Chronicle Legion:Volume 1 Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - Invading Legion (1)
Part 1
Second-year high schooler. Male. Living in Suruga City of Shizuoka Prefecture in the Tōkaidō region.
If one had to explain his identity, the previous sentences were enough to describe Tachibana Masatsugu, who was neither a celebrity nor an elite national athlete.
Bluntly stated, putting aside certain idiosyncrasies, Tachibana Masatsugu was nothing more than an ordinary high school student.
However, the ordinary Masatsugu still had his own ambitions.
"Speaking of the final event to be held before the end of the second term, Taisei, do you know what that is?"
"Of course the final exams, Masatsugu-kun."
"Wrong, it's the beauty contest held in December, an event taking place on the last day of the school festival."
"......"
Masatsugu's friend, Okonogi Taisei, reacted with silence slightly akin to consternation.
They were currently at the cafeteria of Rinzai Private High School. Masatsugu was drinking a juicebox of green tea while Taisei was having canned coffee. The cafeteria was always packed during lunch time, but quite unoccupied now because it was after school.
As a side note, Taisei had a head of brown hair, dyed, and a face whose features could be considered handsome.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to his excellent character and upbringing, combined with outstanding common sense, he was not a particularly conspicuous person. And now, Taisei spoke gently as always, "By the way, Masatsugu-kun, I heard you're serving as part of the school festival's executive committee?"
"Yeah. I'm filling in for Takeda who transferred out at the end of the first term."
Compared to his friend's soft posture and tone, Masatsugu seemed rather rigid in comparison.
Occasionally, Masatsugu would give off an impression like some kind of samurai. This was actually correct since the Tachibana family had served the Tokugawa as jikisan hatamoto in the past, samurai in direct service of the Shogunate.
Even though his disposition did not stem from bloodline, if one had to classify Masatsugu as hard or soft in an analogy, he was clearly the former.
Masatsugu spoke in solemn tones and his posture was quite rigid and upright. He never clamored in restlessness, seldom told jokes, and rarely broke school rules. Consequently, he did not have many friends in class.
Including Taisei, he had only three or four close friends.
If he were to stare in a mirror this very moment, he would surely look like a gloomy man with a slightly furrowed brow.
...Unexpectedly, contrary to such a hardline disposition, Masatsugu took out from his schoolbag the list of beauty contestants.
"To be honest, when I first started serving on the executive committee and was assigned to be in charge of the beauty pageant, I found it a hassle and thought I wasn't suited to it. However, after looking at these contestants who either volunteered or were recommended by friends..."
Masatsugu browsed through the file.
There were roughly twenty girls planning to participate. Each profile included the girl's name, portrait photo, self-introduction and swimsuit photo. There were many cute girls among the candidates competing to become Miss Rinzai High.
Revealing a nihilistic smile of indifference, Masatsugu was the splitting image of an evil homicidal samurai.
"I discovered that this isn't actually half bad... No, I should say I'm enjoying it. I didn't realize that for the past two years—I might actually be a guy who likes girls quite a bit."
"I guess so. I never noticed before either."
"I'd like to liven up this beauty contest, but unfortunately, there's no one good enough to give the shoo-in candidate to be queen, Matsuki-san, a run for her money..."
"Oh, you're talking about the girl who's getting scouted by talent agencies."
"I want to find one or two more contenders for the top spot."
"Hey, Masatsugu-kun, if you're going to talk with such a dour face, could you at least discuss a topic related to the nation's future? Like the hike in various taxes next year or the large sums of tribute that Japan pays to Rome for undisclosed purposes."
Seeing Masatsugu with arms crossed and a solemn expression, his friend poked fun at him.
Okonogi Taisei's father worked at the Shizuoka branch of the Tōkaidō News Agency. Perhaps due to his family environment, Taisei would often bring up social issues to discuss despite being a teenager. This was probably the reason why he got along with the "overly serious" Masatsugu.
Incidentally, it was October 1 today, still quite some time before the beauty contest in December.
"By the way, Masatsugu-kun, are you returning to the dorm now?"
"No, I'm planning to go to my house to do some cleaning."
"It's very easy for messes and dust to accumulate in a house when no one's living in it, I guess. If you're okay with it, I'll go along and help out? Since there's no student council work today, I happen to be free."
"I'm glad you're offering to help. Thanks a lot."
Taisei held the job and title of Student Council Vice-President.
Manners were essential even when dealing with close friends. After Masatsugu bowed his head in gratitude, the two of them left the cafeteria together.
Rinzai High was located in the eastern outskirts of Suruga City near the mountains, quite some distance from the city center.
In fact, since their school was known as a place where prestigious families attended, there were many students who came to enroll from far away.
Most of these students lived in the dormitories and Masatsugu was one of them. His parent's house was located in Suruga City, like the school, but he did not have family. His parents and grandparents had all passed away and he did not have any siblings.
Thanks to the inheritance and orphan's annuity left from his father who had been a soldier, Masatsugu could still live without financial worries.
He could have lived alone in his house, but he chose the convenience of dorm life which included domestic help.
"Finally getting away from the school for once, I get a strong feeling of 'visiting the city.'"
"Since the school is so close to the mountains, there are very few residences nearby."
Suruga City was located on a coastal plain facing Suruga Bay.
On this coastal plain was a quiet regional town. But along the way, there were two small mountains protruding in a series slightly abruptly and standing at an elevation of roughly three hundred meters—Mount Udo and Mount Kunou—forming a mountainous area of greenery.
Masatsugu and Taisei's school was located on the west side of Mount Kunou.
The two of them took a bus to the city center.
This route led to the commercial district in front of Suruga Station. On the way, a military truck passed by them, traveling in the school's direction, probably making its way to the military installation known as a tutelary base.
"Did you know? Tokugawa Ieyasu once said that 'Kunou Castle is the inner citadel of Sunpu Castle.'"
"Kunou Castle... Are you referring to the fort that used to stand on Mount Kunou?"
"Yeah, it's now a set of castle ruins that has almost nothing remaining. But taking its place is the tutelary base—something like a castle—built nearby, so it means that Lord Ieyasu was right."
After Tokugawa Ieyasu stepped down from his position as the first shogun of the Edo bakufu, he returned to his hometown of Suruga and built Sunpu Castle as his retirement residence.
Suruga City here was a land with intimate ties to "Divine Lord" Tokugawa Ieyasu.
While the two of them were chatting, the bus took them across Suruga City. There were many commercial districts and office neighborhoods near the station but far less bustling than Tokyo. This was an idyllic regional town. Masatsugu and Taisei did not get off even when the bus neared the station.
The bus continued for ten-odd minutes when they finally disembarked at a stop near the Abe River.
After walking through a residential neighborhood for five minutes, they arrived at Tachibana Masatsugu's house.
It was a one-story house built in Japanese style. The main dwelling had a living room and at least five spacious Japanese-style rooms. In addition, there was an earthen floor area. There was a magnificent gate with a thatched roof.
This place was way too big for a single high school boy to clean up.
Opening the ancient wooden gate, Masatsugu looked at the entrance up ahead, not too far away. He frowned.
"...Hmm?"
He noticed that the entrance door was open.
He had clearly shut the door properly when he came by last month to clean.
"Did a burglar leave the door open?"
"I'll go in to check it out. Wait outside for me."
Directing the surprised Taisei to go out, Masatsugu went into the entrance himself.
Suppose a trespasser had left the door open, a burglary was very likely to be in progress. Masatsugu did not want to expose his friend to danger. Taisei immediately nodded and stayed outside the gate alone.
Well aware of his special skills, Masatsugu's friend did not nag.
Rather than calling the police, it would be more efficient to let Masatsugu confront the criminal.
"...Boots?"
As soon as he entered the entrance, Masatsugu muttered to himself.
Arranged neatly there was a pair of women's boots, roughly ankle-high without significant heels.
This was not the only suspicious part. Masatsugu would only clean this house once a month. However, the corridor was now sparkling clean, obvious from a single glance that it had been carefully wiped with a wet cloth.
Furthermore, he could smell the fragrance of incense from inside the house—
Masatsugu took off his shoes and went to the Buddhist altar room where the fragrance was coming from. Taking a closer look, he found a girl kneeling before the altar with her palms held together in prayer.
She was dressed like a student in Japanese style with a hakama. This look was supposedly commonplace in the capital.
The girl's gorgeous black hair was tied with a scarlet ribbon. She was looking at the portraits of Masatsugu's late parents—namely, his mother who had passed away during Masatsugu's childhood and his father who had fallen in battle three years ago.
The girl was around fifteen or sixteen. Though some childlike elements remained, her face was very beautiful and adorable.
Before Masatsugu could speak, the female student turned around, presumably sensing Masatsugu's arrival.
"Welcome home, Onii-sama. It has been so long since we last met. Twelve years, I believe?"
The girl smiled tenderly and greeted Masatsugu. However, Masatsugu did not recognize her. Speaking of which—After giving the matter some thought, he nodded and said, "I see now. I have a long lost little sister, is that it?"
"No, that's wrong."
"Then who are you?"
After calmly rejecting Masatsugu's speculation, she mused, "Hatsune's relationship with Onii-sama... I wonder what's the best way of putting it?"
"Were you a childhood friend who used to live near me, so you call me your older brother to reflect the age difference?"
"Wrong again. Childhood friends or close relatives would've been easy, but the truth happens to be more subtle than that, which makes it hard for me to explain. Let me see, our relationship is slightly more removed than cousins."
"Meaning partially cousins or some kind of distant relative, right?"
"Yes, that's right, pretty much. I'm sure you can find a link if you scour the family tree carefully, but that takes too much work, so I'll just call you 'Onii-sama' directly."
"Definitely, addressing you as 'possibly a distant relative' would be a hassle too."
"I know, right? So this is what the two of us decided long ago, fufufufu."
Masatsugu was conversing with the trespasser in the Buddhist altar room whose floor was laid with tatami.
The smiling girl maintained her formal sitting posture in seiza, so Masatsugu sat down in the same way in front of her too. This girl was apparently a relative with a first name of Hatsune, but Masatsugu had no recollection at all, so he continued his inquiry.
"What's your name? I want to know your full name."
"Oh, you are so awful, Onii-sama! You forgot about me, didn't you? I can't believe you forgot Tachibana Hatsune, who's in the same clan, that's so awful of you."
Miss Tachibana Hatsune began to pout like a child. Masatsugu bowed his head in apology.
"We lived very near each other back in kindergarten and we played together all the time."
"Really? Then allow me to ask a question, sister—Sorry, I mean Tachibana Hatsune-kun."
"Feel free to call me whatever you prefer. Go ahead and use 'my little sister.' I don't mind."
"Then let's go with Hatsune. Is there any other special relationship between us? Like an old marriage promise or faint feelings of love for each other."
"Feelings of love?"
"Yeah. Actually, I've been wondering a lot lately. Like whether a girl would suddenly fall from the sky and confess to me or a childhood fiancee might suddenly show up," said Masatsugu in a halting manner.
Hatsune clapped her hands together in front of him and replied, "I've read that stories of that type too. Like in Weekly Shounen Junk" or Shoujo Margarita."
"You can find similar tropes in many light novels and love simulation games aimed at teenagers."
"Is that the type you enjoy, Onii-sama?"
"I took a brief look when a friend recommended them to me some time ago. Thanks to those stories, there are some nights when I feel painfully aware of how unbearably lonely it is to be single."
"I see now, you poor thing!"
"That's why I wanted to ask about our past."
"Yes, understood. There's absolutely nothing like that in our past!"
"Such sad news..."
Although Hatsune denied it outright, Masatsugu remained unfazed.
"No helping it, the past cannot be changed. Oh, but I remember now. I think you did propose to marry me when we were young."
"Then why did you say 'absolutely nothing' just now?"
"Sorry, but I'm careless sometimes."
"I see, that does seem to be the case."
"There's more. This is how I answered: 'I'll seriously consider it if you grow up to become as strong as a yokozuna-ranked sumo wrestler in the future.'"
"Why a yokozuna-ranked sumo wrestler?"
"The ones I used to like were powerful men like yokozunas, no holds barred champion wrestlers, or lethwei masters. In fact, they're still my type even now, you know?"
"I sense some kind of insider obsession in your last example..."
Myanmar in Southeast Asia was currently part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Masatsugu was very impressed that Hatsune would bring up a legendary martial art from that place. He began to assess his own eligibility.
Medium stature at a height of 175cm. Slender physique with virtually no fat.
He had been working out, more or less, but was not a macho man with bulging muscles.
"Looks like my training aimed at seeking future happiness has failed."
"First crushes from childhood never bear fruit, Onii-sama."
"By the way, Hatsune, why did you come to my house?"
"I came to pay respects to my late Uncle and Auntie. It's only manners to say hi when visiting my home town, but I apologize for coming in without permission."
"If memory serves me correctly, I did lock up."
"Don't worry, I'm very resourceful. That kind of lock only takes me sixty seconds to open."
Hatsune puffed out her chest proudly. Despite her childlike face, she was extremely voluptuous. Then she reached for her bag on the tatami floor.
Her pale and slender fingers took out a hairpin that had been deliberately stretched into a needle-like shape.
"Meaning you used that thing to pick the entrance lock..."
"That's how I opened the door and came in."
"Then the one who cleaned up the house was also—"
"I noticed the house was a bit messy, so I helped clean up."
"I thought so. Thanks. But you do know you are currently caught in the act of trespassing, right?"
"You're so mean, Onii-sama. I'm the same as a little sister to you. Trespassing doesn't apply to family!"
"I wouldn't bet on that. It's mainly up to the judge to decide."
"Huh, really?"
"...Excuse me, Masatsugu-kun and Tachibana-san."
Masatsugu's calm rebuttal had taken Hatsune aback in surprise. Having arrived at the Buddhist altar room unnoticed some point earlier, Taisei interrupted them.
Taisei must have come to observe the situation after hearing the sound of conversation.
He said tactfully, "Sundown will be here soon if your comedy act keeps going without a straight man to rein things in."
In any case, this was the encounter between Tachibana Hatsune and Masatsugu—Or rather, their reunion.
Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
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