Editing Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 9 (section)

==Chapter 9: Companion on the Path Forward==
[[File:Horizon10A_p0275.jpg|thumb]]
''Old friendship

''Childhood friendship

''Old acquaintance

''Bonds

''And all such things

''Are taken with us

'''Point Allocation (Unifying Force)

●

The Reine des Garous sighed.

She was outside, seated on a log chair in front of her candy house and sipping hot water from a cup.

Her husband leaned out from one of the candy house’s windows with a cup of his own.

“How is it going, Mrs. Loup-Garou?”

“Testament. I’m not willing to simplify things to the point of saying this battle will determine the fate of humankind. But…”

“But?”

“Well,” she started before realizing this time, place, and person did not demand a strict answer.

…''I am not acting as Vice Chancellor here.

“While I did come here to check the shed, it is also a comfortable place.”

“It really is. And it isn’t like I can keep up with all those complex topics anyway.”

“You listen to what I say and you will talk about yourself and me.”

It was such a natural thing, but also such an important one.

But perhaps she had recently developed a bad habit of overthinking things.

So for now, she reached a hand toward the candy house’s wall.

“Would you like something?”

“One of the white ones sounds good.”

“Oh? Not your usual.”

She stood up, removed a piece of the wafer wall and stripped off two wafers from it. She also removed a chocolate bar and placed it between the wafers.

“Now.”

She squeezed the result between her hands to compress it. The heat from the pressure stuck the wafers and chocolate together.

“In the Awesome Commanders Chocolattle they sold on the Musashi, I heard your card was High Mother-of-Pearl, but I never got that one.”

“Oh, then you can have this.”

Her husband ducked back inside the window and then returned, holding out his wallet. It was his own rather than their shared couple’s wallet. When she gave him a questioning look, he said “go ahead” with a smile.

She blushed a bit at the moon and wolf leatherwork decorating the long wallet, but in addition to holding money, it contained a pocket for emergency-use charms and such.

“Oh?”

That pocket contained a Super Mother-of-Pearl card depicting a cartoony version of her.

“When did you get this?”

“While I was on Tama watching you chase after Nate for her gym class.”

“My, that was when I went belowdecks and hit the Musashi’s bridge with a transport ship, wasn’t it? …Oh, dear. Why does the description on the back call me ‘one sexy momma!’?”

“Because you’re so cool.”

She could only laugh at that.

“Next time I’m on the Musashi, I need to really try.”

“I think they have them of Nate and her friends too,” he said as he took the wafers and chocolate sandwich from her.

He raised the black held between layers of white in front of the moons that had descended pretty far to the west.

“I just know something very happy is happening.”

“It won’t be easy for Nate and her friends though.”

“Testament,” he agreed. “But knowing why they’re fighting makes us happy.”

“Even though we might forget about each other?”

“I don’t think we’ll go wrong even if we forget. At least I won’t when it comes to you.”

“My,” she said, kissing him as he leaned out the window. “If I don’t want anyone else taking you away from me, I’ll just have to capture you and wait for that moment to come.”

And they both looked to the east.

“Now, I hope they can all fight without worrying about it all. You might lose a lot, but you are fighting for the ability to leave even more behind.”

●

Kiyomasa stood on the bow of the Azuchi’s front central ship.

Sakon stood guard behind her and Fukushima stood next to her, looking toward the Musashi.

The Musashi was not currently firing on them. Partially because this had already become a battle of speed, but it wasn’t even aiming its secondary cannons this way.

“They must want to avoid the power fluctuations and other effects of firing their secondary cannons,” said Fukushima.

“Can our attacks reach them?”

There was a gap of around 12km between them. That was within artillery range. But…

“We are both already accelerating and taking a somewhat curving course in order to reach Mikawa. Firing would effect us the same it would them, so we are still not in firing range as pursuers.”

“But we have to hit them at least once,” said Sakon.

“Testament,” agreed Kiyomasa and a lernen figur opened next to her.

It displayed Mitsunari.

“Sorry for doing this via divine transmission. Mitsunari here. I am a bit busy and have most of my bodies working on other tasks, so I can’t send one there. Are you alright, Kiyomasa-san? Do you need Ootani-kun?”

“Absolutely not,” insisted Sakon.

'''Super Justice:''' “Was that an insult!?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Oh, Mitsunari-kun! Everything is ready, so we need you at the central maintenance station.”

Mitsunari really did sound busy. But she had a reason for contacting the group here:

“We will be attempting to establish all of this as the Battle of Yamazaki. Kiyomasa-san, I know your Caledfwlch has one shot left, so please be ready to launch it at any time. Depending on how things go, you may need to fire it on your own discretion.”

“Maybe I should have used it when Fukushima-sama cleared out the enemy counterattack earlier.”

Thinking back, that was the moment when she could have targeted the Musashi from the shortest distance.

Her plan had been to use Caledfwlch as a counterattack against Musashi’s counterattack. Fukushima had arrived and used Ichinotani to clear her field of fire.

But the Musashi had predicted their actions and left.

When she realized that, she had checked to see which direction the Musashi was headed, but she should have immediately fired Caledfwlch then.

…''That’s a bad habit of mine.

You could call it defensive thinking. She would instinctually check to see what her opponent was doing.

Fukushima would have behaved differently. She would have instantly chosen to attack and Musashi’s attempted Iga Crossing would already have been stopped. But…

“Kiyo-dono,” said Fukushima. “Instead of thinking about shooting when thou should have shot, thou should think about hitting when thou should hit.”

“But earlier…”

“That was when I needed to shoot. But…”

But…

“That was not when thou needed to hit. Thou are not one to pursue a fleeing opponent.”

●

''Oh,'' thought Kiyomasa. She knew she shouldn’t be thinking this here, but…

…''Fukushima-sama doesn’t see me as someone who chases after a fleeing opponent

What did that mean? She could figure that out by applying the idea to their relationship.

…''S-so she really wasn’t trying to keep her distance from me.

Kiyomasa couldn’t believe this.

She was on the front line of the battlefield, but her brain was a little too much on the front line.

●

…''Flowers?

Onitakemaru saw flowers scattering in the turbulent wind.

Blossoms of ether light. They failed to keep their floral shape, so mere shards of light danced in the windy waves as they flew astern.

The light came from Kiyomasa. Reviewing his memory as a mobile shell, he could recall seeing her surrounded by ether light from time to time, but this was the first time it had taken a recognizable form like this.

“Is she part spirit?”

P.A. Oda’s records said she was half-spirit. It wasn’t really worth checking, but scattering this type of flower was unusual for Far Eastern spirits. Most Far Eastern spirits that scattered flowers would scatter tree flowers like cherry, plum, or camellia blossoms. 

Kiyomasa must have noticed him watching because she spoke to him.

“I inherited that from my mother. As for my father…who can say.”

The way she said that made it sound like he hadn’t been a great father.

Onitakemaru found himself wondering how he himself had rated there. And…

“She must have been a wonderful mother.”

The words slipped out and Kiyomasa turned to face him. Her eyebrows were raised in what looked like surprise, but she soon formed a smile instead.

“Testament. I am proud to have her as a mother.”

But Onitakemaru noticed something about what she said.

…''She’s lying.

She was proud of her mother, but that didn’t mean the woman had been a good mother.

Kiyomasa didn’t want to think about her father and she was proud of her mother but couldn’t bring herself to think of her as a good mother.

Those Spears all seemed to have a complicated background.

“Yoritomo-sama, what is it?” asked Fukushima.

He considered the question. Was this the appropriate time to say something to her? It probably was, but he had found speaking to be a pain ever since he became a mobile shell.

…''Wandering around the divine net is a lot more fun!

He felt like this had turned him into a shut-in who couldn’t come out of his mobile shell, but he did find it interesting how data on everything up until his resurrection had been included in here. But at the same time, these modern girls were just as hard to handle as the “modern” girls from back when he still had a body. He was also constantly surprised by the speed and intensity of their reactions.

This was a good example. He wasn’t sure what it meant for Fukushima to speak up just as Kiyomasa had fallen silent, but…

“Well. I was just thinking you all are in a complicated position.”

He said it. Fukushima and Kiyomasa exchanged a glance. They were wrinkling their brows a little, which made him think he may have given the wrong reaction here. But then he heard a voice.

“Um, Onitakemaru-san?”

“What?”

“I think you’re in the most complicated position of us all.”

●

'''Super Justice:''' “A shogun inherits the names of Yoritomo through Sanetomo and then is resurrected from death to live on as a mobile shell. That’s more than just complicated – it’s downright incomprehensible.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Coming back from the dead as a middle school girl’s mobile shell and lecturing her day after day sounds like something from a movie.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “And that middle school girl dies a lot.”

'''Kohime:''' “Let’s not forget that the guy living in the mobile shell died falling from his horse and from being being assassinated, so he’s really careless.”

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Damn you all!”

●

''They seem to be having fun out there,'' thought Mitsunari.

She currently had a triple digit number of her copies spread throughout the Azuchi doing various jobs and manning the central maintenance station she was heading to now.

She was busy. But she couldn’t let her business lead to jealousy of the other Ten Spears, Sakon, and the others chatting and joking on the deck.

With Hashiba gone, she was effectively in charge.

''I need to stay strong,'' she thought, slapping her cheeks to mimic Hashiba and sending ether light scattering from her. And seeing that…

…''My fuel!

''Such a waste! Such a terrible waste!

''How can humans use such a wasteful way of psyching themselves up!?

That aside, she walked down the ship’s corridor, feeling refocused, when a familiar face walked up from the opposite direction. It was Ootani. For once, he wasn’t in reduced form. He was in his full form used for field work.

“Ootani-kun.”

“Oh, Mitsunari-kun? Where are you headed?”

A lernen figur appeared by his face as he asked.

“The central maintenance station? To deal with Takenaka-sama’s request, I assume?”

“That was fast.”

He was a virus. He had not gone through the proper channels to gather that data. He had slipped right past the Azuchi’s security to pull it out of the data bank. And now it was her turn to ask a question.

“Where are you going?”

“The external cannons. I must fix up the control system, but each cannon has strict security and I decided it would be faster to visit them directly,” he said. “If you ask me, everyone leaves too much work with you.”

“Ootani-kun, you once told me to become greater than you so I could lead the Hashiba forces. Do you remember that?”

“I did say that. But I only meant you should become greater than the prototype version of yourself you were at the time. Hashiba-sama went through a lot as well, but you should avoid putting yourself through the same pressure.”

“But Hashiba-sama is gone now.”

“True…”

Ootani stopped for a moment. As a fellow data entity, Mitsunari could tell he was uncertain what to say. Then he crossed his arms in front of her and shook his head twice before speaking.

“You need not become Hashiba-sama. I ask that you remember that.”

“I couldn’t become her if I tried.”

“That isn’t what I-”

As Ootani tried to protest, she reached out her hands and grabbed his face.

He pulled back a bit as if to ask what she was doing, but she peeled back the wrapped paper made of ether light to reveal his mask-like true face.

He had revealed this a few times before, but…

“If I could become Hashiba-sama, I could create a proper face for you. Because I am sure she had a face in mind for you.”

●

Mitsunari looked up at Ootani who had been created on the same foundation as her.

Her gaze saw what could be thought of as his face.

It was a somewhat curved panel. A thick crescent moon line vaguely resembling a smile formed a large mouth and another formed a left eye. The two curves were facing each other, but they did not move.

It looked like a mask, but that was his real face. The usual wrapped paper of ether light was meant for defense.

“Ootani-kun, you’re so accustomed to living on the divine net that you leak far too much ether fuel without the wrapped paper in place, don’t you?”

“I gained a slight tendency toward leakage after the Mito Lord hit me with that home run in Kantou. That is why I nearly died in the Aki sea.”

“Oh, that,” she said with a slight smile and Ootani tapped himself on the head.

“Mitsunari-kun, Hashiba-sama was very busy and never got around to me, but I am fine like this.”

“You are?”

“Testament,” he said, taking a step back. Her hands slipped away and he was a bit too far away to reach out again, so she kept them like that.

“Mitsunari-kun, if you become like Hashiba-sama, I imagine you would become just as busy as she was and similarly neglect me.”

That did seem logical. And if so…

“When would you ever get a proper face then?”

“Probably after the major fighting was over. A virus like me would have no use at that point, so you would likely have time to create a face for me then. And…”

He put his hands on his hips.

“I am the prototype. You are the official model. With the superior version making my face, I will undoubtedly end up with the better face! Mitsunari-kun, you must ask for a retake or updated version then. I look forward to it!”

“You take the weirdest things so seriously…”

But it wasn’t a bad idea. For now…

“We need to win here.”

“Testament. That is correct. So I will be going.”

Ootani raised his hand in parting. They both had jobs to do.

The parting action showed just how much they had learned from humanity. Mitsunari returned the action and recalled it was Hashiba who had taught her to do that. And while facing how busy she would soon be, she spoke to Ootani.

“The rest of the Ten Spears are stationed around the ship, but try not to get in their way too much.”

“They approach me even when I try to keep to myself!”

''Does that popularity of his surprise me because I’m out of touch?'' she wondered just as the lernen figur next to her displayed two instructions.

The first was to her, telling her to hurry to the central maintenance station. The other was directed to everyone.

“So Takenaka-sama is beginning negotiations with Musashi!”

●

'''Kimee:''' “What does Takenaka have to tell Musashi?”

'''6:''' “Stop right this instant and let us attack you?”

'''AnG:''' “I love how direct you are, Shouroku. It’s so cool!”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Um, I seriously doubt she will put it like that.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Their reaction would probably be amusing, but it would make my stomachache much worse.”

●

'''Musashi:''' “Masazumi-sama? The Azuchi has sent a direct divine transmission request for you. What will you do? Over.”

'''Vice President:''' “Yeah, I had a feeling that would be coming soon.”

'''Art-Ga:''' “Huh? Are you negotiating? Over what?”

'''Smoking Girl:''' “Stop right this instant and scuttle the Azuchi?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “You can be really direct sometimes, Masa.”

'''Scarred:''' “Um, Lady Masazumi? You won’t put it like that, will you?”

'''Vice President:''' “It would be easier if I could just say that, but I bet it would come back to bite me if I did.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Also, this is over as long as we can get away, so are you really going to talk?”

●

Takenaka saw “Azuchi” nod a few times into the lernen figur before turning her way.

“How’d it go!?”

“Azuchi” swung her head downwards. Her red hair danced in the wind.

“They said, ‘We are a greengrocer. Are you sure you contacted the right person?’ Shaja.”

●

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Greengrocerrrrrrrrrr!!”

'''10ZO:''' “Oh? She’s contacting us directly?”

'''Novice:''' “I get it! You’re continuing the bit we started during the Kantou meeting! Yes, that’s it. In that case, you must want to battle my New Seventh Fleet.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Fwoooooooooo, kaboooooom! There, your New Seventh Fleet was blown away by a dragon line reactor explosion! And that’s the end of that!”

'''Novice:''' “Huh!? Did you not consider what’s so ‘new’ about my New Seventh Fleet!? It’s cause they have a spell barrier! That should be obvious!”

'''Vice President:''' “I see. And that spell ''bare rear'' meant the stern was vulnerable to attack from the dragon line reactor.”

●

“Azuchi” watched as Takenaka shouted into the insha kotob before being blasted backwards.

“Wahhhh! Takenaka-sama! What did they do to you!? Shaja.”

“D-dammit! Their Vice President’s attack caught me off guard so soon after their Secretary’s bizarre comment! Can I just give up on negotiating?”

'''6:''' “Get up and do your job.”

'''The Boy:''' “Hachisuka-san! You do a great impression of a kid who doesn’t know how hard it is to be an adult!”

'''Majority Rule:''' “Katagiri-kun, Koroku-chan is still young enough to be in the first year of middle school and to need me to accompany her to the late-night arcade because she can’t go on her own.”

'''AnG:''' “Not many teachers can pull off such an obnoxious level of ‘above-it-all-ness’, Ishikawa-chan…”

''Oh, Ishikawa-san is on,'' thought Takenaka, getting up.

She couldn’t join in the conversation much since she had to focus on controlling the ship. But…

“Takenaka-sama, I have captured their divine transmission line. There is severe interference and fluctuation, but we are all working to counterattack those things with our warship-level interception protections and spells. So you will still be able to communicate with them. Shaja.”

“Okay, then I’ll continue the divine transmission.”

After “Azuchi” shajaed and bowed, Takenaka grabbed her insha kotob with both hands.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Okay, let’s try this again! …You, Musashi Vice President! You can’t get away! We’ve locked onto your divine transmission source!”

'''Greengrocer:''' “Business hours have ended. Please try again tomorrow.”

''So that’s what they are going with!'' thought “Azuchi”, feeling unusually impressed for an automaton.

●

''Damn them!'' mentally growled Takenaka.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Greengrocerrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

She had lived a fairly long life, but never before had she shouted that word so many times in a single day. And she doubted she ever would again. ''I usually eat out, after all.

But she knew that was actually the Musashi Vice President. Thus…

…''I’m not letting her get away!

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I warn you, Musashi! You are violating the history recreation!”

'''Art-Ga:''' “Wait! Are you anthropomorphizing the history recreation as a cute girl there!?”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Ga-chan, Ga-chan, we’re on the move, so try to focus.”

Takenaka wasn’t sure what that was about, but she could tell they didn’t understand her.

So she explained.

…''There is a part of Musashi’s Iga Crossing that will not work!

To prove it, she switched Three Thousand Worlds from data search/inspection mode to presentation mode. She had it create 300-odd pages of explanation and then compressed that to about 5 pages per pattern.

She pointed at “Azuchi”, pointed at the explanatory screens, and made a “can you send those over?” gesture.  “Azuchi” nodded, so Takenaka gave her a “do it” gesture. “Azuchi” nodded deeply and…

“––––”

She fired the front central ship’s main cannon at the Musashi.

●

'''Black Wolf:''' “Oh, dear.”

'''Llaf:''' “Takenaka-sama! Are thou sure this was a good time to attack!?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Wait, whaaaat!? I didn’t realize I was such a poor communicator!”

'''Kohime:''' “Eh? Huh, what? I was peeking inside the main cannon to see what was inside and now I think it’s thirty seconds later?”

'''Onitakemaru:''' “Collect me already! That would have been bad if I hadn’t been blown away by the blast!”

'''Super Justice:''' “I feel like Kasuya-sama’s response was low-key the worst one!”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “ ‘Azuchi’! The gesture for fire the cannon goes like ''this''! Like ''this''!”

'''Azuchi:''' “No, in our last meeting, we established that to mean ‘there is a cat up ahead, so be careful’. Firing the cannon was ''this'', ''this'', and then ''this''. Shaja.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “No, that was means ‘hit them’ during a sports tournament, which is a lot similar in meaning, but I really don’t think it’s the same. So I thought it was ''this'', ''this'', and then ''this''.”

'''Kimee:''' “Hey, could you make this a little more sensible for the rest of us?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Ah! I was telling you to post these screens on the divine chat so I could get Musashi to understand what I’m talking about! Can you do that, ‘Azuchi’!?”

'''Azuchi:''' “When my divine transmission system is linked to another ship, only real-time text data is allowed through to prevent data leaks, Takenaka-sama. …But this does solve the mystery. You were asking for something not accounted for by my duties, so I interpreted it as a similar gesture and fired the cannon. So in conclusion, I did nothing wrong. Shaja.”

'''6:''' “Just do your jobs.”

'''AnG:''' “I’ve gotta agree with Shouroku this time.”

●

The Musashi had blocked the artillery blast with defense barriers, but the attack from the Azuchi had required a rapid response.

Defense barriers had been shifted astern, Suzu had directed the observation sensors, and Righteousness, Urquiaga, and others with high aerial mobility had been sent out.

The Technohexen had been mostly stationed on the sides of the rear ships instead of the stern, but an attack like this had been predicted and so Naito, Naruze, and some others had been traveling through the blowing wind in a transport ship.

“What!? Did the Azuchi suddenly decide to start something?”

“Firing when their power output is still in flux must mean they’re serious.”

While others gave their opinions, Greengrocer Masazumi frowned.

“Damn! Are they intent on turning this into a fight no matter what!?”

●

'''Kimee:''' “Simply put, does this mean we’re really in a fight now?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Hmm, we’re flying above P.A. Oda territory right now, so I’d really prefer to wait until we’re in the Mikawa region to start blasting each other.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “What happened to high damage, high return?”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “That would be high damage to our territory with no high return.”

'''The Boy:''' “If we can stop the Musashi’s Iga Crossing through negotiation, we can simply move elsewhere afterwards.”

'''AnG:''' “Huh? Take, I thought you were a high damage junkie who always chooses the high damage option if it will get the same result.”

'''Kuro-Take:''' “I-I won’t choose it if it doesn’t provide a high return! I hope I’ve cleared up this flagrant misunderstanding regarding my character!”

'''Kimee:''' “Battle does have a way of revealing who people really are.”

'''Black Wolf:''' “You make that sound philosophical, but that isn’t what happened here.”

●

Masazumi crossed her arms in a “well, this could have gone better” way.

'''Musashi:''' “What should we do, Masazumi-sama? Shall we return fire? Over.”

'''Vice President:''' “No, our Iga Crossing began as soon as we departed. The Matsudaira force completes the Iga Crossing unharmed, so we need to focus on defense even if they attack.”

'''Worshiper:''' “Wait. Does defending not count as engaging them in battle?”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “Judge. If we don’t fight back, we can politically claim we ‘never clearly engaged them in battle’.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “For example, if we claim we were ‘opening defense barriers as part of our training and they just so happened to hit some stray shots that wouldn’t have hit us otherwise’, they’ll have a hard time proving otherwise.”

'''Horizey:''' “But, Masazumi-sama! You attacked them with the Masazumi Cannon earlier, so won’t they claim that was us fighting back!?”

'''Vice President:''' “So have you settled on a name for it now!?”

But even as they discussed this, the enemy was speaking to them.

Having this overheard would honestly be a pain, but the Azuchi had a lock on Musashi’s divine transmissions.

'''Vice President:''' “Can we not fully cut ourselves off from the divine net?”

'''Musashi:''' “I have determined the lock cannot be broken unless we cut the divine transmission connections between ships and make an exception for wireless divine transmissions. Shall we do so? Over.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “But when we were jammed by spell charms during the Armada Battle, we couldn’t use any of the automata. Won’t the same happen here?”

'''Musashino:''' “No, this would be different. We would still be able to use our shared memory within each ship, but communication between ships would not be possible. It would also require severing the sharing of divine protections through the ether conduits, so it would be temporarily impossible to control the Musashi as a single entity. Over.”

“Temporarily impossible to control, hm?”

That would mean losing their current speed.

'''Vice President:''' “Mukai, how far do you expect our speed would drop and could the Azuchi catch up?”

'''Bell:''' “It won’t work.”

Suzu didn’t need to think about it.

'''Bell:''' “They might catch up…even at our current speed.”

●

Urquiaga heard confusion coming from the group.

The divine net on his sign frame had been full of optimism before, but that changed once they arrived at the stern.

“It looks to me like the Azuchi has been catching up,” said Narumi, who had changed into a Far Eastern inner suit and now stood with him atop Oume’s stern bridge.

But some still hadn’t grasped the reality the two of them could see.

'''Flat Vassal:''' “It’s true they have more power than us, but aren’t they heavier? And you say they’re still noticeably catching up?”

'''Circle Be:''' “Have they entered our air current?”

'''Uqui:''' “Exactly. It seems you understand that transport ships are linked together to improve fuel efficiency.”

“Judge,” replied Narumi.

'''Unturning:''' “The Musashi is currently tearing through the atmosphere as it flies. It leaves thinner air in its wake while also creating a large scale air current that circles around the ship and wraps in behind it. By entering that air current, the Azuchi does not need to tear through the thick atmospheric wall and it is given a speed boost by the wrapping air current.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “You mean…?”

'''Laborer:''' “So it’s like how Persona-kuna has a hard time charging in with Raging Beast, but we have an easy time following after him!!”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Judge. And the Adele Hammer was developed to give us all an easy time in a more repeatable way.”

'''Flat Vassal:''' “That was not ‘developed’. And it’s used more for pure destruction than for charging!”

“Leave it to the original ballast to be particular about the wording,” said Narumi, but was their a non-original ballast?

''But Adele sometimes forgets her duty,'' thought Urquiaga.

…''This is the problem with girls who lack younger siblings.

Regardless, the Azuchi was in pursuit.

Mukai would know that thanks to the models on the bridge.

'''Uqui:''' “We cannot fight back, but is there anything else we can do?”

'''Asama:''' “Um, Horizon? Put the monument down. Just put it down, okay?”

'''Art-Ga:''' “Why not fly at low altitude? The shockwave will blast the forest and mountains backwards.”

'''Nagaya-Stable:''' “If you don’t mind an underclassman interrupting, we are still in P.A. Oda territory, so Hashiba can easily claim any destruction of the surface counts as an attack.”

''Then what can we do?'' wondered Urquiaga just before the idiot spoke via divine transmission.

'''Me:''' “Then can we throw trash and debris at them? We just need a justification, right?”

'''Vice President:''' “What justification is there for that?”

'''Me:''' “That’s for you to figure out. Just come up with something that sounds good.”

Masazumi groaned in thought and it appeared in the divine chat as text. And…

'''Vice President:''' “Ookubo. Since you interrupted, I know you can see this.”

●

“Milady! Milady! The Vice President is ordering you to write up a long text about throwing out trash!”

“Go talk to the government offiiiiiiiiiiiiice!”

“Milady! Milady! Write that she should separate the trash appropriately and then rebel! Right now!”

'''Righteousness:''' “Why don’t you just write something and send it?”

●

'''Attention. This notification is for the Azuchi belonging to P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R.

'''We are currently acting as Matsudaira to complete the history recreation of the Iga Crossing which comes after the Honnouji Incident. But you must not forget that, in addition to a trade ship and transport ship, we are also an aerial city ship on which many people live in peace.

As such, we collect trash twice a week.

Yesterday happened to be a trash pickup day, but with yesterday’s battle at Kyou and the Honnouji Incident, trash pickup was unfortunately delayed.

We are truly sorry. While we are partway through a history recreation, we must collect and dispose of the trash to preserve a bare minimum standard of living for our people. At the Musashi’s trash incinerator, the black algae creatures are currently separating the trash as part of System 1, but during a history recreation and due to recent remodeling of the ship’s exterior, the system is overtaxed and piles of debris have formed on the ship.

To assist our history recreation of the Iga Crossing, we must dispose of all unnecessary weight. So as much as we would prefer not to, the Musashi must now dump its trash for the sake of the history recreation. But we must stress that this is not an illegal dumping – it is a necessary act for the history recreation.

We will listen to any complaints sent via the Testament Union, but maybe it’s finally time we rebelled. For real.

●

“Wait, what!? ‘Azuchi’, what is this bizarre message!?”

“Well.” “Azuchi” nodded. “It would appear the author only really meant the first and last lines. Shaja.”

“So they’re going to rebel?”

Meanwhile, a lernen figur appeared next to “Azuchi”. Sent from the Azuchi’s bridge.

“ ‘Azuchi’-sama! Takenaka-sama! Several objects dumped from the Musashi are incoming! Please provide instructions! Shaja!”

●

It was true they had a lot of trash piling up.

So all of the Musashi residents who had nothing else to do or were close to the drop sites worked together to throw the trash and debris backwards.

The Health Committee’s Garbage Collection Team took charge.

They were equipped with leather aprons and mechanical arms for gathering the debris and wore tricorne-style masks that could withstand an incinerator’s heat. Their large team leader stood in the center.

“Your attention please, citizens. We are the Health Committee’s Garbage Collection Team who ensure your everyday lives remain clean. Today we are asking that you assist us with an emergency garbage collection. Yes, these charms have been distributed to each household. When dropped on the ground, they distribute the ley lines to the local gods. The effective range is written on the charms, so once you have attached one to a large piece of debris, please carry it to the stern garbage collection zone. With debris too small for a charm, either bundle it together or place it in a package with a charm attached.”

Door-to-door pickup and communal pickup was completed in a hurry and the each team member’s trip back to their post was used to gather the large debris at the stern relatively quickly.

It began with metal beams and armor panels, but it also included house roofs, floors, and even supply packing materials.

“Okay! It’s time to make a weapon out of my porn mag collection that was pushing up the tatami mats while stacked up below the floor!”

“Sigh, why do I buy things I don’t need like this mirror? Yes, and I can get rid of this simple bed too, can’t I!? Yes, I can! Okay, let’s do this!”

“D-dammit, it’s finally time to say goodbye! I swear you will be my first and last life-size divine figurine…”

After various regrets and farewells were expressed, it was all loaded up as cargo.

“Drop it!”

The team leader slammed a debris-smashing hammer into the floor. That was the signal to launch it all high into the air behind them.

●

“They’re returning fire!!” shouted Takenaka.

At the same time, the warriors scattered across the bows of the Azuchi’s front ships fired into the sky.

The Azuchi’s power was focused on acceleration and control, so it couldn’t be used for this.

They all knew they could never catch up if they dropped in speed now.

“Don’t underestimate us!”

With everyone worn down from Shizugatake, the effort was centered on Kasuya’s nonhuman unit.

There were reasons they were at the front of each ship.

First, Kousaka and Inada, who acted as lieutenants for the nonhuman unit, had the roles of pilots for the history recreation of Hashiba’s Great Return.

Second, the nonhumans had recovered from Shizugatake more quickly.

And third, there was the primary weapon they had used at Shizugatake.

“Time for our special-order nonhuman rifles! You’ve brought the extra large ones meant for use after transformation, right!?”

On the deck of the front port ship, Kousaka spun around in the wind and readied a weapon very different from the ones used by ordinary warriors.

It was big.

Opposite of her, on the bow of the front starboard ship, Inada held his own rifle low.

The ordinary Far Eastern rifle produced by Tanegashima IZUMO used an 8-monme barrel, but theirs used barrels of 20-30 monme, which were ordinarily only used for cannons.

But they had also extended the short stock and a leather sling belt worn around the shoulder to hold it in place at three points.

“Relying on weapons is shameful for a nonhuman, but sometimes that is what the battlefield requires.”

“That is correct,” replied Kasuya on the front central ship’s bow deck. After standing by next to Kiyomasa, she readied Argent Clou and looked straight out.

“Here it comes!”

Brightly reflecting the moonlight shining in from behind them and in the light of the Azuchi’s thrusters, the cloud of garbage looked massive. And it was coming this way. Kasuya raised both arms toward it and then raised her voice.

“I will clear the way!”

●

[[File:Horizon10A_p0307.jpg|thumb]]

It had to be quite close to be visible.

Knowing that, Kasuya moved forward.

At the same time, the gunner unit fired from behind her.

The anti-personnel and anti-materiel gunfire had a shorter range than the Azuchi’s artillery. It would only reach around 3 kilometers at most, which was only about half a body-length away for the 8km-long Azuchi.

The barrage also had to cover the entire front area, including the bottom hull, but…

“…!”

Light burst out ahead.

The gunfire had reached its target and sent its force crashing in rather than piercing through.

“Those are explosive rounds meant for attacking castles!”

●

The rounds would detonate on their own after hitting or after flying a set distance.

During an attack on a castle, they were used to break down the castle wall. They had been developed after the Sack of Magdeburg because it had taken too long to break through the city wall, but since they could only be used in large-caliber guns, they were mostly only used by the nonhuman unit.

They worked by taking a spell bullet which, upon explosion, would release a directional piercing effect and a shockwave.

But to avoid accidents, they had to be fired within a set time after the bullet was set or a safety protection would kick in and neutralize them.

However, the difficulty of setting them and the safety feature were a poor match for nonhuman aggressiveness.

“We can only use these if we’re attacking a castle while completely stable.”

“And yet we need them now. You never do know what will happen on the battlefield!”

Taking a half step back to fight the recoil that felt more like an artillery blast than a gunshot, Kousaka faced forward.

At the center of the force provided by the explosive bullet barrage…

“Go, leader!”

Light leaped from the bow of the front central ship. That was no bullet or shell. It was a spell’s ether light.

It had no attack power itself. It was a boosting protection spell used to reinforce and expand the effects of a different spell.

Normally, that would be used to boost the force of a shell or of a healing spell, but it had been launched out ahead here.

…''To create a path of power!

Sure enough, a wolf strike was launched as if in pursuit.

●

Standing on the bow of the front central ship, Kasuya slammed Argent Clou’s spike into the ether light racing through the air.

It was a rapid strike, and…

“Another one!”

The instantaneously-thrown left combo was already complete.

…''Of course!

When she had fought the Reine des Garous in Kantou, the woman had easily dealt with Kasuya and Kani’s combined attacks. Ever since, Kasuya had been working to increase the speed of her combos. She had added weight to her individual attacks fighting the dragons at Aki and she had combined her speed and power during the Battle of Shizugatake.

So the rest was simple.

“Clear the way, Argent Clou!”

Just as she lowered her left arm that had shot up in a follow through, the sky abruptly opened up.

With a clear sound the leading light tore into the night sky in the shape of a stake tip. And…

“Eat explosive rounds!”

As she completed her follow through and prepared for another attack, the boosted silver nail reached the light reflected off the garbage up ahead and the explosions of the bullets.

The boosting protection had transformed her attack into something much larger and the explosive rounds were also caught by the boosting protection. It all transformed into a single large-scale slash.

“By measuring the quantity and power of the explosive rounds and boosting spells, I could time my attack perfectly!”

This wide-range scattershot was something a ship’s gun could not replicate.

The area of effect was everywhere the gunfire reached.

That meant a width of about a kilometer and a height of 500 meters.

Over a large range continuing back about three kilometers, a glowing slash formed a horizontal line.

“…!”

Dead ahead, the next glowing stake struck.

It sliced open and tore through.

Everyone cried out just before the second Argent Clou attack supplied another boosting protection to all of the explosive rounds.

The bursting din erupted twice as loud.

Ahead, everything was split in all directions and the moonlit garbage vanished.

Beyond it was a colossal but distant shape showing definite thruster light.

The Musashi. It was clearly closer than it had been. So…

“Musashi’s garbage day means nothing to us! If they want to throw trash at us, they can bring it on!”

Immediately, a life-size divine figurine the attacks had missed flew in from the side and crashed into Ootani who was waiting behind Kasuya.

●

'''Black Wolf:''' “Oh, dear.”

'''Super Justice:''' “W-wait, I am not dead! I am still alive, Kasuya-sama!”

'''AnG:''' “But didn’t you just burst there, Tsugy?”

'''Super Justice:''' “That is an expression! Yes, a way of expressing myself! Besides, are you saying I should be dead if I burst!? That makes no sense!”

'''Kohime:''' “Ootani-san, fashionable deaths are not a good idea. You need to really die when you die.”

'''Kimee:''' “I feel like death doesn’t mean much anymore…”

'''Azuchi:''' “Everyone! There is still some trash flying in sporadically, so you all need to watch out! Is that understood!? Shaja!”

●

Kasuya readied her weapons and destroyed the objects flying in from out ahead.

However, the Azuchi did create air currents. The bow and ram punched a hole in the air, which also swept aside any incoming objects. They would all be fine on their own as long as there wasn’t an entire barrage coming like before.

'''Azuchi:''' “Kasuya-sama, if you are at risk, I could use the secondary cannons on either side of the bow. The choice is yours. Shaja.”

Did that mean they had some power to spare now that they were closing in on the Musashi? ''We must be able to manage one shot,'' concluded Kasuya, but even so…

'''Black Wolf:''' “No, we should be able to manage even if there is more. You focus on acceleration so the Musashi cannot escape. Don’t forget that the previous attack was a group effort by us all.”

The previous counterattack had been organized by Kiyomasa who waited by Kasuya’s side.

They had been expecting artillery fire or chaff from the Musashi, so really they were fortunate it had been dumped garbage instead.

Everything had ultimately gone well, but the coordination had been a challenge.

Not only did they need a firing line made up of those large-caliber explosive rounds, but the broad range and chain-reaction explosion meant this was limited to an aerial battle. The number of people needed despite their short range meant the Azuchi’s artillery would have been preferable were they available.

…''Still, they did a good job.

The end result had been impressive, but it was really a collection of anti-personnel and anti-materiel weapons. Launching the boosting protection spell had been the trick there.

Only that one attack had used a cannon.

Of course, they couldn’t afford to use the Azuchi’s power for that. So…

“I didn’t realize even a secondary cannon could be wielded and fired by an individual.”

Kasuya looked back to see a tall mobile shell: Sakon.

●

…''That is a little big for me to carry.

Kasuya viewed the cannon barrel Sakon was carrying. It was one of the spares for the Azuchi’s secondary cannons.

It was a ‘42 88mm antiaircraft gun.

The barrel alone weighed nearly 1.6 tons. It was plastered with weight-reduction transportation spell charms, but those didn’t eliminate the inertial weight and even the downwards weight couldn’t be reduced below 800 kilograms.

The cannon was around 5 meters long, but the rear was large. It only had a firing system attached, but the rear third was a rectangular hunk of metal designed to contain the shell. And without its base, the recoil and everything else went straight into Sakon.

Sakon could stand upright with it in her arms and had even fired it, so her strength and stamina may have been greater than Kasuya’s. Although Kasuya believed she had the greater instantaneous strength.

At the same time, Sakon’s nature was well suited for this role.

…''Not only can she endure the recoil, but she has her regeneration to thank for this.

No matter how great your strength, if you held a heavy object for an extended period of time, the tensing of your arm and the object’s weight would tear your muscle fibers.

But Sakon could instantly regenerate those tears too.

That meant she could produce the most strength the human body could produce from the moment she lifted it to the moment she set it down.

Loup Garous like Kasuya also had excellent regenerative abilities, so she could do something similar. That was why a Loup Garou might grow weary during battle, but their effective strength would not fall. However…

“I can see now how you managed to hold your own against Musashi’s silver wolf.”

“No, no. I was no match for her.”

“But who knows if you try it again now,” said Sakon’s mobile shell.

Kasuya had known him since Aki. They had shared meals and break times together, so he felt different again from the Ten Spears to her.

Was this what it meant to have a friend?

Kasuya smiled a little and then replied.

“I’m not giving her up.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She nodded at the mobile shell’s response and then faced forward.

Some garbage was flying this way, so she knocked it aside and…

…''Oh?

Most of it had been solid objects before, but paper was flying in now. And it was bundled together.

“This could be spell charm chaff!”

'''Azuchi:''' “No, there is no ether reading! I have determined this is no more than trash! Shaja!”

…''Is it paper trash day!?

When she struck some of the paper, the bundle came apart and the papers scattered from the force of the blow.

''That was a magazine,'' she realized as something came into view as the tension of combat filled her.

She saw drawings. They were separated into panels, had speech bubbles, and depicted…

“Wait! What is this!? That’s adult material of me!”

●

“Phew.” Naruze watched the doujin manga bundles being launched from Takao’s stern. “With Europe’s first Summer ImMoral Manga on the Ariake, I enjoyed the wide variety of content they provided despite so many of the participating nations being uncensored. The censorship is going to be a bit stricter from now on.”

“Yeah. At the event toward the end of summer break, there was a lot of ‘You call that censored! Add more black bars!’ so a lot of the books couldn’t be sold.”

“True,” said Naruze as she cut the cord holding a bundle of doujinshis together, kicked them out into the air, and watched them scatter into the night sky.

“This was meant for use at the Honnouji Incident, but that didn’t turn out how I expected. But whatever. I made a book for each of Hashiba’s Ten Spears, so I hope they enjoy them all.”

“How about we dump Bara-yan’s leftover books too?”

“They are not leftover! They simply have yet to reach the readers I want!”

With a big smile, Noriki kicked the excess inventory into the night sky.

●

The Azuchi was in an uproar inside and out.

“Eh!? More garbage from the Musashi!? How dare they!? We need to collect- I mean, destroy it!”

“There are Fukushima-senpai and Kiyomasa-senpai ones too! My! And a Hirano-senpai one too!? Perfect!”

“Okay, gather those up for incineration! Wait, why is this one nothing but wordy exposition!? Dammit! Dammit!”

“Azuchi” tilted her head and spoke to Takenaka who was looking down at the commotion from atop the bridge.

“Why do they love those fantasies so much when the real ones are right there? Shaja.”

“They love them ''because'' the real ones are right there!”

''Oh, that might be confusing,'' thought Takenaka, but she also had to ask.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Is there one of me?”

'''Kimee:''' “You’re enjoying the onboard hot spring with ‘Azuchi’.”

Takenaka looked over to see “Azuchi” read something split into a panels on a lernen figur and then stare blankly over at her. ''I really badly want to say this isn’t my responsibility.

“Um, ‘Azuchi’? Can you face forward? And speed up?”

“…That exact line is in here, so did you read it? Shaja.”

“I did not! Now, hurry!!”

She wasn’t sure what this was about, but “Azuchi” did speed up while tilting her head.

●

“The Azuchi’s speed has fallen! I think Naruze-sama’s trash worked! Over!”

When the report from “Musashino” on the Musashino’s bridge arrived, Naruze threw her hands into the air.

“Yesssss!!”

She thew up her hands a few more times before high-fiving Margot and rubbing their cheeks together. Then they both stomped their feet and pointed back toward the Azuchi.

“I made a doujinshi out of you!!”

●

“Takenaka-sama, what is this text-only book that poured down on us afterwards? I honestly can’t work out what it is supposed to mean. Shaja.”

“Let me see,” said Takenaka, glaring at the book “Azuchi” handed her.

She opened it to find strange words with no basis in any language she was familiar with and invented terminology that mixed completely unrelated languages together.

“Oh, I know what this is. This is what happens when someone thinks cramming information into every empty slot is how you do good worldbuilding. Reading stories like that is just exhausting, so I would advise against it.”

“Shaja. I thought it was some kind of code or hid some deep meaning. But if not, I will ignore it and continue accelerating. Shaja.”

●

“The Azuchi’s speed is rising! I think Neshinbara-sama’s trash is to blame! Over!”

When the report from “Musashino” on the Musashino’s bridge arrived, Neshinbara struck a pose.

“Why…!?”

He threw up his hands a few times before looking to Ohiroshiki who did his best to ignore him. Then, with everyone else glaring at him, he stomped his feet and pointed back toward the Azuchi.

“I don’t need readers who don’t understand me…!!”

Noriki and Persona-kun set fire to the remaining inventory.

●

Suzu checked the current situation.

The Azuchi was accurately following the Musashi’s course. She tried adjusting their course to try and shake them a few times, but they made their own course corrections and drew ever closer.

She concluded the best plan was to take the shortest route to Mikawa instead of trying to be tricky.

…''But we will need…another obstacle or two…for them.

She had “Musashino” pass that long to Masazumi while she placed the Musashi on the shortest route to Mikawa.

The destruction of New Nagoya Castle had turned Mikawa into a giant bay. In an apparent affirmation of the theory that all land is falling toward the sea, the areas close to Mikawa all appeared to be sinking.

…''In that case…

They had passed over or near Mikawa a few times before. They had scanned the terrain when they did, but…

“Use our course, the terrain ahead, and our previous scans…to predict! Predict how it would have changed…with time! We’ll go where…the collapse is strongest!”

She gave instructions. She needed to predict where the collapse from Mikawa Bay was greatest and head there.

She had two reasons for this.

First, By flying into the lowest point, they could use their downward course to accelerate and pull away from the Azuchi.

And second, the Azuchi had supposedly flown over Mikawa as well, but the Musashi also had their data from Mikawa before it was destroyed. The Azuchi could also make predictions about the collapse, but the Musashi’s would be more accurate.

…''The Azuchi is focused on pursuing us…but we’re looking…ahead.

Even if this did turn into a battle against the Azuchi, the Musashi would reach Mikawa first and could take up an advantageous initial position for themselves.

“Suzu-sama! We have the predicted terrain! Please check over it! Over.”

Suzu nodded at the report from “Ogikubo” just as a divine transmission arrived.

'''Kuro-Take:''' “We’ve caught up! So let me again address you as a representative of Hashiba!”

It was only text, but Suzu could play it as a voice using Noise Neighbor. The static mixed in with the words meant it was coming from the Azuchi.

But what was this about?

'''Kuro-Take:''' “Musashi’s attempted Iga Crossing history recreation has a major flaw! I tell you now that this will not qualify as the Iga Crossing!”

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