Horizon:Volume 1 Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Covert Operatives Under the Night Sky

How is the darkness of temptation.

Which makes the night fun.

Seducing you.

Point Allocation (Night Games)

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There existed light in the depths of darkness.

The light accumulated like particles, each one of them the lights of buildings and houses.

The group of lights formed the shape of a city, which looked out to a bay.

However, the light was scarce.

Furthermore, a gigantic rectangular darkness existed in the middle of the city. The darkness that consumed over half the city extended outwards like a spiderweb, the roads and waterways filled with darkness going every direction.

Even though its center was wrapped in darkness' embrace, several lights continued in various directions from the nighttime town. Those were the lights from the homes and villages in the outskirts that followed the main roads; in other words, the streets and mountain paths.

A voice took form at a place where all this could be seen: the northwestern surface of the mountain.

"Musashi is to the north while Tres Espana's Inquisition's ship as well as Regno Unito, the ship of the Pope-Chancellor-sama who came to await the new Logismoi Oplo, lie to our west. And to our south is Mikawa, which is making an offering to P.A. ODA."

The owner of the voice was standing atop a ridge. It was a young man on the roof of the watchhouse constructed there. He was wearing the uniform of the main Academy in Tres Espana, Alacalá de Henares. However, the uniform was modified for mountainous use. It was covered with a fabric without pores, meant to protect against the cold.

Sitting in a folding chair, he looked over Mikawa and the mountains leading there.

His hands, sticking out of the uniform, were holding a sniper rifle. From time to time, he would use his scope to look around.

There was a small noise. Something was tapping from within the collar of his uniform.

Without dropping his gaze to look at his collar, he looked at the ridge reaching from the town to the watchtower where he sat.

"-Well done, Gabrielle-san."

He spoke, and a girl opened his collar and crawled out. About three heads tall, she had two wings.

She took a seat on the young man's shoulder.

"You have a call"

As soon as she said those words, the girl Gabrielle took a trumpet from out of her wings. The trumpet shook.

"-B2T3, this is B1T3. Report your status."

"B1T3, this is B2T3 responding. Tes, there are no changes in the situation - I just have one complaint."

He responded.

A voice boomed out from the trumpet.

"The Gabriel you have is really good. My mouse is a symbol type, so its speech patterns are really businesslike."

"I'm not going to modify you, you're really good."

"Aren't you going to strengthen its functionality? The Catholics have started discounting functionality as a measure against the Protestants."

"It'll become big if I strengthen its functionality, though. It's nice when it's small. Yeah, the fact that it's small is really good."

"That's deep..."

The young man nodded. Atop his shoulder, Gabrielle inclined her small head, tilting it to the side.

"Deep?"

"Yeah, it means that you're worth a lot."

Having heard that, Gabrielle smiled after a while. B2T3 nodded.

"Man, damn this. I'll be doing this forever. When I'm done with this job, I'll turn on its false jamming so we can cuddle. Jealous, aren't you?"

"There's no way you're ever getting married. Also, don't raise strange death flags. If you're going to, then at least do it with a 3D person."

"Rest easy, we'll be able to head back home the day after, so we just have to sit tight. Well, disregarding the fact that the majority of classes other than the extracurricular ones you choose are canceled, night duty is tough."

Suddenly, the young man could hear a noise. A high-pitched noise. Along with the noise came a sound close to murmuring.

"Is that a disturbance in the earth pulse? Did New Nagoya Castle's leyline reactor start up for work?"

"Down here, I've been able to pick it up for a while. Somehow, it seems like something outside the schedule we were given. A communique came in that said that the higher ups were going to ask New Nagoya Castle about it before reporting to headquarters."

B1T3 spoke from the other side of the Divine Communication.

"Rather than that, did you see the advance ship that switched places with us? coming out of the dock? It seems like the girl that's rumoured to be the next inheritor of the Honda name was riding on it."

"-Never cut anyone before."

"Are you talking about yourself?"

Having been asked about that, B2T3 gave an answer.

"I've shot someone. That was in a little skirmish we had with Hexagon Français. As for killing...only animals. Male students of Tres Espana always doing it during bullfighting lessons."

Gabrielle's eyebrows crinkled and she stared into my face.

"...Sad?"

"Thanks for asking."

"Eh!? Are you talking to me!? Oh damn, how far back is the savepoint I'm going to have to load for this!?"

"Shut up, asshole. Don't disturb Gabrielle and I. If you peek out from the watchhouse and smirk, It'd probably be my first time killing someone..."

"Hey now, don't stand up. I can see you from here."

Hearing those words, B2T3's body shook.

...Eh?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

...I'm sitting down, though?

The instant that thought ran through his mind. Gabrielle lightly tapped his cheek. Directly after. The trumpet shook.

'B2T3, this is B1T1."

A girl's voice rang out. B1T1 was, in short, the internal supervisor of the base of operations at the foot of the mountain B2T3 was on. Because this was an extra-curricular by choice, they weren't from the same class, but he recalled the face.

It shouldn't have been a girl.

"B2T3, this is B1T1."

Yet, the calls continued.

"-Is all well?"

●

B2T3 moved in response to the voice he had heard. He threw his sniper rifle to the floor and drew his knife out of the sheathe he kept under his uniform.

The sheathe was facing downwards, so when he released the clasp, the knife slid into his hand.

Gripping the knife, he ducked low and stepped to the left. He turned to face his back.

...Who was there?

B1T3 had said 'Don't stand up'. That meant that there was someone standing behind him.

...Was something there?

'That's strange.' The thought rose to his head. After all, I was watching the road coming from the base of the mountain. The base of operations at the foot of the mountain is detecting Ability-type stealth, so they should be checking for even the slightest reactions.

How did they bypass the surveillance and come all the way here?

If it's the type of stealth that blocks all sensory output like the one Musashi uses, they would be able to get up here, but I heard that it requires large scale machinery, so it's only possible because it's a ship. It shouldn't be something that can be adapted to personal use.

To find out why, I need information. And to let my comrades know what's happening...

"Gabrielle, open up a different Divine Communication, emergency-"

"Error."

Gabrielle shook her head. She was close to tears.

"We cannot establish a connection."

She was saying that she was unable to connect to Mouses, used for short distance communication, or established Divine Communication, used for long distance communication.

This loss of connectivity pointed to two facts.

The first was the suppression of the main base of operation's watchhouse. This was demonstrated by the sealing of the established Divine Communication, which relied on the base of operations for functionality.

The second concerned the users of the Mouses' Divine Communication. In short, his comrades were all unable to use Divine Communication.

...Which means...

Just a moment ago, B1T3 saw a figure standing on this roof. If that is true, the chance that the watchhouse whose roof I'm standing on has been suppressed as well.

'I'm in danger.'

Thinking this, B2T3 brought the hand gripping the knife out of his uniform, readying himself.

It was nighttime. His vision had not been given a night vision blessing. The night vision Ability he did have was used for the scope.

Because of this, B2T3 did not use the center of his vision but his peripheral vision to confirm his surroundings. The edge of the retina is more able to different things in the dark than the middle.

However...

...No one's here?

No one was on the roof.

...What does this mean?

There was a problem. However, he could see no-one. Was this all a misunderstanding?

...No.

Even now, Gabrielle was shaking atop his shoulder. That meant that her ability to carry out Divine Communication was being interrupted, leaving her unable to do anything.

B2T3 looked at Gabrielle.

...Then...!

He thought, and his next movements showed no hesitation.

Carrying Gabrielle, he dropped to the floor.

Lying there, he searched his chest.

Gripped in his hand was a signal flare concealed in his chest. If thrown into the sky, it would flash into light, taking a few seconds to shower down. The light intensity was high, and his comrades at the continental port should notice it as well. Therefore, B2T3 reared up, still clutching Gabrielle. Standing on the edge of the roof, he tried to throw the flare above him.

"--!?"

B2T3 saw a figure under him. Not on the floor or the air, but on the wall of the watchhouse.

On the surface of the wall, close to the edge of the roof, a figure stood horizontally.

...A woman!?

The instant he thought this.

Her body not moving, the woman rose up to him with movements like a mannequin's.

"--Fuck."

B2T3 toppled back, trying to throw the flare while keeping Gabrielle behind his head.

However, the opposition's movements were faster and stronger.

The woman, clad in the black and white of a serving maid, stretched out her arms, wrapping them around his neck.

He was being embraced from the front.

Clung to in that manner, his body was being pulled off the edge of the roof.

"...!"

Once again, the woman stood on the wall. She had let her body fall backwards, into the empty air.

Since his neck was being gripped, he was being pulled forward and downward. As such, he lost his balance.

"...!!"

He let the knife in his hand swing wide. It was a forced reversal, meant to sever the hold.

However, his hand felt nothing but the clank of metal. Both the sound and touch was hard. The knife had bounced back.

...What!?

Though she didn't seem to be wearing any protection, the knife had, for some reason, not worked.

'Why?'

The instant he thought this.

B2T3's body had been drawn all the way forward, and he realised that he was floating in the air.

From a neck hold, he was drawn into a front suplex throw.

Because he had reflexively tried to resist, his body spun in a half-circle. As a result, his head was now facing downwards.

As he fell through the sky, having been thrown out, B2T3 heard a sound. This sound was a voice.

It said this.

"This is the operative in charge of B2T3. I judge that I have reached a satisfying conclusion."

He looked at the owner of the voice he could hear. The figure in the corner of his vision, who was standing on a wall. It was...

"A Mikawa automaton...!?"

For security use, it was one of those he had seen so many times in the village.

But his shout screamed a question at the fact he had just confirmed.

...Why!?

Two questions filled his mind.

The first question was why the automatons were suppressing the surveillance on Mikawa.

The second question was why the automatons, who expended fluid to move, had come here without being detected by the base of operations below.

Yet, the prior 'why' was meaningless. After all, automatons exist to listen to their master's orders. Therefore, the fact that the automatons had come to suppress surveillance meant that...

...Mikawa's lord had started to rebel against the Testament Union.

The remaining puzzle, how they had slipped through the surveilance, was unknown. However...

"Gabrielle! Bring them the information!"

In response to this shout, the angel at the back of his neck readied a camera.

B2T3 heard the click of a picture being taken. However, he heard another noise as well.

It was a voice. The voice of an automaton.

"My apologies. If you fall on your head, you will be injured."

Speaking to the falling B2T3, the automaton calmly leaped off the wall. The hem of her clothing fluttering, the automaton came to a position to the right of him.

"-I will now turn your body so it is horizontal. Your safety is assured."

The automaton kicked the wall. The doll's velocity increased as a result of the recoil from that action.

She let loose a kick.

"Pardon me for this discourtesy."

The next thing he heard was the sound of a kick jarring his bones.

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