Horizon:GT2 Chapter14

Chapter 14: Festival and Meeting

Okay

I don’t know if it’s cheap

But I have something for you

Point Allocation (Simply Keep It With You)

●

Asama took a breath.

“––––––”

She immediately clapped her hands once. That confirmed the new administrative settings for the barrier.

Tres España had usage rights for any barriers made by Mikawa, but the local god who managed the barrier must have decided who had the upper hand in this conflict.

“I offer this to Asama.”

She loudly clapped her hands again and the light behind her shattered.

The six swords disintegrated as they continued their circular motion.

“Now,” she said to Rodrigo and those around her. “What is your purpose here, inquisitor?”

But Rodrigo shook her head.

“It would only cause trouble if I told you. At this point, no one here can make any difference.

“So,” she said, passing a cadena firma, likely containing instructions, to a nearby student. “I am here to put a stop to all this. How about you?”

“Wait!” shouted Mitotsudaira, tilting to the left after spinning a little too much. “Are you planning to cause more conflicts like this one!?”

“That is my job and my wish.”

“It’s your wish?” asked the wolf.

Rodrigo gave a slight nod of confirmation.

“There are those who want to accomplish something with their deaths.”

Asama nearly asked what that meant, but she held her tongue when Naito signaled for her to stop.

Asama knew why Naito had done that.

…So this case really was a double suicide!?

If so, what had those two people hoped to accomplish with their deaths?

But when Rodrigo spoke again, it wasn’t to answer that question.

“If I manage to stop them, will that mean their deaths were meaningless?” she said. “You could say I am here to rob their deaths of meaning. What about you?”

●

…How are we supposed to answer that!?

Adele thought Rodrigo’s argument was ridiculous.

How could they answer her question when they still didn’t know what was happening here? If getting involved would bring harm to them or to the public, Adele would prefer to stay out of it.

But Rodrigo acted like that wasn’t an option.

She was asking them what they would do based on the assumption that they would definitely be involved and that they were reaching to an understanding of the situation.

But that didn’t mean they could answer it right now. Because…

“How are we supposed to know!?”

“Because,” insisted Rodrigo. “The situation is already underway and you should understand what is happening. As Far Easterners.

“Because,” she said again.

…Eh?

Adele looked up because of how quiet that repeated word was. She saw Rodrigo hanging her head as she continued.

“If you don’t, I really will rob their deaths of all meaning.”

●

I see, thought Mitotsudaira.

…We must just barely have the necessary information.

Some of it was obvious, but some of it had to be more broad knowledge that was harder to recognize. Social assumptions were particularly hard to consciously notice. But…

“We failed to do our homework.” Mitotsudaira sighed and straightened her posture. “Don Rodrigo. Would I be correct to say you know the whole story here, but going public with that information would establish certain facts that would cause trouble for Tres España, Mikawa, and the Far East as a whole?”

“Testament.”

That answer was all she needed.

She could say one thing based on their past interactions and what had happened here.

“Don Rodrigo. We are not your enemy. We may not be able to choose the ending you would like, but if our interests are aligned, we would prefer to avoid any further conflict.”

“What do you mean?”

“This involves Honda Masazumi, doesn’t it?”

She was mostly sure of that. And…

“––––––”

She didn’t overlook Rodrigo’s silence.

This was not just a pause in the conversation.

Rodrigo had chosen not to speak. She took a breath of intentional silence.

That settled it.

“She will likely be our classmate soon and she was attacked last night. If I am right, that wasn’t your people’s doing. You Catholics are working with Mikawa, so could have used a spell to assassinate her without needing to resort to a physical attack.”

That meant last night’s attack was the work of a third party other than Tres España.

And what had Tres España planned to do after learning of it?

“You wanted to hold us here so you could board the Musashi with a considerable advantage. If you managed to take Tomo’s administrative rights to the Asama Shrine, you could use that confession spell all you wanted in Musashi.”

“And,” added Margot. “The group pursuing Honda Masazumi must have boarded the Musashi too. That’s why you wanted to go there and capture them. This entire conflict was a way for Tres España to get aboard the Musashi. But that isn’t going to work now. So what will you do?”

●

Adele saw Rodrigo remain completely motionless in response to Naito’s question.

But the girl who seemed to be Rodrigo’s aide responded in her place.

“Who do you think you-”

“Forget it. Tres España is a powerful nation, but I will bow my head here.”

Rodrigo stopped her people. And…

“My history recreation will be nearly complete once I leave Mikawa and return home via the New World. This job was an urgent request from the Vice President, but I have been given full on-site authority.”

“Then…?” asked the Extra Special Duty Officer.

Rodrigo nodded.

“I cannot tell you everything, but if you know as much as you seem to, then you should be able to end this. Musashi, I have one personal request for you.”

She said this with a bow.

“Let Honda Masazumi make the final decision.”

●

Huh? thought Asama. She of course didn’t let her confusion show, but Rodrigo’s request had come as a surprise. Because…

…Honda Masazumi-san isn’t a name inheritor.

The Masazumi name had gone to a Mikawa automaton, so the human Masazumi had failed to inherit it. So why let her make the decision?

But Rodrigo said more as she raised her head.

“That is the greatest compromise we can provide.”

“As a way of handling the result of this battle?”

“Correct. If you cannot do that…we will board the Musashi and take matters into our own hands.”

“I cannot allow that as a representative of the Chancellor’s Officers,” said Mito.

“Testament. I imagine not. The Musashi is independent territory for the Far East. Not even Tres España could claim extraterritoriality there without further backing or preparation.”

Rodrigo talked a lot. And it was all things she had kept hidden before. But…

“This is a hint,” said Naito via Magie Figur. “She’s giving us as much behind-the-scenes info as her position allows.”

“What do you mean?” asked Adele via sign frame.

“A problem has presented itself,” replied Mitotsudaira in the same way. “Tres España has encountered some kind of trouble that would require claiming extraterritoriality with the Far East. And she is here to keep that from happening if possible.”

In that case, thought Asama.

…She’s given us a lot of hints.

This incident involved some assumptions they took for granted.

Let’s see, she thought as she started writing.

• There is a third party in addition to us and Tres España.

• Some trouble between Tres España and the Far East as at the root of it all.

• Honda Masazumi is involved despite not being a name inheritor.

After writing that up, she sent it to the others with a direct link. And…

“Um, could you remove our divine transmission restriction?”

She was still restricted from sending divine transmissions from Mikawa to the Musashi. She was hoping to send these hints to the others on the Musashi right away.

“It would be better if she did not. If those after Honda Masazumi are aboard the Musashi, removing the restriction would tell them we know where they are. That could cause them to attack Honda Masazumi right away.”

“Oh, I see.”

Rodrigo nodded from outside the barrier.

“I had hoped to end this without Honda Masazumi learning what was happening, but it would seem that is no longer an option. Can you ensure her safety?”

“Um, actually, I sent someone to her as soon as I detected your approach.”

“Huh?” Rodrigo tilted her head, so Asama shrugged.

“You didn’t notice a member of our group vanished just before the battle started?”

○

Horizey: “So what happened to Masazumi-sama after she had her graveyard chat?”

Vice President: “I guess that’s an accurate description even if I don’t like it. Anyway, you don’t remember me arriving at the Blue Thunder carrying all those tomatoes?”

Horizey: “Yes, you did arrive with a lot of round red things, didn’t you?”

Gold Mar: “Did you not know what tomatoes were at the time since they’re from the New World?”

Horizey: “Judge. At the time, I was pure and immacul- geh! That is, I had no memories, but I did my best with the knowledge I had and found the closest match was ‘strawberry’. The Blue Thunder became a strawberry café that day.”

Art-Ga: “Oh, yeah. That day became something of a legend.”

Gold Mar: “I never knew that was Seijun’s fault.”

Vice President: “Well, excuse me for trying to help! It wasn’t easy lugging those around, you know!? They were heavy!”

●

Masazumi was eating a plate at the Blue Thunder.

It was bread, but it looked exactly like a plate. Eating it was a surreal experience.

The afternoon preparations had begun, but the manager was working on that in the kitchen while speaking to the automaton.

“Now, P-01s, look through the list for recipes we can use those tomatoes in. You know the basics of cooking after this morning’s lessons and experimentation, right?”

“Judge! I found an analogous ingredient, so I will use those recipes as a baseline.”

○

Art-Ga: “You need to stop her.”

Vice President: “I wish I could! But I can’t change what I did back then!”

Gold Mar: “And now the later customers are doomed to be served those infamous ‘strawberry’ dishes…”

Asama: “You do know changing the records doesn’t change what happened, right?”

●

Masazumi felt she had seen a lot more during this second visit to Musashi.

While everyone prepared for the festival, she had walked from Tama to the Honda home on Musashino and then walked from the Okutama graveyard to here in Tama. That triangular path had shown her a lot of new sights. When she told the manager…

“Yeah, I bet that was a surprise.”

Apparently she had been surprised by the same things the tourists always were.

I must be a really normal person, she realized. But…

“Masazumi-sama! Masazumi-sama! You can’t be serious about that, can you!?”

P-01s gave an unnecessary comment from the kitchen.

But after Masazumi had finished eating her plate, P-01s brought out what was clearly tomato juice.

“Have some fresh strawberry juice.”

After Masazumi sprinkled in some salt and drank that, the manager carried something over from the counter.

“Could you take a look at this, Masazumi-san?”

It was a case. A thin wooden one. But it was about 50cm wide.

She wondered what it was while the manager set it down on the table.

“My idiot left this with me for you this morning.”

“Wait, for me? Not for my father?”

“When I told him I knew a kid named Masazumi, he said he’d heard about you from Tomo – that is, the Asama Shrine girl.”

“Why does everyone have my personal information?”

“It’s inside business talk, so don’t worry about it. If you hadn’t shown up today, I would have brought this to your house.”

Given how her father had reacted when she mentioned the Blue Thunder yesterday, Masazumi felt it was fortunate she could pick this up here. It had a handle, so she would have no trouble carrying it.

…Carrying it all the way to Mikawa could be difficult, though.

“But what’s inside?”

“Try not to let this surprise you, okay?”

The manager casually opened it to reveal a piece of metal wrapped in cotton.

It was a knife. About 30cm long. But…

“It’s rusted?”

“Burned actually. Metal weapons oxidize and rust when burned. With Far Eastern steel, the jigane peels away, rendering it useless.”

“Then why give this to me?”

She noticed something while observing it.

…Huh?

She recognized it. Sort of, anyway. Because…

“This is a pair to the one you’re wearing on the back of your hip.” The manager tapped her own hip there. “The one you have is a men’s knife and this one is a women’s knife. The details and decorations differ.”

“My father gave me this one for self-defense. So…is this his too?”

But that felt wrong to her.

…He gave me the men’s one yesterday.

So why had the women’s one come from someone she didn’t even know?

She thought about what that could mean.

“So, yesterday. Did, um, your id-”

“What about my idiot?”

“Did he have another case like this one?”

The manager brought a hand to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. “Hm,” she groaned with a tilt of the head.

“He was wandering around outside when I arrived in the morning. Oh, but he was doing some delivery work, so he may have been left with the one you’re wearing now.”

“I see,” said Masazumi with a nod. If she was going to guess…

…Could this men’s one have been addressed to “Honda Masazumi” yesterday?

But very few people would have known she was on Musashi yesterday, so the deliverer wouldn’t have known where to take it and would have delivered it to her father’s house.

When the women’s one had arrived a day later, the manager just so happened to know her, so the idiot had left it with her instead.

But that still left a question.

…Why did dad give me the men’s one “for self defense” if it was addressed to me?

That would mean he had opened a delivery addressed to her. And…

“Um.”

She had to find something.

“Do you know who sent this package?”

Yesterday, she had thought it was from her father, but now she knew better. So who was it from?

“The packing slip was rewritten to say Paulo. I think it was in my idiot’s handwriting.”

“Paulo?”

The deliverer would generally write the packing slip for the sender. And the name written on this one was a common one in Catholic culture. It was even the name of an apostle.

But Masazumi didn’t know anyone by that name. So she asked a different question.

“Manager. Do you think a non-name inheritor would ever be asked to make the decisions of a name inheritor?”

“Hm? There are a lot of people who take historical names without being name inheritors. But if you’re in the position to make a decision like that, does it even matter if you’re a name inheritor or not?”

“What do you mean?”

“If the Testament says a name inheritor dies, what happens if the history recreation faithfully carries that out? And what if that name inheritor is about to be killed in front of you?”

“If that happened, I would…”

“Hold on.” The manager held out her palm. “Some people would stop it, some wouldn’t. People have different amounts of courage and recklessness and they have different amounts of strength and intelligence to back those things up. But…”

But…

“If that person was lost, wouldn’t everyone have their own regrets about it?”

“–––––”

“This is nothing complicated. It happens all the time. Anyway…”

Before Masazumi could ask anything else, the manager opened a sign frame.

“It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into some trouble, Masazumi-san.”

“You mean last night?”

Had word of that arrived here? But the manager put a hand on her chin, and…

“A ninja from the Chancellor’s Officers is out front. Why don’t you go help him out?”

○

Vice President: “And that’s when I first saw Crossunite. He showed me Musashi still wasn’t through surprising me.”

Art-Ga: “Were we a freak show in your mind, or something?”

Scarred: “So how quickly did Master Tenzou return to the Musashi?”

Flat Vassal: “In about 25 minutes, I think? He really does shine on mountain paths. Not as much as the 3rd Special Duty Officer, but still.”

Gold Mar: “I feel like I would have negated Tenzou’s usefulness if I had just flown back, but I didn’t want to make myself a target.”

Asama: “To be clear, Tenzou-kun first stopped by the shrine to tell my dad our situation in Mikawa before he went to the Blue Thunder. That means he was the only one who knew what was happening in Mikawa and on the Musashi, so he had an important job there.”

Horizey: “So where did he take Masazumi-sama while I was perfecting my strawberry dishes?”

Asama: “Well, we knew someone was after her. The Chancellor’s Officers made their decision after Tenzou-kun explained the situation to them, we hurried back to the Musashi, and we gathered at the Asama Shrine before meeting up with Masazumi and Tenzou-kun at a certain location.”

●

Shortly before nightfall, Mitotsudaira gave a report at the Asama Shrine.

She sat on the stones arranged next to the main building’s wooden stairs.

“1st Special Duty Aide, that about sums up the situation in Mikawa.”

A girl with her black hair tied back stood next to her. She was the new aide to the 1st Special Duty Officer.

“I see.” She gave a quick nod. “So Tres España shared the situation with us while remaining silent on the details.”

“What will the Chancellor’s Officers do?”

“We will be ignoring this. So says 1st Special Duty Officer Watanabe-sama.”

“––––––”

Mitotsudaira found herself at a loss for words, but then she heard her king’s voice from out head. He was standing on the gravel and engaged in a stone juggling contest with Kimi. He asked Kimi a question as she added another stone.

“Hold on, sis. Is that really what Chuuko decided? Why would she do that?”

“Judge. Honda Masazumi is not a Musashi resident, nor has she demanded asylum from Mikawa. If the Chancellor’s Officers got involved for someone like that, it would give Tres España room to make their move. Satisfied?”

“Wait,” said her king while starting to juggle a stone with his legs as well. “Isn’t that just finding an excuse to abandon her?”

Mitotsudaira breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that.

…Yes, he is the type to see it that way.

○

Gold Mar: “Um, Mito-tsan? Hold up.”

Silver Wolf: “Eh? What now?”

Gold Mar: “Well, I need to make a quick correction.”

●

※Correction by Margot Naito

“Hold on, sis. Is that really what Chuuko decided? Why would she do that?”

“Judge. Honda Masazumi is not a Musashi resident, nor has she demanded asylum from Mikawa. If the Chancellor’s Officers got involved for someone like that, it would give Tres España room to make their move. Satisfied?”

“D-don’t think you’ve won just because you can logically explain your reasoning!”

“That counterattack hit you hard, huh, To-chan?”

But when Naito looked to Mitotsudaira, she saw the wolf with a hand on her cheek.

“Yes, he is the type to see it that way.”

What world is Mito-tsan seeing?

○

Silver Wolf: “Th-that is not what happened! Stop mixing the present with the past!”

Flat Vassal: “So what actually happened?”

Horizey: “Add a dung beetle joke! We need to actually do a dung beetle joke!”

Silver Wolf: “You can only correct it once per day!”

Asama: “Hm. I’ll mark this section and correct it tomorrow.”

●

Kimi saw the 1st Special Duty Aide’s expression change at what her juggling brother said.

“I see,” she said. “Listen carefully. I said the Chancellor’s Officers would be ignoring this, but that stops the instant something happens on the Musashi. The 1st Special Duty Officer wanted me to be very clear about that.”

She then seemed to realize something and waved a hand to open a sign frame.

“Tres España sent over a notification earlier. Today at 5 PM, change of residence requests to Musashi for short-term lodging will no longer be restricted. They say this is to prioritize trade, cultural exchange, and the festival. The notification has the inquisitor’s personal stamp of approval. Who arranged that, I wonder.”

“Wasn’t me,” said Kimi’s brother.

“I am well aware of that. Inquisitors are Catholic officials capable of restraining or even harming people if they deem it necessary. But that is based on their own morals which emphasize the stability of Catholicism.”

So…

“This inquisitor has backed off and left us in charge of things aboard the Musashi. That means she will externally make use of the Chancellor’s Officers, who she considers ‘condescending and ignorant’, but she will not be directly involved.”

“Do you have to make it so confusing? Can’t you put it more simply?”

“This case is in your hands now.”

“Again, I’m not part of this.”

“Then what will you tell the others who have played a role in this?”

“Hmm,” groaned Kimi’s brother.

He was putting off making a decision. Meanwhile, the aide smiled and spoke.

“If the central figure doesn’t understand the situation, then it must be up to the rest to reach an understanding and explain it to you. Contact me when you have settled on a decision.”

“Hey.” Kimi’s brother began tossing the stones to Kimi each time one landed in his hand. Kimi made sure to catch them and toss them with a snap of her wrist. “I really just want to have fun and forget all the unpleasant stuff. That’s how we all feel. I mean, of course it is.”

●

“Judge!”

Mitotsudaira nodded at her king’s words.

…Of course we do!

This wasn’t about him deciding what to do as a king. Lately, he had seemed unsure if he should even hold the position of king. But…

“I feel the same way.”

He had provided the minimum necessary requirement to serve him. And she did not question that at all.

So he turned toward her and…

“Thanks, Nate.”

○

Gold Mar: “Hey, Mito-tsan? Could we maybe stick to reality here?”

Silver Wolf: “No! Let me have this! Tomo! Use this as a jumping off point!”

Vice President: “You people really do love altering the past, don’t you?”

Asama: “Fine, I guess it’s up to me to present the past as it happened.”

●

The wolf got a little carried away, but Asama also agreed with him.

Not because he was a king or anything like that. They were about to begin their 2nd year of high school. It was time for them to face the world they would soon be joining and look back on their past.

He had honestly been fairly subdued last year. Well, he had shamelessly peeped on the locker room, crashed into the academy while riding a kite in from Musashino, and played an uncensored furry video in the outdoor theatre, but there hadn’t been any noticeable focus to his actions.

“To his terrorism, you mean?”

Masazumi, you hadn’t joined us yet at this point.

But while he spun his wheels like that, it had felt like he was unsure about something. He had been trying to decide whether he would do something else or stick to his original plan.

His internal scales were likely tilting toward the original plan right now. So…

…Oh.

Thinking back now, his thoughts weren’t trending in any one direction. They were all mixed together as he searched for what he should do. And…

…I’m only now realizing how much I was thinking about back then…

○

Unturning: “Is this what they call the hunted becoming the hunted?”

Tachibana Wife: “She’s slipping into her present point of view too.”

Asama: “Th-there’s a lot you can learn from looking back on the past!”

●

At any rate, they had the Chancellor’s Officers’ unofficial permission from the aide. Either Mitotsudaira or Tenzou would keep the Chancellor’s Officers apprised of what they were doing, so they formed a crouched scrum on the gravel.

“So what do we do now?” he asked with a tilt of the head.

Asama explained a few things to him. It wasn’t easy since his comprehension was so bad, but…

“The Honda Masazumi you delivered that package to is at risk, or at least in a bit of trouble.”

“Huh? You mean it’s my fault?”

“My king, did you deliver that package yesterday?”

“Well…” He hesitated but gave in when Kimi smiled bitterly and elbowed him in the side. “I took on a bit of work yesterday morning. When another one arrived this morning, I asked Asama what was up with that and she told me. So I delivered that one too.”

“Asama-chi, aren’t you supposed to protect people’s personal information?”

“B-but he said he had a package to deliver… It was for business!” she insisted. But…

“People died, didn’t they?” he asked.

That silenced everyone for a moment. Asama took it upon herself to look him in the eye and nod.

“It was suicide. For both of them.”

“I figured that’s what this was about, but I don’t like it one bit.”

“Foolish brother,” said Kimi, hugging him from behind and leaning onto his shoulders. “What would you do if it were your choice?”

“Hmm.” He tilted his head and Mitotsudaira looked over curiously. But…

“I can’t really put it to words.”

○

Tachibana Wife: “Strange. I feel like he could manage that nowadays.”

Asama: “A lot has happened since then. A lot.”

Horizey: “Judge. If I had been there, I would have given him one hell of a slap for saying that.”

Bell: “H-Horizon, d-don’t get…ahead of…yourself.”

●

Asama thought it was fine if he couldn’t put it to words yet. Because…

…It means there is something he wants to say.

He had his own thoughts on the case.

This time, it was a double suicide committed for some reason or another. In other words…

“You said they wanted to accomplish something with their deaths.”

But…

“But why couldn’t they accomplish that while still alive? That’s the part I really don’t like.”

He said it like he couldn’t grasp the reason. In fact, no one here could answer that question. In matters of life or death, it was difficult for anyone other than the people themselves to truly understand. But…

“That is good enough, foolish brother. You are foolish, after all.”

“Then does my wise sister know the answer?”

“Of course I do,” said Kimi. “I know you will find the words you need eventually.”

“I see,” he replied. “Then,” he continued. “We need to make sure things behind the scenes are a ton of fun so no one will do anything silly like letting people die. There’s a festival on, after all. It’s not like we need that big-shot nation’s permission, but we got it anyway. So we need to have fun.”

Everyone there nodded and stood up. And a sign frame appeared next to Asama’s face.

It was from Tenzou.

“I have taken Honda Masazumi-dono to safety.”

“Understood. Now, about explaining the situation to her…”

“Judge,” replied Tenzou. “She has said herself she should avoid learning too much about either side for fear of exacerbating the situation. But…”

But…

“She says she has found her own purpose in this incident. She claims to know the person behind it and wishes to meet with them in the near future.”

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