swung its twin hammers to send out multiple wind slashes and spread destruction.

…''Not good!

“Didn’t you learn in elementary school not to hit and kick people’s belongings!?”

'''Bell:''' “A-are you allowed…to use your feet to…stack up buckets?”

'''Boys:''' “Absolutely!!”

''I think this line is open to too many people.

But Asama’s weapons had fallen and the false god’s slashes were headed that way.

“…!?”

Mitotsudaira saw an optical illusion.

It looked a lot like the two parts of Asama’s falling weapon had run horizontally just before touching the deck.

No, that was no illusion.

The two divine weapon sets were definitely being carried.

Two people were running at top speed with that luggage raised over their heads.

“Aki’s track team…!?”

“Indeed!”

Two people ran across the damaged deck. They wore shorts and shirts emblazoned with the emblem of Aki’s track team. One wore spikes and the other was barefoot.

“Hey, barefoot boy! Don’t your feet hurt!?”

“And aren’t your spikes bouncing off the damaged deck!?”

With one to port and one to starboard, they each carried their item and exchanged a glance. They gave each other toothy grins and then looked up to the sky.

An Aki viewing ship floated directly above.

The two runners had seen the danger below and jumped down.

The people leaning out over the edge of the ship were Aki students. They were all the ones who had helped with the Non-God Sword the other day.

“We’re repaying our debt, Far East Musashi!”

The false god’s slashes pursued the two.

But they leaned forward…

“You’re on!”

…and dashed.

They lengthened each step and their leaning foreheads sliced through the wind.

“Hey! Captain!” shouted the barefoot one while looking at the slash pursuing from behind. “Give that one here and get hit by the attack behind me! You’ll be a hero for sure!”

“How about you get in the way when one’s about to hit me!?”

“No thanks, moron!”

“Well, I feel the same, imbecile!”

“Then,” they said together. “We’ll just have to lose them!”

With that, they leaned further forward and raised their hips.

They controlled the height of their hips with the swinging of their upper body and used the motion of their legs to keep their hips from rising too much.

As long as their hips did not rise too much, they could send the full power of their legs into the deck.

That way they could link up all of their movements.

The pumping of their arms supported the rising of their thighs and the lowering of their upper body slammed their kicking feet against the floor.

“…!”

They accelerated.

As if to prove each step was a noble thing, their stride continued to extend and their speed continued to grow.

“Hell yeah!” shouted the captain. “I look so damn cool right now!!”

“Then I look damn handsome right now!”

“When you’re barefoot? Not likely. You think you’ve got anything on someone like me who uses a pumice stone on his feet every evening?”

“Huh? How can you say that when you use a deodorizing insole?”

“Shut up.”

They continued bickering as…

“…”

They sped up.

They were no longer accelerating by just moving their bodies.

Instead of running, they were launching their bodies forward.

“Let’s go…!”

The two of them rapidly pulled away from the pursuing slashes.

They even passed the slashes that were flying up ahead of them. And as they cut by in front of those, they raised their voices in unison.

“We’ll show you what the Far East can do…!”

Adele gasped.

…''The Far East!?

Aki was under provisional rule, so even if they were under K.P.A. Italia’s protection, the Aki reservation belonged to the Far East.

They had been unable to use Aki’s Noh Stage for the Gagaku Festival, so Aki had lost their chance to officially participate. The Far Easterners of Aki would have felt a need to respond to the Non-God Sword incident in some way.

So had their race along the deck been a way for them to say that line?

“And…”

Adele remembered those two using acceleration spells during the battle against the Non-God Sword.

But no longer. They likely had body reinforcement divine protections, but…

“Ohhhh…!”

They passed all of the false god’s slashes with no acceleration spells. And…

“Goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaal!!”

They dropped Asama’s things on the deck as they passed her by.

The protective cases for Asama’s equipment automatically opened and lifted up their contents at the same time as the two finalists were caught by the standing warriors.

There was lightning and there were explosions, but…

“…!”

Adele moved forward.

Mitotsudaira was up ahead as a knight, so she had to pave the way for her.

“Time to go!”

Her shout received an immediate reply.

“Judge!!”

Many voices sounded behind her and lined up alongside her.

…''Eh?

The warriors, the vassals, and the 1st Special Duty Unit she would have understood, but…

“Everyone!?”

Everyone had lined up alongside Adele, including the students here as part of the audience and her own classmates.

“Ha ha ha,” laughed Itoken. “We can at least hold a shield, Adele-kun!”

Persona-kun nodded while holding four shields together.

Urquiaga, Noriki, and the others were there too.

“Um, where’s Suzu-san?”

“Here…!”

Adele heard a voice from behind her. That meant Suzu was not going to participate in the charge, so everyone looked back in relief.

Suzu wore her white dress and waved at them.

“Now, then.” Neshinbara lightly raised both arms and put on a troubled smile. “It would seem our princess has no intention of fleeing.”

No one accused him of having an overactive imagination. They simply nodded and spoke.

“Then I guess we’ve just gotta do this!”

They all moved after the knight in the lead. They stayed in step with each other and ran as best they could.

But they were not even looking to their enemy.

The false god was rapidly launching slashes and lightning straight ahead and to either side.

Naito and Naruze were fighting back against the lightning hammers being moved by its dancing.

They fired rapidly, so the sky to port and starboard was filled with bursting lightning, wind, and glowing spray.

Adele and the others wished they could help out there. It would help prevent them from being worn down from the sides before reaching Mitotsudaira.

However, the left and right attacks were thick and they had their hands full breaking through the attacks coming straight at them.

A series of attacks flew toward them.

“—————!?”

But they were destroyed.

Tenzou saw something while he moved ahead of the faster ones and behind the slower ones to prevent their ranks from crumbling.

The enemy’s slashes were disappearing from above the deck.

That wind power was still being launched, but it was not powerful enough to fly and instead scattered and broke apart as light.

…''Who did that!?

It was not Naito and Naruze. Those two alone could not provide this much of a counterattack.

“Then…”

Tenzou looked horizontally out from the deck.

Countless figures were camouflaged in the darkness there.

They were Technohexen.

The more combat-oriented members of Musashi’s delivery business were providing covering fire.

“Oh, hell. We’re trying to show off the students’ power, so what are those old ladies doing?”

Naruze’s grumbling earned a response from the northern sky.

“All we’re doing is dealing with the lightning summoned by its hammers. The false god is the real target, so isn’t that what you two should be defeating, Zwei Fräulein?”

“That’s right. You’re ranked first in the delivery business and set to be our next representatives, so that has to be the stage meant for you today.”

“Maybe so,” sighed Naruze to Wild Kamelie and Marine. Just then, the false god moved.

Naruze knew what that movement was.

It was preparing to make twin hammer strikes that would produce a wide-range lightning attack and an explosive blast.

“Here it comes! Fall back if you have weak anti-ether divine protections!”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the blast arrived.

There were two lightning hammer strikes, more lightning attacks, and a wide-range attack of voiceless sound pressure.

The false god’s striking voice would sweep everyone off of the deck.

But Naruze heard something as she took a defensive position.

…''Huh?

She heard a voice while the twin hammers pulled back to strike the ship.

The false god’s pressure was singing in Torii’s style, albeit faintly.

“Just like ''normal'' and just like ''always''.”

Was it ''normalizing'' that sweeping blast and rejection of all?

“Fall back!”

The song was heard beyond that shout.

“The night’s ''usual'' atmosphere.”

Was it trying to get rid of anything and everything?

“Gives me another push forward.”

The rejection of someone who had not been pushed forward howled in the night as twin hammer blows.

Everyone braced themselves against the lightning hammer explosions created by the false god that sang as if crying.

“Power through it!”

But something struck the hammers before they could defend.

“Heh heh. Silly god. That song is much too dark. Here’s a real festival song.”

Kimi danced atop the open-air bridge.

“It will be abbreviated, but here I go: Early Morning Concerto.”

“''How long'' have I been doing this?”

Kimi’s voice collided with the striking pressure. It was far quieter than the false god’s song, but…

“I’m ''always doing this on my own''.”

“That’s right,” said Kimi. “Someone has been doing this on their own far longer than you have.”

But…

“Just like always and the same as usual.”

“That idiot does not let ‘the usual’ be ‘nothing’.”

Kimi’s dance and words caused something.

The hammers and their explosive blasts were stopped just before hitting.

The false god’s explosions and lightning were created from ether. And Kimi’s voice carried ether as a spell.

The two had collided.

They had not been negated. The song and dance merely found equilibrium.

Kimi had worked up a sweat.

…''A high-level is really something.

She had stopped the false god, but she was being gradually pushed back. Even though this would have been enough to wrest control of the field away from a Non-God Sword.

If she continued to be pushed back, the equilibrium would collapse and she would be defeated. It was a dangerous situation.

“How – ev – er,” said Kimi. “False god? I recognize your dance.”

It was Torii’s dance. Torii was a high-level shrine maiden, so the movements were complex and intricate and a few points within it were deceptive. The trick was to make it look like one part of the body was moving but keep that part still while a different part moved.

It could look like the upper body was swaying when it was really just the hips and shoulders. It could look like you were leaning forward when you were really just raising your hips and tilting your head forward.

So it tricked the viewer. When they expected one movement from what they saw, a different movement would begin.

But Kimi had seen through it.

It was tricky because Torii was smaller than she was, so she had to make some corrections. But afterwards…

“I repeat the movements in the opposite order to take back control of this space.”

She reversed the dance, picked up speed, and raised her voice.

The false god could not use its leg, so Kimi’s dance was “superior”. Which meant…

“Break your rhythm…!”

The pressure gradually approached, but Kimi targeted the false god itself.

“…!”

It shattered as she watched.

Cracks ran through it and ether light scattered like blood. However…

…''Oh, no.

She had been so focused on the dance that the pressure she had stopped overhead was now rapidly spreading.

“Wait, Kimi! Weren’t you going to stop it with the buffering of an affiliate shrine!?”

“You say that, Asama, but isn’t Ootsubaki stuff under your control on the Musashi?”

“Do I have to do everything for you!? And by letting it build up, the Spirit Bullet has only gotten bigger!”

“Asama-san! Please stop scaring everyone by inventing weird attack names for the enemy!”

Just as Adele shouted that, the overhead pressure completely suppressed Kimi’s voice.

Everyone below shouted and prepared to defend.

…''What a pain.

Kimi sighed and pulled a microphone from her cleavage as she danced. And…

“Foolish brother!”

Asama looked to the aft stage while she hurriedly equipped herself.

Two idiots stood side by side there.

One was Kimi and the other was the crossdresser.

They were both dressed as shrine maidens and the crossdresser had giant fake breasts.

…''And is that a wig with Kimi’s hair color?

The hair was somewhat straightened, but when had he prepared that? ''Well, that’s his field, so I shouldn’t worry about it too much.

But the two of them spoke in unison.

“Foolish brother, can you mimic my movements!?”

“I don’t think I can shake my butt like that.”

''If that’s the only part he can’t do, I’m legitimately impressed,'' thought Asama before the two began to sing.

“I arrive just on time on my own.”

They were perfectly coordinated right from the get-go.

Both of them were mid-level musicians of an entertainer god. One of them was not enough for a high-level, but what about two of them?

The two of them produced a new pressure that stabbed into the approaching explosive pressure.

The false god danced in response. It produced a voice to amplify its vocal pressure:

“My outstretched arms cannot reach the surrounding cage!”

That was a song of rejection.

What did that matter?

Kimi danced and sang.

“So let’s go. So let’s go.”

She matched her voice to her brother’s and she danced.

“Just like ''always'', I gather my courage,” she sang, “open the door, and raise my voice.”

She took her brother’s hand, looked to Asama below, and shouted the song’s lyrics.

“I’m here to peep, Asama Shrine!!”

Asama felt herself blush.

…''Couldn’t you sing the song I submitted as an offering?

But that was not entirely an option. Since she had been late to complete her own lyrics, they had chosen this song for her to sing at the Gagaku Festival. During their meeting, Kimi had smiled bitterly and said the following:

“You definitely need to aim for an encore with these lyrics. But anyway, this was the first song you chose for karaoke, so I think it is a good fit for you. Besides, if the Asama Shrine Representative sings it, it’s sure to get people talking.”

“I feel like we’re turning into a comedy band…”

But when they had gathered at the Asama Shrine that one night, Naruze and Naito had paled when they heard the idea.

“No fair going for live jokes!”

So was that what this was? Regardless…

…''If anyone was going to sing it, I wanted it to be me.

Did that mean she was turning into an entertainer? However…

“…Ah.”

Light exploded in the sky. The false god’s explosive blast had been pushed back by the two idiots’ song and dance and the hammers had entirely shattered.

The great pressure returned to ether, became glowing dust, and fluttered down like snow.

“Charge…!”

Mitotsudaira led Adele and the others forward.

Mitotsudaira simply fulfilled her duty.

The lightning hammers had shattered in the sky and lightning crashed down from the fragments, so she slipped between the people being hit, defending against, or being blown away by it.

“…!”

She sent the sword along the most direct route to the false god’s leg.

With a solid sound, the ether light emitted from the scabbard shined bright like the moon.

…''!

Her nonhuman blood sent a tremor through her body.

And with the sound of breaking glass, the giant female ankle shattered.

Naito watched the scene while the fragments of wind attacks shattered around her.

She watched Asama.

That girl was probably the highest level of any of them.

Naito felt like she and Naruze had only just ascended to the same stage as her.

Of course, Asama probably thought nothing of the sort and, in time, Naito and Naruze would stop thinking of it like that.

But that girl had made a number of decisions about which direction she would take.

…''Wow.

She was still mid-level, but she had finally received some high-level equipment.

She wore a giant glove with the kind of bow she had previously used inserted into the top and bottom.

The binder skirts on either side of her hips held her in place.

And there were two tail binders on the back of her hips to release ''auspuff''.

She raised her bow toward the heavens and spoke over divine transmission in her usual calm voice.

“The Asama Shrine will now use its power to protect Musashi.”

She nocked a flat-tipped arrow to her bow and aimed it at the shattered and kneeling false god.

She intended to save that false god.

Asama secured herself in place.

The left and right binder skirts had already pierced anchoring sign frames that opened in midair and the picks on the side of her shoes had been driven into the deck.

The plastic soles were thick but supported her with a certain level of flexibility. Then she pushed her chest out a bit.

“Shirasago Enterprises prototype divine weapon: Umetsubaki Ver. 1.”

The two bows were attached to her glove.

She then pulled back the arrow along with the spell bowstring.

“Nn.”

She pulled the bowstring taut while she inhaled.

A targeting spell opened in a lens shape and automatically began rotating as it narrowed in on the false god.

…''Here goes.

Asama squeezed and pulled on the glove’s grip.

That switch caused the bows’ armor to push forward.

“Gh…”

The tension quickly grew and the arrow shook. However…

…''Bear with it!

“Hey, sis, isn’t Asama shaking?”

“Heh heh heh. Her boobs certainly are! Isn’t that right, Asama!?”

…''Those two!

Hanami showed her a sign frame.

It displayed her worldly thoughts meter which was currently filled with red.

…''Kwah!

“Does anyone have any purifying water or salt to help me focus!?”

“Of course we don’t. Has that shrine maiden gone mad?”

“Who knows,” replied Naito, but then she realized she could grant Asama’s request. “Asama-chi, you said water works, right?”

“Eh? You have some?”

“Um, yes.”

Naito reached into her inner suit pocket.

When changing into her Technohexen outfit, the items in her inner suit would be transferred over when the conditions were right. Because it would be a problem to close up her wallet and valuables in the phase space.

That said, Far Eastern and M.H.R.R. inner suits were different, so there was little corresponding space.

“Oh, you’re lucky. Here it is.”

It was contained in a chartula, so she placed it on Schwarz Fräulein’s launch line and shot it out.

“I just sent you some Blue Thunder ‘water’.”

After the “water” poured over Asama’s head and she regulated her breathing, the worldly thoughts meter lowered.

Apparently it really was water.

She stopped herself from wondering what that was about and faced the arrow instead.

Her hand was no longer trembling.

There was sweat on her brow, but she did not mind.

Her prosthetic left eye, Konoha, linked with the targeting spell. She gave permission to fire.

But as she stared straight at her target, she thought about the others.

She thought about what it meant for her to have made it here.

Their part of the Gagaku Festival had become a mess, but this was not the end.

…''Yes.

It was the same as always.

''But this isn’t an obstacle,'' she thought Even if the false god was reaching out toward her…

“My outstretched arms,” it sang, “cannot reach the surrounding cage!”

“Are you sure about that?” she said. “The usual will remain the same as always while also becoming something different. …That is what I believe. That is what I can believe because I will continue onward with the others.”

So…

“The night gives me another push forward.”

She nodded at that lyric and finally gave her answer with the others.

“Hit!!”

An arrow wrapped in wind pierced the false god.

Light shattered, dodged, split, and danced.

“…!”

Only when they heard a cheer did everyone realize the Fushimi Castle had descended between Okutama and Musashino of Musashi’s 8 ships.

“Musashino” looked around at the surrounding 8 ships and gave a quick bow.

“I ultimately held off on the self-destruction at two-and-a-half minutes. Because I determined it would work out somehow. Over.”

Those words led to a cheer from the sky and all of the ships.

Those joyful voices signaled the end of the Gagaku Festival.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 17|Chapter 17]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 15

2018-12-02T02:08:59Z

162.158.186.195:

==Chapter 15: Surprise Stage Performer==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi4B_291.jpg|thumb]]
''That is too flashy

''To call an impromptu performance

''That is too flashy

''To call an audience member

'''Point Allocation (Intruder)

Watanabe was out in the city.

She lived on Okutama. Specifically, the student dorm wide block on the second underground level.

When she woke, it was already the afternoon and her divine mail inbox was filled with reports on the Tama collapse and security for the Gagaku Festival. She appreciated the occasional messages from Oosuga and Tadayo which both wished her well and kept her updated, but the excessively worried messages from her family made her smile.

She figured stopping by her family home might be a good idea. Oume wasn’t that far away.

But once she arrived on the surface using a crutch, she changed her mind.

There were large images in the sky.

One giant sign frame was visible from the academy schoolyard, the stairs leading down from there, the second schoolyard, and the plaza. There were also countless smaller sign frames on the road to the bow, in the parks, and elsewhere.

They were all broadcasting the Gagaku Festival stage.

This would of course not be limited to Okutama. Every part of all eight ships would be receiving this broadcast.

It would be the same in any underground areas where people tended to gather. You would also be able to view it on a personal sign frame using Musashi’s internal divine TV channel.

“They’re going all out on this one…”

Just like her, everyone else was buying something to eat and drink at the festival stands and sitting down in the parks or streets to take a break.

The music was already audible and the MC was making introductions and jokes.

“—————”

There were impressed voices, laughter when someone messed up, and cheers of support.

…''That’s right.

Watanabe was not a part of that. There was no point in coming to a stop here.

She tied her hair back with a handkerchief as a sort of disguise and walked to a festival stand.

It had been so long since she just enjoyed the festival atmosphere.

And it might never happen again.

“I’ll leave this to you, everyone.”

She ordered a kebab sandwich in lieu of breakfast and looked to the sign frame in the sky.

Four bands had already performed. It was about time to reach those who had real skill instead of just enthusiasm.

Naruze completed her preparations while listening to the deafening noise around her.

They had been given a 6 square meter room as a dressing room. Below the white light of a glow panel, the reverberation of the Gagaku Festival reached the new wood-floored room with enough force for their things to shake.

The band before them “Yes, We Can Banter” was making an impressive effort. The time limit kept them from doing their specialty MCing and folding screen drawing performance, but their musical performance was overwhelming the audience.

…''Not bad at all.

They had brought in large folding screen speakers, but how many layers did those use?

A high volume was a powerful weapon in a live performance if you could control it without any crackling. After all, live performances were all about experiencing the sound with your entire body.

This was not the time or the place to be stiff and formal.

So the audience members would each support the band that had excited them the most. That was all it was. No matter how excellent your style, no matter how good your musical talent, and even no matter how terrible a musician you were, popularity at a concert came down to pulling off a power play in your own way.

“In that case…”

Naruze amplified the sound of her guitar and checked the movement of her fingers using the Magie Figur by her ear.

Margot responded with a nod in the opposite chair.

“We use Magie Figurs, so the sound is flatter, but we can pull off anything depending on the power.”

“We need to put Kimi’s tuning data to good use.”

Of course, they could no longer aim for being the loudest band. Going loud after another loud band would only exhaust the audience. They would think “this again?” and it would have the opposite effect.

“But, well, we still need enough volume to keep them from cooling off.”

However, they had an even more useful weapon.

“Let’s go with a different kind of song, music, and…”

Naruze stood up. The sign frame above the door asked them to get ready.

Their time on the stage was nigh.

She reached a hand out toward Margot and the other girl took it. But…

“Margot? What’s so funny?”

“You’re pulling me along with your energy, Ga-chan.”

Naruze thought about what that meant and then smiled a little.

“Well, you put together our stage choreography, so I can’t wait. …Let’s give it everything we’ve got and try to win this thing, okay?”

Suzu was sitting in a seat.

…''Wow.

The sound was incredible.

The concept of senses seemed to have lost all meaning. The sound seemed to permeate her body just like the heat when she went out during the day.

It almost seemed violent, but…

“No…”

When she opened herself up to the sound, she could tell. All of the reverberations passing through her body were created by people.

She had heard the same thing at her family’s bathhouse and the Asama Shrine.

It was the same as what Kimi, Naito, Naruze, Mitotsudaira, and the others had spent so much time creating.

People who could create such things had gathered here to send out the sounds so that all could hear.

The sound would sometimes crackle with static, but Suzu knew what that was.

…''It’s like when…you mess up your line.

''Or when Tenzou-kun…stumbles on his words.

Looking at it like that helped her relax.

The volume of the performers’ voices came from their desire to have their creation reach the audience. When looking at the intensity as a reflection of their feelings, the songs seemed like such adorable things. After all, the lyrics were mostly about love, one’s own worries, or old stories.

''Everyone is…working so hard,'' thought Suzu.

In that case, was entrusting herself to the voices of those emotional giants the same as letting colossal arms hold her? When people swung their arms and raised their voices to match the singer, were they shedding tears of sympathy in response to that embrace?

…''Ah.

Suzu felt heat in her cheeks as she realized how eloquent she was being.

She was letting the setting influence her. She needed to listen to the songs to sense their meaning.

“Right.”

Just as she thought that, her surroundings erupted with applause.

“Okay, here they come,” ''he'' said while standing next to her.

There was no point in asking who “they” were. Two people would be appearing on the stage.

“Next up is the new second year unit Eisen! The duo is made up of Margot Naito and Marga Naruze. They’ve flown in from the sky while also advertising for their delivery business! They have three songs prepared for us today!”

With the MC’s introduction, the stage rotated.

However, the reverse stage only had two guitars on it.

…''Where are Ga-chan…and Go-chan?”

''Above?'' thought Suzu as she directed her senses there, but she sensed nothing.

''Then where?'' she wondered.

“Yeah!!”

It came from behind.

Far above the tiered seating, two sets of flapping wings dove down along a shallow angle.

Except they dove toward the audience seating.

It was a direct hit.

''The illumination spell spotlights got in the way,'' thought Naito.

The light in her eyes had confused the landing point. But she had already judged it by eye. She made a head-first dive below the tiered seating and along the passageway leading directly to the stage. And there…

“————”

She had essentially been falling head-first, so she forcibly flapped her wings in midair.

The bursting sound of struck air shook the audience seating, whipped up the wind, and turned her body in a half rotation.

She made a forced midair forward flip to land on her feet.

It was a skill winged species learned to land without lowering their speed when moving at high speeds or in emergencies. Naito had done it on the starboard side. The beating of the air she heard to port had to have been Naruze doing it.

They flipped around and landed hard on their heels. But…

…''It’s not over yet!

In a second forceful action, Naito used the momentum of the half flip to stand up. And as she tilted forward…

“—————!!”

She flapped her main wings straight backwards.

She flew. She threw the air backwards and instantly reached a height of 20-or-so meters.

The crowd cried out in surprise as they briefly lost sight of her and then found her again. Most of the audience had seen them by now.

…''Okay!

They flew in tall arcs to land on the stage. Naito to starboard and Naruze to port.

They glided with their wings and arms spread high. They ignored the fluttering of their uniform sleeves and skirts. They could not show any fear of falling, so they raised one knee.

“There.”

They turned to face the audience. Their trajectory took them from the sky to the stage. If they landed like this, the crowd was sure to cheer for them. But…

“Here goes!”

Naito shouted toward the audience. Naruze did the same on the port side. They did so while raising their brooms high in their right hands.

“Verwandlung!!”

Immediately, a metallic cry sounded and their Technohexen equipment was summoned behind them.

Naruze fully spread her black wings.

“Weiss Fräulein…!!”

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Margot kicking her golden wings up in the air to starboard.

Her partner clearly matched the timing of her cry.

“Schwarz Fräulein…!!”

And it came.

Their voices were answered by flowers blossoming behind them.

The spell cloth forming their Technohexen outfits budded from a phase space.

Two Technohexen outfits blossomed: a white one for Naruze and a black one for Margot. Naruze thought it created a nice contrast for hers to have a touch of green and Margot’s to have a touch of orange.

Also, Naruze held a white pen and Margot’s broom glowed.

The Orei Metallo embedded in both were flashing with a yellow light to give off a warning. The light was accompanied by an audible warning.

'''“Expanding allotted space. Everyone, please be careful.”

At the same time, the white and black flowers behind them came and wrapped around them.

Both costumes were nothing more than angularly cut lengths of cloth that resembled bandages. But the Technohexen outfits danced in the air and calmly raced toward their bodies.

It reached their neck, chest, sides, waist, between their legs, between their butt cheeks, around their feet, and at the base of their throat.

“Hee hee.”

Their skin was only visible for an instant.

In exchange for the luxurious feeling of having clothes tailored, their uniforms were spatially cut away and drawn back into the allotted space.

It was like water dripping from their bodies after leaving the bath. And the towels they donned were Technohexen aerial combat uniforms. The clothing tightened around every part of their body and then loosened a bit to allow for some clearance.

…''Here it comes.

The iconic Technohexen combat equipment was ejected into the air. The Technohexen hats, gloves, shoes, armor skirts, puffy shoulder armor, and the rest were based around M.H.R.R. white and black hard points. They all instantly attached to the Technohexen inner suits.

They lightly spread their elbows in midair and twisted their bodies as if dancing so it all fit in place.

They were now Technohexen equipped with Technohexen hats and long skirts.

But it did not end there. In order to stop the audience from applauding, Naruze and Margot looked each other in the eye and gave a shout.

“Come out, Schwarz Fräulein!

“Come on, Weiss Fräulein!”

A moment later, steel parts were ejected around Naruze and Naito’s raised pen and broom.

These were the Verstärken Schale of Technohexen.

…''Hold on…!

Masazumi stopped collecting trash as part of the staff and instead looked up at the stage where Magie Figurs were opening in the air.

The large sign frame behind Naito and Naruze was repeatedly replaying the transformation scene from multiple angles.

But what had happened just a few seconds before no longer mattered. Some of the editing was clearly searching for the instant in which they had been naked, but they had bigger problems.

What had been ejected behind those two was what mattered.

Those collections of components looked an awful lot like rifles.

Masazumi was of course familiar with ''schale besen''. Anyone would have learned that much after living on Musashi for a month.

But something was clearly different about these two. The two girls held them up in their right hand or left hand. Others in the crowd commented on the composition of the cowling constructed by the repeated ejections.

“Hey, look at that! It’s a full cowling…”

Yes.

Technohexen attacked using those brooms.

But not even Wild Kamelie’s broom had had a full cowling.

And yet…

“So Musashi now has two full cowling brooms. A white one and a black one.”

Solid sounds continued to arrive from the air.

The cowling brooms achieved their full form in the Technohexen’s hands.

The cowlings used a broom or a pen as a core and square bolts ejected from empty air fixed the parts in place.

At the same time, the white and black Technohexen outfits gained ribbons and their full bodies were fixed in place.

Then ether light pulsed through the joints of the cowling brooms’ parts.

The metallic sound of it all fitting together rang loud and far.

“Here we go…”

The Magie Figurs they held up forcefully detonated.

The familiar voices of Naito and Naruze rang through the explosion of light.

“Complete! Zwei Fräulein!”

Naito was awash in bursting light.

The explosion of light came from more than just their Magie Figurs. The large sign frame meant to decorate the stage had also exploded.

…''Wow, we’re just going with it, aren’t we!?

''We didn’t ask if we could do that, so I hope it’s okay.

She then landed on the stage and turned toward the audience. She raised her broom on her left and pointed her right hand toward the crowd.

But she could not see them with all the giant sign frame’s fragments filling the air as ether light.

There was just one thing she knew: she heard nothing at all from the crowd.

She could not hear anything even from the Magie Figur she had next to one ear as a personal speaker. The only sound was the shattering of the many sign frame fragments.

No, she could hear one other thing: her own pulse. That rhythm beat in her temples.

…''Am I feeling impatient?

She wanted to see the audience. She wondered what everyone was doing there.

Was there any point in the poses she and Naruze were striking?

She did not know.

They had learned from the rehearsal, so the two of them stood a good distance apart on the stage. But was that working against them? Or wasn’t it?

In the end, they had done what they had done, so it felt like they just had to do what they could do. But…

“Margot.”

She heard her partner’s quiet voice from the Magie Figur by her ear.

“Don’t worry. Don’t forget that I hear the same thing.”

That reminded Naito of a moment from the past.

…''Oh, yeah. That’s right.

Even if there was no sound outside of them, they heard the same thing.

It was not logical. That was about right for someone who acted on momentum. ''Thanks, Ga-chan.

So Naito stomped her heel while still pointing towards the silent audience. She stomped the intro tempo loud enough for the audience to hear. That way they could start the first song at any time.

Naruze stomped her foot in response.

Once they knew they were together, their stomping grew in intensity. Naito shook her body and shoulders, tensed her sides, and finally let her broom float up.

…''Ah.

The light was clearing away.

The ether light fragments scattered like cherry blossoms and the crowd came into view in the night.

None of them said anything. But…

“Ah…”

Every single person there had ''stood up'' from their seats. So Naito relaxed her mouth and…

“Hoiiiiiii!!”

“What kind of call was that?”

Suzu smiled bitterly at Neshinbara’s comment. But…

“Hoiiiiiiiiiii!!”

The audience erupted. And it was started by the students in the tiered seating who wore Technohexen outfits. They were apparently the academy’s Technohexen. They all pointed toward Naito and Naruze, and…

“…!”

They all gave their own cheers of encouragement and excitement. Their voices formed a wave and moved the rest of the crowd.

“———! —————!”

When Naito and Naruze swayed on the stage, everyone raised their arms and cheered in unison.

Just then, Naito and Naruze opened their mouths.

They played music and began to sing.

“They’re going with Eisen for the first song!?”

Kimi nodded at Mitotsudaira’s question while making some final adjustments to their tuning data.

They had a lot of equipment, so their dressing room was 12 square meters. Even so, there was barely any space left and they could hear Naito and Naruze’s voices as well as…

“Listen to those cheers. The crowd is really into it. They’re loving this Technohexen exhibit.”

“Our Magie Herrlich knows no bounds…!” they sang.

''They really do seem to know no bounds,'' thought Kimi while narrowing her eyes.

Since their first song was the poppy Eisen…

“I bet their second song will be the softer Morgen Nacht.”

“Eh? Should they really be lowering the energy of their Technohexen song?”

“Everyone is focused on them thanks to their entrance, so it would be a waste to rely on pure energy and volume for two songs in a row. That’s why they chose Eisen as the first song. It’s a new Technohexen song instead of an old one and it’s about their position at the top of the delivery business. They’re showing off everything the audience wants to see and hear from them. …These outfits and this song give a clear answer as to what happened to them after the battle the other night.”

“In that case,” said Mitotsudaira with her eyebrows somewhat raised. “They will choose a more traditional Technohexen song like Morgen Nacht because they are confident everyone is focused on them?”

“I imagine Naito ordered the songs this way because she predicted this.”

Naruze would have started with Morgen and gone with gradually increasing energy from there. But…

“When I woke this morning,” sang one Technohexen. “You were not by my side.”

Kimi was right. It was Morgen.

“Do you get it? Because the previous band focused on volume, they used the lingering intensity to fuel their own entrance. But they have actually been gradually lowering the energy level. The previous band performed three loud songs → a flashy entrance after only a short break → a pop song. So going with Morgen here only continues the trend. And since everyone has calmed down while focused on them…”

“Is there no avoiding it?” sang the Technohexen.

Then the girls in the audience cheered.

Mitotsudaira was sensitive to sound, so she looked up. And with a bark from the Cerberus…

“Wh-what was that?”

“Heh heh. I imagine they hugged and kissed. I mean, they stood far apart on the stage during the first song, right? But now that everyone is looking at them, they went for Morgen, which puts them closer together. They’re probably using the whole stage to move together and separate.”

“It’s the same as always,” they sang. “Why are you crying?”

Another cheer.

To 1st years, 2nd years were adults. To 3rd years, they were cute underclassmen. They were also flashy white and black Technohexen, so having them embrace was bound to get a response.

But in that case…

“Kimi, this might be exciting in a quieter sort of way, but what about the next song? They’ll have to get things boiling again, but aren’t things a little too quiet for that now?”

“Those two have the perfect song for building excitement, don’t they? A song everyone is familiar with so they can pick up on it easily.”

Namely…

“Kin Kon Kan Kon. …That’s up next.”

Naomasa was adjusting the power output in the engine division.

The festival was effectively over on Musashi. They had been providing extra power for the festival, but she wanted to return that to its original standby setting before too late at night. Musashi and the engine division agreed on this, so Naomasa was using Jizuri Suzaku to directly adjust the largescale power devices.

The work itself was simple. She used Suzaku and a specialized wrench to turn bolts taller than she was. The bolts were connected to stoppers within the control devices, so…

“The bolts are something like a faucet.”

However, there were a lot of them and the output balance would get screwed up if it took too long to finish. That required cooperation from the other gods of war, but…

“Hey! Quit getting distracted by the Gagaku Festival footage!”

“But your classmates are performing!”

“And if I can hold off on watching it, so can you! You’re recording it, aren’t you!?”

She heard some bitter laughter, but she also heard the song.

Kin Kon Kan Kon.

A few days ago, Naito had asked her how she would like to be mentioned in the lyrics. But…

…''When I told her I wouldn’t be offended if she just left me out, she looked legitimately confused.

Most likely, Naito had not been doing it out of kindness. She was just a perfectionist who wanted to get the entire class into the song.

If there had been any hint that Naito was putting her in there so she wouldn’t feel left out, she would have refused to be in the song. But Naito had looked utterly disgusted and waved her hands back and forth.

“No, no, no. That would just be creepy.”

“Then don’t bother. I don’t like standing out anyway. Besides, looking at the lyrics, you do mention ‘everyone’.”

“Judge, judge. Then I’ll rewrite it like that.”

What Naomasa heard next may have been the result of that conversation.

“Kin kon kan kon.”

“Everyone does their own thing.”

''That’s right,'' thought Naomasa. ''Everyone does their own thing.

This would be the first time the audience heard the song, but they could all sing along to the “kin kon kan kon” part. So when it came to that part, Naito or Naruze would hold their microphone toward the crowd:

“Kin kon kan kon…!”

It was endearing how everyone’s voices were not quite in sync. But live performances like this were not about everyone being together. It was important for everyone to do their own thing while thinking about the same thing.

So Naomasa hummed along to the music and the others in her team was probably doing so as well.

“C’mon, let’s move on to the next controller! We can leave this one to Old Man Taizou!”

“Musashino” watched the Technohexen finish their song while cheers and applause washed over them.

She stood on the open-air bridge to the rear of the Fushimi Castle. That deck was a level higher than the top of the tiered seating, so Naruze and Naito had used it to jump into the audience.

“Musashino” saw Naruze waving back at everyone who was thanking her.

…''Cases like this are rare for Naruze-sama, aren’t they?

The automatons did not have much data accumulated on Naruze. “Musashino” decided they needed to monitor her reactions to things since she would be a representative of the delivery business.

The rest of the bands would also have unique requirements.

“Musashino” had worked to set things up differently for each band. Asama had already given her ether pathways for each one. Using those as a baseline, she still had time to set everything up.

…''There was no need to go that far before.

But Eisen had taken a lot of work.

She had been relieved that they did almost no adlibbing, but they had fired up the audience far more than expected.

Eight devices for storing ley line stagnations were installed below the Fushimi Castle’s deck. A few of those had grown warm from the people’s excitement during the Gagaku Festival.

“But this performance shifted a few of them into startup mode. Over.”

The question was how much more excitement the 3rd year band would produce. Eisen had only achieved that response because several factors had aligned just right.

But now that the containers had started up, they would begin extracting ley line stagnations. And “Musashino” wanted to control the power output of the bands that could influence that. So…

…''I need to set up individual settings.

Just as she decided on that, she received a divine transmission from “Kokubunji”, one of her subordinates.

'''Kokubunji:''' “ ‘Musashino’-sama, the Chancellor has contacted us. She says her band wants to go all out, so she would like control of the Torii clan’s Fushimi Castle during their performance. Over.”

She was essentially telling “Musashino” to stop managing the power output so the performance could be as exciting as possible.

“Musashino” thought the request was a reasonable one. She would be busy enough setting up the output settings for the rest of the bands and the Chancellor’s band was bound to be exciting regardless, so she could let the owner of the ship control her own band’s performance.

'''Musashino:''' “It is a good idea, but I unfortunately cannot allow it. Over.”

Yes, she could not hand over full control of the Fushimi Castle. If she did, she could not ensure the safety of everyone aboard. So…

'''Musashino:''' “I will keep control of ship movement and return control of the stage output and storage devices to the Torii clan. How about that? Over.”

Magoichi was surprised at how well she fit in here.

She lived a life centered on combat, so she was aware there was little entertainment in it.

So she was surprised to find this unfamiliar type of music seemed to jump inside of her.

“Is it the drums…?”

She knew little about music, so she could not describe it. But the drums sounding in the back shook her more than the string instruments on top.

When focusing on the music that sounded on top, she could identify which parts were European and which were Far Eastern, but the beating drums carried her away whether or not she understood it or focused on it.

Of course, this was not just a fundamental rhythm.

If that was all it was, the people around her would not be standing up and cheering.

But it was familiar enough to her that she could tap her feet to the beat.

She had never heard any of these songs before, so she found that strange.

…''But…

She had felt a rude gaze for a while now.

And it was not the curious looks a name inheritor often received. It was a cautious gaze watching to see if she would try anything.

If Mototada had her way, no one would be monitoring her. To ensure no one interfered, she would not inform anyone else and just let Magoichi handle it. That was what Mototada would do and the people close to her would respect that.

''In that case,'' thought Magoichi. ''Do I have Watanabe from yesterday to thank for this?

She had heard that Watanabe was injured and had dropped out of the Gagaku Festival. She had not actually contacted Mototada’s group, but nothing had happened on the way here and the audience had not been filled with personnel meant to target her.

The gaze she felt now was the work of an individual.

She could think of plenty of reasons someone might be after her life, but this person would have acted by now if that were the case. Instead, they simply observed her.

Someone was definitely watching her to see what she would do.

The odd feeling about her surroundings told her it was definitely just the one person.

This was an individual act.

Watanabe could no longer be here as the 1st Special Duty Officer, so she must have asked someone else to keep an eye on Magoichi.

But who did the gaze belong to?

There was definitely someone in the crowd whose movements were slightly off from the rest. She picked up on it subconsciously, but when she actually focused on it, she could not quite locate it. The directionality of her focus was so much stronger than her subconscious senses that she crushed whatever it was she had sensed.

She had spent some time trying to trick herself by sending out a presence in search of whoever it was, but she had had no luck.

Whoever it was had to be skilled.

Also, the ninja student next to her was far too noisy. He had to be a 2nd year. That made him a year her elder, but he held ninja sword glow sticks between his fingers and swayed back and forth far too much. He was currently shouting at the mummy-style band, Dry Verse.

“Dry-chaaaaaaan! H-hwaaaaaah!”

In a way, his bad example helped her calm herself. Hiding his face behind a hat and scarf may have allowed him to become entirely shameless.

Of course, she set aside the fact that such thoughts did not belong here. However…

“Okay, we’re getting close to final performance now! Are you all ready for the mysterious phenomenon purification!? Then let’s do some stretching to help you relax and get fired up! …Oooookay! Everyone together now! …Oooookay! Are you in sync now!? No one fell asleep!? Then it’s time for the penultimate performance. I know you’ve all been waiting for Kagami, the Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council band!”

That was Mototada’s band.

The stage rotated, lots of white smoke rose from it, and a sudden sound started.

The MC gave a shout.

“Their first song is Mismatch. Their keyboardist, Watanabe-san, is out after being caught in the collapse last night, but I’m sure the others will work extra hard to make up for her absence!”

“Collapse-chaaaaaaaan! H-hwaaaaaaaaaahh!”

''Shut up, ninja. And do you have to add “-chan” to every random word that comes along?

But if Mototada was on stage…

…''Both of us just have to leave things in the other’s hands.

After changing the color of his ninja sword glow sticks, Tenzou saw Magoichi suddenly stand up where she sat next to him.

…''Has she noticed I’m watching her!?

She was a name inheritor and a Gun Master who primarily fought as a sniper. It would not be surprising if she had picked up on him watching her.

That was why he had spent what little time he had preparing. He had memorized the high points of all the bands’ announced songs and lyrics. He had studied the most common moments for reactions and cheers. He had also trained himself to chatter on and on for about 20 minutes about band trivia if she happened to talk to him.

Had she seen through it?

But after she stood up…

“Excuse me. I’m feeling a little sick.”

…''Eh? Did I take it too far?

''Immediately assuming that might be a flaw of mine.

But Magoichi bowed to the people around her and walked to the aisle. Everyone was quick to respond once they noticed. They stood from their seats and stepped back to let her through.

…''Where is she going?

If she left here, she would be unable to “slay” Torii.

Guards and automatons were monitoring things and the passageways were sealed off except where necessary for the Gagaku Festival. If she tried to force her way through, it would cause an immediate commotion on this 300m ship.

“In that case…”

He could not let her notice him watching her.

Torii’s band was visible on the rotating stage. The crowd’s cheers grew and their voices began to align.

But the gunner was leaving.

…''What is this?

Just as he wondered that…

“Hm?”

He felt a certain reverberation in his body.

A small but definite vibration reached his feet from the deck.

The music was already beginning the long intro of the first song, but Tenzou sensed a sound hidden behind it.

…''What is this!?

Suzu sensed something was off.

…''Huh?

What was this? Separate from the music, the cheers, and the stomping feet, she sensed a dissonant sound coming from somewhere on the ship.

…''Below?

The sound reaching her from there had been absent before. It sounded like large objects turning, connecting, spreading, and opening. It all reached the bottom of her feet from below the deck.

“U-um…Toori…-kun?”

She called to him who was now a crossdressing karate fighter.

“Something’s…starting?”

Asama listened to Torii’s band’s music from behind the stage.

…''Wow, their precision is unbelievably high…

Several bands had already performed, but this band was really good at blending the sounds of each member, just like a band from a school club.

Watanabe was absent and her part was being played from the song’s offering data. Asama had expected that part to stand out some, but Tadayo on guitar and Oosuga on drums matched the timing perfectly.

“Heh heh. Not bad. When we’re extracting the mysterious phenomena, we need to match our sounds too, okay?”

“Yes. By ‘matching’, we will connect with the Musashi. Then we will tune the activated storage devices and extract it all during our performance.”

“They say that Hidden Dragon or something might appear when we do, but we can leave that to the Chancellor’s group performing over there and to Adele’s group.”

Mitotsudaira explained that while holding the Cerberus in her arms.

And when Kimi rested her guitar on her shoulder, a sign frame appeared.

“Huh? Toori-kun? Is this for Kimi? …No?”

“Oh, what’s this?” asked Kimi as she turned around and Mitotsudaira tilted her head. They all looked to the text on the sign frame, but it was not all from ''him''. He was relaying a question from someone else.

'''Me:''' “Bell-san noticed a bunch of movement down below. She says it’s growing and getting in the way of the music. …So what’s going on?”

“Eh? The storage devices for the extracted stagnations are below here. They should have started up by now.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Yes, and during our performance, they will begin to run and purify the mysterious phenomena.”

“I can’t directly check since ‘Musashi’ and the other automatons are in control of them, but is Suzu-san saying they’re already running and not just starting up?”

“Wait,” said Kimi. She turned a sharp look toward Asama. “Send a divine transmission to ‘Musashino’. …See if the extraction system is ''still running''.”

Asama nodded, sent the divine mail, and knew Kimi was right.

She had put together some settings for the ether pathway control during the Gagaku Festival.

“Musashino” was supposed to be using those to run the entire ship.

In the planning meeting, they had planned for the storage devices below the Fushimi Castle’s deck to be fully activated during their performance. That would activate the ley line pathways to the Musashi and extract all of the stagnations.

So if Suzu really was sensing ''the continuation of the startup process'', why was it happening already?

Asama knew the audience’s excitement from Naito and Naruze’s performance and from the other bands had heated up the storage devices and extraction system, but the full startup process would still need the extractors and storage devices to begin physically moving.

…''In that case…

'''Musashino:''' “Asama-sama, I have confirmed it. And I would like to confirm something with you as well. Over.”

'''Asama:''' “Understood. And what is it you want to confirm with me?”

'''Musashino:''' “Judge. Have you transferred your authority to Torii-sama? Over.”

That question elicited a “huh?” from Asama.

'''Asama:''' “Are you not running the extraction system early?”

That was what she had assumed.

It was possible their performance would not live up to expectations and the extraction would not go well. So running the extraction system during Torii’s band could help prepare things.

But that was not it. And to prove it…

'''Musashino:''' “No, I am not. Over.”

“Musashino” continued as if to clarify her short response.

'''Musashino:''' “Currently, I control the ship’s flight management, but Torii-sama controls the extraction system and stage management. Over.”

“…What does that mean?”

Mitotsudaira looked toward Torii’s band from behind the stage.

Of course, all they could see from here was the thick wooden wall between the two stages.

But the three people performing beyond that wall were creating a certain situation.

“The Chancellor’s group is trying to do the mysterious phenomenon purification we were supposed to do!”

“Musashino” was unsure which standards to base her decision on.

Of course, that kind of hesitation only lasted a few moments for an automaton. She divided that short time into countless pieces and used the instant to work her thoughts.

She first needed to think about a stable flight plan for the Fushimi Castle, but she currently worked on a different task.

That was what she needed to think about next.

…''What Torii-sama’s band is doing.

The extraction system below the deck was approaching actual work.

The simplest motivation would be a desire to steal Asama’s band’s role.

But why they would want to do that was unclear.

Why would they tear down Operation Emptying the Cup, which they had planned out together and all agreed to?

She also felt like she had allowed this to happen.

She had temporarily given Torii control.

It had been a suggestion from the Chancellor and Student Council President, the Fushimi Castle belonged to her clan, and she played a role in the operation. That was why “Musashino” had agreed to give her temporary control.

Torii was now “using” that in her own way.

“Musashino” had been naïve.

The decision itself had not been a mistake. A captain automaton could not refuse a suggestion from the Chancellor and Student Council President.

But she had made a mistake in a different way.

“—————”

She had not considered the “what ifs” when transferring control to Torii.

Trust was a matter of statistics for automatons. So “trust” itself had no value. When it worked well, it was the best form of security, but when it did not, it was the worst form of security hole.

She did not know why Torii was doing this, but the girl was preparing to carry out the operation early and under her own control. So what could “Musashino” do?

“I must prioritize success of the operation on this expedited timetable! Over!!”

The overall objective was to purify the mysterious phenomena threatening Musashi.

Asama’s band had planned to play that role, but Torii was doing it now.

…''However, if I stop the extraction system now, all our preparations will be for naught!

“Asama-sama.” “Musashino” spoke to Asama. “I apologize for my poor management. Over.”

After admitting to her mistake and taking a breath, “Musashino” looked to the stage.

In that place about 200 meters away, Torii was singing and dancing, but she turned toward the automaton.

Could she see her?

That question was meaningless. Torii was already giving her a smile with lowered eyebrows and waving her hand side to side. It was an apologetic act.

“Torii-sama…!”

“Musashino” wanted to ask why, but did that mean she was growing too interested in humanity?

At any rate, the first song came to an end.

Just then, “Kunitachi” gave a shout while monitoring the extraction system behind “Musashino”.

“The storage system has been fully prepared within the extraction system! The extraction system is running! Over.”

Suzu felt a definite sound with her entire body.

It came from 8 places below her feet. The metallic shaking had stopped and something else made itself known.

What was it?

She felt it was bad for whatever-it-was to ignore its surroundings and continue on like this. And…

…''Eh?

The ship was moving. It was approaching the Musashi with somewhat rushed movements.

“Um, Bell-san? What’s the matter? Is something happening again?”

She could not say yes.

Intense noise and heat struck the Fushimi Castle before she could.

It was lightning. But it was not pure lightning from the sky.

…''No!

It was an attack.

Electricity crackled along the Fushimi Castle and struck it.

“…!”

Suzu sensed the 300m ship shake and heard panicked shouts from the tiered seating.

Everyone in the audience stood up and looked up at the attack from empty air.

“Is it the mysterious phenomenon purification!?”

“No…that shouldn’t have started yet. And it shouldn’t be so sudden!”

A confused stir ran through the crowd as every last one of them looked up to the sky.

But it did not end there.

More heat and noise struck the Fushimi Castle from the empty space below it.

There should not have been any storm clouds. Suzu covered her ears over Noise Neighbor.

“…Here it comes!”

It came.

The lightning from below bent like a giant whip but also wrapped around the ship like a solid chain to capture the Fushimi Castle.

It produced a tremor that felt like the floor rising up.

The ship shook.

There were 8 lightning attacks in all. They were in constant motion as they sent heat to the audience and stage.

“—————!”

There was also a great roar.

…''Eh?

But it was not from the lightning strikes. This had more substance to it. It was descending from the sky.

It was located beyond the stage. She heard the rotating stage’s wall shattering, the falling splinters, and the swooshing of the armor stripped from the ship. And…

“Ah…”

The back of the rotating stage was destroyed by a massively heavy falling object.

The splintering sound Suzu heard pointed to a certain fact.

…''Asama-san…Kimi-chan…and Mitotsudaira-san….!

But something moved forward before she could sense anything from those three girls.

This time, Suzu properly sensed the giant form that leaped toward the audience from the splintered stage.

It was…

“The Hidden Dragon from before!?”

No, everyone had defeated that. So another one must have been created. However…

“There’s…more!”

It was not just the Hidden Dragon. Giant forms appeared from 8 locations on the deck.

They had humanoid and blade-like shapes seemingly made from combined swords. There were 8 in all and Suzu knew what to call them.

…''Non-Gods.

The 8 Non-Gods stood up around the Hidden Dragon with ether light enveloping them.

Tenzou saw a dragon just as large as the one he had faced along with Asama and the others.

It brought its fore legs and hind legs together in the space between stage and audience.

“Evacuate!!”

He had no idea if his cry reached them in time.

And even if they did escape the dragon, Non-Gods were standing up in 8 directions.

…''Not good!

The plan had been for one Non-God to appear at a time during Asama’s band’s songs.

But this was all of them at once. And they were joined by a large Hidden Dragon.

Their training would have been enough to respond if it were the Hidden Dragon and a Non-God or two.

…''But…

The enemy took action before he could finish that thought.

The Hidden Dragon used its wings to perform a full charge.

The Fushimi Castle was instantly transformed into a battlefield.

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| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 14|Chapter 14]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 4B Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
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