Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Twilight Assemblers[edit]
Sniff sniff sniff sniff
Sniff sniff sniff sniff
Sniff sniff sniff sniff
Sniff sniff sni-hmm?
Point Allocation (Did You Find Something!?)
●
Adele was certainly relieved.
“So, um, that’s what’s been happening.”
The place had originally been a cafe, so there was a table by the entrance. She and the Chancellor sat on either side of that while the Vicereine sat on the tatami mats toward the back. The 5th Special Duty Officer stood guard by the entrance and Asama was preparing tea inside.
“You wanted to turn over a new leaf?”
“I mean, y’know how a fresh mindset can lead to a power up or an awakening? We did that when we went to Novgorod. With the Musashi Mk. II and everything.
“But,” he scratched his head, “We don’t have the Musashi this time. So if we’re all going get a symbolic fresh start, I though I should lead the way since I’m the leader.”
“And you decided to do that by studying and getting smarter?”
“Judge.” The Chancellor nodded. “But doing it at school would just be a group study session or supplementary lessons. That wouldn’t have much of an impact on anyone. And with a big group study session, it would seem less like my personal revolution and more like I’ve decided to start on my new life here.”
Ohh, she thought, recoiling inwardly.
It was true everyone was depressed and stewing at the moment.
Their defeat in the Battle of Yamazaki had been thorough and they had even lost the Musashi. They all still dreamed of life on the Musashi only to wake up to this new reality.
But when they stepped outside, that reality was on the move and going with that flow wasn’t so bad.
So while they were all stewing, they were also truly weighing their options this time.
Would they continue to get involved in the world, or would they wait here for the Genesis Project?
P.A. Oda and Hashiba had set a deadline.
There was no chance of acquiring a new Musashi in that time. “Oume” and “Okutama” had run the numbers and determined they could at best complete construction of the base hulls.
…But it looks like he hasn’t actually given up.
Adele glanced to the back of this small hut where a bookcase contained elementary school textbooks and all sorts of trivia and educational books. Those included diagrams of the Musashi’s structure and design, which had likely been borrowed from the engine room. The Musashi’s divine net had mostly been backed up by the Asama Shrine, so it would still be possible to access that kind of data on the Musashi.
But she knew what the Chancellor was saying.
“You’re saying it doesn’t matter if we want to keep going if we don’t work to change things?”
●
It’s probably true, thought Toori.
“The thing is. I thought I should renew myself first. I had Nate make this place for me and, well, y’know how Emperor Go-Daigo wrote the song Gandhara while he was exiled? So I thought if I cleared my mind here for about two weeks I could go, ‘Okay, everyone! The new and improved me is here to lead you!’, but I’m still only on around the fourth day of the textbooks that I was supposed to finish in two weeks, right? So I’m realizing it isn’t looking good.”
“Um, Asama-san, 5th Special Duty Officer, can’t you help him get through it?”
“Well,” said Asama. “I trust him. He doesn’t need me to get after him. He’ll think these things through and, if he realizes it isn’t working, he’ll ask for help. I think it’s best for people to reach that point on their own.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been at this point for like three days now.”
Adele sighed and stared straight at him.
“You don’t have to do this, Chancellor. We will all follow you regardless.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be that person anymore.”
“Toori-sama.”
“Toori-kun.”
“My king.”
He received a triple check. He knew why it happened and he knew this wasn’t fair to Adele, so…
“Sorry. If I really didn’t want to be this way, I’d have to refuse all the help everyone’s giving me. I’d have to tell them to stop.”
“That’s right,” said Asama. “If that is what you think, that is a path you could take, but thinking that and still getting help means you are relying on people’s good will.”
Horizon nodded a few times and jotted down a note, but did that mean her earlier response hadn’t been meant to say that? Then what had it meant?
So he had to rephrase what he had said.
“I wanted to improve myself so I could lead you better.”
He put it in the past tense because he didn’t feel that way anymore.
…I guess I want to move on to the next step.
But something’s bothering me. Something telling me I can’t continue on like this.
Horizon, Asama, Nate, and sis are waiting for that. They trust me to find what that is and, if it’s a problem, to go to them for help.
That’s why they can all follow me without saying a word.
I appreciate it and I want to do that too.
“I don’t want to get scolded by sis like I was ten years ago.”
Expectations were a wonderful thing.
But why is it I don’t know what it is when it’s me that feels this way?
Maybe it’s something I’m refusing to look at.
That’s so lame. But he knew what he had to say to Adele.
“Should we all come here tomorrow? Or should we go to the Main Blue Thunder instead?”
“I, uh, don’t think that’s for me to decide.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I was just wondering what you were doing and you seemed really down.”
“Hey, I’m not down. I mean, I’m studying so I can do something about all this. Well, I’m feeling a little down about how badly I’m doing with it, but I’m still sure it’ll work out.”
Adele glanced over at Asama and Mitotsudaira.
Eventually, Adele nodded and responded.
“You’re not supposed to be trying to do something about this!”
●
Adele raised her voice. Realizing what felt so off about the Chancellor and thinking he needed to understand it himself, she gave voice to the thoughts stewing inside her.
“Listen,” she began. “Chancellor. You’re not supposed to be trying to do things yourself. You decide what you want to happen and then tell us. We make the things happen. Your job is to ask us to do it. You’re only feeling so down about how you can’t do anything because you’ve gotten that backwards, Chancellor.”
Only after saying it did she realize this time and this place were here so he could learn that.
“Vicereine, Asama-san, 5th Special Duty Officer, you were hoping he would figure that out on his own, weren’t you? That’s why you supported him in this, knowing he wasn’t cut out for it.”
She looked to Asama and Nate, who both looked to the back of the hut.
There, Horizon nodded several times and had her arms jot down a note.
“So that’s what this was about! …Oh, don’t mind me. Please continue, Adele-sama.”
Never change, Vicereine!
●
This really is the Reine des Garous’s home, isn’t it? thought Kasuya.
As a representative of the M.H.R.R. Catholics and Hashiba, she had asked for a meeting with a representative of Hexagone Française. She had expected it to be in Paris, but it was instead in the woods. An automaton called Mouri-01, who served Mouri Terumoto, had met her in the designated airspace and then guided her diplomatic ship here.
“Paris is still damaged from our battle against Hashiba. As popular as the Roi-Soleil and the princess are, they are not popular enough to get the people to accept you. And it would be rude to send a Special Duty Officer to meet with a representative of a conquering nation. Thus…”
With that “thus”, they descended into the forest and their diplomatic ships were sent back overhead.
Someone was waiting in the clearing below, but they had their arms spread in preparation for a hug.
“My! It’s my daughter’s daughter! I just have to get another sniff of you!”
Kasuya was thoroughly sniffed before she could hope to resist.
●
Mouri-01 watched in relief as a surprised Kasuya tried to dodge out of the way and the Reine des Garous circled in from the outside and sniffed her.
Negotiations would be a lot easier when their representative was the superior in every conceivable way.
The Reine des Garous was a superior member of their race and she had taken the dominant position here.
There were streams and hills near the Reine des Garous’s house, which made it hard to locate.
It was well made for defense. Even Kasuya would be able to relax and discuss the issues. Also…
“It’s a little early, but dinner is ready.”
The Reine des Garous’s husband emerged from the candy house.
He and the Reine des Garous had entered the house the day before yesterday and had been preparing for today ever since.
Eating indoors would mean no escape if anything happened inside, so they would be doing everything outdoors. But…
“My.”
The served food all looked fairly rough, but it was all quite flavorful with heavy use of fruits and such in the sauces. Furthermore…
“You used soy sauce to season this, didn’t you?”
“You can tell? Nate’s king taught me that one. I made a few modifications and Mrs. Loup-Garou absolutely loves it.”
He held a plate of food out toward hesitant Kasuya.
“So come here. Can you tell us stories about Nate we don’t know?”
●
“That’s more of a family reunion than a negotiation,” said Saizou.
Sasuke nodded while seated on a branch in a tree.
“I seriously doubt Hexagone Française can actually hold discussions with the M.H.R.R. Catholics – or Hashiba really. Even if they’re planning on dodging the issues or they have a clever way out of it, it’s still safest to send the Reine des Garous if Hashiba’s sending her granddaughter.
“The world’s a tough place,” said Sasuke.
They were here gathering intel on the other nations.
The Ten Braves, who had once called themselves Unneeded, weren’t what they once were. Isa, Kakei, and Miyoshi were gone and both Unno and Mochizuki had quit. Of course, Unno and Mochizuki would assist from Sanada as their backup, but they weren’t on the front line anymore. And Anayama, Nezu, and Yuri were focused on battling Musashi, so they saw intel gathering as secondary.
…With the young master on the move, we’re really the only ones who can do any work in Sanada.
There were many ways of repaying Sanada.
Sasuke wished Nobushige would remain in Sanada and act as a deterrent to the other nations. They had been gathering intel on those nations for that purpose, but…
“Now that he’s on the front line, is the young master going to use our intel to decide what he does?”
“He’s not that clever. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s just too powerful. He assumes it’ll work out as long as he’s there.”
They were used to criticizing their superiors from when Nobuyuki was in charge, but his younger brother Nobushige was trickier to deal with.
Because as a Celestial Dragon there was no room for complaint when it came to his skill in battle.
“Even if Sekigahara happens, the young master intends to win and survive. He’s trying to revive Sanada by defeating Hashiba.”
“Doing that will turn Sanada into a threat to the other nations…but the young master just assumes that’s not a problem with him around.
“He is a good guy though, added Saizou, probably because she really thought it.
But then she climbed up on his shoulder and spoke in the refreshing breeze.
“But Celestial Dragons can’t separate themselves from their power, can they?”
“I guess our job is to gather intel and make sure the young master knows there’s more to it all.”
“You’ve gotten old if that’s your job now.”
“The same goes for you!”
With that, he checked the fire visible in the distance.
Mouri-01, the Reine des Garous, her husband, and Kasuya Takenori were surrounded at a distance by an Hexagone Française automaton guard unit. Sasuke and Saizou were watching from even further away. They were making use of ninja techniques and there was no sign of their presence being noticed.
“I wonder what they’re talking about.”
“Didn’t you train in reading lips and reading auras?”
“Why bother when I have you?”
“I’m definitely having you carry me back today.”
He decided to continue the previous conversation.
“Whatever,” he began. “It’s not going well because Mouri doesn’t trust the Genesis Project. Or rather, they can’t trust it.”
●
“What do you mean?”
Sasuke answered Saizou’s question even though it should be obvious from the intel they had gathered so far.
“They’re a powerful nation preparing to settle the outside world. Not even the Chancellor and Student Council President’s authority can change that. It’s national policy now. And the Genesis Project will erase all relationships, which includes national rights and interests. Hexagone Française must be searching for a different method.”
“Is that why they wouldn’t let Hashiba inside Paris?”
“I’ve heard accessories modeled on the Terrestrial and Celestial Dragons that protected Paris during the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle are being sold in Paris. …That’s a small sort of resistance movement against the Genesis Project.”
But…
“If they don’t find another way, they’re in trouble if they don’t know anything about the Genesis Project. Because there might be a way to preserve relationships. So they want to search for something else while, just to be safe, keeping up relations with Hashiba.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Saizou, watching the flickering of the distant campfire. “Politically they’re searching for an anti-Genesis Project plan, but diplomatically they’re accepting the Genesis Project. But if they accepted it as a nation, their own people would riot…and that’s why they’ve set up this diplomatic route where the Reine des Garous is simply ‘welcoming a relative’?”
“Exactly. Hexagone Française must love this family diplomacy. Because it means the Hashiba representative is the Reine des Garous’s granddaughter. That gives the Reine des Garous a superior position and the Hashiba representative is also newsworthy as one of the Musashi children who know what the future holds. One of the eight visitors from the future, and a Loup-Garou to boot, is choosing the harmless diplomatic route. That’s cause to celebrate inside Hexagone Française.”
“But then why is Kasuya here? It sounds like it only hurts her position.”
“Hashiba believes the Genesis Project is the one and only answer.”
That couldn’t be helped.
“And because the Musashi sank.”
It really all came back to that.
Sasuke and Saizou had been on that ship and the Ten Braves had fought there. In Isa’s case, it had been where she died satisfied.
…My personal feelings place me on Musashi’s side too.
They were the enemy, but that really didn’t sit right with him. He hadn’t interacted with them enough to think of them as old friends, but ultimately that was what it felt like.
“Remember that blind girl we met in Date? Suzu, was it? I wonder how she’s doing.”
Did Saizou remember her too?
“We discussed relationships, didn’t we? And now those are all going to go away.”
“I don’t like that,” said Saizou.
She seemed to grow heavier all of a sudden, but maybe that was just her nature as a spirit.
At any rate…
“Will we also lose our frustration over losing our position as the Ten Spears?”
“I thought we got over that in Sanada? Besides, Lord Shibata, who led us back then, is gone too. It probably would have been more painful if we were the Ten Spears.”
“Maybe so.” Sasuke nodded. And, “I don’t like it either.”
“––––? Why are you making this conversation so heavy all of a sudden!?”
She pounded on him with her fists, but: C’mon, you said it first. However…
“Hm?”
He noticed a plate on the branch they were sitting on. It carried two roasted chicken legs with herbs tied in ribbons around them. There was also a letter, which he opened and read:
<As Far Easterners, you should enjoy my husband’s soy sauce version of the recipe.>
He looked back, but the automata were still standing guard as before. Next to the campfire, the Reine des Garous waved his way.
“…She’s a monster. Wait, she literally is a monster, isn’t she?”
“Is that anything for a spirit to be saying?”
“I’m not a monster. I’m a spirit.”
“Sure, sure,” he said, reaching for the plate and grabbing one of the chicken legs. He held it up, but Saizou waved it away.
“I can’t handle solid food right now. Is there anything to drink?”
When he spotted a glass of wine on the next branch over, he began seriously considering retirement.
●
This was Kasuya’s first time in the forest at night.
She had expected to be invited to a more urban or suburban area. Instead she found herself in the woods. But when she heard this was her mother’s mother’s home, she knew this had always been the only option.
…Oh, it doesn’t take much to win me over.
From a diplomatic perspective, this likely meant they were manipulating her as they saw fit. But for the two of them, they couldn’t have asked for a better result.
They ate, night fell, and the campfire started feeling warm when the topic of conversation changed.
Their voices joined the sounds of the firewood popping and crackling. It was that sort of conversation.
At first, they discussed her oldest memories.
She had spent a lot of time in an open space somewhere. Based on her description, her mother’s mother said that was probably the Musashi’s academy. That was the first time she realized she must have lived with her mother on the Musashi.
When looking out from there, she had been able to see a giant mountain with a shrine on it. According to Mouri-01…
“Perhaps…that was IZUMO? Could the Musashi have been docked at IZUMO while Avalon was being modified in England?”
“If the Genesis Project using the Logismoi Oplo had failed, the other nations would have been hounding them about it. I can easily imagine they would choose IZUMO as a neutral location close to England.”
This reinforced her memories. She brought up the food she often ate there. Her mother had whipped up fried eggs and thick ham for breakfast. For whatever reason, she hadn’t been able to get the flavor quite right herself, but…
“Was it like this?”
Her mother’s father entered the candy house and, ten minutes later, emerged with it.
The nostalgic flavor made her gasp, which put a smile on her mother’s father’s face.
“Nate’s king taught me this,” he said. “After cooking it and turning off the heat, you simply pour some soy sauce in the frying pan for flavor.”
She had always thought her mother had sprinkled something on top of it, but apparently not.
“The ham already has salt, so pouring the soy sauce on top makes it too salty. But pouring it below just before it’s done mixes the soy sauce with the grease, creating a light sauce.”
Tasting this flavor for the first time in over a decade brought back so many memories.
It also told her how her mother had lived with her king and how much those two had adored each other.
“–––––”
It brought her to tears.
“Oh, you naughty man. You shouldn’t be making other girls cry.”
She wanted to call out her mother’s mother for implying she was a girl herself, but she held her tongue. The conversation developed quickly from there. By letting herself cry from time to time, she managed to describe what had happened, what had been gained, and what had been lost. And in the end, her mother’s mother arrived at a conclusion.
“That girl trusted you. And I think she underestimated herself.”
“But…”
“She believed her wonderful daughter would be fine even without someone as insignificant as herself.”
That sounded ridiculous to Kasuya, but could her mother really have felt that way? She didn’t know. But…
“Did they lose their confidence after losing to destiny?”
“For your mother, that was her second loss.”
Only then did it hit her.
“You mean first she lost her king and then she lost to destiny?”
●
She had thought along these lines before.
But it hadn’t felt real to her. Now understanding hit her all at once during this fireside discussion.
Her mother had adored her king.
“But in her first loss, she lost her king…”
In order to recover from that, they had negotiated with the world and gone off to fight the final battle.
“But they couldn’t defeat destiny…”
That meant her mother had failed to protect anything at all.
“You understand what that means now, don’t you?”
Her mother’s mother sent her some cautioning words.
“Your mother failed to protect anything, but she gave birth to you, the child of the person she should have protected, and left you in a place that would protect you from the destiny she had failed to defeat. …And once you grew up, she thought her job was complete.”
“But…”
That seemed so selfish to Kasuya.
Yes. She had thought that for so long.
“Did…my mother love me?”
That was the question she had kept hidden inside ever since her mother left. Over and over she had read the letter left for her and told herself and the others their mothers had loved them.
But here she could ask for the actual truth.
“I was born from her feelings for and remorse about her king…so I feel like she wouldn’t have really loved me.”
“Takenori.”
Her mother’s mother’s voice made her raise her drooping head. The woman was smiling.
“You can just ask her. Straight to her face. Knowing her, I doubt she will give you a real answer, but if you can ask, you might as well.
“Of course,” continued her mother’s mother. “She might not know how to answer and change her answer a few times, but you can just keep forcing the question onto her until she gives you a proper answer.”
“Really?” she asked. “I can force her?”
“I didn’t raise her to run away from these things.”
That made her smile a little. Because she too hadn’t been taught to run away when asked a question. But then she noticed Mouri-01 looking distressed.
“Is something wrong?”
“Eh? Oh, um, the thing is…if at all possible, could you please keep the things discussed here a secret?”
“That is fine of course. …Oh, you mean even to Hashiba and the others after I return home?”
“That would be preferable, yes,” said Mouri-01, glancing over at Kasuya’s mother’s mother.
But she showed no sign of noticing as she carried food to Kasuya’s mother’s father’s mouth and wiped the sauce from his face.
What would be wrong with sharing it? wondered Kasuya, but after a bit more thought she realized the problem.
“This is because you are essentially pushing me to have a rematch with my mother and I agreed, isn’t it?”
“That would be fairly awkward for Hexagone Française after the Battle of Yamazaki.”
Middle management did not sound fun. But after pushing Kasuya’s mother’s father to the ground and licking all over him, her mother’s mother got back up – for some reason with her mother’s father’s shirt clutched to her. After a deep breath, she gave Mouri-01 a smile with lowered eyebrows and…
“You could really stand to be more tolerant.”
“I am talking about the nation! The entire nation!”
My mother’s mother seems to do everything on an even greater scale than my mother said.
●
“Ha ha. Discussing tricky matters of state with the Reine des Garous is a fool’s errand. But it does seem to have gone well as far as the family diplomacy is concerned. Don’t you think, children of Anne?”
Tomoe Gozen swung her rod on the nighttime pier to cast a fly lure into the river.
She tugged.
No bite. With a tongue click and a bitter smile, she pulled on the line instead of reeling to pull it in all at once. She only reeled the line in after the fly lure had returned to the tip of the rod.
Looking up, the homes and factories on the riverside all had their lights on. She sighed and sat back on the tackle box. She appreciated the ghost-compatible fishing boots that retained their form while letting her feel the pier below her step.
Then she only had to speak to Mouri Terumoto using the voice only lernen figur open next to her.
“You’re not in an easy position there, are you?”
“Testament. Both sides are consciously holding separate domestic and diplomatic positions. I hate that kind of thing, but we can’t reach an agreement without it. …Makes me want to find an alternative to the Genesis Project out of spite.”
“Please do. Hashiba doesn’t seem to like me much either. And they’re not even coming to say hello. Maybe because I’m here in Magdeburg.”
“If Hashiba visits you there, I’ll go see her too.” After a quick laugh, Terumoto continued. “That said, I do owe Hashiba a small debt now.”
“You do?”
Tomoe Gozen cast the fly lure. Tugged. No bite.
“About Ankokuji Ekei. She accepted his actions as the Testament Union. This new Hashiba is taking some bold steps.”
“What do you think about the fact that Musashi saved Ankokuji’s life?”
“He’s never coming back from M.H.R.R.” Terumoto’s bitter smile was obvious even with the voice only lernen figur. “His only options are to retire or relinquish his inherited name. In that sense, you could call that his and Ootani’s Sekigahara and the Testament Union accepted that.”
“Are you going to try and use that to say Mouri’s Sekigahara is over?”
“If they’d accept that, I’d be willing to convince our domestic faction to go with the Testament Union.”
“They won’t. If they did, they wouldn’t have any bargaining chips left.”
Tomoe Gozen cast the fly lure. Tugged. No bite.
And Terumoto suddenly spoke.
“If only we had the Musashi.”
●
“Don’t you mean ‘if only we had Musashi’?”
“I said what I said. Musashi is worthless without the Musashi. They were briefly in the news when that idiot of a Chancellor inherited Matsudaira Motonobu’s name, but what did that accomplish? In the end, their value was in that mobile base.”
Terumoto laughed. And while Tomoe Gozen reeled in her line…
“What if?”
“What if what?”
“What if there was a faction on the national level that could prop up Musashi? On the pretext of supporting the Matsudaira name inheritors so they can advance the history recreation.”
“You mean an anti-Genesis Project faction? But what could we do before the time limit?”
It was true there was a time limit. Furthermore…
“There’s nothing anyone on the ground can do about that time limit. Nobunaga’s OS up on the moon is simply going to carry out the Genesis Project by killing destiny’s personality. …How are we supposed to reach the moon? The second moon is a lot closer to Earth, but only the Yamato can possibly reach it.”
“And apparently destiny will send a military force against us if we do head to the moon.”
“How are we supposed to win?”
In other words…
“We need the Musashi. And even if we did have something like that we could use as a mobile base of operations and fortress, we’d still have to defeat the Yamato first. Do we have any kind of military force capable of defeating the Yamato without taking serious damage? If any damage from that fight can’t be repaired by the time limit, we can’t get to the moon.”
“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
Tomoe Gozen cast the fly lure. Tugged.
A bite.
She stood up, partially secured the reel, and let it go while tugging on the line.
“What are you going to do?” asked Terumoto.
“There’s nothing to do without Musashi. The children of Anne still aren’t all that bright.”
“Explain.”
“Testament. …Listen. Thinking about doing something on your own or with just your immediate group is a sign of poor thinking or of panicking. Many things can be shared with others. But when you aren’t very bright or you’re panicking, you decide you can’t be a bother to others.”
“Anne ascended into the sky in the end.”
“Will you, her heirs, do the same thing in a similar situation? Is that what you inherited from her?”
“–––––”
In the distance, a force leaped from the water and struggled. She wouldn’t let it escape. She reeled in the line and pulled it toward her.
“At the meeting in Magdeburg, we used Musashi to make sure we aren’t working alone anymore. Anne’s was the last generation that could get by working alone. You aren’t as good as them, so don’t attempt the same thing.”
“What is this, a Protestant sermon?”
She pulled. She sharply reeled it in.
“Idiots have a way of pushing themselves too hard. The time for winter uniforms is approaching. If you feel a need for a change, then this period of silence is an important time to prepare yourself for action. There should be other groups already working on that.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“Look back at your own thoughts. You’re one of the people I’m talking about,” said Tomoe Gozen. “You can trust them. This wasn’t their only defeat. They got back on their feet last time too. You managed to overcome defeat in the same way, so you should be able to trust them take the same path whether they win or lose. You can trust them not to give in here.”
“You adore them, don’t you?”
She smiled bitterly at that question. “Maybe so,” she began.
“They aren’t right.”
Because…
“You can never avoid loss. That’s how it was for us. And how it was for Anne. They have failed plenty of time themselves. They have suffered losses without even noticing it.”
But…
“If they noticed, it would sadden them, but they will continue to advocate that goal as often as they have to. They will do whatever they can to ensure nothing like it happens again. …Even during a critical fight. They won’t give up. They won’t let anything go to waste. So when they risk everything, they aren’t on their way toward death – they are on their way toward life.”
She repeated her original statement.
“They aren’t right.”
They kept hurting their chances, taking the long way around, and they had to feign cheerfulness to keep themselves going, but…
“If you ask me, they also aren’t wrong.”
Because otherwise…
“There is no saving me.”
Her words received a response.
“That’s just your personal feelings. Ridiculous.”
●
The line snapped as she reeled it in. The caught force leaped and the line snapped even though it was already close to her hand.
Too bad, she thought.
“I love ridiculous things like that,” said Terumoto.
And…
“Without those feelings, it’s just a bunch of numbers. …Testament, my thinking isn’t getting us anywhere. Fine, I’ll try looking at it like an idiot, but remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The Genesis Project will bring loss. But you can’t say the same about the people protecting it – Hashiba’s Ten Spears. From the reports I’ve heard, they aren’t wrong either. So what now?”
“If you don’t think those children have found the answer yet, then tell them.”
“Tell them what?”
“That it’s about time for winter uniforms. …And so they need to be ready.”
“Testament,” was the only reply before the divine transmission ended.
Tomoe Gozen sighed. She sat back on the tackle box, reeled in the snapped line, and spoke.
“Guericke, don’t you have anything better to do?”
To her right, Guericke was using a hand net to catch the fish that had snapped the line. The fish struggled in the net and splashed water around as he swung it aside.
“All our payments from the summer events have come in, so I have been documenting the results. I thought I would ask you what we should spend the profits on, but I found you getting a bite in the middle of a conversation.”
“I am technically Secretary for M.H.R.R. as a whole. Are you sure Saxony’s regional academy wants me making that kind of decision?”
“Tomoe Gozen, you really do take everything so seriously. …Which make senses for the leading figure of the Protestants.”
“Is that so?” she said, checking the lernen figur Guericke opened. We always do end up with a lot of money at the end of summer, she noted.
“Is there any way we could construct a new Musashi with this?”
“Please take this seriously, Tomoe Gozen!”
“Heh. People tend to be dreamers at my age.”
You’re supposed to laugh.
●
This is no laughing matter, thought Masazumi in a school cafeteria room with a view of the sea.
She was waiting for someone.
But not for Class Plum.
It was late evening, but the idiot again hadn’t gathered everyone together and everyone had returned to the city.
Night was falling and the city lights were coming on, but the food stands were still running in the cool evening here where they had a view of the sea.
Everyone was adapting unexpectedly well and they knew how to pass the time. But the Student Council had a surprising amount of work to do and there had been a minor commotion over financial management during the initial stage.
The Treasurer pair in Kantou had, to no one’s surprise, tried to run off with Musashi’s money.
…They really are incorrigible.
Did they just want attention? Probably not.
Anyway, they had used a variety of methods to deal with that and, now that the Student Council’s financial situation was cleared up, they were putting together a one year plan for running the collection of temporary cities. It was based on the reservation management know-how adapted from the wide blocks and such left in Mito. The topography and scale were different, but that still told them what materials and resources they needed and land use factors that didn’t come up in life aboard the Musashi. The various committees had been working nonstop on it all.
Her father and the rest of the council had been working too. They had been explaining the situation to the other nations and dealing with the VIPs who arrived to probe the situation here. The hut that they were calling the Provisional Council Building was enough to block out prying eyes and the storeroom directly linked to it was rumored to be packed full of gifts for and from VIPs. Most of the provisional councilors had left for other nations for some preemptive diplomacy, where they were proclaiming the strengths of Udon Musashi.
“Trade will have to come later, but existing on the land makes us a truly unsinkable ship!”
That was the provisional council’s claim, which she thought was well said.
It was a reminder of just how incredible lively her father and the rest were.
…Dad is traveling around Hexagone Française, right?
●
“Koni-tan! Koni-tan! Let’s visit the great flat city of Limoges next! I love these roughly-defined diplomatic missions where anywhere we go counts as work! We can grab as much free land as we want!”
“Okay, Nobu-tan! Soccer has been popular in the great flat city lately, so we can finally use Centurion Captain Wing for diplomacy! They should only be up to the second season, so we can shut them down by showing them up to the Captain’s terrible defeat in season five! Then they’ll be dying to see what happens next, so they’ll do whatever we tell them!”
“You’re a sly one, Nobu-tan! We can pick up our supply of figures sent from Surface Musashi at the next port! They’re officially labeled as ‘documents’, but they’re light so be careful when carrying them!”
●
…Dad and Konishi-sama must be doing a lot of work, so I need to pick up the slack on this end.
The liaison committee had just sent a notice from the provisional councilors asking to have their documents sent, so she had the ones stamped with “Congratulations” and “Waves” sent out from the storeroom. Apparently they were unusually light for their size, but the documents could just provide a divine net address where the actual data was located. She made a note that they were to be handled with care.
At any rate, the Student Council and the committees were busy. They had existing work to deal with and new work was cropping up all the time. The farming work on this land Musashi wasn’t very familiar with tended to be the latter type. Notices often had to be sent for those things, and…
…I actually don’t mind how excited Neshinbara is about all this. His work is harmless for once.
She was currently in a school store/cafeteria located a bit down the hill from the school.
It was also used for meetings, so there were individual rooms beyond the table and counter seat area.
Those rooms were more like terraces with a view of the ocean. Shutters could be lowered to cover them up and auditory stealth was available, which were standard features for the Musashi.
“And I was told to wait here for…”
There they were. Two figures arrived from the back way, not through the cafeteria entrance facing the city.
Climbing the path straight up to the terrace was…
“Kanou and Ookubo.”
Ookubo would be returning to work, so she had asked to be filled in on the current situation.
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