Horizon:Volume 9B Chapter 61

Chapter 61: The Star of Honnouji

I decided not to give the answer I knew

Because I wanted to hear a more amusing answer

You could call it the feminine dreams of my heart

This is what it means to say a human life

Is nothing compared to the life of the universe

Point Allocation (Wrap It Up)

●

“So I know what I need to do and it’s already begun, so how about we have a nice chat? There’s plenty I would like to tell you as Nobunaga.”

Masazumi’s first reaction was to look at the others.

Asama was using an audio spell to send a prayer to an entertainment god. The god sent a vibration into the air to cancel out the alarms and other noises. What Masazumi could still hear seemed to be coming from more of a distance now, but…

“Well, this is awkward. We didn’t even have to do anything to draw her out.”

“Have you already forgotten the Logismoi Oplo battle leading up to this, Masazumi?”

“Oh, right. That,” said Masazumi as she turned back toward Nobunaga.

Now that she knew the others were safe, she raised her right hand.

“I will make two things clear up front: we want to know what the Genesis Project entails and, depending on that, we might want to stop it. That is why we are here. Once we’re done with that, we will leave. Any questions?”

“Testament. So you are saying you are here to assess the situation? Testament, I understand. I agree that this encounter could have a pleasant conclusion.”

“With that out of the way,” added Masazumi. Maybe this wasn’t the best thing to ask here, but, “Who are you?”

“I am Oda Nobunaga’s name inheritor. And I am the original Horizon Ariadust.”

Nobunaga raised her right arm and pulled back the white sleeve with her left hand. This revealed a pale-skinned arm, but also…

“She has scarring on her shoulder just like my king.”

Not just a single scar. Many. Not as many as Mary, but large scars drew rope-like lines across her shoulder as if tying the arm in place.

“I have 81 scars across my entire body. And if we include my internal organs and bones, some of those were shattered or ruptured, making the actual number truly incalculable. I received these injuries in an accident on the Musashi 10 years ago.”

“Not so fast!!” shouted the idiot. “What color is your underwear!”

“Black.”

The idiot froze.

“Oh, no. Maybe she is the real one.”

Horizon kicked the idiot in the crotch hard enough to lift him 20cm from the floor, but Masazumi felt he really deserved that one. And…

“How can that be? You call yourself the original, but our Horizon here has her soul. She is very real.”

“You tell her, Masazumi-sama! I am the real Horizon! I am real! She must be a fake trying to trick us! Besides, can that fake remove her arms or perform comedy routines at a cafe!? Now, Masazumi-sama, stare deep into my eyes and listen carefully. You are feeling sleeeeepy. Very, very sleeeepy!”

“Horizon-dono, It is impressive you can behave like normal under these circumstances.”

Crossunite was right. But Masazumi kind of understood.

First, she gestured toward Horizon.

“Let me see if I have this right… Horizon’s soul is here. But her body and brain are all automaton parts.”

Next, she gestured toward Nobunaga.

“Meanwhile, you have Horizon’s body and brain, but your soul is an automaton part?”

“Testament. It would be more accurate to say this body is being viewed as a machine and an OS was loaded into it. The process by which people join with gods of war was reversed to send a program into a human body.

“So,” said Nobunaga.

She gestured at herself.

“The best way to describe me is a fully biological automaton who retains Horizon Ariadust’s memories.”

Everyone exchange a glance at that.

None of them said anything for a while. But eventually Naito took a stab at it.

“Looks like Horizon’s personality really was one-of-a-kind.”

“Y-you really know how to come out and say the thing we were all thinking, Naito-dono!”

“Heh. Merely retaining my memories is not enough to copy my expert-level personality. Because she lacks the proper soul. That is what you need to be Horizon!”

Yeah, thought Masazumi. Everyone in our class has a mental fortitude of steel so strong it could withstand an earthquake.

Probably everyone had their own thoughts on this, but that could come later.

“Nobunaga, I think I understand something now.”

“What might that be?”

“You being what you are and Hashiba being what she was were both necessary for the Genesis Project, weren’t they? And our Horizon being what she is is necessary for a future beyond the Genesis Project that not even Lord Motonobu could predict, isn’t it?”

“I honestly don’t know concerning your end of things. But you are correct that we exist for the Genesis Project.”

“Then what is the Genesis Project? Depending on your answer, we might assist you or we might oppose me.”

Nobunaga smiled a little at that.

Still smiling, she brought her hands together and asked a question.

“Um, do you mind if I just explain it all for you? I’ve been looking forward to it for so long.”

Because…

“I know this is one-sided, but I have finally been reunited with the people from the 7-8 years of memories I have from 10 years ago. So can I speak with them for a bit? Would you be willing to grant me that?”

●

Sensing an awkwardness in the air, Masazumi exchanged a glance with the others.

“What’s this about? The final boss says she wants to explain everything to us.”

“She is being awfully friendly.”

“Does this mean she treasures Horizon’s old memories?”

“Probably,” agreed Masazumi. She turned toward Nobunaga again and gestured to the idiots. “So from your perspective, you’ve been waiting to meet these horrible people?”

“Testament. But I was ordered not to directly contact them. Especially once you became our enemy. So I asked the others if I could at least speak with you while waiting for the Genesis Project to activate.”

Because…

“For me, everything stopped 10 years ago. Even if you are my enemy now and even if I can’t tell you what’s happened…I didn’t want to leave any regrets between us.”

“How do we know you aren’t just stalling for time?”

“I have determined the Genesis Project can no longer be stopped. That is why the others allowed me this time. But I doubt you see it that way. I heard earlier that you want to know about the Genesis Project.”

So…

“I may be your enemy here, but for me this is a reunion with my old friends. So how about we use a discussion of the Genesis Project to bring us together?”

After a pause, Naito made a comment.

“Wow. Even if the black hair doesn’t match, its still kind of weird hearing a logical argument coming from someone who looks so much like Horizon.”

“Hm,” said Horizon. “Since I am always the most sensible person in the room, she receives a greater gap bonus for this. What an advantage!”

You’re the grand master there, thought Masazumi, but she was relieved to find Horizon was her usual self.

So she held a hand out to stop the others and approached the stage. Behind her, she could hear the others gradually settling down.

Vice President: “I didn’t expect them to explain everything for us, so use this chance to get as close to the stage as you can. And prepare to move. You need to be ready to charge as soon as something happens.”

10ZO: “I’m sure she will expect this, but it’s still a good decision.”

She nearly said “I’ll leave the rest with you”, but he probably saw it the other way around. So instead…

“Judge. Very well. We accept your invitation. But can you tell us one thing up front?”

She knew exactly what to ask.

“What is the Genesis Project? We probably don’t have much time, so just give us the highlights.”

“Testament.” Nobunaga breathed a sigh of relief as her shoulders relaxed. The feathers decorating either side of her cape’s neck and her decorative chains swayed in a familiar way.

…She has the same taste in fashion as the idiot.

Then it hit Masazumi that Nobunaga must have spent the past 10 years gathering information on them.

The Aoi Sister may have had the same thought because she adjusted the idiot’s decorative feathers and chains to get them back in place.

“Yes, that alone is enough for me to trust that copycat of Horizon and my foolish brother.”

Asama and Mitotsudaira nodded and Horizon eventually spoke up.

“This is another way you are the opposite of me and my eternal pursuit of originality, but I am aware that is another way to live one’s life.”

Nobunaga inclined her head once before opening her mouth.

“In lieu of an invitation, I will tell you about the Genesis Project. It is terribly simple, really. …We will execute Destiny.”

●

“So that’s it,” said Neshinbara, shooting to his feet on the stairs leading to the Asama Shrine.

He scratched his head trying to recall the data he needed.

“Lord Akechi told us that the people of the Age of Dawn were faced with such a harsh environment they tried to get destiny on their side.”

Their method had been a simple one.

“They used the environmental gods to…give destiny a personality.”

●

Nobunaga opened an insha kotob while everyone approached the stage.

She displayed a document on the Age of Dawn. She had put it together earlier because she had figured they would want to know this.

She remembered everything from 10 years ago, but she didn’t know how valuable this information would be to them now. So she had prepared all of the top-level information related to what they were pursuing.

She was allowed to give this away now. She had been given permission. So she gestured toward the screen with her hands as she spoke. Behind her, she displayed an illustration of the legendary meeting between the people and the environmental gods.

“Yes. In the Age of Dawn, Destiny was given a personality. This personality was put in place by the people, so instead of feeling automaton-like annoyance, this personality was truly dedicated to serving people. But there was a fear that people might try to use Destiny for their own purposes, so this was kept a secret and the truth was hidden in the Imperial Palace.”

And…

“The people eventually forgot and grew focused on their political conflicts based on the Testament. Some people gained social status and interests from politics and other decisions, but others lost those things. At times, people even lost their lives. And…while some people were lost, the world kept on turning and those losses had to be accepted.”

So…

“Eventually, Destiny grew tired of it all. No matter how much she tried to improve things, there were people who died. And people who were killed. As the unstoppable current of time continued flowing through her hands, more and more people were lost. It happened over and over and it left a stronger impression than the joy and the births. But Destiny realized something: without her, no one would die. The precious people it was her duty to save were dying because of her.”

●

“Do you understand?” asked Nobunaga. “Approximately 160 years ago, Destiny began a process. What do you think that was?”

Masazumi didn’t have an answer.

…What could it be?

She could think of a few possibilities, but someone else responded before she could narrow it down further.

The Aoi Sister crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows a little as she spoke.

“She tried to die, didn’t she? But she was gutless and chose a slow death.”

“Correct, Kimi-sama. Destiny began a process that was much like slitting her wrists. She removed the current of destiny from the ley lines, allowing it to begin thinning out. Eventually, everything would become so thin it disappeared.”

In other words…

“You know this as the Apocalypse.”

●

…Wait just a minute.

“Um,” said Asama, finger on her chin.

This honestly seemed too speculative for her liking. She could kind of understand destiny having a personality since she had seen the Emperor automaton at Lord Akechi’s place. But…

“Destiny is…trying to kill itself?”

“Asama,” Kimi said quietly. “She’s like a child. Probably. …You remember, don’t you? You too, Naruze.”

That reminded Asama of something. A moment later, Naruze snapped her teeth shut with an audible clack and opened an image in a Magie Figur.

It was the relief of the faceless child seen in the underground Houjou ruins.

“Because she is everyone’s destiny, she is a combination of us all and thus has no face. And because she wishes for happiness, she was designed to be a child?”

Nobunaga’s only response to Naruze was a smile. And then a question.

“What happens when a pure child loses a loved one and it is their fault?”

Asama already knew the answer to that. She had seen it for herself 10 years ago. But Nobunaga said something else.

“I don’t know the answer. Because I was the one who died.”

She got us there, thought Asama.

What had happened to them 10 years ago when they lost Horizon?

He had returned, but he had seemed like someone else and he had tried to die.

If Kimi hadn’t been there for him, he might have followed Horizon into death.

Asama recalled how helpless she had felt back then. She recalled the guilty relief she had felt when the weeping siblings visited her and how she had sworn to never let that happen again. But…

“Destiny was always alone…and felt responsible the deaths of so many.”

“Correct,” said Nobunaga. “She endured it for thousands of years, but she realized she couldn’t take it anymore. The people also managed to predict this, so they worked constantly to soothe Destiny through the Emperor in the Imperial Palace and tried their best not to put too much pressure on her.”

Asama sort of understood what Nobunaga must mean.

“Instead of trying to add any unnecessary interpretations into the history recreation, they tried to stick to the basics, didn’t they? Even when there were deaths, they would try to save those people if possible, but when it came to famous recreations, they went along with it like it was their duty.”

She could think of countless examples.

…They’re especially common in the Far East after the rise of the samurai.

“So around 160 years ago, it is thought Destiny began an irreversible release of the ley lines. This affected the functioning of anything related to the ley lines at the time…and you know what this led to, don’t you?”

Novice: “Yes. The Harmonic Unification War.”

Asama was honestly not sure what to think about having to take his answer so seriously.

They had already heard the beginnings of this from Akechi Mitsuhide. But looking at it all as a whole…

…Shinto has so many taboos related to the Age of Dawn.

Which meant all of this made sense so far.

If destiny had been given a personality and if it was based on accessing the ley lines, then that would have been a job for Shinto since they handled infrastructure maintenance at the time. That would explain why the Emperor was kept in the Imperial Palace.

And that led to Shinto’s current privilege and prosperity.

To Asama, this felt like a shaking of the very foundation she stood upon. But…

“Asama.” He and Horizon looked her way. “I’m thankful to have you with me, so focus on that.”

After a pause, she nodded. Kimi patted her back and she felt no urge to brush the girl off, so she may have let his comment affect her too much. Regardless…

“This feels like several familiar examples and speculations coming together nicely.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” said Mitotsudaira. “It reminds me of the past. When I was going through a hard time, but my king was there for me. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for that…but if you didn’t have anyone like him and you couldn’t lash out like I did, I can see how you might try to defile yourself in another way.”

Several comments of agreement came from the others.

Some had been through something similar, some had been part of it with others, and some had simply seen it happen.

But there was one thing they all had in common.

…Someone was there for us.

But what if they hadn’t had anyone? And what if, day after day, more of their loved ones continued to die because of them? What if they couldn’t go to anyone for help and had no way to stop it, so they could only watch it continue to happen?

A terribly old memory came back to Asama.

After they had lost Horizon and he was gone too, Kimi had asked Asama to stay over at the Aoi home because she was “scared”.

That night, Asama had sensed someone’s presence in the cafe and gone out to check, but no one was there.

That had scared her and, in that moment, she had understood what it meant to lose someone.

That fear had led her to stay away even after he returned. Because she was afraid of feeling that way again.

She had gotten over it now, but there was still a part of her that existed because of the fear she had felt that night.

Because she had felt loss and felt the helplessness of being unable to do anything about it, she now understood the joy of being able to help. But…

…What if I still couldn’t do anything and I kept losing more and more loved ones?

Yikes, she thought.

Different people would view it differently, but this was how she saw it.

She guessed destiny hadn’t been able to live with herself. She would have felt fear and helplessness, had no one to go to, and felt like everyone was blaming her. It all would have led to a certain question:

…Why did you give birth to me?

Or to put it another way, Everyone would be better off without me.

Asama had never felt that way about her parents, but it could happen under the right circumstances.

It was a depressing thought. But I’m a shrine maiden, so I need to stay strong, she thought.

“Toori-kun.”

As thanks for the support he had provided earlier, there was one thing she could say.

“We are here because we overcame our regrets and remorse, aren’t we?”

Maybe they hadn’t overcome those things as much as they liked to think, but she still believed it was true.

…Yes.

It was unusual for words to improve her mood quite this much. And her meaning must have gotten through because Masazumi raised her right hand toward Nobunaga.

“Let’s end the historical talk there.”

She waved her hand to reclaim control of the scene before continuing.

“We get the idea. We already had some understanding of the starting point thanks to Lord Akechi’s lecture. You are saying that, because destiny had a personality, it- she worked to support this world just like a person, correct? So can we think of destiny as an artificially-created being at a higher level even than a god or spirit?”

“Yes, think of her as the entire world given a personality in order to help people.”

That would make destiny an artificial god of all things. Or if Asama was going to put it in her own terms…

“Was it like the ley lines and ether were given a personality?”

“If so,” said Masazumi. “Executing destiny would be worse than the Apocalypse – it would mean the immediate end of the world. …What is the Genesis Project meant to accomplish?”

●

“I’m starting to figure it out.”

Tomoe Gozen looked up at the pillar of light and twin moons in the eastern sky while she watched the real-time meeting minutes being sent over by Musashi’s Representative Committee Head.

…Honestly.

Now she understood why the Imperial Palace had refused to allow any interpretations of her history recreation.

Her ghost body glowed faintly in the dark night. She glowed even more than usual thanks to the full moon. But there was a reason she still existed here.

“The Imperial Palace did it for destiny. We might have all survived if an interpretation was allowed, but that would have distorted other history recreations.”

Several forces took each other’s lives during the Genpei War that led to the Kamakura period. Allowing a forceful interpretation could have caused widespread changes that might have led to even more deaths.

And in the worst case, the interpretation might not even have saved their lives thanks to the other forces pursuing their own interests.

…So they “reduced” the burden on destiny by sticking to the expected and predicted deaths.

Who could she be angry with? Could she just laugh this off? Or should she think back on what happened and weep?

“Damn.”

What would Komaoumaru say if she could tell him? How would Iko react?

But that was all in the past now. And if destiny was trying to die…

“The Genesis Project must be trying to stop that.”

●

“Correct. Executing Destiny would end the world.”

The phrase “at long last” came to Nobunaga’s mind. At long last, she could tell them this. On a whim, she shook her body to rattle the thin chains. Yes, that was the exact thing he did sometimes. She had learned it by copying him.

That look of recognition on Kimi-sama’s face is enough to know I did it right. Kimi looked Nobunaga in the eye and smiled a little.

To Nobunaga’s delight, Kimi called her a copycat. Because in her memories from 10 years ago, she had always secretly mimicked those two, corrected anything that set her apart from those around her, and enjoyed herself immensely.

But now it was her turn to teach them. She would teach them what she had learned over the past 10 years.

She had no dreams for the future, so she would tell them about the world’s past.

This had been planned for much longer than 10 years.

“That is a plan was devised. If Destiny’s worries, anger, and decision to die came from having a personality, then the answer was simple: execute that personality to eliminate it.”

Do you understand?

“Weapons were designed to eliminate and destroy only the personality given to Destiny. Yes, I mean the Logismoi Oplo.”

●

“Wait a second.”

A question occurred to Tenzou, so he raised his right hand. Nobunaga turned toward him and nodded.

“Go ahead. We still have time.”

…Oh, as much as she looks like Horizon-dono, she really is a different person!

That felt rude to their Horizon, but it was the truth. This proved to him that having the same memories didn’t mean you would have the same personality. And…

“I have three questions. First, you have your own set of Logismoi Oplo, so is there some reason why two sets exist? Second…how will you execute destiny’s personality? And for my final question…”

He really wanted to ask this.

“We have been told the Genesis Project will ‘end it without letting it end’. I assume that refers to the effect of erasing destiny’s personality, but what exactly does it mean?”

●

“That was a lot all at once. Just like the Tenzou-sama I know.”

She remembered him. At their elementary school 10 years ago, that cap-wearing boy had wanted to be a ninja, so he had often trained with his ninja instructor father. He had often bragged about it, but at some point, he had become a lot more modest. He had switched his focus from baseless pride to valuable information.

She compared her old memories to the data as she formed the words.

“The answers to your first and second questions overlap a lot, so I will answer the second one first. You asked how we will destroy Destiny’s personality. First, you must consider where Destiny is located.”

“Is it underground?”

“A reasonable assumption since the environmental gods were accessed underground. However, what do you think was necessary to give Destiny a personality through the environmental gods?”

●

Tenzou thought on that.

…What was needed to give destiny a personality?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Asama glance his way a few times, so she probably knew the answer. That suggested it was related to the ley lines. So what would have been given to the ley lines?

…Oh.

He knew of something similar.

“Did it require a vessel like when Mary-dono was being sent into the ley lines?”

“Testament, that is correct. And do you know what vessel would be appropriate as the personality given to the Destiny which rules the world?”

Given the situation, he could make a good guess. The things he could see here and the information he had learned on the way here pointed to the answer.

“The orb at the end of summer.”

Pointing into the sky automatically had him pointing at the answer.

“If that orb is one of the full moons, it must be the 2nd one. That one is a collection of ether, so was destiny’s personality sent there via the environmental gods?”

“Testament,” replied Nobunaga. “Correct again. You should more or less understand now, yes? We have here a pillar of ether rising into the heavens. We will use that as an access pathway to link with the 2nd moon and send ‘death’ to Destiny’s personality.”

So…

“We have some time until the moon reaches the pillar’s path. Although by now, that time has dropped below 10 minutes. …So I ask that you reminisce with me until then. Because this is the first time I have met the people from my old memories. I have finally met the people I remember but do not know.”

●

Adele watched from a distance.

She was on a transport ship on its way to the Musashi. She had to look down from a fairly deep angle, but she could see Honnouji’s stage from the deck.

Nobunaga was on that stage as she spoke eloquently about many things.

She was an enemy, but she appeared to have Horizon’s memories up through age 7.

Adele had half-forgotten most of that, but that was when they had all played together and acted like idiots at a level their young age couldn’t fully explain.

They had treated minor incidents like major disasters and small outings like great adventures. Yes, simply crossing between ships had made them feel like heroes when they did it alone instead of in a group.

They hadn’t had a concept of enemy and ally back then. And they hadn’t understood what was going on in the world.

All of that had changed. But…

Flat Vassal: “Nobunaga doesn’t think of us as enemies or allies.”

That meant there was room to talk. So…

Flat Vassal: “I think I get now why Honnouji’s security was so lax and why her actions don’t make much sense at times. It all comes from Nobunaga herself wanting to meet us.”

●

…Of course, I wasn’t there back then!

Futayo wasn’t either, thought Masazumi because she didn’t want to feel singled out. But she couldn’t just act like a stranger here. If Balfette was right…

…Does Nobunaga see this as a visit from old friends?

She probably felt like she had invited those old friends over to celebrate the event.

It still didn’t feel very real to Masazumi, but given her old injury and inherited name, she could guess why Nobunaga hadn’t made any public appearances. Masazumi herself had avoided going outside much after her gender reassignment surgery because she needed to recover and to avoid being seen.

“Would you have wanted to contact us if you weren’t Nobunaga?”

“Of course. But Lord Motonobu stopped me.”

“Why would he stop you?”

“To prevent us from influencing each other.” Nobunaga raised her right hand. “First, I have a task for you. If you wish to take part, there is something you must provide.”

That was…

“Our research has told us that the Logismoi Oplo cannot destroy Destiny’s personality.”

●

Masazumi heard a few people go, “eh?” Herself included.

“Are you kidding me? Oh…sorry, I don’t mean to question your honesty.”

“I don’t mind at all. Go ahead, Musashi Vice President.”

“Still, sorry,” she said before asking her question. “You said before the Logismoi Oplo were built for that purpose.”

“That was the plan, yes. But later research told us they wouldn’t work. The Logismoi Oplo get their power from the user’s disgust for the associated sin. The idea was to shoot Destiny’s personality with them to have her reject her personality out of disgust. But…”

“It doesn’t work that way?”

“Testament.” Nobunaga nodded with her right hand still raised. “Our research and experimentation told us that Destiny is already disgusted by those things. So filling her with that disgust would only receive her agreement.”

“So it would make her go, ‘Right!? You get it!’ ” said Horizon.

Nobunaga smiled a little and nodded.

Mostly likely, she was amused by how her other self was so different from her.

…I think I’m starting to get an idea of what Nobunaga is like.

She was an enemy.

But she was also one of them in a way.

It was more like she was a friend who had moved away at some point. Which may have explained what came next.

“Destiny’s personality could not be destroyed with disgust for the deadly sins. So what could we do instead?”

“Admonish her. Teach her that what she’s doing is wrong.”

“Testament. Yes. It’s cruel, really. We are teaching her that and then destroying her. But we had no other choice, so Lord Motonobu redesigned me.”

“By that…do you mean your OS?”

“Testament. My model name was P-01m. The m was there in the first place and stands for ‘main’. …Lord Motonobu saw Nobunaga as the m. And I am sorry to say that I do not know what the s in your P-01s stands for. If I were your enemy, I might suggest it stands for ‘spare’ or ‘sub’.”

Gold Mar: “So like she just did?”

Worshiper: “She does like to talk, doesn’t she?”

Nobunaga smiled a little and lowered her right hand.

“It was the Logismoi Oplo control system that was modified. By which I mean the Olos Phtonos of envy. When controlled by that system, my Logismoi Oplo change like this.”

A sudden explosive blast erupted from her lowered hand and toward them.

Something was ejected in a straight line.

●

Naruze immediately readied Weiss Fräulein. Based on the size, she guessed the thing Nobunaga had ejected could be a small warship or a similarly-sized cannon.

But it was neither of those things. The approximately 50m space between Nobunaga and the Musashi group was filled by…

…An arm?

The skinny white forearm had its partially clenched hand directed palm upwards while extended toward them.

Was it from a god of war? No, Naruze recognized that shape. She had never seen it before, yet it was still familiar.

“That isn’t Lype Katathlipse…is it?”

“Testament. Well done, Naruze-sama. I had heard you had continued with your love of art and I am pleased to find you have not lost your knack for shapes.”

“Did I…use to do things like this?”

Ten years was too long ago to remember. But she couldn’t say that time didn’t matter because this girl had essentially come from that time.

“We all knew you were drawing Naito-sama while pretending to draw the flower beds.”

…Ahhhhhhhhh!

How dare she. She really is an enemy. A real nemesis.

“Margot, sh-she’s-! She’s-!”

“Ga-chan, Ga-chan, I already knew, so calm down, okay?”

Naruze looked over to see a broad smile on Nobunaga’s face. It was the innocent look of a child after a successful prank.

…Maybe this really is a class reunion.

Meanwhile, Nobunaga tapped the giant arm she had ejected.

“When the Logismoi Oplo are combined with Olos Phtonos instead of being used individually, they became ‘the deadly sins’ as a single entity. The preparatory ether material used to activate their effects is instead used to temporarily evolve them. And when fired in this state – just like your Vice President suggested – it instead admonishes the deadly sins as evil. You could call it a true lecture weapon…or a judgment weapon.”

…Dark Horizon is as bad at naming things as the real one.

Gold Mar: “It just occurred to me. From her coloration, would Nobunaga be Darkizon? I feel like someone said that before.”

Horizey: “Then that would make me Lightizon. Does that make me condensed milk? Or maybe white bean paste?”

Oh, does that make her smooth red bean paste? wondered Naruze, but she was curious about something else.

“Horizon? I’m pretty sure you’ve activated Olos Phtonos, so can you do that too?”

Horizon dismissively waved a hand in front of her face.

“No, this is all news to me.”

“Unsurprising,” said Nobunaga. “Once all of those are activated, they will form a humanoid figure 400m tall. …And while we have chosen to settle things here, this was all developed after the Logismoi Oplo were, meaning you will not have any way of responding in kind.

“But,” she said, “I am ‘stuck’ with this. I cannot rewrite the OS. Not so for you. I don’t know if Lord Motonobu saw some other possibility in that, but he left your Logismoi Oplo untouched, giving you greater freedom.”

Nobunaga smiled a little.

“Now that we have met, we will influence each other. My lack of freedom will look powerful compared to your freedom, but seeing you like this makes me more aware of how little freedom I have. …Even now I am feeling envious.”

“Then why not come join us? It’s not too late.”

This came from the Chancellor. He tilted his head as he continued.

“There’re a lot more people who would like it if you joined us.”

His words brought a change to Nobunaga’s expression.

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she smiled.

“Thank you for saying so, Toori-sama.”

●

Oh, thought Asama. This is just like 10 years ago.

The old Horizon had been a harsh joke critic and had spoken her mind without restraint. This had caused plenty of misunderstandings, but like Suzu had often said, the glimpses of her true self that escaped were so very kind and they contained an accepting sort of honesty.

Her position as Lord Motonobu’s illegitimate child meant she was accepted wherever she went, but she had made it clear she didn’t let that dull her senses.

She had seemed to build walls between herself and others, but she had also trusted them. This reaction reminded Asama of that.

The current Horizon had that side to her as well, but…

“Asama-sama, could you forcibly open up Olos Phtonos’s linkage line?”

“Um, well, I don’t think forcing it would accomplish much. But I will look into it later.”

And Asama asked a question of her own because she was curious.

“Um, may I ask something, Nobunaga? I am Asama. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, of course, Asama-sama. I have received so many updates related to you. …Congratulations, by the way.”

“For…what?”

“I hear you have finally achieved a blissful marriage with Toori-sama. You have been taking his hand and pulling him along since elementary school, so I was so relieved when the news arrived.”

…Now I understand Naruze’s quiet groan from before!

Kimi patted her shoulder from behind, so Asama brushed her off. Mitotsudaira took a step away to avoid being dragged into this, which seemed wise. However…

“U-um, uh…that body was originally Horizon’s, correct?”

“Are you wondering if I can return it to Horizon herself?”

“Yes,” confirmed Asama. After a pause, Nobunaga shook her head.

“This body is still greatly influenced by its injuries, so it can only function for about two hours a day. It contains many artificial organs and the P-01m OS works to control those. P-01s, your soul lacks that ability, so if you did join with this body, the body would cease to function and you would die. It would probably be possible to create a copy of my control system as a subsystem and include that along with your soul, but my system could only function if it had the same privileges as your soul, which would likely lead to conflicts.”

“Judge. So creating me as a biological automaton based on that body was a compromise, wasn’t it?” asked Horizon.

Nobunaga inclined her head.

“Correct. I was given this body in order to create another set of Logismoi Oplo, so my ability to live a normal life was not taken into consideration. At first, there was no plan to strengthen the Logismoi Oplo, so the idea was to take on the Apocalypse from two different directions: your freedom and my solidity.”

And…

“When I received your memories, I statistically extracted the emotions from them. So while my judgment weapons came after your P-01s weapons, their functions are more compact.”

●

Nobunaga smiled on the inside as she said this.

Her emotions were created from the memories she had been given. Yes, which meant…

“I have remembered your past over and over again for the past ten years. While this was to create my Logismoi Oplo, it was also a strange but edifying experience for me. I reviewed those memories millions or even billions of times to understand them, yet it strangely took me no time at all to determine the process made me ‘happy’.”

She doubted any of them thought of her so strongly.

But she did have her one-way feelings for them.

Even before she awoke. Because while she slept, she had already been automatically viewing those memories as dreams.

She had dreamt of the six years before entering elementary school. And the slightly more than a year after.

During that time, she had never doubted her happiness, almost like it was her duty to be happy.

And now she felt like it was all appearing before her again.

“But I was not trapped inside the entire time. I took on Hashiba’s form.”

She had put in a lot of work in that form.

“P-02m. Because of my body’s limitations, that semi-autonomous outside-interaction unit was created to directly witness the emotional realities that I could not. Of course, to protect me, the P-01m side was stronger and P-02m did not have complete freedom, but even so, seeing all of you for the first time like that was such a joyful yet painful experience.”

“You mean the Battle of Mikatagahara?” asked the Musashi Vice President.

Nobunaga nodded.

“You understand now why Hashiba must so strictly follow the history recreation, right?”

Because…

“That was to show me every aspect of humanity without outside interference and to reduce the burden on Destiny as much as possible.”

“Now, hold on.”

He raised his hand. She already knew more or less what he was going to say.

…I did some awful things.

She had lost count of how many people she had killed. Hashiba had governed well, but that had meant some people benefited while others suffered losses. She would accept any criticism he gave.

And as she prepared herself for that…

“You have emotions, right?”

“Eh? Um, yes.”

“Then it must have hurt, right? You must’ve wondered why only you had to do those things.”

She immediately reacted to his words.

With tears spilling from her eyes.

●

“You made her cryyyyy!!”

Mitotsudaira saw everyone pointing at her king.

…L-leave it to him!

Making the final boss cry was one hell of a skill. But it was definitely a skill he would have.

Ten years ago, he had experienced the same bitterness. And she too had rejected herself, just not to the same extent.

The others likely had their own examples. But no one wanted to write it off as “it happens to everyone”.

Your feelings were your own. So everyone would feel frustrated and impatient when they felt helpless.

…It comes down to that “only me” feeling.

And her king definitely had something he wanted to say. They had lost much at the Battle of Mikatagahara.

But now, he said something else.

“It’s good that you can cry.”

Some might consider those tears to be a convenient out. They would have seen Nobunaga as crying to avoid responsibility for what she had done. However…

“When you’re the only one left, you have to save yourself or there’d truly be no one left.”

●

Ookubo saw Yoshiyasu collapse backwards with a groan.

They were on the usual stairs in front of the academy. Kanou was there too with a tea party set designed to be carried on the back and she was busy serving tea, but when Yoshiyasu arrived…

“Damn…”

“What now? Are the meeting minutes too much of a shock for you?”

“No, it’s just that I know I’m the one who has a right to make accusations here.”

Still lying on her back, Yoshiyasu looked to the blue god of war in the starboard schoolyard.

Righteousness’s overhaul was complete and was now on standby in case it was needed in the fight against the Azuchi, but…

“There’s the direct reasons like Yoshiyori and what happened during the Kantou Liberation. But Satomi has entered a new era and everyone’s approaching satisfaction there.”

So…

“I’m one who was saved and thus ‘left behind’. It’s not that I’ve forgotten about Yoshiyori or my sister, but…”

“When you’re satisfied, your old grudges fade, don’t they? Unless you want to use those old grudges for something, contentment is a major factor in getting over the past.”

“Are you accusing me of something?”

“No, that is a valid form of politics. I even used my arm in that way. …Looking back, I was being naive as a politician. The past won’t carry you in the future unless you are relentless about it.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t an accusation. Damn…”

“Is this about your family? Do you want to erect a memorial for them? Musashi has plenty of fastening spells.”

“No, thanks. Going that far would feel like favoritism.”

Oh, so she knows she shows favoritism, thought Ookubo, but she also smiled bitterly.

“It’s going to be a while yet before you can activate that white god of war, isn’t it?”

Yoshiyasu threw her arms up above her head. Seeing that, Ookubo returned her gaze to her sign frame.

“But what is this? I was suspicious when Nobunaga first claimed to be the original Vicereine…but then she said Lord Motonobu was involved. For her, this must be like a class reunion that was only allowable in this situation.”

“What do you mean only allowable in this situation?”

“I mean that Nobunaga is dedicated to the history recreation. That means she will die at Honnouji. And let’s not forget the Genesis Project. …I’m sure there’s more to it than we know, but all the preparation and resolve this must have taken for her is why she could create this time for herself.”

Meaning…

“Doesn’t this feel like her way of saying goodbye?”

●

“That should have answered Tenzou-sama’s 1st and 2nd questions, so let’s move on to the 3rd. That was about ‘ending it but not letting it end’.”

Nobunaga sucked in a breath and opened her mouth. She knew they weren’t going to agree with this part.

…This was fun.

She had waited ten years for this chance and she had finally found it here. Now that they could no longer influence any of this, she knew exactly what to tell them.

“Do you know what will happen when Destiny’s personality is destroyed? If you were to eliminate the mold for water from the ley lines, then all water would vanish from the world. So what if that happens to Destiny – or rather, her personality?”

The answer was simple.

“Destiny as a concept will remain, so the world will also remain. The people will remain too. But what about anything that came about because Destiny had a personality? All things born from that – all things linked to Destiny’s personality, will disappear along with that personality.”

What exactly would that eliminate?

“Civilization, culture, ideology, religion, language, and even the relationships between people will all be reset to zero, but it can all be redone. That is what it means to end it but not let it end.”

●

At first, Asama didn’t understand what Nobunaga meant.

…Anything connected to destiny’s personality?

Destiny had been given a personality to help people. If that meant that all people had been influenced by destiny…

“Heh heh. So if we think of it as all people owing destiny money…then correcting the world will also mean leaving everyone penniless. And while money and the places used to earn money will remain, no one will know how to make money.”

Kimi was right. What Nobunaga meant gradually sank in for the others, so they started exchanging looks.

And Nobunaga continued.

“Most likely, the world will reach a helpless state. Not even the gods will be able to escape this effect, so religion and spells will no longer provide any assistance. We predict the state of the world will change and the population will fall drastically.”

But…

“That is better than losing everything to the Apocalypse. …Lord Motonobu and the others arrived at that decision and created me.”

“Wait a moment,” said Asama on reflex. “Not revealing what the Genesis Project entails wasn’t very fair, was it? If people knew how you were going to stop the Apocalypse, lots of them would have tried to stop you.”

“If we had done that, we would have met the same fate as Akechi-sama.”

Asama knew what that had to mean.

…The Double Border Crest.

She felt like saying that aloud would cause it to appear. Fortunately, Nobunaga seemed to know what she was thinking.

“That appears to the people who once tried to stop Destiny’s suicide and those related to them. That is Destiny taking people away both so they will not stop her suicide and to keep her company.”

So…

“If we went public with the Genesis Project, we and anyone who agreed with our plan would be taken away. This applies both to the Genesis Project and any other way of ‘stopping’ Destiny. Once a method is both effective and being actively worked on, Destiny will move to interfere.” Nobunaga nodded once. “She too is desperate. She is like a child begging to be left alone.”

“Then,” said Asama. “Is there no better way?”

“I have not been ordered to find one. That is not what I was made for. So if possible…um, I would like for you to find one.”

Everyone looked to Horizon.

Horizon dismissively waved a hand in front of her face.

“I wasn’t ordered to do anything at all, so I’m free to do whatever I want.”

“Yes,” nodded Nobunaga before tilting her head and smiling sadly. “But that isn’t a very useful answer.”

It really isn’t, is it?

●

“I can’t believe this,” complained Asama while Mitotsudaira had to rethink a few things.

…So Nobunaga sees the Genesis Project as her role, but she hopes there is another solution.

“The Genesis Project is too risky. And…”

She looked to her king. And to Horizon. Then to Asama, Kimi, and the others.

…All these relationships will disappear?

She had done a lot of fighting with her mother, but that too would disappear.

Even if she saw them again, they would be strangers. And without language, they would have a hard time communicating.

“It’s the collapse of Babel. The people earned the wrath of god, the world lost all language, and the people lamented,” said Masazumi.

“It will also affect the 2nd moon, so it is expected to cause a great flood on the surface,” said Nobunaga. “That is why P-02m distributed materials and transport ships across the Far East. She took Kantou in order to leave materials and ships there. …Even if the people do not know how to use them, they will know they can use them for shelter.”

“I see the Genesis Project is aptly named.”

It was starting to sound like everything had been in preparation for this.

“But,” said Nobunaga. “All sorrow, rage, and other painful feelings will be erased too. So many people lose their loved ones in this age, so being freed from those feelings could be seen as a plus.”

“I oppose this.”

A plain voice rang out. It was Horizon’s.

“I fully oppose your idea.”

●

Horizon spoke.

“I recently learned that sorrow, rage, other painful feelings, and your own past mistakes can all be looked back upon in happiness if you live on. But if you erase them as if none of it ever happened, then it loses all meaning.”

And there was something else she wanted to say most of all.

“Executing the personality given to destiny means destiny will effectively die. …I cannot support a solution that means killing destiny.”

“Then what will you do?”

“Judge,” she replied, holding her head high. “I will ask that someone – someone other than me – finds a better solution.”

Everyone stared at her in disbelief, but she chose to ignore them.

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