Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Resolute Ones in a Place of Inheritance[edit]
Why did we choose
That place
That time
Those people
And the rest?
Point Allocation (Best and Worst)
●
Asama realized she was surrounded by silence.
She first cleared her throat, held her hands out to the others around her, and took a breath.
“I think we all have some questions. Okay?”
“Heh heh heh. Maybe you got priority if you had big boobs?” suggested Kimi.
“But then how did Mito get in!?”
Silver Wolf: “Why the personal attack!?”
Asama wondered how the selection was made, but it may have been something terribly simple. In other words…
“Was everyone except us lost?”
“That was part of it,” said a voice over the divine transmission. It was Hirano atop the Azuchi’s bridge. “A lot of you were lost, but the rest declined. Because while Avalon had a fair amount of space, only so many people could live there.”
Silver Wolf: “Wait a moment. I understand Mary and Tomo. The former was the mother of England’s heir and the latter was an ether and spell specialist. But why me? If you wanted a Loup-Garou, wouldn’t my mother be the better choice?”
Still Got It: “Yes, which must mean I died protecting you during the final battle.”
Black Wolf: “No, I was told you declined and chose to enjoy your life with mother’s father until the moment the world disappeared.”
That sounded like her. And it explained why Mitotsudaira was there.
Black Wolf: “You were invited as the Reine des Garous, mother. You could not transform, but it was unclear if I could either. So if either of us did have a Loup-Garou’s power as a manifestation of fear, it was hoped that would have some use in a world where destiny had died. I was told the idea was for you to draw on that power.”
Tsurugi: “My mother and Kiyomasa’s mother said they felt much more at ease with Kasuya’s mother with them.”
Gold Mar: “So it was her connections.”
Silver Wolf: “I-I was their leader!”
Probably so. If this was true, Asama could predict a lot must have happened at the time. And as for herself…
…We had our children with us, but it would have been rough with only Mary and me knowing the truth!
Adding a third didn’t eliminate that problem, but the extra opinion allowed for mediation or a third-party decision when two of them disagreed.
But in that case…
“Did we arrange to send you all here?”
●
Asama considered the possibility.
One of the myths of the Age of the Gods, which had been passed down to the current day as the subject of games and books, provided a definition for the state of the world. It said the world looped in a great many ways, but it ended with a certain rule.
…The world can’t be rewound.
Looking at the loop on the largest scale, the moment the loop began was fixed and singular. So even if everything seemed to loop on a smaller scale, the world as a whole could not return to its original state.
And this time, the Apocalypse was thinning the ley lines. Time was thinning out, not turning to zero, so this would not create a loop with with an endpoint at time zero.
In that case, the most they could manage was individual time travel.
That was often reported as a mysterious phenomenon, so it was said time had a variable structure in the ley lines, as opposed to being a one-way road.
But could it be done intentionally?
Kiyo-Massive: “It wasn’t something we asked for. All we had in Avalon was the false time field that took destiny’s place and the ‘prayer garden’ that expanded it. Because if the thinning of the ley lines had stopped with destiny’s death, then the ether in the ley lines could be restored by filling them with External Blessings.”
Wait a moment, thought Asama. People’s Blessing capacity could be increased, but how much would you need to boost your External Blessings in order to restore the ley lines like that?
Asama: “That would require near-infinite time! Not to mention that people need ether to maintain their own bodies! And what if the balance between the supply and consumption of Avalon’s internal resources collapsed as it grew and the amount it could supply dropped!?”
Tsurugi: “That’s why.”
This came from the girl calling herself Asama’s daughter.
Tsurugi: “One day, the three of you passed all this knowledge on to us and told us everything would be alright. It was the day of our group birthday. We all celebrated together and they insisted we were safe and everything would work out. And…”
Asama didn’t need to hear the rest. She had already hinted at the answer herself.
But Hirano still said it.
Tsurugi: “The following morning, just when we thought we could begin enjoying our life without our previous worries, we realized the three of you were gone. The ether and resource consumption balance had collapsed, so to reduce the consumption, you left Avalon.”
●
…How foolish…
Mitotsudaira gasped and realized Kasuya was hanging her head.
“You left letters. Thanking us for the time we had together. And telling us we would be alright without you. Saying you had taught us everything we needed to know and that you would still be with us in our memories.”
But…
“I wanted you to stay with us!”
●
Tsurugi: “We cried our eyes out, rolled around on the ground, threw up, and read each other the letters we were left. We read them over and over and over again, but that only made us sad, frustrated, and angry. We asked ourselves what we had done wrong…and for several days we just lay there like we were dead.”
Hirano recalled that time.
Tsurugi: “But we couldn’t do that forever, so we began praying and storing up External Blessings. And once we began sending our Blessings outside of Avalon, we noticed something. A will called to use from the ley lines our ether had helped recover.”
AnG: “It was kind of horrifying.”
It was. After all, they had thought it was the grudge of those who were no more.
But when they examined it, they discovered they were wrong.
Tsurugi: “In the past, someone extracted the future and tried to learn of it, but failed and was consumed by the Double Border Crest. But the Double Border Crest was gone. So we wondered if we could access them and reach them in place of the destiny that caused the Double Border Crest.”
And…
Tsurugi: “We included our own data in the External Blessings being used to recreate the outside world. We only had to endlessly repeat the process as we created the world anew. With some luck, someone in the past would notice it. And…”
The rest happened so suddenly.
Instead of using the lernen figur, she said this part with the voice that sounded so like her mother’s.
“The next thing we knew, we had been extracted into this world. But destiny noticed and closely monitored us.”
●
“What do you say?”
Mitotsudaira listened to Kasuya.
“Mother. Are you really going to repeat what you did to us?”
●
…Wow.
Naito inwardly pursed her lips. This is a little heavier than I’d expected.
It required an “if it’s actually real” qualifier, but the Contradiction Allowance meant anything could happen in this world. Impossibilities were an impossibility. From that point of view…
“I have a question.”
Yoshiaki tilted her head, so Naito didn’t hesitate to ask.
“Have you considered the possibility you were all brainwashed to think this?”
“We have.”
“Testament,” confirmed Wakisaka next to Yoshiaki. But the black Technohexen then shook her head. “Unfortunately, both Angie and I have managed some ‘prophecy’.”
“Yeah,” said Naruze with a nod. “If you were brainwashed, you couldn’t predict the unknown future.”
“Testament. It included small things like how middle school went for all of you or what the Reine des Garous was up to and big things like what Hexagone Française would do or when Tres España would get a new Vice President. It even included information about products.”
“We were all told different things by our parents’ generation. Hirano in particular knew a lot about Shinto, so she did a lot of research.”
“But taking that too far would make the Double Border Crest show up.”
“That’s right.” Yoshiaki and Wakisaka both nodded. And, “Testament. In our case, our mothers were both born in different villages.”
Naruze’s wings bristled as she listened to Wakisaka.
…Uh, oh.
Just as Naito was about to interrupt, Yoshiaki held out a hand as if to protect Wakisaka.
“Sorry. You still haven’t returned there from Musashi at this point, have you?”
This meant they knew they had stepped on a landmine there and they knew the reason why. Yoshiaki’s words showed definite concern for them and, at the same time, Naruze took a slow breath and relaxed the tension in her shoulders.
“Ohh, Ga-chan, you’ve matured so much.”
“We are in front of our children.”
Then Naito noticed Wakisaka looking at them. And…
“–––––”
A single tear fell from the girl’s eye.
●
Oh, whoops, thought Angie. That looked bad.
Yoshiaki had to be holding in a lot of feelings too, so Angie felt bad letting hers show. I’ve been too easy on myself recently.
But this was bad. Or rather, it was cheating. The last time they had seen their mothers was before entering Avalon, so their mothers had still been young when they said goodbye. So…
“It’s the same, Kime-chan.”
She recalled when they had said goodbye. The two of them had cried, so their mothers had hugged them until their tears finally dried. They said they would stay like that night after night if that’s what it took, which was when the two of them had known it was finally time to say goodbye.
They couldn’t stay together forever. Their mothers knew that too, so…
“Your wings are just like ours down to the feather. So when you miss us and want to talk with us, just touch your own wings. You already know what it is we’ll say, don’t you?”
“Yes,” they had replied. “You always get upset and lecture us, but…you listen to us and you’re so kind to us.”
“Then remember that when you touch your wings. That’s where we will live from now on.”
“Live?”
“Yes, we will be with you even if we aren’t physically there. …The last place in this world we will remain is in your wings.”
So…
“So will you take us someplace safe?”
They thought they were being tricked, but it also felt true.
When they hesitated, their mothers hugged them, called them “good girls”, and…
“We will always be holding you in our arms. Through these wings.”
That was when one of their mothers had spoken.
“Ohh, Ga-chan, you’ve matured so much.”
“We are in front of our children.”
The comment and the reply had just been perfectly recreated, which led Angie to a new realization.
Their mothers had also been crying back then. They hadn’t realized it at the time and had entered Avalon while telling themselves they had to be as strong as their mothers. But…
“Don’t do that.”
Angie wiped her tears away with her left wrist as she spoke.
“Why would you say goodbye if it made you so sad!?”
●
Oh, no, thought Yoshiaki.
She wasn’t faring much better herself. She knew Angie wasn’t going to lose control here, but everything had been leading up to this point. There was no way they could suppress their feelings here, but they also wanted to avoid letting this become an ignition point.
This isn’t good, she thought, but she still managed to retain some calm thanks to Weiss Fürstin in her left hand.
Taking on their fully-equipped mothers with only a badly damaged schale besen would be difficult. The Azuchi’s artillery was at full operation, so they could rob their mothers of some mobility by flying into the combat zone, but…
…I want to avoid flying into battle at less than my best.
That part of her felt terribly cold, but it was what it was.
They had come to this world because they couldn’t afford to lose what needed protecting, but now they were uncertain what to do about the very people they wanted to protect.
Yoshiaki knew she and Angie couldn’t make the decision. Angie was close to losing control and Yoshiaki had gone too far in rationally suppressing her feelings.
What about the others? Oh, right. Katagiri already lost. But…
“––––––”
She realized their black mother was looking at them.
●
Naruze wanted to ask something.
It was a pure question of curiosity as a Technohexen.
“Whose brooms are those?”
“Ours. When they learned the world was ending, Edel Brocken gave us some gear since we would be the final Technohexen.”
“Are you working with Edel Brocken here?” asked Margot.
Yoshiaki nodded.
“We managed to contact them through M.H.R.R. It was hard to explain, but they’re treating this as top secret information.”
Judge, thought Naruze.
“I bet the second form they gave us about a year into our testing was made to compete with your engineering team.”
That meant there was competition within Edel Brocken. But in that case…
“We’ve already been saved by you once.”
“We would’ve been in trouble at the Armada Battle without that second form. …Did we rely on England in your version?”
“Yes, that’s what we heard. And the second form was developed in a hurry afterwards. So…”
Naruze knew what Yoshiaki was going to say.
…She wants to use that as a reason to end our conflict.
Those two didn’t want to fight with them. Now that the truth was known, there was no reason to stop Musashi by force. But…
Gold Mar: “Ga-chan? I’ve already decided on my answer.”
Art-Ga: “So have I, Margot. An answer that makes us feel so in sync I want to hold your hand.”
Then they had their answer. Or rather, they already had. They had made up their minds from the moment they heard those two speak. So…
Art-Ga: “What about the others? Have they chosen a stance?”
●
Tenzou felt a little awkward.
…This is a disaster…
A mother and her daughter. Plus the father. Their first real meeting happening below flying shells and shattering defense barriers was incredible enough, but the daughter continued to pursue him no matter how far he fled. Which could only mean…
…She holds one hell of a grudge…
Which made sense to him. He could easily imagine Mary had become an excellent mother in the future. Her daughter would naturally have adored Mary, so seeing Mary constantly worried about him when he was already gone must have heartbreaking for the daughter who was still alive and with her.
Me: “And when the husband her beloved mother was obsessed with was some NPC ninja, she’d be pretty worried her mother was the victim of brainwashing or hypnotism.”
Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Imagine being shown a picture of him and told ‘this is your father’. You’d be like, ‘why doesn’t he take his hat off’?”
Unturning: “Why does the 1st Special Duty Officer dress like that? Does he have zero fashion sense?”
10ZO: “Not only are you reading my mind, but that last comment was completely uncalled for!”
But that was the gist of it.
He decided to let Mary decide how to dress him for his funeral portrait, but he still had a question.
“Um, may I ask something?”
Kiyomasa, her shoulders heaving from the her series of attacks, gave him a narrowed look in return.
But after a glance at Mary, she looked at him again, and…
“What might that be?”
“Judge. …You are, well, Mary-dono’s daughter and you are here now to stop us, correct?”
“Testament. …I would prefer not to fight, which is why I am giving you time now. If anything, you could say giving you time was the natural thing to do…”
“I see,” he said with a nod.
He realized Mary was looking at him and tilting her head.
“What…are you getting at, Master Tenzou?”
“Oh, um, Mary-dono… This Kiyo- Katou-dono here…”
“You can call me Kiyomasa. Because we have two Katous.”
Kiyomasa’s bluntness made him sweat.
…This is so awkward!
He had felt this before. Not with Kiyomasa, but with girls in general. Yes, it was like they gave him a mental cold sweat. He had gotten used to girls recently thanks to Mary, but this reminded him just how dangerous they could be. Mary was a special case. They were normally more like this.
Art-Ga: “What did you do?”
Gold Mar: “Broke through the second floor and fell all the way down onto a landmine at the foundation?”
Worshiper: “If this gets too awkward for you, you can always come help clean up my stand.”
10ZO: “W-well, this one is my fault, so I just have to deal with it!”
That aside, he was a little curious about something.
“Um, so in general you don’t want to fight with Mary-dono?”
Including himself along with Mary there felt like it would only further aggro her, so he chose his words carefully. And Kiyomasa nodded in response.
“That has always been my stance. Our intention has always been to stop our mothers.”
In that case, he thought as he decided to ask.
“But when you attacked at Mito, didn’t you launch a serious attack against Mitotusdaira-dono? That was clearly enough to kill, which seems to go beyond simply ‘stopping’ her.”
“That was…”
Kiyomasa paused there and averted her eyes.
“I had heard Musashi’s Vice Chancellor and 5th Special Duty Officer were tough and I got a little carried away in the heat of battle…”
I can’t help but notice she isn’t denying my accusation.
●
Tachibana Wife: “I knew the Mito Lord possessed Loup-Garou toughness, but I wasn’t aware the enemy assumed she could shrug off that spear blast.”
Silver Wolf: “I would be very dead if that hit me!”
Still Got It: “My!? What are you saying, Nate! No daughter of mine should let a little thing like being vaporized kill her!”
Flat Vassal: “Can you really scold someone into not dying?”
●
…This is terribly complicated, isn’t it?
Asama kept some attention on the others behind her while she focused on Hirano atop the Azuchi’s bridge.
They were something of an anomaly below the artillery fire and shattering defense barriers.
Hirano sent an intent gaze her way.
A glare.
Asama could believe Hirano was his and her child. Through training and her Konoha prosthetic eye, she could visually detect ether and the ether light of Hirano’s breaths was almost identical to Asama’s own.
Each shrine taught its own breathing technique. They were designed for reciting the prayers meant for that shrine’s god and each god had their own preferred rhythm and sounds.
Hirano was the Tsurugi Shrine’s representative, yet the ether light visible from her breathing was nearly the same as Asama’s. Asama didn’t know if that was just how the Tsurugi Shrine did things, if she was doing it for Asama to see, or if she led the Tsurugi Shrine with that breathing technique, but…
…If she can lead the Tsurugi Shrine with a breathing technique not designed for it, she must be very skilled.
By Asama’s estimation, that was the most likely option. But Hirano still showed no intent to attack. If the initial shot had been to draw Asama’s attention…
“Is accepting the Genesis Project the only way to avoid fighting?”
The vocal technique used for Shinto prayers could travel far even on a battlefield and another shrine maiden would know how to hear it. Hirano nodded and responded.
“Because you weren’t enough.”
“And…you’re certain it isn’t worth another try?”
Hirano paused before finally nodding.
“You told me,” she said, “that your archery had no effect in that battle.”
●
Gold Mar: “Ahhhhh! We’re screwwwwwed!”
Art-Ga: “When it was about us, it didn’t seem all that bad, but if an attack like that doesn’t work, what can we do but despair?”
Asama: “Y-you two are making fun because you think this doesn’t involve you, aren’t you!?”
Silver Wolf: “But in all seriousness, what kind of battle would render that ineffective?”
●
Kiyomasa accepted Hirano’s words.
…That aligns with what my mother told me.
“The other side is guaranteed to be superior. Which means…”
Seeing Caledfwlch raised in Kiyomasa’s hand, her mother raised her eyebrows a little.
“Did Excalibur not work either?”
“They are always superior. And when you brought back both Ex. Collbrande and Ex. Caliburn, you remade them into Caledfwlch. So…”
It had been too late to help her mother, but Kiyomasa now held what she had inherited from her mother.
“When it was developed, it was known as a third Excalibur: Ex. Caledfwlch.”
●
…I never imagined I would battle against my mother’s Ex. Collbrande.
A few pieces of equipment had been extracted from Avalon and brought here.
Because that equipment had been used as a focal point when creating their External Blessings or because it had been stored in a phase space allotted to them.
Excalibur resonated with itself. As her mother’s half blade and the other half next to her approached Kiyomasa’s Caledfwlch, a clear, metallic sound rang incessantly.
Is that a sign I have met my family? she wondered, until…
Novice: “Wait! As I listened to you, a possibility and question occurred to me! So let me speak!”
A vocalized chat message played from her mother’s lernen figur and the one next to her.
Musashi’s Secretary had made a mess of things with Takenaka. Kiyomasa couldn’t imagine he would have a reasonable opinion, but maybe that was why it was worth hearing. So…
AnG: “Is this even worth hearing?”
…Oh, Wakisaka-sama is so harsh…
Because Wakisaka’s mothers hadn’t been allowed inside Avalon, there had been a time when she kept her distance from those whose mothers had been allowed in. She had eventually gotten over it and, after their mothers disappeared, it was she who had soothed the others who were furious about being placed in the same situation as her. The same was true of Yoshiaki, but that may have been why she saw nothing special about the people of this era who weren’t their mothers.
They had made a lot of new discoveries about each other this night.
But the Musashi Secretary spoke all the same.
Novice: “Right here and now, Ariadust-kun and Aoi-kun are alive when they were meant to die at Mikawa! And you are here too! That means things have already changed from the failed pattern you knew! And you also have your Future Gear made with technology beyond the reach of our era!”
●
Unturning: “Future Gear?”
Novice: “You don’t like that name!? Then we can call them Disfortune Weapons!”
Scarred: “Um, do you mean ‘misfortune’?”
Horizey: “Which is worse, this or the Judgment Weapons?”
Novice: “D-dammit, you’re strict! But that’s not the main point! Stop getting distracted!”
●
Neshinbara spoke as he rode the long block elevator from the belowdecks disposal facility up to the surface. Those who had finished their tasks were in the habit of waiting near the surface or hatches on the outer sides in case of danger. He decided he should rejoin Honda and the others.
Novice: “The battle-ready personnel available to us, including the Ten Spears, would be greater than in the failed future, even if only by a small amount! And with gear built in the future, we have even more strength with which to combat destiny!”
What did that mean? The answer was obvious.
Novice: “So there is a chance we can win! Yes, we can win because you Ten Spears arrived in this era!”
●
Kiyomasa raised her left forearm, which held Caledfwlch, so Mary prompted her to continue by holding her right hand out.
“Go ahead.”
“Oh, testament. Your Secretary’s idea…would not work.”
Why not? When Mary gave her a curious look, Kiyomasa looked her back in the eye and answered.
“Destiny still lives in this era. She is already aware of us, so if we engaged in a battle against destiny, it would include counterparts for us.”
“And there is no way to escape destiny’s grasp?’
“Testament.” Kiyomasa nodded. “That was the point of Avalon. …Once destiny had died, we could begin restoring the world without destiny interfering. And we tried to stop destiny’s suicide and execute her instead, but destiny wanted a slow suicide, so she still wouldn’t accept it. That is why destiny found us and placed us under strict observation. So if we did begin a battle against destiny…”
“You would be the first ones targeted, or there would at least be perfect countermeasures for you?” asked Tenzou.
That was what Kiyomasa had tried to say before.
Without even looking Tenzou’s way, Kiyomasa nodded, her eyes still on Mary.
“We can’t win. But…the Genesis Project can execute destiny now that it has been remade using the information we provided.”
“But the Genesis Project will erase our relationships and the rules of this world, won’t it?”
“Testament. Not just our relationships but all the connections in the world will be broken and lost, throwing us into a world with no civilization, culture, or understanding of anything,” said Kiyomasa. “In the Book of Genesis, god destroys the Tower of Babel and makes the people all speak different languages. The same thing will happen here, but humanity has already made it this far once.”
A breath.
“The code name for the remade Genesis Project is Over Babel. The project is meant to allow humanity to progress beyond the broken Tower of Words.”
●
Horizey: “My awful father is again bringing shame to our family with the names he gives things!”
Asama: “Let’s see, there was the Logismoi Oplo, the Judgment Weapons, the Genesis Project, and now Over Babel. Did I miss anything?”
Gold Mar: “I feel bad saying it, but isn’t Horizon a wild thing to name your daughter?”
Horizey: “No, Naito-sama! There is a chance my mother named me, so we need to judge these things fairly!”
Laborer: “Hey, at least those are all better than Disfortune Whatever-It-Was!!”
Novice: “Oh! Are you talking about me!? My ears are burning!”
Art-Ga: “They literally will be if you don’t pay back the removal fee I paid for you at the last event.”
●
“So…you don’t think we can win?” Mitotsudaira asked Kasuya.
Kasuya slowly raised her Argent Clous before quietly responding.
“These wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“And we can’t accept what you’re telling us and then come up with a plan for fighting destiny?”
“Testament. You had a plan for battling destiny with the Logismoi Oplo, but you told us destiny was still superior to you. And that the Logismoi Oplo did not work.”
Oh, she thought in realization. This girl standing before her said she was her and her king’s child. And Kasuya’s resignation was not hers alone.
“You gave up because we gave up, didn’t you?”
“Testament. This all comes from you after you fought and lost. So nothing you say here, where you haven’t actually fought destiny, carries any weight.”
Kasuya smiled a little.
“If the mother who was with us said what you are saying now, I could believe it. But…that isn’t how I remember it.”
Hearing that, Mitotsudaira wondered if this girl really was an enemy.
●
…She idolizes me.
Mitotsudaira had always thought of the Hashiba forces as an enemy.
No, they really had been an enemy. But she now realized that their motivation was not based in hostility.
They were trying to stop Musashi.
But not because of the conflict between the Genesis Project and Musashi’s Apocalypse solution.
They simply wanted to prevent their mothers and everything else from being lost.
It felt more like a difference in opinion among allies.
And Musashi didn’t have sufficient reason to defy them. From what Mitotsudaira had heard…
“We have no reason to defy the Genesis Project and support our own method beyond ‘it’s worth a shot’.”
“Testament. That is true.”
This is a tough one, thought Mitotsudaira before…
Musashi: “Everyone, we will soon enter Osaka Bay. The battle atop Oume is at a standstill, but will you be accepting Hashiba’s claims? Please make a decision soon. Over.”
●
Time’s up then, thought Masazumi.
…Well, we know the situation now.
Not completely. And with was no guarantee it was true. But as a political card, the Ten Spears’ origin could be used against Musashi in negotiation.
“That means ensuring the Musashi’s freedom at least requires defeating Hashiba and showing the world their claims won’t stop us.”
That would eliminate the suppressive effect caused by Hashiba’s presence and it would prevent future losses for Musashi.
Meanwhile, Musashi currently had no way of stopping the Apocalypse. They knew the Logismoi Oplo wouldn’t work as they were, but they still hadn’t figured out what to do instead. They needed time to consider that problem, but they had to defeat Hashiba and the Genesis Project to get that time.
…Can we make peace and talk this out?
She doubted it.
Just as Kasuya Takenori had said, Hashiba’s motivation and purpose came from Musashi’s resignation after their loss in the future. That meant it was Musashi themselves who were motivating Hashiba. And all they could do now was pit their own ignorant perspective against their future selves’ knowledgeable perspective.
They had nothing to fight back with.
The only way to possibly make peace would be to accept Katagiri’s initial demand to suspend their officers.
…But that would ultimately mean accepting the Genesis Project.
In that case, there was only one way to combat Hashiba.
“Hmm,” she groaned before realizing something. “Hashiba certainly thinks highly of us, huh?”
●
Maybe it came from the fact that she didn’t have a child among them. She did feel a little disappointed about that, but it seemed to let her view this more objectively.
…The strength and caution Hashiba has dedicated to us comes from their high opinion of us.
They were an enemy, but they were motivated by their affection for Musashi. Their mothers were standing before them now, but their affection was likely for everything that had been lost.
…What is this?
Vice President: “Who would have thought our class’s children would be so pure?”
Art-Ga: “What are you talking about? I only ever draw pure things. The satisfaction on Asama, Mitotsudaira, or whoever’s face at the end is proof enough of that!”
Asama: “Do you have to name actual examples!?”
Gold Mar: “She did say ‘or whoever’.”
Worshiper: “It does seem these old hags were born to old hags and geezers who had a proper respect for the world.”
His 10+ rule is way too strict, thought Masazumi, but then the idiot chimed in.
Me: “Hey, I just had a thought. Can I speak?”
Vice President: “Is it a good idea? Then out with it.”
Me: “Well, not really.”
The idiot explained.
Me: “If all this is true, then wouldn’t it have been easier to do it before the battle? Like wait for us near Honnouji or something.”
●
Worshiper: “There Aoi-kun goes being strict on them again.”
Me: “It just feels like going to the trouble of walking to the restaurant yourself when you could just order over divine transmission? I guess?”
Gold Mar: “But if you visit the Blue Thunder – the non Main one – you can enjoy watching Horizon reign supreme. And at the Main one, you get served something not on the menu. They may be after something like that.”
Horizey: “Yeahhhhhh! This means my very presence is equal to the products Toori-sama pours so much sweat and money into producing! How’s that for a powerful aura!”
Unturning: “Aura?”
●
Atop the bridge, Takenaka saw Hirano, Mitsunari, and “Azuchi” all turn a quiet look her way.
She responded with her palms raised.
“In my defense, at the time I didn’t think they would listen to us. I mean, um, the moons were still out when we were hurrying to the Honnouji site, so we couldn’t actually tell them everything yet.”
Also…
“They only showed an openness to listen when we made our circuit of Mikawa Bay, so I don’t think that battle and our current situation were a waste.”
“You have a point,” said Hirano. “But while the fighting did convince my mom to listen, she’s also extremely cautious of us. It’s hard to tell because she’s so busy guarding my dad, but I don’t think she would be so cautious if we hadn’t fought.”
Black Wolf: “My and Kiyomasa’s teams might not have gotten injured either.”
“W-well, I’m not really talking about those kinds of what ifs.”
The Boy: “Wait, everyone! Attacking Takenaka-senpai here isn’t fair!”
Katagiri, who had apparently recovered, came to her defense.
…Oh, thank goodness.
He had been defeated in his confrontation with his mother and then recovered. Figuring that meant he could be more rational about this than the others, Takenaka directed a look of hope toward her lernen figur. And Katagiri…
The Boy: “It’s true this operation was her idea and that she commanded it! But as she pointed out, this was a challenging situation to predict and it continues to change from one moment to the next. Now, analyzing these situations and coming up with a strategy is her job, so the fact that she failed to properly analyze this situation and allowed it to turn out this way is…”
Five seconds passed.
The Boy: “What was she thinking?”
Kuro-Take: “Y-you can’t thoughtlessly betray me like this, Katagiri-kun!”
At any rate, she knew what she had to say.
Kuro-Take: “I doubt we have said everything we want to say, but we’ve said a fair amount of it, haven’t we? So now the ball is in their court.”
848: “What will they choose? Do you think they will simply do as we say?”
Kuro-Take: “My expert opinion is that I sincerely doubt it.”
●
Now, what to do? wondered Masazumi.
…Can I really make a political decision here?
This would be determining the future of the world, but it was also a family matter for each person involved. And the revelation that the idiot had multiple children felt more like a scandal.
…Oh, but Futayo’s case is probably different.
Her daughter hadn’t been counted among the idiot’s children, so that one was probably safe.
Then there was the idiot and Horizon’s child, who had likely been born through a surrogate mother. Had that child vanished along with the Apocalypse?
What a joyless story, she thought.
Vice President: “Hey, Aoi, what are we doing?”
Me: “Hm? Isn’t it obvious?”
The idiot continued.
Me: “My daughters are here from the future. If we stop the Genesis Project here, then that’s a plus for the world, including destiny and Nobunaga.”
Meaning…
Me: “If we’re doing this, I say we do what leaves us with as much as possible. …What’s there to think about?”
●
…He’s right!
A laugh escaped Masazumi.
It was so simple. The question wasn’t which choice would preserve as much as possible – it was which choice would mean losing nothing.
So their choice was obvious. She felt a little bad for the future-mothers, but…
Vice President: “Our goal is to lose nothing. And that includes Nobunaga and destiny. And with Hashiba here, we will search for a way to ensure none of it is lost. There is nothing more to it. Keep that in mind as you face us.”
●
Takenaka sighed.
…I had a feeling this would happen.
This confrontation didn’t happen in the original future.
In the Ten Spears’ world, Musashi had carried out the Genesis Project using the Logismoi Oplo.
There had only been the one set and they had been guided toward the Genesis Project. Simply put, they had only needed to follow the path laid out for them.
But after learning the truth, Matsudaira Motonobu had worked at correcting his project.
That had created several distortions and prevented some things from happening the way were meant to, but it had perfected the Genesis Project.
And, after including the unknowable factor of evolution, he had left his daughter with her Logismoi Oplo.
“However, there is no guarantee that unknowable possibility will come to fruition.”
People would leap at that kind of hope and neglect to face reality.
That wasn’t necessarily what Musashi was doing here. The future was an unknown, so there was a chance they could arrive at a correct answer.
…But if they don’t…
Takenaka’s analysis of the former world had shown her just how powerful a leader Musashi was. That came from the skill and growth of Vice President Honda Masazumi, who became their effective leader, but Takenaka guessed it was also strongly influenced by the presence of their lost Chancellor and princess.
This was the same.
The Chancellor gave his opinion and the Vice President acted on it.
“So you don’t want to lose anything?”
The Ten Spears had often expressed the same goal. Quite a few people had been taken by the Double Border Crest when destiny noticed what was happening, but a goal of not losing anything was still quite something.
But she couldn’t just accept that at face value right now.
“That’s a fantasy. A fantasy you have neither the skill nor the means of realizing.”
They would take more than just high damage. They would take full damage.
…Oh world, what do you mean they’re going to die?
But that aside, there was nothing to do but give orders.
Kuro-Take: “Negotiations have failed, everyone.”
Her mother was not there. And she was glad of it.
It let her stay objective and give orders with no emotions clouding her judgment. Testament. There was just one thing for the others to do here.
Kuro-Take: “Protect your loved ones. Because that is what you came here to do.”
●
“Mother.”
Kasuya heard the rapid sounds of erupting artillery and scattering wind in the sky behind her.
That was likely Yoshiaki and Angie battling their mothers.
And that wasn’t all.
She had heard clashing swords from the Musashi’s second central ship for a while now. And similar metallic sounds came from the stern of the third port ship.
While the others began to fight, she released a breath.
Ahead of her, her mother slowly readied her chains.
The silver chains. Four artifacts capable of conducting power. And…
“Ah.”
She and her mother’s noses twitched as they sniffed at their surroundings. It was hard to tell aboard the ship, but…
The Boy: “We have entered Osaka Bay!”
They had left the Middle East and arrived in Europe. Which meant…
“This battle is a global matter…no, I suppose it is more Eurocentric, but most of the world will still be watching.”
“What is your name?”
The question came so suddenly she nearly answered.
But after a pause, she shook her head in refusal. And after showing she wasn’t telling…
“I will tell you if you defeat me.”
“You’re a bold one.”
“Testament.” She answered in the affirmative this time. “I have grown quite strong, mother.”
And she knew exactly what she would do with that strength.
“I will stop you.”
With that, she launched herself forward.
| Back to Chapter 28 | Return to Main Page | Forward to Chapter 30 |