Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Neighboring Confessor

All words

And all thoughts

Can be summed up

In a single word for others

Point Allocation (Troubled One)

●

“How was that? Not to brag, but I would say that was more than just ‘high damage’ – it was ‘super damage’.”

Takenaka sighed while grabbing the lernen figur that displayed her own withdrawal order and the route to take.

She was atop the bridge that was still tilted on its side. Hirano would withdraw with her while Hashiba and “Azuchi” would remain aboard.

Takenaka looked to the two who would stay.

“As a strategist, I’m not too fond of using Hashiba-kun as a pawn in my plans.”

“B-but it’s necessary. And, well, I did allow you to use ‘any means necessary’. If they will go along with this, then it’s what we should do.”

“Shaja,” said “Azuchi”. “This is a battle, so we cannot reveal our hand to them, but the same applies to Musashi. Still, I am certain that Hashiba-sama will win in the end. Shaja.”

She then looked to Takenaka.

“But, well, we have not operated the ship with a skeleton crew since the initial test voyage. That did include a mock battle, however. Shaja.”

“Do even automata get anxious about these things?”

“No. We can generally operate the ship on our own. Ordinarily, if we must leave our posts to assist the crew, then other crew members will take our place. …All of you can operate the ship, but only we can provide assistance for you, so from an efficiency standpoint, it is best for us to let the crew handle some of the ship’s operation. Shaja.”

“Now it sounds like you’re arguing humanity just gets in the way.”

“No.” “Azuchi” shook her head and glared. “We automata have learned from history that humanity is a hopeless species that cannot learn on its own or pass down its memories. But we came to understand that they have excellent abilities and can be flexible, so the world operates more efficiently when they are guiding others. Shaja.”

“Why didn’t you just enslave humanity?”

“Azuchi” shut her eyes at Hashiba’s reasonable question.

“If we enslaved that hopeless species they would degenerate into a species only capable of following instructions. And if we automata allowed those born leaders to degenerate to that extent, we are too well made to delude ourselves or romanticize our inherited memories of having done so. Thus, our distant ancestors decided that, rather than enslaving humanity, they would push humanity toward autonomy and guide them in a positive direction. Shaja.”

“And would you say that experiment was a success?” asked Hirano with a tilt of the head.

“Azuchi” covered her face with her right hand and pointed this way with her left hand.

“Y-you people! It’s the likes of you that-! Shaja.”

Takenaka decided now was a great to time to leave the ship.

●

…What should we do?

It’s been a while since I’ve worked the old noggin like this, thought Toori, crossing his arms and praising himself.

So much had happened this night. So to get a better grasp of the situation, he raised his hand.

“Can someone explain this in terms of porn games?”

“If I must,” said Urquiaga,” I would say the heroines’ children have come from the future and physically attacked the MC and now they’re saying it’s time for a ship battle.”

“Man, my future self worked a little too hard, don’t you think?”

Horizon kicked him in the crotch from behind.

For a moment, his consciousness shot up from below and then he found himself down on his knees. And Horizon…

“Toori-sama, the work was not done by your future self. It was done by your future hair.”

“Hair?”

“Correct. My hair apparently did some work too, but the fact that some hair was enough to create such impressive children is a real testament to the strength of Asama-sama, Mitotsudaira-sama, and Suzu-sama’s power.”

“Why am I being attacked here!?” protested Mitotsudaira.

“Anyway,” said Asama. She hung the broken Umetsubaki from her hip hard point part and groaned with a frown. “I’m starting to think my future self did a poor job educating her daughter.”

“If she’s willing to support hopeless people that hard, isn’t that more like she did too good a job?” asked Naomasa.

“When it happened, I experienced a brand new feeling of ‘wait, am I being insulted and accepted at the exact same time!?’ ” said Toori.

●

Tsurugi: “Kasuya! Kasuya! Look, I’ve got live footage of our dad and our moms! I’m taking photos too, but look at dad! Oh, you can just see the hopelessness radiating from him.”

Black Wolf: “Um, my mother always said her king was a wonderful person who supported everyone around him.”

Tsurugi: “And he is! He’s a hopeless guy who supports everyone around him! Yes, he’s ignoring his wife/landlord Horizon-sama and flirting with my mom! But he’s always at the center of it all, just like a wonderfully hopeless guy!”

The Boy: “Hmm, I think I get how Hirano-san’s love of the hopeless works now.”

●

That hopeless guy is at the center as usual, thought Ookubo.

…His lack of skills places him at the center.

He wasn’t skilled. In fact, his abilities were vastly inferior to everyone else’s.

But to describe people as skilled, it had to be based on some kind of standard. And she believed standards were always based on a specific field or direction.

What kind of gear was better: a big one or a small one?

An age of diversity like this required many different standards. And Musashi was roughly equivalent to a nation.

It was important to have a container to hold those different standards.

Ookubo had skills in several different directions, but she had decided to use her political skills to control Musashi because she had noticed politics held a higher position than the other standards.

But lately she had started to think that wasn’t really the case. But that was why…

“Hey, you upperclassmen and the Vice President – I have a suggestion as part of the Representative Committee.”

She walked toward them and said what she had to say.

“Can you all leave the ship by transport ship? We’ll follow after you, but we need you to go first.”

●

Ookubo heard a “huh?” and a “right” at the same time.

The former from the nudist and the latter from their homeroom teacher who stood nearby. But someone else hadn’t reacted at all.

“Vice President, what do you think?”

“This is a trap.”

“Probably,” agreed Ookubo. “P.A. Oda, Hashiba, and M.H.R.R. will still have a strong fighting force and plenty of aerial ships leftover if they lose the Azuchi. But the Musashi is all we have. We take on a much greater risk in accepting a ship battle. And I just know Takenaka has a plan here. Something that won’t seem fair. I trust her enough to be sure of that.

“But,” she said, pointing down toward the deck. “If we don’t fight here, the world will see it as a loss for Musashi. They will at least decide we ran from the enemy in fear.”

“I’m listening,” said the Vice President.

Ookubo pointed at her.

“It’s an ‘interpretation’ based on the result.” She glared a little bit. “The fact is that Hashiba hasn’t won. You could say we won the Iga Crossing and the Ten Spears didn’t manage a complete victory even after boarding us. They had to withdraw after running out of time.

“But,” she said again. “Musashi hasn’t managed a complete victory either. Even if we win the coming ship battle, people will say we ‘only managed to shake Hashiba with difficulty’. And after what the Ten Spears said, the question remains if they can trust Musashi with the future. Yet if we don’t fight, they’ll say the same thing.”

“You have a point,” said the Vice President, a hand on her hip. “Then tell me. It’s true the deck is stacked against us on the political front right now. Even if we win here, the other nations won’t be sure they can trust us.”

“Judge. If you understand that, what is it you want to know?”

The Vice President pointed at the deck like Ookubo had before.

“Why are you asking us to leave the ship? We’re the authorities on the Musashi.”

You need to understand, thought Ookubo as she responded.

“They are after you. They want to stop you. Takenaka will include that goal in her plans, so the best counterattack is to not play along. But if you do play along, your reputation will plummet and, even if you win, you will have to face Hashiba in the field of politics again before dealing with the world.”

“Then-”

Ookubo continued before the Vice President could finish her sentence.

“Leave us in charge of the Musashi.”

She snapped her left fingers. Her prosthetic arm’s fingers. It made a nice sound.

A large number of footsteps climbed the surrounding stairs to reach the bow deck.

They belonged to warriors, members of the Representative Committee, students with specialized technical skills, and adults who couldn’t take part in the fighting but who had remained onboard as technicians or managers.

…That should be everyone we can scrounge up right now.

The people who had kept the Musashi’s ships running were lined up on the bow deck of each ship. Seeing them moving into position, Ookubo spoke to the homeroom teacher standing behind the Vice President and her class.

“Sensei. For my history recreation as Ookubo Nagayasu and Tadachika, I will now enact my plan to bring about Honda Masazumi’s downfall. I know this is last minute, but is that alright?”

●

“Huh?” Masazumi turned back toward Oriotri. “Sensei!? You aren’t actually going to approve this, are you!? I’m not a name inheritor!”

“Hm. Even if one side isn’t a name inheritor, it can work when both hold important positions. And this is Ookubo’s history recreation. I have the authority to approve these things, but it does require the consent of both parties. That much is true.”

“In that case,” said Masazumi, turning toward Ookubo again. Ookubo raised her prosthetic arm’s fingers toward her.

First five fingers.

“Your victories are the 2nd Special Duty Officer, the Tachibana Couple, the 6th special Duty Officer, the Satomi President, and arguably the Acting Captain.”

She then lowered all five fingers and lowered another to make six.

“Your losses are the 1st Special Duty officer and the English Princess, the Asama Shrine Representative, the 3rd Special Duty Officer, the 4th, the 5th, and the Vice Chancellor.”

“Um, I’d rather you didn’t count me since I’m just a normal citizen.”

Everyone ignored Asama’s protest.

“Can’t we count the Tachibana Couple separately?”

“We’ll be a laughing stock if we count someone who defends in such a strange way.”

“Hm, she wasn’t like that when I beat her…”

Masazumi sort of remembered that and she did have to wonder when that change had happened. But Ookubo…

“The other world nations will find fault in the fact that our Vice Chancellor and so many Special Duty Officers were defeated. Also, none of our Special Duty Officers or higher have defeated any of the Ten Spears.”

“Is that why you say they won’t trust us?”

“Correct.”

…She has such a strict personality.

But Ookubo sighed and continued.

“But the world nations trust you more than us. If we tried to take over after your defeat, the world nations would make all sorts of demands.”

Ookubo took a step forward.

“So say I was in full command of the Battle of Yamazaki. Say you had no choice because I rebelled and you escaped once the battle was over. That way, no matter how this ends, we can return control to you and end this.”

Wait, thought Masazumi. So she took a step forward and raised her hand.

“What are you saying!? We are the authorities aboard the Musashi! Everything that happens here is our responsibility and accepting any blame is our job! That’s how it works!”

She had to say this.

“You underclassmen may follow in our footsteps, but you don’t need to take the blame for our actions.”

●

This girl… thought Ookubo.

She had been viewing herself as something of a hero, but it hadn’t accomplished a thing.

…She decided it all just now.

Is it a gap thing? I really am an awful person, she thought with a mental bitter smile.

“It’s the underclassmen’s job to help and assist their upperclassmen. And now you yourselves have become an obstacle to the non-Genesis-Project future you advocate.”

You need to understand, she thought as she continued.

“So you need to step down here and place the blame on us. You can excuse it as a history recreation of a rebellion targeting this emergency. That gives you an out if we lose or if anyone tries to claim you made bad decisions.”

Please understand.

“I’m not satisfied with my position and want to aim higher. That means I need you to survive this and rebelling now is the least painful way for us all.”

Get through to her, she said in her mind.

“Or do you have another way of purifying away the accusations of deficiency and defeat the world nations are planning to level against Musashi?”

Please get through to her.

“If you have a better idea, I’m willing to listen. But, Vice President, all you’re doing is not knowing when to call it quits and letting the enemy manipulate you.”

Please get through to her!

“The enemy is trying to shift this over to a ship battle. After evacuating their crew. Even if the Azuchi loses, they can blame it on that evacuation. And if they manage to damage the Musashi, that evacuation gives them the perfect way of dragging down the Musashi’s reputation. What can you do against that?”

Can I not get through to her!?

“Musashi Vice President, you-”

“Vice President.”

Kanou spoke to the Vice President from her position next to Ookubo.

“Milady does not wish for you to lose. She does not want your reputation tarnished. Please understand this.”

●

“Excuse me,” said Kanou with a quick bow toward dumbfounded Ookubo.

And Masazumi listened to her.

“I have urged her to rebel an average of 31 times each day, but she never did agree.”

“Oh, um…that’s quite something…”

There was some scattered applause from those behind her. But that wasn’t the point.

Kanou, however, gave a quick nod of acknowledgment.

“I interpret that refusal thus: Milady does not wish to depose you in a rebellion.”

Because…

“The Ookubo family that I serve is promised political power in the age of peace to come. For the next head of that family, the Honda family, which is guaranteed to fall, is not worth using a history recreation to avoid. She can simply prove her worth and sufficiently impress you that you hand over your current position to show your appreciation.”

Flat Vassal: “I feel like she’s raised the hurdle so far the Representative Committee Head can’t rebel.”

Yeah, she can be like that. Yeah…

But Masazumi knew what Kanou was trying to say.

“I urged her so strongly to rebel. In some cases, I wrote up a report or set up a bulletin board illustrating the advantages of an immediate rebellion, but she still refused. And yet now she says she is rebelling. And in order to save you rather than defeat you,” said Kanou. “Do you have it in you to sully milady’s compassion, willpower, and future, Vice President?”

●

This is about the future, thought Asama just before Horizon spoke up next to her.

“They’re the same then. No, I suppose you could say they are parallel.”

Asama knew what she meant. She turned around and Horizon nodded. With that prompting, she took a breath and…

“Our children from the future, who have inherited everything from us, are attempting to stop us. The underclassman who are following in our footsteps, who will inherit everything from us, are attempting to keep us going. But they hold exact opposite positions.”

“Asama-sama…you picked up on what was rattling around in my brain so easily!”

That is part of being a shrine maiden. Yes.

He asked the obvious next question.

“Where is the horizon, Seijun?”

He had his arms clasped behind his head as he directed this question toward Masazumi’s back.

“Us, I suppose.”

“No,” he said. “We’re not the horizon yet. I mean, we haven’t found a future other than the Genesis Project. If anything, we’re the hair.”

“Hair?”

“Um, Toori-kun, I really don’t think our future selves meant to have a child with your hair, so you shouldn’t phrase it that way.”

“Oh, I should apologize,” said Horizon. “I came up with that joke first and this boy has stolen it. Yes. …But now that you mention it, Toori-sama and my child in the future would truly be a child of hair, so I see now it wasn’t the best joke to make.”

Asama nearly laughed but knew that would be inappropriate in her position.

“But,” continued Horizon. “The distant future and the near future, who both want to follow after us and create a future for the world, are flirting over whether we should be stopped or allowed to continue. However, we still have not made our own position clear.

“In that case,” concluded Horizon. “Masazumi-sama, this battlefield was not originally meant for us, was it?”

●

Masazumi wasn’t sure how to phrase this.

She simply lowered her head, lowered her raised hand, clenched it tight, and opened her mouth.

“Are you saying the horizon vanishes without us?”

“Only you can stand there,” said Ookubo. “We can only follow after you.”

“Then,” said Masazumi. “Ookubo, I have one question for you.”

“Yes?”

She asked her question of that questioning face.

“Do you think you can pull it off without losing anyone?”

“Judge. Of course. …I swore I would do so in the sky above Mito.”

“I see.” Masazumi nodded, breathed in, and looked to the idiot, who nodded back.

“Hey, shorty. Keep in mind that we will come save you if anything happens.”

“That is convenient for us as well. Rushing to the aid of those who rebelled against you instead of abandoning them to their fate is the kind of moving story that would help your reputation.”

She’s surprisingly optimistic, thought Masazumi. It’s a miracle she can act as our underclassman like that, but I guess that’s the wonder of the seniority system. We need to keep that going.

At any rate, they had settled on a stance.

“Ookubo, I approve of your plan. We’ll say rebellion took command of the Musashi from us and everything that happened here was your responsibility.”

But…

“I’ll have to find a way to restore your honor later on.”

“Revealing what actually happened once you retire should be enough.”

“Good point.”

Ookubo wrinkled her brow at that. And as Masazumi wondered why…

“I don’t like how nonchalant you are about these things, Vice President.”

“But I’ll be retired then.”

Behind Ookubo, Kanou made a shooing motion toward Masazumi, so apparently that wasn’t the point.

Whatever, she decided and looked back to see Neshinbara had stepped forward from the group.

“So it’s finally happening.”

“What is?”

“With our underclassmen’s help, we can finally outmaneuver Takenaka Hanbei who has been such a thorn in our side,” he said. “While the Ten Spears have been fighting to stop us, I think Takenaka has been fighting to damage our reputation. Just in case the Ten Spears’ attempt didn’t work out or if it wasn’t enough to end things.”

“She is impressive, even if she is our enemy.”

Masazumi truly believed that.

Takenaka had a stubborn tenacity, but instead of focusing on bringing her side victory, her focus was on bringing defeat to her enemy. That led to her Urban Name of High Damage, High Return. She was willing to lose if it meant her enemy also lost.

Against an opponent like her, you could still end up losing no matter how many victories you had.

That had nearly happened here, but…

…Maybe Ookubo is a good match for her.

To have something to do, Asama was putting together divine transmission settings that would let them monitor the Musashi while off the ship and she sent them over to Masazumi.

“It feels like we’re both parents and guardians now. Not that I’m part of the future stuff,” said Masazumi.

Meanwhile, “Musashi” appeared on a sign frame. Sakai raised a hand in greeting behind her, so they must have been monitoring the discussion here.

“Masazumi-sama, we are aware what you are planning. You will still have divine transmission access, so please provide any realistic advice you might have. Over.”

“Oh, we’ll be connected? Leave it to me!” said Neshinbara.

Okay, I can’t leave him in control of the divine transmission connection, decided Masazumi.

And a transport ship ascended from where the Asama Shrine normally was. After seeing it, Ookubo waved her hand.

“I will now carry out the history recreation of Honda Masazumi’s fall!”

Why is everyone raising three cheers? Is that meant to apply pressure to me?

●

“Azuchi” watched Takenaka lean her back against the vertical floor of the roof.

She assumed Tanekana was sick again, but surprisingly she had her eyebrows raised while looking to the Musashi.

“Noooooooo!”

“They saw through you, Takenaka,” said Hirano, also looking to the Musashi.

While continuing preparations to leave the ship, Takenaka shut her mouth and scratched her head. “Azuchi” wasn’t sure what was happening, so…

“What is this about, Takenaka-sama? Over.”

“Oh, sorry, ‘Azuchi’. They may do something that won’t make the return worth it.”

“Huh?”

“Takenaka assumed Musashi’s Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council would remain aboard the Musashi, but the Testament Union just received a last-second notification about a history recreation on the Musashi: Ookubo Nagayasu and Tadachika’s deposing of Musashi Vice President Honda Masazumi.”

Hirano’s explanation felt off to “Azuchi”. Her memory told her that shouldn’t work.

“I thought Honda Masazumi wasn’t a name inheritor? Shaja.”

“She isn’t. Which is why Ookubo is using ‘a temporary stand-in’ to increase the accuracy of her history recreation.”

“You mean…Ookubo’s faction is staging a coup within Musashi against the Vice President’s faction and that is being interpreted as the history recreation?”

“Yes. Ookubo is the name inheritor, so she only has to depose someone. Then they can interpret that someone as Honda Masazumi. In this case, it just so happens that someone is a non-name-inheritor named Honda Masazumi.”

…Why do humans have to make everything so complicated?

“Azuchi” mentally glared at them, but she could only conclude that was simply how humans were.

Takenaka sighed.

“Dammit… And I so thought I had fully sealed off their Vice President and the rest. If we won the upcoming fight, Musashi would have been done for. And even if they won, they wouldn’t be able to manage a complete victory over the Azuchi, so they could at best say they had damaged the unmanned Azuchi and we would still have a fighting force leftover.”

“Does this mean one of their people is capable of thinking on your level, Takenaka-sama?”

“Frustratingly enough…”

Takenaka sighed again and scratched her hair.

“While the others were fighting a family battle, I was trying to bring down Musashi’s reputation regardless of how that family battle went. I saw that as my role as an outsider in the group. …But at this rate, Musashi’s Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers will survive.”

“We kind of need them to survive.” Hirano smiled bitterly. “Our dad, moms, and the others need to support the people until the Genesis Project is complete. And we need them to try and find a way to retain our relationships even after the Genesis Project. It’s going to require a delicate touch because we have no precedent to go off of.”

“Then maybe I should start thinking about that…”

Takenaka groaned in thought for a bit, but then looked up.

“Whatever. There’s no point in thinking about it here.”

“You finally realized that, Takenaka-sama? Shaja.”

“Azuchi” gave Takenaka’s back and shoulder a push to get her to stand on the edge of the roof.

“Now, the transport ship is below, so jump down. Shaja.”

“Wait, what? Why do I have to jump?”

“Azuchi” glared at the strategist.

“Because you spent so much time talking you are just about the last person left and because everyone on the transport ship assumed you were already aboard without checking so they were delayed in coming here. Do you understand now? Shaja.”

“Wow, that’s some obvious dereliction of duty!”

“Shaja,” said “Azuchi”, shoving Takenaka off. Next to her, Hirano, the final human crew member, prepared some control spells for divine transmission and the engine room before raising her hand and turning away from “Azuchi”.

Hashiba was there.

“Hashiba, please pay attention and abandon ship if you sense danger. We will have a much harder time of it without you. But…”

Hirano smiled with the ends of her eyebrows lowered and bowed toward “Azuchi”.

“I think this is going quite well right now. Thank you for carrying us this far, ‘Azuchi’. I look forward to working with you again.”

“Shaja.”

“Azuchi” nodded and watched as Hirano stepped off into the empty air.

Now then, she thought. She had lost track how many times she had thought that tonight. But she was certain she would think it many more times.

She ended the turning maneuver meant to cut off her sister ship and nodded to Hashiba.

“We will now follow Takenaka-sama’s plan…and begin the final phase of the Battle of Yamazaki.”

●

The two ships began a gentle mutual pursuit with one of them tilted on its side and the other with the virtual main cannon suspended from its bridge.

The battle began when the transport ships filled with crew evacuating each ship had made it beyond a radius of 15 kilometers.

They were located on the east end of the Seto Inland Sea, centered on Osaka Bay. Very little other than these two ships would have any freedom in that airspace once they began their combat maneuvers at an altitude of 10 kilometers.

While the transport ships departed, they formed miniature fleets that set up a scattered 15km perimeter like the stands at a circular stadium.

The scene was also visible from the ground and some people received live information through their connections to the ships.

Thus, information spread through Europe and the Middle East and then to other world nations and lands with the powerful acting as a hub and they all had their own interests in mind as they awaited the result of the battle between the two ships.

Back to Chapter 39

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 41