Horizon:GT3 Chapter3
Chapter 3: The Past and a Bird’s-Eye View[edit]
Her trademark gag is
A ghost panic attack with
An Ina Bauer
Point Allocation (Stop Being a 5-7-5 Nuisance!)
●
Mary did not hesitate to bring up an element of her past.
What kind of person was Margaret Pole?
“Before I entered elementary school, I was given a teacher. Because I had the inherited names of Double Bloody Mary, I required education separate from what my sister received.”
Mary thought back on that time as she spoke.
“She was pretty and young…maybe in her late teens? But I was still a young child, so it seemed like she knew everything and could do anything. Since we didn’t have a mother, my sister was very jealous. That was why I had her revise the ‘save you from anything’ line I created with my sister.”
“That’s some incredible behind-the-scenes information there, but does this mean she was the one who taught you everything before you entered elementary school?”
“Yes,” she replied. “She taught me about England and the other nations, as well as the basics of cooking, sewing, etiquette, combat, and spells. She created the foundation of everything I know.”
“I see,” said the Asama Shrine Representative. Mary sensed real understanding within her.
“Did you have a teacher like that?”
“Well, my mom played a similar role for me…”
She trailed off as if to redirect the conversation. Mary could understand why. And…
“That teacher was a name inheritor, right? Where is she now in terms of the history recreation?”
Sensing a hint to move on in the 5th Special Duty Officer’s questions, Mary went ahead and answered.
“She was executed.”
○
Silver Wolf: “Ahhhhhh!!”
Tachibana Wife: “Wasn’t it just an unavoidably awkward situation?”
Scarred: “I thought Lady Mitotsudaira was pushing me to come out and say it because we wouldn’t get anywhere talking around the issue.”
Asama: “Yes, Mito has a way of going straight for the kill.”
Silver Wolf: “Um, Tomo, you’re not helping.”
●
Mitotsudaira asked Mary a question.
“Was her execution meant as…an example for you?”
“No. In the history recreation, her family started a rebellion against my father – perhaps as descendants of the House of Plantagenet – so they were executed for the conspiracy. I have heard the Testament says it started with her brother Edward and then her child. But England had a more important issue to focus on. Namely, my sister and me.”
“So she wasn’t actually executed?”
“One day, she was gone. We had a party to celebrate when I entered elementary school and that was the last time I ever saw her. So I don’t think she was truly executed.”
But in that case…
“Is Margaret Pole still alive?”
●
Mitotsudaira sensed a further question in her own question.
“What does her name inheritor data say?”
“In my third year of elementary school, I realized I could look that up and I had the authority to do so, so I discovered her inherited name and history recreation had been officially ended. They were complete.”
Mitotsudaira had a reason to be hesitant to respond.
Interpretations or not, when people’s history recreation was complete, the records would only provide what the Testament said happened to them.
So the record would end with the Testament version, not what actually happened to them.
For people whose influence would continue after their death, their death could be more of a fluid thing thanks to the favors, interpretations, and interests of their nation, but once their history recreation was truly declared complete, then their story was over. Margaret Pole’s history recreation was likely handled well, but she hadn’t been all that important to mainstream history.
“The people who were with you had their recreations ended early so the other nations couldn’t interfere with the events leading from your execution to the Armada Battle, right?”
That was perfectly fine according to the rules of the history recreation. In fact, a nation was supposed to complete their recreations in a timely fashion.
“Ow ow ow ow ow owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! That idea acts as a harsh attack against those of us who can’t stand doing things the right way!”
“That was only the sound of Horizon’s ghost, so don’t panic, Mary-san. This happens a lot.”
“O-okay…”
Looking at Mary, it was obvious she had no way of checking on Margaret Pole from inside England. But Mitotsudaira did have another question.
“What makes you think she might still be alive?”
Mary tilted her head with her eyebrows drooping in a smile. She seemed to be saying she wasn’t all that sure about it herself.
“When I escaped from the Tower of London with Master Tenzou, some familiar ghosts saw me off. But she was not among them. At least…I didn’t see her there.”
●
Adele saw Kimi suddenly lurch backwards in the next seat over.
“Aiyahhhhh! The 300+ ghosts!? Why did you have to remind me of that, Adele!?”
“I-if it scares you so much, don’t talk about it so bluntly! Think of it as the 1st Special Duty Officer carrying Mary-san while they were picked up by the transport ship’s rope ladder and Mary-san was seen off by her executed mother and the 300 she had slaughtered in the past.”
“Are you trying to finish the job by adding in all those details!? You are, aren’t you!? Look, my fainting meter is filling up! Ahh! I’m going to pass out! But I can still fight it!”
“Um, is fainting really something that builds up gradually?”
“By the way, Lady Vassal, I happened to overhear while walking by, but isn’t ‘slaughtered’ too harsh a word?”
“Oh, you’re right, Gin-san! Um, what’s a better way to put it!? Would it be more elegant to say she filleted them!?”
Gin tilted her head.
“Filleting doesn’t seem like a particularly elegant thing to me.”
“I don’t know what the right word for it is, but the sashimi you make always looks really elegant.”
“So elegant it immediately comes out the other end like a stick of brown sugar,” came a divine transmission comment.
“Since I’m in this time period too, I’ll add that it wasn’t like that at all!” added Mitotsudaira also via divine transmission.
“Anyway,” said Gin. “You could say she ‘got to know them in terms of the history recreation’.”
“That’s great!”
Gold Mar: “We all got to know Adele in terms of being a human shield.”
Art-Ga: “We all got to know Adele in terms of a black-and-white comic.”
Horizey: “We all got to know Adele-sama in terms of leftovers.”
“C-could you please at least drop the ‘-sama’ for consistency in your joke!?”
●
The Tres Españan embassy sounds like an exciting place, thought Asama.
She hadn’t gone to London on the night of the Armada Battle, but…
“Mito, you were on the transport ship when we rescued Mary from England, weren’t you? Did you see anyone who looked like Margaret Pole among the 300+ ghosts there?”
“No…but I didn’t get that close a look.”
Mary’s mother had apparently been there. If so, those ghosts would have been her allies. Or more accurately, they had seen her off without letting anyone, even the Fairy Queen, touch her. In that case..
“If she were dead, she would have been there to see you off, wouldn’t she?” asked Mitotsudaira.
…Is that really so?
Asama had some doubts about that conclusion. But Mary had her own answer.
“But that means she is either alive or in another nation. If she did die somewhere else, I don’t think she would have appeared there in England.”
○
Scarred: “Ahh, why do I always come out with a conclusion that only acts to limit the possibilities. Looking back, that bad habit was especially noticeable during this period.”
Unturning: “I can’t say for sure, but maybe you had gotten in the habit of being executed.”
Flat Vassal: “What kind of habit is that?”
Horizey: “But don’t worry! This is the dangerous warrior nation of Musashi where someone always comes up with a premature answer and ends up making a fool of themselves for it! Now, someone tell the tale of when you did that to yourself!”
Circle Be: “Yes, yes, coming through. It’s me, the one who tried to overthrow official policy and nearly became a god of Sanuki!”
●
“Excuse me!”
Gin saw the vassal shoot to her feet and raise her hand.
Gin held out a hand to silence the concerned workers, but she also gestured for them to keep their guard up. A baseball player readied a pitch and a track runner readied a metal ball while watching the oddly-behaving vassal.
“What do you want, Lady Vassal?”
“Gin-san! Gin-san! Come join us for a bit!”
“Even if this is only a record, we must provide a realistic account of how it would happen if it did happen this way.”
“Heh heh heh. Don’t worry about it, Gin! Okay, Adele, to keep this realistic I will start dancing in fear, so you endure all the blows when they start swinging their bats and throwing their metal balls!”
“Ahhhh, we left realism behind ages ago, but I know that’s not going to stop you from going through with this!”
“So what did you want to say, Adele?” asked Asama via divine transmission.
“Listen to this, Asama-san! Gin-san and Kimi-san are-”
“Hm, I should probably just give up on her. Or I could call for Toori-kun…no for Muneo-san.”
“Why are you retreating twice in a row in the middle of your explanation, and why is your final option so dependent on Gin-san’s mood!?”
“Incidentally, Master Muneshige is currently on the 2nd floor repacking the cart with the souvenirs he brought from Tres España, so he will not be here for a while. Unpacking them all to have something to talk about last night was a mistake.”
“A-are you saying my cause of death here is souvenir discussions!?”
“Okay, Adele, you can just hide behind Kimi once Gin-san starts shooting. No, wait, Kimi would just dodge it all and it would hit you instead. Sorry, scratch that idea.”
“Asama-san! Asama-san! Now you’re rushing to a conclusion and limiting the options!”
They can’t stop attacking each other, noted Gin.
…How did Tres España lose to these people?
Meanwhile, the doorbell rang and someone walked in carrying a basket.
“Hello. As a Horizon Judgment, I ask that you accept this in exchange for overlooking Adele-sama’s behavior! I have brought a gift of bread. Stamp herrrrrrrrrrrre!”
A worker stamped the form with their seal and the bread was delicious. And after the delivery worker left…
“Now that that has been worked out, please explain your odd behavior, Lady Vassal.”
“Oh, judge! I bet I know what happened to Margaret Pole. You know how we mentioned Queen Elisabeth before?”
How did that tie into this?
“I bet after Margaret Pole finished up as Mary-san’s teacher, she went to Hexagone Française and inherited Queen Elisabeth’s name!”
○
The Reine des Garous jotted down a thought she had.
“I said I would supplement your records in anything related to Hexagone Française, didn’t I? As you’ve already said, the Testament said Queen Elizabeth, wife of Spain’s Felipe II, became friends with Mary Stuart, wife of Francis II, when she was in France. During that time, they were both taught the manners and knowledge they needed as royals. Spending time together while dreaming of their life as queens in their respective lands would unavoidably lead to a friendship. Thanks to this, their friendship was a long-lasting one.”
So…
“Margaret Pole taught Mary Tudor and Elisabeth was educated alongside Mary Stuart. But in the history recreation, Mary Stuart’s marriage was only on paper, so Mary and Elisabeth wouldn’t have met. So if they did still develop a friendship, it could mean that Margaret and Elisabeth were the same person.”
●
“My phantom mother’s suggestion is a bit of a stretch. In more ways than one.”
Gin considered the Musashi 5th Special Duty Officer’s words which arrived over the vassal’s divine transmission.
That is an interesting idea, she thought, so she decided to join the conversation.
“Excuse me. I believe that is a plausible line of conjecture. The English Princess was apparently pen pals with Queen Elisabeth despite never meeting her, but that was due to the history recreation, was it not?”
“Yes. That history recreation happened when I was finishing elementary school. I still had a fair amount of freedom then, so I exchanged letters with her while I was traveling the English countryside and moving from academy to academy.”
“What impression did you have of her?”
“Based on her letters, she seemed older than me.”
“Then maybe they were the same. Mary Pole was in her late teens when she taught Mary-san, right? And if this was a few years later…”
Gin shook her head at the vassal’s suggestion.
“No, Queen Elisabeth was a child. We do have art of her.”
“…Huh?”
The vassal’s head tilt probably meant she had been certain her theory was correct. But it wasn’t.
“Elisabeth of Valois, aka Queen Elisabeth, was from the generation before mine. In the history recreation, she gave birth to Felipe II’s children, but they were all girls, the last one being a stillbirth. She died shortly afterwards herself. Of course, they couldn’t ask a name inheritor to go through that, so a name inheritor was set up for her children and then her history recreation was declared complete. …How about I check on this for you?”
Gin still had an important position in Tres España, so she accessed the Tres Españan divine network to find the information.
<Not happening: Juana.>
…Lady Juana is too strict!
●
Asama groaned in thought before deciding to ask.
Asama: “Neshinbara-kun, do you have an image of Elisabeth of Valois?”
Novice: “Eh!? I can grab you a screenshot of her rare character art in the fighting game Burning Rage Dance!”
No, not that. Wait, does he think she’s a game character?
…Okay, let’s try someone else.
Asama: “Tenzou-kun, do you have an image of Elisabeth of Valois?”
10ZO: “Judge! She is one of Mary-dono’s friends, correct?”
Horizey: “What’s this!? Tenozu-sama has earned 3 points! And in exchange Neshinbara-sama has lost 7!”
Silver Wolf: “Horizon! Horizon! Why is the drop in points so much higher!? And why do you know about her, 1st Special Duty Officer?”
10ZO: “Well, remember when I snuck aboard that Tres Españan ship to steal their secrets? You know, when the nudist fell from the sky and ruined everything. Once we regrouped, Toori-dono told me to gather information on Tres España again. Long story short, I ended up with a lot of information related to Mary-dono.”
Silver Wolf: “Horizon? He was acting on my king’s instructions, so how many points does my king get!?”
Horizey: “I’m too lazy to do the calculations, so I’m taking away all their points.”
Silver Wolf: “Isn’t that the god of comedy’s punishment seen in the Age of the Gods, Horizon!?”
Anyway, Tenzou sent over an image. It was a portrait with a black background. Asama and Mary viewed it together.
“She…really is young.”
The girl in the painting could easily have still been in elementary school.
●
Gin gasped when she saw the image of Elisabeth the vassal showed her.
…Exactly like the one I saw.
“Lady Juana had already taken over by the time I arrived, but I recall hearing that those involved thought it would be safer for Queen Elisabeth to prioritize Mary Stuart’s history recreation. And I heard a young name inheritor was chosen since she died at only 24. …Given her importance, there were those who wanted to choose an adult for their greater knowledge and judgment, but the younger option was chosen in the end.”
“That would mean Queen Elisabeth was around my age,” said Mary over the divine transmission.
“Testament,” replied Gin. Because based on the image here, she didn’t appear to be long-lived. “After her short exchange of letters with you, her history recreation came to an end. Just like the people involved in the Armada, her inherited name was considered complete.”
●
Asama groaned in thought. She had honestly thought Adele might be right. So as she showed Mary the image…
“Does this look like her? I mean, there are ways of making yourself look younger.”
Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. Asama! Don’t think you can make these dangerous statements just because you’re still young yourself!”
“I wasn’t trying to imply any- oh, Sanyou-sensei. Where are you going!? You only just arrived! You still look plenty young!”
“Tomo! Tomo! You’re only making it worse!”
Anyway, looking back at Mary, she was tilting the image diagonally and narrowing her eyes. Eventually, she arrived at a conclusion.
“There are some similarities, but also some differences. …Oh, but Teacher – that is, Margaret Pole had a large chest, but this girl does not.”
“If you thought hers was big, just how big are we talking here?”
“Oh, but that was the impression I got when I was little! Now…”
Mary trailed off before blushing and smiling bitterly.
“Now mine is plenty big too. Yes.”
Asama glanced out the window to see the Technohexen pair out on a delivery. They gestured as if they had sand or something spilling from their mouths.
I should include that in the record, decided Asama, but also…
“If their builds are different, then they must be different people.”
“Agreed. You can fake a bigger chest, but not…the other way around.”
It bothered Asama how Mitotsudaira said that while glaring at her and Mary, but she decided not to let it bother her. Wait, which is it? Oh, who cares. Meanwhile, Mary held up her hand.
“Back when Teacher was teaching me so many things, I thought she had the hands of a worker. She had the flat nails and round fingertips of a manual laborer.”
Asama’s hands were similar. But in her case…
Wise Sister: “Heh heh. You have the hands of worrier, don’t you!? Don’t you!?”
Asama: “And whose fault is that!? Well!?”
Anyway, this completed the job at the English embassy they were handling in Masazumi’s place. And looking back on it…
…Was any of this a problem?
Masazumi had made it sound like it would be tricky, but Asama hadn’t noticed any danger.
Vice President: “No, you got things started just fine. I can take over now. You head back to the Blue Thunder.”
●
After being literally turned away at the entrance, Masazumi was preparing to depart the academy.
…What do I do now?
Evening was just about over and she had nothing to show for it. The representative committee head and the rest of the committee heads were currently out and they had claimed to be too overworked to help her now.
She had intended to ask the committees to investigate why the Musashi has been blocked from docking at IZUMO. So…
…I figured I could stop by the academy and ask whoever was in charge, or at least one of the committee heads.
They might not know the answer, but she could put in an investigation request. This was on short notice, but anyone could see this was an important matter. She had shown up in person to avoid having the request buried under other work, but…
“I do apologize, Vice President. Milady is extremely busy and is thus out doing work.”
As soon as she entered the academy, Kanou met her in the entranceway.
Kanou was on the public morals committee, so after reconfirming everyone’s posts for securing the victory party last night, she had been going around today managing traffic and accepting complaints.
…Normally she’s always with Ookubo.
“Are you that shorthanded right now?”
“Judge. I also have my hands full preparing the guards and such to return to their usual duties today. The damage to the Musashi was primarily to the surface areas, but new damage continues to be discovered, meaning even more work setting up ‘no entry’ warning charms.”
Asama: “Oh, sorry, Masazumi! Let’s just say my work as a public morals committee member is tied up performing Asama Shrine duties!”
Yeah, I get it.
“Kanou. Asama in my class says she…has her hands full dealing with our idiot.”
●
“Look at this, Horizon! Do you see how this part of the Blue Thunder’s floor sounds hollow when you step on it? That means there’s a hidden storage space below!”
“Ohh, and it is crammed full of porn games, Asama-sama! This was his doing!”
“I think these are the ones he traded for on the 2nd Special Duty Officer’s birthday. The packages still smell faintly of burning wreckage.”
“Hmm.” Asama inspected them and removed two from the stack.
“Asama-sama, why are you swiping a couple? Will you be playing them in full for future reference!?”
“No, these ones have ‘tragedy’ and ‘tearjerker’ on the package, so they could kill him. I will attach a warning sign frame and put them back.”
“Tomo! Tomo! You sound like the stories of a mother stacking her son’s hidden porn magazines on his desk!”
○
Vice President: “I know I mentioned this before, but with all the work I was sending Ookubo’s way, her hate for me must have really been stacking up.”
Art-Ga: “That was something other than hate, so don’t worry about it.”
Flat Vassal: “Hey, Date Vice Chancellor? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Unturning: “Eh? Oh, well…I’m just glad I didn’t hear about this before. Because this means I was cleverly deceived.”
Bell: “Oh.”
Gold Mar: “What’s this? Narumin and Bell-rin are smiling together. I wonder what that means.”
●
I need to figure something out, thought Masazumi in the late evening darkness.
She didn’t know why the Musashi was being blocked from docking.
If nothing was done, the Musashi would run out of resources. They had resupplied at England before the Armada Battle, but not since. Most of their current supplies were meant for fighting a naval battle, so she could tell they were running out of food faster than normal.
She wanted to quickly find out why they were being blocked and fix it.
But if she couldn’t investigate as a student…
“What else can I do?”
As things were, they were in danger. They had received no official response and if they ignored the problem, nothing would change. And the Musashi wasn’t in a strong enough position to keep on like this.
An aerial city ship was reliant on trade.
…When I first arrived on the Musashi from Mikawa, there was a restriction on people coming and going, but this is a more extreme version of that.
Augesvarer and other merchants were already making a fuss and the entire commerce and industry guild might begin acting on their own if nothing changed.
…So the first thing I need might be time to lay enough groundwork to prevent internal dissatisfaction from growing.
“Hm,” she thought, sitting on the long stairs in front of the school below the lights that had just come on.
She was at the middle level where paths on the sides led to he 2nd schoolyard.
Below the reddish-purple sky, she faced the waking Musashi nightscape as she summoned Tsukinowa onto her shoulder. She then opened an overly-detailed color-coded diagram of how much work was underway within the academy. Sure enough, the representative committee was colored red. Then again, the festival committee had it worst since they were still cleaning up after the victory party. They had passed red to reach purple.
“Like they’re swollen with blood.”
She tried to make a joke, but really everyone was just too busy.
…I guess I’ll have to do it myself.
The process required placing her feet on the steps herself. The committees couldn’t do it for her. So her next best bet was the teachers.
…Where is she?
Asama: “If you want Oriotri-sensei, she’s drinking at a bar on Takao’s first underground level. They’re passing it out for free as a benefit for all the workers.”
Thanks for reading my mind and sending me the answer. So when would Oriotri sober up? If Masazumi talked to her now, she might not remember it later. In fact, she might not even understand what was being said. She would be useful to talk to if the chance arose, but she couldn’t be the top candidate.
So who was the next best choice to ask to investigate this matter?
Silver Wolf: “Is my king not an option?”
Yeah, about that…
“Hey, Seijun. What are you loafing around for?”
And there he is.
●
“I’m thinking,” she replied with a glare, but the idiot walked up next to her in a track suit.
“I heard the Musashi can’t go to IZUMO.”
“Oh? So someone contacted you too?”
“Yeah, just a bit ago.”
She wanted to ask who, but the answer was probably “everyone”.
“Anyway, after hiding my sorted porn mags, I was working part-time at the boarding office. They were all convinced Asama or some other shrine maiden would be showing up, so I cross-dressed for them.”
“Stop ruining Musashi’s reputation.”
“Almost none of them realized I’m a guy, so it’s fine.”
“That just makes it worse when they do find out later on!”
“Calm down.” The idiot held out his hands to stop her. “My point is, I’m still in a helping-out kinda mood, so I was wondering if you were having any trouble.”
“Got any idea how we can remove our ban on docking at IZUMO?”
“Hmm.” The idiot leaned back to an exaggerated extent. “Yeah, I know exactly how I’d do that: ask you for the answer.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m serious. How would I know how to do that? But you – you’d know.”
When he put it like that, it sounded right. But it was also true that she already felt stuck. So how was she supposed to “ask herself” for the answer?
“–––––”
Oh? she thought upon hearing some footsteps.
She thought she heard them from both sides and that proved to be accurate.
Rapid footsteps were rushing this way from the entrances to the 2nd schoolyard on their right and left. Was something being delivered to the academy? Or did someone have a petition to make to her?
“That’s the Musashi Chancellor and Vice President!”
Men with their faces hidden behind cloths emerged from the shadows at a run.
…Eh?
She didn’t even have time for that monosyllabic thought. They were under attack.
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