Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Midpoint Checker[edit]
Hey
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Well, even if you can
Hey
Point Allocation (Do This Right)
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“Now that they’re in P.A. Oda territory, we can’t see or even track them, can we?” noted Tomoe Gozen on the city wall, her back to the steam rising from so many print shop smokestacks in the night.
Closer behind her, Guericke sat on the stone steps leading down to the city with a lernen figur open. He was giving instructions to the Saxony Student Council and officers who kept coming up to him.
“Shall I send out an aerial ship to monitor them?” he asked. “If we only send it up vertically, it shouldn’t cause too much of a disturbance in the neighboring academies.”
“Poland has been trying really hard to stand out lately, so don’t. I’m sure we’ll have to deal with them at Westphalia or afterwards anyway. Besides, Musashi and Hashiba’s battle should be settled by morning. I don’t know how it will play out, but with ships that size, the whole world will learn the result at about the same time.”
“So trying to find out sooner is a waste of time?”
“Testament,” confirmed Tomoe Gozen. And as if in sudden realization, she looked back toward the city and then turned her body too. “Depending how it turns out, everything might end up being a waste of time.”
“What will happen to us then?”
Guericke did not look up at her as he asked, so she responded without looking down at him.
“Testament. They said all the connections between us would be lost, but it isn’t clear how many of the connections used to create our intelligence will be lost. For example…”
She thought for a few seconds.
“Consider a parent and child. What happens to those ‘people’ if they lose all their connections? If they retain their intelligence but lose the connections between them, they will see each other as strangers. In some cases, a parent and child could even end up marrying each other. And if they lose their intelligence along with the connections between them, they will be nothing more than animals. The strong will dominate the weak and possibly even eat them.”
“That is a frightening thought.”
“There is a fair amount of cannibalism in history. We found ways around it in the history recreation.”
“Will I regret if, out of curiosity, I ask how that was done?”
“Testament,” Tomoe Gozen smiled bitterly. “One option is seen in England’s Drake couple. You create a relationship between someone who enjoys self-harm and someone who enjoys eating people. Since it’s for the history recreation, they will be provided with regeneration spells.”
“Is there another option?”
“Yes, and a simpler one. The person who is to be eaten climbs into a pot. Well, a bath really. They soak in there to create a stock that is then used in place of actually eating them. People who are into that kind of thing quite enjoy it.”
“That has been in doujin manga for ages, but I didn’t realize the genre had such a history to it.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” said Tomoe Gozen and Guericke turned toward her to ask a question.
“Are there any other options?”
“One you know much more about.”
“Oh, the Reine des Garous method?”
“Testament. She sure did get popular after her appearance in IZUMO. Of course, she’s always been fairly well known in the region near the M.H.R.R.-Hexagone Française border.”
“Being a symbol of terror who is so sweet to her husband makes her popular with men and women alike.”
“Yeah.” Tomoe Gozen sighed up into the sky. “Would I be popular now if I had abducted myself a husband?”
“The idea is to be sweet to him, not abduct him, Tomoe Gozen! Is it that hard to get over your Bando warrior side!?”
Tomoe Gozen kicked Guericke’s head from atop the wall. It made a fairly solid sound and he briefly passed out, but she didn’t care. She turned toward the southeastern sky.
“Hashiba has to know all of this already, so I can’t help but wonder. They might have something in place to deal with those issues, but there are still so many unknowns.”
Now…
“Time to wait for the result. It isn’t often you know the fate of the world will be determined by morning.”
●
Masazumi knew they were being pursued. And at the same time…
“A major flaw in our Iga Crossing?”
She appreciated Mukai coming up with countermeasures for the pursuit. But the legitimacy of the Iga Crossing was a political matter. Dealing with that was entirely up to her.
Bell: “Masazumi…sorry.”
Art-Ga: “Eh, what!? Suzu is apologizing to Masazumi!? You don’t have to do that! Now! Get her!”
Gold Mar: “Ga-chan, Ga-chan, we need to hurry up and get Bara-yan’s books burned.”
Novice: “Ha ha ha! You fools don’t understand its value! You will regret burning these one day!”
Worshiper: “I already do. Because now you can carry your inventory around with you again.”
What are they doing?
But Masazumi was more concerned about something else.
Asama: “Masazumi, what is this flaw in the Iga Crossing?”
Vice President: “Hmm. With the history recreation, any issue you can find can be turned into a flaw, so it really comes down to who can make their claim first.”
10ZO: “This one is a little tricky since this is a history recreation involving Hashiba and us. …It would have been nice to ignore their warning and claim it didn’t reach us or didn’t arrive in time, but that isn’t possible now that they are so close.”
Art-Ga: “Then shouldn’t we have left as soon as we finished with the Honnouji Incident?”
Musashi: “Our departure was in fact quite swift. Unfortunately, the Azuchi arrived earlier than expected. And if we had departed sooner, the Azuchi could have changed course and charged at our current position from the northwest or even gotten ahead of us. Over.”
The course displayed by “Musashi” made that much clear.
…We had to leave on a course between Sakai and Kyou for the Iga Crossing.
That meant leaving Honnouji from the south and taking an L-shaped course, but…
…If we did that, they would have caught up to us while making the right angle turn.
They knew that after taking a nearly identical course during the Battle of Mikatagahara. Back then, they had been pursued by the light warship crewed by Maeda Toshiie’s ghost warriors. The Azuchi would be able to close in on them rapidly.
So they had wanted to move their starting point as far south as possible, but moving the Musashi south made it harder for the transport ship flying in from Honnouji to arrive, creating a time loss.
They had chosen the midpoint between the two as their departure point.
They weren’t starting from Sakai, but a position south from Honnouji and on the way to Sakai was close enough to claim it counted.
The problem was they still had to return to that original route, so they were taking a loose L-shaped course. That meant the course “Musashi” was taking wasn’t a complete straight line. Since it was a fairly shallow L…
Silver Wolf: “The Azuchi can fly straight through the part we have to fly around.”
Vice President: “Judge. And we have to maintain our speed, so we can’t fire back. So if the Azuchi did show up, they would attack us from the side even if we got a head start, so my idea was to make an initial counterattack feint to keep them from going around.”
That plan had ultimately failed, but this was still safer than taking an attack from the side.
She had focused on safety, but now…
“They’re catching up and critiquing our history recreation!”
●
Masazumi made up her mind.
“I guess I’ll hear her out.”
With the Azuchi catching up, it was possible their complaint could work.
That could be the result of a negotiation, so she had wanted to avoid negotiating. But now she had no choice.
“ ‘Musashi’, prepare for a discussion with them. Allow our people to join in as before, but hide their posts from the Azuchi side. That would be more than their minds could bear.”
●
“Takenaka-sama! The greengrocer is contacting us! They say they want to talk! Shaja!”
What even is this world anymore? wondered Takenaka, but she couldn’t insist on her opponent’s sanity here. She authorized the discussion, but at the same time…
“If they want to hide who they are, we can do the same. …Okay, ‘Azuchi’, let the others join in, but hide their posts from the Musashi side.”
●
Greengrocer: “This is the Musashi greengrocer.”
Butcher: “This is the Azuchi butcher.”
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Tachibana Wife: “I feel like we need a rice shop.”
Worshiper: “Are we planning to open a market?”
Vice President: “C’mon, don’t be like that. Please.”
Art-Ga: “So what is their complaint about?”
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Greengrocer: “What does a butcher want with us?”
Butcher: “There is a major flaw in what you are doing.”
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Kimee: “So would that flaw be tax evasion on all the vegetables they’re selling or are they smuggling in foreign produce?”
Black Wolf: “Quite the brazen greengrocer.”
AnG: “Our butcher is just as bad! Isn’t that right, Take!?”
Kuro-Take: “That really wasn’t my intention here! I swear!”
●
Greengrocer: “What is this flaw of ours?”
Takenaka immediately answered Musashi’s question.
Butcher: “You haven’t fulfilled the conditions needed for the Iga Crossing.”
Greengrocer: “Yes, we have.”
…That was fast!
She had been planning to start right on in with an explanation, but they had bluntly rejected her claim.
That meant Musashi had an argument ready for use against hers. That meant she couldn’t just push through on momentum and claim the argument was over and there was no rebuttal for them.
Butcher: “No, this Iga Crossing you are attempting is missing something needed for the Iga Crossing.”
Greengrocer: “We specifically prepared for this night. This claim of something missing is a pure fabrication. I protest.”
●
Horizey: “Ohh! Masazumi-sama just launched the Far East’s special ‘I Protest’ Cannon!”
I should just get in whatever rhetoric I can, decided Masazumi.
Gold Mar: “Did we prepare for the Iga Crossing?”
Vice President: “Of course we did. In our minds.”
Novice: “Indeed we did! And my mind’s eye is even now watching the New Seventh Fleet pursue the Azuchi from behind! Let me know if you need any assistance!”
I need to avoid giving him any tasks tonight, silently concluded Masazumi, but she knew saying anything aloud would only encourage him. Still, Hashiba wouldn’t know what they had planned any better than she or Neshinbara did with them.
…Then I should be able to get away with a small bluff.
Vice President: “Neshinbara, I take it back. I want a bit of help from you.”
Novice: “I would love to help, but take what back!? Did you say something before that!?”
Vice President: “Oh, that was in my head. Sorry. Because saying it aloud would only encourage you.”
Silver Wolf: “You’re saying enough already!”
●
Takenaka checked the lernen figur supplied by “Azuchi” and saw the Azuchi had closed in further.
If they kept this up, they would catch up at the edge of the Mikawa Bay collapse.
…This will work!
Musashi had to know this too. That would be why they agreed to talk, so she had to assume they had something up their sleeve.
…I can’t assume we have the upper hand.
So she spoke – in a searching way, as if feeling out what kind of weapon the enemy was wielding.
Butcher: “Listen. I don’t know how you are defining it, but the Iga Crossing is not just the Matsudaira forces arriving in Mikawa unharmed.”
That was true. Matsudaira’s main force did arrive safely in Mikawa.
But not everyone was safe.
Butcher: “Anayama Nobutada. His unit strayed from Matsudaira’s main force, was attacked by a local Ikki group, and he died there.”
So what would they do?
Butcher: “Will you produce someone to be Anayama Nobutada and perform a history recreation of his death?”
●
How about that? thought Takenaka.
Kuro-Take: “Musashi claims they will not perform history recreations that force death on people. So they will be unable to complete the history recreation of Anayama Nobutada’s death and they must stop here.”
Kimee: “I never knew you trusted Musashi so much.”
It surprised Takenaka too. But she had dealt with them directly or indirectly several times already and she knew they would not “betray” her here.
And Musashi likely saw Hashiba the same way. So…
…They would have predicted this much!
This thought was interrupted by “Azuchi” sending another warning down below.
“M-more incoming garbage! Watch out to fore! Shaja!”
She’s gotten a lot sloppier with that, thought Takenaka, but this didn’t cover a wide area. It was more manga and divine figurines. Another life-size one hit Ootani down below, so did he have something that drew them toward him?
But if Musashi wasn’t stopping their obstruction tactic…
…They’re continuing the negotiation!
Greengrocer: “I appreciate the warning, but I have a few responses there. First, Anayama Nobutada’s incident does not apply to our Iga Crossing.”
Butcher: “Huh?”
She’s making her move, thought Takenaka, knowing she had to be on her guard. So after her exaggerated response, she asked a probing question.
Butcher: “How does the deadly attack on Anayama Nobutada not apply to the Iga Crossing? He left with Matsudaira’s main force and wound up in that situation en route.”
Greengrocer: “Let me clarify.”
Here it comes.
Greengrocer: “There is more than one theory regarding Anayama Nobutada’s death.”
●
Masazumi opened several sign frames with her right hand. They came from Neshinbara’s research material archive, but…
…These aren’t organized at all. He was just collecting everything he could with zero intention of ever looking at it again, I’ll bet.
Despite that thought, she was thankful for the material.
The sign frame she pulled out was related to the Iga Crossing, but…
Vice President: “Anayama Nobutada died. But not everyone agrees how it happened. It does seem true he was attacked, but some say he was killed in the attack and others say he killed himself. Which interpretation to use should be our choice, so why are you choosing for us, Hashiba? The Iga Crossing is our history recreation, not yours. There are multiple theories regarding Anayama Nobutada and our actions and decisions are based on the idea that we should not perform uncertain history recreations when lives are involved.”
She got it all out there at once. And Takenaka responded after the span of a breath.
Butcher: “You are mistaken about one thing, Musashi.”
Here it comes, thought Masazumi.
Butcher: “Anayama Nobutada originally served the Takeda clan. But Takeda was betrayed and he accepted an invitation from Matsudaira, who was colluding with the traitors, to join in.”
But…
Butcher: “Instead of commanding him personally, Matsudaira recommended him to the Oda clan. Oda accepted and Anayama Nobutada served Nobunaga, who assigned him as a yoriki to Matsudaira. This means P.A. Oda has the right to choose what happens regarding him.”
●
AnG: “You’re making this really confusing, Take.”
Tsurugi: “Um, to put it simply, there was a samurai who didn’t know what he was doing and got separated from the main Matsudaira force, where he was attacked by a local Ikki group and died. His name was Anayama Nobutada.”
Black Wolf: “He was in Mikawa to serve Matsudaira, accompanied them to Sakai, and joined them on the Iga Crossing, but he didn’t actually belong to Matsudaira. He technically belonged to the Oda clan and Oda sent him as a helper samurai to assist Matsudaira. Samurai sent as a helper like that are known as yoriki. It literally means ‘strength provider’.”
Kohime: “So this Anayama person was with P.A. Oda, but he got wrapped up in the Iga Crossing and died? What an unlucky person…”
Onitakemaru: “Must you remove my head and say that last line to me!?”
●
Takenaka sighed after defining Anayama Nobutada as a member of P.A. Oda.
…Now I have a hook we can use to involve ourselves in the Iga Crossing.
She could question Musashi and make demands regarding their handling of Anayama Nobutada’s history recreation.
That was a history recreation of an attack and death. Musashi rejected forced death, so they couldn’t ignore this.
And unless they could make a decision regarding this death, Musashi could not complete the Iga Crossing.
“Now, even if they do escape to Mikawa, they can’t establish the Iga Crossing.”
That was her aim.
She was using Musashi’s policy against them.
For that, she wanted to define Anayama Nobutada as P.A. Oda.
Then a response came from Musashi.
Greengrocer: “Anayama Nobutada was with P.A. Oda? Sorry, I completely forgot.”
…There it is!
Musashi had accepted Anayama Nobutada’s affiliation. Now it was Takenaka’s turn to go on the attack.
Butcher: “Then listen up, greengrocer. Anayama Nobutada did indeed die in the Iga Crossing. Regardless of how it happened. We want to ensure Musashi understands this fact.”
Greengrocer: “Wait.”
Butcher: “I know.”
This was quite the conversation. But Takenaka got ahead of them to prevent them from adding anything unnecessary.
Butcher: “There are different theories as to why Anayama Nobutada’s unit got separated from the main Matsudaira force. Some say he was ill, some say the natural environment was to blame, and some say he suspected Matsudaira was going to betray him. There is no consensus there.”
But…
Butcher: “That is not the issue at hand. None of it changes that he died during the Iga Crossing. No matter how it happened, that is what matters.”
●
She’s made her move, thought Ookubo, sighing as she watched the discussion play out.
She was currently on Okutama’s bow deck. She had thought the Representative Committee Head should be at the academy, but Okutama’s bow was about equidistant from all of the other ships. And since it was open air, it gave her a view in every direction.
…Musashino’s bridge might seem best, but it’s hard to see below from there.
The view from the edge was good, but the floor was unexpectedly long and wide, creating many blind spots. Plus, “Musashi” and Sakai were there now.
From here, she had Kanou run to the important positions and, in an emergency or if she needed to move quickly, she would get Righteousness to carry her if Yoshiyasu was available. She used that process to complete different duties and provide authorizations, but…
“She’s attacking one of Musashi’s specialties, meaning we can’t avoid it.”
Takenaka was using their rejection of forced death to negotiate.
Ookubo wasn’t certain if Takenaka was serious about this, but she clearly didn’t mind giving herself a bad name.
…She’s a formidable opponent.
Ookubo had once used a similar tactic against the Vice President. She had set it up so it would work out either way and thus determine the Musashi’s future, but…
“I was concerned about my own future…and I didn’t discuss death so directly.”
But this opponent was different. Negotiating over death would give you a bad name, but the enemy was not trying to win votes here.
…She wants to restrict our actions.
And to do that, she was ignoring the people’s reactions and focusing only on Musashi’s reaction as she negotiated.
This was a battlefield.
Righteousness: “What would you do?”
Hearing the implied “if it was you”, Ookubo realized she had engaged in a similar negotiation.
During the Kantou Liberation. She had faced Konishi Yukinaga like this.
Ookubo was also the kind of person who could ignore any harm to her reputation and focus on negotiating with her opponent. In that sense…
“––––”
Quiet laughter spilled from her. She didn’t know if it expressed relief, scorn, or bitterness, but…
…Would Kanou-kun stop me if she knew I wanted to do this? Or would she say, “That is fine, milady”?
With that on her mind, she answered Yoshiyasu.
“If it was me, I would use the fact that my opponent felt the need to drive her point home so hard.”
●
Ookubo thought about the point their opponent had driven home earlier.
“She made it clear that his death was a solid fact. But…”
…But if she wants to be so certain of it, that must be their weak point.
Focusing there would break down her argument. Or it would make her point of view less certain.
Nagaya-Stable: “It’s a problem for her that there are so many different theories to choose from.”
Righteousness: “You mean she wants to force her preferred theory onto Musashi?”
Ookubo had thought that athletic girl wouldn’t understand, but she did. It seemed rude to be surprised by this anew each time, but Yoshiyasu didn’t seem aware of it and that may have been what allowed them to get along for so long.
…She must have had good teachers.
Ookubo answered with that in mind.
Nagaya-Stable: “Right. We need to keep in mind that Musashi does not need to adopt Hashiba’s theory. In fact, Musashi doesn’t need to adopt it even if it’s the best theory for us.”
Righteousness: “Are you saying we should continue switching arguments to buy time and harass them?”
“That’s right,” she agreed with narrowed eyes.
Nagaya-Stable: “Knowing our people, when Hashiba suggests a theory, they’ll suggest another theory as a counterattack or to point out contradictions in Hashiba’s theory. Regardless of whether that other theory helps or hurts us. Do that and, in the worst case, our theory can be overturned or negotiations can fall apart due to a difference in interpretation. That’s what happened with the Papa Schola at Mikawa. …That’s why Hashiba isn’t focusing on the existence of multiple theories. They’ve narrowed the discussion down to just what they need.”
What would Ookubo do in that case?
Nagaya-Stable: “Doing things your opponent won’t like is also an aspect of diplomacy. You harass and harass until they’re willing to give you something in exchange for letting up. So if it were me, this is what I would say: ‘We must not make a hasty decision about history recreations involving death. We should view the process properly and consider what kind of death it is.’ And once that drags us into endless quibbling over the details, we’ve won.”
Righteousness: “Then will the Vice President do that too?”
Ookubo was confident enough to wish the Vice President had left this with her. Hashiba’s Takenaka was the type to stick to her decisions.
That would be a good match for Ookubo who carefully calculated everything.
It would end up being a close one, she thought before striking her own head.
“Don’t turn politics into a game.”’
She had never allowed herself to do that before.
Anyway, she expected the Vice President to have more or less the same opinion as her. The point Hashiba had driven home was their weak point, so the basic tactic would be…
Nagaya-Stable: “To reject all of their claims. By calling their demand hasty.”
Greengrocer: “Judge. We’ll accept your claim. Because we’re in a hurry.”
Nagaya-Stable: “What the hell are you doing, you stupid greengrocerrrrrrrr!!?”
●
Oh? thought Takenaka with an inward sigh.
…I expected her to reject it all, but she’s actually accepting it?
That was easy. But there was no point in considering what Musashi’s strategy was here. Anayama Nobutada served P.A. Oda. That meant it was better to go on the offensive than wait to see what Musashi did.
Butcher: “Since you have accepted our view, greengrocer, I must insist that Anayama Nobutada’s death is a necessary part of the Iga Crossing history recreation. Do you understand that?”
Greengrocer: “Wait. I have one question first.”
What could this be? wondered Takenaka as the greengrocer’s words arrived.
Greengrocer: “For Anayama Nobutada to die during our Iga Crossing here, he must be alive. So tell me: what kind of person is he?”
●
Kuro-Take: “Eh?”
Takenaka didn’t understand what Musashi meant.
She honestly hadn’t prepared anything regarding Anayama Nobutada.
And since Musashi wanted to complete the Iga Crossing “unharmed”, they wouldn’t have prepared a profile for him either.
This created an opening on both sides, but that was why Takenaka had struck there and claimed Anayama Nobutada for themselves.
Hashiba now had control of him. Or they should have. But…
Kuro-Take: “What do you mean?”
Greengrocer: “Exactly what I said. I’m asking what kind of person Anayama Nobutada is. …He is one of your people, isn’t he? And if we’re discussing his death, we need to know some details about him.”
“Oh,” said Musashi.
Greengrocer: “My bad. Looks like we already have data on him.”
Kuro-Take: “Huh!?”
If they had data on him, did that mean Anayama Nobutada was with Musashi?
No, thought Takenaka. Why would they have reacted the way they did in that case?
But the greengrocer continued speaking while Takenaka struggled to understand. As if slowly exhaling the words.
Greengrocer: “Anayama Nobutada. Second year. Female. Human. 172cm. 61kg. On the track team.”
The greengrocer read off a profile for the supposedly nonexistent Anayama Nobutada.
●
…Huh!?
Ookubo tilted her head forward.
She halted the work she had been typing out without looking and opened a new sign frame.
<Search: Anayama Nobutada, Name Inheritor>
She searched within Musashi, but received a quick answer.
“There isn’t one?”
At the very least, there was no Anayama Nobutada enrolled at Musashi Ariadust Academy. So she quickly ran a deeper search for any discussion of an Anayama Nobutada name inheritor.
On the divine net, there were several discussions on who would go for the inherited name. Even with a fairly unknown inherited name, serving a famous commander or belonging to a victorious nation had its benefits, such as a stable income. But with Anayama Nobutada…
…No one wants to be him!
He was originally from the Takeda clan. But after colluding with Matsudaira to betray them, he joined the Oda clan. And he ultimately died during the Iga Crossing.
Inheriting that name would make you a victim of the current age. The only real benefit would be to act a shield who became the victim to ensure that harm did not come to anyone else.
Plus, moving between Takeda, Oda, and Matsudaira would require a fair amount of connections and wealth. And even if you did have that…
“Takeda was destroyed and P.A. Oda and we are enemies…”
There was no guarantee you could follow that same path even if you inherited his name.
As a result, he was not popular. The biggest reason was that, no matter which nation the name inheritor came from, another nation would find fault with them. That was certainly proving true here. The second biggest reason was that his story left very little up to the name inheritor’s discretion. Does that mean I would want a lot of independence even as a name inheritor? That’s probably what leads me to rebel, concluded Ookubo.
But as far as she could tell, the name of Anayama Nobutada had yet to be inherited. And yet…
Greengrocer: “Based on the photo, her hair is long and brown. She’s apparently a mechanical horse rider thanks to her Takeda origins, so a lot of her photos have her hair worn up.”
…How can she rattle this off so smoothly!?
●
Takenaka was ero-ing.
…What is this!?
After a bit of ero-ing, she checked the data on Anayama Motonobu coming in from Musashi and found them mentioning photos.
This was odd. What was odd about it? Every last bit of it.
After all, there was no Anayama Nobutada name inheritor.
Kuro-Take: “Katagiri-kun!”
The Boy: “Testament! I’m looking into it, but I can’t find a name inheritor or even someone with that name in former Takeda territory or any of the nearby academies!”
That would mean there wasn’t one.
But if Musashi could produce all this data…
…Is there one?
There was a slim chance it was true. After all, even someone who simply had the same name would change things in the current situation. In that case, Musashi may have prepared someone like that. But…
Greengrocer: “Huh, her least favorite subject is Far Eastern history. That’s a surprise. What’s this? She says it’s because she doesn’t like having to memorize facts about herself and those around her. Yeah, I get that.”
More and more Anayama Nobutada data was coming in. Takenaka considered what this meant and landed on a certain idea.
…They’re trying to invent an Anayama Nobutada to reclaim control of the name!
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