Horizon:Volume 9B Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Enthusiastic Girl Making a Return

Even when I push her away

No matter how much I push her away

Why does the distance between us revert to zero in an instant?

Point Allocation (Wowwwww)

●

Kiyomasa was inside the Shibata camp. But not because she had been captured. She was taking a break in a Hashiba tent set up in the north-south central pathway.

Her shoulder armor was worn down and one side wasn’t functioning properly. She could still get by with Ootani’s program, but she doubted it would withstand anymore hard fighting.

Also, she had hoped to use Caledfwlch against Musashi. She had two blasts left. She wanted to avoid getting injured here and to avoid being forced to use it again when she still had the fight against Musashi yet to come.

So she had decided not to join the fight against Shibata and Oichi.

…That would be far too risky.

She sat on one of the small transport containers lined up on the edge of the tent with her helmet set down next to her. She had also removed her gauntlets and shoulder armor, helping her feel separated from the fighting.

Sakon had brought her some food. She had wanted to stand up when accepting it, but her body had been too heavy.

She was worn out. So instead of forcing herself, she simply inclined her head.

“Thank you very much for taking over the fight against Niwa-sama.”

“You’re most welcome! It isn’t often I get a chance to help someone on your level. Plus, Niwa-sama taught me a lot and Onitakemaru-san has been in full lecture mode for the a while now.”

“Damn you!”

Sakon’s helmet yelled at her, but she didn’t remove it.

This led Kiyomasa to wonder something.

“Sakon-sama…will you be fighting?”

“Oh, Takenaka-sama said it was a possibility. I might join the fight as Kasuya-senpai’s aide. But she said she was looking into the possibility of using Yoshiaki-senpai or Wakisaka-senpai instead.”

“I can never work up much motivation when I’m not with Kime-chan,” said Wakisaka with a shrug after overhearing the conversation.

Kiyomasa could understand that. As for Yoshiaki…

“I’m honestly exhausted after everything I did. Knowing you could manage it if you were starting fresh lays on the pressure in a way. But if I’m told to go, I’ll just have to do it.”

Kiyomasa could understand that too. Also…

…If those two are told to do it, I know they will.

That was just who they were. They might complain, but they would do the best job they could given the circumstances. On the other side of the tent, Kasuya was curled up in a blanket and chatting with recuperating Kani while getting something to eat.

Kasuya was probably their best fighter. If she could recover her stamina, she could be used as a trump card. And since she had already emptied three bento boxes, she must have been aiming for that herself. In comparison…

…I’m so useless.

Not only was she badly worn out, but she had already removed her gear. She sighed.

“Kiyo Kiyo.”

“Yes?”

“Testament,” replied Wakisaka. “You can’t work up much motivation when you’re not with Fukushiman, can you?”

●

Yoshiaki hadn’t seen Kiyomasa get flustered like this in a while.

“N-no, that isn’t true at all! Fukushima-sama and I have very different styles. Um, it’s just that right now my gear is worn down. Yes!”

…She’s so easy to read.

But these two – well, this one and that one – hadn’t met in over a month.

“I really thought she would join us here. Have we received any word from Fukushima?”

Kuro-Take: “The Shibata Team’s divine transmission restrictions are still mostly in place. It covers the entire territory controlled by the local god and it intersects some borders, so it would be faster to deactivate it from outside.”

Tsurugi: “The Shibata Team just opened up transmissions within their camp, so we could use the Azuchi’s power to forcibly deactivate the restriction across the surrounding region, but we can’t because that would damage the Shibata Team’s pride. They’re busy preparing now, so they seem to be waiting until this is all over before doing it themselves.”

AnG: “If you think about it, wouldn’t they actually be happy if Fukushiman joined us?”

Kanitama: “I know they would!”

Kani poked her head out of her blanket to speak.

“I know Shibata-senpai would love it if Fukushima-senpai came here! I can just tell he’s the kind of person who wants to fight strong people! And I can tell he’s worked to do his best his entire life!”

So…

“I hope Fukushima-senpai can make it here!”

●

The Shibata forces were preparing two things in parallel.

One was Kitanosho Castle. They were preparing the explosives so Shibata could blow it all away in the end as per the Testament. They hadn’t set them up earlier lest the Hashiba forces use them for their own purposes, but now that things had changed, they only had half an hour to set it all up.

The other was preparing to evacuate all the noncombatants and cargo once the festival was over.

Kitanosho Castle was located a bit to the east within the Shibata camp. So the cargo would be sent out on the east side. It would be moved to a small clearing outside the fortress wall of ships where transport ships would then collect it.

Thanks to that, there had been a constant flow of people and cargo on the east side of the Shibata camp.

And a large form suddenly arrived from outside.

A deer.

With a spear-wielding rider. None of the Shibata forces wanted to speak to her.

If this was a joke, giving her any attention was a waste of time. And if this was serious, they wanted nothing to do with her.

But while the guards did their best to look the other way, the rider called out to one.

“Excuse me. This is Lord Shibata’s camp, is it not? I have some questions for thee.”

“Why me?” sighed the guard as he turned around.

While the other guards gave off strong “you deal with this!” vibes, the one guard did his duty.

“Testament. It is. However, we are kind of busy right now.”

“I see. I do see signs of a sudden battle taking place here. As a fellow M.H.R.R. Catholic, I might be able to assist thee. Where is my post?”

“Huh? …Um, I don’t know what middle-of-nowhere unit you’re from, but you’re way too late. It’s pretty much over already. Actually, who are you?”

“I am Fukushima Masanori of the Hashiba Team. I worked with your team recently.”

The guard nodded thrice, took a deep breath, and raised his voice.

“W-we’re under attaaaaaaack!!”

●

Wakisaka understood the general plan.

…Take and Kime-chan would probably be best.

Kasuya and Yoshiaki could fight a ground battle with support from the air.

Kasuya would have a hard time managing the ground battle on her own, but as long as Yoshiaki positioned herself well in the air, they would be able to constantly attack one or the other of the enemy.

Yoshiaki was currently installing a control spell into Weiss Fürstin, which would read in the enemy’s movements and display the optimal position on a Magie Figur.

During the Siege of Odawara, she had won a head-on shootout with the Musashi Treasurer, but she had still taken damage. So to give her a greater variety of combat arrangements, she had studied sieges and other types of battles to create\ this spell.

“Now, then.”

Yoshiaki raised Weiss Fürstin and held it at the ready. That would mean her preparations were complete. Kasuya had finished fine-tuning Argent Clou and preparing a visor-type vision spell, so she had begun some light sparring with Sakon. She was using Sakon’s neck as a stand-in for Shibata’s face and testing her reach.

While all this was going on, just one of them was preparing to withdraw: Kiyomasa.

She had eaten the extra yakiniku bento Kasuya had considerately given her and was taking a break with some tea. Her shoulder armor and Caledfwlch were already loaded in a nearby container, so she was clearly looking past Shizugatake. She hadn’t said anything for a while and she couldn’t find any reason to stay here, so Wakisaka couldn’t really blame her.

…She must have really wanted Fukushiman to show up.

It wasn’t like the rest of them hadn’t noticed. And just as Wakisaka was wishing there was something she could do to help…

“Hm?”

Light shined from the east.

That was the Shibata Team near Kitanosho Castle. They had switched on all the spotlight spells in that direction.

Wakisaka assumed they were lighting things up for the final battle, but some noise soon followed. She heard clashing metal, gunfire, and yelling.

Kasuya turned toward this noise and commented on it.

“Is someone counterattacking?”

Then an alarm sounded. Warning insha kotobs appeared all around, displaying Fuwa with her eyebrows raised.

“We’re under attack! Everyone on alert! And Hashiba-kun’s kids! What is the meaning of this?”

How should we know?

“Your Fukushima-san suddenly attacked us from the east! Was this your plan all along!?”

Wakisaka couldn’t make any sense of this. But someone did move.

They slammed their feet against the ground and shook the row of wooden containers as they stood up.

It was Kiyomasa.

●

Kiyomasa eventually realized she had stood up.

Everyone in the tent was looking at her. She could see them all looking at her while lit up from behind by the lights to the east. Their gazes brought her back to her senses.

“Oh, um, no.”

She wasn’t sure what she meant by “no”. But as she sat back down…

“P-please continue your conversation.”

Her mouth and her body were trembling.

Fukushima had arrived. Wakisaka asked about it.

“Fukushiman is here?”

“Eh? Yes, testament, it seems so. She probably arrived without knowing what has happened.”

Kiyomasa felt like she knew what she was talking about. But even if Fukushima was here, it didn’t help her any. Not because she was worn out and her gear was in poor shape. Because…

…I don’t know how she feels about me.

Kasuya and Kani or Yoshiaki and Wakisaka knew each other well and could work together without difficulty. But she and Fukushima couldn’t. Just before summer break, she had been self-centered and screwed it all up.

There was too much she would have to confirm before things could return to normal between them.

So it won’t work, she thought as she smiled and waved to the others.

“Go on. You take care of it.”

They all exchanged a glance. And Wakisaka said “okay then” and crossed her arms.

“So who should pair up with Fukushima?”

Kiyomasa could only lower her head. But when she looked down, she saw something.

A divine transmission lernen figur. It was from Nabeshima on the Azuchi. Yes, Kiyomasa had asked her to do some cleaning to pass the time while everyone else was out at Shizugatake.

What could this be about? she wondered, choosing to speak with Nabeshima to escape the awkwardness in the tent.

●

Nabeshima was conflicted. She wasn’t even sure if she should be telling Kiyomasa this at all. But…

…I can’t finish my cleaning with this in the way!

Just as she thought that, the divine transmission went through. There must have been a restriction in effect because it was text only.

Kiyo-Massive: ‘What is it, Nabeshima-san?”

Nabe3: “Oh, Kiyomasa-senpai! I was doing some cleaning, and, um, I’m almost done! There’s just this one thing left.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Why, thank you. So did you have a question?”

Nabe3: “Um…would you know what I meant if I said there was some trash and stuff piled up in the corner of your room?”

Kiyo-Massive: “Oh…did you clean up that pile? Thank you very much.”

…She doesn’t get it at all!

Nabeshima was just going to have to come out and say it.

Nabe3: “The thing is, Kiyomasa-senpai, I found one of those things in that pile. One of those pillows! You know, the pillows with a word written on it!”

●

Huh? thought Kiyomasa. Because Nabeshima wasn’t making any sense.

The only pillows she had were the ones she used when she slept. But she had made a mistake before summer break.

She had made a “Testament” pillow. She had been in a weird mood at the time, but after returning from her training camp, she had hysterically thrown it on top of the pile of trash.

But she couldn’t ask Nabeshima to dispose of it.

So she had thrown it out herself. The rest had been an outlet for emotions she didn’t want to think about, so she had asked her underclassman to deal with it as a way to purify her shame.

But now Nabeshima claimed that pillow was in that pile.

…How could that happen?

Had someone taken it back after she threw it out? No, she had put it in the incineration system. It couldn’t have survived. Then had she made two of them? Again, no. Because she always slept alone.

Then there was only one explanation.

…Someone brought another one into my room?

And if it was in the pile, it must have happened just before summer break.

During the short time when she got in a weird mood, made the “Testament” pillow, had a falling out with Fukushima, and unleashed her emotions on that place. Until she had thrown her pillow without noticing the other one.

Who could have entered her room and left that there?

“––––”

She shook her head a few times before the thought could enter her mind.

No.

Don’t.

That’s just wishful thinking.

Nevertheless, she remembered. Just before summer break, she had brought her pillow to Fukushima’s room.

But Fukushima hadn’t shown up.

And when Fukushima was leaving, she had asked her where she had been.

Fukushima had lied – saying she was in her own room.

In the shock of being lied to, Kiyomasa had cried and pushed Fukushima away.

But what had really happened?

…What if?

What if…yes, you need to think it.

Stop restricting your own thoughts for no good reason. So…

…Yes.

She let herself think it. What if Fukushima had been in her room then?

What if she had made a pillow and brought it just like Kiyomasa had?

And what if she had been in a rush to leave for her training camp and forgotten the pillow there?

“Yes…”

She had lied. She had waited but Kiyomasa hadn’t shown up. That must have been a shock. But that had only been about her own hurt feelings, so she had lied.

…Yes!

That lie had been meant to preserve their relationship.

And if they hadn’t missed each other in that moment, their pillows would have been lined up side by side.

I was wrong, thought Kiyomasa and stood up.

●

“Um! C-can I join the fight!?”

Yoshiaki turned toward Kiyomasa’s sudden question.

She saw Kiyomasa donning her gear in a fluster. Some of the armor she was attaching to her hard point parts was clearly damaged.

“I can fight! My armor is still functional! And I have the best defense here! So…”

“Wait, Kiyomasa,” said Yoshiaki.

And Kiyomasa…

“So, um, I…”

“Just listen,” interrupted Yoshiaki.

Kiyomasa suddenly lost all momentum. She hung her head and sighed.

“Sorry…”

“Better. Now listen carefully,” said Yoshiaki. “Fist of all, Fukushima and I aren’t a good fit. She’s too much of a one-girl fighter.”

“I agree,” said Angie. “And if anything, I’m an attacker too.”

“I’m not a good fit either because we’re both front-line fighters,” said Kasuya.

“And I’ve never worked with Fukushima-senpai before,” said Sakon.

“Right,” agreed Yoshiaki. Then she turned to Kiyomasa again. “You’re the only one. We were just discussing that, Kiyomasa.”

“…”

Kiyomasa looked up. Her cheeks were red and tear-streaked. Seeing that face told Yoshiaki this was the right choice.

“The Genesis Project is coming up, but there are still things you want to find out first, right? I don’t know what it’s like out there, but you can let Takenaka fill you in there.”

“Oh…I need Takenaka-sama’s permission…”

A lernen figur immediately popped up. It was from the Azuchi.

Kuro-Take: “If you’re willing to do it, Kiyomasa-san, I’m all for it too.”

●

Kuro-Take: “This will be a short-term showdown. Victory will come down to the ability to draw on your skill and to play it by ear. The former requires tactics and the tough mentality to not fear doing what it takes. And the ability to respond to a changing situation by finding a way to pull off a win instead of running away also comes down to your mentality.”

Kiyomasa understood what Takenaka was trying to say.

Kiyo-Massive: “So even if both sides have the same skill, the one with the greater willpower will win?”

Kuro-Take: “Willpower can’t take you beyond your skill, so it’s more like the one with less willpower loses. But willpower is an important part of drawing on your skill. And as far as I can see, everyone there has enough skill to take on Shibata-san.”

“A bold claim,” said Wakisaka with a whistle.

Of course, having the skill to “take him on” was meaningless if they were simply his equal.

They were here to win, so they needed skill on that level. But to pull off a win against someone with his windstorm of skill would require significant skill and indomitable willpower.

Kuro-Take: “Wanting to win isn’t enough to win, but whoever can better control their skill – calmly or passionately – will win. Can you do that, Kiyomasa-san?”

Kiyo-Massive: “I can.”

If she said too much, she would be satisfied with that and lose her current mood.

So those two words were all she said.

Kuro-Take: “Testament. Keep up that spirit. Now, get out there.”

Kiyomasa nodded and ran a final status check on a lernen figur.

Her armor was damaged in places. The autonomous power system showed some inconsistencies. She had some injuries.

…None of it is a problem.

At this point, they were all in a similar state.

The enemy was untouched. But that would be true if the others were fighting as well.

So she just had to do it. She took a step forward and adjusted her armor. She used the shaking of her body to rebuild her entire defense control system. At the same time, Yoshiaki raised her left hand with Weiss Fürstin under her right arm.

“I’ll send you out once you’re ready. I’d set it up for two riders earlier and I’d hate for that effort to go to waste.”

●

…Now, time to go.

Fukushima sat at an elevated point. She had been attacked down below, so she had parted ways with the deer who had been her companion for so long now and then escaped to the top of a nearby transport ship.

Based on the lernen figurs opened here and there, the Battle of Shizugatake must have already begun.

Did that mean Lord Shibata and Oichi-sama had returned and were engaged in combat?

“I see.”

The situation quickly came into focus. She spoke aloud to sum it up for herself.

“Lord Shibata began the Battle of Shizugatake on a whim, so the Hashiba forces had to play along. And now everything is focusing in on Kitanosho Castle. That would mean the battle has entered its final stage.”

The others must have accomplished that while she was traveling with the deer.

“And I have arrived in time for the final stage. …Which means I must assist the others.”

She had to reach Kitanosho Castle. There, she could battle Shibata and Oichi.

…Yes.

She did not know those two well. She only knew of them through their many accomplishments and other stories.

But while she was cautious, she did not feel inadequate to the task.

At Novgorod, Honda Futayo had managed something akin to mutual defeat against him. Fukushima’s goal was to surpass that girl, so Shibata would make a good test.

A barrier she had to clear had been prepared for her here and she had arrived in time to attempt it.

“Now, then.”

She stood up and looked out across the ships forming the enemy camp.

…Hm?

She thought she sensed light behind her to the southeast. If the full moons were that bright, they had to be quite high in the sky and she thought she would have noticed that earlier, so she looked back and saw…

“Wh-what are those pillars of light!?”

“Yeah, those would be from Honnouji. Oh, right. Fukushima-san, you’ve been up in the mountains since before all that was set up, haven’t you?”

She heard a sudden voice from the side.

She didn’t even need to check.

She threw herself forward and leaped. A thick blade raced by mere moments later.

She had encountered the enemy.

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