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Horizon:Volume 6A Prologue

2017-10-20T22:05:23Z

86.52.225.192: Fixed 2 errors.

==Prologue: Rest Area Fighter==
[[Image:Horizon6A_019.jpg|thumb]]
''It means to sleep

''While using all the noise

''As a pillow

'''Point Allocation (Luxury)

“My king! Horizon! I know you must be tired, but please wake up!”

Horizon awoke to Mitotsudaira’s voice.

…''Oh?

She would always see the same thing when she got up: a wooden ceiling.

It belonged to the room she had been given in Tama’s underground.

The Blue Thunder’s manager had prepared it for her after taking her in a little over a year before. The manager’s investigation had shown Horizon had no home and the woman had been unable to just abandon her. She had needed a home if she was to provide tax money as a Musashi resident.

But this was not that familiar place from her everyday life.

…''Is this…?

“Aoi-kun! Ariadust-kun! Wake up! It is currently the second night of the study camp, we spent the day defeating two Celestial Dragons for the First Siege of Ueda, we discovered new mysteries in the ruins, and the blonde version of Aoi-kun’s crossdressing set was ruined, so I imagine you are tired and would like to rest, but it is still only eight at night and Mouri is here wishing to combine the punishment of Houjou with the attack on Mouri! Mitotsudaira-kun’s mother is also here, so we would like to hold an emergency meeting about what to do! …So wake up!”

…''That’s Neshinbara-sama for you. A superb example of exposition dialogue.

But no one came inside the tent. And Adele commented on that fact.

“U-umm, why isn’t anyone going in?”

“Eh!? B-because I can’t spy on them in the bedroom.”

“B-but that’s…Asama-san and…Mitotsudaira-san’s tent…too…”

“Shhh!!!! What if my mother hears you from the clearing over there!?”

“It would probably lead to something funny,” said Naito.

“Yes. I’ll finally get to draw some mother-daughter material.”

Horizon thought about the conversation she heard.

…''If everyone is satisfied, perhaps it would be best to leave it like this.

She heard the steady breathing of sleep from Toori.

If she ignored this, they could rest.

“Honestly…”

Horizon thought to herself. While glaring. ''There is someone parallel to me.

He was trying to retrieve her emotions and conquer the world.

She appreciated that, but he could not do any of it on his own.

They were a pair of parallel lines that both relied on others. Also…

“Toori-sama,” she said. “If we have even more difficult battles ahead of us, we must bring our battle formation together sooner rather than later. After all…”

After all…

“We cannot continue if we are missing you and there is a gap of time in what I am missing.”

Horizon shut her eyes.

She ignored everything outside.

…''If…

If they set foot in here, she would get up. That was her decision.

“How strange,” said Adele with a frown.

In the depths of the night where the waterfalls and mountain stream could be heard, she raised her index finger and continued.

“If they aren’t waking up after all this yelling, it’s possible something happened.”

“Heh heh. Something!? Yes, something! What are you suggesting has happened!?”

“Well…”

Adele thought about it.

…''Huh?

“Um?”

“What is it, Adele-dono?”

“What would you do if I jokingly said ‘murder’?”

When she asked, the 5th Special Duty Officer bent her eyes in a smile and let the silver chains dangle down from the sleeves of her ''yukata''.

“That is not something to joke about.”

''That was a close one.

''I forget the king’s guardian knight is right in front of me.

…''I could have ended up experiencing some chain bondage!

But why was it she could only imagine that chain bondage involving Raging Beast smashing into things and producing other violent sound effects? Probably because she had already experienced that here.

So Adele thought some more.

“Listen.”

“What is it, Adele-dono?”

“Maybe they’re doing lewd thi-…”

The 6th Special Duty Officer hit her on the back of the head. It made a nice sound. While Adele realized she was not a lost cause, the 2nd Special Duty Officer calmly spoke up.

“If they were doing that, wouldn’t all this noise outside ruin the mood?”

“Oh? But some people are put ''more'' in the mood when they can hear people around them. …Um, b-but not me. There’s just someone I know who is like that. Yes!”

“Yeah…” they all agreed as the Vice Chancellor crossed her arms.

“Hmm,” she groaned. “Well, it seems unlikely anything dangerous is happening in there. After all, Asama-dono has not received a warning from the nudist’s vital readings, has she?”

Everyone turned toward Asama, who took a step back with everyone’s focus on her.

“U-umm, no. I haven’t gotten anything?”

“Heh heh. Then why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“Eh!? …B-because that would make it look like I was monitoring him. And I couldn’t spy on him when he’s sleeping.”

“Oh? My foolish brother will visit me when I’m asleep and the reverse is fine too.”

“Well, yes, he’ll also do that at my place…”

Everyone fell silent and looked at Asama again.

“Eh?”

She was confused by all the focus she was getting. But…

“Ah.”

She frantically shook her hands back and forth.

“Y-y’know, Toori-kun has access to our shrine! Because he leaves spare clothes in my room, my dad really likes him, and he hides out there when the guards are after him! Isn’t that right, me!? Yes, it certainly is. It happens all the time.”

“It happens all the time?”

When the wolf asked that with a smile, the shrine maiden hung her head.

And Kimi slapped Asama’s shoulder.

“Anyway, Asama. This is a bit of an emergency.”

“Yes, but, um, I haven’t received a passive check warning from Hanami.”

“Heh heh. Does that mean you haven’t done an active check? Don’t you want to know if they’re all right?”

“B-but, um, I can’t tell you what that says. It would, uh, violate their privacy.”

“In other words, you did check, Didn’t you!? ‘Oh, a brain narcotic reading from Toori-kun…! And Horizon too…!’ That’s what you saw, isn’t it!? How wonderful! The brain stem is a wonderful thing! It helps stem-ulate desire! Feel free to get turned on when you see those brain narcotic readings! Let’s all get doped up on dopamine!”

…''She doesn’t let anyone get a word in edgewise…

Adele turned her back on Asama so she would not get dragged into this.

Then the Vice Chancellor nodded as she looked toward the silent tent.

“Regardless, it would seem nothing dangerous is happening inside. Perhaps the nudist and Horizon-sama are having sex in there.”

“…Vice Chancellor. That sounds really dangerous to me.”

“Oh? Adele-dono, are you unfamiliar with sex? Sex is by no means dangerous. …It is a very serious act that binds people together.”

Gin took Muneshige’s hand and tried to return to the clearing, but it was probably best not to interfere.

Then the 3rd Special Duty Officer raised her right hand toward Futayo.

“Which way do you mean that?”

“Judge. When I say sex, I mean sex. There is only one way you can mean it. Although if I had to specify…knowing Horizon-sama, it would be a very composed form of sex.”

“Composed…!?”

“Ga-chan! Ga-chan! Don’t say a word even if something just hit you. You might be onto a new genre here!”

Adele tried to picture it.

And the image in her head was so awful that she silently apologized to no one in particular.

She had a feeling she had dirtied herself. Yes, and she had a feeling it was more than just a “feeling”.

“Anyway,” said the 1st Special Duty Officer. “What are we going to do?”

''That’s the real question,'' thought Adele.

What should they do?

The 1st Special Duty Officer’s question earned a response from Mary who was carrying a metal pot needing washing. She looked up at him from the side.

“Master Tenzou, how can we wake them without entering the tent?”

“Judge, the best way would be to yell. Like ‘H-howaaaaa!’ or something.”

Then he raised his right index finger.

“But Mitotsudaira-dono’s mother would notice any yelling since she is currently in the clearing.”

“Judge. She is being served food by Ohiroshiki and Hassan. They were saying something about how our food supply for the study camp wouldn’t last.”

''Not surprising when it’s the 5th Special Duty Officer’s mom,'' thought Adele.

But the food supply was limited. It could not hold back the Reine des Garous forever.

“Then again,” began Adele. “Is there any real problem with the 5th Special Duty Officer’s mom noticing this?”

Everyone exchanged a glance and Masazumi turned to the daughter.

“Is there a problem with that, Mitotsudaira?”

“M-my mother would learn I was sharing a tent with my king!”

“Oh, is that all?” said the others as they relaxed their shoulders.

“I-Is that all?” repeated the 5th Special Duty Officer. “This is a serious issue.”

But someone else responded: the Date Vice Chancellor.

She had not changed clothes since the visit to the ruins and she faced the 5th Special Duty Officer.

“If you’re living with him, she’s going to find out eventually.”

“Yes,” added Mary with a smile. “That’s right, Lady Mitotsudaira. You would feel better if you let her know and it would help us all out. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

Everyone strongly agreed, so the 5th Special Duty Officer hung her head and averted her gaze.

…''Oh, she doesn’t trust us…

''Mutual trust might be the biggest thing we lack,'' realized Adele. But…

“What should we do?”

“Judge.” The 2nd Special Duty Officer nodded. “How about I overturn the entire tent?”

“Heh heh heh. You have guts! Our things are in there too! What if my makeup, Mitotsudaira’s yakiniku set, and Asama’s Shinto ‘playing with yourself’ set end up all jumbled together! We’d have a pretty ‘playing with yourself’ yakiniku set!”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

…''You’re just ignoring all of that!?

Adele was shocked. This was the confidence of someone who already had a wife. Since Asama and the 3rd Special Duty Officer were as surprised as Adele, did that mean they were relatively normal?

But Narumi struck the 2nd Special Duty Officer’s arm armor and gave him a calm look.

“Overturn the tent? Why are you so fixated on making things needlessly exciting?”

'''Unturning:''' “He really is hopeless.”

She posted that to a girls-only chat.

'''Unturning:''' “But shaking the tent isn’t a bad idea, so I’ll guide him in a more subdued direction.”

''Way to go,'' thought Adele.

The Date Vice Chancellor faced the half-dragon once more.

“Kiyonari. Why do you like to give everything such an exciting solution?”

“You don’t get it, Narumi? …Because it’s cool.”

“Oh?” She sighed. “It seems a certain half-dragon thinks construction work like overturning tents is cool.”

“Ho ho? Do you not know how cool construction equipment is!? Do you not know how cool diggers, wrecking balls, and rollers are!? Well, I suppose a snowy nation ''would'' make everything of snow, so it’s not your fault.”

The Date Vice Chancellor frowned at that line. It seemed to have pissed her off.

After a pause, she crossed her arms. And…

“You know,” she said. “There are far more exciting things than your proposed solution. Didn’t you know that?”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Why would you provoke him, Date Vice Chancellor!?”

'''Unturning:''' “Sorry about that.”

'''Tachibana Wife:''' “Why do I get the feeling she’s only apologizing so we won’t stop her from continuing?”

'''Novice:''' “So it’s an apology of resolve! I can feel my blood pumping…!”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Um, I happen to be holding a love comedy that you wrote in middle school. It’s called Sambo Flight. Here’s a sample: ‘Sparkle. The night air was – swoosh – sliced by the silver of an indescribably beautiful blade. Excellent. Oh, could this be…?’ What even is this? Can I post the whole thing over divine transmission?”

'''Novice:''' “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I really liked using sound effects back then!!”

He immediately apologized.

But back in reality, the 2nd Special Duty Officer was getting worked up.

“So what are you suggesting, Narumi? Shooting the tent!?”

“Oh? You really think simply shooting it would be ‘exciting’? If you want something truly exciting, you have to move past explosions and slashes. How about some local curved crushing using a highly-concentrated gravity mass?”

“I’m not sure that’s the best way of waking someone up.”

That comment earned Adele a sidelong glance from the Date Vice Chancellor and the 2nd Special Duty Officer. And after a while…

“I think I’ll go get some dinner at the clearing,” said the half-dragon. “They’ve fixed something, haven’t they?”

“Good idea,” said the Date Vice Chancellor. “I ate my curry too early, so I’ll go with you.”

“Y-you’re treating me like I have no social awareness, aren’t you!?”

“You all are hopeless.”

Kimi opened the tent’s entrance.

“Foolish brother? Horizon?”

She readily began to look inside, so Adele and everyone else shouted at her.

“Why didn’t you just do that in the first place!?”

Suzu had sensed the inside of the tent long before the others.

She was blind, but she could search the darkness using a combination of sound, air movement, heat, etc. She wondered if it was wrong of her, but she had the best understanding of the situation in the tent while the others peered inside.

A blanket was laid out in the tent.

It was just the one in the center.

And everyone’s things were by the walls.

…''Kimi-chan’s, Toori-kun’s, and Horizon’s are by the entrance.

Mitotsudaira’s was by the right wall and Asama’s by the left.

…''Wow.

They had all been in there together the night before.

She wondered what that had been like, and as if to answer her…

“Ah.”

Toori was sleeping in the center.

His hands were above his shoulders as if he were dangling down from something as he slept.

Were his shoulders stiff? But his fingers were spread

…''Was he trying to grope her chest?

Probably so.

But in this case, that was normal. As Kimi had said earlier, he used such things to provide a shared secret, so when he groped someone’s chest, he was sharing the secret of their chest size between the two of them.

But…

…''Ah.

When Suzu had let him grope her chest at Mikawa, had she made a mistake by reporting to everyone that they had grown? It should have been a secret between the two of them, but she had made sure everyone knew.

But she also felt like that was the only thing she could have said at the time.

''Next time. If there’s a next time,'' she thought.

“—————”

She realized it had been the same with Mitotsudaira.

When she had lent him her chest at Mikawa, she had gotten so mad at him.

…''Was that because Toori-kun revealed the result to everyone?

That fit the rules, but Mitotsudaira had not understood the rules back then, so her reasons would have been different.

“My king?”

She was currently peering into the tent, but what had she been thinking back then?

She had probably been surprised with how sudden it had been, but…

…''Mitotsudaira-san?

''If Toori-kun hadn’t…said anything…would you have just accepted it?

That would be why she had said what she did.

…''She said he was…completely hopeless…didn’t she?

That did not seem like much of a response, but had there been actual meaning behind it?

''Yes. What he did there…was “completely hopeless”.

If Mitotsudaira had known the situation, she probably would have refused. But that was just a minor discrepancy. And more importantly…

“Kimi-chan?”

“Hm? What is it, Suzu? Do you know what’s happening in there?”

She did.

She kind of understood why Kimi had egged Mitotsudaira on.

…''Kimi-chan…

''You really…love everyone…don’t you?

That girl seemed to adjust and confirm the distance between everyone so things could continue smoothly.

And now it was Suzu’s turn. Since Kimi had prompted her to do so, she needed to know what was inside there.

“Wait just…a second.”

The group parted and she stepped forward to sense inside the tent.

There had been something odd in there for a while.

“Horizon…isn’t there?”

That was true. Horizon was not next to Toori.

…''Huh?

But then she realized the truth.

Horizon was there.

But she was not at all where Suzu had expected.

In fact, she was in two places: By Toori’s head and by his feet.

“U-um?”

Suzu closed the entrance.

“Eh?”

She turned back toward the confused group and opened her mouth.

…''If I didn’t tell them, would this count as a shared secret?

“Horizon has…her legs wrapped around…Toori-kun’s legs…l-like this?”

“That would be a figure-four leglock.”

Suzu was not sure, but she assumed that was true since Persona-kun gave a deep nod.

The others began whispering.

“How do you fall asleep like that?”

“The Chancellor probably tried something again and got hit by a counterattack.”

“I always thought Horizon was a striker, but I guess she can grapple too…”

The atmosphere seemed headed in a harsh direction.

''I need to do something,'' thought Suzu before speaking to the others.

“U-um…wait.”

“What is it, Suzu-san?”

“Well, i-it’s fine…everyone.”

She smiled and explained the situation to put them at ease.

“Horizon is…holding Toori-kun in…her arms.”

Everyone let out surprised or warm breaths.

…''Good.

She was pretty sure she had put a stop to that dangerous atmosphere, so she continued explaining what she could sense inside.

“And Horizon’s arms…both of them? Th-they’re holding Toori-kun…like this.”

She was pretty sure it was like this.

As if embracing him from behind, she had her left arm wrapped around his neck and her right arm locking the inside of his left elbow.

“L-like this?”

She tried it. And…

“————”

Everyone fell silent.

…''H-huh?

The sudden silence caused her heart to race. Then Narumi, Mitotsudaira, and some others exchanged a glance.

“It seems Horizon really is a grappler.”

“A figure-four leglock on the bottom and a sleeper hold on the top, huh?”

“W-wait, Suzu-san? Can I ask something?”

“Wh-what is it? Asama-san?”

“Just in case it turns out you have to testify as the primary witness, remember that we’re all on your side, okay?”

“Eh? Eh?”

She was not sure what that meant, but Mitotsudaira opened the tent’s entrance.

“My king!? Are you alive!?”

Mitotsudaira viewed the scene with the light of the lamp spell charm that Asama held up.

Two people were collapsed there.

One was Horizon who was missing her arms but performing a figure-four leglock in her sleep.

Her breathing was regular, but…

“Why is she sleeping with her eyes open?”

“That’s what we’ve been wondering ever since last night…”

But beyond the perfectly-performed figure-four leglock, Mitotsudaira’s king was being held by Horizon’s arms.

As Suzu had said, Horizon’s arms had another perfect lock on his neck.

Her king’s eyes were rolled back in his head and his tongue was sticking out.

His hands were extended into the air with the fingers spread in obvious preparation to grope something. But something else mattered more at the moment.

[[Image:Horizon6A_040-041.png|thumb]]

“Tomoooo!! Oxygeeeen!”

Masazumi’s voice reached them from the distance.

“Can you people not even sleep normally!?”

Mitotsudaira had to agree.

—'''We must bring our battle formation together sooner rather than later.

Study
[[Image:Horizon6A_042.jpg|thumb]]
The Recent Course of Far Eastern History

Toori: Sis! Sis! Could you tell me what the Musashi-related history’s been doing lately and what’s gonna happen from now on!?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. History brother, with the Battle of Kanagawa and the First Siege of Ueda, we have been involved in the history recreations of other nations recently. And now Mouri is here, so you must be really confused. Well, your wise sister will give you a look at the Kantou-centric events, including the ones coming up. The parts in quotes are the result of the history recreation, okay?

Already Completed:
*Bunroku Campaign (Hashiba vs. Korea): Hashiba’s Korean invasion as a starting point to invade the continent. ➡ “Edo and Satomi were conquered.”
*Battle of Kanagawa (Houjou vs. P.A. Oda): Houjou takes advantage of Nogunaga’s assassination to drive out Takigawa Ichimasu who Oda left in charge of Kantou. ➡ “After picking up on Houjou’s intent at the Ariake, Musashi sank Takigawa’s Shirasagi Castle.”
*First Siege of Ueda (Sanada vs. Matsudaira): Matsudaira prepares to replace Sanada’s territory, so Sanada resists. Sanada wins. ➡ “At the Ueda ruins, Musashi defeated the Sanada Celestial Dragons and had to retreat when the ruins collapsed.”

To Be Completed During the Houjou Battle:
*Tensho Jingo Conflict (Houjou vs. Matsudaira): After Nobunaga’s death and with Takigawa gone, the Kantou forces fight for supremacy. Matsudaira wins and reconciles with Houjou.
*Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle (Mouri vs. Hashiba): The final showdown between Mouri and Hashiba, who is attempting to subjugate the Chugoku region. Mouri loses after being flooded.
*Siege of Kanie Castle (Hashiba vs. Matsudaira): A portion of the Battle of Komaki Nagakute. Takigawa attempts a siege and is defeated.

Kimi: That’s about it. They all happen after Nobunaga’s assassination, so we did a pretty good job with all the previous battles. After this, we also have the Second Siege of Ueda, the Keichou Campaign, and Sekigahara, but I’ll omit those here.

Toori: When did we raise all these event flags…?

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 6A School Rules|School Rules]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 6A Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 8

2017-08-11T20:55:28Z

86.52.225.192: Errors fixed.

==Chapter 8: Winged Ones Standing Up==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3B_079.jpg|thumb]]
''By the time I noticed it

''It had a current

''And was sweeping me away

'''Point Allocation (Others and Myself)

Inside the Blue Thunder, Masazumi saw Naito correct Zwei Fräulein’s names for P-01s and then begin placing an order.

After work, they were apparently going to inspect some instruments at the Asama Shrine and then discuss the Gagaku Festival.

…''A festival, huh?

This would be Masazumi’s first time taking part in Musashi’s Spring School Festival and Gagaku Festival.

She was secretly looking forward to it and she turned toward Naito and Naruze who would be performing.

But while Naito was at the counter…

“Naruze, why are you outside?”

“Judge. You can’t tell? We’re about to head out for work, but my broom’s thruster is too big to fit inside the Blue Thunder.”

“Yeah, yours is custom made.” Naito smiled back toward her partner who was resting her head in her hand in the open window. “But you look cute like this too, Ga-chan.”

“I appreciate the ‘too’.”

This conversation made Masazumi reconsider their relationship. Everyone in their class accepted it as perfectly normal, but from the view of someone from the primarily Far Eastern Mikawa…

…''A two-girl couple? It’s kind of strange, isn’t it?

M.H.R.R. supposedly had a way for two women to have a baby. Masazumi had no idea if that was true, but they would probably hear about it when the Musashi eventually made its way there.

…''The differences between women and men have kind of lost all meaning, haven’t they?

When reproducing the Testament descriptions, they needed people who fit the parts, but interpretations were also used. The current trend was to mostly ignore gender altogether, but there was still a general idea that it was best if it matched.

''That was the thinking that affected my body,'' thought Masazumi.

“What’s that look for, Masazumi?”

“Eh? Oh, uh, well.”

She was not about to mention what she was thinking about them or herself.

Besides, there was ample material for conversation. For example…

“About that commotion earlier. You all really like causing trouble, don’t you?”

Naruze’s eyebrows rose and Masazumi worried she had upset her, but then the Technohexen gave a snort of laughter.

“It’s not that we like causing trouble. Things just tend to get exciting around us. …Thanks to a certain subset of our class.”

…''Exciting? Isn’t that even more dangerous?

Masazumi thought a bit about her complicated classmates.

But Naruze said nothing more about that topic.

That must have kept her from noticing Masazumi’s worries because she looked over to the counter where Naito and P-01s were confirming their order.

Naito held the Magie Figur that Naruze had tossed her earlier.

“And this is a chicken wing. They’re really good if you cover them with cornmeal and fry them.”

“Judge. So you want me to find a unicorn or octacorn somewhere, defeat it, and make a meal by frying its horn. I did not expect to be asked for an immortality dish…”

“Um, are you not familiar with corn? Also known as maize?”

“For example?”

Naito thought about P-01s’s question and finally…

“It’s a rod about 30cm long. Kind of like this handle, I guess? And everything but the part you hold is covered in yellow bumps.”

“So something like a fat-legged caterpillar?”

“Hmm, this is surprisingly hard to describe…”

''It really is,'' thought Masazumi as Naruze drew something on a Magie Figur while peering in through the window.

“Are you drawing corn?”

“Eh? Oh, I’m drawing what Margot just described. But…” She frowned and wiped sweat from her brow. “Margot…I drew a picture of that and it looks just like a sex toy.”

''Don’t say that. Don’t draw it either. And don’t use your image processing tools to give it a curve. Please stop searching the divine network for similar images.

The surrounding customers gave those two odd looks, but a comment of “Oh, it’s just the Technohexen” seemed to settle it. ''Is that a form of Technohexen persecution? No, I guess not.

Then Naito spotted something.

“Oh, you have cornbread.”

One of the breads lined up behind P-01s had corn kernels kneaded into it.

P-01s looked back.

“Which one?”

“Um, the longish one with a lot of yellow kernels stuck to it.”

“Margot…that’s…”

''Again, don’t draw it.

But P-01s seemed to realize what she meant.

“Oh, that one the manager refers to as corm.”

“Is she an airhead?”

Naito looked to the back of the café and the manager must have provided some kind of reaction from the kitchen. Naito nodded a few times.

“Then use some of that corm-meal to fry us some chicken.”

“Judge. Would you like this bread as well?”

“No, no. We’re not here for the bread today.”

“I see.” P-01s looked back at the cornbread. “This is one of our top sellers, but the yellow things come out just as bright the following morning. So why do you all like it so much?”

All of the customers did a simultaneous spit take. And as they all choked or tried to catch their breath, Naruze spoke quietly.

“She really is indiscriminate.”

“Agreed.”

Naito gave Masazumi a look that said “I’m glad I didn’t buy any”, but that was just how it was.

“What is that bread called?”

“Gold Nugget Bread. What about it? …And yes, I assume that is referring to what happens the following morning.”

Naruze tapped Masazumi’s shoulder and held up a Magie Figur for her to see.

“Why did they hire someone so very challenging?”

It was finger-written, so Masazumi wrote a reply with her finger.

“To make things more exciting, probably.”

Masazumi realized this was her first time using her finger to write on anything like a sign frame since arriving on the Musashi.

It kind of made her happy.

But then Naruze spoke up while watching Naito order more food.

“Masazumi, you had to have known they were selling cornbread.”

“Well, it’s pretty expensive, so I never really noticed it.”

“It’s only 200 yen.”

“That’s two meals.”

The Weiss Hexen looked at her like she could not believe her ears, but what was that about?

''Is she going to ask me about it?'' wondered Masazumi and Naruze did indeed ask.

“Why are you here?”

“They give me a good discount on bread that didn’t come out right or unsold bread from the previous night.”

“So you’re basically making deals at the back entrance?”

“I’m a student, so people seem to accept it as me trying to support myself.”

Not even she knew how to judge herself on this. But…

“Given who my father is, I have to keep up appearances to a degree.”

“Sounds tough.”

She just about nodded in agreement, but she resisted the urge.

Protecting her father’s name was only natural if she wanted to be a politician. So she stayed silent, but…

…''Ah.

She did not know how to respond at times like this.

''I can’t believe this,'' thought Masazumi.

''Should I just smile?'' she wondered, but it was too late for that.

So…

“Well, whatever.”

“I’ll make a doujinshi out of you.”

“What…!? And why are you acting like that’s a favor!?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Naruze gave her a disinterested look. “The others and I aren’t much better, but I’m fascinated by incomplete people. You never know how they’ll turn out.”

“Are you telling me to question how I should respond?”

“Your value will not be set in stone until you make a decision.”

So…

“And afterwards, you get to decide everything other than that. …Including the things which have nothing to do with your old man.”

Masazumi thought about what that meant. And she knew what she had to say:

“So you’ll draw me no matter what I want, will you?”

“You give me different material each time, so you are a wonderful subject to use. You’re as good as Asama.”

''I need to change the subject.

“…Asama is the same?”

''I feel bad doing this to Asama,'' she thought, but she asked anyway.

She also thought it was disrespectful to view them as the same.

“Has Asama not decided what she wants either?”

“Asama has her family and public lives pretty well sorted out. They stand out a lot, but her private life is pretty shaky – maybe that’s why her breasts jiggle so much – and it’s interesting to watch.”

“Is that how it is?”

“That’s how I see it anyway. I don’t want to own my doujinshi subjects; I want to know more about them. That’s why I draw out different patterns in a trial and error attempt to learn more…and a lot of them fall into the error category.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Because I’m pretty bad at interpersonal relationships?”

…''She’s aware of that!?

That may have been the biggest surprise of the day. ''But,'' suddenly thought Masazumi.

“Is it better to have made a decision about your private life?”

“Who knows.”

The Technohexen’s answer could be seen as dodging the issue or as an admission of her own ignorance. But she said more while resting her head in her hand at the window.

“I’d like to have some guarantees in my private life if I could. Like social status, organizational status, or income.”

“But it’s better to let the other things change?”

“Well, yeah. If nothing ever changed about your daily meals, your relaxation time, your fashion, or your short-term interests, wouldn’t life be boring? Not even a Technohexen always uses the optimal delivery route and we aren’t always looking directly ahead.”

Masazumi kind of understood what she was saying.

…''That’s right.

What was her father like in that regard?

He worked as a politician and, as far as she could tell, he had everything figured out in both his public and private lives.

If that was a prerequisite for being a politician, would she become what Naruze and the others saw as a boring person?

She was not sure.

Was her father a boring person in Naruze and the others’ eyes?

“Okay! Koni-tan, that adlibbed answer was borrrrring!!”

In the audiovisual room below the city hall, someone slammed a card down on a table.

Coins clattered on the table as if to oppose it.

“Wh-what!? It’s true no one here so much as tittered, but I still have plenty of money, Nobu-tan!”

“Huhhh!? Didn’t you know!? Someone who tells a lame joke is doomed to a life of being unfunny! After that, I am revoking your right to try a taste of my latest treasure: this stew left for me by Masazumi! You only have yourself to blame for not challenging me with money in the first place!”

Then the speaker drew a card.

“Now, let me state the next condition.”

“Nhh, what is it!?”

“Well.” The man looked at the card while sitting in the sofa with his legs crossed. “Sing the OP songs for every divine TV anime that began this spring.”

“I-including Alaskan Girl, the OP song for Ivan the Terrible’s Alaskan Vacation!?”

“Indeed. Judge, I can sing it!”

The man stood up and swung his arms with a serious look on his face.

“ ‘This Russian delicacy is colored salmon pink! Loved by the nobility! Loved by the serfs!’ Hurry up! If I finish singing it before you, then you lose, Koni-tan!!”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! How can you change your behavior at the drop of a hat like that!?”

''My dad never changes at all,'' decided Masazumi.

But she did have a thought about what Naruze had said. Her father and the others like him would come up with strategies to preserve their interests and their politics, but…

…''Huh?

Did they really ''never change''?

It was true they did look after their own interests, but…

“Naruze.”

“What?”

“Here’s what I think.”

She gave an interpretation of what she had just thought up.

When she viewed the idea of a politician through the lens of her father and the others, she found an ideal rather than an understanding.

“You said before that you wanted your status and income to be guaranteed and unchanging, right?”

“Judge. What about it?”

“Well.” Masazumi nodded and added a “judge”. Then she said, “Most likely, even people with public positions aren’t satisfied with their status and income.” She thought of her father and the others as she spoke. “The people like that see what they have as the bare minimum and they want to move ever higher if they can. So it isn’t unchanging. You might call that being greedy or a slave to political power, but I think they find that to be a lot of fun. It isn’t boring to them.”

“Yessss! I finished singing fiiiiiiiiiirst! You lose, Koni-taaaaaaaaaaaan! That’s three losses in a row! You hear that!? Three! Losses! In a! Row! Yes, the right arm, the right arm! And lean back! That’s it! Three! Losses! In a! Row! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! …Oh? Surely Musashi’s great merchant isn’t going to run away here, Koni-tan.”

“I-I accept your challenge! I accept your challenge, Nobu-tan!”

“Ohhhh? Do you have any chance of winniiiiing? You’re going to set a record with a fourth loss in a rowwww.”

''That’s the ideal,'' thought Masazumi.

''That’s the ideal as seen through my father and the others.

They were strict and her father in particular treated her like she was ignorant and even told her not to become a Musashi politician.

He seemed to think she was lacking and had given up on her.

But she had her own pride.

There was her body, but she had also spent around a dozen years preparing to be a politician.

…''So I want to test myself.

Of course, she knew her father would see that as “only” a dozen years and that she was young enough to change course. But…

…''The ideal, hm?

Her intent to become a politician had occasionally wavered after leaving Mikawa and coming to Musashi.

She had wondered if she could do it. But…

“Well, that’s the ideal…or maybe you could call it a hope. Even if it is a one-sided hope from someone who’s never experienced it for real.”

That was important.

Even if she sometimes doubted herself, she could continue to aim higher as long as she had that.

…''Honestly.

''Am I taking my father’s side too much?'' she wondered as she considered her own words here.

But Naruze gave her a sidelong glance.

“Nicely said.”

The Weiss Hexen laughed quietly through her nose, but it was not a derisive laugh.

And she simply said one thing.

“But if that’s all you have, you’ll only end up the same as your father.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Her father and the others only seemed to be pursuing their own interests, but there might be another side to them and they did dutifully carry out their role as politicians. So…

“I hope I can start with this ideal and then become my own kind of politician.”

“I see. …Sorry, then. I shouldn’t have made those assumptions about you.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“I’m disgusted by myself.”

With that, Naruze faced forward again.

“Margot, are you done yet?”

When she heard that, Naito smiled bitterly in her heart.

…''Ga-chan’s pretty embarrassed.

When Naruze felt a certain kind of awkward embarrassment, she would always turn the topic toward Naito. Based on the bits and pieces of the conversation Naito had heard, Naruze seemed to have gone too far in a discussion about Masazumi.

Naruze had trouble with shared secrets like that. Or she just really did not like them.

So she would work to understand other people. Her doujinshi work was a part of that. She would also just go for a joke sometimes. No, she went for the joke more often once she was comfortable with someone. ''Like Asama-chi!

But she was still not comfortable with Masazumi who had only arrived a month and a bit ago.

So when her distance from someone else quickly shrank, she would look away, as if to provide a sense of distance. And Naito felt happiness rather than superiority in knowing that diverted gaze would turn toward her.

“Hmm, just a little longer.”

Once she told Naruze that, she heard a sigh behind her.

“I see.”

That was the end of it. There was no “hurry up” or “never mind then”.

It did seem a little too quick, but…

…''She isn’t dependent on me. If anything, she’s leaning toward me.

Naito and Naruze were the same in that regard.

They were leaning.

They should have been standing straight, but due to their complex circumstances and what they lacked, they ended up leaning.

They were off balance.

But Naito thought that most people were like that.

Who was standing straight?

…''That’s right.

A name came to mind, but it belonged to a special case. There was no comparison there.

So she decided they were right to be leaning.

They were the slanted Zwei Fräulein. So when they grew unstable, the partner leaning toward them would act as a support, so they could reach out a hand and right themselves.

This was the same. When Naruze suddenly felt a lot closer to Masazumi, that weight increased her slant, so she reached out toward Naito.

She had been on the verge of falling over, so she supported herself and pushed herself back up to her usual position.

And when she did, Naito became aware of her own slant and used Naruze’s push to right herself as well.

They both leaned toward each other and they remained standing side by side.

That was why they were Zwei Fräulein.

…''This is how it always is, isn’t it?

Naito nodded a few times in her heart. ''I lean on Ga-chan a lot, too.

It was mutual.

With that in mind, she placed another order. And…

“You have plum jam? I could probably make some improvised plum liquor with that, so add a jar of that. …And lastly, can I get some of this gratin? It can be harsh once it gets cold.”

“Judge. What would you like to drink?”

“No, no.” Naito held her broom up toward P-01s. “That would be too heavy.”

“I see. But the Blue Thunder does serve a portable powdered drink that uses ninja technology.”

“Ho ho?”

Naito gave her an “I’m listening” look, so P-01s pulled a few glasses and water bottles out from below the counter. Then she pulled something like a chartula from the shelf behind her and held it up.

“Are you ready?”

“Go on.”

Naito heard chairs moving behind her. Everyone was focused on them.

Everyone’s eyes were on the chartula that P-01s held. Naito knew that, but she could not shake the feeling that they were looking at her.

She felt a little nervous, but the automaton remained calm.

She did not hesitate to pour the contained powder into the glass.

There was a surprising amount of it.

“That’s a lot.”

“Judge. Research is still underway, but this seems to be the perfect amount.”

She then dumped water inside.

Instead of pouring it, she turned the bottle upside down so it fell forcefully into the glass.

“Ohh, how dynamic.”

“It eliminates the need to stir it. …There, that should do it.”

She now had a glass filled 80% of the way with a clear liquid.

…''Umm.

Naito feared she would have to drink this, so she looked up at the automaton.

“Just a moment.”

P-01s prepared another set of the same thing and dumped water in this glass as well.

She now had two drinks prepared and they each grabbed one. P-01s lightly raised hers and clinked it against Naito’s.

“Cheers.”

They drank it.

…''Margot just went along with it and drank it. I hope she’ll be all right.

Naruze looked in through the window to see how the two at the counter reacted.

They both drank the full glass.

Margot stopped a few times to check on something, but she soon started back up.

Once they had drained the glasses, they set them down. They thunked solidly against the wooden counter.

“Now, what do you think, Margot-sama?” asked P-01s. “This is Powdered Water. …Just add water and it becomes water.”

Naruze froze in place when she heard that.

After a while, Margot turned back toward the others and lowered her hands. And on the count of three, she raised them again.

“What’s the point of that!?”

''That’s incredible,'' thought Masazumi.

She watched as P-01s bowed deeply toward everyone. She then raised her empty glass.

“It took a lot of work to create something this superb.”

“…Um, P-01s, can water even ''be'' powdered?”

“What are you talking about, Masazumi-sama? This is a product named Powdered Water, not water.”

“…Then what was that you dissolved in there just now?”

P-01s calmly nodded.

“Water.”

“That’s the same thing!”

P-01s answered her reflexive ''tsukkomi'' with a thumbs up.

“Margot,” said Naruze. “You should probably go throw up.”

“Hmm, Ga-chan, I feel like it’s too late for that to help, so how about we get to work for a change of pace?”

“You have a very positive outlook, Naito-sama.”

They were too incredible. At any rate, Naito had finished placing her order.

“I know you two have work to do, but what are you doing after that?”

“Judge. Hold a meeting at Asama’s place about the Gagaku Festival. I mean, ‘Musashi’ asked us to purify the mysterious phenomena, so we have to decide what to do about that,” explained Naruze. “But they’re probably busy, so…”

At that point, the door opened and someone walked in.

She had four gold wings. She wore a red Tres Españan track suit with a Far Eastern skirt of the same color.

Naruze spoke her name.

“Marine… What are you doing here?”

Naito confronted Marine in the Blue Thunder.

Masazumi sat by the window, P-01s stood behind the counter, and Naito sent some text to Naruze.

“This is going to be trouble if we get into a fight, Ga-chan.”

“I love how you don’t deny that.”

She nodded in agreement instead of sending more text and she slid one step to the left of the counter.

Marine was in the Blue Thunder, so she was probably a customer. They had their issues, but it would be best not to keep the woman from that.

And Marine moved up to the counter.

“Um…”

Marine must have decided to order something because she turned to face the counter.

And in that instant, P-01s spoke.

“You are a new face around here.”

“Eh? Oh, judge.”

“I have two things to tell you about: something awful and an unavoidable fate.”

…''Is this a new version?

Naito glanced to the window where Masazumi was hiding her face with a hand and looking the other way. Naruze was her usual self: holding up a Magie Figur saying “keep going”.

But as Marine gave a puzzled look, P-01s placed a glass and a bottle on the counter. She poured a powder into the glass and dumped the bottle’s water in after it.

“All done. Please, have a drink.”

Marine clearly looked around at the others, so Naito wordlessly moved her left hand.

She stroked the rim of her glass on the counter to show Marine it was empty.

Either Marine decided that meant it was safe or she wanted to accept the challenge.

“…Thank you.”

She lifted the glass in both hands and chugged it.

After gulping down about half of it, her eyebrows rose.

“Oh? This is really good water.”

She then started drinking the second half.

And P-01s nodded.

“It is supposed to be coffee.”

Marine spat it out.

Naito thought to herself while watching the four-winged descended angel choke.

…''Was this café always so novel?

But P-01s spoke calmly to choking Marine.

“Then I will start with the awful thing.”

“Eh!? That wasn’t part of your routine?”

“Judge. You look like you would want one of the leftovers meals…no, one of the unsold You Damn Chicken meals from this morning, but they sold out just a bit ago. That is very unfortunate.”

“No, I wasn’t hoping for-…”

“You are a bird, yet you hate chicken?”

“No, I didn’t say I hate it…”

''Ah,'' realized Naito.

…''Going along with it is dangerous.

She wanted to warn the woman, but it was too late. P-01s nodded and calmly stared at Marine.

“Listen. If you like chicken, then why are you not devastated to find the morning leftov-…the You Little Chicken meals have sold out?”

The product name had changed a little, but pointing that out would only get Naito involved. She belatedly started pretending she was trying to choose some bread while she listened in on the conversation.

“Naito-sama and Naruze-sama were chowing down on chicken last night, but you seem to be different. You appear to hate it. Is that the case? The end.”

“Eh!? That’s it!?”

Hearing Marine’s exclamation, Naito looked over at Naruze who had written “avant-gard” on a Magie Figur. ''She misspelled it, so maybe she could stand to use a Hexagone Française battle setting for some of her doujinshis,'' she decided.

“Now for the unavoidable fate.”

“What might that be…?”

P-01s nodded.

“I have just completed a leftov-…reduced price You Damn Pig meal.”

“And what is that…?”

“As you hate chicken, I concluded you must like pork.”

If you said anything, you lost. If you mentioned that beef, horse, and lamb existed, she would probably have that ready for you the next time you showed up.

But Marine…

“Um, I don’t really like pork all that much…”

“Then why are you even at this café?” P-01s’s eyes widened and she took a half step back. “Now, which will it be: chicken or pork?”

''This assumption of only two options is kind of amazing,'' thought Naito.

But then something occurred to her.

“I thought you didn’t have any chicken left.”

“Oh, dear. I am so very careless.” P-01s placed a paper package in front of Marine. “Here is your You Damn Pig meal. That will be 350 yen.”

Naruze spoke up while watching Marine pay for the meal with her head and shoulders lowered.

“You really have to get the employees on your side at this café, Masazumi…”

“I think I have to agree, but I’m only now realizing how lucky I was…”

“In a way, you actually feel like you did something wrong, so it really is an incredible place.”

…''If only the main one was always open.

That said, she did enjoy the lively atmosphere here.

Then Marine looked her way with meal in hand.

And she suddenly spoke.

“You seem to be preparing for a battle.”

''This is a trick question,'' thought Naruze.

…''She’s trying to see whether or not we’ve started our battle preparations yet.

The question was also meant to see if the preparations were for a battle against Marine.

But it was a trick. After all…

…''She only said “preparing for a battle”.

It lacked a lot of information like who they had asked for help, when they would be done, and what they had asked to have done.

The vague question was meant to fit most any situation, so it was meant to draw out additional information from the people familiar with the situation.

So Naruze answered immediately.

“Don’t be silly. We’ve long since finished our preparations. You can challenge us at any time.”

In fact…

“We can do it here and now if you want.”

''That was pretty good, Ga-chan,'' thought Naito.

But they had never expected for Marine to show up here.

Marine had declared war just the day before.

It was a little much to ask about their preparations so soon afterwards.

…''But it is true we’ve begun our preparations.

Their request to Naomasa would probably take about three days to complete.

The reinforcements to their brooms would make them heavier, but it would allow them to withstand rapid acceleration and braking.

And Marine was a high-speed type.

Strengthening their brooms’ acceleration would give them an advantage there.

''But,'' thought Naito.

…''I’m pretty sure that answer didn’t leave any openings.

“Ga-chan, that was well done.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Naruze’s answer had seemed to reveal their hand but actually dodged the issue.

After all, they couldn’t exactly fight inside the café even if their preparations were complete.

So she had added the “here and now” to leave it a mystery whether they really were prepared.

That was the point of it, so…

“The festival is coming up soon,” said Naito.

Once that began, there would be plenty of locations suitable for a battle.

“Let’s fight it out at an appropriate place during the festival.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3B Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
}}
</noinclude>

Clash of Hexennacht:Volume4 Chapter 4

2017-05-27T22:55:47Z

86.52.225.192: Fixed some typos.

==Chapter 4: If Some Return==
[[Image:Hexennacht_v04_127.png|thumb]]
''If I seem full of energy from the outside

''Am I looking at myself from the outside?

The girl had gained a strange companion.

Based on the school uniform worn by the other girl accompanying her through Shinagawa Station, she was from Shihouin Academy.

That was the school where witches gathered and competed to be the world’s best.

That school seemed so far removed from the girl’s life. Both the witches and the chest-accentuating stitching option available on the uniform. And this companion seemed the same as far as that second one was concerned.

Her name was Fleur.

The girl was curious, so she looked into where this girl ranked at Shihouin Academy. Any Shihouin witch would be registered in the world witch rankings. Or they should have been, but…

“…She isn’t there?”

“I can’t find her name or anything else in Shihouin Academy’s registry.”

This seemed somewhat awkward, but the girl tried asking while guiding Fleur to the gift shops inside Shinagawa Station.

“That uniform is from Shihouin Academy, right? Aren’t you busy right now?”

“Ohh, due to, um, reasons, I’m rehabi-…training in the reconstructed area of north Kantou.”

“So they have a trainee system?”

“Kinda like that, yeah!”

There seemed to be more to this, but digging into it any further would not accomplish anything.

“I believe there is a Shihouin student dorm in the north Kantou reconstructed area,” said the voice from the girl’s handbag. “Their pamphlet says, ‘To increase your spell power, work in this reconstructed land and train your mind and body to thrice their previous strength’.”

“Thrice?”

''She might be tougher than she looks,'' thought the girl, but she also felt some relief. If she was training somewhere like that, Fleur would not have much of a connection to the Tokyo Bay Shihouin Academy.

''So I should be fine,'' she thought while letting her guard down.

“This shop sells specialties from different regions.”

“That one?”

“This one.”

She corrected Fleur’s pointing finger and walked through the station, but they did not have to walk far.

Once she saw the line of counters that looked a lot like stalls, Fleur dashed over.

“…Oh, you sure are full of energy.”

“I’m gushing with it!”

''Is that really how you want to describe it?

The girl had honestly been planning to leave after showing Fleur the way, but Fleur turned back.

“This is amazing! I can actually pull through with this!”

If she had said “thank you” or “that was a huge help!”, the girl could have waved goodbye.

But sometimes it was hard to find a good ending point.

Would a witch call this a jinx? But even for the girl…

“What do I do?”

“It’s still a lot earlier than last night,” said the handbag.

She decided to move up alongside Fleur and view the north Kantou products with her, but…

“Fleur, this is the Kyushu section.”

“That’s close enough! It should work!”

The girl decided to just assume Fleur was giving it to someone who would be fine with that. But she decided she should probably ask about it when Fleur started comparing a few wooden swords.

“How old is the person this is for?”

“Oh, she’s my age, but she’s more like my mama.”

“Is she grown up?”

“Yeah. Her boobs are pretty incredible.”

…''So it’s about the chest-accentuating stitching!

''Witches are amazing…'' she thought, but could a witch’s life experience really cause that much of a difference at the same age? And that brought another question to mind:

“Fleur, which year are you in?”

“3rd year. What about you?”

“Oh, um, 3rd year.”

“Ahh! So we’re the same!”

“Yeah,” confirmed the girl while thinking something different.

…''Oh, no… I’m only in the 3rd year of middle school…

''She’s really acting like we’re equals,'' she thought, but why was it Fleur actually seemed younger than her? Fleur herself was slowly but surely moving to the Tohoku pickled foods section.

“Maybe this would be best since I bet everyone thinks I’m someone who swings a hoe around to grow flowers.”

“Would someone your age really want something pickled…?”

“But the dorm mother said food makes a good gift because it doesn’t stick around! Think of it that way!”

In that case, the T-shirts, keychains, and lacquered chopsticks were off the table.

Fleur had been looking at a bag in a corner that said “Kiritanpo with One Character Wrong!”<ref>Change the “ta” to a “chi” and it sounds like “severed penis”.</ref>, but who made that? ''It wasn’t me.

''Please don’t buy it,'' she willed Fleur and it seemed to work. ''Do I have psychic powers?

Then they looked at what was lined up on the counter.

There was hard candy, but Shihouin Academy had to be busy. It seemed wrong to send that to someone in such a rushed place.

“And the fugashi package is a little big.”

“Kinakobo!”

“Don’t you want something with more individuality?”

''Oh, I’m saying the kind of thing my sister would.

And yet she had promised herself long ago that she would not just randomly shoot down other people’s ideas.

But Fleur was different.

How was she different? She was different from the girl. So Fleur simply smiled.

“Oh, I get it! Individuality! Yeah, it has to show where I came from!”

In that case, checking the Okinawa section would not work, but after hearing that line spoken straight to her…

…''Ah.

Someone else had just hit her with the same thing she had said constantly in the past.

And it really affected her.

The excuse that they were two different people did not seem like anything more than an excuse.

Instead of interpreting the situation differently, it felt like she was passing the right by truth. And when faced with that…

“—————”

She realized she had grown a little stubborn. She could not correct it right away, but she was certain that the warm sweat on her back came from her appreciation for Fleur who she had only just met.

And Fleur spoke to her with a few products in hand.

“Sorry about keeping you from getting home on time.”

“No, it’s fine. …I was only stopping by a family restaurant for some food before heading home.”

“A family restaurant!?”

Fleur really leapt at that one and the girl felt overwhelmed by the intensity.

“Um, yes. The Safe Restaurant over there.”

“That’s it!”

''What is?'' wondered the girl, but Fleur grabbed her hands and shook them up and down.

“How wonderful! I want to stay with you forever for today!”

''What is going on? But you’re gathering attention, so stop. Just stop.

“Huh? Is Fleur still not here?”

Hunter tilted her head in front of a lit building below the dark sky.

“Wouldn’t Fleur be confused if she got here ahead of us?” asked Horinouchi.

“I thought of that, so I told her to wait if we weren’t there yet. There was a margin of error of about 2 or 3 minutes.”

She looked down the road toward Shinagawa Station, but there were no Shihouin uniforms walking below the streetlights.

After disembarking from the bus, they heard an FA-18 passing overhead on the way to Yokosuka. The city seemed stiller than normal and there were fewer cars than normal, but…

“Wait a second.”

Hunter used a spell circle to connect to Fleur’s cellphone via the communication line.

“…Isn’t that going way out of the way?” asked Horinouchi.

“Oh, well, this technically belongs to American U.A.H. That means all of the related fees are managed by them, so any time I use it has to have something to do with the 7th Fleet.”

“…I can only guess, but that is using a satellite for part of the journey, isn’t it?” asked Kagami.

“Rank 3, aren’t you going a little too far for a personal call?” asked Mary.

“Don’t ask how much it costs! Don’t you dare ask! Got that!?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I just called her instead…?”

“Horinouchi!” said Kagami. “This is part of the management mission that Lisbeth gave to Hunter! So it would be best to put it all on a bill we send to Lisbeth.”

''I think that’s exactly what I’ll do.'' But anyway…

“What is it, Hunter!?” said the woman on the spell circle. “Calling from Shinagawa!? What geographic point do you want us to send a spell missile strike to!? You can mark it, can’t you!? Yes!”

“Hey, A-un Silver Coin!” shouted another voice. “The sea is rough after creating those Magino Devices, so don’t fire from the SS! The higher ups have been saying they want to see the Michael Monsoor fired, so use that! We can get away with 2 shots or so that way!”

''Don’t just decide that on your own. And what am I supposed to do with this GPS that appeared on the right?

“Kagami, is there a restaurant around here you don’t like?”

“That Gyudon – Kiraiya place with the sign over there had a pretty bad mayo gyudon, but I have no hard feelings.”

“I started targeting it, so don’t make feints like that!”

“What in the world are you doing, Hunter?” asked Horinouchi.

''Okay, okay. I’ll make the call.

After some static as it connected, she heard the noise clear up as it entered the allotted space meant to ensure privacy, but…

…''Hm?

She checked the spell circle and found the number she had called either did not have a signal or was powered off.

“Oh, Fleur’s phone is old, so it’s probably drowned out by all the spell communication waves,” explained Horinouchi. “That’s bound to happen at this time of day in a train station like Shinagawa.”

“Then she must have made it to Shinagawa Station.”

If she had gotten lost, the call would have gotten through.

''This is actually pretty easy to figure out,'' thought Hunter as Kagami placed a hand on her forehead and fanned her body.

“Horinouchi…does this still count as a call for Hunter’s communication spell?”

Hunter looked back to see Horinouchi hold a hand to her mouth and avert her gaze.

“Yes…it would.”

“Oh, shut up! Don’t ask how much it costs! Don’t you dare!”

“How much is it, Rank 3?”

“…Including the security, about 20 thousand…maybe? But that’s pretty cheap all things considered!”

They all covered their faces and turned their backs.

''What are we supposed to do about this?'' wondered Horinouchi. She was aware her mouth was twisted and Kagami indicated a three-way junction off of the main road instead of the main road itself.

This path bordered a building that was surrounded by an “under construction” cover and had remained untouched afterwards. It was only a difference of about 30 meters, but it apparently meant a lot to a local like Kagami.

“This way is actually shorter when coming from Shinagawa Station. …Of course, this assumes Fleur notices it.”

The road cutting by in front of the restaurant bordered a wide river on the left. The family restaurant they would gather at provided a view of Shihouin Academy thanks to that river.

…''It’s kind of strange.

Shihouin was visible from a place those sisters remembered fondly, but had that been caused by the Black Witch’s creation? If so, the Black Witch was a warped individual. If not, this world was harsh to the Black Witch.

But if Fleur came along the route Kagami had mentioned, she would be able to see Shihouin the entire way. That would provide a landmark, but…

…''Hunter didn’t tell her that much.

However, Hunter glared at Kagami and lightly raised her left hand.

“Kagami? …Isn’t that only true if the Black Witch made things that way?”

It took Horinouchi a second to realize what she meant.

…''That’s true!

Kagami must have realized the same thing because she slapped her forehead.

“My apologies! You are correct! It might be different.”

“Well, it is true we always arrive by bus,” said Horinouchi. “Have you ever come here via Shinagawa Station, Kagami?”

“No, no,” said Kagami as she shook her hands. “It seems I am surprisingly trusting of Shouko.”

“But, Brigadier General, if everything else around her is how you remember it, it seems only natural to assume the rest is too.”

“Should I run on over and check?” asked Hunter

“Can’t we just check the city map on a spell circle?”

Kagami stopped Horinouchi as she raised a hand.

“No, it would be crass to check on the truth. I would appreciate it if we kept this the way it is.”

''How complicated,'' thought Horinouchi, but she also realized a certain truth.

“My hostility toward the Black Witch has softened a lot more than I thought.”

Horinouchi saw Hunter and the others quickly turn back toward her.

“Are you okay, Horinouchi!? Losing your hostility isn’t going to lower your attack power, is it!?”

“That’s right, Miss Horinouchi!? Your hostility is our overpowered ATK! The carefree killer intent I felt when you shot me from the pole really squeezed at my spine! In a bad way!”

“Ha ha ha. Your deadly power is quite popular, Manko.”

“What are all of you saying!? And that last one! I don’t like that look that says, ‘I might as well say it since the others did’!”

But she did look at this different than before.

“This is very complicated.”

“What is?”

“From what I’ve heard from you, Kagami, this world has less to do with the Black Witch than it does recreations of your sister’s memories.”

Before meeting Kagami, she had only thought of the Black Witch as toying with and then destroying the world.

But that was wrong.

“I wouldn’t be able to destroy the memories of my mother.”

Hunter and Mary were likely the same. If they were fighting for what they had lost, they would not be able to reject what they had lost. But…

“Why is the Black Witch trying to destroy this world?”

“Ah,” said Hunter when she realized what Horinouchi was trying to say.

Horinouchi probably understood the contradiction in what she was saying, but her feelings had not fully grasped it yet.

Meaning…

“The Black Witch is trying to destroy her memories?”

“Yes. Kagami just now assumed that a back way only they knew would be here, and it might indeed be here. She’s recreated it to that level, but then there are the things about Utsunomiya being the kingdom of gyoza and frog not being available at Yokohama.”

“Miss Horinouchi, you’re getting sidetracked in a weird way.”

“Try to understand,” said Hunter. “This means she’s memorized everything Kagami has ever said.”

“Y-you! Don’t make any weird interpretations of this!”

At any rate, it would be best to ask someone who was involved, or at least related.

“What’s the meaning of this, Kagami?”

“I would imagine that is because my sister was ill and saw no future in her own world.”

Horinouchi remembered hearing something about that early on and it made some sense to her. But…

“You would imagine? So are you just guessing here, Kagami?” asked Horinouchi. “Listen, we do not ''understand'' the Black Witch.”

After thinking on Horinouchi’s words for a moment, Mary nodded.

…''That’s true.

She wanted to eliminate the Black Witch.

The Black Witch had killed, erased, and annihilated the others from her world. And partially just for fun.

“I cannot forgive her for what she did.”

That much was certain. But at the same time…

“It is true we do not know much about the Black Witch.”

Until now, they had simply assumed that this was how the Black Witch was.

But there were some questions.

“Based on what Kagami has said, it doesn’t sound like the Black Witch created this world to destroy it,” said Horinouchi. “Of course, a lot has been lost and we all have our own thoughts on the matter. Everyone in this world probably does. And many of us won’t be able to forgive her. That means she cannot be allowed to exist any longer. But…”

“But? But what?”

“The Black Witch wants to destroy this world for some reason. Unless we figure out why that is, we are no different in our desire to destroy the Black Witch.”

“That’s true.” Mary spoke while thinking about the standards inside themselves. “I cannot forgive the Black Witch. So I do feel a need to destroy her with all my might and there is no way of undoing what she has done.”

But…

“I did the same thing. Yes, I tried to.”

She had tried to erase Kagami because she could not forgive her.

But Kagami had accepted the fight, heard her out, and chosen not to criticize her.

Mary had been that way. And…

“I was just about to become a ‘fool’ too,” said Hunter as she looked to Kagami. “Kagami, can you do to your sister what you did to us?”

“Well…”

Kagami wrinkled her brow.

And in that instant, Horinouchi spoke up.

“Kagami, you are surprisingly awkward.” The shrine maiden put on a small smile. “You are so tolerant when it comes to victims, the weak, or those in danger, but you are so harsh when it comes to aggressors, the strong, or those who put others in danger. …That might be the proper form for those with power, but if you oppose the aggressors, the strong, and those who put others in danger in the same way, then we will be standing in the same position as our opponent.”

So…

“Since you guided us this far, we want you to do the same thing for your sister. If you don’t, we will become the same as the Black Witch.”

“Yeah, I don’t want this to be a case where the hero who defeats the monster turns into a monster herself.”

Hunter was exactly right.

And Kagami had prevented them from doing that so far.

“Brigadier General.”

Mary found she understood why Kagami had done that.

“Were you hoping that only you would become a monster because you will be leaving this world after we win? …Were you thinking of wrapping this all up in that way?”

''She’s such an idiot,'' thought Horinouchi with a small smile.

She did not know if Mary was correct, but…

“We have our own thoughts and we aren’t powerless. Also, the Geo Frame is needed to destroy the Black Witch and that requires us to work together.”

So…

“It is no longer possible for only you to become like the Black Witch and turn into a monster. At the very least, it will affect me as well.”

She said it. And after a while…

“…”

Hunter and Mary gave some scattered applause. Some citizens and witches passing by also noticed her and joined the applause.

“Wh-what is this about!?”

“You should know since you’re the one that said it.”

…''Eh?

''Did I say something bad?'' But she was more interested in Kagami’s reaction to her words.

She noticed the white-haired girl had closed her eyes.

“—————”

After taking a breath and laughing through her nose, she looked to Horinouchi. It was a direct, testing look.

…''Ah.

Sensing that Kagami was going to do something to her, she tensed up, but she kept herself from moving away.

It was fine.

If this girl was going to become a monster, she would stop her. And if that was not possible, she would go with her.

Was it an excuse to claim that was necessary to protect their world?

But if she did not think of it that way, she felt like her emotions were going to explode inside her.

She was clearly sending herself in a dangerous direction, but she also sensed hope there.

If it was the world that just barely kept her from forgiving herself for the irresponsibility of not caring how this turned out, did that mean she had already surpassed this world?

But then Kagami averted her gaze. She turned toward Hunter. And then toward Mary.

“You have my thanks,” said the visitor from another world as she relaxed her body. “Perhaps it is now my time to be stopped by you.”

Horinouchi sensed relief in the air.

…''That’s right.

She did not know what was “right”, but she believed that it was a good thing.

She might be being idealistic and some might say she had grown soft or treacherous.

But because she could criticize the Black Witch’s actions…

“Just as we don’t want to be the same as the Black Witch…Kagami, we don’t want you to end up that way either.”

She did look Hunter and Mary’s way. And when they noticed her…

“Oh, can you include us in that too?”

“Yeah, um, us. Include us.”

“Y-you don’t have to put it like that…!”

''Maybe it can’t be helped since the Geo Frame is between Kagami and me,'' she thought, but outside of that…

“But if we do have to stop the Brigadier General, how exactly will we do it?”

“…Couldn’t I just wait for her to charge out ahead and then shoot her in the back?”

“Kagami, Horinouchi just said something pretty damn amazing!”

“I might need to think twice about making any careless actions!”

''Well, maybe so,'' thought Horinouchi. And when thinking about who would be best for the job…

“Who would best be able to respond to Kagami’s starting dash?”

“The Rank 3.”

“Me!?”

“Yes. So you catch up to the Brigadier General and stop her long enough for Miss Horinouchi to shoot her.”

“I’ll be caught in the blast too, won’t I!? Won’t I!?”

“In that case, Mary and Hunter can work together to stop her.”

“What do you mean ‘in that case’, Horinouchi!?”

“I-if those are your orders, Miss Horinouchi…!”

“Horinouchi, I feel like Mary is growing less respectable, so can you do something about that?” asked Kagami.

''What am I supposed to do?

That said, they were waiting for Fleur. When they peeked inside the family restaurant…

“The corner seat by the entrance is open,” commented Horinouchi. “If we wait there, won’t we be able to see Fleur no matter which road she arrives on?”

“You still have to worry about the reflection on the window,” pointed out Hunter. “And I’ll be focused on eating.”

“Yes…someone is going to have to restrain you.”

Hunter’s face stiffened at that, but it was somewhat amusing.

“Let’s go in and wait there. And Kagami? While we do…no, afterwards as well, I want to hear more about you and your sister. I want to learn any clues we can about why the Black Witch created this world and yet is trying to destroy it.”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht:Volume4_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht:Volume4_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 5A Chapter 14

2017-04-12T23:02:55Z

86.52.225.192: Pretty sure Fuwa is eating naan bread. Other minor fixes.

==Chapter 14: Divided Worrier==
[[Image:Horizon5A_393.jpg|thumb]]
''Why? / Because

''What for? / Because

''Are you sure? / Because of that

'''Point Allocation (Empathy)

“Huh? Takigawa started the Battle of Kanagawa!?”

A voice yelled within a large room colored by moonlight.

The room contained long tables lined with chairs. It was a dining hall. The windows gave a view of the moon and of the galley landing alongside this one.

Someone kicked the table. It was past dinner time and there were few people here, so the sound of struck wood reverberated loudly across the room.

Not caring that the few people there were focused on him, a boy with dark skin slammed his hand on the table.

“What is the meaning of this, Toshi!?”

“I can only say that Takigawa must have felt that was the only way to deal with the situation, Na-chan.”

“Calm down,” added Matsu.

“How can I calm down!? That battle is the turning point for Takigawa!!”

“And that’s why Maeda is telling you to calm down, Sassa.”

“Noooo. Matsu.”

Matsu clenched her fists and complained as a glasses girl sat in the next seat over while carrying some naan and cheese. She wore a track suit below a moonlit two-piece outfit and she turned toward Matsu.

“Oh, right. Matsu said it, not ‘Maeda’. Sorry.”

“I’ll forgive you.”

“Ha ha ha. Ma-chan is so cute.”

“You never change, do you, you idiot? And Fuwa, why are you sitting around eating?”

“This is the dining hall.”

“Keh,” spat out Narimasa, but he did relax his body.

“Shibata’s forces are going to start their pre-summer break cleaning soon, so don’t go making a mess of things,” Fuwa said to him.

“Fuwa, Takigawa’s helped you out too, right?”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” Fuwa rubbed on a single bite’s worth of cheese and looked Sassa in the eye. “Run all the way there? We’re in M.H.R.R. Even if you manage something on par with Hashiba’s Great Return, it’ll still take more than an hour to get there.”

Fuwa followed up on her question with something different.

“You’re not really asking what we should do, are you? You’re asking how this could have happened. If you could just put it like that, we could actually hold a conversation.” She cut off a piece of the cheese with a knife. “But, well, the Testament doesn’t have you fighting on the same side as Takigawa from here on.”

“—————”

“Look.” She rested her elbow on the table and opened a few maps and lists of dates on an ''insha kotob''. “According to the Testament, when Takigawa returns from Kantou, she rebels against Hashiba because the Oda clan forces fall into her control after our master’s assassination. And as part of Shibata’s forces, she takes part in the anti-Hashiba showdown at the Battle of Shizugatake.”

“Shaja. And Shibata Katsuie commits suicide by his own sword. Takigawa Ichimasu retires.”

But…

“While you will be a part of Shibata’s forces, Sassa, you’ll be too busy dealing with Uesugi to do more than send a few of your own troops to the Battle of Shizugatake. …And after that, you never again have the chance to fight under the same flag as Takigawa Ichimasu.”

Fuwa thought their master’s assassination and the lack of unity between the Oda clan retainers afterwards were truly unfortunate.

…''But I guess we all do have different backgrounds.

Those like her had been born in Oda regions, but Sassa had started out as a member of P.A. Oda’s Mlasi forces and had only joined the Oda clan later.

The Oda clan was a meritocracy, so he had been readily appointed to an important position, but even if he had received a warm welcome, a foreigner like him had needed to build his resolve and keep the proper distance when joining.

During that time, Takigawa had maintained a relaxed atmosphere around him without ruining her image as an upperclassman and Shibata had looked after him from a position of superiority from the beginning.

…''People like that are probably good for people like Sassa who want to be accepted from the outside.

He was short-tempered, but he must have had a good upbringing because he could be reasoned with if you tried. She just wished he would use his inquiring mind in a more positive way, but…

“You can be so dumb, Sassa.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“You react too much to what’s right in front of you. …Besides, the fact that you won’t share the battlefield with Takigawa is hardly new information. You’re only upset now because this is the beginning of her decline, but that’s none of your business. …It’s not like the two of you share your lives. You’re just another underclassman to her. I’m sure you feel indebted to her after she helped you out in the past, but you’re empathizing with her too much and turning it into a huge deal, y’see?”

“D-damn you. That ‘y’see’ at the end really pisses me off…”

She did not care. And if he was pissed off, that was all the more reason to say it.

“Takigawa knew what it meant to go to Kantou, but she did it anyway, y’see? …You don’t have to like it, but wanting to save her is nothing more than arrogance. You’d be robbing her of the decision she bet the rest of her life on.”

“What good is going there if I can’t say what I really think?”

“Can you take responsibility for Takigawa’s life? If you did that, you’d make an enemy of everyone who worked realllly hard on the history recreations that Takigawa went to Kantou for. And we’re the Testament Union right now.”

Saying that reminded Fuwa of something.

…''Oh, so that’s it.

That was what Musashi was doing. They had done it when they saved their princess at Mikawa and they had done it when they saved Mary Stuart at England. They had been prepared to make an enemy of everyone.

…''So that’s it…

Fuwa realized that Sassa had a very Musashi-like mentality.

He would later join forces with Matsudaira at Komaki Nagakute, but…

“Hmm…”

She groaned to herself while thinking he might be more honest with himself there than he was here.

He could have trouble when it came to handling his emotions.

So she made sure to say it.

“Besides, Takigawa Ichimasu is skilled enough to be counted among Oda’s Four Heavenly Kings, so Hashiba will use her as well and she’ll fight in the Battle of Komaki Nagakute, the direct confrontation between Hashiba and Matsudaira. …But Takigawa Ichimasu loses to Matsudaira there. And her life is only downhill afterwards. …She never wins another battle after losing at the Battle of Kanagawa.”

But…

“That’s only according to the Testament. Interpretations can deal with that. You’ll be an enemy by then, Sassa, but will you hold back when you face her?”

“…No.”

“Then there’s your answer. You’re both the same there.”

And…

“Sassa, you don’t have time to be worrying about others, do you?”

A short silence followed that question.

But Narimasa spoke up as if to drive it out as a nuisance.

“What do you mean?”

''Don’t act like you don’t know,'' thought Fuwa with a nasal breath. Then she opened a new ''insha kotob'' at the tip of her knife. It displayed a simple map of Kyushu.

“Well, if you insist. Sassa, can you look at this objectively?”

The battle was underway in Kantou, but they had to focus on the more immediate problem.

…''I have a short-term viewpoint, too.

Fuwa manipulated the display with that in mind.

“This is the current situation in Kyushu.”

The map of Kyushu quickly filled with black. That contained the marker for M.H.R.R.

“This is what Hashiba controls. Before conquering K.P.A. Italia, Hashiba took care of the Kyushu Campaign which had its foundation in allying herself with Kyushu. Sassa, you and the others took part in that from M.H.R.R., right?”

“That’s right,” confirmed Maeda. “The Kyushu Campaign was a flag toward triggering the Bunroku Campaign that used Kyushu as a foothold. Hashiba’s forces are only able to invade Kantou now because we divided our forces and recreated Hashiba’s Kyushu Campaign. So…”

So…

“Na-chan, Takigawa can only do her thing in Kantou because we carried out the Kyushu Campaign and created the foothold for invading Edo. It isn’t like we haven’t done anything for her.”

“I know that. Shut up.”

“Yes, yes. As long as you understand.”

Fuwa nodded and looked straight at Sassa using the eyes behind her glasses.

“Now, about you.”

Listen.

“Since you’ve completed the Kyushu Campaign, Sassa, you’re near the end of your history recreation. The Kyushu Campaign was completed in advance, so there isn’t much left for your time on the battlefield.”

“Shaja.”

Narimasa reached out and manipulated her ''insha kotob''.

It displayed the bottom of Hokuriku, between Kantou and Kinki.

“All I have left are my two battles before the Kyushu Campaign: the Hashiba-Matsudaira showdown at the Battle of Komaki Nagakute and the Battle of Suemori Castle following that. There, I join Matsudaira as Hashiba’s enemy and then fight and lose to Toshi who acts on Hashiba’s behalf. …The Testament says I’m given Higo after the Kyushu Campaign, fail, and am ordered to commit suicide, but this here is effectively the last thing for me.” He turned a sharp gaze Fuwa’s way from below his sunglasses. “But what of it? I’m well aware I don’t have much time left. Given what battles I have left, I’ll rebel against Hashiba with Shibata at the Battle of Shizugatake and then fight the Battles of Komaki Nagakute and Suemori Castle. …What does any of that matter? Hmm?”

“What kind of idiot tries to intimidate a girl?”

“Idiot! Idiot!” repeated Matsu.

“Shut up. It’s a bad habit!”

“Everyone loves you for having an actual explanation, Na-chan.”

Sassa walked angrily around the table to reach Toshiie, but Toshiie crouched down and crab-walked around the table to keep his distance.

After a full rotation, Sassa came to a stop.

“What are you trying to say with all this, Fuwa?”

“I kind of understand why you’re worried about Takigawa.”

That being…

“The battle of Komaki Nagakute is Takigawa’s final battle according to the Testament. And since we’ve already done the Kyushu Campaign, the Battle of Suemori Castle that happens right after the Battle of Komaki Nagakute will be your final battle. …You’ll both finish your roles at about the same time.”

''That’s so like Na-chan,'' thought Toshiie.

''No, this may be more like Takigawa,'' he added.

When Narimasa had joined P.A.M. long ago, he had been fairly touchy, but it had been Shibata who had knocked him down a notch and Takigawa who had looked after him while maintaining her dignity as an upperclassman.

But those two upperclassmen were going to retire as students one after another.

None of them had ever thought about graduation. They had just assumed the important people above them would support them and guide them.

But history marched ever onward. A lot of it was resolved through interpretations, but things generally followed the Testament descriptions. That was especially true of nations blessed with skilled people that stood on the main stage of history.

Narimasa understood that intellectually and had lived accordingly, but…

…''Our role ends with the Kyushu Campaign.

Thanks to the attack on Uesugi, their job had ended early. Everyone involved in the third attack there had held a party with those who would remain to fight and negotiate another day.

At the time, Toshiie had realized he would never see some of those people again.

“…”

Narimasa had likely learned there that he was with some people he would never see again and that he would soon be one of those people the others would never see again.

…''And it’s happening for him after Shibata and at the same time as Takigawa.

So…

“Na-chan, your last battle will be against me. Since we’re telling you not to worry about Takigawa here, I should also tell you not to hold back with me.”

“Yeah, you do love your money.”

“Testament,” replied Toshiie. “We knew up front what we would lose, but I still want to avoid losing it if I can.”

“You sound like Musashi,” said Narimasa as he sat down.

Similarly, everyone else in the dining hall breathed a sigh of relief. That was partially due to their fear of Narimasa, but…

…''They must also be worried for all of us.

Meanwhile, Narimasa crossed his arms behind his head and spoke.

“All my focus on things I’ve lost has already been used up on my little sister. I might lose some others, but none of them can mean more than her, so they don’t matter. But…”

But…

“If it looks like we’re gonna lose something, I end up wanting to see if we can do something about it right up to the very end. …That’s all.”

“…Sassa.”

“I said that’s all, idiot. …What’s that smile for, Toshi?”

“Well, Na-chan, that’s just not fair at all.”

A bitter laugh escaped Toshiie and something else suddenly came to mind.

“But…what about Musashi’s Chancellor?”

“He’s hopeless. He’s too careless and lacks any tension at all. …We’re talking about people that’ll do comedy routines on the battlefield, remember?”

“But we lost to them at Novgorod.”

“We withdrew,” corrected Narimasa.

…''Come to think of it, that’s right.

With a mental “most likely”, he decided Musashi must be enjoying themselves on the battlefield displayed on his ''lernen figur''.

His group was enjoying themselves too, but Musashi lacked something they had.

…''A focus on destruction and an atmosphere steeped in impatience and anger.

''When your inherited name leads you to a history recreation of destruction or failure, you definitely feel impatience and anger,'' thought Toshiie.

But Musashi lacked that. They seemed to pass from incident to incident through idiocy and laughter. They had to have lost a lot during the Battle of Mikatagahara, but…

…''The information we received from Sanada says they didn’t really change even with all that anxiety.

That had been an act.

That meant they were not true idiots. They believed they would have a future if they worked to remain cheerful even when painful things happened. That had likely become a habit for them, and more importantly…

“Musashi’s Chancellor is probably an excellent example for them.”

The provisional rule had taken away Musashi’s rights and their position as a proper nation, so they had become a gathering place for the other nations’ outcasts.

To put it another way, they were a home for those without a future.

An incompetent Chancellor and Student Council President had historically been chosen for that country on the precipice.

They would have originally been choosing an incompetent figurehead, but that gradually shifted toward choosing an incompetent entertainer, which led to the current Chancellor and President.

Since they had no future, that nation had to put on an act of strength and they were ruled by a smiling idiot.

To put it another way…

“Since there are times when things won’t go well even with the best of efforts, they’ve decided to take it seriously but not think too deeply about it and remain carefree.”

That was the Musashi style.

It did not mean they were not serious. It just meant they did not focus on those things as much. And…

“Since they’re taking it seriously, they’re fine with smiling, losing, and putting on an act of strength when loss is inevitable.”

…''What a twisted bunch.

But that was the pride of someone without a future. Even if they lost everything when they lost, they could smile because they had taken it seriously and they could say they hadn’t really lost because their tough spirit had not been broken.

And when that happened, they would hide their grim expression and do silly things so they would feel no regret.

…''Is this…?

Toshiie had heard of a similar ideology before. Fuwa would have as well.

It was…

“—————”

“What is it, Toshi?”

Narimasa spoke to his colleague who had suddenly fallen silent and looked down.

After a pause, Toshiie responded.

“Oh, nothing.”

He turned Fuwa’s ''insha kotob'' toward himself.

“Umm.” He placed a hand on his forehead. “What do you think it means to live without regret?”

“That’s a question for Shibata.”

''Why is he asking about something people are always telling him?'' wondered Narimasa.

“That idiot enjoys every single day and lives life to its fullest.”

Toshiie would normally have said “Yes, he does” in response.

But he did not. He instead turned the ''insha kotob'' toward Narimasa.

“…Let’s watch.”

He got up from his seat and sat at the foot of the table to be between Narimasa and Fuwa.

Then he spoke quietly.

“What is going on here? …I want to ask Takigawa once she gets back.”

They could see the light of cannon fire on the screen.

And Toshiie looked like he was trying to stare straight through it.

“We have resolve, but we might lack acceptance.”

The Kantou sky was full of light.

The source of the light was simple. First, the high-speed ship called the Shirasagi Castle scattered accelerated ether light while circling around the Ariake. By firing towards the Ariake inside that circle, it forced the Ariake to open many defense barriers and fortify their defenses as those barriers shattered.

A band of light flew in a large circle in the sky and light sprayed from the rooftop receiving that attack.

The Ariake had removed its stealth barrier. That allowed them to fully open their defense barriers and defend against the Shirasagi Castle’s attack.

But that attack was dense and constant.

By including the 4 additional attack ships into the attack rotation, the three-hull ship alternated between its port ship, center ship, starboard ship, and accompanying ships as it attacked and shattered that light against the Ariake. But…

“Will this work!?”

A voice spoke from atop the Ariake.

At the same time, something lined up on the Ariake.

They were defense barriers created by “Ariake”.

The line of barriers took form around the top of the Ariake with the perfect number and pattern to fully block the Shirasagi Castle’s attack.

“Finally…!”

A god of war firing unit was protecting the damaged armor on the southwest corner of the Ariake. They swapped out the magazines attached to their muzzle-loading rapid-fire flintlock guns.

They were switching from defense barrier ammunition to anti-ship ammunition.

“Fire once your shot is in range!” said Naomasa as their commander.

“Judge!”

They began firing.

Naomasa also opened a sign frame linked to Jizuri Suzaku’s sight devices and narrowed down the sight.

“Fire…!”

She fired too.

Their shots were vastly outnumbered by the enemy’s, but…

'''Novice:''' “Don’t rush this. If we’re defending against their shells, we can’t fire back directly along their line of fire. If you aren’t used to firing with this kind of height difference, aim for the base of their bridge. Try to avoid targeting the side of their hull because they’re prepared to take fire there.”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Did you read that in a book?”

'''Novice:''' “Wh-what’s wrong with that!? This is the time to show off that kind of knowledge and make it useful! If you get that, then hold your tongue!”

'''Four Eyes:''' “Ah ha ha. …So you can use that tone with me, Toussaint?”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “Eeek!”

Regardless, their firing accuracy was not perfect. Even if it was a large ship, it was hard to hit something moving so quickly.

“Ignore it when it circles behind us! Fire thrice when it’s passing from west-southwest to south-southeast! That’s your quota!”

'''Asama:''' “Sorry, Masa. My Konoha-based targeting program is still experimental, so I’ve only put your data in there…”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Yeah, I’m taking that into consideration. I’ll send you feedback, so get it in order ASAP. I can get by with a normal one.”

But as they fired, the god of war firing unit exchanged a glance regarding the previous command.

“U-um, which way is southwest-west…?”

“It’s that way! Um, the direction with the stars shining in the heavens. Yes, that definite light over there.”

“Oh, hey! You’re the head of the Kepler-style astronomy club ‘Kepler with a Running Start’!”

“Can I get an answer to which way that is!?”

No two of them seemed to have the same standard for interpreting it.

Naomasa had no choice but to send Asama a request to have direction marker sign frames displayed around the Ariake. They were hard to see from the corner, but they would help more than just her unit.

But as they continued attacking and counterattacking, Naomasa realized something.

…''It’s the same?

She sensed a pattern to the enemy’s cannon fire.

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Someone, what is Takigawa’s objective in this battle?”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “O-okay! We’re in a hurry, so I’ll answer! Um, Takigawa’s objective should be the destruction of the Musashi and the Ariake. After all, the Battle of Kanagawa happens immediately after Nobunaga’s assassination. Completing it will be a Kantou-side flag toward that assassination. So Takigawa cannot afford to leave the Musashi and the Ariake unharmed now that she’s started it.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “In other words, it’ll feel great if we can win here!”

'''Asama:''' “Just to be safe, why exactly is that?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “We’ll be in ecstasy, our excitement will be through the roof, our mood will be better than ever, and we won’t be able to stop smiling. And when we’re praised for it, Mitotsudaira will piss herself in joy, Asama will wiggle around in her heart, Horizon will give a thumbs up, and the great wise sister will begin a constant full-count fever time! Delicious!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “That doesn’t explain anything and I don’t like what you slipped into the middle there!”

'''Hori-ko:''' “Do you do that too, Mitotsudaira-sama?”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Eh? W-well, I’ve never tried it…”

“Ah, no. Dear, just because I’m always on the attack and my defense and evasion levels are in negative territory is no reason to start up with that petting skill of yours. Do it too much and I’ll overload with happiness and do something indecent. Ah, no, doooon’t stop. Yes, there, there. Yes, yes, yes. Let’s go all the way! I’ll make sure to pay you back plenty afterwards.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “I…th-think that shouldn’t be a problem.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “I’m making so much progress on this storyboard!”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “I-isn’t it a little soon for that?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Ga-chan, we’re in a battle right now, so maybe you should keep that to yourself.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “What are you talking about, Margot? If you can have fun making a doujinshi while waging war or do nothing while disinterestedly waging war, isn’t the former the better option!?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “I meant that mentioning it might make them run away. And the Chancellor might focus on it and start doing unnatural things.”

When everyone looked over, the idiot swung his body left and right and then twisted his hips.

'''Mal-Ga:''' “I can’t do that, Margot… This is a competition. I mustn’t spy on them. And it’s the artist’s job to find the true actions hidden behind the unnatural ones.”

'''Uqui:''' “Well said.”

'''Unturning:''' “The scary part is that this is all the response that gets in Musashi…”

'''Novice:''' “But now…can we get back on topic? Yes. It would be bad for Takigawa if she stops Musashi here. It would be much better for her if she returned to P.A. Oda, received backup, and recovered her position.”

'''Obscene:''' “Why doesn’t she do that? She must feel lonely striking back on her own like this!”

'''Sticky King:''' “That’s right! We are the friends of lonely children! Let’s go help her!”

'''Bell:''' “Sh-she’s an…adult. I…think?”

'''Obscene:''' “Really? Well, if she’s an adult, she can go it alone!”

'''Sticky King:''' “But she mustn’t forget to have the courage to let us know if she’s in pain!”

'''Vice President:''' “When did this turn into a counseling session? Anyway, Neshinbara, do you have anything to say?”

'''Novice:''' “Oh, yes, judge. …Takigawa is trying to stop Musashi because…um, what was it? Oh, right. P.A. Oda has shifted toward their attack on Mouri, so she doesn’t want to cause them any trouble. And by wearing us down, she can rob us of the power to interfere with Hashiba as they head off to Mouri.”

Neshinbara sighed before continuing.

'''Novice:''' “So Takigawa needs to wear us down enough that we can’t take our next action. On the other hand, we can earn a debt from Mouri by wearing her down here. It’s obvious she’ll be sent to Mouri when she withdraws from Kantou, after all. So in a way, Takigawa wants the same thing we do here.”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “If we can endure this, we’ll have forced them to consume ammunition and fuel. And if we’re fine afterwards, we can sell our name and make P.A. Oda look less powerful. That’s enough for us.”

But…

“I doubt it’ll be that easy…!”

As soon as he said that, a change occurred in the sky.

There were now two Shirasagi Castles.

“It copied itself…!?”

Naomasa frowned at the image from the sign frame synced with the sight devices.

There were now two Shirasagi Castles, but this was not Techno Magie or anything of the sort.

“The ship split apart, didn’t it!!?”

“Judge!” shouted the student in charge of observation. “The entire Shirasagi fleet has split in two and is moving apart!”

The Shirasagi castle had split into two groups. One contained the central ship and the 4 accompanying ships. The other contained the port and starboard ships.

The central ship’s group accelerated over to the opposite side of the Ariake from the port and starboard ships.

They kept up the speed of their circle around the Ariake and continued firing.

“This is ‘Ariake’ with a request. …Evacuate the upper surface! This surpasses the number of available defense barriers! Over.”

The number of shells had changed.

Before, the three-hull ship and 4 single-hull ships had set up a rotation, but now they were using a double rotation between the two groups. And they took opposite positions while flying in a large circle around the Ariake.

“Shells incoming…! Over.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 5A Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 5A Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Prologue

2017-03-11T23:29:19Z

86.52.225.192: Fixed two errors.

==Prologue: Drunk Girl at a Place of Washing Away Impurity==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi3A_005.jpg|thumb]]
''Drunk

''Or sober?

''It’s less about which is better

''And more about which is more fun

'''Point Allocation (Avoiding the Issue)

Morning came early at the Asama Shrine.

Supposedly.

Asama woke at 6 in the morning. She normally woke before 5 to perform her purification and to work with Hanami on the early-morning ether management that served as the foundation of Musashi’s management. But…

“…Hanami?”

Hanami was sleeping on the pillow with Uzy.

That meant no job requests had arrived from the Asama Shrine.

…''My dad did it for me, didn’t he?

He likely understood what had happened the night before and had let her rest.

She was lying in her futon with Kimi on her left and Mitotsudaira on her right. Kimi always slept in the nude and hugged things in her sleep, so her yukata was almost entirely removed and she clung to Asama close enough that her body heat tickled her.

On the other hand, Mitotsudaira was sniffing at Asama in her sleep, which was quite cute in its own way.

The Cerberus on her head was about to slip right off, which was also cute.

But once they woke, she told them the band name she had thought up during the night and they spent their time smiling both bitterly and otherwise.

“Then let’s go with that.”

“It certainly is a perfect description of us right now…”

''It really is,'' thought Asama as she submitted the divine transmission document with their names on it to the Gagaku Festival HQ.

While she did not take a full morning bath, the Asama Shrine practice was to purify oneself in the morning. In order to hold the first “Kimitoasamade Planning Meeting”, Kimi and Mitotsudaira accompanied her. But…

…''Yes, I should have known this would happen…

Kimi had no trouble at all in the wooden spring bath, but Mitotsudaira…

“Cold! Th-this spring always is absolutely freezing!”

Mitotsudaira made a temporary retreat and sat on the edge of the bath. Her pride insisted she at least keep her legs soaking in the spring and she naively thought she might get used to the temperature.

The wooden frame felt warm below her butt, but that was probably only an illusion. The heat below her chilled skin was only warming her skin due to the pressure from sitting on the frame.

…''That’s the Asama spring for you!

The water was unusually clear.

That was likely because the Asama Shrine was the foundation of Musashi’s ether management.

The Asama Shrine managed the ether pathways and the ether fuel that was refined by the Musashi.

That meant highly pure water was sent to the Asama Shrine where it was purified before being sent to the different ships. The purified water’s role was to absorb the ether stagnations and inconvenient “impurities” that occurred in the different ships. It circulated within the Musashi and was purified again below the Asama Shrine and other shrines so it could be reused.

The water in this spring had been tuned to the highest level within the Musashi and had then been given a high-level purification divine protection by the Asama Shrine’s techniques.

The Shirasago brand logos seen here and there were proof of that. During the great remodeling at IZUMO nine years before, Okutama had been remade into the main ship for Musashi as a whole, and the Asama Shrine had been strengthened as Musashi’s Shinto representative at the time.

A structure as large as the Musashi could only “last” due to the purification of the “impurities” that was only possible due to that strengthening.

That meant the water they were casually soaking in was literally the water of life that supported the giant city ship. It would remove the impurities from everything that touched it and it would tune anything. But…

“It even negates the hair grooming divine protection I have as part of my species,” complained Mitotsudaira.

“No, I think it technically overloads that divine protection.”

Asama gave her a bitter smile from the spring. She let her hair swim through the water and moved as if to pour water over her head.

“Mito, your divine protection is an inborn thing. …That means it’s a part of who you are and it can’t be purified away. Instead, I think the divine protection is able to relax inside this purifying spring, so it absorbs the water and tries to expel the excess inside your body.”

“You’re saying my divine protection knows this water will help with my ‘grooming’?”

“That’s right,” said Kimi as she placed her elbows on the edge of the bath and lay face down in the water. She traced her fingers along Mitotsudaira’s thigh. “It’s like your pretty-pretty divine protection is rejoicing that it’s found a shampoo that suits it. So, Mitotsudaira, it isn’t that your skin is repelling the water; it’s licking it.”

Sure enough, the water dripping down her skin seemed to stretch out and slowly spill down. But…

“I don’t think it had this much of an effect when I’ve been here before.”

“That probably means you’ve grown and your species divine protection has grown stronger. Also…”

“Maybe you’ve started a lazier lifestyle, so you’re more used to relaxing. C’mon, c’mon.”

Kimi tugged on her ankles in the water. She was clearly going to pull Mitotsudaira in if she ignored her, so Mitotsudaira breathed in and prepared to enter the water.

“Oh, if it feels cold, exhale and then imagine you’re continuing to exhale as you get in,” advised Asama. “If your body is tense and you have your body-heated breath in your lungs, it will only feel colder. Just relax.”

“R-relax?”

''Should she really be using the English word in a Shinto spring?'' wondered Mitotsudaira as she did as told. She hesitantly exhaled and slowly entered the water by lowering the back of her thighs instead of her lap.

…''Wow.

The word “cold” itself seemed to enter the areas where her skin had been touching.

“Nn.”

She sat down so the water rose to her shoulders. She felt like nothing else would count as fully soaking her body. And following her pride and efforts, the cold enveloped her body and she shivered.

Kimi immediately spoke up.

“No peeing.”

“N-no one would do that!”

“Don’t be so sure.” Kimi waved a hand as she spun her body toward Mitotsudaira. “Back when my foolish brother began his contract, he suddenly raised his hand and said, ‘Sorry, I just made an offering. A pee offering. Know what I mean? Hm?’ This spring’s purification device wasn’t isolated at the time, so for a whole day, no one was allowed to ingest any water and the Musashi was brought to an emergency stop.”

Before thinking “that idiot”, Mitotsudaira found herself thinking “I should have known”. But then Kimi moved close and whispered into her ear.

“That means my foolish brother marked us back then.”

“Wh-what does that mean!?”

“Heh heh. Do you want him to do it to you too?”

She felt like such a fool for briefly hesitating in her answer, but the idiot sister relaxed her legs below herself in the water and rested her cheek on her hand.

“I understand, Mitotsudaira. You want some kind of proof of the master-servant relationship with your king while you play and frolic with him, don’t you? You want to be covered in your king’s scent as proof that you belong to him and have no other king. Frolicking and licking him isn’t enough for you and only receiving his adoration doesn’t satisfy you, so you want him to defile you like animals playing in the mud. …C’mon, you want to get cutely down on your knees, bow down, and then lick him while you beg for it, don’t you?”

“N-no, um…”

Her body temperature rose as she imagined it, but the chilly water held her thoughts in check.

“N-not even a Loup-Garou does that!”

“Hee hee. Dear? We pulled an all-nighter ‘studying’, but it looks like that wasn’t enough for you. …Now, now. I can tell even if you bury your face in the pillow and sob. You want to do more for me, don’t you? But you think you’re too awkward and don’t know what to do so you always just let me guide you. But you know what I want you to do now, don’t you?”

That being…

“If we view what we just finished as the midpoint of the battle, then I want you to mark me now. C’mon, get up. Your cute wolf…um, who is still very cute. Yes, she’s still got her cuteness. Anyway, your cute wolf is bowing down begging for it. Yes, please don’t hesitate. I’ll lick you until you’re ready. Hee hee. You can hold back if you want. But you don’t get to say no in the end.”

“I-I’m suddenly feeling much less confident in that assertion, but w-we really don’t do that!”

She decided to leave the “probably” in her heart.

Asama then nodded between Kimi and Mitotsudaira.

“Th-that’s right, Kimi. Mito wouldn’t do that.”

“Judge! I wouldn’t!”

“Yes, rumor has it the Loup-Garou species can share and circulate their bodily divine protections and thoughts with their partner, so once they start frolicking, they can keep going for days. And they’re apparently super willing to beg in a doggy pose, so it isn’t a conscious desire like you were suggesting, Kimi. …Probably.”

“That’s even worse! And what was that ‘probably’ for!?”

However, Mitotsudaira had heard pretty much the same thing from her mother, so she was a little worried on a personal front. She silently begged her future self to restrain herself and Asama told her to calm down.

“Anyway, Kimi and Mito? That story about Toori-kun marking us? That happened when everyone was here. We were staying here for a school event during elementary school.”

“Eh? R-really?”

Mitotsudaira suddenly recalled staying at the Asama Shrine then. He had not been her king back then and Horizon had been with them. She vaguely recalled Horizon punching the idiot, but that may have been a memory she was inventing now.

She wanted to ask Asama about it, but then Kimi nodded.

“We were lucky your dad acted as the investigator back then. I was questioned alongside my foolish brother and, when your dad asked him ‘why did you do that?’, he answered ‘I couldn’t hold it in!’ without missing a beat.”

“My father said ‘I completely understand’ and immediately released him, didn’t he?”

''Is that really an acceptable reason?'' But Asama only smiled with lowered eyebrows and said more.

“My father was apparently glad that he was able to prove the deficiencies in sharing divine water between the Asama Shrine and the Musashi. That allowed the basic structure here to be given its current shape during the later great remodeling at IZUMO.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…”

“It might have been a bad thing, but we turned it into a good thing. That’s how Shinto works.”

Asama stood up. Water splashed down from her body, droplets trailed along her curves, and dripped down from the points.

“Reversing good and bad is a characteristic trait of Shinto. There are stories of a god asking to be given a corpse or something impure and having the offering turn into a hunk of gold the following day. There are also stories of tilling and caring for bad land to have it turn into good land. The most important part of turning bad into good is to never doubt and to remain honest. Toori-kun is stupidly honest and keeps things simple, so my dad really likes him.”

Asama’s tone of voice made it sound like there was a “so” coming.

…''So…

So when Horizon was “lost”, he did not doubt and honestly ''tried to do the same to himself''.

But ''that'' was a mistaken form of “honesty”.

If he was truly honest and without doubt, he would not have chosen that method. If he viewed death as impure, he should have taken time to accept it so that it could be turned into gold.

''So,'' repeated Mitotsudaira in her heart.

…''So Kimi forced him to do that.

He was on the verge of “dying” himself, so she essentially killed him again to change him. He could not transform Horizon’s loss, so she had transformed him.

That was why Asama’s father had such a high opinion of the two and why Asama could never thank Kimi enough.

''Relationships really are continuous things,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

Asama then approached her.

“You too, Kimi.”

“Yes,” said Kimi as she also approached.

As Mitotsudaira wondered what they were doing, they lowered themselves into the water up to their shoulders on either side of her.

“If you’re between us, our bodies will warm the water for you. See?”

In response to Asama’s invitation…

…''It’s not like the water warms up right away.

But Mitotsudaira did find relief in having someone next to her. It told her she was not being abandoned or ignored.

So…

“You’re right.”

That was all she said before taking her position between the other two.

It was cold, but…

…''Judge.

Their bodies and the bath’s inner wall blocked the slight current in the spring. The barely moving water absorbed the heat from Asama, Kimi, and her.

“It really is warming.”

“It truly is being done ‘Kimi to Asama de’.”<ref>In this case, Kimitasamade is being interpreted as “By Kimi and Asama”.</ref>

Asama laughed and narrowed her eyes. That laugh and her action brought a thought to Mitotsudaira’s mind.

…''She really is the motherly type.

Or was she more of a dedicated wife? Her long history with the Aoi family had taken the “caretaker and helper” aspect of a shrine maiden and amplified it to an extreme degree.

Her ability was probably enough to cover Kimi and the other one on her level. Mitotsudaira had to be much less difficult than that “other one”, so she had a feeling she knew where Asama’s pleasant laughter came from:

…''She can handle this with ease.

How did her own mother view it? She would send a divine mail every once in a while, but their last instance of physical contact had been almost 10 years before. And it had not been a pleasant experience.

But before that…

“Should I move a little closer?”

Asama must have interpreted her silence as feeling cold, so she moved close enough to directly feel her heat. Kimi did the same.

…''They’re huge…

This voluminous attack forced all of her thoughts in that direction, but their heat did reach her.

…''Yes.

She recalled when her mother had carried her long ago.

She wondered what her mother was doing now.

“Ah, nn, Dear? Did you have to aim for when I was trembling and unable to move because you earned a full score by marking me with such a wonderful scent? Ahee. Y-yes! Keep studying! You can keep going, can’t you!? Hold the teaching aid so you can perform the test. Y-yes, this pose supported by my chest and knees is called a three-point support. And then…ah, w-wait. That’s outside the scope of the current lesson… Ah, n-no. Pull the cylinder out now and you’ll only score 80 points. Wait until the end…yes, yes, that will get you a full 100 points. Hee hee. …Now, let’s continue practicing until we both remember everything. Should I score each one separately? Ah, full points! Full points, papa!”

“Mito!? You look really lost in thought. Are you okay?”

“Oh, um, I just had a feeling that reality is a terrible thing…”

“I see,” said Asama, clearly not seeing at all.

She then twisted backwards a little.

“It looks like Mito is used to the water now…”

Mitotsudaira looked back as well and saw Asama opening a box next to the wall.

“Would you like some pre-breakfast sake?”

Simultaneously filled with a surprised “don’t tell me” and a resigned “I should have known”, Mitotsudaira asked a question.

“Why do you have sake prepared?”

“Offering divine sake up to your god is one of a shrine maiden’s jobs. And you of course have to drink what’s leftover afterwards.”

Asama quickly smiled and placed a largish sake cup and bottle on a tray floating in the spring.

“Heh heh,” laughed Kimi. “You make your offering by drinking it, don’t you?”

“Some people think so, but no.”

Asama looked somewhat discouraged and Mitotsudaira tilted her head.

“You don’t?”

“N-no, I don’t! What kind of person do you think I am!?”

“But in elementary school, you cried when our homeroom teacher confiscated your sake bottle during lunch.”

“Sorry, that was for an offering as part of my shrine maiden job and I was crying because something my father had given me was taken away. I wasn’t a drunk crying because her alcohol had been taken from her.”

“Really…?”

Learning more about your friends was a good thing, but Mitotsudaira had to wonder if she was imagining the stiffness in Asama’s smile.

At any rate, Kimi gave a quiet nasal laugh.

“True enough. People think you drink it as an offering, but the process is actually the reverse, isn’t it?”

“Th-that’s right. Yes.”

Asama entered her usual explanatory mode. She did not seem to realize it herself, but she seemed to quite like doing this.

And so Mitotsudaira played along.

“How does the offering process work for you?”

“Eh? Oh, right. The process is the same for a shrine maiden like me as it is for a priest like my father. In other words, after the offering is made, any leftovers are a ‘return offering’ from your god, so the process is completed by taking it for yourself. There are different types of offerings. The simplest is the Official Offering where you provide the offering and receive the return offering. There is also the Substitution Offering where you provide something other than the original offering item. Then there are the offerings where you receive your god’s divine protection instead of a return offering of what you offered. We do this regularly using Blessings and it’s technically known as a Substitution Return Offering. In that case, your god often rents out the divine protection of another god. But in the case of an Official Offering, the return offering is a divine artifact. So if it’s food or drink like rice or divine sake, you gain a divine protection or Blessing by consuming it.”

“For example, if you offer up a sword to a sword god, it will have that sword god’s divine protection when returned as a return offering, right?”

“That’s right.” Asama nodded toward Kimi. “So I drink the divine sake to accumulate Blessings, but it’s only part of the ‘make offering, receive return offering’ process. If you only see that final step, it does look a lot like I drink to power up. And when I have an unplanned drink, I make it into a substitution for one of my other offerings.”

As expected, she gave a detailed explanation.

''I see,'' thought Mitotsudaira before asking about something regarding their new band.

“What about with Gagaku?”

“Oh.” Asama seemed to understand what she was getting at. “I don’t have to worry about singing normal songs. The gods understand when you are or aren’t singing to them. If they like it, they’ll listen, but they won’t get mad even if they don’t like it.”

But…

“Even when Gagaku is used as an offering, it’s a pretty low-level one. You can think of it as currying the favor of your god…that is, confirming and strengthening your connection to them. So if you’re really after a return offering through music, you have to physically offer a recording of music instead of making a live performance. With the exception of Dengaku meant to improve the results of the agricultural harvest, you don’t have to worry about any other songs.”

“Ho ho.”

Mitotsudaira gently applauded to show her understanding and Kimi followed suit.

“Yes.” Asama nodded but then smiled bitterly as if she had remembered something. “That said, another common misunderstanding is that offerings are made through the shrine maiden. In addition to our normal rituals, we handle the process for the offerings brought to the shrine, but we are not actually a necessary part of that process. The ‘offer to your god and receive something in return’ process is the same for shrine maiden and normal person alike. Even if you leave it to the shrine maiden, the return offering needs to be returned to the original offerer.”

“Then what happens if you ‘make an offering to your god through a shrine maiden’ which is so commonly referenced in certain publications?”

“Hmm.” Asama looked up toward heaven as she thought. And after a while, “I suppose it must be returned to the offerer off-page. As a reverse injection. I don’t really know how that would work, but they would receive a divine punishment if they didn’t do it. But that would probably be really painful for the guy.”

“That makes me shudder…!”

“That’s why Naruze and the others always tell me they can’t make things strictly accurate. Let’s try to have some dreams.”

“Is there no other way?”

“Well, technically speaking, it would be as a spell instead of an offering. Kimi, you would know about this, wouldn’t you? It’s an Ootsubaki thing.”

“Oh, is it?” Kimi tilted her head and narrowed her eyes toward Asama. “I was talking about the references to food offerings in cookbooks. Are you sure we’re on the same page here?”

“Eh!? Um, yessss, we arrre. Definitelyyyy. Wh-what else could I have meant, Kimi!?”

“Do you two need to be purified first thing in the morning!?”

The other two held out their hands to calm Mitotsudaira and then Kimi pulled Asama’s tray over.

“Well, it’s no Oath of the Peach Garden.”

“Yes, it’s out of season for cherry blossoms and plums too.”

Asama sat down so the 3 of them surrounded the tray.

''Yes,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

''This is a drink to new beginnings.

Asama started to pour sake into the cup.

“Ah, no. All 3 of us need to pour it.”

…''Kimi can be pretty picky about these relationship details.

So Asama poured a bit first. Then…

“Mito, go ahead.”

“Judge, leave it to me.”

Mitotsudaira filled it halfway and handed it to Kimi.

“Wait, Kimi! Why are you pouring it right up to the brim like you’re testing the surface tension!?”

“Well, with you here, I figured we needed at least this much.”

“Oh, that’s a good point,” added Mitotsudaira.

“Huh? Huh? That answer doesn’t help anyone.”

At any rate, the sake was in the largish cup.

Kimi and Mitotsudaira looked to Asama. They seemed to be telling her to say something, even if it was cliché.

“Uhh…”

She thought for a bit. A ritual Shinto prayer would be fine, but…

“Ritually filling the sake cup is said to symbolize your fulfillment or your expectation for future fulfillment.”

So…

“So that we might be able to hold even more in the future and so that our individual capacities might increase, let all three of us share this cup here.”

Mitotsudaira and Kimi applauded, but Asama was so into the performance that she held out a hand to silence them. And…

“Who should go first?”

“Since you’re cold, Mitotsudaira, why not you?”

“But isn’t this really Tomo’s place to go first?”

“No, I…”

“That’s right,” said Kimi. “You want to go last so you can drink the most, don’t you?”

“You had to go there, didn’t you!? Didn’t you!?”

However, that was the truth. In these rituals, most people would take a single sip. But in Musashi’s Shinto weddings, the rules stated “you might receive divine punishment if you don’t drink it all”, so the husband tended to end up a victim.

So…

“Then I will go last.”

“That’s fine with me. You’ll stay true to yourself to the very end, so you need to finish things off yourself.”

“I’m not sure I’d put it like that… Wait, Kimi, the sake!”

She watched as Kimi poured the bottle’s remaining sake into the spring. She shook the bottle to get out every last drop and then gave Asama a grin.

“Now it’s a sake bath. I don’t know if it’ll warm us, but it should be nice celebrating with your entire body, right? And the purification effect will keep the smell from lingering on us.”

“That might be true, but not even I’ve ever done this before…”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Kimi took the sake cup with her right hand. The surface tension was at its limit, so the sake swelled up and wiggled like a soft object. Then Kimi brought the cup to her lips.

“Nn.”

And she drank.

She cleanly swallowed the excess sake and her own portion. Then she set the cup down and clapped her hands.

“Your sake is always so rough on the throat.”

“That makes it more satisfying after you swallow.”

“Th-then it’s my turn.”

Mitotsudaira clapped twice and then picked up the cup with both hands.

“Kh…n.”

She briefly paused, presumably because her Loup-Garou senses of taste and smell were not used to the smell of sake. But after she let the scent pass through her nose and she took a breath, she calmed down.

“…Nn.”

With the cup only half full, she held it out toward Asama.

Asama took the cup. Had the other two left half of the sake because they were trying to be nice?

But as she looked at the cup of sake, Asama knew she was not that fulfilled.

…''So I need to pray that I will be more fulfilled from here on.

Thus, she brought it to her lips.

“Nn…”

She drank it. She closed her eyes, gulped it down, and opened her eyes while still facing upwards.

…''Ah.

She saw the usual sky. It was the white sky of the stealth barrier.

She had looked up at that sky every day since she was a child. But…

…''Yes.

It looked different today.

It was the same as always and it was different. That “difference” would continue for a while. And even if it ended, it would only prove that she could choose a “different” path.

She would treat it with care.

With that in mind, she licked out the last drop, even though she knew it was gluttonous.

“Yes.”

She lowered the cup and her gaze.

She saw slight smiles on the other two’s faces. She naturally found herself returning that smile.

“Hee hee. This is the beginning, isn’t it?”

“Judge. Heh heh. It really is the beginning. Heh heh heh.”

Kimi took a breath and opened her mouth.

And she suddenly formed words.

“I join my voice with yours again and again.”

It was a song, albeit a somewhat altered one.

“That’s the Asama Shrine’s Sakuya Song, isn’t it?”

“It is. If you know it, sing along, will you?”

Affected by the sake, Kimi sang her alteration of the normal Gagaku song.

Mitotsudaira and Asama joined Kimi in the song.

“I send you this night of blooming flowers.”<ref>”This night of blooming flowers” is pronounced the same as Konohana no Sakuya.</ref>

The Asama Shrine’s primary god, Konohana no Sakuya, was the Far East’s current god of love, marriage, and fertility.

“If I sing and dance of never-parting lives.”

In the lyrics Asama sang, Sakuya was sent with her older sister to the heavenly god Ninigi, but Ninigi sent back her ugly older sister and married the beautiful Sakuya.

“The great god Sakuya sings and smiles.”

There were many stories, but…

…''The next part is mine.

“The spray of the blossoming chain.”

As Mitotsudaira sang, she realized Sakuya had a very stubborn side to her. And as Asama continued to sing…

“When the never-parting sigh heats and cools.”

Sakuya was said to possess the element of both water and fire.

“Tilt the cup and pour her out.”

That sounded strange, but it was because water also connected to sake. It was almost like…

“Swing out from within the frame.”

''This is just like Asama,'' thought Mitotsudaira.

“Raise a fire in the shrine of the heavenly god.”

When Sakuya was with child, she was suspected of infidelity by her husband. To prove her innocence, she set fire to the delivery room and gave birth without issue, thus proving that her child had the blood of a heavenly god.

“Raise it toward the red-hot mountain and the sky.”

From that, Sakuya was known as a god of fire and she was given Mt. Fuji by her father god.

“The child of fire becomes a flower in the spring.”

But Sakuya was actually the god of the signs of the spring season, such as cherry blossoms and plums.

“The cherry blossom, the plum, and the camellia in the Asama spring.”

That was why the Asama Shrine viewed her as a water god.

“I am drawn by your smile as you blossom and blow in the wind.”

The Asama Shrine was a shrine of women, but Asama’s mother had come from outside.

“Adorned by chains and a crown of flowers.”

Her father had fallen in love with her mother at first sight and made her his wife.

“Before you, I am a spring.”

That was different from the ancient legend, but did that matter?

“I’ve fallen in love on this night of blooming flowers.”

Mitotsudaira had a thought as their voices joined together.

What about the ancient Sakuya?

“Before you, I am a spring.”

Had she enjoyed singing?

“I’ve fallen in love on this night of blooming flowers.”

And the song came to a close.

''That’s a story,'' thought Asama as she considered those familiar lyrics.

The songs she had heard before had all been stories of the singer herself. They were about the singer and listener sharing their memories, lifestyles, and ways of thinking.

But this one was different. It was mostly fictional, a story one could read in a book.

Was there any reason to listen to that story ''as a song''?

…''There is.

This was not just the result of her bias as she grew to adore songs.

A story was words.

What did it mean to turn it into music by making it a song?

The music allowed it to carry emotion and vision in addition to the words.

After all, music could rise and fall in pitch or include different intonations.

Short, low notes carried intensity. Long, high notes sounded refreshing. Notes that continued slowly felt stagnant. Notes that extended long but quickly were reminiscent of great speed.

Notes with the volume of a shout contained implications before even getting to the carried meaning. It aroused an emotional response before the listener could even contemplate the meaning.

Asama felt there was a great meaning in this.

When she had read the story in a book, she had no way of knowing if her interpretation and the emotions she felt were “correct”.

But with music, the emotions it brought were absolute. Especially when the speed was concerned, there was no mistaking it.

''So,'' she thought.

''It is important to read a story from a book, contemplate it, and understand it.

But songs helped you know if your understanding was correct. And more importantly…

…''A song brings you into the story and gives you a rough understanding very quickly.

That was an old, old story from a long distant time.

To read it as text required “research” and “interpretation”, but if you shortened it and put it to music, the characters involved and their emotions throughout were put into focus.

''In that case,'' thought Asama. ''This song is doing more than just singing the story. It’s showing the scene at the time and the emotions of the people.

It was more accurate than reading a book. Faster too. And…

“…It’s catchy.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

''Kimi understands this well,'' thought Asama with a small smile.

“Hee hee.”

It grew to a laugh and Kimi joined her.

“Ah ha ha.”

Next was Mitotsudaira’s turn.

“C-c’mon, Kimi, what is that vulgar laugh for? Eh heh. Heh heh heh heh.”

“Oh, but, Mito, you can’t seem to stop laughing either. Heh heh heh heh heh.”

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha.”

As she laughed, Mitotsudaira suddenly sank while still smiling.

“Kyaaaaah! Mito!?”

“Ohh, I’m drunk. I’m really drunk.”

Asama did not need to ask why: It was the sake bath.

“So basically, the sake’s divine protection is directly entering our bodies thanks to the spring’s purification, so the alcohol is going straight to us. Right, Kimi?”

Kimi too sank down. Asama look down at the two who had vanished to the bottom of the water.

…''This is like a crime scene!

She would have said it was like a mysterious phenomenon, but she decided that would be inappropriate for a Shinto shrine maiden. That said, it would be treated as a crime if she did not pull them up soon.

A drowning after turning the spring into a sake bath would have to be a first for the Asama Shrine. It would be a brand new kind of scandal.

Kimi was especially dangerous. Mito was dangerous enough while submerged with a smile on her face, but Kimi was using her last strength to strike a pose where she lifted up her own breasts. If the guards came to investigate this, who knows what they would say about Asama who had been with them. No, she could make some decent predictions, but she really did not want to think about it.

So she hurriedly tried to pull them up, but they were heavy.

“C-come to think of it, their hair has to get really heavy when it’s soaked up so much water!”

She had to quickly pull up the two human sponges.

“Honestly, this is not how I wanted to spend the morning of a new beginning!”

Asama sighed as she grabbed them and stood up. Despite the splashing water, she worked to pull Kimi and Mitotsudaira out.

…''You really lose out when you’re the only one that didn’t get drunk…

She heard the academy bell ring in the distance to indicate it was 7 in the morning.

“And we’re supposed to be at school early today for the health examination to prepare for the spring academy festival.”

Honestly.

“Why are things always like this!?”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Glossary|Glossary]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 3A Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
}}
</noinclude>

Clash of Hexennacht:Volume3 Chapter 12

2017-01-28T01:17:34Z

86.52.225.192: Fixed 2 typos.

==Chapter 12: Flowers Blossom in the World==
[[Image:Hexennacht_v03_277.png|thumb]]
''Once you blossom on that night stage, there is no turning back

''Those gunfire fingertips will either look up or scatter

The battlefield was established in a location Horinouchi had not expected.

They were currently flying approximately 5000 meters above Kasumigaura.

Due to the previous Hexennacht, Kasumigaura had become a region of large lakes. During this period near autumn, the temperature difference between the air and water as dawn approached created fog.

There were clouds in the sky and they flew above those.

“Kh…”

Fleur flew out ahead while putting up a surprisingly good fight.

Flowers scattered from her and, when Horinouchi and Kagami fired back…

“Oh, dear.”

The Headmaster, who wore a dress and flew alongside the girl, had her daughter dodge.

…''What is with this three-legged-race situation!?

One of them handled attacking while the other handled dodging. They both only had to focus on their own task, so they were more efficient than Horinouchi and Kagami.

Horinouchi considered ignoring them and summoning her Magino Device, but…

“Horinouchi! Suppress your urge to destroy! It is too soon for that!”

“Y-you could phrase that differently!”

But she did understand what Kagami meant. The lakes of Kasumigaura spread out below, but she could see the lights of human civilization on the eastern coast.

There were not many of them and the most noticeable were the streetlights of the coastal road.

There was one spot where it flourished, like a road relay station.

“The Headmaster and Fleur haven’t summoned their Magino Frame because they want to avoid getting them involved.”

“Horinouchi, do you have any guesses as to where they are headed?”

''That would be awfully convenient,'' she thought, but then she realized she did.

Koutarou had investigated a few things connected to the Horinouchi family.

“The Headmaster is working to reconstruct the destroyed regions in northern Kantou. A 50-kilometer area of land in north Ibaraki had its terrain entirely changed and we practiced there during the summer of our second year.”

“How did that training go?”

“When firing from one end to the other, I hit with 29 out of 30 shots.”

“…And where’d the 1 you missed end up?” cut in Hunter via spell circle.

That interruption must have meant things were ready on her end.

“Are you there?”

“I just arrived with the others in the ocean off of Boso. I’m being inspected, but what’s this? Are you moving north?”

“Yes,” confirmed Horinouchi as something like a glowing cloud appeared.

It was the flower explosive spell. They were supposedly still moving to the battlefield, but…

…''We can’t exactly complain if they settle this here!

With that in mind, Horinouchi responded to Hunter. They were not just “moving”.

“We’re in battle!”

It was still night in the sky.

The 3 girls were equipped with their Normal Frames and the woman wore a dress. They attacked and defended while continuing north.

The pursuing Holy Knight and Shrine Maiden had the Holy Knight charge in with her sword while the Shrine Maiden provided covering fire from behind.

But the arrows she fired were not just meant to attack.

While pursuing the flower witch whose high-speed path took on a square wave shape as she jerked to the side, she fired a combination of homing and straight-line shells.

But the flower witch and her dress-clad servant did not just let the arrows reach them.

The flower witch swung the hoe-shaped Device in midair and spun her own body to scatter flowers around her.

They flew along paths not even she could predict and their innumerable quantity struck her pursuers.

But those 2 did not care.

A few of the launched arrows expanded in midair to form three-arrow barriers. They lost their momentum, but they collided with the stream of flowers and scattered the explosions.

And the few arrows that flew between them detonated on their own.

Ether light burst and detonated the flowers caught in the blast.

“I can cast explosion spells on my arrows too!”

Kagami was impressed at how well Horinouchi’s rapid-fire shots cleared a path.

Firing so often would usually drastically lower one’s mobility.

But during the battle against Hunter, in the beginning of the battle against Mary, and during their own battle with their Normal Devices, she had indeed managed to keep up with the flow of battle even as she fired.

…''Is it the Suzaku servant that provides her mobility even as she fires!?

The technical accumulation from the previous versions of Akerindou likely helped a lot too.

Thus, Kagami focused on lowering the burden on Horinouchi.

She continued targeting Fleur up ahead while firing down the center to reduce the total number of flowers coming her way. And she moved forward.

“Here goes…!”

When she raised her voice, her opponent had to target her.

The flower storm was almost impossible to control, but Fleur had likely given it vague directionality. And if that was headed her way, it was easy to intercept.

“…!”

She could also fly up, down, left or right to an area of thinner distribution.

Countless flowers were launched like a great mass of smoke. She detonated those, slipped through the gaps, and continued forward. And…

“Horinouchi!”

As soon as she called the name, an arrow flew over her shoulder and detonated the flowers in front of her.

The blast reverberated in her body and echoed inside her.

Her opponent was riding the wind and ether to send out explosives, so she rode her pulse and her blood flow to continue forward.

And she did so.

She accelerated down the path opened by Horinouchi’s blast and she saw the enemy.

They were there.

It was Fleur and the Headmaster.

The flower witch noticed her and tried to swing her hoe back.

But she was too slow.

Those two were a single pair splitting the roles of offense and defense, but Kagami and Horinouchi were two individuals playing to their individual strengths. If they fit well together, they could pull off double the attacks.

Even if their enemies were trying to strike back…

“We can intervene!”

Kagami fired first.

Just before Fleur could launch an attack from her swinging hoe, Dikaiosyne fired.

Headmaster Cerisier realized she was actually able to enjoy a battle for the first time in forever.

…''It’s so nice being able to move around like this.

Being pursued by her official duties in the headmaster’s office had been fun in its own way.

Everything was fun. It was much more fun than dying in her regrets and not being able to do anything.

And at the moment, she was embracing her daughter’s shoulders and having her fall back.

Kagami was quite good.

It was obvious the girl really had traversed many worlds. She likely had more combat experience than Cerisier herself. After all, her combination with Horinouchi was clever.

Against only Horinouchi, it would likely have begun and ended with a simple push and pull, but Kagami added her own timing and proactive style to it.

This should have been an artillery battle where the number of attacks determined everything, but she was predicting their actions to transform it into a martial arts battle.

She was targeting the daughter’s actions.

Cerisier and her daughter were splitting the offensive and defensive roles. Her daughter focused on offense while she assisted with that, dodged, and defended.

Their roles were clear, so they could draw out their full power and speed.

But that meant they only had a single person attacking.

They were not really working together.

They had fought some previous Ranker Battles with a Buddy System element to them. Their two opponents had indeed worked as a team then.

But those opponents had used a mistaken sort of teamwork. They had formed a single team with one of them assisting the other, so they either had just the one person attacking or had both of them fire at the same time for double the attacks.

But Kagami and Horinouchi worked together in a different way.

Their attacks had started out simple enough, but they were not ending.

That was partially because Horinouchi could keep up her rapid-fire for long periods of time, but Kagami was filling in the gaps to make sure their attacks truly were constant.

So Cerisier would move her daughter in order to alter the timing at which their enemy’s attacks arrived. That transformed the unending shots into scattered shots that were not quite aimed right.

But Kagami made up for that.

In order to attack, Cerisier was shifting the timing at which their opponents’ attacks hit, but then Kagami instructed Horinouchi to fire on Fleur’s attacks.

The trouble grew when Fleur briefly stopped attacking. She had to resume her firing pose and the time that took was wasted.

The enemy used that time to get closer and attack even more.

It was the same now. Their attack was intercepted, that gap opened a path, and Kagami would fire before having Horinouchi begin her rapid-fire along the new firing line.

Horinouchi was firing from behind her, but Kagami would readily change her course, which Cerisier could only call impressive. That was likely because Horinouchi knew exactly where to fire.

…''I accepted the Buddy System for these girls, but it looks like that was the right decision.

Those 2 were getting closer. Fleur had no choice but to scatter ashes in the air and dot the sky with flowers.

But then she spoke unexpectedly.

“It’ll be okay, mama. I just have to go where you said to, right?”

“Yes, go there and everything will be okay.”

“I can’t wait…!”

Cerisier was delighted to sense anticipation and no concern in that voice.

…''My daughter doesn’t hold any unneeded fear of fighting.

She faced forward while well aware that worked against them at the moment. So…

“—————”

''It’s about time we made our real attack,'' she thought.

It was a simple thing.

Cerisier had been watching Kagami and Horinouchi’s actions this entire time.

She knew that the two of them were trying to eliminate the timing for Fleur’s attacks and that it started with Kagami.

So she intervened.

“Fleur.”

Her call got through. Kagami and Horinouchi were not the only ones who could use the Buddy System. So she added something extra to Fleur’s attacks. She did so right after dodging Kagami’s shot.

“…!”

She had Fleur fire a hoe shot as they spun around.

Kagami saw the attack.

The counterattack after dodging had been quite rushed.

That showed just how cornered those two were feeling, but…

…''Our attack won’t make it in time!

Kagami had only just fired. Horinouchi’s rapid-fire attack would begin next, but that was not going to arrive in time. That suggested that the Chancellor had been observing them carefully while handling the dodging, but…

“Kh…”

Kagami dodged and opened a path for Horinouchi to attack.

Due to their relative speeds, the flowers launched as a counterattack would reach her, but that would open a hole before they reached Horinouchi, preventing this from being an obstacle for her.

That meant Kagami had to deal with this on her own. Meaning…

“Bear with it…!”

As soon as she thought that, she saw movement.

Their opponent had spun around in their position 70 meters ahead.

She could tell they were rotating because it was a horizontal attack from the hoe-shaped Device. But the way it made that rotation was odd.

A single rotation should have been a compact action, but it had yet to release its flower attack and…

…''The rotation is oddly large!?

That question was immediately followed by understanding thanks to their own Buddy System. In other words…

“Are they doing it too!?”

It was Fleur and the Headmaster.

The rotation of the hoe-shaped Device was not an attack.

It was Fleur and the Headmaster swapping out their roles. And thus…

“————”

The movement of the rotation was small, but then it suddenly grew indiscernible.

Kagami recalled when that girl had casually slipped past them on the way to throw out the trash.

She had not fought the flow of her surroundings, she had ridden on that flow, and she had been pushed through.

It had been perfectly visible, but they had suddenly found her beyond their own flow of movement. So even though they had seen her, they had been slow to comprehend it.

Those two had done that here. Also…

“Take this.”

The Headmaster scattered ashes with a smile. Unlike with Fleur, it did not float out over a wide area.

…''It’s bundled together!?

The bundle of ashes was too thick to call a spear and it spiraled toward Kagami. It transformed into flowers in midair and those spread out with their spiral trajectory intact.

They did not entirely rule over that space, but this attack crashed into an opponent’s defenses and momentum.

It spread out before Kagami in no time at all.

“Superb.”

As soon as she said that, the explosion erupted.

Fleur thought their movement had put a large distance between them and their opponents.

“Mama!”

As soon as she ''traded places'' with her mother, the sound of the life-bringing explosions reverberated toward her. But it could not keep up with them and ended as a strange rumbling.

…''Amazing, mama!

Fleur had been unable to hit this opponent, but her mother had done it in a single shot. But…

“Mama, what is it?”

Her mother was still staring behind them. And she had already launched her next attack and a third one after that.

“Mama!?”

Fleur was briefly baffled why her mother would do that.

They had moved out ahead and one of their enemies had been defeated. As proof, the staged chain-reaction of explosion flowers was detonating behind them.

She could not imagine someone escaping that unharmed. But…

…''Eh?

Something split through the explosion light.

It was the not the Holy Knight. It was three overlapping arrows extending in three different directions. It was the shrine maiden witch’s defensive shot.

“She counterattacked in time!?”

Horinouchi felt a mental cold sweat as she faced the Headmaster’s multi-stage detonating flower spear.

…''I just barely made it in time!

She and Kagami had failed to predict the Headmaster and Fleur swapping roles, but the switch had created a slight gap.

Was she supposed to view that gap as an opening or as a danger?

She had settled on the latter. For one thing, Kagami would have charged in on her own if it was an opening. She knew she could leave that to Kagami, so she had chosen defense. She had fired a three-arrow shell along the course Kagami had indicated.

“That was a close one!”

The Headmaster had not held back and her attack had been impressive. In order to suppress the entire area, Fleur would let the flowers float out before they expanded, but the Headmaster had sent them in a corkscrew shape before having them expand.

…''How badly did she want to send out those explosives?

But Horinouchi had defended against it. There were 2 more shots coming, but…

“Kagami! Dodge…!”

They needed to change their course.

For one thing, the Headmaster’s first shot had not been fully eliminated. It had been sent in like a spear, so it had not all exploded.

And the three-arrow defense would not last forever. It would either shatter from the explosions or burst from the flowers that blossomed on it.

Besides, at their speed, they would quickly surpass the three-arrow defense she had shot forward. So…

Kagami, you need to change your course in a hurry!”

As soon as she shouted that, she saw something reckless.

Kagami accelerated right into the opened three-arrow barrier and kicked it out of the way.

…''What does she think she’s doing!?

She understood well enough to ask it like that.

Cerisier saw it.

…''Ah!?

The explosion she had sent their way had been kicked back her way.

She was familiar with the three-arrow defense spell. Horinouchi’s mother, Mitsuyo, had used it often. It was an excellent spell that could be held up by hand or fired as a shell. It expanded only after being activated and thus maintained its high speed while a shell, so she had known it could be sent into the middle of their exchange of fire. But…

…''Did she kick it!?

The wall of explosions was pushed back by the three-arrow shape and then flew straight toward her after reaching a certain point.

It had clearly been kicked or something similar, but she still had a question.

…''Why hasn’t it been destroyed!?

No, there was no point in wondering that. That girl could create things from ether as she saw fit, so…

“Did she replenish the ether and recreate it even as she kicked it away!?”

As soon as Cerisier shouted that, the second flower spear reached her opponents and collided with three arrows. But once again…

“Ohh…!”

Kagami gave a cry as something collided with it. And a moment later…

…''I was right!

The shape of the three-arrow wall appeared in the explosion and it was pushed back Cerisier’s way.

Kagami accelerated.

She did not get many opportunities to kick things in midair, but she needed to use everything in her arsenal for this exchange of offense and defense.

…''And this is especially useful while using our Normal Devices!

She wanted to settle this in their Normal states if at all possible. That was just how difficult Fleur’s Magino Device would be to deal with.

The Headmaster’s attack had been superbly timed, but she had still managed to respond.

…''Because I had heard her spell is different than Fleur’s!

The environmental aspect of the spell had only been introduced in Fleur’s generation. The Headmaster’s had not reached the point of growing flowers on the target object.

Kagami would have been in trouble if the Headmaster had shared that new trait as Fleur’s servant.

But if that were the case, they would have no reason for dividing their roles. The Headmaster had let Fleur handle offense because she had decided her daughter was the superior attacker.

And Kagami’s understanding of that had given her this opportunity.

“The 3rd shot…!”

She broke through the explosion and accelerated.

Her distance from the 2 in front of her rapidly shrank.

On the early morning rooftop, Mary realized that Hunter was relaying the data to her.

She operated the communication spell circle to check the data from multiple radars and other surveillance data.

The 4 combatants seemed to be rapidly flying north in southern Ibaraki.

“Kagami just kicked right through the explosion spell…!” exclaimed Hunter.

''She’s as crazy as ever, isn’t she?'' briefly thought Mary before a more positive voice arrived over the spell circle.

“Well done, Lady Kagami!”

''That must be how you praise people in this world,'' she belatedly realized.

“Ohh…!”

After breaking through the shattering light, Kagami approached Fleur and the Headmaster.

The Headmaster had fired a 4th attack, but Kagami was already close enough to move around it.

She kicked off of Horinouchi’s three arrows to slightly change her trajectory and to accelerate.

She shifted her acceleration field fully forward to cancel out the air resistance. And as soon as she arrived in front of her opponents, she swung Dikaiosyne forward.

But just before that, Fleur spun around in front of her.

They were switching attacker and defender roles. However…

“Too late…!”

Kagami cried out and sent her attack right into the hoe Device.

Sparks flew and she felt the tactile feedback of the blow.

…''This…?

The sensation returning to her hand through her power arm was not that of breaking through.

It was the solid rejection of her sword being deflected.

…''What does this mean!?

Fleur reacted as Kagami accelerated and made attack after attack.

She reacted with sword fighting that could only be called flawless.

Her hoe Device was poorly balanced for swinging around, so it was obvious she was holding it close to intercept Kagami’s attacks.

The Headmaster took care of dodging and moving and Fleur herself was likely including those imperceptible movements of hers when she moved in to attack, but even with that…

“How can she respond to Kagami’s attacks!?”

It would have been difficult for Horinouchi or even a close-range specialist like Hunter to fully respond to Kagami’s attacks. It was that level of offensive skill that allowed Kagami to use the old Holy Knight style without difficulty.

“So how can that fairy tale witch manage it!?”

“Horinouchi, is the heat of battle leading you to discriminate?”

“Sh-she uses a flower motif! What else would you call it!?”

Horinouchi could not help it if her voice was picked up by the communications. But she also realized that ether light continued to scatter from Fleur’s flower motif Form.

…''What is that?

It was a spell. It was one she had cast on herself. That was simple for the boys and their passive magic, but the girls had to cast it on themselves from outside using a spell that would scatter ether light. So…

“Is that a reinforcement spell!?”

“I expect she is casting a ‘growth’ spell on her Form to strengthen it. Cast it on her Form and it is much easier to make adjustments and exceptions.”

Unsurprisingly, the spell expert from the Spell Division provided an immediate answer.

“Well done, Lady Mary!”

“Kwaaaaaaaahhh! I was in the Spell Division, but the Head Butler stole the ‘well done’ I wanted to give my underclassman!”

“Head Butler… Please be more considerate.”

“That’s right. I doubt Mary wants to hear that fist from you.”

“Y-you’re all unfairly attacking me, aren’t you!? Aren’t you!?”

Kagami did not panic within the exchange of attacks.

Someone’s strength was meaningless if they did not have the skill to use it. The problem was the way Fleur had a natural sense for those imperceptible movements and that made it easy to overlook her actions.

…''That is a skill in its own way.

It was not a combat skill, but it was an effective substitute. That allowed her to fight as a warrior.

But that natural sense had a weakness.

Fleur was using those imperceptible movements in place of an attack spell, but she had never been properly trained in combat.

The lack of variation in her attacks and defenses made that clear enough.

So she used her sense for imperceptibility instead.

But…

…''Not good enough!

As they exchanged sword strikes, Kagami struck an attack she had overlooked.

“Do you understand now!?”

It was obvious once she increased the density of attacks. Even if some of her opponent’s movements were imperceptible, that only meant she ''could not see'' them. It did not mean they ''did not exist''.

“If I simply cannot see them, then there is nothing to worry about!”

She could sense her opponent’s movement in the tactile feedback from her own attacks.

If she attacked one way, she knew how her opponent would respond.

And when she raised her weapon one way, she knew what attack her opponent would make.

By figuring out those patterns, she could respond appropriately even without seeing the attacks. Thus…

“————”

She went as far as closing her eyes while making her attack.

She made a barrage of attacks as she stepped straight forward in the sky and reacted to her opponent.

“Ohh…!”

She predicted her opponent’s actions, counterattacked, and pushed forward.

“Here goes!!”

She outdid the girl almost immediately.

“Fleur!”

Cerisier heard a series of sounds that were more like tearing cloth than solid blows.

The attacks were beginning to hit Fleur.

…''Kagami Kagami!

She noticed that opponent was not even looking their way. Her eyes were closed, but she could tell what they were doing from the tactile feedback in her sword and she could predict what they would do next.

There had once been someone who could fight like this. No, there still was.

“This is just like Lisbeth…!”

It would be dangerous if the girl had reached that level. And Kagami’s previous battles were more than enough to know this was unlikely to stop there. So…

“Fleur!”

She focused on dodging and tried to put some distance between them.

“Mama!”

But she sensed a note of joy in the voice she received in response. A moment later, she saw her daughter looking back her way even as her Form shattered.

She was smiling.

“Mama! Watch! Watch this!”

Cerisier did as she was told and watched.

“I prepared this spell so I could surprise you!”

“Kagami!”

When she heard Horinouchi’s voice, Kagami opened her eyes and looked.

It was a split-second decision.

…''It has changed!

The tactile feedback from the attack on Fleur was different now.

She had resisted Kagami up until this point, but a sudden opening appeared in that resisting strength.

…''Is she guiding my attack!?

And when Kagami looked forward, she saw blooming flowers.

Several roses were growing on Fleur’s Normal Form like decorations.

“These are just like your flowers, mama!”

She sounded just like someone giving some flowers to a playmate. At the same time, her Form shattered.

“You can have them.”

The scattering roses exploded before Kagami’s eyes.

Fleur saw it.

Just as the explosive created from her Form hit her opponent, the enemy raised her Device and threw it her way.

…''Eh!?

Getting rid of one’s Device was the same as giving up on the battle. But…

“Fleur! She can freely create her Device!”

Fleur did not know what that meant at first, but she did notice the danger in her mother’s voice.

So she shifted to a focus on dodging. She tried to get her and her mother out of that airspace.

Immediately, her flowers collided with the abandoned sword Device and detonated.

Explosive flames blossomed, but the sword split the explosion and continued flying.

“Kh…!”

Before she could dodge, the shattering sword flew right toward her. Her mother voiced another warning.

…''Don’t worry. I understand!

''I do understand. I understand everything you’re saying, mama. Because I’m a good girl.

But her mother’s warning was not what she expected.

“Above you!”

''Eh?'' she thought on reflex. After all, her enemy had been hit by the explosion in front of her.

But there was indeed a figure above her. The Holy Knight was there, raising her arms toward heaven.

As soon as she raised her empty hands toward the moon in the center of the night sky, Fleur saw two things happen.

First, the sword Device broke in two and shattered.

There was no one behind it, but instead…

“…An arrow!?”

It was a shot fired by the shrine maiden.

She had fired straight ahead while using the broken sword as cover.

And the other thing descended from above.

“Let us settle this, Dikaio!”

The Holy Knight held a new Device in her hands.

It almost looked like she had borrowed this power from the moonlight.

“You’re stubborn! Don’t interrupt my time with mama!”

Kagami flew right toward the enemy.

She saw the look on Fleur’s face.

Below the girl’s disheveled hair, her eyes were glaring back at Kagami. Kagami also saw the Headmaster protecting her daughter by embracing her from behind.

But Kagami had considerable experience in being stared at, so she looked the girl right back in the eye.

“Sorry, but I will be bringing this all to an end!”

“You can’t! I won’t let you! Because…”

Fleur raised the hoe Device to counterattack.

Kagami deflected it outwards and let Horinouchi’s arrow pass below her arm. But…

“Kagami!”

She knew why Horinouchi called her name from behind: Fleur was bait. She had only pretended to raise her hoe Device to attack.

“The Headmaster’s attack is coming!”

Horinouchi was exactly right. A spear of coiled roses was launched straight toward Kagami.

She used her right arm.

The Headmaster spun around with Fleur as she launched the rose spear attack. That quick attack was meant to crush Horinouchi’s arrow and Kagami did not hesitate to strike at it with Dikaiosyne.

She thrust the sword forward.

She opened her sword in cannon mode.

“I will be using that!”

And she fired a blast at the spear tip.

Horinouchi saw the rose spear instantly become an explosive fuse.

At the very last second before the spear detonated, Kagami’s shell struck its very core.

The rest was simple.

Control of the undetonated bomb spear fell to the one who detonated it.

Kagami’s shell was likely annihilated by the very explosions it induced, but a chain-reaction of explosions shot down the rose spear from Kagami’s end to the Headmaster’s end.

Dikaiosyne’s tip was shattered at the same speed as its shell had flown, and explosions of light raced down the spear toward Cerisier and Fleur.

…''It’s going to reach them!

As soon as Horinouchi thought that, she saw something.

It was Fleur. She accelerated the rotation of her body while seeming to embrace the Headmaster.

She had been bait, but now she quickly spun the hoe Device and the Headmaster with it.

“She’s going to cut it!?”

The dancing spin sent the hoe’s blade accurately into the center of the rose spear.

The spear was sliced in two and the induced explosions did not reach the Headmaster. And as the hoe continued swinging around, Fleur’s flowers bloomed whitely along its path.

The racing arc of white was going to reach Kagami as she held Dikaiosyne forward.

…''Does that mean…?

It had been a double trap. No, Horinouchi doubted either of them had planned it this way.

Those two could work together while far closer together than Horinouchi and Kagami could.

And as soon as the Headmaster threw away the remnants of the spear in her hand, the arc drawn by Fleur and the spear’s remnants released an explosive blast.

The brightness-enhanced footage from the F-23s showed Hunter the explosion between the two sides.

Even with the high-level surveillance skills of the pilots from Atsugi, following all the detailed movements of the witch battle was not easy. Currently, footage from 3 fighters was being combined and unified to create the video Hunter watched.

Even with a direct feed from the 7th Fleet’s processing system, there was a slight lag.

…''Dammit. I can’t really complain, but I really want to!

As soon as she thought that, two people burst from the explosive blast.

One was Kagami. She had likely used the half-destroyed Dikaiosyne as a shield against the shockwave. Horinouchi flew out behind her. She had been slowed by a fair bit, but the two of them still ascended.

“Above!?”

That was exactly right.

The two of them were flying high in the west where the Headmaster and Fleur flew as a single silhouette.

Their destination was displayed on the spell circle’s bird’s-eye-view map. When Hunter read the text there, she could feel her mouth spreading horizontally.

“Oh, c’mon. Be careful, you two! You’ve arrived on the battlefield!”

Horinouchi realized something as she pursued the enemy with Kagami.

At some point, the clouds and fog below them had disappeared.

“It would seem we have arrived, Horinouchi.”

They had left the lake region that had produced the fog. Which meant…

“This is the battlefield they prepared, isn’t it!?”

From here on, they could summon their Magino Devices. With that in mind, she looked over to see the Headmaster and Fleur turning back their way.

They were going to do it. They were going to summon their Magino Frame as the Rank 1.

But one thing bothered Horinouchi.

“Why are they moving so high!?”

Fleur’s Magino Device created a forest on the ground and towered up from there. They had assumed it positioned itself on the ground to create the environment around it. However…

“Is there some other way of using it!?”

Fleur spoke as she watched the two ether lights approaching them from a lower altitude.

“Let’s go, mama! Let’s end it with this battle!”

“Yes,” replied her mother who embraced her from behind. This was a jinx and her mother always did this when she was doing something important.

…''Right.

She nodded in her heart and she had permission outside her heart, so she did it.

“Summon Magino Frame!”

Horinouchi summoned her own Magino Frame while checking on the terrain with a spell circle.

This was the north end of Ibaraki where the western border with Tochigi and the northern border with Fukushima came together. The Nasu Highlands were to the west and a 50 kilometer downward slope and plain continued to the east, but…

…''During the previous Hexennacht, the damage continuing north from Tokyo Bay was concentrated here.

Since it was on the border between prefectures, there had been conflict over which prefecture would lead the recovery work, so Shihouin Academy had apparently settled the arguments by having it restored to its natural environment. The scars of the destructive power would be allowed to fade with time and the focus would be on restoring it as a grassy plain.

But for the moment, it was a battlefield.

Fleur did not have to worry about using her Magino Device’s full power in this deserted environment.

“Kagami, let’s finish this according to plan!”

“Horinouchi, it does not look like they will let us!”

''Eh?'' thought Horinouchi as she looked up into the sky along with the Suzaku that had appeared to construct the Magino Device.

Ether light was gathering in the night sky to construct Fleur’s Magino Device.

There were a few strange things about it.

Its size was expanding and the summoning of its supporting parts did not stop.

…''Huh!?

Something was not right about how the Magino Device was created in a series of moments. It was being created far faster than her own. That was due to its simple design and the Headmaster’s assistance, but…

“What is with that height!?”

It was far different from when she had seen it the evening before. Just the hoe blade and its base were more than 2 kilometers tall.

…''That’s more than 4 times before!

And that was not all.

Ether light suddenly sprayed through the sky.

It came from Fleur’s gigantic Magino Device.

But the light did not produce a flowery fog. It flowed out like a roaring waterfall on either side and then something was created to the left and right of the hoe Device.

It was a tall frame with a firing system gathered at the top. It had a hoe-like shape accented by the three leaves brought together at the top.

“It’s copying itself!?”

It all continued.

At her speed, Horinouchi should only have been able to hear the roaring wind, but she did hear something else.

She heard the ley line vibrations as those gigantic objects were instantly constructed from the ether.

There were 5 copies. Fleur’s Magino Device had summoned those copies on either side of itself to form a circle around it.

…''Is this…?

Kagami understood what had happened. But…

…''Can they do that using this world’s system!?

The Magino Device had instantly copied itself and combined with the copies.

“Kagami! Horinouchi!”

Hunter’s voice arrived with some video footage.

The live footage was from a surveillance satellite overhead and it showed exactly what had been created.

Above the black color of the highlands at night, 6 different hoe Devices had attached their back ends together into a giant circle around the central one. It was…

…''A flower!?

Seen from above, the completed form was a giant flower with the six hoes arranged in a circle.

“It’s 3 kilometers across! This is the largest Device in our records!”

As Hunter said that, light appeared.

The giant flower was like a floating fortress and it began emitting streams of flowers

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