Horizon:Volume 9B Afterword

Afterword

And that was Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon IX-B. First time one has been only two parts in a while. I wonder why that is. It seems like everything has been about the Honnouji Incident recently, but in a way that’s an unresolved case. After all, the motivation is unknown and the victim’s body wasn’t found. In modern times, it would be a really troublesome case.

In this period, Nobunaga was trying to strengthen his connection to the imperial court and since having the court’s approval was a lot like becoming a representative of the samurai, it feels like he was actually trying to go through the proper channels as he gathered power. That’s a lot trickier and more cultural than I would have expected from him. Makes me wonder if Hideyoshi’s power play where he crushed his opposition and only gained an official rank afterwards was his way of avoiding Nobunaga’s fate. In that sense, the way Ieyasu secured the position of shogun and used that to gather power may have been taking lessons from them both and also being mindful of the court.

Now for the usual chat.

“You can share some cringe stories from your school days if you want.”

“I don’t have much there, but there was that school vs. school music recital we did in elementary school.”

“School vs. school? Not class vs. class?”

“For some reason, we used a recital hall in the next city over. Anyway, I was one of the melodica players.”

“Oh, those things were you suck on the tube?”

“You don’t suck it. Anyway, your breaths carry more moisture than you think, so you have to clean it out. All the melodica players took theirs home the day before and I spent that night practicing and washing it out with water. When it was time for the recital, I started playing and mine stopped making any noise partway through.”

“So what happened?”

“I was wondering what the deal was, so I surreptitiously opened the air hole and shook it mid-performance and the water I’d used to wash it the night before squirted out of the air hole. The girl next to me screamed ‘eek, snot!’ and the entire stage panicked. Around five of the girls were so surprised they started crying in a chain reaction and the flute players fled to the top level of the tiered stage. I was all ‘It’s not snot! I swear it’s not!’, but our teacher threw me out anyway.”

“It’s a miracle you didn’t end up with Snot Boy as your nickname.”

Those nicknames can stick with you for a lifetime if you’re unlucky. Anyway, my work background music this time was Rebirth by Daita. That song reminds me of things when I look up at the large moon on a chilly night. This time I’ll leave you with this:

“Who made best use of the past?”

Next up will be more Hexennacht and GT as well as the Horizon phone game, so wait a while longer.

March 2016. A morning with much less pollen.

-Kawakami Minoru

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