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Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1B Chapter 6

2016-04-09T23:47:30Z

86.52.29.66: Fixed typos.

==Chapter 6: Revealed Ones at a Place of Passage==
[[File:Horizon_Kimi1B_085.jpg|thumb]]
''What in the world

''Are you doing?

'''Point Allocation (Over)

In Kimi’s mind, ''it'' had begun from the moment they left the academy.

In Shinto, all things had a “staring point”, so to set up that starting point appropriately, she stopped at the top of the bridge in front of the school building. Mitotsudaira responded in kind, but Asama had her eyes focused straight ahead and started on without the other two.

“Wait, wait. Hold it, Asama. Heh heh. Why are you in such a rush? We aren’t going to run away, you know?”

“Eh!? Oh, r-right.”

Asama looked back, blushed for no reason, and (for once) had difficulty speaking.

She was nervous.

She was supposedly used to being the center of attention thanks to the Shinto rituals she performed on a regular basis, but here she was tense and nearly flustered.

…''This is a valuable scene.

Kimi felt the date was already paying off, but there was still plenty to go. ''Maybe I should tease her a little,'' she decided while beckoning Asama over.

Asama dashed back to her, and…

“C-c’mon! Let’s hurry on to Oume!”

“Takao.”

“Oh, r-right! To Takao! Takao is where Tengu live, so they specialize in Tengu masks! They have a mascot squadron called Takao Sentai Tengumen that wear Tengu masks on their faces and crotches and lately they’ve been running around to protect the ship at night!”

“You need to bow down to Takao right this instant.”

That said, Kimi understood why Asama was nervously rambling with her cheeks flushed.

The girl did not understand what a date was.

She wanted to make sure the other girls did not grow tired of her or feel disappointed in her, so she was desperately trying to fill the silence and show them as much as possible.

It may have been a common trap that beginners fell into.

…''My foolish brother is a lot easier to deal with on that front.

After all, he would start by doing this:

“Hey.”

Kimi grabbed Asama’s hand.

She held it tight.

Asama’s arms and shoulders jumped.

“Eh? Um, Kimi!?”

“Why are you so jumpy? This is a date, so we need to hold hands, don’t we? C’mon, you take the other one, Mitotsudaira.”

“Y-yes, th-that would be for the best.”

Kimi was on the right and Mitotsudaira on the left.

With two different people holding her hands, Asama could not rush on ahead no matter how impatient she was. But just to be sure…

“Heh heh. I think I’ll make myself feel more at home.”

Kimi embraced Asama’s arm.

Asama was just a little taller than her, so she could rest her cheek on Asama’s shoulder when pressing against her like this. She tried it out.

…''Oh, this is even better than I thought.

Asama supported her, perhaps because she had been trained by her Shinto dances and archery. Her arm was softer than Kimi’s brother’s, and…

“Asama…”

“Wh-what?”

“No gaining or losing any weight, okay? I can’t let you lose this elasticity. I want it all to myself, so don’t let any other than us and my foolish brother do this.”

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about. And besides, I’m a shrine maiden.”

“True. A matchmaker shrine maiden like you really would have a divine protection preventing anyone from touching you if they aren’t close to you, so we wouldn’t be able to do this if your heart wasn’t letting us.”

Kimi’s Ootsubaki Uzume divine protection would not allow anyone who interrupted her dance to touch her, but Asama’s Asama Sakuya variety protected her based on romance.

In other words…

“I can only embrace your arm and grope your breasts because of the romance between us.”

“That is not why. Familial love and friendship also counts.” Instead of removing Kimi, Asama just let her shoulders fall. “But with the Apocalypse approaching, there really have been more mysterious phenomena lately. As the Asama Shrine’s #2, I do have a lot of defenses like that in place.”

“Will Mitotsudaira’s Troiko be okay?”

“My Troiko?”

Mitotsudaira tilted her head. Kimi replied when she saw the Cerberus on her head do the same.

“Since it has three heads, I was thinking of calling it Threeko, but since it’s ‘trois’ in French, I decided on Troiko.”

“Troiko? C-could you not give it weird names without even asking!?”

Mitotsudaira protested.

The Cerberus had followed a knight like her, so she did not like naming it like a dog.

…''But Kimi loves that kind of thing.

She gave off a mature aura, but she did not hesitate to express her love for cute things. Suzu was often the victim there, but according to Naomasa, “kiddy” things were about enjoying childish things rather than being a child oneself.

…''She’s completely indiscriminate there.

This was the same. At this rate, the Cerberus would sound like it was named after the “toro” used in sushi. Naming it after food was fine, but a three-headed wolf was not seafood. In order to protest, Mitotsudaira looked past Asama to Kimi.

“Um.”

But Asama’s obstacles blocked her view.

…''Eh!? What is this!?

She knew what they were called. When holding Asama’s hand, she had been able to see the other side. When she raised her head, her vision moved above the obstacles and Asama turned to face her.

“What’s the matter, Mito?”

Mitotsudaira looked down.

She could see the top of the obstacles down below.

…''There’s no way she can see her feet.

Looking down would not be enough.

What did she do when cutting her toenails or washing herself? It had to negatively affect her accuracy. They would also get in the way when wielding a weapon.

…''Oh, so that’s why she uses the bow. And since it uses a spell bowstring, her body doesn’t get in the way.

To repeat her thoughts from that morning, those things had to be inconvenient and they had to reduce her options in quite a few areas of life. Saying giant breasts were a hindrance in daily life might sound lewd, but that girl had to be putting in a lot of effort that no one ever noticed.

“Mito?”

This was her friend, so Mitotsudaira decided not to say anything.

Instead, she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and made eye contact.

“…”

After giving her a look of understanding rather than sympathy, she looked to Kimi.

“Now, then.”

“W-wait, Mito!? What was that just now!?”

Putting it in words would reflexively do damage to Mitotsudaira herself, so she refrained from answering.

“Can I say something, Kimi?”

“Heh heh. What is it? Tell me. If you wish to praise me, you don’t need my permission. You need to be more honest. But I’m willing to listen for two whole seconds! Now, go for it, Mitotsudaira! C’mon! C’moooon! Hurry, hurry!! Still nothing!? I’m here! Right here!! Can’t you see me!? C’mon! Take a good look!!”

“Why do you have to go on and on like that?”

“And what am I supposed to do when I’m stuck between you two?”

After Mitotsudaira and Kimi placated Asama, Mitotsudaira looked back to Kimi.

“My Cerberus is supposed to be serving a knight, so I can’t let you give it a dog’s name!”

“C’mere, Troiko.”

Kimi called out to it and all three heads barked.

“Eh?” said Mitotsudaira as she tried to look up above her head.

“It said Troiko is fine.”

The Cerberus barked again at the name.

…''W-wait! Um…!

The image in Mitotsudaira’s mind had the Cerberus briskly leading the way with its tail raised, but…

“Are you trying to make it do nothing but eat and sleep all day long!?”

“Don’t let the name influence your mental image that much.”

Kimi glared at her and she decided that might be right, but she still did not like the sound of that name.

“But, um, Troiko?”

The Cerberus must have thought she was calling its name because it barked.

After a pause…

“Can’t we give it a cooler name?”

“Troi-Man.”

“Something a little more manly.”

“Troi-Erection.”

That certainly made the Cerberus sound frightening, but Mitotsudaira was not about to be saying “erection” on a daily basis. And Asama would have a hard time with all the meters filling up. So…

“You aren’t thinking very much before you speak, are you!? You aren’t, are you!?”

“Then as a compromise between Troi-Man and Troi-Erection, we’ll go with Troiko.”

“That is not a compromise!!”

But the Cerberus barked again.

“I see.” Asama nodded and looked to Mitotsudaira.

“Um, Mito. I think we should respect what the Cerberus itself wants…”

“B-but what if it grows up to be toroi?<ref>Toroi means “slow” especially in respect to intelligence.</ref> A Cerberus deserves a cooler name…”

The person who happened to be walking by reflexively struck a pose as he faced them. It was Neshinbara. He pushed up his glasses and held a hand in front of his face.

“How about something with lots of voiced consonants like Baldogoria or Darigadregga!? Those sound strong, don’t they!?”

The Cerberus did not react.

“Yes.” Mitotsudaira nodded. “But don’t you have something a little more natural?”

“Then how about Unzen Fugen-Dake!?”

The Cerberus still did not react and Mitotsudaira sighed, but Neshinbara looked to the Cerberus on her head.

“Since Asama-kun isn’t purifying it, are you treating it like a type of local god or spirit?”

“Yes.” Asama nodded. “I think it was made by a ‘mold’ from the Kojima Peninsula. From what I can tell, it has mostly pure ether, so there’s no need to actively purify it away to nothingness.”

Mitotsudaira could sense the Cerberus bristling its fur after sensing danger in those words. She held up its back end to make sure it did not fall off her head.

“Is there some kind of problem if it’s a local god?”

“There are certain situations in which local gods make an appearance.”

Neshinbara summoned his Mouse named Michizane and opened a sign frame. It displayed a page from a local god thread on Musashi’s divine network.

“Most of the time, it’s to visit a festival, but there are other situations typical of local gods.”

“Such as?”

“To protect or greet someone, whether a local or a visitor. They’ll always appear when a visitor is lost or a higher god has arrived.”

This had nothing to do with higher gods, but the Musashi itself was a giant visitor. However…

“What about the Musashi is it here to help?”

“That I can’t tell you. But based on the standard situations for local gods, that Cerberus must be here to help with something or tell us something. So…”

So…

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but this land’s local gods must have taken a liking to it. They sensed the premonition and created this physical form to bless you with some lively cheer.”

Neshinbara jotted down a description of the Cerberus’s appearance and turned his back.

“I still think a name with plenty of voiced consonants would be good.”

“Yes.” Kimi nodded. “That pretty much settles it for Troiko then.”

“No, it does not!!” shouted Mitotsudaira.

However, the Cerberus barked. Mitotsudaira snatched it from her head and held it in front of her eyes with her eyebrows raised.

“You’re okay with that!?”

“…!”

Three simultaneous barks clinched it, so she fell to her knees. But…

“Is Troiko safe with the divine protections you always have active, Asama?” asked Kimi.

While listening to Kimi’s question, Asama looked down at Mitotsudaira who had fallen to her knees. The Cerberus was looking up at her.

“My defenses will accept a local god mold. Unless we try to harm each other or clash in some other way, it should be fine.”

“Then Troiko is one of us for the time being.”

Kimi laughed and placed her chin on Asama’s right breast. Saying “stop that” and glaring at her did nothing to stop her. She embraced Asama’s right arm again and tilted her head to look at Mitotsudaira.

“Troiko.”

“!”

“You seem to like Mitotsudaira, so if she comes up with a good name, you go with that, okay?”

“…!”

The Cerberus replied and Mitotsudaira looked up in confusion.

She quickly picked the Cerberus up from the ground.

“That bark. Kimi, can you speak with this thing!?”

“Speaking with animals is a fairly basic technique for Shinto shrine maidens, you know? Of course, mutual understanding is a high-level technique, so all I can do is convey some slight nuance and grasp its answer like I’m hearing things.”

“Yes,” agreed Asama.

In Shinto mythology, every god could converse with wild animals and fish. Transforming into birds or turning into a fish was a very Shinto thing.

In Europe, that sort of nature worship had been crushed by the spread of Tsirhc.

…''But in Shinto, everything is equal before the gods.

So…

“Mito, if you sign a contract as a shrine maiden, you too can learn and level up in that kind of skill.”

“Shrine maidens talk about levelling up? Also…”

Mitotsudaira wiped off the Cerberus’s feet with a handkerchief before placing it back on her head.

“I converted to Shinto in middle school, but signing a shrine maiden contract would hinder me in battle. Shrine maidens generally aren’t allowed to proactively start a fight.”

It did not particularly matter whether she would actually have many options to fight on the Musashi.

She was a Rank 1 Knight and her provisional inherited name placed her second in line to ruling the Far East. Given her position, she had to be prepared for an emergency. But when she looked up toward the Cerberus on her head…

“Working part-time as a shrine maiden would make for a nice change of pace and I could buy a spell for conversing with small animals as payment, right?”

“Yes. That is a standard Shinto spell, so if it’s as payment for shrine maiden work, you can have the god give it to you or have it applied to you by a mid-level or higher shrine maiden like me.”

“Applied to me?”

Asama nodded.

“You can rent the power from the god for a few days or some other limited period of time. You bow at the shrine when you do part-time shrine maiden work, right? That’s when the god applies a shrine maiden’s authority for the period of your work shift. Similarly, you could get the ability to converse with small animals for as long as the Cerberus is with you.”

“I see…”

“Will you be working again today?”

“Eh?”

Mitotsudaira was caught off guard and she thought for a moment. After a while, she opened a sign frame and checked her schedule.

“Would tonight be okay?”

“Yes. Asakusa’s ley lines need tuning, so we’ll do that. Really, it’s just checking over them since everyone’s rehearsing for the Gagaku Festival there.” Asama held a hand out to Mitotsudaira. “I’ll mark you down for that shift. For now, um…”

“Our date!!”

Still clinging to Asama’s right arm, Kimi shook her body and shouted the words. Asama responded by grabbing Mitotsudaira’s outstretched hand.

She already knew where their first stop was.

“There’s a Buddhist power spot in Takao’s nature district that’s gotten popular lately.”

A female voice sounded below the white sky.

“Okay, we’ve finished our warmup exercises, so let’s get started. Musashi Student Vassal Unit, use this basic training to show me what you’ve learned over the past two weeks.”

The voice belonged to a black-haired girl with an assault spear on her back. On her left arm, she wore a blue armband with “Vice President Ookubo Tadayo” written in white.

Her voice filled a wide open place: the second schoolyard below Musashi Ariadust Academy.

It was located at the bottom of the long stairway extending from the academy. It and the third schoolyard located further below were used as training grounds for the sports teams, the Chancellor’s Officers, and other groups.

Currently, the second schoolyard’s port side was in use.

“Student vassal unit, create a defensive formation with your mobile shells! Then advance and withdraw!”

She opened a scoring sheet sign frame for the student vassals and blew the whistle hanging from her neck.

“—————!”

The sound was not particularly high pitched, but it traveled a good distance and set several objects and people in motion.

The objects were two giant oblong defense barriers that came to life in the center of the second schoolyard. The people were the vassal unit that placed their few mobile shells out front.

There were more than twenty vassals. A few – mostly third years – had mobile shells, but the others were equipped with training armor. Except for one.

“Balfette! You’re in the second year, so why do you only have a track suit!?”

“I don’t have any money! None at all! Will you give me some, Tadayo-san!?”

“Not a single yen!!”

“Hooray! I got permission to use my track suit!”

''Do they both have to be so blunt?'' wondered the others as they watched the second year vassal holding a lance in her track suit. But…

“Huh?”

The short track suit girl had been running in front of them before, but she was gone.

She was much further forward.

She was not taking especially long strides. The speed came from the timing of her steps. Still, those running legs brought her forward in the navy blue track suit known as Musashi Blue. She ran toward the two defense barriers standing in the second courtyard.

“Judge! Second Year Adele Balfette! I’m up first!”

With a muttered “oops” or “dammit”, the third years started running too. They were assisted by their mobile shells, but they could not match her initial speed.

The mobile shells started catching up by the third step, but the track suit girl had too much of a lead.

“…!”

Adele charged toward the oblong glowing torii on the right. She judged the number of remaining steps by eye and held her lance forward.

Just as she was going to hit, Tadayo spoke up with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised.

“Ha ha. You need to be a little faster than that.”

The defense barrier moved. The one Adele was aiming for moved up and a little forward.

“Huhhh!?”

It dodged her attack as if jumping over her.

“Musashi” watched the scene from the large landing halfway up the stairs leading to the academy.

The two defense barriers she controlled were moving. She looked port while moving a barrier forward in a mountain-like trajectory over the charging vassal.

“I modeled that movement on the walking of a heavy god of war.”

Adele flew off her feet below the barrier representing the left leg.

She had not been hit by any kind of attack. She had simply self-destructed.

After running so quickly, the short vassal had tried to rotate her entire body to attack, but she had not made it in time.

…''It looked like her momentum knocked her from her feet, but…

A closer look showed something else.

Even if she was light, tripping like that was odd. A look at her chest was enough to know how light she was, but she was holding that lance.

So…

“Did she throw herself into a dive to avoid hitting the ground while still lowering her speed? Over.”

Based on “Musashi’s” memories, the motion was similar to the one a ninja made just before hitting the ground after jumping from an elevated location. The ninja would be spreading out their clothing to increase air resistance, so the vassal’s flailing limbs may have been playing a similar role.

…''That vassal belongs to Class 2-Plum and I believe a ninja of equal speed belongs to that same class.

Had she received some advice from that ninja?

…''If so…

The students of Class 2-Plum were doing more than studying on their own and training with the organizations or groups they belonged to. They were also giving each other instructions.

Once she started thinking about it, “Musashi” realized the vassal was not the only one.

The same could be said of the Asama Shrine’s heir, the Aoi siblings who had become much more troublesome of late, the ninja who she had recalled a moment before, and the merchant duo who were beginning to make a name for themselves within Musashi’s Commerce and Industry Guild.

“Could it be…all of them? Over.”

“Musashi” would occasionally look around within Musashi Ariadust Academy, so she replayed her memories of Class Plum from then.

…''Is this…?

Statistically speaking, the students of Class Plum were constantly exchanging opinions on their techniques and qualifications or giving each other practical advice. It went beyond Oriotorai’s mock battles. They were doing it after school as well. The vassal who was rolling a little to stop her fall had gone running with Rank 1 Knight Mitotsudaira and some others that very morning.

In that case, was Class Plum as a whole exchanging advice and making up for each other’s weaknesses and problems? But…

“Why would they be doing that? Over.”

That question remained.

“Musashi” asked herself why the students of Class 2-Plum were performing their self-training as a group.

Doing so individually made sense. As students, they had to prepare for their future and they might find themselves unable to keep up with others.

People almost always trained as individuals when working toward and settling into a career. They might use school to undergo specialized training and lessons toward that end, but there was no reason to make up for each other’s deficiencies as that class was.

Looking at it that way led “Musashi” to a certain idea.

…''Are they trying to accomplish something as a whole rather than as individuals?

That was not all that strange when looking at the world as a whole.

The academies of the world’s nations used their Student Council, Chancellor’s Officers, or the academy as a whole to manage their politics and combat.

It was said “if you are not a student, you are not a person” because students ruled the nation, but that was only true of the nations that held provisional rule over the Far East.

Things were different from the Far East’s point of view.

After all, the Far East was at peace.

With the Logismoi Oplo distributed to the Testament Union nations by Mikawa and the approaching Apocalypse, there were problems, but wars were governed by the rules of the history recreation and the Musashi was a noncombatant ship. It could avoid a course that took it through a battlefield and no one would complain as long as it obeyed the rules of the provisional rule.

That allowed the people of Musashi to live peaceful lives.

None of them would think of combat or fighting as the whole of life.

The vassal unit’s combat training down below was on a much smaller scale than comparable training in other nations.

With the Chancellor’s Officers, knights, samurai, and ninja, there were some that trained in the fundamentals of various combat styles, but it generally ended at that.

Not very many would go beyond the fundamentals and learn the techniques needed to survive and achieve victory on the battlefield.

After all…

…''I have determined that is due to the provisional rule.

All of the ruling nations wished to benefit from the Far East, so they could not afford to lose the Far East. That allowed the Far East to maintain its peace while running errands and acting as a bank for the other nations.

And thus no one in Musashi specialized in combat outside of the knights and the Chancellor’s Officers.

Even if they did undergo combat training, it was only useful to put down on a resume when entering Far Eastern society.

The title of “vassal” was no more than that to the vassals working so hard down below. Their effort would not make them knights. So…

“They only need to do ‘good enough’. Over.”

The vassal that had self-destructed at full speed hopped back to her feet in order to pursue the defense barrier that “Musashi” was moving. She raised her lance overhead with both hands, and…

“Here I go!”

“Hurry it up!!”

The student vassal unit – including the third years – was accepting of her grandstanding.

She stood out for doing more than “good enough”.

Did the other vassals understand her stance?

Combat was unnecessary in the Far East and on the Musashi. Their peaceful days would continue.

“We are doing our best to ensure that. Over.”

But as if to ignore all that work, some of them were training and helping each other improve.

“Musashi” had not been around them enough to know why they were doing so.

It was possible Sakai had realized something, but she had yet to do any research on her own and it would be pathetic to ask him as a shortcut.

But suddenly…

“Oh? The Rank 5s of the vassal unit are training today.”

A group of three approached from behind. It was Asama, Aoi, and Mitotsudaira that “Musashi” had thought of earlier.

They were holding hands as they walked somewhere.

Asama was a little disturbed by “Musashi’s” gaze.

…''Ehh? I-I think she’s glaring at us.

“Musashi” was the captain automaton for all eight of the Musashi’s ships. Asama knew her through her work at the Asama Shrine and had even worked with her on reports and business affairs.

But why was the automaton giving her a look of suspicion?

She found an answer almost as soon as she started wondering.

…''I have Kimi to my right and a Cerberus on Mito’s head to my left!

They were also holding hands, so she had to look like a strange person in the center. There was no doubt about it. Working to maintain order on the Musashi was one of “Musashi’s” duties, so of course she was suspicious.

…''Kimi might be a lost cause with her long history of past offenses, but as the Shinto representative of the Asama Shrine, Mito’s Cerberus is cute-…no, I mean safe. There’s no problem there.

Also…

…''I feel like “Musashi”-san is looking at all three of us.

She quietly asked about it.

“Did you do something, Kimi? Or did Toori-kun?”

“Heh heh. Leave it to the master detective Clever Aoi! …And no, I didn’t say Cleavage Aoi!”

“Maybe wait until someone actually thought you said that?”

“True.” Kimi nodded. “Asama, I happen to know the password to stop Musashi’s automatons from being suspicious.”

“You’re lying to me again, aren’t you?”

“What are you saying, Asama? Trust me, okay? Now, listen. It’s an equation: π 0 i M Sin. Now, read that backwards!”

“How about you do it?”

“Sign my oppai!!”<ref>Oppai means breasts.</ref>

Kimi shouted the answer with a smile, but then…

“I told you to say it, Asamaaaa!!!!”

“Nwaaah! You are the worst!”

However, the situation was already on the move. The students heading home from school and the vassal unit down below were looking at them with disturbed expressions of disbelief.

Naruze was spraying blood and falling from the sky on her way to the transport district, but that was nothing new. Asama just hoped it did not interfere with her work.

As for “Musashi” right in front of them…

…''Ah, she’s really put up her guard!!

“Asama!” Kimi gave her an extremely serious look. “Calm down! No one’s at fault here!”

“Do you think whoever says that first is absolved of guilt!? You do, don’t you!?”

“What are you staying, you silly girl? I was only trying to cover for you.”

“Why you…!”

Asama tried to raise her left hand, but Mitotsudaira held it. The crazy person showed no sign of caring as she faced “Musashi”.

“Heh heh. Sorry about that, ‘Musashi’. Our Asama can be so careless.”

“Do not worry about it.”

“Musashi” tilted her head to adjust her thoughts and she fixed her apron.

“Where are you three going and what for? Over.”

''Eh?'' thought Asama as she mentally tilted her head.

“Musashi” never asked things like that. For one, she could track them while they were on the surface or in the corridors.

If she was asking…

…''She must be curious where we’re going next.

With the crazy person on her right and the Cerberus owner on her left, it did indeed look like they were going to cause some trouble, so Asama forced a smile.

“We’re on our way to Takao.”

“Are you three training as well? Over.”

“Eh?”

After nearly answering the question with a question, Asama quickly swallowed her words.

…''Training?”

Takao was used for Buddhist training. Thanks to the history recreation of the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, they would work with Shinto and the Asama Shrine supplied them with ether. The area was also used for walks, picnics, and dates, but if students – one of them from the Asama Shrine – were going there…

…''I guess you would think it’s for training.

Lying would not help, so Asama told the truth.

“We’re just going there to relax.”

“The three of us are on a date together! Jealous, aren’t you!?”

“Musashi” reacted to Kimi’s words by looking to Asama, Mitotsudaira, and finally Kimi. Then she placed a hand on her forehead.

“This seems quite different from the concept of a ‘date’ in my head.”

“What is a ‘date’ to you, ‘Musashi’-san?”

All of the nearby boys on the way back from school held their breath and tensed up, but “Musashi” paid them no heed as she placed a finger on her chin.

“Using some spare time to visit a sunny part of the deck, stare into the sky, view the world without focusing on ether reactions, serve your partner some tea, and discuss things unrelated to your official duties. Over.”

“I see.” Mitotsudaira nodded and continued with a tone of comprehension. “In other words, what you always do with Principal Sakai.”

“Musashi” gave Mitotsudaira a truly frightening look and the girl and her Cerberus began trembling and sweating. Asama urged them to calm down and looked back to “Musashi”.

“Anyway, um, we’re going on a date to relax a little. …The plan is to follow the towing belts around from Takao to Oume and then Murayama.”

“To relax? Over.”

Asama mentally tilted her head again.

…''That was a question?

What had that automaton thought about their plans to relax?

It seemed like something an automaton would have difficulty understanding, but even they had to take some time to “relax” in order to optimize their memories. In that case…

“Is something the matter?”

Once Asama asked, “Musashi” finally lowered her head.

“I apologize. The captain should not be stopping a Musashi resident, especially one as important as you, Asama-sama. However, I have determined I would like to say something,” said “Musashi”. “I now understand that you are living busy enough lives to necessitate some time off to relax. I do not understand what that means, but I will support any possibilities within the Musashi. Over.”

“Is that so…?”

Asama did not really understand, but it was true she was busy dealing with her awful classmates and other difficulties on a daily basis. And that busyness had grown lately with the Gagaku Festival coming up.

Kimi smiled and tugged on her arm.

“Heh heh. Then how about we get going? ‘Musashi’, you take care of Adele and the others’ training, okay?”

“Judge. I will serve them some tea later so they too can take some time to relax. Over.”

“Musashi” bowed and the Cerberus barked in response.

When Asama heard that, she realized Kimi was pulling her forward.

“W-wait, Kimi! I’m supposed to be escorting you!”

“Um, are you okay, Naruze-kun? I certainly didn’t expect you to fall unconscious from the sky with blood spraying everywhere.”’

Naruze got up and found herself in the transport district on the port side of Okutama. The afternoon rush had begun as cargo arrived from other ships and the lower floors.

“Nn…”

Outside a relay warehouse, she shook her somewhat empty-feeling head and looked around while sitting on a bench next to some vending machines.

The pedophile and the curry boy were there. Noriki walked past carrying some lumber, but she knew he had likely been guarding her until she came to. Also…

…''Ah.

A white handkerchief had been laid out on the bench where her head had been resting.

It belonged to Margot. The girl had continued on with their work instead of worrying too much. Naruze would have felt like a burden otherwise, so she appreciated it. And…

“Ohiroshiki, did something happen while I was asleep?”

“Naito-kun received some kind of document from a representative of the delivery business. She said something about wanting to discuss it with you later.”

“Judge. So it was finally accepted.”

“What was?” asked Hassan.

Someone stopped her there.

“Hey.”

It was Noriki. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

“We mostly get it already, so you don’t have to tell us.”

“True.” Naruze nodded and looked him in the eye. “You never get entirely involved in our affairs, do you?”

“If you get it, you don’t have to say it.”

“If I think you want me to say it, shouldn’t I say it even if I get it?”

“Then don’t say it.” Noriki smiled a little. “All I can do is earn enough to pay for my siblings’ tuition.”

“Then you’ll be joining us eventually, won’t you?”

“Why would I?”

“Don’t be silly.” Naruze smiled bitterly. “You said that’s all you ''can'' do. If it was all you ''should'' do, then you would be stuck doing that forever. But when it’s all you ''can'' do, you’re freed from that once there’s more you can do, right? You’re definitely planning to join us once you can and once you’re done with this.”

“That’s just a play on words.”

“Well, I am a Technohexen.”

Naruze sighed and sat back on the bench.

“Why do guys love making everything more trouble than it has to be?”

“Wh-what are you saying!?” exclaimed Ohiroshiki. “I love simple things! I do!!”

“Pipe down, criminal.”

She ignored his protests, did not hesitate to blow her nose with the handkerchief, and checked the color of the drying blood. She then threw her legs forward and leaned her back against the warehouse’s wall.

…''If Margot shared the document, I should be able to see it.

She opened a crop mark frame Magie Figur.

“…?”

All of a sudden, someone held a paper cup out to her from the side, so she looked to see who it was.

“Tenzou?”

“This is a treat from ‘Musashi’-dono. There is enough for everyone.”

The ninja then handed cups out to Ohiroshiki, Hassan, and Persona-kun who happened to be passing by.

…''I’m such a troublesome person.

She had known all of them for a long time, but she did not feel very close to them. Perhaps that was because she had started living on her own pretty early. That had changed to “with a roommate”, but that gave her a home beyond the class. She also had her position in the delivery business.

She would not go so far as to call herself independent, but she mostly saw the academy as a place to relax. And thanks to her personality, she had a tendency to build walls between herself and others.

…''But I’m glad they don’t exclude me because of it.

If they did, she would have no reason to be in the same class as them. Even if she was the one building the walls, if they did truly reject her, she would just fall back on her occupation. She would stop even showing up at the academy.

The ever-changing sense of belonging in the academy allowed for a change of pace just by being there, but…

“You all love looking after people, don’t you?”

“That is not what I’m doing,” insisted the ninja.

“I never said I was talking about you, Mr. Self-Conscious.”

The Ninja groaned and clenched his right fist, but she enjoyed interpersonal relationships with that much tension to them.

''Anyway,'' she thought while looking back to her Magie Figur.

…''Edel Brocken’s tester exam.

She was looking at the document granting them the qualifications to take the exam.

…''We have the document, but that doesn’t mean we have to take the exam.

This was just one path toward the future.
Edel Brocken was a company located somewhere in M.H.R.R. that developed equipment exclusively for Technohexen. Any licensed Technohexen who had reached a certain level would suddenly have an Edel Brocken pamphlet and passcode sent to them. If they ignored it, they would never have any dealings with Edel Brocken. If they registered, they would have occasional dealings with Edel Brocken, seemingly whenever the company felt like it.

Naruze had seen it once when the Musashi was traveling along the southwestern provisional border of M.H.R.R.

The reflection of the morning sun beyond the early morning clouds had revealed the shadow of a giant floating mountain resembling a three-cornered hat.

“That is Edel Brocken,” Almirante, head of the individual delivery business, had told her.

Edel Brocken sought testers for its equipment, but they generally restricted themselves to one and occasionally two from a nation. They only needed a Weiss Hexen and a Schwarz Hexen after all.

The Far East already had a tester on the Musashi. That tester was a woman named Wild Kamelie, a Schwarz Hexen from M.H.R.R.

That took up the sole tester slot. The Far East had no Technohexen culture in the first place, so a tester for a standard ''schale besen'' was all they needed.

But a slight problem had been pointed out the year before.

Edel Brocken was apparently expanding their lineup of equipment to deal with the Thirty Years’ War and the Apocalypse, so they were providing even the Musashi with two tester slots.

One entry in their lineup of next generation Technohexen equipment was apparently a cumulative equipment style of ''schale besen'' for both Weiss and Scharz Hexen.

It was rumored to be a high-speed and high-mobility model that required the combat Technohexen outfits that had been optional in the past. It was also rumored to have anti-warship capabilities.

“In that case, what are Musashi’s Technohexen to do?”

Wild Kamelie already had the Schwarz Hexen position, so that left the Weiss Hexen position open.

That gave Naruze the advantage.

If she could take that position, she would be the leading Weiss Hexen on the Musashi. That would guarantee her current lifestyle for as long as she remained a tester and it would likely stabilize her position in the future as well.

It was worth taking the challenge. Simply trying would bring her name to the forefront. But…

…''Margot.

The two of them were a Weiss and Schwarz Hexen pair.

They had only been so close for a few years, but their connection went back beyond that, they lived together, they worked together, and they spent their lives together. She was someone Naruze did not want to be parted from.

Of course, Margot would tell her not to worry about it if she said anything, so there was nothing to say. But…

…''Am I spoiled if I want her to be the tester with me?

She had asked to let Margot see the paperwork too when it came in. If she became the tester, it would be a big change in both their lives.

What was she supposed to do?

Inviting Margot to the tester exam would be easy, but that would mean Margot had to take on Wild Kamelie.

Wild Kamelie had real combat experience in Eastern Europe and she was only in her late twenties. At that age, she had the best of both worlds as far as experience and physical strength were concerned.

Defeating her would be great, but losing to her would be the end of it all. That would demonstrate their difference in status and settle their position within the Musashi.

But Naruze also had to worry about passing her own tester exam.

It was a troublesome issue, so…

“I could always just not do it.”

“Not do what?”

The ninja looked over, so she smiled bitterly.

“A certain plan for the future.”

“For Musashi’s future?”

''He isn’t getting that wrong on purpose, is he?” she wondered.

“Well, you could say it has to do with where we’re headed.”

She stood up from the bench, stretched, and spread her wings.

She drank down the tea in the paper cup, tossed it into the vending machine trashcan, and looked to the others around her.

“If you all have work, get to it.”

“Judge. This was only a detour on the way.”

“That’s exactly the kind of distance I want from you.”

She smiled a little and took off. With a flap of her wings, she kicked off the warehouse wall and soared high into the sky.

“What do you call this?”

Her black wings took her into the white sky that was already filled with many of her colleagues.

“Is it courage or recklessness? I want to do this whichever it is. And the result will be the same either way.”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1B Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1B Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 42

2016-04-02T23:03:26Z

86.52.29.66: Typo fixed.

==Chapter 42: Protester in the Frame==
[[Image:Horizon4B_0263.jpg|thumb]]
''What is stereotypical

''Yet not stereotypical?

'''Point Allocation (The Unexpected)

On the diplomatic ship floating in the Mito sky below the Ariake, Ookubo’s broadcast played from the sign frame opened above the upper deck’s garden.

A pond in the garden had been converted into a summer pool and Masazumi was reading at the edge wearing only a shirt and the bottom of a two-piece swimsuit. Her butt sat on the stones of the pond’s edge and her legs soaked in the water up to the shins.

“So the Ariake isn’t actually sealing anything off. That’s probably to avoid any backlash from the workers and residents and to help build their hatred of war.”

…''I can’t believe this.

The only ones being kept out were the members of the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers. Noriki, Ohiroshiki, Hassan, Itoken, and Persona-kun were apparently working like normal on the Ariake. The Tachibana Couple were also continuing as normal there. Shirojiro and Heidi had been let inside, but they were restricted to their merchant work.

There was no divine transmission restriction between them.

They apparently wanted to set this up as the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers versus the Committee Alliance.

However, Masazumi’s group had been forbidden from making any kind of public announcement. As their statements and actions were the target of protest, they were being restricted until the following day’s special student general assembly. The ones being protested were being detained until such time as they were judged.

“That girl takes things far too seriously. Take this and this and this.”

The Aoi Sister wore a cream-colored swimsuit and splashed water at the large sign frame above the pond. The splashing water caused the floating sign frame to distort and Asama spoke up from the pond stone she sat on while managing the divine transmissions.

“Ah! Stop that, Kimi! Keeping that thing going isn’t easy, you know!?”

“Then find a way to distract me. Like this.”

The Aoi Sister pulled on Asama’s leg and the girl in a white and red shrine maiden swimsuit produced a splash.

…''They sure are full of energy.

But since they were normal people, that may have been for the best.
@
…''A shrine maiden that rivals a warship gun and a normal person who can deflect an attack from one of Hashiba’s Ten Spears, huh?

Just as Masazumi began philosophically wondering what a “normal person” was, something cast a shadow over her head. She looked back and saw Naomasa in a black swimsuit. She twisted the straw hat on Masazumi’s head.

“We’re counting on you tomorrow.”

Naomasa then entered the pool with her false arm holding a tray of food. Next Naito and Naruze arrived in swimsuits that matched the colors of their Technohexen outfits.

They made quick flaps of their wings to make a long leap.

“Looking from above, this is the deepest part.”

They jumped in with their wings raised as much as possible. A spectacular splash filled the air, so Asama and the others shrieked and fled the area. As for Naomasa…

“Hey! What if you get water in our drinks, you two!?”

“Um, Masa… This isn’t my spring, so maybe alcohol isn’t the best idea,” commented Asama.

“Heh heh heh. Yes, your place has shown quite the hospitality lately.”

Meanwhile, Ookubo continued speaking overhead. She was assuring the people there would be no change to the Musashi’s current operations.

“Whatever the world chooses to do in the future, the people of Musashi need the influence provided by the nation of Musashi. That is why I believe we should repair and arm the Musashi.”

''That’s true,'' thought Masazumi. Then she realized the foundation of Ookubo’s policy.

“She’s going to follow what we’ve started, but change the direction in which it takes us.”

That was true of remodeling the Musashi, acquiring the Logismoi Óplo, and of ending the Apocalypse.

“We will continue what we are already doing. The budget for those actions is already in motion and even if that is reorganized, we cannot revoke Musashi’s position as a nation until the Peace of Westphalia. Musashi is not a small nation, so I am not saying we should change what we are doing. That will remain the same, but we must change direction on the political front in order to reach Westphalia in peace.”

“Oh? Then Milad-…Ookubo-sama, what exactly are you proposing? Give us an outline.”

“Well,” said Ookubo as she placed a hand on her chin.

“She’s good at this.” Kimi looked up at the sign frame while teaching Uzy the flutter kick. “She knows how to present herself, so she’ll be a lot of trouble. Flat politician, she’s a lot like you.”

“I haven’t the slightest clue how to present myself.”

Masazumi sighed as she rested her cheek on her hand, with the elbow on her crossed legs. The Aoi Sister pointed at her saying “That’s it! Right there!” but it was a mystery what she meant.

On the overhead sign frame, Ookubo faced Kanou and spoke.

“You asked what I am proposing, but I would like to ask you something first.”

''That’s an odd way of arguing,'' thought Masazumi. ''Why ask a question when asked about your proposal?

However, she knew what effect it would have and why Ookubo had done it. She was implicitly saying that everyone already knew what she was proposing.

By setting it up like that, even a normal opinion would sound valuable. And even if it was an incorrect opinion, people were more likely to carelessly accept it. By making it sound like a foregone conclusion, it was harder to hold doubts about it.

…''So what is that setup leading to?

Ookubo continued on the screen.

“Why must Musashi go out of its way to fight to resolve its problems?”

Ookubo slowly inhaled.

She faced the portable filming shrine held by a member of the PR Committee, but she did not smile yet.

…''I need to keep things serious here.

A lot of people would be seeing her for the first time. Looking too calm would make people think she was not taking this seriously. She was a challenger here, so there was something she had to say while looking straight at them.

“On the political front, I have determined that Musashi has the national power needed to maintain peace and stop the Apocalypse. So…”

How about this?

“Things are different than they were at Mikawa. The Musashi is being remodeled and has lost a battle, so I believe it is time to take another look at our current policy. After all, if we do not change that policy, we will be dragged into an unavoidable fight along with Oushuu and Sviet Rus. We have no close relationship with any nation at the moment, so I believe this is the perfect time to have this discussion.”

She said “so” again.

“Tomorrow, I wish to hold a special student general assembly at which we can debate with and make suggestions to the Vice President and the rest of the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers.”

She inhaled and lowered her head just once.

She next needed to make a request to everyone watching.

But she would not make it right away. Everything she had just said and her serious attitude were still alive within the viewers. If she made her request in the same way, it would sound the same as everything else. It would lack impact.

A proper speech needed shifts in tone. After all…

…''Everything I’ve said this far is essentially meaningless.

What mattered was that the people took her side at the special student general assembly. Everything thus far was nothing more than setup and meant for the wonderful people who had been willing to actually listen to her argument.

What came next was for the majority of people who only wanted to see the very end of what she had to say.

Those people had not listened so seriously to what she had to say. They had not truly understood it and had simply nodded along.

How could she get those people to remember her?

Ookubo raised her head and looked straight forward, but…

“—————”

…''Now I breathe out.

[[Image:Horizon4B_0271.jpg|thumb]]

She looked ahead to the screen displaying her image, said nothing, and yet felt the relief of completing a large job.

She relaxed.

She even vocalized the sigh.

She cast aside her previous serious mood and tension in a way everyone could understand.

Then she nodded and smiled toward everyone watching.

''Good job,'' she really did think while narrowing her eyes. ''Good job listening to what I had to say.

And with that in her heart, she only had one thing to say.

“Please keep me in your thoughts.”

She closed her eyes in a smile and lowered he head again.

“Wow, that’s just not fair…”

Heidi spread her mouth horizontally and bent back in the Marube-ya shop on the main street of Okutama’s surface residential area.

A sign frame from Masazumi opened next to her face.

'''Vice President:''' “Augesvarer, what do you think as a merchant?”

“Well,” said Heidi as she looked to the front of the shop. With his best business smile, Shirojiro was selling vegetables to the women still living on the Musashi. For some reason, he was rubbing his hands together as he sold the radishes and green onions.

“Ha ha ha. Everyone, today’s produce is ecofriendly and naturally grown! Just look! The tip of this green onion is so wonderfully green! Cook it and it becomes so sweet and delicious! A set of five is a bargain at only five times the price of one!”

'''Azuma:''' “But all of that sounds completely normal. Is that because there’s something wrong with me?”

'''Marube-ya:''' “I love how Shiro-kun’s sales talks run on pure momentum and transform him into an idiot! Oh, and just to be clear, he isn’t sacrificing his personality for money. Money is everything, so we use it to draw out a new side of our personality!”

'''Vice President:''' “Um, sure… Please continue.”

Heidi let Erimaki manage the sign frame from atop her head as she carried a wooden container of natto in straw out from the back of the shop.

'''Marube-ya:''' “Well, you see? That Glasses Committee Head probably isn’t like us or you.”

'''Vice President:''' “Eh?”

'''Asama:''' “Um, Masazumi? She did set you apart, so I don’t think you need to get so depressed you collapse onto your side. Look, Tsukinowa doesn’t know what to do.”

''Masazumi’s getting better with her reactions,'' thought Heidi with a smile as she lined the produce up in front of the shop.

“Okay! We just got a shipment of Mito natto! This is the fresh natto that our Mitotsudaira protected by barking and running those Hashiba bad guys out of town! It has Mitotsudaira’s sniff approval!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Lies! There were several blatant lies in that!”

'''Me:''' “That’s right! Nate doesn’t bark or sniff at things! She only smells the air when there’s meat around and she only climbs up high for a growling song when she gets all excited!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Um, my king? Some things are unavoidable traits of your race. Like smelling at the air when there’s meat around…”

'''Hori-ko:''' “Oh? Then Mitotsudaira-sama. What about this lamb kebab cooking next to the yakisoba?”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Eh!? …Th-that is, um, a vegetable! Yes, a vegetable!”

It seemed to be pet-feeding time for the Russia group. Heidi checked over the sign frames as Erimaki finished compiling each one.

“Musashi’s guard unit – in other words, the guards for the Chancellor’s Officers – is apparently treating this as an ‘internal incident’ since Futayo hasn’t done anything. They will stop any harm that might come to the normal people and students or if the normal people try to harm the officers, but otherwise – in other words, in a clash between an officer and a member of a Committee – they’ll probably treat it as a duel. That leaves me curious about the VIPs who aren’t officers… How are things with you, Azuma-kun?”

'''Azuma:''' “Eh? Nothing’s happening here. Besides, I’m looking after Miriam today because, um, well, she can’t move much since it’s that time of the month.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Your shtick really has changed. …If you’re looking for a new shtick, you can always consult me.”

'''Azuma:''' “Then, um, Naruze-kun? …Do you have a spell or something to lessen the effects of that time of the month?”

This had nothing to do with her, but Heidi felt a shiver down her spine. She used the power of prayer to send out thoughts of “Send this my way!” and “We can make a ton of money off of this!”

But…

'''Gold Mar:''' “Ga-chan, your nose. Your nose is bleeding.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Heh…heh heh. Why would you do that again? You might as well be holding meat out while dancing in front of a bear just before hibernation… L-listen, Azuma.”

'''Azuma:''' “Judge. What is it?”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “I’m pretty sure Miriam knows a way to stop that, so tell her there’s a way the two of you can stop it together. See if she’ll tell you what it is.”

'''Azuma:''' “Okay. She’ll know what I mean if I ask like that? Then I’ll go ask her.”

Heidi felt an even stronger shiver.

…''Is Azuma-kun the kind of kid who can be kidnapped for a ransom pretty easily?

'''Marube-ya:''' “U-um, are we just ignoring all the officers that didn’t choose to join you?”

'''Asama:''' “No, since I’m handling the divine transmissions, those ones are apparently cut off from us. There’s really no helping it, though.”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Lately, I’ve been thinking you play a much more active role than I do, Asama-chi.”

'''Sticky King:''' “She fits right in, so I see no problem. It’s not good to say things that will distance people.”

'''Obscene:''' “Agreed! Asama-kun is the ace shooter that fires us to our destination! She is most welcome on the front line!”

'''Asama:''' “Um…”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “Ignoring the lamenting shrine maiden, this really is a troublesome situation. …The normal members of the committees are one thing, but the Committee Heads have a fair bit of authority. They can bring their views to the Secretary, Treasurer, and the Special Duty Officers.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. But those Committee Heads can’t directly confront that anteater owner, can they? They report to the Special Duty Officers, Treasurer, and Secretary.”

'''Marube-ya:''' “That’s where the special student general assembly comes in. That lets them ignore the Special Duty Officers, Treasurer, and Secretary and speak to even the Chancellor.”

“It’s a real problem,” sighed Heidi. “But I guess it’s good that things on the Musashi aren’t stagnating. …We might be officers, but we’re also running a business here.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “That’s the trick right there… We’ve been busy lately, but that’s why we didn’t notice the Committee Alliance putting together this event. Although looking back, things were continuing a little too ‘normally’.”

'''Vice President:''' “That’s probably because Ookubo is just that good at bringing things together. I’m betting the other Committee Heads don’t see this as that big a deal.”

Heidi was not surprised to hear that. There were some athletic types taking positions here and there with opinion boxes, but…

'''Marube-ya:''' “It just feels like an event has begun. It’s just that we’d normally be informed in advance, but this time we weren’t.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. That would be how normal people like us see it. This was well done. If they weren’t planning to cause a huge commotion, the preparations would have been low-key as well. They dropped hints here and there to let those at the Committee Head level know this was happening and they controlled the information so it didn’t leak out.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Can they really control the information like that?”

'''Vice President:''' “They can.”

''That’s right,'' thought Heidi who typed up advertisements and made sales talks.

'''Marube-ya:''' “I think this was setup quite a while back.”

''Probably so,'' agreed Masazumi as she thought about Ookubo’s true intentions here.

When had she started planning this? Masazumi could make a decent guess.

“My guess would be it was setup around the time of the Armada Battle. When we were fighting, when the Musashi was repaired, and when we were away from the Musashi, the Committees did a lot to support us from the side.”

“But how did they set this up?” asked Naomasa as she adjusted her swimsuit that had built up water inside it.

Masazumi adjusted her hat and nodded.

“Judge. …We can’t spend much time on things right now. As the representative of the cities, she would have been the target of the students’ parents and they would have let her know what they thought about welfare, divine transmissions, the economy, and life on the Musashi. And of course, most of those opinions would be ones of unease. Especially when it concerns their children. But if the Representative Committee shared that listening work with the other committees when it related to their fields of work, the other Committee Heads would begin gathering Musashi’s anxieties and sending them to the Representative Committee Head.”

Meaning…

“After the Battle of Mikatagahara, we distributed the people between the eight land ports in Mito so their anxieties could not unify and would remain smaller individual issues. That is still in effect. …But the Committee Heads who gathered those complaints are unable to view those anxieties as individual things, so it builds up inside them.”

“Heh heh. Just like an inexperienced village doctor catching all of the small illnesses of his patients and becoming horribly ill himself. They say the common cold is the beginning of all illness, but…wait, does that include sexual diseases! Does that mean catching cold leads you to do things in need of censoring!? Well, Asama!? Does it!?”

Masazumi ignored that sister, but then she wondered if the girl was like that around town as well.

…''Actually, I guess I already know the answer.

“Um, the Committee Heads will understand just how dangerous the people’s worries are for Musashi at the moment. And that’s why they’ve left all the decision-making with the Representative Committee Head since this would normally be her job. After that, Ookubo only had to tell them that ‘after considering the people’s feelings, let’s confirm some things with and suggest some things to the Student Council’ and ‘this is our final chance to present this possibility to them’.”

“Well, none of that’s a lie. …So she just changed how they would interpret the information?” asked Naomasa.

“That’s right,” agreed Masazumi. “She’s acting like we have control of everything, and that’s why the Committee Heads and Musashi residents haven’t reacted too much. This is not a coup d’etat meant to overthrow us; it’s only a suggested change of policy. And that suggestion will change this life of unpredictable battle to a life of stable peace. Things on the Musashi won’t change all that much, no matter who is right here. But…”

But…

“With Ookubo, they might not have to go through any more war.”

“It sounds like the deck is really stacked against you, Masazumi. …I mean, you love war.”

“W-wait, Asama! I take extreme issue with part of that!”

“Eh?”

Asama fell silent. The Aoi Sister eventually tapped her on the shoulder and everyone in the water pressed their foreheads together and began whispering.

''What’s this about?'' wondered Masazumi as Asama left the circle first and raised her hand. She had a bit of tension in her eyebrows.

“Listen, Masazumi. This is extremely hard to say, but…”

“Judge. What is it?”

Asama presented their conclusion.

“Pretty much every time you have a meeting with another nation, the conclusion seems to be ‘This means war!’ ”

Masazumi thought on Asama’s words.

…''Is that true?

Was it? Could it be? She brought a hand to her forehead and went through her memories.

…''There was Mikawa and, um, England…

She counted them up on her fingers.

“Maa?”

…''Oh, yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I’m just thinking. I feel like my very identity is being shaken. I’m fine, I’m fine.

''But why am I sweating so much when I’m so lightly dressed and have my legs in the water? Calm down, Honda Masazumi. You’ve always been a pacifist. Counting it up does seem to show a concerning past and future, but try to stay positive here. Yes, take a positive view of war. No, that’s not right.

But she did reach a certain answer.

“Wait! Listen. Just wait, all of you!”

“What is it?”

She did not let their legitimately confused looks get to her.

“Listen,” she said while raising a finger. “At the discussion we had in Magdeburg’s Avalon, we didn’t go to war with any of the nations at that meeting!”

“Isn’t that when you announced ‘We’re gonna go crush Hashiba! Have a nice day!’?”

When she heard Naruze’s comment, Masazumi collapsed limply onto her side.

…''Huhhhhhhhhh?

She felt like there was something wrong with reality or like her view of the world was out of sync with the facts. Meanwhile, she heard distant voices in the center of the water.

“S-see, Naruze? You were so blunt that Masazumi can’t recover!”

“She really has gotten better with her reactions… And I think I can use that collapsed pose, so don’t move until I’ve made a sketch.”

“Hmm. Is Seijun singing a strange ‘loo loo loo’ song?”

“I am not!”

She sat back up, but that did not change a single thing about reality. Not that she had any reason to think it would. But she did want to try fighting this, so she said what she could.

“Um, I take those meetings and negotiations seriously, don’t I?”

“Yes, of course you do. You’re always saying confusing things…which always leads to war.”

“Everything I do is for the Far East, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you do everything you can for the Far East…which always leads to war.”

“I generally try to cooperate with the other nations, don’t I?”

“Yes, you do generally try to get along with them…which always leads to war.”

“W-wait! Why does it always lead to war!? I strongly oppose that!”

“That’s right.” Asama nodded. “I may have been the one that brought it up, but I don’t think Masazumi brings us to war every single time! So let’s not treat her like this.”

Naruze showed Asama a chart drawn up on a crop mark frame Magie Figur. Asama looked confused, so…

“If you add it all numerically like this and then list it like this, then it comes out like this.”

Asama nodded a few times and then faced Masazumi again.

“Understood. Looking at it statistically, you have been seriously doing everything you can for the Far East while trying to get along with the other nations…which always leads to war.”

“Are you all my enemies!?”

“Heh heh heh. But looking at it this way, you’re quite the frightening warmonger. Show the slightest opening and you’ll bring war to them.”

“W-wait! They generally bring the war to us! I’ve never done that!”

“In other words, you’re a tempter ''seme''.”

She had never heard that term before but could take a good guess what it meant, so she decided not to think about it any further.

“Anyway,” sighed Asama. “Don’t worry, Masazumi. Tomorrow’s special student general assembly is an internal affair, so I don’t see how it could possibly lead to war.”

…''Talk about setting a low bar…

But she needed to stay positive. If she could avoid leading this to war, that was a wonderful achievement.

…''Huh? Why am I feeling so horribly depressed?

“Now come on over here,” said the Aoi Sister. “We’ve got food.”

“That’s right, Seijun,” added Naito. “You have a lot to do tonight, like putting together a strategy for tomorrow, don’t you? Then you need to relax while you can.”

“No, no.” Masazumi waved her hand back and forth before gently tapping her chest over her shirt. “I’ve never swam before. Okay?”

“Oh…?”

They all exchanged a glance and smiled.

Before she realized where this was going, she was thrown into the water.

Two people stood on a snowy hill.

Lined up in the evening sky were a demonic long-lived in an M.H.R.R. uniform and a boy in a P.A. Oda uniform with a black down jacket over the shoulders.

They were Shibata Katsuie and Sassa Narimasa.

The few ships of the advance fleet and people quickly setting up camp were below the hill behind them and both of them had some ''insha kotob'' open.

The ''insha kotob'' were for work and other matters, but they were both hitting the “approved” button without even really looking at them. Occasionally, Katsuie would speak up.

“Hey, small fry, take this work more seriously. I feel sorry for the people who made this data.”

“Shibata, the idiot next to me isn’t even hitting ‘approved’; he’s just closing the frames. I think the odds are pretty good he has no idea how divine mail conversations work. Yes, as the upperclassman, could you say something to that idiot?”

Katsuie looked to Narimasa’s other side, the side he was not standing on.

“Hmm, Naru Naruuu? There’s no one there. Are you hallucinating? Hmm, you okay there? If you’ve gone crazy, should I knock some sense back into you? Hmm?”

“D-damn you…”

'''Taki:''' “You two love that act, don’t you?”

“Oh, hi, Takigawa. What do you need?”

'''Taki:''' “Did you read the divine mail I sent you?”

“Shaja,” replied Katsuie as he showed his teeth to the female ninja in the ''insha kotob''. “Ichimasu, things are getting interesting on the Musashi, aren’t they? First it looks like they’re going for a meeting with the three nations, but now they’ve got a special student general assembly? It’s just one event after another for the brats on that giant ship! I bet they’ll have festival stands out, so I kinda want to stop by with Lady Oichi!”

“Oh, then why not just go?”

A snowball hit the side of Narimasa’s face.

“Damn you!”

They both crushed snow with enough force to form ice balls and threw them back and forth at full strength, but they eventually took a break. As they did, Katsuie breathed a deep white sigh.

“Well, I guess we can think of this as Musashi peeling back the mask a little.”

“Really?”

“Narimasa.”

When Katsuie called his name, Narimasa pushed up his sunglasses and looked his way.

“Whaddya want??”

“Wowww! What was that ‘whaddya want’!? You push up your sunglasses like this and then…’whaddya want’!? Really!? ‘Whaddya want’!? This kid must think he’s ''so'' cool!!”

“Shut up, you son of a bitch! You’re the one that got all lovey-dovey while chowing down on the fruit tempura Oichi made! What was that ‘these strawberries are so good’ nonsense!? They had grated radish on them!”

“What!? If Lady Oichi grates it, a radish is a fruit! You didn’t know that, kid!?”

“Takigawa, can you do something about this guy? He’s a giant pain in the ass.”

'''Taki:''' “Yeah, Niu-chan’s over here too. So Naru-kun, you should probably just give up and play with Toshi and Michi.”

“No, those two are all obsessed with what Matthias and Hashiba sent over. They can get pretty nerdy, so I can’t keep up with them at times.”

'''Taki:''' “Why not find a hobby?”

“I used to have one.”

Shibata’s eyes widened and he pointed over saying “Eh? What was it?”, but Narimasa ignored him.

“I’m not telling you. Anyway, Shibata, you seem pretty cautious about Musashi. Is there a reason for that?”

“Shaja. It’s simple, you moron. What haven’t you done since coming to P.A. Oda?”

“Lived a trouble-free life under a superior who wasn’t an idiot.”

'''Taki:''' “To be blunt, you’ve been pretty blessed by your surroundings, Naru-kun. You haven’t dealt with any infighting since coming to P.A. Oda, right?”

“I do throw rocks at my stupid upperclassman.”

An ice ball with a rock inside hit him in the face, so their “snowball” fight heated up for a while.

“And isn’t it better to not have infighting? It’s a pain in the ass.”

'''Taki:''' “But the Oda clan had some during the issues over the inheritance of our master’s name.”

Inside the ''insha kotob'' Takigawa crossed her legs in her seat on the Shirasagi Castle’s bridge.

'''Taki:''' “The previous generation worked to combine the Mlasi forces and the Oda clan, but pushed a little too hard on that and had to retire to make up for it.”

“Shaja.” Katsuie nodded. “The clan split into two factions over the inheritance of our master’s name. Interestingly, I’m part of the main force now even though I was with the opposing faction.”

“Are you lecturing me like an old man? Please spare me.”

Narimasa sighed, shrugged, and turned his back on Katsuie.

“Could you upperclassmen stop expecting those of who came in later to do the things you all ended up doing? Isn’t it your duty to make sure we don’t have to do that kind of thing?”

'''Taki:''' “You sure take this seriously, Naru-kun.”

“Stop teasing-…”

He raised his voice, but stopped himself, sighed, looked back, and lowered his head.

“Sorry.”

Katsuie brought his hand down in a karate chop onto Narimasa’s lowered head and it clearly produced a dull sound.

“Ow! What was that for, you idiot!? You have no idea how to control your strength, do you!?”

“Then use that weak head of yours to think, small fry. If you’re going to follow the Testament descriptions…then Sassa Narimasa meets his end rebelling against Hashiba.”

“But before that and after we lose our master, I end up under your command as we fight Hashiba and Toshi. Hashiba will be our enemy by then.”

“That’s the whole point,” said Katsuie. “Your super excellent upperclassmen were telling you that it’s okay if you end up like us, no matter how it turns out that way.”

“What? Who are you calling excellent?”

“Don’t forget the ‘super’, small fry. Do you want me to create a human-shaped stamp in the snow with you? Do you?”

Katsuie laughed quietly.

“But that isn’t for a while. For now, we need to enjoy the situation we’ve got.”

“Shaja. You don’t have to tell me that. I was always planning to go all out here.”

The two of them looked north from the hill.

They were looking at an area several dozen kilometers away, past a large snowy forest in the distance.

“That’s the southwestern edge of Sviet Rus’s livable zone. There’s not even forty kilometers from that field to the city beyond it. We had an excellent guide.”

He nodded.

“Marfa of Novgorod, hm? She still looks down on everyone, but she led us in the right direction.”

Katsuie gave a nasal laugh.

“Hashiba pulled some strings to get Marfa the inherited name of Shibata Shigeie, right? So to ‘cooperate’ with us, she guided us into Sviet Rus territory and will prove her cooperation with a battle. And that’s just about to begin. Sounds good to me. Especially with the nice bait that’s shown up.”

He pointed his chin toward some shapes in the eastern sky. They were small and distant, but they were clearly there.

'''Taki:''' “Given the time, I assume that’s the Musashi diplomatic ship and Honjou Shigenaga’s escort fleet. I’ve recorded their cannon fire patterns and number of shells used, so should I send that over?”

“No,” replied Katsuie. “It wouldn’t get to her soon enough, and it wouldn’t matter for what she’s trying to do.”

'''Taki:''' “She? Oh, you mean Marfa.”

“Shaja,” responded Narimasa as he too looked to Honjou Shigenaga’s fleet. “Given the time, she should be making her attack soon.”

As he spoke, a wind blew through the eastern sky.

A shape suddenly appeared in front of Honjou Shigenaga’s escort fleet.

It was a black multi-layer warship that measured over eight hundred meters long. It was structured like shoe soles stacked on top of each other.

'''Taki:''' “Oh!? That reading!? Is that a stealth hulk? Now that’s rare!”

“I was raised in the mountains, so I can’t tell anything beyond its wafer-like multi-layer structure. Still, let’s see what she’s prepared to do. We’re not about to accept any half-assed ‘cooperation’. But…” Katsuie tilted his head and groaned. “I think that Marfa puts too much focus on emotions, strength, and connections between people. Well, that might be just right for such a cold region.”

Meanwhile, the black hulk flew toward the Honjou fleet with a few transport ships accompanying it.

It was on a collision course.

Honjou Shigenaga’s escort fleet for the diplomatic ship had noticed the enemy.

“Captain! Enemy detected eleven kilometers away to eleven and ten o’clock! The ether reading is of an old Sviet Rus Kraken-class armed hulk-type! The scan says it belongs to Novgorod!”

With that report, barriers opened on the left and right above the festival courtyard. These were physical ones, not spell ones. Toori tilted his head as they connected to the upper deck to keep out the external air.

“Hey, Shigeko? Do those cover everything? That’s kind of excessive.”

“Testament. Are you saying you wish to view the battle? …There is a lift to the top. I’ll show you the way.”

“H-hold on!” cut in Mitotsudaira “What is going on!?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Shigenaga while dismissively waving a hand and shoving yakisoba into her mouth. “This is the quickest way to understand the problem Sviet Rus is currently facing.”

“Eh?”

Mitotsudaira gave a puzzled look as Shigenaga opened a ''sankt okno'' and sent some instructions.

“Don’t let them pass by in silence, comrades! The time of demons is not yet upon us, so we must give a greeting to our fellow travelers. And let us bring them to a stop to teach them that this snowy land is not welcoming of outsiders!”

“So it’s hand-to-hand combat, captain!?”

“Testament! Listen, comrades! I’m sure you’re sick of using these cannons to fight. But the time has come! The time to display our great physical strength has come! The decorative flowers of cannon fire are only for the day. Once night falls, it is the crescent moon that shall decorate the sky! All ships, release your ceiling defense spells. It’s time for the famous Sviet Rus ''privet''!”

As she spoke, the wind split apart in the sky ahead.

They saw the black hulk there. It belonged to Novgorod, but there was something odd about it.

It was upside down, so the flat upper deck was pointed down. And…

“The enemy ship only has its front defense barriers active! It’s coming in for the ''privet''!”

A group of the amalgamated dead stood on the long upper deck of the multi-layer hulk. They were upside down, but they prepared for action at the stern of the ship.

And the individual at the very front was magnified in a ''sankt okno'' that opened in the sky.

She wore a black-dyed Sviet Rus uniform with extra decorations attached. An eight-legged horse made of bones stood to her side and the tiger-skin scarf around her neck blew in the wind. The very end of the scarf contained the two kanji of the name Kagetora.

Mitotsudaira spoke up when she realized what that name meant.

“Nagao Kagetora!? Is that former Sviet Rus Vice Chancellor and Novgorod Mayor Marfa!?”

Her tone of question carried a “but”, so she continued with a frown.

“Can we assume Novgorod has betrayed Sviet Rus and joined P.A. Oda?”

“Testament. We were keeping that hidden, but I guess the secret’s out now. …To be completely accurate, she’s the former Vice Chancellor, she’s Mayor of Novgorod, and she was one of the successors to Sviet Rus. She was also a good friend of Current Chancellor and Student Council President Uesugi Kagekatsu. And now she’s an enemy and a traitor. She is…”

In the ''sankt okno'', the woman’s expression changed. She brought her eyebrows together and stared ahead at them.

And Shigenaga spoke toward that gaze.

“Marfa ‘Vedma’ Boretskaya.”

With that resolute statement, the ceiling revealing both the sky and the enemy was closed.

At the same time, a ship-wide announcement played.

“The enemy ''privet'' will arrive in two minutes and thirty-seven seconds!”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 41|Chapter 41]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 43|Chapter 43]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 35

2016-02-13T01:30:05Z

86.52.29.66: Fixed a typo.

==Chapter 35: Messenger from the South==
[[Image:Horizon4B_0087.jpg|thumb]]
''The south

''Such a troublesome direction

''The circle narrows in on something

'''Point Allocation (The Cast Has Gathered)

“Wh-what is going on!?” asked Asama of the sign frame sent to her and the explosions of sound and light overhead. “We just sent our ambassadors to the three nations and everything was looking fine, so what’s with this stuff whooshing by and going boom and then all the danger coming in from Edo!?”

“Ahh, I more or less understood that, so is it too late for me?”

On the land port terrace, Masazumi somehow managed to keep herself from hanging her head and instead looked up into the sky.

Bright lights were scattering there as evidence that ether cannons were striking the Ariake.

After a short delay, the sounds of impact arrived like distant thunder.

She could feel the overlapping rumblings in her gut and she heard the columns and walls of the control building creaking a little below her.

Alarm bells began to ring in the town of Mito. Sign frames opened around the town to guide people to evacuation sites. Five larger sign frames opened in the town’s sky.

“Hello. I’m Mishina Shouichi, manager for Kantou IZUMO. Sorry about all the troub-…”

Voices erupted from the town.

“Don’t display a guy in Mito’s sky!”

“Don’t waste that high resolution divine monitor on a close up of a guy!”

“Any married men can get lost!”

Asama looked to the town visible past the forest and below the hill.

“Yes, yes,” she nodded. “Mito might be one of the Far East’s provisionally ruled lands, but they’re a lot like us, aren’t they?”

“They also responded well to Mitotsudaira’s transport ship surfing earlier, so I’m glad they can handle a panic.”

The sign frame’s image switched over to an automaton. She had long light brown hair, a narrow face, and closed eyes.

“Good day, everyone. I am Ariake Captain ‘Ariake’. Over.”

A cheer rose from the town.

“Eight shots are about to hit. Over.”

Explosions of light filled the sky and fear filled the people’s voices, but “Ariake” and the interior of the Ariake behind her remained motionless.

“My ship is nine kilometers long, four kilometers wide, and two kilometers tall, so ultra-long range cannon fire from Kraken-class escort ships is simply not enough to harm-… What is it, Mishina-sama? Oh, the Date clan has sent out a god of war unit. Yes, I have detected them, so it would indeed seem they have. I have determined this puts even the Ariake in danger. In other words, there is a possibility of damage. …Everyone, please follow the original plan and head to the evacuation sites. Over.”

The people raised a cry of agreement while evacuating from the town of Mito. They were moving southwest, toward the sea.

“That’s Kantou IZUMO for you…”

Masazumi wondered why Asama sounded so serious yet did not look back her way, but to understand the current situation, she described the situation before her eyes.

“Sviet Rus, Mogami, and Date are being monitored by Hashiba, so they’ve turned on Musashi.”

“Shift the engine division to standby!! Men, give each other a kick in the rear and get to your posts!”

The engine division’s chief shouted over the running pressurizers and everyone replied with “judge”.

As Unneeded #4 of the Sanada Ten Braves, Isa had infiltrated the area and she nodded with her disguised face.

While some took off running and some instructed others to follow them, she too began to run. She took up the rear position of a group of those following someone, but when they came across a different group that seemed to be heading below ground…

“Oh, I’ll go this way.”

She switched groups and started below ground.

She wanted to get below the engine division.

…''Where they have the gravitational acceleration equipment.

Gravitational acceleration was the cornerstone of the Musashi’s high-speed mobility. If she could set up some sabotage there and trigger it at some important moment, the giant ship would be nothing more than a heavy hunk of metal.

However, something interested her beyond simply setting up the sabotage. The Musashi was entering standby mode, so…

…''The engine division has decided the Musashi is capable of leaving port!

The Musashi could take flight at any time.

Of course, it was not in a perfect state just yet. The residential areas were not complete and a lot of the armor had yet to be added on. However, this situation told her something.

“The Musashi’s expanded combat abilities are ready enough that they think they can finish them up after leaving port.”

''What kind of weapons did they add on?'' wondered Isa.

Since the night before, she had seen the ships’ surfaces, including the covered areas. The combat improvements were primarily expanded armor and added cannons.

But that would not be enough to take on Hashiba’s Azuchi Castle. The Musashi’s added cannons were single cannons added to the edges of the surface areas and the dual main cannons on the first starboard, port, and central ships while the Azuchi Castle had triple main cannons and more than double the cannons overall.

Isa was interested in the line of gravitational accelerator pressurizers stretching front to back along the bottom of Musashino’s bridge and she was interested in the ram-like object on Musashino’s bow.

The former was likely to increase overall speed by adding accelerators to the bridge that became dead weight during gravitational acceleration. And the latter…

…''They sliced the Regno Unito in two at Mikawa, so are they planning something similar?

Like with a galley, they may have been planning to skewer the enemy with a ram and then begin hand-to-hand combat or close-range cannon fire.

…''But P.A. Oda’s ships are generally galley types, so the Azuchi has the upper hand there too.

''And,'' thought Isa. ''They didn’t have enough time.

In Isa’s opinion, they needed heavy armor and a large main cannon to compete with the Azuchi Castle and Hashiba’s fleet. Equipping something like that would require more than just changing the ship’s exterior. The interior would need to be reinforced and quite a few design changes would have to be made.

But Musashi had not even spent a full month at the Ariake.

She doubted they could make such fundamental changes in that time. Of course, it was possible that was only a failing in her own imagination.

…''But the materials moving around inside the Ariake and the exterior I’ve seen doesn’t point toward such major reinforcement work having been done.

What work had been done as the foundation of their ability to fight?

“Hey, is the Musashi still not going to fight, even with all this going on?”

She spoke to the worker in front of her as she followed the group below ground.

The young man looked like someone who had recently graduated and he must have seen Isa as his junior. He and the adults running with him all looked back her way.

“I don’t really know. I don’t know what’s going on up above.”

“Yeah, we all have our posts,” said one of the adults. “The exterior group was the one that attached the cannons and we’re the power system group. I haven’t seen you around, so are you with the boss?”

“No, I came from below to do some odd jobs. …I thought I might be more help here than with the other group.”

She then added an “oh” of realization and feigned being a newcomer to all this.

“I can do wiring and stuff. I was doing that up above.”

The men laughed while running past a sign frame sounding an alarm.

“Then maybe we can have you crawl into some tight areas. The gravitational acceleration sector has gotten pretty cramped.”

She wanted to ask what they meant by that, but she resisted. She only wanted to ask because she could guess what things were like inside, but there was something else she had to say now.

“Slipping into tight spaces is my specialty. But is it really that cramped? Is something stuffed in there?”

“It moves now. No, really it’s that the movable range has been expanded.” The previous young man grabbed at a square space of empty air with his right hand. “The gravitational acceleration sector is lined with accelerators like this and they all turn in the direction of pressurization while accelerating, you see. Before, they were only made for moving straight ahead or turning left and right, but we’ve removed that restriction.”

While wondering what that meant, Isa tilted her head and asked a question.

“So it’s easier to change direction now?”

“It’s probably easier to control while drifting too. The piloting group – that is, the bridge automatons and my underclassmen – thought it up.”

“Quit trying to act like their superior,” cut in the adults with bitter smiles.

Isa saw the young man give a similar smile.

…''Oh, whoops, whoops.

''This place isn’t all that bad,'' she thought.

“Ah ha ha.”

She was allowed to laugh during conversations like this.

She let the laugh come naturally and the adults called out to her.

“If you’re free, then learn the ropes here and then head to the back.”

“Are you already done here?”

“Mostly. Takao and Oume are taking a bit more time for the inner hull.”

“There are gravitational accelerators in the inner hull of Takao and Oume?”

''I didn’t know that,'' she thought.

Musashi’s gravitational acceleration was generally done from the outer hulls. The inner hulls were only used as auxiliary accelerators to avoid needing any buffering between ships. But according to the young man…

“Judge. I think they’re for more mobility. Before, pretty much only the accelerators in the outer hull were used during gravitational acceleration, but I think they’re going to have some open up from the inner hull too. I doubt it will be easy since Musashino and Okutama will have to manage the buffering, but it should increase our speed. Also,” he said slowly. “That should increase our odds of survival too.”

“Survival?”

What that meant changed depending on how she took that word. That may have been why he forced a smile.

“Well, that’s only if we’re unlucky. The Musashi has some tough defenses, after all.”

“Hey,” cut in the adults while sending nods and the remnants of smiles her way. “Leave it at that. Part of our job is to, well, increase that luck. And it’s time to get to work on that.”

They pointed forward and a long, dull sound came from above.

“That was the third barrage. The gap between was shorter than before.”

Which meant…

“The three nations surrounding us are getting closer and attacking more seriously.”

While the Musashi sat motionless inside the Ariake, Musashino’s bridge cut off all footage from outside to become a space surrounded by white walls. During the recent remodeling, the bridge had become an information processing control room, but…

“Enter standby mode! After confirming internal connections, release all divine transmission pathways and synchronize all ships under the defenses of the Asama Shrine’s divine protections. Over.”

“Musashi’s” voice reached them via voice divine transmission and the light of sign frames glowed from the four walls and the floor.

“Judge. Over.”

Text began to scroll by and several images began to play.

A portion of one white wall slid slowly inwards to reveal the torii-style program chip within. An automaton entered from the corridor with the program chip for leaving port loaded on a cart.

“Make the switch. Over!”

On “Musashino’s” signal and command, an automaton on the bridge used her gravitational control to pull the old program chip out. The automaton with the cart stuck the cart and its chip into the opened hole. After pushing it inside, she exchanged a glance with the bridge automaton.

“Connected! Over.”

“Confirmed. Over.”

She tilted the cart before pulling it out. The previous chip was placed on the now-empty cart with gravitational control and the automaton pushed the cart back out into the corridor.

Meanwhile, the wall closed with the new chip inside and many more sign frames appeared on the bridge.

“We have the engine division’s authorization! Shifting to standby mode! Over.”

A model of the Musashi appeared in the center of the bridge. It was an enlarged version of the model Suzu had made. It was made of white light and blue light gradually covered the bottom.

“Hull-style Special #06 Susashizunami Mk. III. Output is slightly lowered but within acceptable ranges in the third ships. Activation possible in five minutes twenty-seven seconds. Over.”

The automaton handling divine transmissions by the wall suddenly turned back toward the others.

“While checking Naito-sama and Naruze-sama’s information, a divine transmission arrived from Kashima Shrine on the surface. Connecting to the main screen! Over.”

With those words, a torii-style sign frame appeared on the front end of the ceiling.

It displayed a fleet flying calmly above the southern plain.

“That is a Hashiba fleet. There are seventy-two belonging to Hashiba, sixteen belonging to Houjou, and twenty-four belonging to P.A. Oda. The warships have moved out to the front, so I will zoom in while providing commentary. Over.”

The ship in the very lead was a Kraken-class diplomatic ship that could also be seen as a decorated warship.

The top was a white boxy structure supported by four pillars. The bottom was a white P.A. Oda galley-style ship.

“Is that…?”

When the automatons saw the cloud decorations with gilded edges, they matched the image to their memories.

As they all worked to retrieve data on the ship, one on the starboard side raised her right hand.

“According to my data, that is the Jurakudai, a Hashiba diplomatic battleship. According to the history recreation, it belongs to Hashiba Hidetsugu, Hashiba Hideyoshi’s nephew. Over.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 34|Chapter 34]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 36|Chapter 36]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4B World

2016-02-02T10:20:52Z

86.52.29.66: Added the missing "u" in Fukushima's name.

==World==
[[File:Horizon4B_0016.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Horizon4B_0017.jpg|thumb]]

Simple Summary of 4-A:

After their defeat, Musashi is being remodeled in the Ariake when Date Narumi visits as an envoy from the Date clan. She was intent on rejecting them, but an irregular statement from the elder sister loving half-dragon led to diplomats being sent to Date, Mogami, and Sviet Rus. Meanwhile, P.A. Oda invaded Sviet Rus and gained the cooperation of the western floating city of Novgorod thanks to the efforts of their berserker. And in order to harass Musashi, they sent Fukushima and Katou, two of their Ten Spears, in to attack.

Divine Chat Screenname List:
*Azuma: Azuma
*Asama: Asama Tomo
*Obscene: Itou Kenji (Itoken)
*Me: Aoi Toori
*Gold Mar: Margot Naito
*Righteousness: Satomi Yoshiyasu
*Scarred: Mary Stuart
*Silver Wolf: Nate Mitosudaira
*Still Got It: Reine des Garous
*Wise Sister: Aoi Kimi
*481: Mishina Shouichi
*Tachibana Husband: Tachibana Muneshige
*Tachibana Wife: Tachibana Gin
*Smoking Girl: Naomasa
*10ZO: Tenzou Crossunite
*Tonbokiri: Honda Futayo
*Sticky King: Nenji
*83: Hassan Furubushi
*Flat Vassal: Adele Balfette
*Vice President: Honda Masazumi
*Bell: Mukai Suzu
*Hori-ko: Horizon Ariadust
*Mal-Ga: Malga Naruze
*Marube-ya: Heidi Augesvarer
*847: Mishina Hiro
*Novice: Toussaint Neshinbara
*Musashi King: Yoshinao
*Four Eyes: Shakespeare
*Worshipper: Ohiroshiki Ginji
*Laborer: Noriki
*Unturning: Date Narumi
*Kagetsuna-kun: Katakura Kojuurou
*Fang: Oniniwa Tsunamoto
*Caretaker: Rusu Makikage
*Taki: Takigawa Ichimasu

Far Eastern Powers:

[Same map as in 3-A.]

Relationships Between the Major Powers:

[Same as 4-A]

Musashi’s Plans:

Toori: Sis! Sis! What kind of new things will the Musashi be doing now!?

Kimi: Heh heh. The Oushuu forces and Sviet Rus are obeying Hashiba because they think the Musashi is powerless, so we’re hurrying through our remodeling while sending diplomats out to Date, Mogami, and Sviet Rus. It would be great if we could speak with them and make some allies.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B Glossary|Glossary]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4B School Rules|School Rules]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 28

2016-01-30T01:51:56Z

86.52.29.66: Added an "a".

==Chapter 28: Future Opponents==
[[Image:Horizon4A_0623.jpg|thumb]]
''The source of a coming shadow

''An inevitable future

''The residents of the holy musical text

''Which called us down from heaven

'''Point Allocation (Encounter)

The transport ship Mitotsudaira had thrown down onto the road was a small one. It was seven meters wide, thirty meters long, and meant to transport people and wooden containers.

It was one of Mitostudaira’s privately owned ships as the ruler of this land and it had been waiting over the land port in order to carry them from the city of Mito to their diplomatic ship.

…''But we didn’t have time to evacuate!

The enemy’s mobility and combat ability had prevented them from easily leaving on the transport ship. She might have made it herself, but she would have needed to bring Masazumi and her king with her. So…

“Take that!!”

As the ship flew in, she had grabbed it with her silver chains and thrown it.

The ship’s trajectory had been shifted downward and it slammed into the ground ahead of her, seemingly using the V-shaped gouge as a guide.

The accuracy of that guidance allowed the ship to immediately begin sliding along the road.

The enemy was fifty meters away, but that was only an instant for the thirty meter ship. The enemy’s forward acceleration also helped.

“I’m going to squish her with a counter, just like you wanted, Tomo!”

“That wasn’t what I wanted! It was just a suggestion! A suggestion!”

Tomo seemed to have reached her crazy time of day. She seemed to have had a lot of those today, so Mitotsudaira did not bother listening.

The ship tore up the dirt and wore down the road as it shot forward for…

“A direct hit on the enemy!”

Immediately, the transport ship was bisected.

It was sliced through starting from the other side.

…''What!?

Asama watched the instantaneous destruction from behind Mitotsudaira and she saw a giant blade of light.

Beyond the intense sounds of tearing materials, the enemy was thrusting a ten meter long single-edged sword of light their way.

…''Is that…?

It was not a spear. The enemy’s right hand held what had looked a spear, but it had taken on a new form after emitting this blade of light.

A sword of light was sent forth from the inner edges of the straight blade and the half-sickle.

It was not a spear. The blades themselves were an emitter for a giant sword and the rest was a thruster.

The enemy had thrust that giant single-edged blade forward.

“…!”

As a result, the transport ship was sliced in two as it slid.

The enemy was preparing to move forward. The two halves of the transport ship were racing by on either side of her. Fragments of stone and dirt were scattering and pieces of ship materials were flying.

She pushed her right blade of light forward while activating her left thruster behind her. She was about to use the pressurization of a spell sign frame to launch herself forward, but…

“…!?”

The blade of light she held forward was broken in two from the tip.

The light scattered, the thick glowing blade split into a top and bottom half, and it shattered into nothingness.

She quickly realized why.

“Ex. Collbrande!”

Her opponent stood at the back of the split transport ship’s port side. From her perspective, that was on the right.

It was Musashi’s silver-haired 5th Special Duty Officer. The girl had used her silver chains to pull herself to the ship’s back hull and had made a full swing of Ex. Collbrande. When throwing the ship, she had likely not released her silver chain’s grip, thus pulling her along with it. From behind the ship, she had destroyed her enemy’s attack while also making an attack of her own.

“Well done!”

After that praise from the enemy, the sword of English royalty lent all its power to this trusted knight. The blade sliced through the sword of light even as the enemy further fueled her attack.

The blade swung through at precisely waist height. The wreckage of the ship created valley walls on either side, so she could not escape to the sides or down. So…

“Finish this, Caledfwlch!”

The residents of Mito saw two people within the wreckage of the transport ship rapidly moving down the road.

One was a blonde girl in an M.H.R.R. uniform with blue armor who jumped up from between the wreckage.

The other was…

“Our lord!”

Everyone watched as silver hair made an almost casual leap toward the starboard wreckage of the ship. She made sure to spin around in midair and bow toward the residents. They cheered as she landed on the sliding wreckage.

“…!”

She immediately gained a burst of speed.

Asama listened to the wind while watching Mitotsudaira raise her speed atop the transport ship moving further and further away.

…''This sound…

It was a sharp sound like some distant object approaching in a straight line.

…''Is that a high-speed acceleration spell!?

''But from where?'' she wondered just as some wind arrived behind her.

It was a person. An unfamiliar girl had run up from behind her. She seemed to be holding a spear, but she was moving too quickly to tell for sure.

“Eh?”

By the time Asama noticed her, the wind, the unfamiliar girl, and everything else vanished.

…''Ehh!? She disappeared? But she was just here!

It was all so sudden. The previous sound of wind, the wind blowing in from behind, and the girl were nowhere to be found. She activated her Konoha false eye, but its tracking function could not decide where to target.

…''Um. That wasn’t some unexplainable phenomenon, was it?

As Asama wondered what was going on, Horizon faced her.

“Is that what you are looking for?”

Horizon pointed to their right where an alleyway led to a lumber storehouse. Asama looked at it, wondering why Horizon would be pointing it out.

“…!?”

Then it exploded and countless pieces of lumber flew several meters up into the sky.

Two figures also flew up into the air.

One was a spear-wielding girl wearing an M.H.R.R. girl’s uniform without a coat.

And the other…

“Futayo!?”

It was Futayo. She held the Tonbo Spare in her right hand, held a thin magazine in her left hand, and flew through the sky.

She kicked off the airborne lumber to rotate around and control her body.

She already had her spear in hand and was ready to fight.

Futayo flew through the air thanks to the explosion caused by their clash.

She had not been caught in the explosion by choice.

An enemy in an M.H.R.R. girl’s uniform had been moving toward Masazumi and the others, so she had made an attack. But…

…''Did she block it with her spear?

She thought that was probably it. The “probably” was due to the explosion that had occurred at the same moment.

She did not understand how it worked, but she and the enemy were both flying through the air with fragments of the storehouse and its lumber.

“Hah!”

At almost the exact same time, she and the enemy kicked off the airborne lumber to leap downwards.

They both landed on the rows of rooftops.

They were approximately twelve meters apart.

Futayo thought while preparing for her next move.

She knew there were two enemies. She also knew she was dealing with one while Mitotsudaira dealt with the other. But…

…''I wonder.

''Am I a coward?'' she asked deep in her gut.

''But,'' she also thought. ''The enemy matters more at the moment. Whether a coward or not, the Vice Chancellor must defeat any outside enemy.

There were five others down the road: Masazumi, Asama, Princess Horizon, the idiot, and Kimi. She was worried, but…

…''Masazumi has good judgment and Asama-dono can handle defense. The nudist doesn’t matter.

''Then they should be fine,'' she thought just as a downpour of noise reached her.

The flying lumber was falling across the town like bolts of lightning. And…

…''Above!

From above and behind a nearby piece of lumber, a sudden silver light pierced the center of her vision.

It was a spear. The enemy had jumped over the lumber and thrust her weapon down at Futayo.

“…!”

…''Honestly.

''Maybe I am a coward,'' she thought while deflecting the enemy’s attack with her spear.

The sharp attack held enough strength to wake her up and remind her of something.

…''She too is powerful!

''The world is a large place,'' she thought while asking a question.

“I am Musashi Ariadust Academy Vice Chancellor Honda Futayo! Who are you!?”

…''Oh.

''Oops,'' she thought. ''I was so overjoyed to meet such a formidable foe that I accidentally called out to her.

However, her question sent a tremor through the enemy’s body. But it was not a tremor of confusion. She seemed to be gathering her strength to bear with something and correct herself.

“Testament!”

The enemy turned a powerful gaze toward Futayo.

“I am Fukushima Masanori of A.H.R.S. and #1 of Hashiba’s Ten Spears!!”

The enemy, Fukushima, approached while yelling.

“Honda Futayo! It is my duty to defeat thee with this spear, Ichinotani!”

[[Image:Horizon4A_0633.jpg|thumb]]
…''Hashiba’s Ten Spears!?

Mitotsudaira had heard Futayo’s opponent name herself.

So as she jumped atop the transport ship, she belatedly asked the same of her opponent who wielded Caledfwlch.

“Who are you!? Nate Mitotsudaira, Knight of Musashi, wishes to know!”

“Testament! Then I shall answer!”

The enemy had moved back to the bow of the ship and she loudly named herself while swinging Caledfwlch.

“I am Katou Kiyomasa of A.H.R.S. and #2 of Hashiba’s Ten Spears!! Ruler of Mito! The blood of Hexagone Française runs in your veins, so facing you is one of my tasks!”

Her blonde hair whipped in the wind as she spoke.

“Let us fight!”

Mitotsudaira had no choice but to agree, so she poured speed into her body and charged forward.

Masazumi heard the enemies name themselves as she viewed the distant battle rising from the city like a pillar.

She knew the names Fukushima Masanori and Katou Kiyomasa from the Testament descriptions.

…''So they’re with Hashiba!!

That meant Hashiba’s subordinates had come to the Mito land instead of Hashiba herself.

The Aoi Sister laughed while viewing the clothes from the tailor’s.

“Heh heh. You understand, don’t you? That Hashiba monkey girl doesn’t live to the creation of this Mito land, so her helpful followers showed up in her place. Such wonderful love between master and servant. It’s an adult relationship that must be incomprehensible to you children who think a relationship has to be romantic in nature if it reaches the level of sex! Now, what do you call that kind of physical relationship in English!? Asama!”

“Eh!? Ehh!? U-um…i-is it ‘Free-…”

“Sometimes you say things that shock even me…”

“Asama-sama, five of Hanami-sama’s impurity meters just filled up in two seconds.”

''Wouldn’t that be called “deep human relations”?'' answered Masazumi in her heart.

She faced forward where Mitotsudaira and Katou Kiyomasa confronted each other on the bisected ship sliding eastward.

On the deck of the port wreckage, the silver wolf accelerated toward the twin spear user.

After naming themselves, the time for battle had begun anew.

As Mitotsudaira repeatedly accelerated, she saw Kiyomasa prepare her weapons.

Of her twin spears named Caledfwlch, she stored one on her back and prepared the right one for their confrontation.

Mitotsudaira did not mind, so she launched her entire body forward.

She moved diagonally right, diagonally left, diagonally right, straight ahead, diagonally right, and then diagonally left, which placed her…

“Right in front of you.”

She snapped Ex. Collbrande’s blade forward.

It was a burst-like attack, but…

“Hah.”

Kiyomasa swung Caledfwlch, which deflected it upwards with a metallic sound.

The burning metal smell of the scraping blades raced through the wind of the sliding ship.

Mitotsudaira’s right arm was pulled up by Excalibur and the enemy sent her spear tip in toward her right side.

It was a sharp blow. It would perfectly stab horizontally into her chest with the diagonal half-sickle blade.

A horizontal attack from straight ahead was not a good thing. After all…

'''Wise Sister:''' “You can’t, Mitotsudaira! Flat Chest Evasion won’t work on that attack! You need the Giant Breasts Defense!”

''When did that get an official name?'' briefly wondered Mitotsudaira, but then she made a split-second decision.

She let go of Excalibur.

However, she did more than just that. She raised her opened hand even higher than the sword’s hilt.

“…!”

She made a downward burst. She snapped her shoulder, elbow, and wrist like a whip to send them straight down.

That high-speed snapping motion was something her mother had done before.

During their conformation on the hill near Magdeburg, her mother had used a short-distance snap to accelerate her hand and hold down Mitotsudaira’s rising head.

This was the same. Except she was not holding something down. She grabbed at something with her reversed wrist.

…''Ex. Collbrande!

She grabbed it between her index and middle finger rather than in her palm. And instead of swinging it, she pulled it straight down.

Ex. Collbrande now stood like a pillar in front and to the right of her and the half-sickle blade caught on it.

There was a solid sound and sparks flew.

But Kiyomasa’s movements did not let up in the wind. She pulled the spear back with her full body and raised her heels to stand on her toes. She likely intended to exchange blows while using careful footwork. Something bothered Mitotsudaira a little, but…

…''I will settle this immediately!

Mitotsudaira turned her right side toward the enemy. As Ex. Collbrande rapidly spun around, she raised it vertically between her fingers.

As her left shoulder rotated behind her, she lifted that arm and let her wrist relax like the raised head of a snake.

This was the thrusting stance in the traditional fencing of Hexagone Française knights.

She then brought her raised left hand to her face and bit the glove.

“——————”

With a snap of her neck, she threw the glove between the two of them.

She had now officially challenged her opponent to a duel.

Kiyomasa nodded and thrust her spear forward.

Mitotsudaira immediately let go of Excalibur’s hilt.

“Debut!!”

She used a sequence of snapping movements of her wrist and elbow to make a series of high-speed thrusts.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 26

2016-01-28T00:45:18Z

86.52.29.66: you're -> your

==Chapter 26: Emotional One on the Tatami Mats==
[[Image:Horizon4A_0589.jpg|thumb]]
''Without even calming down

''Or moving at all

''This is a confession of the movement in your heart

'''Point Allocation (Attack)

Mitotsudaira assessed her options while sweating nervously for a number of reasons.

Inside an open tatami mat room, she was looking at the row of chokers an employee had brought out.

“U-um, Horizon, what about this?”

She held out one of the samples and Horizon stared at both the choker and at Mitotsudaira.

“Judge. That one is cowhide, isn’t it? I would think one with a less processed surface would be more delicious.”

“I’m pretty sure that would be too hard.”

“Now, now,” said Horizon. “I have determined this is the foundational symbol of your past relationship with Toori-sama, so please take this seriously.”

Horizon tapped the idiot’s shoulder a few times and then spoke to him.

“Listen. It needs to be cowhide. Nothing else really matters. Mitotsudaira-sama is easily swayed by meat, after all. Oh, and it has to be of high quality.”

…''That’s fairly true, but I’m not sure it applies to clothing.

At any rate, it was now his turn.

“This one with decorative chains fits your overall image pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Y-yes, that sounds good.”

“Oh, but you fight a lot, so this one with a simple silver decoration on one side might be better.”

“Y-yes, that sounds good.”

“Oh? Look, look. This one’s got a Mito logo. That’s so cool!”

“Y-yes, that sounds good too.”

…''Does everything sound good to me!?

She supposedly had the final say here, but as time passed, she seemed to be losing her individuality. And…

“Nate, can you lift your neck up?”

On occasion, he would casually place his fingers around her neck to put a choker on her. The shaking of her hair when his hands touched it and the rubbing at her throat felt ticklish, so a voice nearly escaped her lips.

…''Kh! R-resist! Resist!!

“C’mon, stay, stay.”

He suddenly scratched at her throat.

“…!!”

A ticklish scratching reached her throat.

He was treating her like a dog and it had been a surprise, but she also felt a mixture of animalistic fear at having her defenseless throat scratched and knightly subservience telling her to allow it. Also…

…''Ah.

''I’ve seen mother have father do this, so I must be the same as her. Yes, this is, um, yes, quite dangerous. Or should I say it feels good? Um…

“…!”

She was filled with a mixture of the discovery that she had a weak point, the realization that he was scratching at it, and the determination to resist it. She did her very best to not let it show.

“Good girl. Now stay like that. Stay.”

His fingers suddenly slid down to the bottom of her throat. The sensation surprised her, and…

…''Hiin!!

She distinctly sensed something being secreted in the area deep below her navel. Sultry sweat poured from her body, a tremor ran through her body, and her throat, mouth, and tongue went a little limp.

…''Hyahh!!!!

She nearly passed out. She had three options: collapse limply to the floor, collapse onto him and rub her throat against him, or desperately resist by pounding her hands against the floor. But as the ticklish and itchy attack on her throat continued…

“If there was a tail here, would it be wagging like crazy right now?”

Behind her, Kimi suddenly stuck her hand down along the line leading into Mitotsudaira’s butt.

…''Hh!

[[Image:Horizon4A_0595.jpg|thumb]]

Mitotsudaira’s butt reflexively hopped up to escape, and that caused her body to collapse forward.

She tried to support herself on the boy sitting in front of her, but she did not make it in time and could not reach him.

“Gh…”

So she ended up lying on the floor, hiding the tremor running from her throat to her lower stomach. Her lower body was propped up on her knees, which embarrassingly raised her butt into the air, but she felt that making any odd movements now would make her insides go crazy. So she pressed her knees together and tensed her inner thighs to bear with it.

“Good girl. Good girl.”

A hand stroked her head.

“Are you okay? Are you so nervous about going to Russia that you’re feeling bad?”

…''I’m not feeling bad! This is the exact opposite!!

But now Horizon was stroking her head too.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

…''That’s for horses!!

Despite her mental complaints, having her head rubbed was not unpleasant. She did not like being treated like a dog, but other than that, this was the same as social grooming and she kind of liked it. But…

“…”

She made sure to maintain a displeased expression as she got up.

“Ohh,” said the idiot and Horizon as she fixed her disheveled hair and took a breath.

…''Oh?

She used the mirror next to her to check on the choker he had put on her.

It looked a lot like the one she had worn before. It was simple and it had decorative points to attach chains. She traced her fingers along it and her mirror image touched the attached silver decorations.

…''I-it’s a little too simple, but it might be just right with some chains added on.

As she tried to decide what to do, the idiot peered into the mirror next to her.

“Is it too plain? I was also considering some flashier and rougher ones.”

“Did you not think those would suit me?”

“It isn’t that. Your Maman put one like that on me in the candy house, so they really make me think of…bondage, I guess you’d say?”

…''Wh-what was my mother doing!?

Horizon started to remove a tatami mat instead of the wall for her running gag, so they stopped her. Mitotsudaira realized Kimi and Asama were smiling her way, so she used both hands to gently lift up the choker around her neck.

While showing it off to him and Horizon, she wished she could have been smiling.

“I’ll go with this one. I want it to be well-made, so even if I order it now, I doubt it will be ready for a while.”

…''They bring excitement wherever they go.

Masazumi sipped at a teacup of peach nectar at the café opposite the tailor’s shop.

As one of those remaining on the Musashi, she did not need to shop for clothes or anything else, but the Aoi Sister had dragged her here regardless.

“I’m supposed to take a break here?”

She looked around and saw a hill. The town spread out on either side of the road leading down the hill to the east. Even further in the distance were the green fields, a winding river, and the sea.

She had heard the town’s population was about five thousand. That was large in terms of the history recreation, but small in terms of a buffer zone linking Kantou with Oushuu. According to Mitotsudaira, lord of this land…

“This is my territory, but the Testament Union keeps careful watch and there isn’t much I can do with it.”

…''But now they’ve started some construction in places.

After the destruction of Edo and Satomi, the people of Mito may have sensed danger in their own futures. There would likely have been antipathy if only the Musashi had come, but they had brought the Ariake too.

“It’s probably around there.”

The Ariake was in stealth mode, so she could not see it in the sky from her storefront seat. The massive obstacle sitting in the sky created great changes to the air, but those alteration patterns could be used to bring rain and restrict the radiative cooling of the surface to create warm weather. That had apparently made for an excellent early summer harvest and the markets were also doing well.

The way the townspeople saw it, Mito’s ruler was uninfluenced by the Testament Union, had somehow managed to reach Kantou, and was using the Ariake to protect Mito from Hashiba.

That may have been why Mitotsudaira occasionally visited the surface. Based on the conversation in the tailor’s shop, she may have been acquainted with the restaurants.

“Nate, is there anywhere we can get some food before heading out?”

“Fine, fine. But we can’t stay long, so how about we order some meat and have a Genghis Khan barbeque on the diplomatic ship? I have arranged to have a small transport ship carry us to the land port, so we can leave for Sviet Rus as soon as we’re doing shopping. See?”

Mitotsudaira looked toward the northern forest where a single small transport ship was waiting in midair.

“That will shorten our travel time. It is going to spoil us a little, though.”

…''Things sure are different when you own the land.

Masazumi looked around and saw the circulation of goods within Mito.

Musashi was also securing things like vegetables and making preserved foods out of them, but…

“Oh…”

A transport ship rose from Mito’s civilian land port at the bottom of the hill. It slowly passed by overhead and continued past the forest on the other side of the hill.

…''It’s headed to the land ports that Musashi’s residents were taken to.

The wooded hills a little to the east of Mito’s center had been cleared and emergency land ports had been made.

There were eight in all. While they were called land ports, they were really just clearing with a source of water, a waste treatment plan using the black algae creatures, and one of the Asama Shrine’s airdropped shrines. The residents of each ship that were not involved in the remodeling work were living in the modified transport ships there.

Based on the reports from Ookubo, who was partially in charge of that, life in the land ports was calm due to the stable supply of food and fuel.

…''If this is what I end up thinking about, this isn’t much of a break from work.

But…

“Okay.”

She decided to use this trip to the surface to have a nice break for once.

''This is my first real break on the surface since Magdeburg,'' she thought while appreciating the solid ground below her feet.

…''Should I think of this as “visiting” the surface or “returning” to the surface?

The Musashi was a mobile aerial city ship. If she had truly become a Musashi resident, then she was “visiting” the surface.

“Heh heh. What is it, sitting politician? Are you so lost in thought that you’re feeling like reciting a poem or humming!? You are, aren’t you!? But you’re not! Oh, dear. This poor girl is sitting here without reciting a single poem or fondling a single breast! In other words, she’s in self-denial!”

“I feel like your conclusion is oddly accurate, but everything else was completely incomprehensible, Aoi Sister.”

Masazumi looked to the others in the tailor’s shop. Inside the large tatami mat room, Mitotsudaira was waiting for her clothes to be made and Asama stood behind a square of partitions as she removed her clothes and had her measurements taken. Her bare shoulders stuck above the partition and a tape measure was used to measure her shoulder width.

“You know what?”

“What is it, Masazumi?” asked Asama.

“W-well…”

She had a sudden urge to comment on the sensation below her feet.

She could feel the ground there. She would sometimes descend to the surface for work, but it had been a while (from Magdeburg to now) since she had done so to take a break from it all. The sensation of the earth pushing back at the soles of her feet told her that they really had traveled all the way from Magdeburg to here.

“———————”

She pictured a map of the Far East and visualized their path from the Chugoku region to Kantou.

…''I’m amazed we survived that.

''No,'' she decided.

…''We were protected.

Most likely, that would only hit home later on. So…

“Never mind.” She shrugged. “I’ll tell you much later once all this is over.”

“Heh heh heh. This flat-chested bookworm! You sound just like a teasing woman!”

The Aoi Sister pointed both hands at Masazumi’s eyes and followed her gaze with the fingers.

“You’re supposed to be looking at whoever you’re in love with! And… ‘You know what? …No, never mind.’ ‘What is it, honey?’ ‘Heh heh. Well, you see…’ Just like that!”

“Kimi! Kimi! Leave that strange world of yours and come back to us! This isn’t the Musashi! And don’t grab and shake my booth’s partition!”

“What does it matter, Asama! That’s just how it is! And look where that crossdressing politician’s scandalous gaze is focused! Right here! On this manly errrrrrection!!!!”

“Aoi Sister, that pillar clearly belongs to the building, not a person.”

That did not slow down the crazy person in the slightest. She pretended to cry while slapping her palm against the pillar.

“What does that matter? Anyone can lust after a smooth pillar! The sound effect would be Onbashiraaaaaa! Isn’t that right, foolish brother!?”

“Yeah! I can do it! I can totally do it!!”

''He didn’t even have to think about it!?'' she thought as sister and brother cheered and high-fived.

“That’s right. You can, can’t you!? …I can’t, but you give it your best shot, foolish brother.”

“Sis! Sis! I’m a little confused right now, but your engine’s running full throttle, isn’t it!?”

“What’s wrong with that!? Besides, that politician hasn’t had enough romance lately, so you go help her out! Don’t you agree, Mitotsudaira!? When I’m working in the library, you always hide romance books below those chivalry ones!”

“Don’t expose private information in my own territory!!”

The managers of the surrounding shops came out and started jotting down this new information in their memo pads labeled “Special Customer Notes”. Then they all raised their right hands.

“We dedicate the prosperity of Mito to our lord and to natto!”

“We dedicate the prosperity of Mito to our lord and to natto!”

They continued chanting, smiled toward Mitotsudaira, and returned to their shops while raising wooden signs saying “Please Visit Us!” After watching that, Masazumi looked over to Mitotsudaira whose mouth was spread horizontally.

“At least they’re supportive of their ruler and their signature product.”

“Thanks for finding a positive way to look at that…”

Masazumi sighed while watching Mitotsudaira hang her head.

“Everything’s the same as always.”

Asama and Kimi were shrieking behind the partition in the tailor’s shop and a piece of someone’s uniform was thrown outside the partition each time. Horizon was calmly nodding in approval as she watched and a sudden thought came to Masazumi.

…''This is peace.

Peace.

It was the natural state of affairs, but it was out of reach given the current age and the approaching Apocalypse.

Whether they would be able to acquire it or not was up to what happened next, but…

“The ambassadors have even more to do.”

Masazumi smiled a little and looked to Mitotsudaira.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Yes,” agreed Horizon before tapping the idiot on the shoulder. “I am not counting on much from you.”

“Oh? Then you’re counting on a little from me?”

“Yes. You can at least function as a shield.”

The idiot sat down on the bench, wrapped his arms around his knees, and began humming a strange song. ''As long as he’s quiet, I don’t really care,'' decided Masazumi.

'''Musashi:''' “Masazumi-sama. Suzu-sama and Urquiaga-sama’s diplomatic ship and Satomi-sama and Adele-sama’s diplomatic ship have left the surface ground port. While the reading is still faint, we have also detected the advance fleets from Date, Mogami, and Sviet Rus on their way to welcome them.”

After that, she heard a sound. It was a low but long sound. It resembled like creaking wood and it was accompanied by movement in the western forest and the arrival of a salty smell.

Two sets of a diplomatic ship and accompanying transport ships began to move northwest or north. Those two fleets were on their way to Date and Mogami.

…''So they’ve left.

“Then it’s about time we got ready at the port.”

Mitotsudaira pointed into the tailor’s shop where an employee was holding up cloth wrapping containing the completed clothes.

Masazumi stood up.

“Now, then.”

She faced the group in the tailor’s shop and started walking across the road to them.

At that exact moment, that main road cutting east to west through Mito was annihilated by a beam of light also running east to west.

It was a direct hit.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 25|Chapter 25]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Chapter 2

2015-12-13T22:08:35Z

86.52.29.66: "of" -> "off"

==Chapter 2: Chicks at Home==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi1A_091.jpg|thumb]]
''The usual is not supposed to change

''But if I change

''The usual will also change

'''Point Allocation (Nighttime Stroll)

When moored inside its stealth space, the Musashi was bright even at night.

“It has no real charm, but it isn’t bad if you think of it as scenery exclusive to Musashi.”

Kimi was walking port through Tama’s surface city.

She had returned to her home on Musashino, but as no one was there, she was now on her way to the Tama’s Blue Thunder.

She was hungry.

That was partially due to the questioning at the Asama Shrine after the earlier incident was dealt with.

She had needed to describe the Non-God’s rhythm and movements to Asama and her father and also perform the spell she had used to interfere. Recording those things would provide evidence that the incident had occurred and allow a quicker response the next time something similar happened.

Records of interactions with mysterious phenomena were important.

After all, Non-Gods and other monsters or mysterious phenomena created from changes in ether or ley lines were rare on the manmade Musashi. It had been intentionally designed that way, so Musashi’s Chancellor’s Officers, guards, and religious officials had little experience with them.

Musashi did contain quite a few refugees and immigrants from other nations, so they could always get help from others who had relevant experience.

…''But we need to take care of these things on our own. Independence is important.

Kimi looked up at the white sky of the stealth barrier. Also…

“Trade continues at night, so there are sign frames to allow ships in and out…”

More than just hide the Musashi, the stealth barrier buffered against the noise and weather effects such a large object would have simply by floating in the sky. When engaging in trade, ships were let in and out by intermediary spells that opened holes in the barrier without destroying it.

Currently, most of the trade was at Asakusa. Arrows appeared in the sky to guide ships there and a sign frame provided a timetable of arrival and departure times. Occasionally, a transport ship would fly by with a heavy sound.

When Kimi focused her ears, she could even hear the derrick cranes lifting and lowering cargo.

In the past, she had not known what the sound meant and it had scared her at night, but…

“The scariest thing of all was the silence when the ports weren’t running.”

As she smiled bitterly at that old memory, a divine chat sign frame from Asama appeared. The girl was using a prototype divine transmission system designed for Musashi.

'''Asama:''' “Kimi, thanks for everything you did today.”

Kimi accepted the sent sign frame as her own.

She formed words verbally rather than typing and she slowed her pace toward Blue Thunder to secure more time.

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. …You did a lot too, so aren’t you tired? I’m perfectly fine, though. So how did it go after I left?”

'''Asama:''' “My dad settled the reverse spell issue by saying the Non-God Sword drew you in and made it that way, so don’t worry.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. I don’t mind either way. A mid-level like me shouldn’t even be able to pull off a spell that matches the broken rhythm of a stagnation or distortion like a Non-God. …But a reverse conversion is an illegal form of purification, isn’t it?”

'''Asama:''' “Yes, but my dad said our god will accept the wrong methods as long as your heart is in the right place.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Does he really think my heart was in the right place?”

'''Asama:''' “He’s a fan of yours. At the school year-end festival in March, he was on the front row for your solo dance with one of those, um, glowing sticks. What are those called?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Pleasure rods.”

'''Asama:''' Oh, right. He was swinging his pleasure rod around.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “I can’t believe this shrine maiden actually said it!!”

“Eh?” said the other girl. And after a while…

'''Asama:''' “Ahhhhhhh! An odd meter just shot up! Wait, Hanami! Damage control! You can break the sign frame! Just break it!”

'''Wise Sister:''' “You need to calm down, Asama. And this super wise sister will teach you a magic spell to calm you down! Lift your breasts up from below and shout ‘dor erusaelp’ three times backwards! Now, begin!”

Long story short, three meters filled up and she scolded Kimi.

“Oh, honestly,” sent Asama.

However, the sign frame gave her location and it was not the Asama Shrine.

'''Wise Sister:''' “You’re on your way to Asakusa? Did they find an imported porn game that needs a shrine maiden inspection?”

'''Asama:''' “Just to be clear, Toori-kun has calmed down somewhat lately, so the armed shrine maidens and public morals priests haven’t had to board many of the trade ships. I think the last porn game smuggled in was ‘Sneaking in to Meet Imagawa-san for an Early Morning Battle’ back when we were at Mikawa.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “I think I remember when that happened. Heh heh. But are you going to Asakusa for that music I can hear?”

Kimi could hear a Gagaku band playing in the distance.

'''Wise Sister:''' “Are they rehearsing at Asakusa? Why not on the Tanigawa Castle?”

'''Asama:''' “After what happened today, the Buddhist consecration priests are cleaning up the ship. The Tanigawa castle is a Shinto-style shrine, but that’s why some things get overlooked.”

Kimi recognized the song she heard. It was the third most popular band at the previous year’s school festival. They were the infectious death strings unit Plaguer and this was their staple song Black Deathmatch.

“I woke up in the morning and the village was wiped out. I’m the only one alive. Excluded again.

“Everyone’s turned into the Living Dead. I’m the only one feeling sleepy. Left out again.”

“My schoolteacher once said only death cures an idiot.

“So my battle begins here today.

“I’ll stay an idiot forever. I’ll stay an idiot a while longer.

“It’s not like me, but I’ll live on alone.”

She listened to the lyrics and sang quietly along. Lyrics that told a story had become more common lately. From here, the protagonist searched for a way to heal the disease that had wiped out his village, but the healed Living Dead became mere corpses and rested in piece in true death.

“Everyone’s so smart. Digging the graves is up to me.

“Everyone needs to get some sleep. Thanks for staying up so long.

“I know I worried you, but I’m okay now.

“I won’t say I want to die ever again.”

Similar things had supposedly actually happened in Europe during the middle ages.

Kimi felt that songs and dances based on actual experiences and records were something else entirely.

'''Asama:''' “Night rehearsals can activate and distort the ley lines, so I was called in as a tuner. But they’re doing it on top of the containers instead of an official stage, so it shouldn’t be much of an issue. How about you stop by later, Kimi? If you tell the guards you’re helping me, they’ll let you through even after curfew. I’m thinking about calling Mito too.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Why is a shrine maiden trying to raise delinquents? Besides, I’m going to eat dinner at my mom’s place and then head home. I don’t know where my foolish brother has gotten off to, but he should be back by then.”

The distant music changed. A four-on-the-floor rhythm on a reinforced tsuzumi had begun.

'''Wise Sister:''' “Is that our upperclassmen?”

'''Asama:''' “Yes. They’re rehearsing on Asakusa’s third cargo plaza. Want to stop by?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “I already said I won’t. But say hi for me, okay? The President has helped me out with the underground flower beds and some other things too.”

'''Asama:''' “Torii-san does seem to like you a lot. Since she’s also from the Ootsubaki-style, I bet you enjoy that a lot.”

Kimi considered denying it, but stopped since that was as good as an admission.

They must have finished tuning their instruments because she heard a voice.

“Hoeeee!”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. I thought they were done tuning?”

'''Asama:''' “It’s best to ignore what Torii-san does. Remember when she went missing when she was appointed President in April? When an El Azor flew by on guard duty, it got caught by the rope she had set up and she swung it around the Musashi while screaming in delight. They didn’t do anything about it to avoid the shame of overlooking the rope, but we couldn’t have complained if they had shot down one of our ships. Toori-kun absolutely loved it, though.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “…”

'''Asama:''' “Should I not mention Toori-kun and another girl?”

'''Wise Sister:''' “It isn’t that. It’s just that my foolish brother has been trying to do the same thing and it’s been a lot of trouble.”

Kimi could hear Torii’s song. She was pretty sure its title was Routine and Torii’s voice arrived clearly from the distance.

“Let’s head out into the night. Into the city. Just like always. Nothing changes.

“We can all do it. I can do it. The sky surrounds us. The night surrounds us.

“My outstretched arms cannot reach the surrounding cage.

“I extend them into the night, but no shade falls on them.

“As long as I have my song and my dance

“The night’s usual atmosphere will invite me out once more.”

''What a sarcastic song,'' thought Kimi.

The Far East was under the provisional rule of the other nations. They had lost the Harmonic Unification War and been placed under the rule of the other nations as well as constrained by the academy system.

That rule restricted them and left them unable to fight back, but…

…''We can’t touch those restrictions.

As long as they did not seek political equality or try to reach the same level as the other nations, the Far East would have peace. The Far East’s Student Council President and Chancellor would normally be the leader of their army, but to escape the other nations’ suspicion, it was customary to appoint someone “incompetent” to that position. This year, that was Torii.

That may have been why she sang this as the Far East’s leader.

“Let’s dance in the night. In the city. Just like always. Nothing changes.

“Anyone can do it. Even I can do it. Look up into the sky and see through the night.

“And if my embraced heart desires to leave that surrounding

“That heart will surpass its racing pulse.

“Just like normal and just like always

“The night gives me another push forward.”

Kimi commented on the song she heard.

'''Wise Sister:''' “The Apocalypse’s limit is coming next year, but just how ‘incompetent’ is this President really?”

''That’s a good question,'' thought Asama concerning Kimi’s comment.

She was currently on Asakusa. She stood on some cargo stacked up higher than the deck. The large wooden containers were stacked along some guiderails and their tightly-packed top surface created a large open space.

These were commonly known as cargo plazas and this one was behind the third derrick from the front. Hence, it was known as the third plaza.

Asama watched the rehearsal.

Even when packed together, the containers did not provide an entirely flat surface. One raised area was being used as a stage with the others acting as audience seats.

The plaza was two hundred meters square.

Beyond that, the containers were stacked even higher or missing, but Festival Committee members were inspecting audio equipment and lights on the higher stacks. When they noticed her, they greeted her.

One of them was an upperclassman who worked part-time as a shrine maiden and she spoke to Asama from the edge of a container.

“Another five groups are performing. They’re not going all out today, so it should be over before long.”

“That’s good to hear. It gives me less tuning to manage.”

A familiar duo landed on the stage. They caught everyone off guard by suddenly descending from the sky. The host introduced them.

“Next up is the new second year unit Eisen! The duo is made up of Margot Naito and Malga Naruze. They’ve flown in from the sky while also advertising for their delivery business! They have three songs prepared for us today!”

''Can’t they let a second year be the MC?'' wondered Asama, but letting Naruze speak would only lead to a series of unpleasant remarks.

…''Oh, but there are actually a lot of people who like that these days.

Naito had a guitar and a spell xylophone while Naruze had a viola. The other music was supplied by Technohexen spells. The beat of the spells was stronger and their instruments were sometimes used in place of their voices.

Naito opened her mouth.

“When I woke up in the morning, you weren’t next to me.”

Naruze followed by moving her lips.

“All I found was lost intimacy in my arms.”

“What should I do today? I have work to do too.”

“This daily life is no longer just an obligation.”

The two of them had joined the delivery business after entering high school, so they were busy with that as well as the races between the others in the business. Naruze also drew doujinshi as a hobby. True to her M.H.R.R. origins, she strived for “realism” and thus real people were made the victims.

On the stage, they used subdued movements to swap positions and swing their instruments around. Asama could clearly see the difference in experience between them and the third years.

It felt bad to call them “nervous”, but they seemed unsure how much they should show off.

It had even taken Asama a while to realize she should not worry about her surroundings during her shrine work. The world was all about skill, but not many people could truly control their own power well enough to let it out properly. And that included Mitotsudaira who had grown more focused on defense.

“I guess it’s the people who can do that that end up on the Student Council or Chancellor’s Officers.”

This time next year, it would be her class’s turn.

She wondered how that would turn out but knew she was getting ahead of herself. She then opened a sign frame to search the surrounding ley lines and begin tuning.

“Oh, the westward flow is a little strong…”

Not even the stealth barrier stopped the flow of the ley lines. When the Non-God Sword had appeared and been destroyed, quite a bit of ether had been scattered. That ether would eventually return to the ley lines, but the ley lines had grown more active to fill the temporary gap.

If the ley lines in the western sky were active, Asama felt the Gagaku Festival could succeed despite the Non-God Sword disaster.

But it was true the incident had affected the Musashi’s ether fuel pathways, so she would create a map showing the direction of activity and where the greatest burden would fall. Once complete, she would send the map to Musashino’s bridge.

She summoned Hanami, showed her an example, and then split up the work with her. The music rehearsal helped. The cargo and containers of the cargo plaza were relatively unaffected by the ley lines, so she could easily pick out just the areas influenced by the music.

She had a feeling she could finish this before the rehearsal ended.

“So we meet again, Miss Tits!”

A sudden voice called out to her and someone groped her breasts from behind.

''Eh?'' thought Asama while briefly left unable to react. She only knew one person who did things like this.

…''Toori-kun!?

No, the voice had not been his. It had been a girl’s voice and she had recognized it.

“President!?”

“Hi.”

Asama turned around and found Torii carrying a bamboo pole microphone on her back. Vice President Tadayo and Vice Chancellor Oosuga stood behind her, as did…

…''Um, who is that girl with the spear?

When she looked over, the blonde girl bowed while holding a metal spear with a microphone attached.

“I’m 1st Special Duty Officer Watanabe Moritsuna. The Asama Shrine does a lot of business with my mom’s shop.”

“Oh.” Asama recalled the shop on Oume’s third underground floor. “You mean Nabe Style, the cookware shop? Thank you for all the Orei Metallo equipped cookware.”

“No, no. Thank you. That’s how we make money.”

Watanabe raised her lowered head and Asama looked to the four Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council members in front of her.

The Treasurer and Secretary positions were held by the heads of the Industrial Committee and Public Relations Committees. The rest of the Special Duty Officers doubled as committee leaders and second-in-commands, so these four were the main force of Musashi’s current Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers.

The four of them had apparently known each other since elementary school.

…''They’re a lot like us.

Just like Asama’s Class 2-Plum, Torii’s Class 3-Plum had mostly been together since elementary school.

That may have been Principal Sakai’s doing.

Interested in the instruments all four held, Asama asked a question.

“Your band is called Kagami, isn’t it?”

“Judge,” replied Oosuga while adjusting his grip on a large torii-necked biwa. “This idiot asked us for some help since she didn’t know much about the Gagaku played at the festival her own family’s shrine puts on. That was how it all started three years ago.”

“It was four years and three months ago, Suga-kun.”

“Is that so, Watanabe? We’ve been doing it that long, have we? …Even if we weren’t taking it too seriously, I guess you get pretty good when you’ve been at it for four years and three months.”

“Hah,” laughed Vice President Tadayo. Her stage armor made quiet noises as she moved. “You say that, but you’ve practiced more than any of us, Suga. …You know what?”

Tadayo turned toward Asama.

“That guy actually writes the lyrics for the love songs since Torii’s no good at that.”

“You’re the ones that asked me to do it. Laugh at me for it and I’ll never do it again.”

“Calm down.” Tadayo slapped Oosuga on the back and faced Asama again. “Do you think it’s funny he wrote those songs?”

“Eh? Well, um, I don’t know which ones that would be…”

“Ones like Mismatch or Flower Day.”

…''Wow, I really like those songs!!

“U-um, I’ve been wondering something about the line ‘And the world tastes like tears’ at the end of Chicken Stun. Is that because chicken is salty? Or am I supposed to read a little deeper and say reality is better with tare?”

“Miss Tits, did you forget that shichimi is an option too?”

“I didn’t think of that.”

She decided to keep that in mind next time she was eating some chicken to go with her sacred sake.

But Tadayo and Torii must have noticed her reaction because they both slapped Oosuga on the back.

Torii went a step further and continued slapping his back.

“Way to go, Suga! I’ll leave that to you next time too! You really know how to think like a girl in love!”

“You shove anything troublesome onto me, don’t you?”

“But love songs are too embarrassing.”

“Then don’t ask me to write them!!”

Asama tilted her head at that.

“You find it embarrassing, Vice Chancellor?”

“I do, I do.” Tadayo faced her. “Can you really emotionally say ‘I love you’ or ‘I adore you’ in front of a crowd?”

“Eh?”

Asama thought about singing “I love you” or “I adore you” as the lyrics to a song.

There were words of congratulations in Shinto prayers, but on a more personal level…

…''I do say that kind of thing pretty loudly.

For a shrine maiden who utilized the power of words, words related to emotions and willpower were important. Mass-producing them or saying them to no one in particular was indecent, but…

“…”

As she imagined it, heat rose from her neck to her cheeks.

If it was not nighttime, everyone would have seen her blushing. However, she was not sure why. She had no feelings like that at the moment.

But if she were singing about emotions that were normally kept hidden…

…''I would have to reveal those feelings in myself. And for real.

She would have to seriously say “I love you” or “I adore you” to the audience.

But the audience would not be revealing anything of themselves. They were only there to listen and watch.

She would be the only one revealing her feelings with no one to reciprocate.

She would need to think about it differently to get used to it, plus she had no experience doing that.

She had fallen silent, but Tadayo smiled a little and slapped Oosuga’s belly.

“What do you think, Suga?”

“I would never feel ashamed by what I’m presenting to the world.”

He did not hesitate to answer.

''He’s the real deal!'' thought Asama while Torii raised her right thumb behind Oosuga.

Asama then saw some lights around Torii. They were fragments of ether light.

…''Those surround Kimi during her spell dances.

Torii was an Ootsubaki-style shrine maiden. The Ootsubaki-style focused on entertainment and was based in Mikawa, so it fell under the Asama Shrine’s management on the Musashi.

Ootsubaki-style shrine maidens generally gained their power from Mikawa using the Asama Shrine as an intermediary, but Torii had a direct contract that did not go through the Asama Shrine.

Her power grew weaker the further the Musashi was from Mikawa, but the direct contract gave her more plentiful spells and reduced the cost and effort of the contract.

And Torii had taken measures to combat the weakness that grew with distance.

…''When we were in Mikawa this spring, she became an authorized high-level shrine maiden.

To avoid friction with the other nations, Musashi’s Chancellor and Student Council President had to be incompetent.

Torii was no exception and she had won the previous Student Council election and passed a test for the Chancellor’s Officers.

Even so, on their stop in Mikawa during her third year, she had passed her high-level shrine maiden test at Ootsubaki Shrine.

She had gotten ahead of Asama in that way.

Asama was trying to gain high-level qualifications at the Asama Shrine for next year, but regardless of the shrine, achieving high-level was not easy. Torii waved her hand to manipulate the ether light created by her high-level spell dance.

“I only got this with everyone’s help.”

“That’s because you chose two practical skill tests for the elective subjects on the Ootsubaki high-level test. The Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council were absent for the entire day. We would’ve been in trouble if it wasn’t at Mikawa.”

“Um… The Testament Union wasn’t upset about that?”

Tadayo waved a hand dismissively at Asama’s honest question.

“Torii only has dance and music spells. No matter what happens, dance and music are over when they’re over. They’re really only useful for festivals or cheering people up. Since they aren’t permanent, the Testament Union actually sees them as a way of letting Musashi let off some steam. Also…”

Also…

“Torii has an inherited name.”

“Eh?”

Asama’s confusion was not about Torii having an inherited name. She did not know what that had to do with the Testament Union’s reaction.

But her upperclassmen did not respond. Tadayo simply began groping Torii’s breasts through the scant material left on the chest of the girl’s modified uniform.

“How did you get an inherited name when you’re just an idiot who’s only good for entertainment? Was it these indecent breasts?”

“Ohhhh! A little higher, Tada-yon. Higher, higher. Ahhh, yes, yes. There, there. Aheen!”

“Don’t moan like that, Chancellor!!”

After nodding at Oosuga’s jab, Torii smiled and fixed her uniform’s bikini-style chest.

“I can’t help it. My body’s just too honest. But anyway, I can’t believe I passed that test. …For the practical skill part, Nabe calculated out the relationship between the pass rate over the last two hundred years with the odds of a wardrobe malfunction. I think it was something like a wardrobe malfunction increases your odds by thirty percent or something. But I was doing well, so I didn’t do it.”

Torii nodded and pointed at Asama’s chest.

“When you’re taking your high-level test next year, letting those giant things slip out will up your odds by thirty percent! Remember that, okay!?”

“Mine’s a Sakuya-style shrine…”

''That might be useful for Kimi to know though,'' she thought as Watanabe lightly raised a hand.

“You three, we need to give our report to festival HQ before long.”

They would review the information on the acoustics and output during their time on stage. The students in charge were impatiently waving at them from the bench and inspection equipment on the starboard side.

On the stage containers up front, Naito and Naruze had finished their rehearsal and were receiving some information via sign frame from the student in charge of the stage.

The rehearsal was making progress.

Tadayo said “see you,” Oosuga nodded, and Watanabe took the lead. Torii started to follow, but…

“Asamakko.”

She called out to Asama, turned around, and continued walking backwards.

“I called you that on a whim, but now that I think about it, it’s one letter off from something pretty outrageous.”<ref>Manko means vagina.</ref>

“Um, if I agreed, it would fill up a meter, so can I ignore that?”

“Sure, sure.” Torii nodded with a serious look on her face. “Anyway, Asaman.”

“Wh-why are you getting even closer to that dangerous word!?”

“Umm, this is a Chancellor’s order.”

…''What kind of Chancellor’s order begins with “umm”?

As Asama wondered what it could be, Torii continued.

“After what happened today, one band is dropping out. About three people on the Aki side can’t perform now, so our mainly Italian band ‘ROMulus and REMus’ will be filling the holes in Aki’s lineup. Yeah, they’re the ones with MC section that goes on forever.”

So…

“You sounded pretty good today, so how about you take part as a band?”

“…Eh?”

She understood what she was being told, but she could not grasp it. So…

“W-wait. What do you-…?”

“Judge. I’m sure someone like you can find some random band members. And since you can tune, you won’t affect the overall tuning by joining in and you can keep things safe if something does happen. …We’ll put you in somewhere in the center. If you can do it, send me the form by the day before.”

Bye.

“Think about making a band, okay? I want to hear it a little, got it?”

Mitotsudaira was fixing her hair before going to bed, but she was interrupted by a suspicious divine transmission. It was from Asama and it was in Asama’s voice, but…

“M-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mito…Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-to-to-to-to-to-to. Miiiito. Miiiito.”’

“Tomo! Tomo! Are you rapping about meat!? You are, aren’t you!? But this isn’t like you! What happened!? Did all those years finally catch up with you and fry your brain!?”

“What do you mean by that!? Um, uh, but!? Listen!”

As a werewolf, Mitotsudaira had divine protections to take care of her hair, so she could easily stop brushing. However…

“Um, wait. Could I finish brushing my hair first?”

“Ehhh!? W-wait. N-no, it’s just that. Um, uh, brushing? Bru-br-br…band!”

“Breast band? Is that supposed to be a challenge, Tomo?”

“No….eh!? Oh, th-that’s not what I…um…”

Asama took a breath before continuing.

“Meet me below the academy bridge at six tomorrow morning! I have something to tell you!”

The divine transmission ended.

Mitotsudaira was briefly dazed by the conversation and its sudden end, but after some thought, she reached a certain conclusion.

…''A confession!?

Mitotsudaira felt her blood rising from her neck to her cheeks for no real reason.

Her brushing hand picked up speed.

“Eh? W-wait? Could it be?”

With no one else in the mansion, Mitotsudaira frantically tried to confirm her thoughts.

She searched for someone to talk to.

“Cerberus…”

The three-headed wolf was sleeping sprawled out in the center of the bed.

…''Oh, I might have to sleep on the floor or the sofa tonight.

Sensing her defeat, she looked around again.

But there was of course no one around to speak to, so she asked herself the question instead.

“Wh-what is going on?”

Why was Asama trying to confess to her?

Normally thinking…

…''It could of course be about love, but it can also be about someone to support you in the future.

But Asama was a shrine maiden.

Shrine maidens offered themselves up to their god in body and soul, so they generally lived in a world of abstinence. She did not know how that worked in practice, though.

But she did know a shrine maiden lost their exclusivity with their god when they married and offered themselves up to another. That normally meant a restriction to their power, so…

…''Does she want a “marriage” between girls to gain someone to support her without losing her divine power?

“O-oh, right! I read about this in Naruze’s book!!”

She had a feeling that book was not the most credible source, but with how ridiculously well “Asama Shoots – Pilot Edition” was selling, it had to be something the general public would accept. It was safe.

But how had this happened? She could only think of one possibility.

“Was it because I showed off my good side during that battle today!? Was that it!?”

Destroying the Non-God Sword’s leg had been a delight for Mitotsudaira since she generally acted on defense.

…''Oh, but Tomo uses a bow and arrow and arrows are a metaphor for men. If a shield is a metaphor for women…

“Women are a shield, so, um, the chest is…”

She decided not to think about it.

But in that moment of thought, she felt like those metaphors for men and women fit together in her brain. In other words, even when restraining from such things, a shrine maiden was still 50% sexual. And if Asama was willing to act at 50%, she saw no reason not to go for a full 100%, but she decided not to think about that either.

At any rate, she had to figure out what to do. She needed to come up with a strategy concerning the coming confession, but her experience points were far too low. So she tried to think of someone with more experience.

…''That would be a bad idea.

Kimi was too dangerous. And it would frighten her if Adele had any experience with that. Heidi had gone full circle and become a slave to money, and she had a feeling Naomasa would dodge the issue even if she asked. Naito and Naruze had reached the finish line together, but that seemed somehow different. That left…

…''Mother?

“Sh-she’s the most dangerous one of all!!”

Her mother was a very bad idea. She had to avoid her at all costs.

She had often been told the story of how her parents had fallen in love, but that had clearly followed the following sequence: Devour → Docking → Fusion → Enlightenment. When she tried counting it all up, that battle had apparently lasted more than twenty days, but they obviously could not do that under the academy bridge. As much as Naruze would love it if they did. In that case…

“Honda Masazumi…”

''What about that crossdressing girl that transferred in this year?'' she wondered.

“She doesn’t have a handheld shrine, does she?”

She was paying her own tuition, so she had not had enough money to pay for sign frame service. That only left…

“…My king?”

She opened a sign frame and called him, but…

“Huh!? Nate!? Oh, wait a second. I’m about to drop my spoon!”

''What are you doing!?'' she thought, but she cleared her throat before speaking aloud and checked his location.

…''The Blue Thunder?

Kimi viewed the scenery below the dim white sky.

A dozen meters ahead, she saw the lights of a café/bakery.

It was the Blue Thunder.

The door opened and a boy stepped out.

…''Toori?

That was her younger brother.

Their mother ran the Blue Thunder and there was no real problem with him leaving it. That was, of course, only if one ignored the fact that he had not gone there for nearly nine years now.

…''I had heard he’s been coming here lately.

Seeing it for herself piqued her curiosity.

…''What could this mean?

Her brother had stopped visiting here nine years before for a certain reason, but now he was suddenly back. And from what she could see, he was carrying back a bag filled with bread for dinner.

Without noticing her, he left while speaking into a sign frame by his face. He made his way port, toward Musashino.

He was apparently going home.

However, Kimi came to a stop.

She was to the right of the road and she was glad that did not place her behind a building. She was also glad that her brother was distracted by the sign frame.

That meant she was not hiding and that he was not ignoring her.

She began moving again. She looked inside the Blue Thunder up ahead. She wondered if the reason for her brother’s return lay inside.

“Heh. That isn’t what a proper woman does. Don’t sneak around, Aoi Kimi.”

After calming her breathing while taking two steps, she walked boldly through the Blue Thunder’s door and spoke.

“Mom… Dinner.”

A bathhouse existed on one of Okutama’s underground residential long blocks.

It belonged to the Mukai family and the attendant booth was generally manned by their daughter.

“Huh? Suzu-chan isn’t here today?”

The male guests all asked the same question when they saw the mother sitting at the attendant booth. The woman smiled bitterly.

“She’s tending to a guest who passed out in the bath.”

“Oh, that’s too bad…”

“Oh, that’s really too bad…”

“Oh, that’s really, really too bad…”

“Hey, Suzu! The guests are getting depressed, so can you step out here real quick?”

Quiet footsteps soon followed and a small form left the changing room for the women’s bath. The girl had long bangs and a ponytail. She used the sensors on her ears and waist to make up for her lack of sight.

She hesitantly tilted her head toward the men’s bath.

“…Nn. Wh-what…is it?”

The men all exchanged a glance.

“…”

They silently stood tall and slowly bowed.

The mother nodded and placed a hand on Suzu’s head.

“Thanks, Suzu. You can head back now.”

“Eh? Eh?”

“Go on.” The mother smiled at Suzu’s confusion. “Tomo-san collapsed, right? She summons our ignition and heat control spells, so we can’t ignore her. Continue looking after her.”

Asama lay on a bench at one end of the changing room. She wore a yukata, a clothes basket sat upside down on her head, and she slowly calmed her breathing.

…''Hmm…

The hard points on her neck, sides, and waist tuned her blood flow and ether. There was no point in using any Blessings to speed up the process, so she was using a slower recovery based on her metabolism.

As her heated body calmed down, she just about fell asleep.

“U-um, Asama…-san. …Would you like…c-coffee milk or…fruit milk?”

“Oh, thanks. I’ll take the fruit.”

She slowly sat up while accepting a bisque ceramic bottle with a hemp straw sticking out.

She took time to drink the milk. For the time being, she drank about half.

…''Now I’m feeling better.

She did not remember much after Torii had asked her to perform in a band on Asakusa. She had wanted a relaxing place to gather her thoughts, so she had chosen Suzu’s bathhouse. However, soaking in the warm water seemed to have released everything in her mind.

She had a vague recollection of contacting Mitotsudaira while in the tub, but she did not remember what she had said. A memo from Hanami said they had agreed to meet below the academy bridge at six the next morning, so she guessed that was to invite the werewolf girl to join her band.

Now that she had calmed down, she could tell she intended to do this.

The shrine maiden of the Asama Shrine who represented Musashi’s Shinto was going to perform “common” music rather than Gagaku.

That would probably cause some accusations and other problems, so…

“…”

Asama turned toward Suzu. Suzu must have sensed it as she sat politely in her wide-sleeved summer uniform.

“?”

The girl tilted her head quizzically, which Asama took to mean she should continue.

…''Suzu-san can be ignorant in a good way, so she’ll give you a straight answer.

“Um, Suzu-san?”

“Hm? Wh-what?”

“What do…”

She hesitated but tried asking. She used a speaking technique to add directionality to her voice so the guests changing around her could not hear.

“What do you think about me in a band?”

“You can’t.”

The girl immediately responded.

…''Uuh…

Asama groaned in her heart.

She had expected this answer, but it still did not feel good. It left her enthusiasm dead in the water.

Suzu must have noticed her speaking technique because she brought her knees in closer, raised her eyebrows a little, and leaned forward as she continued.

“You said…you wouldn’t… No bands.”

…''Y-yeah.

When she had been stricter in the past, she did remember forcing herself to say that kind of thing.

''Wait, but that was because I wanted to distinguish myself from the others. That’s the key to being a cute girl… Oh, but I’m still a cute girl. I am. Right? But, um…

“You…promised,” said Suzu. “No bands.”

“…Eh?”

…''Did I ever go so far in my anti-band talk to make an actual promise?

If she had, this was bad.

To earn Blessings for her spells, she had placed a few restrictions on herself as substitutions. One of those was to never break a promise. Permanent promises were efficient because they would continue providing Blessings as long as she kept them, but a promise had to be approved before it worked as a substitution. Everyday promises would not make the cut, but…

…''Promising not to join a band would have been approved.

If she had used a promise like that for a substitution, getting it rescinded would be difficult. It would also reduce the amount of Blessings she earned on a daily basis, so she would have to rethink her personal Blessings management.

Promise substitutions held for years gained a perfect attendance bonus, so losing that substitution could require making several restrictions to fill the gap.

''I hope it wasn’t an old promise,'' she thought as she tried asking.

“Um, Suzu-san? When did I make that promise?”

“Elementary…school. …F-fourth grade?”

…''That’s old!!

That was seven years ago and she would have been ten at the time. It did not reach the twelve-year mark, but it was over five years.

In the Shinto substitution plans, even the standard “Easy Promise Substitution Plan” gained a substitution bonus at three and five years. As a shrine maiden, she would get more Blessings than a normal person and she might have even gotten a bonus at seven years.

''Oh, no,'' she thought in silent shock. ''Making up for the loss of a promise substitution like that would require adding on five additional restrictions.

She had already taken on all of the most efficient substitutions. For example:

*'''Periodically dedicate sake to your god using your own body. (1 Bottle/3 Days)

*'''Periodically dedicate grilled chicken to your god using your own body. (5 Skewers/3 Days)

*'''Never drink happoshu.

…''Hmmm? This almost looks like I just want to drink…

Just for reference, she decided to check the list for someone else whose contract she managed. She was curious what it was like for them.

…''Um, how about Kimi?

*'''Dedicate a dance for four hours every day.

*'''Get eight hours of sleep a day.

*'''Maintain a bodyweight of less than 48 kg.

…''What!? Is she an athlete!? And how can she possibly look like that at less than 48 kg!?

She was in charge of this contract, so this lapse in memory may have come from her trying not to look at that cruel reality. ''Anyway, I need to check someone else,'' she thought.

…''What was Toori-kun’s like again?

*'''Periodically strip. (1 Time/3 Days)

*'''Periodically crossdress. (1 Time/3 Days)

*'''Periodically make strange noises. (1 Time/1 Day)

“…”

Even if she was in charge of this contract, she had to wonder if this just made him a crazy person.

She also wondered if she was partially responsible for setting him in that strange direction, but she decided to ignore that possibility since his rate of stripping was easily thirty times the rate required.

“But…”

What about her? There was a lot to her contract and it was all complexly intertwined, so checking would be difficult. So…

“Um, Suzu-san? What exactly did I promise?”

“Nn. Y-you promised Toori-kun…no bands…”

“I promised Toori-kun!?”

“Y-yes… Judge.”

She would never have guessed it was a promise to him. But…

…''Toori-kun suggested I start a band…

In that case, would it even count as breaking her promise? She decided to check the details of the contract later and asked Suzu a question.

“U-um, h-how exactly did that, um, promise with Toori-kun go?”

“Eh?”

Suzu seemed surprised.

Had it been that important a promise? Asama started sweating at the fact that she did not remember it at all, but she gathered her courage and asked.

“Well, it seems I’ve, uh, completely forgotten how that promise went, so could you maybe tell me?”

“A-are you sure?”

“Eh? Y-yes. I asked, so I can’t exactly complain.”

“Then,” said Suzu as she slowly got up and circled behind her. “A-are you sure? H-here I go. This was the promise.”

“Eh? Oh, okay. Go ahead.”

[[Image:Horizon_Kimi1A_129.jpg|thumb]]

“Nn. I’m playing…Toori-kun’s role, okay?”

Just as a very bad feeling came over Asama, Suzu stuck her hands below her arms and began groping her breasts with a strong but inexperienced grip.

She squeezed them.

…''Eh?

Asama gasped at the sudden occurrence and Suzu’s mouth trembled.

“Wh-when you were…wearing a band…Toori-kun, um, said shrine maidens…aren’t supposed to…wear bras. He groped you…while crying.”

“I did promise not to wear any breast bands, didn’t I!?”

At that very moment, Naito and Naruze stepped through the cloth divider into the changing room.

“Oh?” Naito’s eyebrows rose. “Huh? You’re here, Asama-chi?”

As for Naruze…

“We don’t often run into you here at this time of-…”

As soon as Naruze saw Suzu groping Asama’s breasts through her disheveled yukata, she froze in place and dropped the viola case she was holding.

“…Ah, Ga-chan?”

Naruze turned extremely slowly toward Naito’s question. Then she nodded.

“I’m okay, Margot. I’m okay. I’m A-OK. See?”

As soon as she nodded, two beams of blood shot from her nose.

“Waaah! Are you okay, Naruze!?”

The Weiss Hexen responded to Asama’s question by covering half of her face with her right hand. Blood dripped down with enough force to be heard and she gave a wave of her other hand that said, “Don’t worry about it.”

She then spent two seconds audibly sucking air in through her nose.

“Khah… Whether I’m fine doesn’t matter. I want to know what the two of you are doing!”

“Nn.” Suzu calmly nodded. “Asama-san…had forgotten her promise…s-so I was playing T-Toori-kun.”

“So it was by force!? You were forcing it onto her!? Asama was lonely, so you came at her saying ‘If you’ve forgotten our promise…’ ”

“Um…”

“This will work! I wasn’t sure what to do after the pilot edition, but now I know just where to take it! Herrlich!!”

“Wait, um…”

“Shut up. I need to make a detailed rough!”

Naruze rubbed her finger in the blood from her nose and began drawing out a storyboard on her viola case.

''What am I supposed to do about this?'' wondered Asama.

“Um, uh, Suzu-san? You can stop groping me now.”

“Wait!! I’m still drawing, so don’t stop!! Stay like that until I’ve finished my sketch!! Please! This might become a regular source of income for me!”

“I’m not sure I want that…”

“More importantly, Suzu! Dig your fingers in a little more and lift them up! Yes, so I can see, so I can see. Good. Now stop breathing…and breathe out…and stop! Yes!”

“Why are you giving them a physical, Ga-chan?”

Naruze responded to Naito by wiping off her hand and grabbing her partner’s breasts. “Ohh,” said Naito as Naruze lifted them two or three times and looked to the storyboard on the viola case.

After a beat, she nodded and spoke.

“Okay! …Okay! I was just about to get the feel of it all wrong! Seeing ones as big as hers threw off my sense of perspective!!”

Naruze nodded again and added a “judge”, but that sent a second eruption of blood from her nose.

Naito cried out and frantically pulled out a healing charm. It scared Asama how practiced the action seemed.

As Naruze said “oh, dear” far too casually, Asama raised a hand.

“Um, Naruze, this is someone else’s home, you know?”

“If it’s coming out, it’s coming out. I can’t help it. I do need to get in the bath to wash the blood off, though.”

“But,” said Naito as she removed her shoes and tilted her head. “What’s this about a promise, Asama-chi?”

“Nn. …No bands.”

“Oh, that promise with Too-chan. You haven’t worn a bra since, right?”

“That’s private information! Stop revealing all my private information!! …And that isn’t the point.”

The three other girls tilted their heads.

“What do you think about me in a band?”

She wanted to know as a shrine maiden.

She had made a show of disliking such things, so this was a change of policy. How would they view that?

“What do you think about that idea?”

After Asama sked, the two Technohexen exchanged a glance.

Asama then heard Naruze speak first.

“How about you ask again after you find one that actually fits you?”

“When you aren’t used to it, the lines can be noticeable over your clothes, so you need to be careful.”

“Y-you need…T-Toori-kun’s p-permission.”

“N-no, not that kind of band. A-and Suzu-san, you can protest just as well without groping me.”

''What am I supposed to do about this?'' she complained in her heart.

Apparently they had a hard time linking the word “band” with a group of performers when it came to her. She decided to choose her words more carefully.

“I’m talking about a musical band.”

“Do any instrument brands make bras, Ga-chan?”

“Asama is pretty crazy, so she might be thinking of making a bra out of trumpet horns.”

“T-Toori-kun did that…on his crotch…before…”

''They think I’m like him?'' thought Asama while feeling a little depressed.

…''Hmm.

''This is hopeless,'' she thought while not quite sure what exactly was hopeless.

It seemed simply impossible for them to think of her in a band. In that case, she would never get a clear answer when asking them about the possibility.

…''Maybe it would feel better to actually form a band and surprise them all.

''Yes,'' she decided. ''I’ll invite Kimi and Mito to form a band tomorrow.

She took a breath and Naito tossed a Magie Figur her way. She took it as Naito removed her side skirt and loosened the collar of her inner suit.

“This is from before.”

“Before?”

“Judge. It’s the footage of our rehearsal. With audio. It looked like the President captured you and discussed some things with you, so I thought you might not have gotten a chance to listen to it.”

Naruze cut in while undoing her hair next to Naito.

“We’re in there with the third years, so there’s some real pressure on us. We need to spread this everywhere to let everyone know we’re doing this and raise the internal pressure,” she said. “But you might not be interested in this kind of thing.”

“Eh!? Um, well…”

Asama thought about her past self and her current self.

Her past self would have congratulated Naruze and Naito for the chance to perform, but she would not have accepted this. But now…

…''U-um…!

“Yeah, Asama-chi has always had trouble with this kind of thing.”

Naito prepared to pull back what she had tossed Asama’s way.

“…!”

But Asama grabbed Naito’s spell circle as if snatching it away.

''Oh?'' thought Naruze.

…''Asama has changed a lot this year too.

In elementary school, a certain girl had had great power with her spells, but she had been unsure whether she should use that power or not. She had often been with an idiot and his sister. It had seemed like the other two would play around without restraint, but that girl had become a strange sort of safety device or stopper for them.

In middle school, she had been something of a prodigy who had gained her official qualifications as a shrine maiden at a rate not often seen in the entire history of the academy. But her stricter side had been counteracted by always being with the idiot and his sister.

…''But deep down, she took everything seriously.

Even when someone wanted to be left alone, Asama would decide to say what she had to say. Even if that hurt someone or distanced them from her, she was tough enough to accept it as a natural part of being a shrine maiden, regardless of what she actually thought.

If she had been on the side of the religious officials during the Technohexen hunt, she would have been dangerous indeed.

She prioritized her decisions as a shrine maiden over her own personal decisions. That was how Naruze viewed Asama.

She was the perfect person if you got along with her or found a convenient connection with her.

For Naruze, she was someone she could tease and get warnings from without worrying too much. But…

“Do you want to listen to our Technohexen music?”

“Asama-chi, what kind of music do you listen to at home?”

“Eh? W-well, um, things like Plaguer, Kagami, or Girl Viewer…”

She seemed to have the major ones covered. The lack of idols suggested her tastes were similar to Naruze’s. So…

“We can probably leave that with you then.”

“Eh? Um, are you sure?”

“Judge, judge. Margot gave it to you, so it’s not my place to decide.”

She loosened her collar and finally relaxed.

If it turned out someone like Asama understood their tastes, should she be happy or should she try to keep her distance? Asama’s reactions were too much of an unknown to say for sure, but…

“It is nice finding someone who shares your tastes.”

Kimi spoke inside the Blue Thunder.

She sat at the further back of two tables. There were not many customers at this time, but…

“Well? I heard from Toori that you had some fun outside today.”

A woman sat in the seat diagonally across from her. She was the Blue Thunder’s manager and Kimi’s mother.

She had removed her usual mitts and scarf and she looked to Kimi while resting her head in her hand. She showed off her teeth and seemed unwilling to overlook Kimi’s expression.

But Kimi did not try to oppose her. She crossed her legs in her summer uniform and held out her right palm.

“Mitotsudaira charged in like this. And then I…”

She made a humanoid figure with her left hand and twisted it around.

“I used my dance to get rid of the…would you call it a storm barrier? Mitotsudaira took out one leg and then Adele…”

“Wait a minute. Where did Adele come from?”

“I’m bad at explaining things, so go easy on me. She was there for a part-time job and got dragged into it. She can make a good charge, so…”

“She got blown away a little, didn’t she?”

“How did you know?”

Kimi smiled bitterly. Her mother knew most of the students who came here. She could recognize them and she knew their various traits.

…''She was a real samurai, after all.

“Maybe she should add some weight anchors to her leg guards. Also, she needs to get some proper supplies for when she goes running with those dogs.”

“Tell her that yourself next time she stops by for some bread crust. …Anyway, with both legs destroyed, Asama fired a bunch of times to end it. The Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers showed up, but I think it was really over after Asama’s attack.”

“Agreed.” Her mother lifted her head from her hand. “Tomo-chan really has grown up.”

“How about you praise your daughter? She did good too.”

“''You'' could have done a lot more. Don’t think I’m not familiar with Ootsubaki.”

“No, I couldn’t have.” Kimi waved her hands back and forth. “To go for a spell better than that, I need a proper backup band and instruments.”

“You don’t have one?”

“Heh heh. Everyone in my class dreams too big.”

“So they aren’t going to settle for backing up someone else, you mean? Of course you second years are busy. You’re all thinking about next year. So Kimi…”

“To take that thing on with nothing but a dance, I would need to reach high-level and gain permission to create my own spells.”

“I’ll pay for the exam, you know? I’m willing to support a kid who’s motivated.”

“Oh?”

Kimi pulled back a little, but…

“Oops.”

She straightened up when a presence approached from the side. Instead of just taking a natural pose that let her take action at any moment, she also relaxed her expression.

“Sorry about the wait,” said the presence next to her. “Here is your fried chicken and seasonal salad. And your mountain vegetable and kombu chazuke.”

“Mom… I’ve been meaning to ask. Is this really a bakery? If you’ve been lying about that, I’d like to know. So is this actually just a restaurant?”

“After running this place for so many years, my repertoire has gotten a little chaotic. But more importantly…”

Her mother then looked to the presence beside her.

It was an automaton in a sweater and apron. She had long silver hair and blue eyes. A waterproof and heat-resistant black material covered her body in places, but other than that, she was a lifelike model.

Kimi and her mother exchanged a glance, and…

“This is my daughter Kimi. …Do you recognize her?”

The automaton looked to Kimi. She took a single breath, stuck a finger in her right ear, and twisted it.

“I remember. She occasionally stops by here, but while running along the roof as a group the other day, she shouted ‘Watch out, Asama!’ to Asama-sama, grabbed her from behind, and self-destructed together with her.”

“Oh, that was our PE class last week. Our teacher said it’s time for practical lessons outdoors since she’s more or less taught us how we’re supposed to fight. It was supposed to last until we reached Musashino’s stern, but we were all wiped out before even reaching Okutama’s bow. I can only laugh that the last of us was taken out in front of the graves.”

She remembered it well. After the vanguard had been taken out, Asama had readied her bow, but then the vanguard had flown right at her. She had been a good distance away, but according to Neshinbara, the vanguard had been sent flying into the rear guard without slowing their teacher down any.

“It all happened just as Asama prepared her bow, so it had to have taken some speed.”

“If Tomo-chan wasn’t fast enough, that teacher must be the real deal. I had guessed as much after the incident with Ishikawa-san, but hearing it from someone who actually lost to her is something else entirely.”

“I told you the day it happened too. Heh heh. It’s such an embarrassing story.”

“You did, but stories about your daughter’s embarrassing failures never get old. But Kimi, why don’t you head out to the front line?”

“I think it would suit me. Entertainer god musicians are meant to take the ‘middle ground’. But you know my foolish brother and I can’t head out to the front line.”

“Well, that’s true. Either Tenzou-kun and the others need to work a little harder or you need someone with more attack power on your vanguard. You seem a little lacking as you are,” said her mother. “Anyway, I think I received a divine transmission from home about that teacher. She’s from IZUMO and I’ve seen her spells, so I can take a good guess who taught her.”

The woman turned back to the automaton.

“Sorry for getting sidetracked. Do you remember anything else while looking at Kimi?”

“Judge. Other than what I just said, I sometimes see her at night playing with cats on the side of the road, carrying a lost Mouse to the shrine, or speaking with the black algae creatures.”

“Kimi, are you actually going the gap route?”

“Heh heh heh. A girl has to indiscriminately contact anything that’s cute!”

Kimi smiled when the automaton mimicked her thumb’s up.

Then the automaton turned toward her mother.

“But manager, I really do seem to have no memories from before arriving at Mikawa.”

Kimi mentally tilted her head at that.

“Have you checked whether she’s lost her memories or if her memories were just in their initial blank state? Where is she from?”

“Shockingly, I am of unknown origin and my first memory is being hungry in one of Tama’s streets.”

“The black algae noticed her and told me. I decided to give her something to eat and it turns out she’s lost her memories. The records say she arrived from Mikawa, though.”

Kimi’s mother lightly kicked her shin below the table.

Kimi knew what that meant: those records themselves were suspect.

Her mother had originally been a samurai who worked as a bodyguard. With this suspicious automaton, some human support was needed, but safety was also a concern. But…

“It’s been three months since Mikawa…but she wasn’t here when I stopped by two weeks ago, was she?”

“Judge. At the manager’s request, I was performing a number of tests. And I too wanted to know whether I, P-01s, am dangerous or not.”

“Girls ''can'' be dangerous things. But what’s that P-01s about?”

“Judge.” The automaton nodded. “I suspect it is short for ‘Panties-0ptional 1nterface System'.”

“Mom! This girl! This girl is excellent! How about I adopt her as a little sister!?”

“Hmm, I had a feeling you two would get along.”

Kimi and the automaton exchanged thumb’s ups and Kimi asked something else.

“Is this why Toori’s been coming?”

That question earned her another light kick to the shin.

…''What?

Kimi briefly did not understand what her mother’s shin contact meant.

But then P-01s tilted her head.

“Toori?”

“Eh? Oh, she means Wet Man.”

“Oh, Wet Man. The one who drops a lot of spoons.”

Kimi was a little confused, but apparently her younger brother was known as a mysterious peeping tom.

But then P-01s looked to the clock on the wall and bowed.

“Please visit us again, Kimi-sama. It is now time for me to clean the kitchen.”

“Judge. Heh heh. I look forward to visiting again, cute little automaton.”

Her words coincided with P-01s rising from her bow.

She started on the food while the automaton left. By the time the echoing footsteps continued into the kitchen, Kimi could taste the food. The salad made by the automaton had the vegetables laid out to fill all the gaps, the chazuke was the perfect temperature, and the fried chicken…

“…It’s bland?”

“Because she does it manually. When making an omelet, she uses her automaton load detection sensors to cook everything inside completely evenly. It was quite a surprise.”

That meant it was not actually bland. Every single part of it tasted exactly the same. From a flavor perspective, it was a lot like a drink in solid form.

Chicken was a fairly randomized ingredient, but the automaton had changed the density of the breading. She had strengthened its flavor where the flavor of the meat was weaker and weakened it where the original meat was stronger.

It showed excellent management, but…

“She must think deviations are a weakness, so everything comes out too perfectly and evenly managed. Unfortunately, ordering her to do it less carefully doesn’t work. To convince herself she’s being less careful, she goes a little too over the top.”

“Did Toori have to eat any of those ‘over the top’ ones?”

“He said, ‘What’s this!? Talk about new!’ ”

…''He found a clever way out, didn’t he?

“Why are you in a bad mood, Kimi?”

“Heh heh. I’m not in a bad mood. I’m just not used to this.”

…''Not used to it, hm?

For a certain reason, her brother had been avoiding this place, but now he was back. She was now certain of why, so it came down to whether she could accept it or not.

…''Can I do that?

“Mom, as a big sister, would it be more interesting if I sulked, if I tried to show off in weird ways, or if I rooted for him?”

“It looks to me like you’re already accepting this pretty rationally.”

“Hmm. I know there’s a part of my relationship with that foolish brother that will never change and I’m not going to take that lightly now. …I don’t quite understand everything yet, but I can pretty much see how I hope it all turns out. So it really comes down to how I can have the most fun in all the twists, turns, and ''ahahhhn''s in between.”

“And how do you hope it all turns out?”

“Heh heh. You want to know? …But I won’t tell you! I have a right to remain silent even with my own mother! Mom, why are you looking toward the counter? I know you hide a sword behind it, but what are you planning to do with it?”

“The details don’t matter. …If you can see the ending already and you know you can get there, then it probably would be fun to go along with all the twists and turns, whether that means sulking or whatever else.” Her mother smiled bitterly. “Besides, doing nothing isn’t an option, is it?”

“Judge. I know I’ll be better off down the road if I make sure to acknowledge this now. I can’t accept a ridiculous absence like in the past. Ever since then, I’ve been all for going on the attack and making your way to the best possible ending.”

A long time ago, she had received a large absence.

…''That’s right.

That was why.

She had been inexperienced back then. Now, she wanted to head in the more interesting direction. And that was why she thought about what was going to happen. Instead of an away game, their everyday life would be an extreme home game.

''In that case,'' she thought.

“It might not always be fun, but I’ll trust in and worry for my foolish brother while also pouting and adoring him.”

She made up her mind and continued eating. The chazuke had gone cold and the rice was beginning to soak up the tea, but that made it seem nice and homemade. She munched on the evenly flavored fried chicken as she said something more.

“Everyday life isn’t even at all. Oh, and…”

“Yes?”

“I’m sure you know, but I’ve already made up my mind about that automaton girl. …My lost little sister has returned in a new form. God does some strange things.”

“I see,” said her mother while standing from her seat. “Don’t tell anyone about that. A few have already caught on, though.”

“What about you?”

“This isn’t about my generation. And I’m not absolutely certain. So…she’s an automaton working part-time here. Sometimes I do wonder, but I don’t mind if it never goes beyond that. I’ll stick with it as is.”

“Judge.”

Kimi raised her left hand and her mother struck it with her own left hand.

“You don’t hold back,” said Kimi with a bitter smile as she started thinking about how to pout beginning tomorrow.

“Hm? A divine mail from Asama?”

She stopped eating and looked at the sign frame.

“ ‘Meet me below the academy bridge tomorrow morning.’ …Is she planning to confess to me?”

Asama walked to the Asama Shrine on the Musahi’s surface at night.

She could not see the sky due to the stealth barrier.

She could view this as normal for the Musashi.

But she also felt like her body temperature was higher than usual.

It may have been due to stopping by the bathhouse or because she had failed to regulate her breathing.

She was not sure.

But despite not knowing, her step was light. Instead of her body pressing down on the soles of her feet, she felt like the tips of her toes were pulling her forward.

And…

“The sky.”

She muttered those words, but…

…''No.

So she opened her lips again.

“To the sky.”

''That isn’t it either,'' she thought.

What was wrong with it? What was not fitting?

She did not know that either, but she vaguely knew what she was doing.

“In the sky.”

She spoke.

“The stars.”

''No.

“The moons.”

''That seems to fit, but it’s a little much.

So…

“The usual.”

She spoke.

“Night.”

She spoke.

“I can’t see it.”

''No. Not seeing it is normal. I can’t make that seem tragic.

So…

“I see it.”

But…

“I…”

''No. I’m the one speaking, so it has to be more than just “me”.

So…

“My will.”

''That’s too strict. I’m going back to my old self! It can’t be my will. Um…

“————”

She hesitated, but she said it.

“My heart…”

She was not sure if she should say that, but she still exposed a small bit of herself with her words. But…

“Yes.”

Her body was moving forward, so she spoke.

“…won’t stop.”

She moved her body forward. More than stepping forward, she seemed pulled forward by something ahead of her. And…

“In the sky.”

Hangs.

“The usual.”

Empty.

“Night.”

And.

“I see it.”

But.

“My heart.”

For some reason.

“Won’t stop.”

She moved her posture forward.

She hummed with the tempo of her walking feet.

“In the sky is the usual night. I see it and my heart won’t stop.”

She did not know what she was trying to say.

But she knew this was the right answer at the moment.

She might wonder what she had been thinking by the following day, but it was the right thing for her current heated mood.

…''This is what I am right now.

So she accepted it.

“How about I do it?”

Yes.

“How about I sing?”

Asama continued forward.

She walked forward below the usual night.

“Before…”

Before it had been Gagaku.

Gagaku was still a part of her work.

She had often thought that she would continue doing it forever.

But…

“Now…”

Now things had changed.

Those thoughts had not been wrong, but things had changed.

She walked below the usual white sky of the night. That closed sky cut off her view of the stars and the moons.

But all sorts of things existed beyond that sky.

That was not something to be thinking after all this time.

She had seen that sky so often in the past.

She had grown up on the Musashi, so she had been familiar with it before entering elementary school.

They felt this life on the Musashi would give them long lives.

Some would leave for the surface for a variety of reasons. Asama was planning to travel around the mainland training after graduating and Mito had said something similar.

But in the end, they would return here. So…

“It’s the usual scenery.”

Nothing changed.

It all stayed the same.

It would stay that way forever.

“How am I supposed to look at it differently?”

In fact, could she even do that?

She did not know.

Shrine maidens worked with the power of words. They defined things and purified away the excess.

She had been doing that all her life, so her view of things tended to be strict.

…''Yes.

She knew she was strict. She knew she had always been that way.

With music, she had not tried to learn about any other kind and had avoided coming into contact with anything new or foreign.

But now…

“I’m different.”

Her words sounded almost like a hope.

“I am different, aren’t I?”

She wanted to find out whether she was or not.

…''I’m not sure I like that this was all started by a strange invitation from Toori-kun, though.

But she did have someone who directed her interests and gave her a place to answer those interests.

So…

“It depends on whether my destiny wants to go in that direction.”

The others had not noticed that she wanted to see whether she had changed or not.

Of course, he might have noticed an early sign of this.

But the rest was up to her.

So…

“—————”

She continued forward and thought.

“If I do change and it fits within my proper destiny…”

She viewed the usual scenery around her.

“Will I see something that hasn’t changed yet looks different to me?”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Afterword|Afterword]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Chapter 1

2015-12-09T23:30:53Z

86.52.29.66: Fixed one or two typos. Still unsure if line 575 was edited correctly.

==Chapter 1: High Altitude Performer==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi1A_049.jpg|thumb]]
''The wind blows

''As they simply remain together

''Without gathering

'''Point Allocation (Onstage)

The color white began spiraling through the sky.

The wide arc of that wind turned the chilly air’s moisture into mist and ice which surrounded the theatre ship floating in the sky.

It swept away the chill and the diamond dust wind raced across the Noh Stage’s deck like a blade.

With a scraping sound, a long groove twenty centimeters wide and five centimeters deep was carved into the wooden deck.

The small pieces of ice had transformed the wind into a saw.

There was more than one gust of wind. It was mostly spiraling around, but several lightning-like gusts formed and shot back and forth as if playing. More and more slicing sounds rang out and a new line was carelessly drawn across the deck each time.

Most of the people on the deck preparing for the Gagaku Festival fled inside the ship using the various hatches.

Then they saw a giant form stand up from the ether tuner on the Noh Stage’s main stage.

It was ether. Ether would normally glow blue, but it had grown disturbed and instead glowed a dim yellow. And that nearly dull golden light formed an almost humanoid form.

It was about eight meters tall and had no arms or face. It simply had a torso, legs seemingly made of blades, and armor also seemingly made of blades.

“A Non-God Sword!?”

The Non-God Sword moved as if in response. It had only been rising from the ether tuner to establish its form, but now it raised its faceless upper body.

“…!!”

Its chest armor tightened inward. The action was similar to a human swinging their arms forward.

One of the students, a third year with a defense spell activated by a charm, stood up from a hatch and gave a shout.

“Fall back! A Non-God Sword is a type of summoned god, but its confused thoughts make it attack indiscriminately!”

A moment later, the wind gained a will of its own. Before, the blade-like gusts that had been racing back and forth as if for fun, but now two of them raced straight forward from the left and right of the Non-God Sword.

Their target was some Aki students who had failed to escape in time.

There were three of them.

One was a second year girl and the other two were first year girls. One of the first years had apparently sprained her ankle after tripping over one of the grooves carved into the deck.

The crazed god rejected everything not from its holy ground.

That rejection took the form of twin attacks that tore through the deck in their race for the three stopped girls.

The three had no way to dodge it and that fact became clear to everyone there.

“Willpower!!”

At that moment, two third year boys raced aft, one from the front port hatch and one from the front starboard hatch. Each boy removed his summer uniform shirt to reveal an undershirt that said, “Aki Academy Track Team”. They were regulars with official numbers.

They were on the way to rescue the girls.

The two boys raced full speed toward the three unmoving girls at the stern of the deck.

The boy on the port side was barefoot and the one on the starboard side wore spikes.

They almost seemed to be following the two gusts of wind up ahead, but all they did was place the back end of those gusts in their field of vision.

“…!!”

They lowered their stance for a full-power dash and used their pumping arms to activate acceleration spell charms.

The barefoot one to port used one that purified the burden on and weariness in his body.

The spike one to starboard used one that applied acceleration primarily to his knees.

They activated them at the same time.

“—————!”

And they accelerated all at once. The acceleration did not grow with time. With each step they took, they pushed their bodies forward along the deck, as if running up a wall.

“Hey!”

The barefoot one to port shouted to the other one approximately thirty meters to his starboard.

“Let’s settle this once and for all!!’”

“Right!!”

The spike one responded with his breaths appearing white in the air.

“I’m definitely cooler than you!!”

“Saying that about yourself is proof that you aren’t!”

“Then,” shouted the spike one. “Let’s prove right here which one of us is cooler, you barefoot bastard!”

“What!? What kind of team captain is stupid enough to damage the deck for a little extra speed!?”

But the two of them faced forward, looked to the wind strikes up ahead, and shouted in unison.

“We can’t have a proper competition with those in the way!”

They passed by the wind in a mere three steps.

They broke through the air and scattered the ether light of acceleration spells as they raced onward.

Up ahead, they could see the three girls who had failed to escape.

“Jump, cuties!!” shouted the barefoot one.

The girls exchanged a glance.

“——————”

They shook their head and the spike one shouted to the barefoot one.

“Don’t make this harder on them than it already is! …Just jump!!”

The two first year girls jumped. Even the one with a sprained ankle jumped with her good leg.

“Okay!”

The track team members each snatched a first year with one arm and reached their other arm toward the remaining second year girl.

“This way!!”

Having them both say it at once may have been a mistake.

“Eh!?”

The second year girl in the center was unsure which way to go and ended up not moving at all. The track team members both missed her and passed her by. They exchanged a glance, approached, and used their empty hands to point at each other.

“This is your fault!!”

But they could not head back now and the barefoot one looked back.

“Dammit! And she has a huge rack too! I wanted to ‘accidentally’ cop a feel when I grabbed her!!”

“You idiot! She avoided you because of that obvious ulterior motive!”

The spike one laughed and held out his hand.

“Ha ha. Of course, I had similar plans.”

They shook hands, but the twin wind attacks were still on their way to the second year girl behind them.

The barefoot one ended the handshake and tossed his first year girl to the spike one.

“I might not make it in time, but I’m going in for that grope!!”

“Get one in for me too!!”

“Sure thing!”

The barefoot one forced his body into a midair spin, landed, and felt the soles of his feet burning from the friction.

“Make it!!”

He ran.

“Ohhh!”

The barefoot boy pushed his body forward with all his strength.

''I’ll definitely make it in time,'' he thought. After all…

“That was a great decision, captain!!”

Light was flying around him. The team captain had scattered his acceleration spell through the air.

This gave the barefoot one his own and the other boy’s spell. The charm had been set to grant its power to others, but adjustments would normally be needed to combine it with another spell. However…

“We were using acceleration spells that didn’t overlap in the slightest!”

They knew each other well, so they had worked to gain each other’s strong points and make up for their weak points.

“Show them your Aki spirit!”

He kicked himself forward with double the acceleration and he forcibly tore through the air on his way forward.

It would take him only five steps to get there.

But…

“…!?”

The wind blew in from the right and this new strike was timed with the moment of greatest speed.

The Non-God Sword had targeted him to interfere.

…''Dammit!

If he dodged this, he could not get his grope, but if he kept going, he would be hit. Which meant…

“Full power!”

He leaned forward to forcibly eliminate a tiny bit more air resistance.

The result was miniscule, but it did raise his speed.

In that instant, the wind from the right accelerated.

…''What!?

He knew why. The wind he had seen before corresponded to someone raising a sword, so this was the speed of swinging the sword down. In that case, it was not directed at him at all.

“That huge rack!”

The twin attacks targeting that girl also picked up speed.

He realized he was not going to make it in time, but…

“…!!”

He accelerated. He knew he had to do something, so he sped up. He knew he had to do something and find something to do, but…

“A finalist can’t rely on anything but his speed!!”

He charged forward.

The wind was coming.

It was going to hit.

At that moment, something fell from the sky between him and the approaching wind on the right. It was…

…''A person!?

It was a girl, but…

“Owwwwwww!!!!”

With a great sound of destruction, the wind approaching the barefoot finalist vanished.

But that was not all.

The two winds attacking the girl he was trying to save also vanished.

''What just happened?'' he wondered.

But his body continued moving before he could think.

He grabbed the second year girl.

His right hand “slipped”.

The “slip” of his left hand was for the team captain.

''Yes, this is for the captain. And since it’s for him, one more wouldn’t hurt. Yes, I need to make sure I keep possession of this! For the captain! Oh, but this one can be for me, I guess.

“It can, can’t it!? Can’t it!?”

He accidentally spoke out loud and got slapped.

It was an excellent slap, so he decided to recommend her to the sumo team later.

But as he ran toward the hatch that his fellow students were gesturing him toward, he checked behind him.

Why were they unhurt?

“Is that…?”

They were Musashi students and there were three in all.

One was near where the wind heading toward him had vanished. A blonde girl in glasses and a track suit was collapsed on the deck with her eyes spinning.

One was near the collapsed glasses girl. She had giant breasts and wore a black shrine maiden outfit.

The last was near where the winds heading toward the second year girl had vanished.

She was…

“Second in line to ruling the Far East, Nate Mitotsudaira!?”

Mitotsudaira stuck a charm comb in her hair to stop it from dancing in the wind.

She then pulled an armband from the wicker basket attached to her waist hard point.

Her shrine maiden outfit had no sleeves and thus no place to attach an armband, so she simply held up the armband and spoke in a carrying voice.

“I am Nate Mitotsudaira, Musashi Knight League Rank 1 and Extra Special Duty Officer of Musashi’s Chancellor’s Officers. …I will take charge of this scene.”

She faced forward and attached the armband to her waist hard point.

She then pulled a charm stocker from the wicker basket and attached to her wrist. The stocker showed signs of a few charms having already been pulled out, and it was stocked with…

“Shinto spell shields.”

Up ahead, the Non-God Sword was facing her. It had already raised its arms, so…

“…!”

The wind blew in. This time, it was six gusts at once.

She raised her eyebrows as the blades of icy wind rushed in from six directions simultaneously.

“I will push back!”

She opened a spell shield in both hands, thrust it forward, and started to run.

Kimi watched Mitotsudaira’s back as she ran forward.

…''Will she be okay?

Not even two seconds later, sounds of destruction exploded from Mitotsudaira and white ice rose like smoke. Five or six trails of ice rose all at once.

The Shinto spell shield Mitotsudaira was using defended by reducing the enemy’s force and speed. It was the standard type for the Far East.

Unlike the Catholic and Protestant reflection types, whatever hit it would lose its power and either vanish or fall straight down. This had looked more like an explosion because the wind blades were quite large vertically, so when the bottom was reduced, the top could not keep up and it collapsed in on itself.

But…

“Taking that much force at once will wear down the charm like crazy. …Mitotsudaira, can’t you run any faster? That looks more like 70% right now.”

Even if Mitotsudaira had not been defending against the wind, Kimi had a feeling she could run and catch up to the girl, but…

“I-I’m running as fast as I can!”

Kimi had always thought Mitotsudaira was the heavy tank type, but not this much.

…''Not only is she running on her heels, but she’s using her strength all wrong.

Kimi could not give the girl any advice because she was bad with descriptions, but she could tell Mitotsudaira’s stance was focusing more on strength than speed. While that could be a problem in some situations, not being blown away meant a lot against an opponent with such great power.

''Then I guess it’s fine for now,'' concluded Kimi.

“Ahh…”

Adele unsteadily lifted her head from the deck at Kimi’s feet.

“Oh, you can move, Adele? Are you okay? If you think you’ve been knocked senseless, I could grope you. How about it?”

“And how would that help me!? How!? …Sorry, I shouldn’t have dignified that with a response. Um, where’s the Extra Special Duty Officer?”

Three explosions of wind sounded out at almost the same time.

They looked back to see Mitotsudaira continuing forward. However, her pace was falling. She was within fifty meters of the Non-God Sword, but the number of wind swords was growing.

The Non-God Sword was likely only now really beginning to use its power.

“Here it comes.”

Kimi listened to the wind. Even that raging whirlwind had a melody to it.

Adele got up, took a crouching stance, and nodded.

“Non-Gods like a Non-God Sword are created from a ley line disturbance that causes the spiritual molds of the land and surrounding lands to overlap. This one is probably a fusion of the European coast’s legendary giants and gods as well as the Far East’s Genpei war and the ironworking culture of the Bizen area.”

“Is that secondhand information? From who? Four eyes?”

“Judge. Neshinbara-san seemed really happy as he talked about it over the divine network.”

“There are these rare times when he has some useful information. If only he wasn’t always talking about superpowers and other nonsense from anime and novels. Well, fine.”

Kimi listened to the noise.

“Heh heh. I don’t know much about Non-God Swords or whatever, but if you’re going to use swords, you need to use a sexier design. If all we’re up against is brute strength, then leave it to me, Gracias Aoi, to pave the way forward. That will clear the way to the ending, so you will be beaten to a pulp in no time.”

“Eh? Y-you can do that?”

“Oh? Adele, have I ever said I could do something that I couldn’t? You also won’t hear me say I will become the world’s best woman, hold the world in the palm of my hand, or become the very definition of beauty, but why would I bother saying anything I could do so easily? The things that I truly don’t know if I can do or not are much closer to home. Heh heh. And compared to those things…”

A small smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

“I can easily make this Non-God or whatever look up to me.”

Mitotsudaira moved forward.

The wind continued to collide with her and her spell shields kept breaking, but…

…''I cannot fall back!

Monsters created by an ether distortion were usually bound to a location and this Non-God Sword was no exception. Just as spirits preferred the environment suited to them and gods preferred holy grounds, this Non-God attempted to secure and protect the location it had appeared in.

But as a being born of an ether distortion and stagnation, its optimal location did not exist in this world. After all, this world was generally well-ordered.

So it bound itself to its current location and dyed the surrounding space in its own colors. If the world was unsuited toward it, it would remake that world.

Small monsters would be worn down by the process of spreading its domain and would disappear.

That was the normal outcome.

But that would not happen when one had extracted enough ether to support itself even as it stagnated the surrounding space.

That was the case here.

If left alone, its domain would spread to a portion of the deck and the surrounding space, so Mitotsudaira had a single goal.

“Keep the Non-God Sword focused on itself rather than its surroundings!”

She kept her stance low and opened her shield so it would not leave her body. Like that, she collided with the charging wind, received it, and swept it aside. Whenever her shield shattered…

…''I open a new one!

She had plenty of charms. She had often played the role of defender in training and mock battles. To prepare her for conflicts with other nations, she had used a shield against a god of war or ship’s cannon on several occasions. Running out of charms and being unable to defend was a common mistake, but she had grown out of doing that halfway through the previous year.

She had strength but no speed, so her role was defense.

The Testament Union had appointed her to the temporary position of Extra Special Duty Officer with the Chancellor’s Officers, but that was only because they wanted some influence over her as second in line to ruling the Far East.

She had already reached Rank 1 in the Knight League and she had performed official duties since halfway through middle school, so this was nothing new for her.

At first, everyone had apparently considered putting her in the rear guard, but…

“The Far East doesn’t have many defenders.”

The Far East’s primary weapons were the sword, spear, and rifle, so they had little concept of shields. Their reduction shields were tricky to use until one got the hang of the system and they mostly required staying in one spot.

The Far East needed a barrier to apply pressure to the enemy while actively moving forward.

That meant acting as bait to draw the enemy’s attacks, so Mitotsudaira would always move forward, yet…

…''An attacker always moves past me and takes all the glory for themselves.

Hers was a thankless role.

''But,'' she thought.

…''Everyone expected me to be a delinquent.

Before gaining official duties as a knight, she had been violent, damaged many people and things, and even harmed herself.

Making up for it with this defense role was only her personal view of the situation, but she was fine with that. And…

“…!”

She heard a small cry from down at her feet.

She recognized the sudden, quiet roar.

“Eh?”

It was the Cerberus.

Mitotsudaira looked down at her newborn follower.

To her, it seemed to have followed her without being asked, but it may have thought it was leading her and threatening the enemy.

It could always flee and it seemed somewhat afraid, but the three-headed wolf still roared at the Non-God Sword. She placed it in the corner of her vision, and…

…''Honestly.

“I need to do this right!”

She moved forward and broke through the wind.

She heard the voices of the Aki students who had evacuated into the hatches.

Strength filled those voices, yet just a few years before, she would have only heard fearful and cautious voices.

“Honestly,” she said aloud this time.

She raised her eyebrows, moved forward, and spoke to herself in the wind.

“He was the one dragged me into all this and now he’s practically ignoring me? What is my king thinking?”

The wind struck her, but she rotated the shield in her hand to deflect, break, and surpass that power.

She moved forward and she could sense herself drawing in the enemy, but she could also sense her own lack of power.

She could protect the area around her. Even as a Non-God Sword, its physical attacks were not much different from a god of war or ship’s cannon. She only had to accurately block them. But…

“There’s so many!”

The amount of wind continued to grow. The Non-God Sword was doing more than attacking her in rapid succession.

“————”

It also began walking toward her.

By filling the gap between them, it could increase its speed of attack. And…

“It’s gathering the surrounding clouds, isn’t it!?”

The chilly clouds surrounding the Noh Stage shrank as if being squeezed in tight. The greater density darkened the clouds and the wind was also released from the clouds instead of just the area around the Non-God Sword itself.

And then…

“Everyone, don’t bother providing backup or tuning! Shut the hatches and evacuate!”

After all…

“The Non-God Sword is targeting you!!”

The Aki students were tuning the surrounding ley lines inside the large open hatches. That allowed them to restrain the expanding stagnation and hold back the Non-God Sword’s power.

In addition to spells, that required a calm heart. Those Aki students had undergone purification drills at Itsukushima Shrine, so…

“C-c-c-c-cal-cal-cal-calm d-d-d-d-dow-dow-dow-down!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone so flustered! …Oh, no! I tore my tights! Look!”

“Are you ''trying'' to fill us with impure thoughts!?”

Even as they argued, they activated their spells and tuned the space around the hatches.

The wind around the hatches calmed and the clouds directly overhead cleared, allowing gentle sunlight in.

But for defense purposes, aerial ship hatches would deflect ether interference when closed, so the hatches had to be open to provide tuning. But…

“Here it comes!”

The Non-God Sword’s wind was fired directly toward the hatches.

It was trying to crush the extra help so it could focus on Musashi’s Extra Special Duty Officer.

There were eight wind swords. The Non-God Sword’s nonexistent arms were wielding their full power as it moved forward.

Each gust of wind blew in a straight line to tear into them.

They could not close the hatches in time, so the wind struck.

Eight winds collided with those manned locations and eight sounds rang through the sky.

They were sounds of spraying destruction.

However, it did not come from the destruction of the ship and there were no screams.

The wind itself was suddenly destroyed.

“Eh?”

Even those in the hatches were confused. The wind had scattered like spray just as it was going to hit them.

They all looked up on the deck to see what had happened and they saw a light there.

It came from the center of the deck where the black shrine maiden and glasses girl had moved in to defend. The black shrine maiden was standing there and the glasses girl had moved away in preparation.

The shrine maiden was lit by sunlight.

The Non-God Sword’s movements had made the swirling clouds grow even denser, yet the sky was perfectly visible directly over her head.

Plus, even more light was supplied from above the eight hatches.

The black shrine maiden was dancing.

She took gentle yet accurate steps, those steps sounded loudly, and she let her body bounce.

“——————”

The wind roared.

As she moved, the Non-God Sword’s swirling clouds seemed to rumble and cry out.

But some of the onlookers realized that was inaccurate. They lay on the steps from the hatch to the deck, peeked upwards, and slowly measured the timing.

“Is the rhythm of her dance synchronized with the movements of the clouds and wind?”

That was one of the spells of the Ootsubaki-style entertainer gods. One would dance to purify and provide divine protections to the surrounding space. Normally, the spell would apply the theme of the dance to the surrounding space in the form of divine protections and purification, but this was likely different.

“Did she take on the Non-God Sword’s rhythm to interfere with that rhythm!?”

“Heh heh heh. This is only a sword manifestation being distracted by a wolf. No matter how powerful it is, it’s simple at the most basic level. And if you want to swing all those swords around so much, stop trying to fuck the empty air, see how it feels for yourself!”

Kimi laughed.

She kept her eyebrows flat, spun her body, and looked across all of the wind, deck, and sky around her.

She laughed out loud and audibly stepped on the wooden deck. As if reacting to that sound, the wind blew in from multiple locations.

It was flying, but…

“How foolish. You’re just an adorable little child. You were only just born and know nothing of the world.”

As she danced, Kimi spun around and dodged every last one of the wind swords, causing those blades to collide with each other.

“Heh heh. Act tough if you like. I can easily respond in kind. See?”

They shattered.

Countless ice fragments scattered through the wind around the dancing shrine maiden, but not even they reached her. They simply adorned her dance.

As the range of the sunlight grew, the scattered ice glittered. Kimi smiled and spun within it all. She used her fingertips to draw out the paths of the swirling clouds in advance and her feet touched the deck to match the timing of the Non-God Sword’s swaying body and moving legs. Even as she twisted her body, lifted her hips, and embraced her chest, her movements drew out the wind’s movement in advance or followed after those movements.

She spoke as her dance sped up.

“You really are hopeless. You haven’t lived through even a single night and you’ve never woken up to find yourself alone. You do not understand the meaning of loneliness or the origin of solitude. I will teach you that a newborn blade can only be put away in its scabbard. Yes, I will teach you so very kindly.”

Her movements sped up and new light appeared.

A Shinto spell circle made from a circle of torii shapes rose from her feet. It grew to a diameter of approximately five meters and acted as her footing. Four additional torii-style sign frames appeared behind her. Another large one rose into the sky and displayed an enlarged image of her face.

“I’ll go with a reverse-order Ootsubaki-style Foothold Dance. The song will be Star Festival. …Is that okay?”

As soon as she asked that, Uzy clapped on her shoulder and instrument icons appeared in the four sign frames behind her. They shook, added to the sound, tightened in, and yet began playing a song.

Meanwhile, the Non-God Sword roared.

“…!!”

It was a loud, sky-shaking voice, but Kimi had predicted even that great rumbling.

“————”

She produced a voice of her own. And…

“Try to keep up.”

With that comment, Kimi accelerated. She ruled that spell emblem stage with her dance.

The Non-God Sword stopped in response. With one hundred meters between them, it bent its body as if to combat Kimi’s movements.

“—————!!”

Wind truly appeared in every direction and swept across the deck.

Adele held up a spell shield like an umbrella and looked around the area.

“Wow…”

The entire deck had become a giant clash between a storm and the sunlight.

The Non-God Sword was rapidly launching attacks with its feet stopped on the deck while Kimi loudly faced it with her dance. Adele could see all of their movements, but…

…''Music!

She could also hear them.

Again and again, the wind crashed down more as a violent wave than a gale and was ultimately smashed into white spray. Kimi continued her composed dance while her sign frames played accompaniment in place of a band.

Her hair danced, her hands and fingers bounced up, and her legs were repositioned without end. When she looked on the verge of falling over, she would add a spin to escape.

“Hey, tomorrow is a summer day, the day of the star festival.”

Adele could hear Kimi’s singing voice even through the bursting wind.

“I sigh countless times and send you looks of protest.”

The wind crashed and clouds tried to block out the blue of the sky.

“But you seem to hear everything. Everything but me.”

Kimi’s steps smashed the wind and her swinging arms cleared the sky.

“No matter how close I sit to you.”

The wind swords raced forward in unison, but…

“Only the starlight reaches your eyes.”

Kimi only had to look back with a smile to crush that wind.

“Fine, then. Tomorrow is a summer day, the night of the star festival.”

Adele saw a line of light appear at Kimi’s feet.

“I will have you look up to the stars. I will have you mesmerized by them.”

Kimi’s movements read the Non-God Sword’s movement patterns and created them like sheet music.

“Fine, then. Today is a summer day, the night of the star festival.”

Adele heard a “la la” from Kimi. It was not related to her movements or anything else. Even the lyrics of the line were meaningless.

“The stars will still be there on the way home.”

Kimi added a new movement to the mix.

“They will stand still for you.”

She embraced her own body in her arms. She started with the shoulders.

“Fine, then.”

A moment later, Adele saw a violent tremor run through the Non-God Sword’s shoulders and its entire body shook. Kimi’s song, dance, and music had synchronized its ether to herself.

“Today is a summer day, after the star festival.”

When she embraced her own hips, the Non-God Sword’s hips were struck and its ether ruptured.

Also…

“I will have you reach for the stars.”

Kimi wrapped her arms around her shoulders, chest, hips, and body to embrace herself. Each time, the corresponding part of the Non-God Sword was struck and broken.

“I will have you do so forevermore.”

Kimi’s voice rang through the sky. It was a laugh and she then opened her mouth wide.

“La la!”

Rather than pierce through the wind, her voice seemed to push it outward.

Then came the blue.

The clouds covering the sky were parted and a path of sunlight was formed.

As Kimi’s voice spread, so did the path of light between her and the Non-God Sword.

A single figure stood in the center of that path.

“Extra Special Duty Officer!”

It was Mitotsudaira.

She had been enduring the wind before, but now she moved forward.

She used both hands to raise her shield made of ether.

“————!!”

And she collided with the collapsing Non-God Sword’s leg.

The tactile feedback told Mitotsudaira she had destroyed it.

She had made it close enough because Kimi had drawn the enemy’s attacks and then tuned the area to a certain extent.

The sound of shattering glass rang out as the Non-God Sword’s left leg broke.

It crumbled.

Amid the fragments of bursting ether light, Mitotsudaira looked up at the enemy and spoke.

“Well done, Kimi!”

Kimi heard Mitotsudaira’s voice as she continued her dance as a postlude.

…''Heh heh. She’s in a good mood.

That may have been because she had reached the enemy and destroyed them despite being a defender. ''Maybe she needed to relieve some stress,'' thought Kimi, but it was not only thanks to Kimi that Mitotsudaira had reached the enemy.

It took some preparation before she could sing and dance. It had taken some time to read the Non-God Sword’s rhythm and create the stage for the spell.

…''And that was only possible because you started forward, Mitotsudaira.

For the first half, Mitotsudaira had drawn the enemy’s attention while Kimi prepared. For the second half, Kimi had drawn the enemy’s attention while Mitotsudaira continued forward.

''That knight has a bad habit of not noticing her own accomplishments due to her guilt about the past.

''That isn’t what a proper woman does.

''I just hope she realizes soon that immersing herself in self-deprecation is holding her back from taking the next step. What does she think she’s doing?

“La la…”

Kimi’s song finally ended.

She was not out of breath. Rather, the damage to the Non-God Sword and its destroyed leg had caused it to shift from her predicted rhythm.

She would eventually fail if she attempted to rule the stage with the same rhythm as before. And even if she succeeded, that would allow the injured Non-God Sword to recover.

She continued dancing while wondering if she needed to prepare the next dance, but she shrugged when she saw the result in the sunlight up ahead.

“Well, we’ll manage somehow. I can take my time and think.”

A second strike hit the Non-God Sword and shards of light scattered from the right leg, the one Mitotsudaira had not destroyed.

Kimi shouted to the person who had collided with the leg after racing down the pathway of sunlight.

“Excellent work, Adele!”

Mitotsudaira saw Adele’s results.

She had charged straight into the other leg with her shield at the ready.

Adele was not a Shinto musician. She was Catholic. Her spell shield was the reflection type, so her speed was an important factor to its power when ramming something.

Mitotsudaira knew that Adele was just as fast as (if not faster than) Tenzou, the ninja in their class. But…

…''Is she okay!?

Adele had picked up too much speed, so she was launched into the sky along with the shards of the Non-God Sword’s leg and her own shield. The reflection of her shield had lifted her from the deck.

“Huhhh!?”

Adele spun through the air with an expression that made it clear she had not expected this, so Mitotsudaira reached out a hand.

“—————”

But there was no way she could reach the girl.

Her legs were average and her height was decent for a girl, but not very impressive compared to most of the knights, warriors, and Chancellor’s Officers. Needless to say, the reach of her arms and legs were just as unimpressive.

After self-destructing, Adele would have to show her willpower as a vassal when she landed. She was on this Shinto stage despite being Catholic because she needed to earn some money for her daily life. She had apparently recently learned the trick to working on scaffolding and she mainly worked as a mechanic. She had been called here on short notice when they found they needed someone at the last second, but if she hit her head, she would probably be given a decent payout to cover medical expenses, which was sure to delight her.

At any rate, her attack had been a success.

Both of the Non-God Sword’s legs had been broken and its stance had crumbled.

Of course, as a spiritual being, the legs were only for show. The monster primarily moved by floating.

However, its legs had made up a large portion of its structure, so destroying them caused its density to crumble.

Mitotsudaira was fairly certain it would continue to collapse like this, but…

“!!”

The Cerberus cried out at her feet.

…''Eh?

It was not the Cerberus’s cry that confused her.

That roar had been meant to warn her.

She trusted the small wolf and looked up to see what this was about.

“————!!”

The Non-God Sword was getting up, but not with its legs. It was using its arms.

It had not had any arms before, but now it had six. A sword formed the upper arm and forearm of each one and two on each side acted as crab-like legs.

Mitotsudaira knew what was happening. With its place stolen and its body shattered, it was focusing all of its power on itself. This was self-defense meant to protect its own body instead of self-preservation meant to spread itself into the external world.

An Aki student watching from a hatch described this new form.

“Is that a Gyuki?”

There were some differences in the legends, but that was a monster that appeared on the coast and in the watering holes of the western Far East. It had the body of a spider and the head of a horned ox. Even Musashi had a record of one appearing in Asakusa. And in that case…

“This stagnation must have taken in the Gyuki’s mold too.”

The Non-God Sword had started to crumble, but it had recovered. It lifted itself up, used two blades like arms and used the remaining four like legs.

“…!”

It roared.

However, that roar was immediately crushed.

The Non-God Sword had been destroyed.

Adele saw the light as she lay sprawled out on the deck with her eyes spinning.

A straight line of light pierced diagonally through the Non-God Sword’s raised left arm, chest, and front right leg.

The piercing light stabbed into the deck.

Unlike a flame, the light was focused and it quickly vanished, leaving behind…

…''An arrow!

The arrow had flown in from the east. The Tanigawa Castle was floating nearby there. It had initially been quite a bit higher than the Noh Stage so that Adele and the others could jump down, but now it was only a little bit higher, and…

“Asama-san!”

Asama stood on the edge of the Tanigawa Castle’s deck as she performed the follow-through from firing her bow.

She watched the Non-God Sword crumble after its attempted recovery and then she slowly reached for a new arrow.

“Do not move, Adele. The homing still isn’t great, so I’ll go without it.”

“Just out of curiosity, what would happen if I did move!?”

“If you move, I’ll accidentally target you. …No, I mean this thing will.”

“What!? What do you mean by that!?”

Asama fired regardless.

After destroying the Non-God Sword’s legs with two additional shots, Asama sighed.

She relaxed her shoulders and looked to the scene of the battle where Kimi and Mitotsudaira were smiling and waving at her. She could even tell the Cerberus at Mitotsudaira’s feet was letting down its guard.

That meant the problem had been eliminated.

…''Good.

She was from the Asama Shrine, Musashi’s main shrine. Aki was managed by Itsukushima Shrine, so she could not easily interfere. Her summary negotiation with Aki had concluded by having her agree not to set foot on Aki land and to instead ‘perform a westward exorcism’ from Musashi land.

If she had failed, she would have interfered with Aki and would be indebted to them.

She had needed to both hit and destroy the target.

There were homing spells for a shrine maiden’s arrows, but using the Blessings for that lowered the power. Once she could apply for the rank of upper-level shrine maiden, she would be able to use more efficient methods, but she was still mid-level. She had the power, but she lacked accomplishments.

That was why she had been forced to use non-homing reinforced arrows.

To hit, she had needed line of sight.

She had not expected the Non-God Sword to begin a recovery for self-defense, but Mitotsudaira and Kimi had done a splendid job of guiding her to victory.

They had only had a quick discussion beforehand, but those two and Adele had managed to clear away the wind barrier and then hold the Non-God Sword in place to make it easier to shoot.

Asama watched the crumbling Non-God Sword with Konoha, her left false eye.

She could not tell if the mold at the foundation of its appearance was crumbling as well. If that remained, it was possible another one would appear.

But dealing with that was Aki’s job. The work here had revealed the Non-God Sword’s ether vibration. If that fixed rhythm was reported to Aki, they could deal with it via purification or sealing.

But besides that…

“So our Extra Special Duty Officer proved useful.”

Asama heard a female voice from behind her.

…''Is that…?

She looked back and saw a female student in armor standing much closer than expected. She was pretty much right in front of her.

The girl wore a light mobile shell over her summer uniform and held a cowling assault spear in her left hand.

“Vice President.”

The girl that Asama spoke to wore an armband saying, “Vice President: Ookubo Tadayo”.

Vice President Tadayo looked her way, smiled, and shook her longish black hair.

“I should’ve expected that from the Asama Shrine. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered showing up. …Are Suga and Tsuna here?”

Asama frantically shook her head.

As a member of the Asama Shrine, she knew the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers, but she did not often speak with the Vice President and this was the first time the girl had spoken to her with a smile.

After shaking her head, Asama thought about the mentioned names.

“Um… No, the Vice Chancellor and 1st Special Duty Officer haven’t-…”

“If you’re looking for the Vice Chancellor, I’m over here.”

A boy sat on the edge of the bow.

He was a thick boy. He had the frame of a log standing on end, a thick wooden sword rested on his lap, and he stared out at the Noh Stage. His armband said “Vice Chancellor: Oosuga Yasutaka” and he placed a hand on his chin as he viewed the other theatre ship.

“The Extra looks happy.”

“That’s because she’s the shield that always heads out first but never reaches the enemy. It’s the same in the Knight League’s mock battles, so I think she gets a little too self-deprecating. It’s to the point that she’s even considerate of a Rank 5 like me.”

“A good superior is considerate of her subordinates.”

“And that’s why I have to head out there.”

Asama understood what Tadayo’s statement meant.

“You mean Musashi’s Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council are all set to deal with this Aki-side trouble?”

“It wasn’t hard getting permission after everything you and the Extra did. If Aki showed up now and crushed the already crumbling Non-God Sword, it would only hurt their reputation. We reached a compromise where we do it for them since it’s a small job and we’re already here.”

“Tadayo. I think you could put that in a nicer way.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a Suwa-style.”

Tadayo smiled bitterly and prepared to leap over to the Noh Stage using the two ships’ height difference, but she suddenly turned toward Oosuga who was still sitting down.

“You come too once Tsuna gets here. Even if it’s for show, we’re acting on the behalf of another academy. You can wait until we have the appropriate materials from the 1st Special Duty Officer.”

“Judge.”

As soon as he replied, Tadayo made her jump.

…''Wow.

She was a Rank 5 in Musashi’s Knight League. Even as the Vice President, she was militaristic. She soon landed on the Noh Stage which still had some wind remaining.

“——————”

She raised a hand to greet Mitotsudaira and began running.

''She sure is fast,'' thought Asama as she watched the girl’s light step.

“Um, where is the Chancellor and Student Council President?” she asked Oosuga.

“I don’t know where Torii is, but she’s probably playing with Watanabe. The Far East’s Chancellor and President have to be incompetent after all.”

Oosuga returned to the deck as he answered and Asama heard him let out a sigh that could have been in sorrow or relief.

And then…

“What’s with that mature atmosphere you’ve got going on, Suga!? It’s really cool, so take thiiiiiiis!

It happened far too suddenly.

A third year girl roughly wearing a summer uniform took a light step and kicked Oosuga’s large frame right in the butt, knocking him away from the deck.

…''Eh?

Asama did not have time to think any further. Oosuga was a large boy, but he had been in the process of standing up. He swayed quite a bit in the direction he had been hit.

“Ohhhhh!?”

After a light cry of doubt, he fell right off the deck.

…''Ehh!?

''Is he okay? Can you really do that?'' wondered Asama while the rough girl watched Oosuga fall and let out an impressed “ohhhhh”.

“Hey! Did you see that!?”

She suddenly turned toward Asama.

She was a third year, but she was a little shorter than Asama and she showed off her teeth with a smile.

“This means Musashi’s Vice Chancellor was injured in an accident out here, right!? That should let me and Aki both save face. It’s gotta.”

She had a carefree smile on her face and an armband on her shoulder.

Asama read what was written there: “Chancellor and Student Council President: Torii Mototada”.

In the end, the Non-God Sword was entirely destroyed and command of the scene was returned to Aki thirty-two minutes later.

The falling Vice Chancellor was picked up by a trade ship and only made it back via Aki two hours and fifty-seven minutes later.

When Asama and the others returned, their first stop was the Asama Shrine. By then, it was past 6:30 PM.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Prologue|Prologue]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Prologue

2015-12-08T22:39:17Z

86.52.29.66: Fixed two typos.

==Prologue: The Three Girls of the Asama Shrine==
[[Image:Horizon_Kimi1A_011.jpg|thumb]]
''How in the world

''Can we work so well together

''When we’re talking about

''Completely different things?

'''Point Allocation (Practice, maybe?)

“Hey, Asama, how is the wiring over there going? Did you jam everything inside? Oh, c’mon, I mean into the hole! You wrap it around like this, gather it all together like a tentacle, and…! Ahhhn! Th-the cable is all wrapped around me! H-how dirty! …Hey, you aren’t even looking, Asama! Neither are you, Mitotsudaira! Oh? Why are you giving me that look of scorn while I’m lying boneless on the floor with a cable wrapped around me!? Are you leaving me like this!? Are you!? Because that’s wonderful too!”

A black-haired shrine maiden sighed into the early summer sky as a strange girl writhed on the floor with a hemp rope cable wrapped around her.

They were on a ship in the sky, but…

“Kimi… This is the theatre ship and not the Musashi, plus a lot of the third years are here, so try not to play around so much.”

The nametag on her neck hard point said “Asama Shrine: Asama Tomo” and she crouched in front of the girl whose nametag said “Asama Shrine: Aoi Kimi”.

Asama lightly tapped a few times on the waist hard point of Kimi’s mostly black shrine maiden outfit.

“Can you untangle yourself? This cable is for our work, so we can’t cut it.”

“What are you talking about!? I’m having fun playing tentacles and I need to think about what options I would have if this were a porn game, so don’t interrupt! Or do you want to join in!? You do, don’t you!? But there’s no room, so you can’t! Jealous, aren’t you!?”

“I am a little jealous of that side of your personality. Yes.”

Another girl in a mostly blue shrine maiden outfit stepped up alongside Asama. Her Asama Shrine nametag said “Nate Mitotsudaira”, she crouched down in front of Kimi, and she clearly started to say something, but…

“No, never mind. This is Kimi, so it’s no use.”

“Heh heh. Now, you’ve said it! You admit defeat, don’t you!? Surrender to me and I’m willing to trim you in Asama’s bath every night! But not now; I’m tentacling!”

“Why does she never get tired of herself?”

“It’s true! It’s so true!” shouted the crazy person as Asama and Mitotsudaira stood up.

Mitotsudaira sighed and spoke to Kimi.

“Listen, Kimi. We are trying to prepare for the Joint Gagaku Festival with Aki’s Itsukushima Shrine. The third years are doing most of it, but second years like us were called in to tune the stage for the Asama Shrine. So can’t you show some restraint?”

Mitotsudaira pointed to their surroundings.

As her hand swept around, it indicated third years in summer uniforms and light gods of war preparing for the Gagaku Festival. They were pulling back the floor in places, pulling out the tuners like pillars, and then tuning them.

It was the standard scene of Gagaku Festival preparations.

The occasional amplified instrument was heard for tuning or testing purposes, but the note would vanish into the sky.

Asama spoke with her hair fluttering in the wind.

“The ship’s auditory control spell hasn’t been activated yet, so all the sounds end up dead. As a theatre ship, it will have better acoustics than a concert hall when fully activated.”

Asama and Mitotsudaira looked around at the wooden plaza floating in the sky.

The deck being longer front to back was characteristic of the theatre ships used for plays and Gagaku. The ship was also used for diplomacy, it had a stage on the bow, and tiered seats were prepared near the center.

“Also…”

Two main things were visible beyond the ship.

One was the Far East and the eastern end of the Seto Inland Sea. The other was the giant island floating in the western sky.

A giant torii stood in a manmade ocean on the east side of that floating island, but beyond the shrine and forest were a stone city and a European cathedral.

Asama sounded relieved when she saw that scenery.

“We made it to Aki, headquarters of K.P.A. Italia, this year too.”

Asama could see Aki, which was a floating island and the K.P.A. Italia headquarters of Itsukushima.

Their ship was in the sky three kilometers east of Aki.

It was an early summer afternoon and all of Aki was visible with the sun shining on it from above. The island was longer from north to south. The forested land was surrounded by ocean and a pathway of small torii. A large torii and shrine were visible on the eastern edge where the morning sun would reach them.

…''It sure is big.

Because K.P.A. Italia took care of it, its equipment was cutting edge.

Mitotsudaira looked in the same direction next to Asama.

“That’s the headquarters of the Tsirhc religion that uses the Testament as its scriptures and the effective leader of the Testament Union. Look at all those trade ships… They’re showing off.”

“If our shrine had that much, we could do so much more…”

“Heh heh heh. I don’t want to hear that from the daughter of a shady shrine with plenty of underground equipment and sales deals! You should expand into other industries. You could do a lot with custom spells and divine makeup.”

“That kind of thing is in a legal gray area, so we can’t exactly make it standard…”

A shadow of some trade ships passed overhead.

The fleet heading to Aki bore the emblem of the Konishi family.

They all had sign frames open on the back and sides which were running advertisements for the Konishi brand.

But that was not all. Musashi and Aki trade ships were moving back and forth below their ship and in the distant sky. Musashi had sent out a large transport ship that acted as a hub to trade with Shikoku and the opposite coast of the Seto Inland Sea.

The surrounding third years suddenly looked to Aki.

“This is going to be a hot and busy summer.”

“I’m on the industrial committee and manage the ice rooms, so I’m actually going to be freezing…”

“Well, this is the last year we can do this kind of thing as students.”

They laughed and suddenly all looked to the east.

“I wonder if Musashi will stop here next year too.”

It was inside a stealth space, but the Musashi was in the eastern sky there.

Drawn by the third years, Asama also focused on the invisible Musashi. Her false left eye, Konoha, showed her the giant ether reaction in the sky that indicated the Musashi’s presence.

They were positioned between the giant ship and floating island.

And while between Musashi and Itsukushima, they technically counted as diplomats, but…

“The Torii family supplied this three hundred meter theatre ship called the Tanigawa Castle, so it’s a shame it seems so small here.”

As soon as Mitotsudaira said that, they heard a voice on the western deck.

A theatre ship from Aki was rising there.

It was shaped a little different from the Tanigawa Castle and its armor was made from cross-shaped panels. It was the Noh Stage, given to Itsukushima by Kure Manufacturing Divine Ship Industries via K.P.A. Italia.

The Far Eastern students of the Aki reservation were performing similar work on that other ship.

Some shouted and waved their hands to the others while some continued their work.

…''Aki’s reservation is full of life.

“We need to do our best too. …We have to support our upperclassmen.”

Asama operated her sign frame to have the stage floor open up.

“We’ve finished the wiring for the preliminary activation, so let’s get to work.”

Asama opened a few sign frames, and in one of them…

“Help me out, Hanami.”

“Coming out.”

Her Mouse, Hanami, clapped her hands and tumbled out from the sign frame.

At the same time, the floor in front of Asama moved.

The central panels of the stage floor automatically opened and revealed what lay below.

The third year Gagaku Festival workers on the stage let out impressed voices, but Asama did not hesitate even with those upperclassmen focused on her. As a shrine maiden who performed Shinto rituals in front of others, she was used to gathering attention.

At the moment, she was only focused on those playing their instruments or discussing their auditory spells.

Part of her felt jealous, but at the same time…

…''Oh, that spell would sound even nicer with another lighter one added in!

She just about interrupted them as an expert, so she tried to calm herself.

“Phew.”

As she regulated her breathing, the opening floor came to a stop.

She and the other two girls were currently…

…''In front of the ether tuner for the bow stage.

Several dozen pieces of the stage floor were stored away over a wide area. This exposed a dark blue block fifteen meters wide and thirty meters tall.

The ether tuner was known as the Divine Sound Home. That name was engraved into the center of the wedge like structure that was common in products of the IZUMO Conglomerate. They were about to use the device to tune the ley lines in the surrounding space.

With the floor moved, Asama and Mitotsudaira stepped onto the tuner which was a step down from the surrounding stage.

The third years working on the stage gave them interested glances from a distance but never moved in close.

When she saw them, Kimi finally moved from the floor. She laughed, quietly wiggled her black shrine maiden outfit that was tangled in the hemp rope cable, and then sat up.

“Looks like they know this is a Shinto ritual. …Asama, that means this stage is yours.”

Asama’s heart skipped a beat at that.

Kimi was the sister of ''him'', the one who had asked if she would join a band, so it was possible she had heard about it from him. But…

…''Calm down, me.

This girl always acted like she was on stage, so she simply talked about other people like they were the same.

So Asama sighed in her heart and took a scolding tone.

“Listen, Kimi. This stage is for the Gagaku groups. I’m only tuning the surrounding ley lines and controlling the flow of ether. This is the shrine’s work,” she said. “Also, this ship belongs to the Student Council. Think of it as a place for students.”

“You take everything too seriously. You’re going to miss out.”

“O-on what?”

''Does she know?'' she wondered, but Kimi only narrowed her eyes and laughed.

Then she stood up.

“You really are fun to tease.”

Kimi gave a single twist of her body and the hemp rope cable easily fell away. She then looked down at Asama from a step above.

“Now, when is it my turn, Asama? If I still have some time, can I show Aki to Uzy?”

“Oh, Kimi, you get set up in the center. Mito, a little help. …If we’re going to give Uzy a social studies lesson, we can get our work done here first and enjoy a reward as we do.”

“Judge.”

Mitotsudaira nodded and ran along with her heels sounding loudly on the top of the tuner.

“Um, will the one here work?”

When Mitotsudaira stopped and asked her question, Asama nodded and used a sign frame to open it up.

“Yes. Raise the edge of the tuner and then do the four counters in a diagonal line starting from there. …Oh, and by ‘there’, I mean the left…which would be your right.”

“Eh? Eh?”

After Asama apologized to the confused girl, a few large forms approached. Three light gods of war operated by students were walking over.

A staticky divine mail from the engine division appeared next to her face. It was from Naomasa.

“Need some help from the gods of war there? They’re technically supposed to be working on something else, but with your permission, I can get the higher ups to agree.”

“Thanks, but we should be fine with Mito here. That way we can use the purification equipment properly too. Thanks for the offer though, Masa.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re helping out the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers too. The Spring School Festival’s Gagaku Festival is the first big job for the student council, so I just hope we’re doing our part to help.”

It was only text, but Asama could almost hear the smile in Naomasa’s voice. The light gods of war raised a hand in greeting and then returned to their original work.

…''This job is up to me. Or rather, I had them leave it to me.

''I need to do it right,'' she thought while taking a breath and clapping her hands.

Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Kimi (who had stepped down onto the tuners) exchanged powerful looks and Asama spoke.

“The Asama Shrine’s shrine maidens – Second Years Asama Tomo, Aoi Kimi, and Nate Mitotsudaira – will now tune the ley lines in this place of divine sound.”

Mitotsudaira put on the glove hanging from her right waist hard point part.

The glove had a charm woven into it, so it lowered one’s interference with ether. The formatted meter on the back of the hand indicated the amount used. That meter was currently a blank box, but…

…''This isn’t really made for someone like me.

She was a half-werewolf. Since werewolves were close to being spirits, an artifact that lowered ether interference clashed with her very being. Simply placing the glove on her right hand and tightening it caused the square meter to slowly fill with black from left to right. So…

“Tomo, make this quick.”

Asama tossed a sign frame downward with a fingertip. As soon as it sank into the top of the tuner, she clapped once.

“Ah.”

Bluish-white veins of light filled the top surface and mold lines of the tuner. The light pulsed and moved from Asama to Mitotsudaira.

“Kyah!”

She quickly spread her legs because the upper bulkhead of the tuner’s edge had opened where she was standing.

A square space fifty centimeters across opened to reveal a torii-shaped handle and the top of a pillar continuing down.

The pillar was a ley line extraction container. In other words, it was the vessel to hold a god.

A torii-style sign frame appeared on top of the torii-shaped handle. An arrow drew a circle to tell her which way to turn it, so she leaned forward with her legs still spread.

“Now, then.”

When she grabbed the handle, light spilled from between it and the glove. Ether was leaking out.

Mitotsudaira knew this tuner’s role was to access a god.

…''The god is called into the container by the music and festival, which tunes the surrounding area.

In the Far East and the rest of the world, music had long been considered divine. Even plays were offered up to gods or spirits and they were said to reside within them. Those traditions had left Europe and the Middle East after the Tsirhc and Mlasi religions took over and nature worship faded away, and such things had become more about the authority of statesmen even in Asia, but…

“The Far East still sees a connection to the divine in these things.”

When holding a festival, one prayed to a god for success, and at the end one would hold a “conclusion” to let the god know it was over. Gagaku and plays were divine rituals meant to summon festival-loving gods. When that was successful, the area’s impurities would be purified and erased.

The ether tuner created a location for a god to be summoned, stabilized the god’s existence, and got the tuning of the area underway. Just like a portable shrine, the device controlled the ley lines to gather the location’s impurities and then had the god erase them.

It was both a pure location for summoning a god as well as a dangerous location that gathered impurities. The initial tuning work could not be done by normal students, so…

“Mito! It’s stabilized! Raise the container with the ley line extraction inside!”

“Judge!”

On Asama’s instructions, Mitotsudaira turned the container’s handle.

''This is heavy,'' thought the half-werewolf as she turned it. Normally, a god of war would use specialized equipment to turn it and pull up the container, so it was not meant for an individual.

…''But I can do it!

It was only maybe once a month that she came across some work that required gathering all of her strength.

'''<Instructions: Spin, spin, spin~>

''What is this?'' she wondered, but when she remembered it was an IZUMO product, she ignored it.

She wrapped just her right hand’s fingers around the handle and turned it three times. On the final turn, she felt something like a screw coming out. At the very end, she felt something strongly fit into place.

And…

'''<Instructions: Push it in with a mother’s gentle touch.>

Mitotsudaira thought with a smile and finally slowly pushed it in.

'''<Instructions: Wrong.>

“…”

She gave it some more thought. “Umm,” she said while changing her previous approach and pushing it in with a stroking touch.

'''<Instructions: Needs more love.>

“Be more specific!!”

“Mito! Mito! If you don’t hurry up, your glove will expire!!”

She glanced at the formatted meter on the back of her hand and found it was past halfway.

''I need to hurry,'' she thought, but then she came to a stop. She tried to push it in quite gently, so she was not sure what to do now.

…''Don’t tell me it requires the much more forceful gentleness of my mother.

She breathed in and emulated her mother when the woman would scold her with a smile.

“…Hnn!!”

A great roar passed through to the bottom of the ship and the ground below her feet shook. Asama cried out and nearly fell, but Kimi caught her.

“W-wait, Mito! And Kimi, why are you groping me!?”

“Eh!? What are you talking about, Asama! How can I not grope you!? That’s the standard form for the back-attack according to the version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War written after he levelled up to being known as Dirty Old Man Sun Tzu! It says to stick your hands through under her arms and say ‘Sorry, our legs seem to have gotten tangled up’!”

“Mito, I’m going to ignore this crazy person, so just tell me why you made a full power strike.”

“Eh? But that was only about 70%?”

The third years looked shocked, but Asama and Kimi looked more understanding. That may have been a sign of what made them worthwhile friends.

At any rate, she looked back to the container’s sign frame.

'''<Instructions: …I’ll accept that just this once.>

The container rose. It was a metal cylinder, but the middle became a square cage with a thick bundle of charms inside.

The charms were glowing. The density of the charms showed just how much ether was gathered, but they only glowed dully since the ether was stable. Mitotsudaira needed to repeat the process in the four corners, and then…

“Kimi will dance and Tomo will play music to equally tune all of the containers.”

“Yes, if the god is going to be summoned during the actual festival, we need to bring out any stagnated areas now, so be careful.”

Asama was speaking not just to Mitotsudaira and Kimi but to the surrounding third years as well.

Stagnated ether in the ley lines could become mysterious phenomena. And instead of simple ones like strange noises and lights, they tended to appear as monsters.

Most of the third years started paying more attention to them and some placed charms or short swords on their waists. Mitotsudaira prepared a spell shield charm and walked over to the next container she needed to raise.

Asama looked her way and raised the reinforced biwa she used as an instrument.

“Um, you have to play too, Mito.”

“What!? …N-no one told me that!”

“Toori-kun said you played the viola and cello at the Knight Union’s year-end festival, so I brought something like that for you. Yes.”

“Wh-why does he have to do things like that when he never does what really matters?”

“What really matters?”

The other two girls tilted their heads, but Mitotsudaira did not feel like answering.

…''I’m talking about treating me like his knight.

She had made a promise with him in middle school. It had happened during a time in her life she was embarrassed to think about and it had created who she was now.

But recently…

…''I wonder if he even still remembers that promise.

She also felt like she had messed up a lot herself.

Making herself his knight would be a one-sided thing if he had forgotten their promise and that made her afraid to find out if he really had forgotten, so she had been unable to ask him.

“But given the times, I get the feeling things might just continue on like this without anything changing.”

She spoke that comment below her breath and turned toward Asama and Kimi.

She thought about “what really matters” again and opened her mouth.

She shifted her thoughts from herself and to the idea in general.

“I suppose what really matters in this age is investigating the Apocalypse and finding a way to stop it.”

“Heh heh. And you’re placing that burden on my Toori’s shoulders? But he’s gotten even more lax since he started visiting our mom’s café again.”

“It’s probably going to be a while before we can get bread for breakfast at the Main Blue Thunder again.”

Mitotsudaira looked at the torii-shaped handle for the container that opened the tuner’s four corners. She then looked to the biwa viola case Asama was holding up.

“Anyway, let’s do what we can in preparation to summon a god. Then we can get some tea as a treat while we look at Aki.”

“Can you hear that noise? Hm?”

Someone spoke in the center of Rome, the city at the center of Aki. The stone steps in front of the academy/cathedral gave a nice view of the sky and someone sat on those steps with an elderly demon standing behind him.

“Galileo, what does it sound like to you?”

“Innocentius, you really are the kind of boy – no, former boy – who likes to ask things you already know the answer to.”

“I try not to trust myself too much. I did that in the past and it did not end well…for K.P.A. Italia.”

“So you have plenty of confidence and you’re simply getting further confirmation from others, former boy?”

Galileo crossed his arms as he continued.

“The Far East’s Gagaku reminds me of the Music of the Spheres. It lacks a few of the sounds, but the gentle cycle and few changes are quite similar.”

“Galileo, you really are the kind of teacher – no, former teacher – who likes to make things more complicated than they need to be. How about you find a simpler way of saying that? Hm?”

“I’m pretty sure you understood well enough. The Music of the Spheres was sought in the Greek era and is still brought up by some odd people today, but the Far East has already grasped it in a more primitive way.”

“You mean how they tune the ley lines with music and sometimes even summon gods? Hm?”

“Testament.”

Innocentius looked away from Galileo.

“That’s the problem with heathens. They get close to heaven, but they try to use it as something functional.”

“Testament,” said Galileo again before forming long breaths of laughter. “The religions of uncivilized peoples often contain the divine in their music, dance, and plays. You find it in the Dark Continent and New World as well. …In other words, the less cultural exchange they have and the less developed they are, the more naturally people grow close to gods and spirits. And their music, dance, and plays end up taking on that theme.”

“Not everyone has the ‘abnormal’ ability to create music, dance, and plays, so they view it as a gift from heaven. And so they continue creating gods and spirits with their own power. But…”

Innocentius looked up into the sky.

He listened to the sound coming from the two theatre ships in the eastern sky.

“That’s incompatible with us, isn’t it? Hm?”

“Testament. The Tsirhc religion stopped worshiping gods of nature or worshipping powerful people as gods. Instead, we came to believe in the god that resides in each and every one of us. In that way we are a religion of ‘people’. With our god and our hymns, we follow our commandments, believe those commandments are holy, and thus make ourselves holy as ‘people’. That is incompatible with the Far East’s festivals that summon a god to purify their impurities like some kind of indulgence for their sins.”

“They worship different gods. That is why they are heathens. And that is fine for them.”

“You accept it?”

“I will not accept heretics, but I will accept heathens.”

“Then what are you saying is so incompatible, former boy?”

“Testament,” replied Innocentius. “Do our strong points fit together with theirs?”

He crossed his legs, pulled a water bottle from inside his summer cape, uncorked it, and poured some water in the corner of his mouth.

“We are those who became ‘people’ by abandoning our worship of the ancient gods. By believing that god is within us, we can say that god is always watching over us, so we can go anywhere and we can be alone. We are those who hold god inside. Our commandments and hymns are meant to correct ourselves so that we can remain with god. Isn’t that right? Hm?”

He then added a “but”.

“They say their gods reside in all parts of the environment and they have no real commandments, so they cannot change themselves. They simply curry their gods’ favor with song and dance in order to give themselves more peace. They never became ‘people’. They remain uncivilized. But…”

“But?”

“Did you know this? Under the Tsirhc religion, it took over a thousand years to reach the Renaissance that allowed us to regain the ‘self’ inside us that goes beyond being mere servants of god.”

“Then,” said Galileo. “Have the Far East’s people retained their ‘self’ for a thousand years longer than us?”

“After going through the Renaissance, we are ‘people’ and we also have our ‘self’. That puts us above them.”

“Former boy, I’m having trouble telling which side you’re supporting here.”

“Catholicism is equal to all, Galileo. But only when under Catholicism’s protection. If those uncivilized heathens wish to hold a festival, they are free to do so once they have our permission. Isn’t that right? Hm?”

Innocentius continued from there.

“Honestly, I doubt those uncivilized heathens have thought about or worried about any of this. To be ‘people’ is to be adults. Don’t you think? Hm?”

“Far Eastern students have to retire after age eighteen, so I am not sure that is entirely their fault, former boy.”

“Then in name and in fact, we are the adults lending our sky to the children.”

Innocentius spat a breath toward the ground without forming a smile.

“The Far East has their childish ‘self’ and has spent over a thousand years without becoming ‘people’. But I will admit that their music for tuning ley lines and their techniques for summoning gods are valuable cultural assets.”

“Why not just be honest and say you like the sound of their music?”

“Hey, hey. I didn’t say that.”

“Then what is it?” asked Galileo.

The pope formed a bitter smile.

“Surely a demon like you can see the movement in the surrounding ether. What do you have to say about the stagnation approaching the theatre ships? Hm?”

Galileo looked up to the sky.

The music had stopped and all hint of motion had vanished from the theatre ships.

“Testament. …Former boy, should we send out help?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Catholicism is equal to all and we will allow heathen festivals. Far Eastern festivals are apparently meant to purify their impurities by summoning a god, but that means their festival will gather impurities. Thus, this is the Far East’s responsibility. Helping them would create an inequality, so we cannot do that. If what happens now remains a part of their festival, then everything will remain equal.”

Innocentius took a sip of water.

“Tell the PR committee to ignore any requests for help from the Far East or Aki until such time as we will be damaged. It will be here in less than three minutes.”

“What do you think it will be?”

“Testament. A type of Apocalyptic mysterious phenomenon. When ether impurities are purified, stagnation will be sucked in to take its place. And often in a bestial form.”

Now, then.

“Here it comes. Aki is made up of noncombatants to prevent a rebellion, so what will Musashi do?”

Asama stood in the center of the tuner with Kimi and Mitotsudaira.

An ether stagnation gathered in the ship and the surrounding air. It formed in front of her eyes. She and Mitotsudaira used their music to tune that ether and remove the stagnation while Kimi’s dance gathered and solidified it.

The third years watched warily on in the distance, but Asama did not turn toward them. Neither did Kimi and Mitotsudaira or even Hanami and Uzy who floated above their heads.

They were focused on the stagnation that had appeared at their feet.

“What is this?”

It was a wolf, but it was only about fifteen centimeters tall. It had nearly super-deformed proportions and it was looking up at them in curiosity while wagging its tail. It almost looked like a stuffed animal at that size, but it was definitely a monster.

“It has three heads. What do you call that? There’s that three-headed wolf in Greek mythology called…oh, right! I know! Youkai Dreimara!!”

“Stop mixing Far Eastern, M.H.R.R., and Indian terms, Kimi. And if it was Mara-sama, it wouldn’t be heads. It would have been pe-…”

After reaching that point in her explanation, Asama realized what she was saying.

“No, wait! Never mind! And that’s Buddhism, isn’t it!?”

“…”

…''Ahh, this silence is painful!!

Mitotsudaira was the first to recover. She brought a hand to her mouth and cleared her throat.

“Is it because we passed through Kojima, which corresponds to Greece? This is clearly the Cerberus from Greek mythology, isn’t it?”

“Wait, Mito! If you call its name-…”

Before Asama could finish, the Cerberus approached Mitotsudaira and began rubbing its heads against her leg. All three heads tried to do it at once, so it fell over.

“Mitotsudaira’s in charge of it!!” exclaimed Kimi. “It’s yours now!!”

“Wh-why are you moving away from me!? You too, Tomo!?”

“Well, not even a shrine maiden wants to kill something that cute just because it’s a stagnation.”

“I don’t want to either! What am I supposed to do!?”

They needed to purify it here, but…

“There must not have been much of a stagnation around here and the ether in and around the ship must have been doing well. From an ether standpoint, the low-power stagnation couldn’t take form of its own, so it used a ‘mold’ from the surrounding environment and also used the purified ether to manifest here. According to Hanami’s readings, the amount of tuned ether dropped when it appeared.”

“You mean our ceremony was so powerful that a stagnation too weak to make an appearance worked up the willpower to gather the clean ether and make its appearance?”

“It would seem that way. In terms of ghosts, this isn’t one bound to a location by a grudge. It’s more like a weak wandering ghost or poltergeist borrowing the spiritual power of the land to appear as a servant of the local god. But it is still a stagnation, so it is a target for purification. It will eventually lose its physical form, but that will return the stagnation to the ship and surrounding space.”

“When will it lose its physical form?”

Mitotsudaira must have been worried about her footing because she kept glancing down. Asama knew a lie would not help, so she told the truth.

“A bit after this ship or the Musashi leaves this airspace. It will be unable to maintain that form when we leave the divine protections and culture that gave it the Cerberus form. And even if we stay, the Gagaku Festival is being held on the evening of the full moon. Once the moonlight sends its ether reaction to the peak, it should naturally return to being ether.”

“Eh?”

Asama smiled bitterly at the look on Mitotsudaira’s face.

“The Musashi can’t move until the Gagaku Festival ends a week from now. The Asama Shrine will purify it then, so don’t worry.”

“That’s right, Mitotsudaira. They’ll use a Shinto grater to slice that adorable little thing to pieces and offer it up to their god, butt-first! Then they’ll throw it in a blender to truly puree-fy it!”

“W-wait! Don’t do that to it!”

Mitotsudaira picked up the Cerberus and took a step back.

…''Yes.

Asama exchanged a glance with Kimi and spoke to Mitotsudaira.

“Mito, you’re in charge of it, okay?”

Kimi heard Mitotsudaira shout “Ehhh!?” while not letting go of the Cerberus.

…''Getting too attached to it would be dangerous in its own way.

''But,'' thought Kimi. ''Telling her not to get at all attached wouldn’t stop her.

So…

“If it was me, I would adore it as much as possible to give it some nice memories.”

“B-but it’s a stagnation, right!? Is that really okay?”

“Um, then Mito? Why aren’t you letting go of it?”

“W-well…”

As Mitotsudaira’s gaze wandered, Kimi put on a fake pale face and pointed a trembling hand toward the three-headed creature.

“Don’t tell me…you see it as meat…”

The Cerberus looked up at the silver wolf who gasped.

“N-no! I would never do that!”

She shook her head.

“Honestly, I am only holding on to it because I can handle anything that might happen!”

“Heh heh. Then it sounds like you really are perfect for the job.”

Mitotsudaira groaned and leaned back, but it seemed she could not avoid being its foster parent.

Asama took a step forward and crouched down to the Cerberus’s eye level as Mitotsudaira held it.

“Then please look after it, Mito. It is definitely a stagnation, but it’s also a Greek spirit partially made out of the tuned ether from this ship and its surroundings. As I said before, it has a lot of the traits of a local god. Carelessly purifying it could slaughter a bunch of another nation’s spirits, so I think it would be best to use the natural destruction of the full moon to remove the stagnation and offer it up to its god.”

“Remove the stagnation? Offer it up to its god? …What do you mean?”

“Only its stagnation will be removed and the ether will be returned, so only the Cerberus spirit portion will remain. Then we can take it to its god.”

''Of course,'' thought Kimi. ''If that happens, it will lose the ether it needs to maintain its body.

But…

“It will travel to the ‘realm’ of its god as a Cerberus spirit. Instead of being killed or destroyed, it will become a resident of the spiritual realm, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“Really?”

“Heh heh. So what will you do?” asked Kimi while observing Mitotsudaira’s reaction. “Are you going to abandon it because you know you have to say goodbye? Adele has some guts, so she would probably take it in if we explained the situation. As would my Toori.”

“N-no, I will take care of it. This is part of my job here helping the Asama Shrine.”

“Will you? …Then please do, Mito. Ether stagnations don’t grow stagnated because they want to. Just remember that the stagnation and their personality are two different things. And the more love you show it, the higher its rank when it’s purified and sent to the divine realm.”

Mitotsudaira nodded and lowered the Cerberus to the floor.

“Heh heh.” Kimi narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on Mitotsudaira’s head. “So now the pet has a pet of her own. …Stay, stay.”

“I-I am not a dog.”

Mitotsudaira brushed the girl’s hand away and Kimi realized Asama had naturally started smiling at this usual series of events.

…''She really has trouble saying it out loud.

At the same time, the surrounding third years let down their guard. They all exchanged a glance and looked to the Cerberus at Mitotsudaira’s feet.

“Does this mean the stagnation inside us all was this adorable?”

“Wait, it became a Cerberus because we passed through Greece. So if we’d passed through India, would it be Mara-sama?”

“Three heads in that sense? That’s certainly a new kind of creature! That would’ve been awful!!”

''If Naruze heard that, she’d have an illustration ready in a flash,'' thought Kimi.

But…

…''What is it?

Hanami and Uzy were facing west, as was the Cerberus at Mitotsudaira’s feet.

“…!”

All three let out quiet cries at once.

Something was there in the west.

Asama, Kimi, and Mitotsudaira followed their Mice’s attention.

They looked west.

“Heh heh heh. There’s something like a god of war on top of the Noh Stage.”

“No! That’s a stagnation!”

Asama shouted back on reflex and the wind began to move.

“…!”

A gust of wind swirled around the Noh Stage that had approached from Aki. That wind seemed to surround something that had appeared on the Noh Stage. It looked like an armored warrior made of ether with a heated coloration.

Asama knew what it was. In Shinto, it was a mid-class existence among ether stagnations.

“It’s the remains of a god that never achieved its physical form in a land that combines the molds of several gods! Based on its weaponry form, this would be a Class 2 Non-God Sword!”

“ ‘Musashi’-san, it looks like trouble has shown up again.”

A voice described the situation inside a vast, white, cocoon-like space.

A giant city ship made up of two central ships and three port and starboard ships was contained in that stealth space. Pipe smoke gently rose from the front end as an alarm blared.

The front central ship bore the overall ship name “Musashi” and the individual ship name “Musashino”. A man past middle age stood on the deck at the bow with his elbows resting on the railing.

He lazily wore his short-sleeved summer clothing and he held up a metal kiseru that could be broken down into parts for storage.

“Sakai-sama, this may be occurring outside the Musashi and it may be Aki’s problem, but shouldn’t you sound at least a little bit nervous? Over.”

“Well, you see,” said Sakai as he turned toward the voice behind him.

A maid automaton stood there. He took a teacup from the tray she held and then he frowned.

“Oh, this is hot, ‘Musashi’-san. You seem to like hot things lately.”

“I cannot serve only cold things to an adult who never goes outside and stays in the cooled areas even though it is July. Over.”

“Thanks for the concern, but to answer your question…do I really not look nervous?”

“I am suggesting you make an appearance outside. I do not know why, but every year when we arrive at Aki, you always avoid areas that let you be seen from outside. Over.”

“Well, I just have so many great memories of Aki…”

“I cannot easily search my memories before the great remodeling as they are not set to my standard memory region, so I will simply ask: Is it about a woman? Or money? Over.”

“ ‘Musashi’-san, do you promise not to get mad if I tell the truth?”

“I am an automaton and thus cannot get mad. Now, answer me. Over.”

“The thing is, you sound really mad right now. …Well, whatever.”

Sakai frowned with the kiseru in his left hand and the teacup in his right hand.

“A long time ago, I had a bit of a fight with an idiot in Aki.”

“Hearing any more would likely involve me in some kind of political trouble, so I will ask again when I deem it necessary. But…”

“What?”

“Did you win or lose? Over.”

“I won.”

“Is that so? I will ask for details at some point. Over.”

“Musashi” bowed and Sakai took a sip from the teacup.

“Oh? I thought this would be ginger flavor, but it’s caramel. It’s pretty sweet.”

“Statistically, I have determined it is popular with the girls. Now, about the current situation which is far from sweet…”

“Judge,” Sakai nodded and held the teacup out toward “Musashi”.

Suddenly, the kiseru in his left hand came apart. An invisible hand grabbed it, gathered the three parts, and even compressed the ashes.

“ ‘Musashi’-san, I only just started smoking those leaves.”

He put the kiseru away in the case hanging from his neck and “Musashi” bowed.

“Smoking is forbidden on the decks while in the stealth space. Please visit the ship’s smoking purification shrine. Over.”

“You sure are strict. …Okay, I’ll tell you what you wanted to know.”

He opened a few sign frames.

“Aki is Far Eastern territory, but it is also a reservation under K.P.A. Italia’s provisional rule. So any trouble in Aki is generally under K.P.A. Italia’s control.”

“You make it sound like a ‘but’ is coming. Over.”

“Judge. There are times when those laws are too strict to work well.”

“Judge.” “Musashi” nodded. “When the ruling nation is transporting warriors or equipment for the history recreation, they might not be able to arrive very quickly when the reservation is in danger. There are also cases when the ruling nation has insufficient strength. At those times, any force able to arrive immediately is permitted to intervene as long as their only goal and only result is the resolution of the incident and as long as they leave behind no records of their presence. Over.”

“Judge. The state of the Testament and the process for the history recreation were determined during the Age of Dawn, well before the Harmonic Unification War. This right to emergency intervention was spelled out in the Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning agreement. That specific clause is often referenced in the stores of the Testament Cross-Borders Unit which some doubt even exists.”

“And thanks to that, many black disks telling such stories have piled up in your closet. …But are you saying K.P.A. Italia is not going to act here? Over.”

“Oh, I’m sure they will, but it won’t be pretty when they do.”

“? Over.”

As “Musashi” tilted her head, Sakai took a sip from the teacup.

“I won’t say what caused it, but despite K.P.A. Italia’s temporary prosperity, they have been tossed about by the economic currents ever since the Reformation and the Age of Exploration. …They have Testamenta Arma and a Logismoi Óplo, but their economic foundation has grown relatively weak and the neighboring M.H.R.R. Catholics allying with P.A. Oda has to be an absolute nightmare for them. …Do you know what they’re going to do now?”

“Musashi” narrowed her eyes. After a while, she looked to the sky beyond Sakai. Her gaze turned towards the Tanigawa Castle and Noh Stage that had to exist beyond the stealth barrier.

“If they intervene and determine they cannot settle the problem, will they destroy everything? Will they use the Far East as an example to show the other nations how powerful they are? Over.”

“Judge. If the Far East can settle the problem on its own, K.P.A. Italia can show that they did not consider this to be a problem worth acting on. And if the Far East fails, they can make a greater intervention than necessary to demonstrate their strength to the other nations. …It gives them an excuse for their show of force, so it would be politically safer. And it costs much less than an actual war. K.P.A. Italia would be willing to make a decision like that.”

“You seem to trust them quite a bit. Over.”

“I suppose I do.” He did not deny it, but he did look to one of his sign frames. “Our Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers got moving pretty quick. They’re drawing out the territorial lines with K.P.A. Italia and Aki. I just have to give them my approval as Principal…and done.”

“But Sakai-sama, what about the theatre ships themselves? Surely we cannot leave them undefended until the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers arrive.”

“Normal citizens and students are allowed to act in self-defense or to save someone. They don’t have to wait until someone’s hurt either. The only question is whether anyone capable of that is there.”

“Judge,” said “Musashi” with a nod.

She opened a sign frame and displayed a list of those who had left aboard the Tanigawa Castle.

“A few students from Oriotorai-sama’s Class 2-Plum are there. Over.”

“What do you think about Makiko-kun’s training scenes?”

“Judge. If I had to express it somehow, I would say they still lack the proper ‘excitement’. I have determined they lack the proper level of physical destruction and the normal citizens’ annoyance level and spectator level are only average. Over.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to compare to the current Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers?”

“Well…”

“Musashi” briefly closed her eyes to perform the high-speed thought of an automaton.

“Mankind can grow and evolve. If they make use of those abilities, they can. Over.”

“Judge. Then I hope they have plenty of reasons to do so. Socializing, as well as unexpected meetings, partings, and confrontations, can all lead to growth. So…”

Now, then.

“What will these children do? These children from the generation that will face the Apocalypse.”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Opening|Opening]]
| [[Horizon:Kimitoasamade 1A Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 09

2015-11-22T00:40:07Z

86.52.29.66: Two errors I found fixed.

==Chapter 9: Confused Girl on the Rooftop==
[[Image:Horizon4A_0217.jpg|thumb]]
''What causes

''Sudden and unforeseen differences?

'''Point Allocation (You and Them)

Masazumi silently repeated the first thing Date Narumi had said.

…''The Date clan wishes to cut all ties with Matsudaira. Is that okay?

That meant they would be ending any kind of relationship, but there was more. That was only the beginning and the explanation followed.

“In other words…Matsudaira would be harmful to Date, so we would like to cut all ties.”

The idea of cutting off any kind of connection between the two clans brought a chill to Masazumi’s heart.

''This isn’t good,'' she thought.

She had never expected this to immediately begin with an absolute severing of ties, but now that she thought about it, sending only their Vice Chancellor may have hinted at that.

What was she supposed to do?

'''Marube-ya:''' “Ah! Masazumi! You’re an amateur, so don’t try prostrating! It’s dangerous!”

''Those crazy people really do think differently,'' she thought as something else happened.

“I suppose that concludes our talk,” said Narumi as she gently spread her arms. “Unturning Centipede!”

After a sharp shout, a giant form arrived behind her. It was over three meters tall and it opened like a flower.

…''Is that her personal mobile shell!?

The blossoming mobile shell took the same spread-armed stance as her, so she only needed to take a step back and wait for it to close.

'''Bell:''' “Eh? Wh-what’s happening?”

'''10ZO:''' “Negotiations have broken down! They set up the meeting and now they’ve ended it. And that means they’ve cut their ties with the Matsudaira clan!”

It was a simple but effective method. Because this was unofficial, they could dodge the issue if another nation asked them what had actually happened.

'''Righteousness:''' “And this means Musashi will have to negotiate toward restoring their relationship with the Date clan!”

…''That’s right!

''They handled this well,'' thought Masazumi as she held a hand against the wind caused by the mobile shell’s summoning.

If Narumi escaped here, anytime they faced the Date clan, they would be forced to negotiate toward that restoration first and foremost. Even if it was the other side that had cut off all ties, the fact remained that they were no longer on amicable terms. So…

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Just to check, do you want me to stop her with Jizuri Suzaku?”

'''Vice President:''' “No, you can’t do that. A clash like that would create an actual conflict to prove all ties had been cut.”

Just as Asama said “in that case” in her own divine transmission, Narumi took her step back into Unturning Centipede. Her false legs produced a sound of mechanical movement and her long black hair swayed freely.

She was leaving.

While taking the action, she gave Masazumi a smile with the ends of her eyebrows somewhat lowered.

She was definitely smiling and then she opened her mouth.

“Farewell, Musashi. …You’re going to have to deal with Oushuu using Oushuu’s rules.”

With those words, Unturning Centipede began to envelop her, but…

“Wait!!”

A voice that was nearly a roar burst from the lift behind the Musashi group.

Masazumi recognized who it was without having to turn around, so she called his name.

“2nd Special Duty Officer Kiyonari Urquiaga! You handle this!”

Narumi hesitated.

A half-dragon appeared thirty meters ahead of her.

She judged him to be two meters and fifty-three centimeters tall as he flew from the gap between the lift and floor. As a rare aerial type of half-dragon, he was capable of high-speed flight and aerial combat if necessary. Even in a ground battle, a high-speed dash and collision from his great body would undoubtedly be dangerous.

He had come to a quick landing after flying out, but he could surely take flight again at any time. And when looking at their comparative initial speeds…

…''He would be faster.

Unturning Centipede was a head taller, so he would not stand a chance against her in a direct confrontation, but…

…''2nd Special Duty Officer!

''This is dangerous,'' she thought.

After all, the 2nd Special Duty Officer of the Chancellor’s Officers was generally in charge of administering justice. That half-dragon would be able to determine whether her announcement of cut ties was in line with international law.

What would happen if they clashed and she crushed him?

“…”

''Should I go?'' she hesitantly wondered.

''I should,'' she decided. ''But it definitely could cause some later trouble.

Of course, she had techniques of dealing with that. She had techniques that would not injure her opponent or herself.

…''But…

As she thought, she placed one false leg inside the leg portion of the mobile shell. If she pressed down her heel, she would instruct the shell to close.

She decided to do so and rely entirely on Unturning Centipede.

Unturning Centipede’s sealing system could read her will, so if it fully closed, it meant she truly wished to leave and her opponent had said nothing that made her wish to stay. And if it did not, it meant she wanted to stay.

''That’s what I’ll do,'' she decided as she left her decision and her body in the hands of the machine.

Unturning Centipede’s legs, arms, and body were all closing. She thought of it like a book closing as the half-dragon raised his voice in the narrowing world before her.

“I have one question.”

''What could that be?'' she thought.

''If a simple question could stop me, I wouldn’t be the Vice Chancellor,'' she also thought.

''If anything, shouldn’t he attack me to try to force the Date clan to remain at the negotiating table? Or is he going to ask me whether I follow the proper safety procedures when operating my mobile shell?

But…

…''Yes.

Even as she thought she should leave, she may have also wished to stay.

There was a reason. The Date clan was currently faced with a complicated issue that required strength. But because of that…

“It is no use.”

She spoke up in order to cut away the slight feeling floating up in her heart.

She then imagined flight. Once Unturning Centipede fully closed, the flight system would activate and it would be over.

However…

“I have one question!” he said again.

…''What?

What was he going to ask her? Just as she reached the divide between a desire to leave and a desire to stay, her mind focused on the half-dragon.

“Do you have a little brother or a little sister!?”

Masazumi saw Narumi’s mobile shell fall over as if its knees had given out.

…''Oh, that was a nice reaction. Was that so incomprehensible that even the mobile shell fell over?

As Masazumi calmly wondered that, several sign frames appeared around the mobile shell as it began to reboot. In order to make some adjustments, the limbs and body of the shell bloomed once more, so Narumi sat up inside it with her eyebrows slightly raised.

She quickly looked to the left and right before staring at Urquiaga who now stood before her.

“Eh? Wait! What was that!?”

'''Vice President:''' “Hey, Urquiaga, try not to say anything too weird.”

'''Uqui:''' “Heh. Not to worry, Masazumi. That was a mere diversion. I will ask my real question now.”

Urquiaga spread his arms wide and spoke to Narumi.

“I am asking if you are someone’s elder sister.”

“That’s the same thing!!” shouted Masazumi.

“Ha ha ha. How are those the same? They are not at all the same, Masazumi!”

“You can’t just vehemently deny it…”

“Are you listening?”

“Unfortunately.”

She was glaring at him, but he did not see it since he had his back turned. He gathered strength in his shoulders and took a step toward Narumi.

“Listen. …Before I asked her whether she had a little brother or a little sister. But…then she could be an elder brother. And we can’t have that, can we? Hm?”

Since Masazumi was being forced to listen to this, Mitotsudaira gave her a look that was likely of pity.

…''Um, you’re being forced to listen to this too, aren’t you?

But the half-dragon took another step forward as he continued his personal argument.

“Listen,” he began again. “It would have been quite the faux pas if I assumed she was an elder sister when she was really an elder brother. To ensure that did not happen, I decided to clarify my question and ask again! Right, Mitotsudaira?”

“Um, I was only pitying Masazumi, so could you not drag me into this?”

Masazumi could not agree more, but Urquiaga had not forgotten who he was really speaking to. He once more asked his question to Narumi who had stopped moving.

“Now, answer me. …Are you someone’s elder sister?”

He received his question immediately.”

“Hm?” she began. “No, I don’t have a younger sister or a younger brother.”

Narumi mentally held her head in her hands.

…''Is this what people talk about in diplomatic discussions!?

This was not at all what she had imagined. She had assumed it would be a more mature conversation that compared the statuses and positions of their nations while laying the groundwork for their respective goals.

But she could not leave at the moment because Unturning Centipede had to reboot after that incomprehensible nonsense about being an elder sister was added into her decision to leave or not.

''What am I supposed to do?'' she wondered.

She did not know what having a younger sibling had to do with diplomacy, but she doubted it was anything important. It was also causing trouble for Unmoving Centipede. So…

“I have no intention of taking part in any nonsensical conversations.”

If it was diplomatically unimportant, then that was true. But just in case he did have some purpose behind it, she decided to listen.

“Unfortunately, I am an only child.”

“Judge. I see.”

Masazumi saw Urquiaga drop his spread arms, lower his shoulders, hang his head, and release sighs that glowed with white ether light from all of his exhaust ports. He then turned his back on Narumi, faced Masazumi, and showed her his deeply shaded lowered head.

“There was no point in my coming here. I was only getting my hopes up over a flight of fancy. Of course, that isn’t exactly a rare occurrence.”

“I’m not entirely sure I know what you’re talking about.” Masazumi spoke to Urquiaga while wondering what was going on. “But since you flew here, I guess it really was a ‘flight’ of fancy.”’

Her joke flopped.

'''Gold Mar:''' “Ah, Uqui, are you okay? You took a direct hit from that one, so are you even still alive?”

'''Sticky King:''' “Yes, he might not have made it even if he managed to shield his vitals.”

'''Vice President:''' “It isn’t going to kill him! See, he’s alive! Sorry to hear you didn’t like it!!”

As Urquiaga stood motionless with his shoulders lowered, Masazumi looked to Narumi.

Narumi’s shoulders were also a little lowered and her mouth hung partway open as she looked back to Masazumi. She seemed utterly confused, but…

“Well, if that’s all.”

She moved Unturning Centipede’s rebooting process along and prepared to leave.

As the mobile shell began to close, Masazumi nearly said “yes”.

…''Wait, I can’t let her leave!!

She had to do something, but it was so sudden that she was unsure what to say. Instead, she began typing on her sign frame.

'''Vice President:''' “Mitotsudaira! Help!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “What! Do! You! Mean! By! That!?”

'''Me:''' “Eh!? C’mon, Nate, adlib! You’ve gotta adlib! Don’t worry. Seijun just lowered the bar so far that anything you say’ll be fine!!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Eh? B-but I still don’t know what to say…”

'''Hori-ko:''' “Not to worry, Mitotsudaira-sama. Now, lower your hips and exert yourself.”

Masazumi did not want to think about what was beginning over there, but Horizon joining the divine network conversations was a good thing. Probably. As for Mitotsudaira…

“F-fine then. I will handle this.”

The silver-haired girl stood up with a dignified movement.

Narumi saw Mito’s ruler stand up to face her.

What was she going to do? Unturning Centipede could leave at any time, but…

…''If I leave now, they could say I ignored her opportunity to speak.

She could no longer continue with her original plan of saying what had to be said and immediately leaving.

Plus, this was the ruler of Mito. Narumi had expected her to act as a bodyguard, not a negotiator. After exchanging words a few times, they must have shifted from the greetings stage to the discussion stage.

''How troublesome,'' she thought as the silver-haired girl patted the half-dragon’s shoulder as he continued to hang his head. Then she faced Narumi.

“Are you listening? Look how depressed our 2nd Special Duty Officer is.”

She then pointed at Narumi.

“This is your fault! I won’t let you leave without paying for what you’ve done, so prepare yourself!”

…''Ehh!?

For some reason, the terms “new” and “original” came to mind and Unturning Centipede nearly fell over again, but she could not accept what this girl was saying. After all, the 2nd Special Duty Officer was in charge of administering justice.

…''Shifting the blame for his dejection onto me is nonsense.

So she shrugged and spoke with a sigh.

“Um? That couldn’t possibly be my fault.”

“Oh, but it is!! …Isn’t that right, Masazumi!? The 2nd Special Duty Officer’s depression is the Date Vice Chancellor’s fault, isn’t it!?

'''Vice President:''' “Why would you hand it back to me?!”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “An eye for an eye.”

When Masazumi saw the pleasant smile on Mitotsudaira’s face, she told herself: ''Calm down, me. You’ve been faced with seemingly impossible problems countless times before.

''Yes, calm down, Honda Masazumi. This situation is truly regrettable, but you’re a capable girl. Yes, you’re quite capable when it comes to it. The truly important part is making sure it never “comes to it”, though.

'''Mal-Ga:''' “It’s hopeless… Now Date’s going to be our enemy and I won’t be able to take part in the Oushuu event…”

'''Asama:''' “Wh-why are you being so pessimistic!? There’s probably a much worse fate in store for us, so let’s try to stay positive while we can!”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “I think we found the real pessimist!!”

At any rate, Masazumi tried to find a political use for what Urquiaga had said.

…''How is the Date clan organized?

''If Neshinbara were here, I could check with him, but oh well.

She grasped at the connection that flashed through her mind and she spoke to Narumi who was hesitating between leaving or not.

“Listen, Date Vice Chancellor.”

“Testament. What is it?”

“Judge.” Masazumi breathed in. “You seem to have misunderstood our 2nd Special Duty Officer’s words.”

“Oh, is that so? But in that case, what did he mean?”

“Judge,” repeated Masazumi as she mentally prepared herself. ''This is the important part,'' she told herself. “Listen. According to the Testament descriptions, Date Shigezane, whose name you have inherited, was like a stepbrother to Date Masamune, head of the Date clan. Date Shigezane was apparently a little younger, but from what we can see here, you are a girl and you are also the Vice Chancellor. So our 2nd Special Duty Officer was asking if you are in fact an ‘elder sister’ in reality rather than in the history recreation.”

Masazumi patted Urquiaga’s arm.

“I will admit he intruded on your privacy surrounding the inherited name issue, but that is what he meant and it came from his desire for us to remain on friendly terms. Please do not misinterpret him.”

Someone inside the Main Blue Thunder nodded at Masazumi’s words.

It was Gin who had moved to the central table with Muneshige after Masazumi and Mitotsudaira had left. She used her giant false arms to eat some anmitsu in a glass container.

…''I see.

She set down the container.

“Judge. That was quite forced, but it is true Date Narumi might have known Date Masamune from a young age. That interpretation is entirely possible.”

…''But it would seem Musashi’s Vice President is taking a somewhat defensive stance.

In her final line, she had mentioned “his desire to remain on friendly terms” to seal off her opponent’s escape, but she had added “do not misinterpret this” to drive the point home.

…''Is this Mikatagahara’s influence?

She was partially just trying to be extra careful, but it could easily be taken as coercive. As a freeloader on the Musashi, Gin was not entirely sure what to do about that, but…

“This is about the Date clan.”

Gin opened a sign frame containing the information she had researched on her own.

“Date Masamune leads as both the Chancellor and Student Council President, but she is supported on both sides by Vice Chancellor Date Narumi and Vice President Katakura Kagetsuna.”

“If she is ‘supported’ on both sides…”

“Judge.” Gin nodded at Muneshige’s prompting and slowly continued. “Masamune is a second year.”

“That’s right. She’s the same year as me. …Although I didn’t interact with her much even as a fellow Kantou student.”

Two people stood in front of the Main Blue Thunder and the more lightly-equipped one spoke.

She was Satomi Yoshiyasu. She had two swords at her waist and she placed her hand on the dog face design of Murasamemaru’s hilt.

She gripped that hilt that someone else had already used.

“The academy that will rule Oushuu, huh?”

She suddenly raised her eyebrows somewhat and looked to the right. Light spilled out from the Blue Thunder’s windows and Musashi’s vassal stood on the opposite side of the door. The vassal was dealing with one of the stray dogs that would show up from time to time, but Yoshiyasu kept her gaze flat.

“Whenever Date Academy acts, it affects the other academies in southern Oushuu and they would often invade Satomi from the north.”

“Oh, on the Testament Union side of things, doesn’t Satomi’s northern academy correspond to the northern horse-riding tribes?”

“Lady Yoshitsune would sometimes come to harass them, so it could be trouble. Kantou is supposed to be held by Uesugi, but they seem to have had their hands full with P.A. Oda lately.”

Yoshiyasu added a “but”.

“Sviet Rus’s Uesugi holds Hokuriku and Kantou, Mogami holds western Oushuu, and Date holds eastern Oushuu. …The one with the largest territory is Date. They aren’t a small nation like us.”

Yoshiyasu opened a sign frame for the glasses vassal to see. It displayed information from her personal databank.

“This is the Date clan’s lineup.”

'''<Oushuu Sibir Sendai Date Clan – Representative List>

'''Chancellor: Date Masamune – Also the Student Council President. Second year. Born between the Dragon God and a human. Details unknown.

'''Vice President: Katakura Kagetsuna – Also the Treasurer and Secretary. Third year.

'''Vice Chancellor: Date Narumi – Uses the mobile shell Unturning Centipede. Third year.

'''1st Special Duty Officer: Rusu Masakage – Artificial personality of Sendai Castle’s management and control system.

'''2nd Special Duty Officer: Oniniwa Tsunamoto – Uses the god of war Sagetsu. Demonic long-lived.

“Without a Treasurer or Secretary, that’s a nice short list. They probably don’t have much trouble.”

“They are structured for centralized authority. It isn’t that they lack the personnel; Kagetsuna simply handles the legal procedures for all of the government affairs so that Masamune’s decisions can be acted on as quickly as possible. In other words, all of the personnel that would normally work under the Treasurer and Secretary are placed under the Vice President. They act on those top-down commands with no room for protest. It’s really a type of dictatorship. …Of course, it seems Oniniwa and Rusu also act as aides.”

“So it isn’t that they only have a few skilled people. They have plenty of skilled people, but they’re tightly controlled.”

“Testament…I mean, judge. That’s right. But Miss Vassal, do you know why Date is setup this way?”

The vassal placed a hand on her lips and looked into the air.

“Umm,” she wondered. “Isn’t centralized authority used to immediately react to the constant changes in political situations or in conflicts with other nations?”

''She’s clever,'' thought Yoshiyasu with a bitter smile.

“Sorry. You’re actually the upperclassman here. I seem to have a habit of looking down on people.”

“No, no. A vassal isn’t going to care about something like that.”

Yoshiyasu sighed at the honest smile on the girl’s face.

Then she looked back to her own sign frame.

“Uesugi is the same. And Mogami is even more centralized. There are two reasons for that. One is the heightened reaction time to changes in conflicts and politics as you mentioned. And the other…”

Yoshiyasu took a breath.

“Quite a few rulers desire more conflict or prosperity than absolutely necessary. So in order to show the world that they do not desire more than is necessary, they stop displaying the national power known as ‘personnel’. As for why…”

Yoshiyasu pointed at the Main Blue Thunder’s door behind them.

“They do not want to show any hostility during the coming age when Matsudaira has conquered the Far East.”

“You mean…?”

The vassal’s eyes widened and Yoshiyasu continued without looking away.

“Judge. …The forces of Oushuu trusted in Matsudaira’s rule and the blessings it would bring. But based on their current actions, their trust and all else have been lost.”

So…

“While Oushuu has abandoned their trust in Matsudaira, they are essentially fumbling around blindly. However, that put them in an appropriate position for the Warring States period. That is, for an age of chaos, suspicion, and usurpation.”

“In other words, Musashi wishes to keep a friendly relationship with Date during this chaotic age?”

Even as she spoke, Narumi reminded herself that they could not join forces with Matsudaira in the current situation.

After all, they could not think of Musashi as a fighting force and they were being targeted by Hashiba that had invaded Satomi and Edo. Also…

…''Date’s history recreation comes into play.

After realizing how powerful Hashiba was, the many clans and academies from Oushuu, Kantou, and Hokuriku had focused on their history recreations.

This was no time to dream of Matsudaira’s eventual rule and the guaranteed territory they would receive then. They had to think about the influence of Hashiba that was already here.

…''Hashiba used their invasion of Satomi to demonstrate that they would use their own history recreation to its fullest.

Hashiba’s two Korean invasions occurred after Nobunaga’s death and in Hashiba’s last years, yet they had carried that out in a time before Nobunaga’s identity had been revealed.

“Hashiba is saying they can ignore the order of their own history. They destroyed the historical connections but used the pieces to acquire K.P.A. Italia, the head of the Testament Union.”

As she spoke, Narumi looked back toward Musashi’s Vice President. ''Excellent posture,'' she thought when she saw the girl staring straight back at her.

“At the very least, Matsudaira and Musashi have no way of opposing Hashiba at the current time. Besides, Musashi has not unified its own thoughts yet, has it? So how do you hope to negotiate with us and what do you hope to gain?” asked Narumi. “Listen. You are nothing but a disaster to all of the histories and peoples from Oushuu, Kantou, and Hokuriku. You are also a nuisance that drags other academies into the chaos as you attempt to wield your rights and future.”

“Is it dangerous simply to speak with us like this?”

“Testament. If you were truly meaningless, we could come up with countless excuses, but you do hold certain rights and a certain future. So if the other academies learn that we spoke with you, rumors will spread that Date has fallen for Matsudaira’s sweet words about the future.”

Narumi told herself she could not show any hint of friendship here. She needed to make sure Date’s intent to reject anything Musashi brought to the table would be apparent even if the records were leaked.

…''Of course, Katakura didn’t give me the authority to do anything but that.

“That is my intention here. Date has a responsibility as the future rulers of Oushuu, so I came here to provide a warning while you were hanging around the entrance to Oushuu.”

She pointed the artificial index finger of her false right arm toward Musashi’s Vice President.

“Please do not involve yourself with the Date clan.”

When Masazumi heard what Narumi said, she sighed in her heart.

…''That’s an absolute rejection. She’s completely unapproachable.

'''Silver Wolf:''' “What should we do? I can bring her to the negotiating table by force if need be.”

'''Vice President:''' “No, that won’t be necessary. …There are a few things here that seem odd to me.”

'''Me:''' “Eh? D-did I mess up bad enough for you to notice what I was doing?”

'''Vice President:''' “Calm down, idiot. Calm down and go to the guard station. Calm down and hold your arms out for them.”

'''Hori-ko:''' “Oh, Toori-sama. On your way to the guard station, please grab a garbage pickup schedule for Tama. The shop owner wanted to know what they will be doing for July’s holiday.”

When she saw the idiot post “Fine then. I’ll be back soon.”, Masazumi thought to herself.

…''A disaster, huh?

''That’s true. We are nothing but trouble for the losing nations now that P.A. Oda’s main force has shown up. And we’re even more of a disaster with that crossdressing naked apron along for the ride. We need to do something about that. Oh, but not about the crossdressing naked apron. About the current situation. Actually, we do need to do something about that idiot. So it’s both.

''And I think I’m overthinking this.

So…

“———————”

Masazumi breathed in the night air which was more cold than cool on the roof. Then she spoke to Narumi.

“I would like to accept Date’s warning, but on one condition.”

'''10ZO:''' “You’re going to agree not to interact with them? That will leave Musashi isolated over the entire areas of Oushuu, Kantou, and Hokuriku.”

'''Vice President:''' “Stepping forward now would only strengthen their refusal. They can’t trust in the future we bring and are much more focused on the present. As things are, the future we bring is useless. And…”

Masazumi mouthed the words and Tsukinowa wrote them out.

'''Vice President:''' “Date Narumi will want to avoid having us do anything more. She is a leading member of Date, but she is not from the political student council. She is a combat member.”

'''Mal-Ga:''' “True. You don’t often find people like Asama who are technically in charge of divine transmissions and tuning the ship but can also act as a gunner.”

'''Asama:''' “Y-you have that all wrong. And I’m not a gunner. That’s a perfectly normal skill for a shrine maiden!”

''A normal person with different standards is no different from an abnormal person,'' thought Masazumi. But…

'''Vice President:''' “But something bothers me about this.”

She felt something odd in her heart.

To sum it up in one word: why? Something felt off and she could not work out quite what. She felt something in Narumi’s attitude that felt like it would lead to a definite question if she pursued it.

…''Why?

She continued thinking to clarify the unclear question in her heart.

…''Why did Date come here?

Diplomacy was based on a mutual understanding, so to reject them, they only needed to ignore them. Instead, they had come here, made contact, and exchanged words.

Why had they done that?

She felt like there were several layers to the answer. Several layers of “reasons” were hiding the identity of the “why”. It could of course be a trap, but…

'''Vice President:''' “Crossunite, I want to hear your opinion. Do you think this meeting is a trap?”

'''10ZO:''' “Judge. There is a high probability that there is ‘something’ behind this.”

'''Marube-ya:''' “Hm? In this situation created by stopping Date’s Vice Chancellor from running?”

'''10ZO:''' “I say that given the fact that they contacted us at all. This meeting and their intentions have only shown their rejection. That means their intent was simply to contact Matsudaira, tell us of their rejection, and leave. Then why did they contact us at all? We don’t know, but is that because this is a trap, because their true intentions lie elsewhere, or because they want us to think either of those?”

Crossunite paused for a beat before continuing.

'''10ZO:''' “To find out, we have said we will accept their warning ‘on one condition’, but we were only able to do that thanks to what Uqui-dono and Mitotsudaira-dono accomplished.”

'''Uqui:''' “Tenzou… Don’t think that will make up for the betrayal of finding a wife before me.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Um, personally, I would prefer if that adlib was stricken from the records…”

'''10ZO:''' “None of you want to make it sound like we knew what we were doing, do you!?”

As the others started complaining, Masazumi looked to Narumi.

“We appreciate Date’s warning.”

“Those pleasantries aren’t necessary. …But what is this ‘condition’?”

“Judge. It is simple. In this age, it is something done even between hostile nations.”

Masazumi corrected her gaze to push back against Narumi’s.

“Musashi will send a temporary ambassador to act as a diplomat.”

“…!? You mean…?”

“Make no mistake. We aren’t trying to do anything to the Date clan.”

And…

“This isn’t limited to Date either. Musashi Ariadust will send temporary ambassadors to the Date clan, the Mogami clan, and Sviet Rus’s Uesugi clan.”

''This is a bit of a gamble,'' she thought while completing her announcement.

“That is our condition for agreeing to stay out of Date’s affairs.”

<noinclude>
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| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
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