Horizon:Volume 9B Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Closed-In Gambler

What is the difference

Between those who guess wrong

And those who guess right?

Point Allocation (Trustworthiness?)

●

Vice President: “Why are you dragging someone that important into this!?”

Novice: “You gave her the code! I assumed she would know what I was talking about, so I asked the Representative Council Head, claiming it was on your orders!”

Art-Ga: “Oh, no. He convinced the Representative Council Head into helping by tricking her into think she was helping Masazumi.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, poor Daikubo-chan.”

Silver Wolf: “So is the Secretary getting the udon treatment for this one?”

Asama: “Well, deception and false identities are common in Shinto, so when the ancient nobles would fake their identity to sneak into a romantic partner’s house, they would receive divine punishment for it. …Oh, I just ran a search. For a boy, whenever he writes his name, ether squid ink somen noodles the length of the writing implement will shoot endlessly from his urethra, so good luck with that.”

Novice: “Are there no limits to what ether can do!? But what I did worked, didn’t it!?”

10ZO: “You should face your own crimes first.”

●

Juana was working overtime.

Her acorazado was the sub-flagship of the fleet sent to Kyou. The flagship was the San Lorenzo II, which was carrying the baseball team since they had had a game at Koshien, but this ship was the same type.

The ship had the block structure common for Tres Españan ships, so it was like an island 800m long with thrusters built in. The blocks could be swapped out, which made repairs a breeze, and it handled license production work in the Catholic nations with large landports. Even the Ariake was one of its main products It was now being used to build a foundation of connections for the later land development work.

…I really want to get started on R&D for the next-gen ship standards.

If she was being honest, the problem was how ideas did not come to you just because they were necessary.

If she was being even more honest…

…I want the Musashi.

With that, I could solve all my problems and easily join mister on a test trip to the outside world and back.

But that wasn’t possible.

She was constantly reminded that even large nations couldn’t always get what they wanted.

So she was adjusting the budget for the second term while cruising to Shikoku as a guard fleet for the Musashi’s base hulls. Time flew by while she also included plans based on expectations for the third term.

“Oh.”

She suddenly realized Honnouji had already begun. She had left the 3rd Special Duty Officer in charge of gathering intel, but she decided it was time she took a break. So she began viewing the code and some other information sent by Musashi.

“What could this mean?”

The code had been revised during the earlier discussion with Musashi. So this was the latest version:

Risototooukowareta

Nagayoshinozu(tsu/su)gaigatadashii

Zu(tsu/su)kiiinofu(bu)kiwoiwaoniosame

Nazu(tsu/su)owarikotamanizu(tsu/su)gaiwoosameyo

Futarinoseijiyohaizu(tsu/su)ko

And as supplementary information, Akechi Mitsuhide had left them with the following statement:

“Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was only a theory and it came first.

“Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

Juana recognized a few of those terms.

“This is related to Tsirhc.”

●

Juana: “I had a few thoughts, so I considered Akechi Mitsuhide’s words along with the mostly-decoded text.”

Mary read the scrolling text near Honnouji’s entrance. Gin and Muneshige were guarding the area and Adele was aboard the transport pallet carrying Raging Beast while it was retrieved by a transport ship.

Adele waved from the passenger space on the pallet, so Mary waved back while the Tres España Vice President spoke.

Juana: “Let’s look at the terms Akechi Mitsuhide used. First, Messiah.”

Oh? thought Mary.

She was a former Catholic, so she was familiar with this. And…

Juana: “In Tsirhc, Messiah is used to refer to the Tsirhc savior.”

Exactly. But…

Juana: “However, the term Messiah originally referred to someone who would lead their people or believers to a land of plenty where their faith was accepted. That means a Messiah is a leader or king who fulfills the people’s ideals.”

…Eh?

That matched a part of the code.

Asama: “The ideal and the king…right?”

Flat Vassal: “Nooooo, my Resort King was wrong!”

Mary waved up to the ascending transport pallet and Adele waved back from the passenger area. But by combining the code and Mitsuhide’s words, it took on a double meaning.

Scarred: “Lord Mitsuhide said Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

10ZO: “But if we place that term into the code, it says the Messiah is broken.”

What did that mean?

Circle Be: “Does it refer to a person or a plan? Oh, sorry for interrupting. We’ve run into a lot of surprises here in Kantou.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, I can’t wait to find out what you mean by that.”

Neither can I, agreed Mary as she continued her thoughts.

…Words like “completed” and “broken” don’t make it sound like a person.

I feel like a detective, she thought with a quiet laugh. Master Tenzou is probably better at these things. And…

Juana: “Now let’s move on to the other term: Golgotha.”

Mary knew this term as well. She clearly wasn’t the only one.

Tachibana Husband: “In the Testament, that is the place where Jesus Christ, the supposed Son of God, was executed. I believe it is traditionally thought to be a hill.”

Juana: “Testament. I should have known our former 1st Special Duty Officer would know.”

Mary looked up at the Tres España Vice President’s comment. Muneshige silently bowed her way and Gin spoke without using the divine chat.

“Thank you.”

That is enough, thought Mary. They should understand.

●

I probably shouldn’t have said that, thought Juana, her head in her hands on her desk.

Just as she was getting into the swing of things, a familiar voice had chimed in, so she had gotten a little too friendly out of nostalgia. Even though they probably saw her as an enemy, assuming they hadn’t forgotten about her entirely.

…M-my interpersonal relationships are so full of surprise attacks and own goals…

She wanted to do better, but she had a feeling she would only do it again no matter how hard she tried not to.

So she decided to just accept that as the way she was and she continued speaking.

Juana: “Listen. In a way, Jesus Christ’s execution at Golgotha was the beginning of Tsirhc history.”

Now…

Juana: “What do you think Golgotha was?”

●

“Um,” said Asama, hesitantly raising her hand. “Shouldn’t we wrap this up soon? If the final boss is right on the other side of this door, I fear we’re keeping them waiting a little too long.”

“Maybe we should open the door and warn them this is going to take a while?” suggested Mitotsudaira.

“Wouldn’t that be a little much even for us?” asked Tenzou.

“Oh, but in games you’re always camping in front doors like this. So it’s fine,” said Toori.

“Can we at least try to keep the conversation with the Tres España Vice President going? Okay?” said Masazumi, pointing toward the sign frame.

Asama nodded. But…

“So what was Golgotha?”

“An udon shop! It was an udon shop, Asama-sama!”

Oh, thought Asama, realizing what Horizon was trying to say. She thought it was just as joke at first, but…

Asama: ‘It was an execution ground, wasn’t it?”

●

“Testament,” confirmed Juana. I am pleased to find even Musashi’s Shinto Representative is knowledgeable of Tsirhc. After all, her name was inherited from a pro-Catholic Tres Españan figure. The woman had even banned and burned any books that did not conform to Catholicism. She was confident in her knowledge on the subject. So…

Juana: “Yes, Christ was executed on the execution grounds known as Golgotha, but do you know what Golgotha means?”

This one was simple.

Juana: “It means ‘skull’. It received the name because, when people were publicly executed on the hill, their bones would roll down the hill.”

●

Tenzou had a weird sense he knew where this was going. The term Messiah had fit into the code, and now…

“This one does too.”

Messiah already matched the “The ideal and the king”.

And if Golgotha meant skull, then it too fit into the code.

“ ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct.’ ”

That was one, but there was another.

“ ‘At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.’ ”

A skull was mentioned twice.

“What does this mean?”

“Hold on. There’s a timeline here. And a kind of convoluted one.”

Naruze spoke in a quiet but sharp voice.

To gather her thoughts, she produced a pen and wrote in the empty air.

“Motonobu’s Messiah was ‘completed’. That puts it in the past.”

But…

“While Nobuhide’s Golgotha came first, it was only a theory. That means it ‘wasn’t completed’. Which could place it in the future.”

“But,” added Naito. “Lord Nobuhide was Lord Motonobu’s teacher. So Lord Motonobu’s Messiah came later but was actually completed, while Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha came first but was only ever a theory, right?”

…Does that mean Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was ahead of its time?

Tenzou felt there had to be a reason the older one hadn’t been completed.

And Naruze had more to say.

“But…the later Messiah, aka ‘the ideal and the king’, is broken. It was completed, but it ultimately failed.”

Naruze raised her pen in the air.

“So that told them that the skull is correct. And then at the end of summer, they’re supposed to offer the skull to some orb. What future event do you think they’re talking about there?”

Everyone responded to her question by looking up.

Of course, they only saw the passageway ceiling there. No moons or anything. But…

Horizey: “Neshinbara-samaaaa!!”

Novice: “Shall I do the honors?”

There was no point in stopping him, so his wild speculation began.

Novice: “In the past, an ideal plan must have been carried out to stop the Apocalypse. That was Messiah. But while it was completed, it broke. However, this told the people behind the plan that ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct’. And we have a different term for that now.”

Neshinbara spoke the term everyone knew was coming.

Novice: “The Genesis Project.”

●

Gold Mar: “But this doesn’t actually tell us what the Genesis Project is, does it?”

Art-Ga: “Sure doesn’t. He got us all worked up over nothing.”

Novice: “Wait! Wait, all of you! I was just getting to the good part!”

Four Eyes: “Why are you so bad at holding staying in control of the conversation?”

●

“How about this?” said Neshinbara. He looked up into the rectangle of the night sky visible from the Asama Shrine stairs. There were still some unknowns and a few things seemed to contradict each other, but…

Novice: “Let’s assume Messiah and Golgotha are both project names or some kind of spell. Either way, they would be something that is ‘carried out’.”

As soon as he said that, a question came from someone with good intuition.

Tachibana Wife: “Wait a moment. Looking back at the code based on that assumption, one part doesn’t make sense.”

Namely…

Tachibana Wife: “Lord Akechi said Golgotha was Lord Nobuhide’s. But the code says ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct’. Who is Nagayoshi? Wouldn’t they be someone other than Lord Nobuhide?”

Novice: “Even I could figure that one out. It is a simple replacement. Look carefully at the name Nobuhide. And then compare that to the name Nagayoshi.”

●

…Oh, I think I get it.

Realizing the answer, Mitotsudaira raise her hand.

“Nagayoshi would indeed refer to Nobuhide.”

“Eh!? Why’s that, Nate!? Tell me and only me!”

“Now, now, Toori-sama. It is unseemly to rely on others like that!”

Meanwhile, Horizon’s left arm rose up from the floor to tug on Mitotsudaira’s skirt and ask her for the answer. Horizon looked her way and raised her right hand next to her mouth.

“Now, Mitotsudaira-sama, just a quick spoiler for me alone.”

“It’s something you can figure out using the brute force tactics the Secretary loves so much.”

“That’s right,” said Kimi. She smiled bitterly as she opened a sign frame and wrote out some surprisingly beautiful text with only her finger. First, she split the name Nobuhide in two and wrote the “Nobu” above the “hide”. Then she similarly split the name Nagayoshi and placed it alongside the first.

“By adding the first half of each name and the second half of each name, you end up with the names Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. And what does the secret name Nagayoshi mean?”

Everyone gasped as Kimi threw her hands into the air and shouted the answer.

“Long Happyyyyyyy! On dear, is it a blessing for a long life!? Or is it saying the longer it is, the happier you are!? That would suggest Thick Happy is next, but maybe we need the reverse names too! So Short Sad and Thin Sad! What do you think, Asama!?”

“Don’t drag me into this!”

Since Kimi didn’t drag Mitotsudaira into it too, she started on her third portable food bar. Oh, strawberry flavor again.

The Secretary must have been watching all this because he chose this moment to speak.

Novice: “Judge. So this means Lord Motonobu’s Messiah failed and Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha became the better option, so they needed the Scythian weapons to, um…”

Almost Everyone: “Keep it short!”

Asama responded to everyone’s retort by opening a sign frame.

“Let’s see, I can add this new information into the code.”

“Can you share that with me? I can help,” said Mitotsudaira.

Horizon took a quick look around.

“Asamadaira-samaaaaaaa!”

“Heh heh heh. Don’t combine them, Horizon! You’ll make Asama flat!”

“No, Kimi-sama, I was cleverly hinting at taking the average of Asama-sama and Mitotsudaira-sama. That would give Mitotsudaira-sama what she has always dreamed of while also freeing Asama-sama from her chronic shoulder stiffness.”

“Chronic shoulder stiffness!? Horizon, imagine my hands here are a table and show me the solution to that problem!”

Horizon bent back a bit and bent her knees to rest her breasts on Kimi’s hands.

“The classic Asama-sama relaxation pose.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You’re making a lot of typos!”

Horizon and Kimi fled a short distance. But I do see her in that pose a lot.

…They really do adore her.

As do I, thought Mitotsudaira as they finished their annotated version.

(Lord Motonobu’s) Messiah is broken.

Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha is correct.

Offer the Scythian weapons (the Logismoi Oplo) to the rock.

At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.

Where are the two girls?

“Umm,” said Ohiroshiki, taking a hesitant look around as he chose his words carefully. “Don’t they have their own Logismoi Oplo?”

“Yes, Hashiba-sama had the nerve to possess something very similar.”

“Then,” said Naruze. “If we assume that text is referring to here and now, we should be able to make more sense of it. If the rock refers to this place, then what would the orb at the of summer be?”

“The 2nd moon maybe?”

Did that interpretation come to Mitotsudaira so fast because she was a Loup-Garou?

But that moon was indeed full and nearly perfectly overhead. Furthermore…

“Why would the code for Nobuhide include the names Nobunaga and Hideyoshi?”

“Hideyoshi is here too, right?”

Given the nature of this history recreation, Nobunaga would also have to be here. In that case…

“If you ask me,” said Horizon, “it could mean Nobunaga and Hideyoshi will be executed here. As offerings to the moon, maybe? Although that idea has too much of that Neshinbara Power for my liking. But,” she continued. “If someone’s life will be lost here, we must stop it.”

●

Juana nodded deeply at what she heard.

…That’s right.

Musashi started doing that at Mikawa. Then they had done it in England and continued doing it ever since.

And if they would be Tres España’s future business rivals…

“They are not exactly the perfect rivals. Without something we can believe in as steadfastly as them, they will outdo us.”

I need to work on that, she decided, closing her cadena firma and sitting in a chair next to a window with the Seto Inland Sea coming into view outside. Then she faced her desk again and…

“Oops, I disconnected from the hotline!”

It scared her how easily the mood could influence her.

●

“Okay.” Mitotsudaira stuck Excalibur into the gap between the large doors. Asama had already unlocked them with Jibril, so the rest was all about muscle. “I’m going to open it. Are you ready?”

Masazumi raised her hand and answered from Futayo’s shoulder.

“Do it. Um, Crossunite, you instruct everyone where to stand.”

“Judge,” replied the 1st Special Duty Officer and gestured for everyone to move to the sides. The king disobeyed and wiggled in the center and the 1st Special Duty Officer had to clench his fist and give the boy more direct instructions, but that was normal by this point. But then Horizon spoke up.

“It just occurred to me, but if they are holding an execution or two inside there as I suggested, maybe we should have gone in right away and asked the final boss directly instead of wasting time out here.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. If we’re too late now, it’ll be because we stopped to chat outside.”

“Open it now, Mitotsudaira!”

Mitotsudaira felt responsible now, so she split the two doors apart all at once. And…

“Let’s go!”

●

Kimi saw a stage through the large doors Mitotsudaira had opened.

“Kimi, why are you right behind me!?”

“Heh heh heh. Viewing the sight from head on is a privilege reserved for the star of the show.”

She said this while viewing an open-air hall with a diameter of about 500m. What appeared to be large stone monuments were lined up like audience seating. They had ether control emblems carved into them and were sunk into the ground as keystones.

The bottom of a giant pillar of light was visible overhead in place of a ceiling. Instead of being flat, it was woven from the ether flowing in from all directions, so viewed from below, it looked like multiple overlapping spiral staircases.

And at the bottom of the mortar shape was a stage about 200m across.

…A little too far from the audience for singing.

Bigger was not always better, but she could tell this was not an official stage.

She heard a sound.

What had seemed like a pulse thrumming from the earth was now coming from the sky above.

The ley lines were ascending into the heavens. So…

“Okay, everyone, take a look at my hand.”

She raised her right hand and moved her left hand in an arc to forcibly strike it.

This produced a loud clap and sent a tremor through the wolf looking up at her hands nearby.

“Wh-what did you just do?”

“Heh heh. I applied a sound-based existence confirmation protection for the foolish masses who have no rhythm. For a while, you will be unaffected by the pulsing of the ley lines. That means you shouldn’t start floating from the ground, get pulled upwards, or begin to lose your sense of identity.”

“Neat,” said the others as Kimi waved them toward the stage.

“Let’s get going. Samurai Girl, you take Masazumi. Foolish brother, Horizon, and Asama, you three stay in the rear. I will lead the way.”

She could see a single person standing in front of the stage.

“After all, the opposing band is waiting.”

Hashiba stood alone at the end of the path they were taking.

●

Hashiba saw brazenness incarnate.

Musashi.

Some of them appeared cautious, but others were walking straight down the center: a flashy girl in the lead, their 5th Special Duty Officer, their Vice Chancellor, the Asama Shrine Representative, their Chancellor, and…

…Horizon Ariadust.

That group was approaching.

The Testament said this was the scene of an assassination. Honnouji had been a lodging facility, so it had no defenses other than the guards one brought with them.

So now that Musashi had eliminated all the guards before this point, the people here were all that remained.

So once the Musashi group was within 100m of her, Hashiba called out to them.

“Good evening.”

“Heh heh heh. Gooooooood evening, my worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrld!”

She honestly felt defeated by the deafening shout she received in response.

…What do I do now?

●

Asama: “Kimi! Kimi! She’s looking really sad now! What do we do!?”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. We won the approach phase! So now we snag the best spot and begin the flower viewing!”

Horizey: “Thank you very much, Kimi-sama. Now we should be able to speak openly.”

●

Hashiba saw them stop 20m away.

…Oh.

She had to do this right, so she slapped her cheeks to refocus.

Then Horizon Ariadust stepped forward from the Musashi group. And…

“Good evening.”

“G-good evening.”

“Wonderful weather tonight, don’t you think?”

“Eh? Oh, yes, i-it is.”

Horizon gave a thumbs up to the people behind her and a few gave her one back, but…

…Do they think I’m hard to communicate with?

But Horizon faced Hashiba once more and took a breath.

“Now, this is an awkward thing to ask given the circumstances, so I will try to put it as tactfully as I can.”

“What is it?”

“What is the Genesis Project? We still haven’t figured that out, so it would great if you could fill us in.”

That phrasing was so direct that Hashiba shuddered despite being an automaton.

Back to Chapter 58

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 60