Editing Horizon:GT3 Chapter6 (section)

==Chapter 6: Views and Opinions==
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''Cicada?

'''Point Allocation (Cicada!)

●

“Huh? Horizon? What are you doing up on the shrine’s roof?”

“That should be obvious, Toori-sama! I am currently playing the role of the cicada that slurps up the Asama Shrine’s holy juices! Kiiiiii ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki!”

''That is not your usual cicada,'' thought Asama.

Horizon did actually have a reason to be up on the roof. The primary reason was that she had wanted to, but the Armada Battle had left wreckage and dust strewn across the shrine down in its atrium area.

Most of it had been cleaned up, but not what had been on the roof. Some of the armor divine protections had still been active, so there was concern it could negatively impact the shrine’s functioning. Horizon was currently working to remove that, but…

“Kiiii kii kii kii kii kii ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki!”

“Hee hee. Oh, Horizon. She’s really giving it her all now that Toori-kun is here.”

“That’s not the main point here, Asama-san! Does her inaccurate representation of a cicada not warrant a comment!?”

''I didn’t realize Adele was the cicada police.

Then he raised his hand in greeting from the group of boys who had just arrived.

“So what’s going on? Are they playing some kinda game in front of the academy?”

“You mean Masazumi and Mito? Some kind of confrontation is happening, so they’re in trouble.”

“Oh, is that so? Hm, a confrontation, huh? Then maybe I should’ve stayed there…”

While he muttered “what to do?”, Asama synced his divine chat with the one coming from the two in front of the academy.

…''I should probably send everyone a link to this.

Then Neshinbara approached her from the group of boys.

“What!? Ishin Suden-sama is here!? That’s amazing! Incredible! Stupendous even!”

“Close the thesaurus, Neshinbara-kun. …But, anyway, it’s a bit of a problem.”

“So it seems. …And without Crossunite-kun here, I guess I’m their backup.”

“Tenzou-kun isn’t here?”

“He said he would be giving Ma-yan a tour of the Musashi. Last I saw him he was sneaking into the English embassy.”

“Oh, really?” said Naruze while typing something onto the divine net, but no one stopped her.

●

Mary couldn’t tell the difference between the inside and outside.

…''This is quite a city…

For the past three days, she had gazed expectantly from the terrace and through the windows, imagining what was waiting down the roads and pathways.

But the actual ship-top city Tenzou guided her to was greater than she could have imagined.

The density was so much greater. She had changed into her casual clothes and went out in the late evening, so the lights and the moving people made the city seem in constant motion. There seemed to be something and someone everywhere she looked.

The surface city was even more densely packed than London and most of the buildings stood at least three stories above the surface.

When she looked up at the upper floors connected by walkways, she could see Technohexen and small ships moving about even further up, as well as advertisement sign frames moving along with them.

London likely had the greater population, but the density here was something else.

“Incredible…”

The roads were divided into sections and the sections known as wide blocks created seemingly endless straight roads with plazas where the long blocks connected to them.

“The surface city’s wide blocks contain shopping districts with a lot of local color, while the long blocks have parks, chain stores, and markets.”

While Tenzou explained this, a floor rose up from below within a large atrium at the center of a long block.

…''Eh?

Mary looked back and froze in place because she saw metal giants standing atop that large floor. The yellow giants stood about 3m tall.

“Those are light gods of war used for work. The heavy labor handled by giants and similar races in England is usually handled by gods of war like these on the Musashi.”

Four light gods of war began to walk, carrying a large container full of rubble like it was a palanquin.

What looked like tails were the cranes used at the ports and they were likely being used as ballast. That was kind of cute, but their walk led to sounds of splintering wood followed by yelling.

“You idiots! Are you trying to ruin our pan-style Musashi cakes!?”

“Dammit! They got our apple candies, iced shaves, and candy cotton too!”

“What is any of that supposed to be!?”

The god of wars’ argument was lively, but Mary liked that this place allowed people to be so open with each other.

When he heard the sounds of a fistfight breaking out, Tenzou shrugged.

“The work is still underway tonight and the stands from yesterday’s victory celebration are still out in the busier areas. How about we grab something to eat at one of them?”

Mary didn’t hesitate to accept the offer. She felt like testing Tenzou a little, so…

“Do they have Musashi-style fish and chips?”

“I hope I have enough cash on me.”

His immediate response made her smile. She had already exchanged her money for the local currency. That was just how excited she had been over the past three days. But this time, she had made the suggestion and he had responded. So…

“No, I will pay.”

“Very well.” Tenzou raised his right index finger. “I believe there was a stand for that on the path leading to the academy.”

○

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Ahhhhh! I threw that one earlier!”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Don’t worry, 5th Special Duty Officer. That shames the 1st Special Duty Officer, not you.”

'''Scarred:''' “Oh, we found another stand on the way there, so it wasn’t a problem. Yes.”

'''Asama:''' “It’s weird that I can tell just how excited Tenzou-kun was from the text alone.”

●

''They had even more than I was expecting!'' thought Mary.

They had arrived at Tama’s rear deck. On the way here, she had gasped when the financial district’s carriage road came into view in front of her or when the nature district’s forest had suddenly appeared among the buildings. Furthermore…

“The belowdecks atrium parks are open as rest areas now that the wreckage has been cleared away.”

Tenzou had explained this while they looked down at a park made from a wide block that created a belowdecks atrium. It was located about three levels down, it had woods and a stream, and people were resting alongside the row of festival stands.

The scent of greenery and the stream joined with the aromas of food and oil.

“It’s so overwhelming.”

When they did arrive at Tama’s rear deck, a purifying burning of wreckage was underway in the center.

“Student bands are offering songs to keep the fire burning. They have to keep it up at all times, so right now I think the Greek band Caca Ignition is playing to increase the firepower as the night begins. They are a hard rock band that primarily uses harps and flutes. Do you listen to music, Mary-dono?”

“Yes. Irish punk, I think it’s called? That Celtic music with lots of intense ups and downs was popular where I lived. Although I’m not a huge fan of ‘THOAHAAAA!’ and such.”

“Hm, they’re doing an England special on Tama’s bow the day after tomorrow, which should include songs from major artists like ‘Hey Enya’.”

Mary nodded without thinking, but then it hit her.

…''The day after tomorrow!

She had been counting down to this third day the whole time, so it had felt like the end point. But it wasn’t. She had tomorrow to look forward to. As well as…

“The day after tomorrow, you said? I look forward to it, Master Tenzou.”

“Judge! Great. By then the ship should have calmed down enough for us to take a look at a lot more.”

She nodded at that. Then a sign frame appeared by her hands. A few of them, actually.

“What’s that? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh, um. I was searching for a home…”

She hesitated but went ahead and said it.

“I was imagining so much about Musashi over the past three days. What would this room be like? Or that one? I had a lot of fun that way. But…the real Musashi is even more than I had imagined. My ignorant ideas can’t compete with what I can imagine now.”

“I’m glad to hear you like what you see of Musashi. But there is still so much left to see. You might just change your mind again after seeing more.”

“Probably so. So maybe I should send these sign frames into that purifying fire.”

“No, I will take them. To reference for the house hunt.”

“Eh? No, this was just me being silly. I can’t let you see it.”

During that conversation, Naruze-sama flew by on a delivery and made a gesture like something sand-like were spilling from her mouth.

“Incredible… Yes, I’m going to make so much progress.”

“W-with what!?” protested Tenzou.

Everywhere on the ship was lit up and they still had plenty of time until lights out at the diplomatic building that Mary was still using for lodging. So there was one more place she wanted to visit.

“Could we go right up next to Musashi’s academy?”

○

After finishing her oral dictation, Mary realized the others were collapsed on the floor.

“A-are you all alright!?”

“Seeing you back when you were still so pushy is difficult on the heart. It makes for a really powerful attack.”

“By the way, Ma-yan, did you ever give Tenzou your list of room candidates?”

“Yes. The Shinto-style sign frame Lady Asama provided me with allowed us to share our settings. I considered changing the divine mail address, but I ended up leaving it as Mary10.”

Most of the others were blasted to the wall, but Mary wasn’t certain what kind of event this even was.

●

…''Oh, my body feels so heavy. Maybe I’ve been purifying too much?

While Asama took a break, she listened to him. He was discussing the confrontation in front of the academy.

“So who is that Ishin whatever person?”

“I know!” replied Neshinbara. He struck a pose before continuing. “Ishin Suden is…you know! The Buke Shohatto and religious ban guy!”

“That’s not much of an explanation,” noted Naito while catching the wreckage Horizon was dropping from the roof. Neshinbara turned her way and struck another pose.

“Heh. What matters is that Ishin Suden is from Matsudaira! And the name of the temple he used as a base was used for his other name: Konchiin Suden!”

“Konchiin!? Is it just me or does that sound delicious!? Kooooonchiiiiiiiiin!”

“Heh heh! It’s not just you, foolish brother! Strike a pose and shout Konchiin! Spelled backwards that’s ‘inchinko’! But that’s ‘in’ plus ‘chinko’, Far Eastern for dick! So it must be talking about shoving something in your dick! Shoving what in!? A tamagushi!? Ahhh, I’m being purifiiiiiied! C’mon, Asama! Get that ‘inchinko’ divine punishment ready!”

While Asama raised a fist and Kimi fled, the text “connected” appeared on everyone’s sign frames. Everyone was linked to the site of the discussion.

●

Masazumi noted that Tsukinowa had opened a sign frame next to her face.

…''Looks like Asama connected me to the divine chat.

She knew what she had to say there.

'''Vice President:''' “Don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

'''Horizey:''' “Aiiiiiiiiiiii! I am presently a cicada, so nothing I do could qualify as trouble!”

''And you’ve already lost me.

''Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised,'' decided Masazumi before Suden opened a sign frame in front of her.

“Do you know what the Buke Shohatto are?”

Masazumi was about to reply “judge”, when Mitotsudaira raised her left hand to stop her.

Mitotsudaira was saying she would reply instead.

She was Mito Matsudaira and had the provisional inherited name of Mito Mitsukuni.

The Testament said the origin of her inherited name was born after the Buke Shohatto. So as a name inheritor, her education in Hexagone Française had likely been based on them already being in effect.

'''Still Got It:''' “Eh?”

Masazumi briefly froze after hearing the imagined voice of Mitotsudaira’s mother.

If her train of thought had led to that imagined reaction…

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Hey! Wait a second, mother’s imagined voice! Are you trying to sabotage their trust in me!?”

'''Vice President:''' “Excuse me!? Are you telling me it was a bad idea to let you field that question at the time!”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Ouch.”

'''Art-Ga:''' “Cause of death: a poor education. We’re approaching the darker side of society here.”

''God, they’re fast!'' thought Masazumi as she watched Mitotsudaira breathe deep.

“A-anyway, I will answer.”

What were the Buke Shohatto?

“The Warring States period leads to the Edo Shogunate that Matsudaira begins in Edo. In order to preserve the stability of the Far East, the shogunate issued some statute laws regarding the buke. Buke Shohatto literally means ‘various laws and measurements for the buke’.”

●

Mitotsudaira saw a nod.

Suden inclined her head before speaking.

“Testament. You don’t actually need that deep an understanding of what the term literally means, but what you gave is the explanation for outsiders. So answer me this: how would you explain them for Matsudaira…that is for your future selves?”

Mitotsudaira knew the answer.

The Buke Shohatto had set various standards to preserve peace. They restricted matters that would likely lead to conflict, but that answer changed when taking a different point of view.

…''They were meant to strip power from and suppress any forces that could threaten Matsudaira’s rule.

There were a few different ways to bring about peace, but a few elements of the Buke Shohatto made it blatantly obvious the true intent was to strip power from opposing forces.

From a Matsudaira viewpoint, it was meant to crack down on those who would oppose the Edo Shogunate. 

…''Then I need to consider how to explain this.

Suden was testing them. No, in the worst case, she was trying to trap them.

“This is a test for us since we utilize the Buke Shohatto, isn’t it?”

Suden was viewing them as the future shogunate. But from the shougunate’s viewpoint, the Buke Shohatto were meant to suppress the other powers to secure the shogunate’s hold on the Far East.

However, what would happen if Mitotsudaira spoke from the viewpoint of “the future shogunate” here?

…''I would be saying that Musashi intends to suppress the Testament Union nations once our rule begins.

The Testament Union might be using this response as a pretext for deepening their hostility toward Musashi.

So how should she respond?

'''Silver Wolf:''' “My king. Masazumi.”

She didn’t need confirmation of this, but she asked anyway.

'''Silver Wolf:''' “I am your 1st knight, am I not?”

'''Me:''' “Yeah. You have been for a long time.”

○

In the dark changing area, Mitotsudaira stayed low and focused on her surroundings.

Her eyes swept across the others who were remaining silent.

“No one is correcting that?”

“Well,” said Asama. With a smile. “I think what you said was perfectly fine. Yes. Perfectly fine.”

“That’s right, Asama-sama,” said Horizon. “I think it is perfect for the current situation.”

“Eh, we can overlook it every so often,”

“N-Naruze, that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence!”

Among the group, Kimi smiled bitterly.

“But, Mitotsudaira? You weren’t openly referring to him as ‘my king’ back then, were you? It wasn’t until after IZUMO that you started using it in front of people.”

“I definitely said it there. Because I was speaking as a knight to her king in that moment.”

She was confident of that.

That must have gotten through to them because Kimi laughed and slapped her on the shoulder. Her mother laughed too.

Then her mother jerked her chin toward her.

“A poor answer would mean a direct threat to the Far East – no, to Musashi. So what were you confirming with your king and how did that give you your answer? Tell us, Nate.”

●

[[Image:Horizon_GT3_p163.jpg|thumb]]

Depending on her answer, more nations could join the fight against Musashi before they arrived at IZUMO.

Suden’s test was more like a trick question.

So Mitotsudaira gave her answer.

“The Buke Shohatto removed the power to wage war from the buke and established Matsudaira’s rule.”

And…

“Looking to our own future, our king announced he would take over the world. The Buke Shohatto will provide stability after that and indicate a direction forward.”

She admitted that they ''were'' applying pressure to the other nations.

●

After hearing an “oh?” from Suden, Masazumi was ashamed of herself for considering interjecting.

…''She can handle this.

She had been worried how Mitotsudaira would answer Suden’s test.

The worst answer would have been to try and avoid receiving any hostility from the other nations.

…''In other words to deny and misrepresent what the Buke Shohatto say.

Mitotsudaira hadn’t done that.

And Suden had brushed her hair up and looked up at them with the corner of her mouth lifted in a grin.

“So after you take over, you’re gonna rob the world of its ability to resist you?”

“That is what the Buke Shohatto do.”

As the wolf clearly indicated, a look at the Testament showed that the Buke Shohatto did suppress the buke. But if they didn’t preserve that, it would lead to other problems.

…''Then they could claim Musashi was altering the history recreation.

Suden was from K.P.A. Italia. Musashi had repelled them at Mikawa, but the Papa Schola made that nation the leader of the Catholics and they still acted as the Testament Union’s representative.

In Masazumi’s opinion, they had the greatest pull when it came to interpreting the Testament and ratifying history recreations.

But Musashi hadn’t gone back on their word. Mitotsudaira had properly indicate their intent to continue with the announcement the idiot made to K.P.A. Italia at Mikawa.

'''Vice President:''' “I can see Mitotsudaira was well educated.”

'''Still Got It:''' “My, how embarrassing. That you think this proves anything, that is. She can do far more than this.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “I-imagined voiiiiice!”

''Never a dull moment with that loup garou family,'' thought Masazumi as Suden moved. She lightly spun her hat on her finger while using her other hand to tap a sign frame displaying information on the Buke Shohatto.

Had Mitotsudaira’s words gotten through to her? She scrolled through the information on the sign frame and…

“Hm. I can wait to assess you later. For now, I want to look into a few matters.”

●

“Did we pass?” asked Adele.

Kimi tilted her head. She was currently setting up a table below the tent they had set up on the shrine grounds and placing food on it, but…

“You can’t take someone’s measure that quickly. Besides…you can only do that when you differ from the other person. If you’re too similar, you have to take your own measure first, which makes it more difficult.”

●

“Now,” said Suden.

…''So they won’t take the bait.

She had planned to take control of the situation if they had fallen for it. But they hadn’t, which meant…

“Musashi must have a lot of trust for their king.”

“Judge. Shoving responsibility for everything onto him is nice. Which makes it hard to get that mad at him.”

“I see.” Suden smiled a little and tapped her cadena firma. “Now, let’s go over the Buke Shohatto real quick. You know what the 13 articles say, I hope?”

●

Adele saw the Secretary already searching for the answer.

He struck a pose as he slapped the key to run the search.

“Heh. Can anyone match the search speed I’ve built up gathering so much data!?”

“No one’s competing with you, Secretary.”

“Adele, no need to be so mean. Bara-yan hasn’t bragged about how much he knows this time.”

''Oh, that’s being awfully nice,'' thought Adele, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want to get the Secretary worked up.

…''Way too many of us have thick skin which only gets thicker as the others attack us.

Meanwhile, the Secretary had opened a sign frame. It displayed a list he had taken from the divine net.

“The Buke Shohatto actually receives four major updates after they are first issued. The third and fourth times happen beyond the future shown in the Testament, so we only know about them due to notes in the Testament. The first version has 13 articles. That isn’t very much compared to the second’s 19.”

Past the Secretary, Ohiroshiki was expressionlessly rotating his hand in a “wrap it up” gesture, so the 6th Special Duty Officer raised her left hand.

“Just get to the 13 articles already.”

“Eh? The detailed context is fascinating, but have it your way. Judge. I’ll get to the point. And provide my own interpretation.”

He displayed the following list:

'''1. Dedicate yourselves to literature, swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship.

::::'''Work at cultural and military skills, mkay?

'''2. Show restraint in drink and amusement.

::::'''Don’t be a drunk or a lazy bum, mkay?

'''3. Do not harbor those who violate the Shohatto.

::::'''Report anyone who disobeys these laws, mkay?

'''4. Rebels and killers must not be employed and must be expelled.

::::'''No hiring terrorists or murderers, mkay?

'''5. People of other domains must not be employed.

::::'''No hiring people from other domains, mkay?

'''6. Building new castles and repairing old castles without advance notice is forbidden.

::::'''No building or fixing castles without letting us know, mkay?

'''7. Report any in neighboring domains who are plotting rebellion.

::::'''Report any rebels you notice, even if they’re with your neighbors, mkay?

'''8. Marriage without permission is forbidden.

::::'''The buke can’t get married without our permission, mkay?

'''9. Each daimyo must periodically visit Edo to serve the shogunate.

::::'''Come visit us from time to time, mkay?

'''10. Follow the rules for clothing based on status.

::::'''We’ll choose the fashions for different kinds of people, mkay?

'''11. Restrict who can ride a palanquin regardless of status.

::::'''Don’t squander money riding around on palanquins all the time, mkay?

'''12. Be frugal.

::::'''Don’t waste money, mkay?

'''13. Domain leaders must choose capable people for government roles.

::::'''Domain leaders need to focus on skill and capability when filling government jobs, mkay?

“And that’s it. There was actually an earlier three article pledge for the daimyo of the powerful western domains and Ishin Suden later gathered it all into these 13 articles.

“But,” said the Secretary, smiling with his mouth spread horizontally. “The current provisional ruling nations are going to be pissed if they’re subject to the article about not building or fixing castles without advance notice. Not to mention the ban on marriages.”

Someone tilted her head at that: Kimi. She pointed at the 13 articles.

“If these go into effect, won’t we have to follow them too?”

“Huh?” said the rest, looking to Kimi, just before Suden’s voice arrived via divine transmission.

“Interesting, aren’t they?”

●

Masazumi listened to Suden.

“We are currently discussing the rules that will govern the nations ruled by the Far East once it takes over. Do you get what that means?” she said. “If you take over the world, these are the rules that will secure that rule. How you handle these could turn the world into a paradise or into hell. But the laws created in the distant past, deep in the Age of the Gods, were designed to create complete subordination. And…”

“And the rules about following the history recreation mean we will be criticized or attacked if we don’t do what those laws say?”

“Yes. Yes. That’s right, Far Easterner. If you don’t make them your servants, they will attack you. But if you do make them your servants, they will feel hostility toward you. We know because the provisional ruling nations already did it to you. You probably think this is old news and I agree, but I too would selfishly harbor hostility if I were ruled like this. How fun, right? So I forgive you your hostility. I did used to be pope, after all. I’ll forgive anything if I feel like it.”

Suden put her hat back on and shook her head to let her long hair fall behind her.

“Now, let’s play a game, Far Eastern Representative. What will you do with the Buke Shohatto?”

●

''This is crazy!'' thought Mitotsudaira, honestly kind of disturbed.

…''How serious is she about this!?

Suden wanted them to decide on the laws for after they ruled the world. But those laws would make the ruled nations their vassals, so deciding those laws now would leave Musashi surrounded by enemies.

The other nations would join forces and attack Musashi to keep them from enforcing those laws.

But if Musashi compromised, they would be in violation of the history recreation.

They would win more enemies no matter what they did.

…''We’re in a bind!

'''Horizey:''' “Asama-sama! Your attacks put warship artillery to shame, so one of them should be able to reduce a mere pope to ashes! So show us how it’s done, teacher!”

'''Asama:''' “Um, Horizon? Shrine maidens aren’t allowed to shoot popes.”

'''Tachibana Wife:''' “Now there’s a sentence no one has ever said before…”

''You’re going to be hearing a lot of those,'' thought Mitotsudaira, but they had bigger things to worry about.

“Masazumi.”

“Judge. If Bertoni or Augesvarer were here, we might have gotten out of this with a prostration.”

“You’re trying to avoid thinking about the problem, aren’t you, Masazumi!?”

''But that might have actually worked,'' she thought at the same time.

'''Circle Be:''' “Sorry, but we’re busy dealing with the backlash to the docking ban while securing what rights we can! A merchant’s prostration isn’t free and don’t you forget it!”

At least those two were their usual selves. But how were they going to get out of this one?

“…Masazumi.”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi. “We aren’t prepared at the moment. Working out the details of the Buke Shohatto could cause trouble for the history recreation, so I say we should take some time to prepare.”

“Are you stupid?” asked Suden. “Wield history as you see fit! That’s the right we’ve been given! Why even represent the Far East if you aren’t going to exercise that right!?”

“No,” said Masazumi waving her hand forward. “We can’t do that! Musashi doesn’t work that way!”

●

“We decided as much at Mikawa! We will not use the Far East’s people or Musashi’s residents to improve our position in the history recreation. And the same goes for other nations.”

Masazumi pointed a bit left of the bow – to the southeast. She was pointing toward…

“Mikawa! We made that our policy at Mikawa! And now you are asking us to wield the history recreation with an iron fist! But through our experiences at Mikawa and England, we purified ourselves of self-interest in the history recreation and chose to instead make use of interpretations. So even if we must take over the world to have our way, we refuse to do that and we won’t force any other nation to do it either!”

“Then was I mistaken!?”

Suden pulled her hat deep over her eyes. She shattered her cadena firma with a snap of her left wrist and let the spray of shattered ether light wash across her left arm.

“When the time for action arrives, cowards always find an excuse to stop. That too is a form of self-interest. If you insist on finding meaning in your own inaction and if you believe no one else sees it that way, then the Far East hasn’t changed at all over the past 160 years!”

“Then what would you do, Ishin Suden?”

“That couldn’t be more obvious. Hexagone Française’s Mouri Terumoto and M.H.R.R.’s Hashiba are both Far Eastern powers with a Catholic connection. I’ll go to them and see if they’re willing to establish the Buke Shohatto.”

“So you don’t recognize us as representatives? Do you really think that is your choice to make?” asked Masazumi.

“I hold political power!” replied Suden. “Of course I can have my way!”

●

Masazumi breathed in.

…''Judge. You’re probably right.

Suden was a former pope and had inherited a name critical to the futures of the other nations.

She could have her way.

She was an absurd negotiator. She was as childish as she looked. She had political power and wielded it in a rebellious way. She assumed everything would go her way and she got upset when it didn’t.

“Judge. Your Holiness, you do indeed have political power. You can have your way in anything.”

But…

“Then why is it you can’t have your way when it comes to us?”

“Because you are cowards!”

…''No hesitation, huh?

'''Gold Mar:''' “I bet Seijun’s thinking, ‘Caught her in a contradiction! Yahoo!’ ”

'''Circle Be:''' “Yeah, complaining customers like that will get violent no matter what you do, so watch out.”

'''Wise Sister:''' “Heh heh. You do sometimes come across people who have a way with words despite constantly contradicting themselves.”

'''Vice President:''' “S-s-sounds like all of you!!”

''Oops, I stuttered. Whatever. As long as I don’t do that in the actual negotiation.

But if Suden would respond immediately and undaunted after being caught in a contradiction…

'''Vice President:''' “I might be able to convince her.”

Masazumi more or less knew what Suden wanted. 

…''When you get down to it, we’re just smashing each other’s arguments.

The former Catholic head was using the vast experience of Catholic history to select the best argument and neutralize her opponent’s words. Playing along would only let her use her near limitless supply of responses until Masazumi couldn’t continue on. No individual could stand up to Catholic history.

But Masazumi thought this opponent had a hook she could use to make this a more direct confrontation. So she raised her right hand and spoke.

“Your Holiness, it is true I am a coward. I admit to that.”

●

''So that’s how you’re playing it?'' thought Suden, looking up at the Musashi Vice President who had stepped down a step on the stairs.

“Then what? Are you going to accept the label of coward and hand all your rights over to me?”

That would be an option.

''Give me all your rights and Musashi is under my protection and I can have my way in all of this.

That would begin with the coward throwing out her silly pride and accepting what she was.

A coward like that was worthy of respect and should be protected by the powerful.

Besides, that was the purpose of Catholicism. The people who feared death, power, and loneliness could rely on and be connected to god, who stood above all else.

Everyone feared the unreasonable things they had no power over.

All people were cowards.

And Catholicism reached out its hand to allow them to live their lives as cowards.

Only a handful of people need not live that way.

But what about these people? They had called themselves cowards, but if so…

“What will you do as a coward?”

“As an unprepared coward,” replied the Musashi Vice President, “I don’t think I can make that decision at the moment.”

She refused to make her own decision.

●

Suden realized this girl was playing right into her hands.

…''Is she planning to leave everything in our grasp?

Suden didn’t lower her guard. This girl had admitted she was a coward. That would leave only two options: rely on Suden, or use her. But…

…''Which is it?

However, this refusal to make a decision appeared to have surprised the girl’s companions.

“Masazumi!?”

The Mito Lord called out to her, but the Musashi Vice President raised her right hand to stop her.

That likely meant “don’t say a word”.

So was she planning to submit? But something bothered Suden.

“When you admitted to being a coward…you said ‘''I''’, didn’t you?”

So as an individual.

She hadn’t been talking about Musashi as a whole. That meant this submission would be for her alone. So would she hide that fact and, once she received Suden’s understanding, turn around and claim it didn’t apply to Musashi as a whole?

The Musashi Vice President briefly froze before responding.

“I am Musashi’s Vice President. I have the right to choose for Musashi. My decisions are Musashi’s decisions. And you are treating me as a representative of the Far East, aren’t you?”

“Testament. But you have a superior – the Chancellor and President. Does he agree?”

“So that’s it, hm?” said the Musashi Vice President, opening a sign frame.

''A giant anteater!? Nice! I don’t have anything like that since I quit being pope. Nice!'' And while Suden was thinking “nice” twice…

“Hey, idiot. The little pope wants us to obey her. I was planning to agree since arguing would be a pain, but what do you say?”

…''You could at least try to hide your rebelliousness!

She had guts. Once she was under Suden’s protection, Suden would work her as hard as she used to the different committee heads.

But the response came quick.

“Hm? What? So she’s one of those ‘rely on me’ types? Sounds fun!”

''Fun?'' thought Suden, but she chose to nod in agreement.

And the Musashi Vice President spoke with the sign frame still floating next to her.

“Judge. So this means we’re now working for you and we’re going to do the history recreation of the Buke Shohatto, right? Okay? No going back now.”

“You sure are insistent.”

Whatever the case, they had submitted to Suden and left this matter in her hands.

She used her next words to confirm this fact. ''I won’t let them turn it around on me.

“Testament. Agreed. I will place you under my protection.”

“You will? That’s a relief.” The Musashi Vice President smiled and tapped the sign frame next to her. “A huge relief. After all, this means she’ll protect us from the blame and harassment we’re bound to receive when you inevitably screw up the history recreation and it’s declared null and void. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“Ohh,” said the idiot on the Musashi Vice President’s sign frame. “That sounds fun! Little pope, it’s okay if we make you cry, right!?”

“Damn youuuu!!”

○

'''Silver Wolf:''' “See, this is why I shouted ‘Masazumi’ to try and stop you…”

'''Gold Mar:''' “No one who knew us would agree to place us under their protection.”

'''Circle Be:''' “But didn’t you do something similar when you and the Papa Schola were tearing down each other’s arguments at Mikawa?”

'''Vice President:''' “Judge. But the conditions were different here. Suden doesn’t hide the power she wields as much as the Papa Schola does, so we might’ve been in trouble if she had been at Mikawa.”

●

“Now,” said Masazumi. “Let’s do this, Ishin Suden. If you try to use your authority to twist the Buke Shohatto, we’ll do everything we can under your protection to trip you up and give you a very bad day.”

“How bad a day!?”

“Well, I’ll omit the details, but let’s just say it would make you a stain on the pages of history. And we’ll make sure everyone knows.”

“Do you really think you can do that!?”

Masazumi raised the sign frame, which showed the nudist (who was back to his normal appearance) holding three ‘Asama Shrine Mud Pack – 1 Sho’ bottles between his thighs.

“Now, let’s get that skin nice and warm! Oh, Horizon! Wait! Don’t push!”

“What are you planning!?” shouted Suden.

“I don’t know myself,” said Masazumi. “So what will it be? We will interfere with your actions at any hour of the day, ruin everything you try to do, and rewrite whatever you say.”

“Are you saying you will defy the history recreation!?”

“Defy it? Perish the thought. Like I said, I’m an unprepared coward. So it’s all under your protection. …Which means whatever happens is your responsibility.”

“You have guts, I’ll give you that!”

Suden bared her teeth in a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you I couldn’t make a decision on my own?”

“Then.” Suden swung her right hand. “None of you are to act on your own decisions until I grant you permission! That is an order!”

●

Asama looked to her sign frame.

When Masazumi had directed the footage their way, she had used Tsukinowa to send a message. A brief instruction was written there, but…

…''Is this really a good idea?

Her mouth twisted into what might have been a look of exasperation or absurdity, but when she looked to him…

“Let’s do it! This could be fun!”

“This will only shut off the pathway and your individual protection settings will remain intact, so please don’t do anything too crazy.”

Asama sighed once. She was honestly fairly curious herself as she called up the approval button onto a sign frame and pressed it with her authority as a representative of the Asama Shrine.

“Musashi bridge – full area sync. Halt all ship movements.”

●

The first thing that happened across the Musashi’s eight ships was a change in the air.

Everything around the Musashi turned white and that white scattered as if being stripped away from without.

“Oh…”

Everyone on the ship cried out.

What was more a chilly atmospheric wave than a gust of wind flowed in from the area around the Musashi.

The wind groaned like a settling house and the responding motion came from within the ship.

As if resisting the chilly atmospheric wave, the ship’s interior atmosphere was pressurized by the arriving chill and burst out, primarily from the atrium parks.

The mist created by the temperature and humidity differences seemed to erupt from the atrium spaces at the center of each ship and elsewhere across the ships.

The mobile barriers used to withstand atmospheric pressure changes were already closing.

The wind crashed into them, spiraled around, blasted upwards, and the eight ships shook like a wave had struck them.

None of it ended there.

The Musashi’s nightscape vanished. Starting with the bridge and the various shrines, the city lights vanished.

The darkness of the night arrived, dyeing the white and black ship in non-daylight colors.

Then the tremor arrived. This one wasn’t from the impact of the wind.

The virtual ocean surrounding the ship vanished as the wind struck it. If it didn’t return, the massive ship would lose its buoyancy.

Which was precisely what happened.

The gentle tremor of pressing down on the ocean atmosphere below caused everyone to shake as the 8km ship began to fall.

It didn’t fall straight down. The Musashi was shaped like a boat.

First, the 1st port and starboard ships took a course forward and down, as if they had lightly thrown themselves.

The 2nd and 3rd ships were dragged along with them. By then, the 1st and 2nd central ships were following too.

There was noise. Not even the atmospheric buffering was active. After losing all power in the sky, the massive structure continued to lose altitude while it pressed down on the atmosphere and produced a low rumbling.

●

“What is that I hear from the northern sky? Is the atmosphere splitting?”

The Reine des Garous was not in the forest. She was on the grounds of their mansion which included an orchard.

On a certain person’s request, they had shifted the site of their lets-letsing from the forest to this mansion.

And when she poked her head out from the farming hut with a blanket draped over her to check on the noise, she noticed a signe cadre open next to her face. It came from the Chancellor’s Officers’ 1st Special Duty Team.

“Vice Chancellor! Something’s happening with the Musashi out at sea!”

The hurried voice provided hurried words.

“All of its ships have stopped moving! They have all taken a descending trajectory!”

“My,” she said, imagining the scene. “So after their loop-the-loop, they have decided to mimic a free-fall ride!?”

“Lou Garou-san, I don’t think that’s what this is.”

She nodded at the voice spoken from atop the blanket placed over the straw in the hut to act as a bed.

“Yes, a free fall may be too rough. Then how about we go for a ‘reverse coaster’ this time if you know what I mean?”

●

“Damn you!”

Suden realized what was happening.

She had told them ''not to move'' until she gave permission, so they had ''stopped moving''.

The wind was racing by in the sky to either side and the atmosphere was rising up into the heavens. She could feel her body gradually slanting backwards, toward the bow.

The deck pushed up below her feet. If that grew much stronger, she would start to float.

“Nice!” Her honest thoughts left her mouth. “Even cowards are worthy of respect when they take it this far! You’re going to claim the entire Far East had to stop because I was speaking to a representative of the Far East, aren’t you!?”

“Your praise honors me,” said the Musashi Vice President without so much as a smile. But Suden was nothing but smiles.

“Interesting! So after using everyone else, you fear being used yourselves!? Why is that!?”

“Because we’ve been used enough already.”

“Hah! But isn’t that how international politics works!? If you want to avoid it, then you need power! It was because the Musashi won the Armada Battle that you could control that history recreation!”

“And our enemies are trying to defeat us ''so they can control a new history recreation''.”

“Oh, you know the future? Why fear a future that hasn’t even happened yet!?”

“This is not a future that has yet to happen,” said the Musashi Vice President. “It is a fact we created. And as a fact, it will happen if the conditions are right.”

“Why!?”

“Judge,” said the Musashi Vice President. “Cowards seek salvation. But not because they have succumbed to difficulty or fear. They want a way to fight back against their difficulties and fears. Catholicism acts as a weapon to that end. A weapon of support. But once a coward loses that weapon, they must resist on their own. Yesterday’s cowards become tomorrow’s resistance.”

“Then what does the future hold!? If your resistance is a fact, then what does tomorrow bring!?”

The Musashi Vice President inhaled. And…

“Only those who resist today can be tomorrow’s victors. Am I wrong, Urban VIII?”

●

Mitotsudaira heard a “ha ha ha” of laughter.

Her feet were already beginning to lift from the deck and everything in the air around her was roaring upwards, but…

…''She’s tough!

This had to be a first for Suden, yet she showed no fear. She knew full well that this was all a negotiation.

“Tomorrow’s victors, huh!? Yes, a nice turn of phrase! That is no different from how cowards insist they will change their ways ‘tomorrow’ but never do! Is that how you can endlessly resist in the face of eternal defeat, Far Eastern Representative!?” Suden raised her right hand. “I was Urban VIII yesterday! I am Ishin Suden today! Then what will I be tomorrow!?”

“Being a victor doesn’t come from your name. If it did, we never could have won at Mikawa.”

“Must you argue with everything I say!?”

“We are today’s resistance.” Masazumi raised her right hand. “For us tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and every other day is ‘today’. Do you get what that means?”

“Do you intend to end my history recreation with resistance?”

“If you stay with us.”

Suden sucked in a breath at that. And she looked Masazumi in the eye.

“––––”

''Eh?'' thought Masazumi.

…''What did I say?

Subtle movements of Suden’s lips formed a definite word in the wind. No, Masazumi clearly heard the word. Or she thought she did. Maybe she didn’t actually hear the sound, but she still sensed something reaching her.

…''A word I know?

What was it? She tried to search her brains, but she couldn’t think of any word that fit both Suden and Musashi and she failed to find the answer. What had Suden said? And before she could try further…

“God, you’re such a stubborn coward!”

“I do try to be flexible. What with who our leader is and all.”

“He is the most stubborn of you all!”

''That’s true enough,'' thought Masazumi just as Suden raised her voice again.

“Start up the Musashi! And from here on, I grant you the right of freedom while under my protection! You are free to act beyond my commands!”

Listen.

“Tomorrow’s victors belong to me! Which means I win this debate!”

●

“Papa Schola! We have word that Urban VIII has defeated Musashi!”

“Former boy…that woman has never achieved anything less than victory, has she?”

“Testament, she is such a pain. I have so many bad memories of her. Don’t you? Hm?

“But whatever,” added the Papa Schola, shifting diagonally in his seat and taking a breath.

He pointed at the international relations head standing at the entrance.

“My former upperclassman has made herself useful. She even made good use of my recommendation. But do everything necessary to make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. Also, call in the Catholic Representative Collaboration Team. I would like to contact the Testament Union and set a countermeasure in motion.”

He lifted the corner of his mouth and sighed.

“Honestly, to think my first collaboration with my former upperclassman would result in this minor harassment! I’m sure it will come to light soon enough, but Musashi will have to figure that out on their own, don’t you think? Hm?”

○

''Wow…'' said Adele, realizing an exasperated breath had left her throat.

“I remember thinking something bad had happened to the Musashi, but I didn’t realize it was quite that bad.”

“All of the Musashi’s ships did actually need to be rebooted to fix some errors after the Armada Battle, so we took care of that there. We were planning to do it after arriving at IZUMO, but since we were banned from docking there, that got delayed and the errors were beginning to accumulate.”

“That’s right,” said the 6th Special Duty Officer. She had been on duty in the engine division back then. “We made full use of the gravitational thrusters during the Armada Battle and we even did a flip. The Musashi wasn’t even remotely designed to do that, so it caused a significant number of errors in the OS and various smaller programs. So the reboot was necessary to fix issues on the software side rather than the hardware side.”

“Oh, sorry for making you do that flip then…”

That said, it sounded like they had summed things up pretty well. But…

“What happened with Ishin Suden-san after that?”

The Vice President nodded and then shrugged.

“Two unexpected groups arrived. Although after the fact, it would be clear we already had the answer at this point.”

●

''It’s all going to happen tomorrow,'' thought Masazumi.

“We can talk tomorrow evening at four. Let’s meet at…”

The earlier attack bothered her. She wondered who had arranged it.

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Given the timing, can’t we assume it was arranged by Ishin Suden?”

'''Vice President:''' “I do have questions, but somewhere out of reach would still be best.”

“In that case,” came a voice via divine transmission.

'''Asama:''' “What about our shrine? I can ensure your safety there. And with a spell barrier in place, no one will be able to see in from the outside.”

Masazumi had no problem with that, but Ishin Suden might.

She looked to Suden because she would have heard Asama’s suggestion too.

“The Asama Shrine, huh? I had hoped to visit it as a tourist, so I can kill two birds with one stone.”

“Then, let’s go with that,” said Masazumi, bringing the conversation to an end. But just then…

“C’mon now, Masazumi. A little warning would be nice before you perform a stunt like that.”

A voice reached her while descending the stairs from the academy. The deep male voice belonged to…

“Principal Sakai.”

“Judge. I too am here for a report concerning the previous reboot of the Musashi. Over.”

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    | [[Horizon:GT3 Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
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