Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 5===

"Oh right, this would be my first time seeing you in casual clothing, Rikka-dono."

"Indeed, I am always wearing my military uniform. Do I look odd... dressed like this?"

Tōkaidō's premier Chevalier looked a little insecure.

Tonight, Rikka was wearing a black rider jacket with gray skin pants. This combination accentuated her excellent figure&mdash;especially her slender legs.

The air temperature was not too chilly tonight, but Rikka's jacket zipper was closed.

Masatsugu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Of course not. It looks great on you."

"P-Please don't flatter me. By the way&mdash;"

Rikka cringed in embarrassment and said, "This has been bothering me the whole time. You do not need to speak too formally. As a Resurrectee in Her Highness' service and an officially recognized Chevalier, your status is no less than mine."

"I should say the same goes for you."

Remaining calm as always, Masatsugu argued against Rikka, "There's no need for you to be obsessed with manners when talking to someone like me, Rikka-dono. I'm lucky enough to have a place in Tōkaidō's hierarchy only because I serve the princess."

"Then allow me to put things differently, Masatsugu-dono."

The girl who had risen from being House Akigase's Chevalier princess to the Governor General refused to back down.

"You might be the famous hero, Hijikata Toshizō. Even as a fiefdom's Governor General, I must offer the greatest of respect towards someone as important as you. This is part of the show, so please accept it."

"I see."

"Besides, let me be frank. Masatsugu-dono, I wish for us to bare our souls to each other... To build a relationship of candid congeniality. Your full cooperation will be greatly appreciated."

Rikka smiled mischievously and even winked.

To insist any further would be boorish, so Masatsugu agreed to her request.

"Understood, then let's start with some candid conversation... Actually, I consider myself quite lucky tonight for the chance to admire you in your casual clothing, Rikka-dono."

"Th-This kind of candid conversation is way too abrupt!"

Masatsugu's honest confession ended up making Rikka complain.

"I have heard that you remain quite committed to a beauty contest, Masatsugu-dono. It turns out you're more of a smooth talker than I imagined."

"I really hope you'll enter the beauty contest too, Rikka-dono."

"I think I shall pass. I am a daughter of the ruling house, not to mention the Governor General now."

The vibe in their conversation was slightly different from before.

After responding cordially to Masatsugu's invitation, Rikka changed the subject.

"Also, about the... question of asking my fiefdom's knights to supply ectoplasmic fluid."

"Are you against it too, Rikka-dono?"

"Of course. Masatsugu-dono, the issue of your resupply is top secret. I-If you get ''involved'' with an unspecified number of knights, even the most confidential of secrets will be leaked!"

"True, you make a good point."

Only after listening to Rikka did Masatsugu realized this possibility.

He had been too careless. Racking his mind over matters of war, he had overlooked this one point. Tōkaidō's new Governor General looked down and said, "Th-That's why I have made my decision to take my retainers' place... to provide you with ectoplasmic fluid, Masatsugu-dono."

"You're willing to do it, Rikka-dono?"

"Yes... Oh, but please do not get the wrong idea!"

Rikka suddenly said in anger, "I-I am not interested in you simply because you might be Hijikata Toshizō. That is clearly not the reason why I started feeling curious about you, to the point of finding it impossible to ignore!"

"I see."

Rikka had evidently confessed through a suspiciously specific denial. So this was what she meant.

"Then I will be relying on your help in the future."

"W-What about now? I am fine with it."

"Now?"

Rikka was showing a shy expression but her tone was quite firm, surprising Masatsugu a little.

"Yes... There are not many days left before the deadline for capturing Hakone. Also, I need to catch up&mdash;Oh, scratch that, I mean that as someone who joined later, I should do everything I can to help you in what limited time we have, Masatsugu-dono, no less than Her Highness and Tachibana Hatsune."

"You are this determined, Rikka-dono?"

"As determined as any samurai ought to be."

This was more like a maiden's determination, but Masatsugu kept his comment to himself.

Taking the casually dressed Rikka into his arms, he gazed upon her spirited and beautiful face.

"In that case, would you care to indulge me?"

"I-I may be inexperienced but if you are alright with that, please proceed..."

Rather than embarrassment, this aristocratic daughter seemed more fearful of the unknown.

The black rider jacket wrapping her upper body tightly had the zipper pulled all the way to the top.

Needless to say, this piece of clothing was a hindrance to the ritual.

Masatsugu casually pulled down the zipper and was surprised again.

"A-As for the method of replenishment, I have heard..."

Rikka's voice was very quiet.

Under her jacket was a short tank top.

It looked almost like a bra, exposing Rikka's narrow waist completely. Moreover, she was apparently not wearing underwear beneath this flimsy tank top.

Smiling with a twitch of his cheek, Masatsugu removed her jacket.

The bridge's wall happened to be behind them, so Masatsugu had Rikka sit down, leaning her back against the wall. He also bent over, intending to embrace Rikka from the front.

"Please, Rikka-dono, share a little of your warmth and ectoplasmic fluid with me."

"Oh, hold on&mdash;" Just before Masatsugu hugged Rikka, she said quietly.

Rikka was very nervous at the thought of what was coming next. Gazing into Masatsugu's eyes, she declared with acute fortitude as befitted a hero among women.

"Please absorb as much as you can, rather than just a little. It is because you lacked ectoplasmic fluid, Masatsugu-dono, that Her Highness collapsed in exhaustion, right?"

"Well..."

"Perhaps it might sound rude for me to say this, but I'd like us to relate as equals, Masatsugu-dono, Resurrectee that you are. Please do not hold back on my account. I'd rather have you give me rough treatment as an ally on equal terms&mdash;That would make me happier instead."

"......"

"And please do not underestimate me. I train no less than Tachibana Hatsune. There is no need to be careful with me."

Masatsugu smiled. Rikka was displaying her mettle as befitted a contemporary hero.

She did not want to place the Resurrectees such as Masatsugu or Prince Edward on a pedestal, to treat them as supernatural monsters. Neither could she tolerate the fact that she was inferior to them.

Even if she could not equal them in power, at least she would never lose to them in spirit. Rikka was determined to catch up to them one day.

It would be rude to refuse Rikka's candid request that was brimming with pride. Hence, Masatsugu hugged the aristocratic daughter's beautiful body tightly.

Rikka's soft bosom was compressed against Masatsugu's chest.

In terms of volume, her bust lost to Hatsune and the princess by a slim margin. But in terms of overall shape and texture, Akigase Rikka edged out slightly.

Masatsugu was currently enjoying the dignified beauty of her skin.

Once his body started to warm up, Rikka's gaze began to lose focus gradually.

"The next part might get tougher and tougher..."

"I welcome it gladly. To think that your body was this cold, Masatsugu-dono&mdash;Mm, ah..."

Rikka was a little out of breath. It seemed like something was stirring inside her.

Using the same principle as before, Masatsugu was suppressing his absorption of heat. However, even taking that into account, the temperature of Rikka's entire body was rising too fast.

Perhaps Rikka had this sort of aptitude&mdash;Her body and soul heated up extremely easily.

Seeing a reaction different from when Shiori and Hatsune started out, Masatsugu reached the above conclusion. However, this was of no consequence at the moment.

"Rikka-dono, please relax your entire body."

"I... understand. Ah, mm ahhhhhhhhhhh!?"

As soon as she relaxed, heat was instantly sucked out of her entire body. Tōkaidō's premier lady knight fainted in Masatsugu's embrace.

The warmth and ectoplasmic fluid she had lost was now residing in the amnesiac Resurrectee's body.

"Thank you so much..."

Masatsugu covered the sleeping Rikka with her jacket.

Thanks to assistance from Princess Shiori, Tachibana Hatsune, and Akigase Rikka, Masatsugu now had the resources to put up a fight at last. He felt quite heavily indebted to them.

...Masatsugu noticed that his blood was boiling and the beating of his heart had grown stronger.

After taking ectoplasmic blood from three girls consecutively, Tachibana Masatsugu's mystic powers had risen dramatically, changing his body and soul.

Masatsugu thought that the situation would settle down soon&mdash;But unexpectedly...

"Hmm...?"

His surrounding scenery changed all of a sudden.


He was originally in late-twentieth-century Japan, on the deck of a military ship moored at a port.

Spontaneously, he found himself riding a malnourished horse, racing across a vast grassland. In fact, this was a fierce warhorse capable of crossing thousands of miles.

Previously, Shiori had led him to watch "past memories" once.

The current scenery was identical to what he had seen last time.

"Is it because my power... ectoplasmic fluid increased all at once?"

Masatsugu knew this was a vision, something similar to a dream.

Together with his elite troops, he was dashing single-mindedly across this endless wilderness. But unlike last time, Masatsugu felt a sense of certainty in his heart.

This time, he had a "destination" in his dream, and a certain man was waiting for him there...

That guy was surely leading his own army, heading to the same location. However, the route he was taking was completely different from Masatsugu's.

Who knew how many hundreds of kilometers separated the two armies?

Riding on without stopping, he would certainly find a way to converge with his ally. Then together they would annihilate the enemy army waiting for them, to assault the targeted capital.

''Victory is certain if it is us.'' A new sense of certainty took root in Masatsugu's heart.

Even though they were not related by blood, they were allies and comrades equivalent to brothers.

The two armies led by that man and Masatsugu were the empire's strongest spear and fastest arrow. Two swords. As a pair, they were known as the "Two-Headed Dog"...

"╳╳╳."

Masatsugu was just about to say his ally's name.

Only then did he realize he had forgotten the name of this reliable man.