Horizon:GT2 Chapter8

Chapter 8: Plans and Assistance

Adults have

A lot on their plate

Quite a lot

Point Allocation (Quite a Lot)

●

Masazumi hurried to the Musashi.

She stopped by the guard station to tell them she intended to spend the day on the Musashi today and tomorrow. Given what had happened last night, the guard on duty gave her approval:

“It probably would be safer on the Musashi.”

She agreed because, given the frozen change of residence requests, the murderer was likely in Mikawa.

…I know it’s to keep the murderer from escaping, but freezing all the requests feels like overkill.

That said, the guard on duty didn’t seem to have a complete understanding of the case.

“Since Tres España is involved, the higher ups are dealing with it. We’re only sent out to assist the local residents and to deal with any emergencies that arise.”

“Is New Nagoya Castle doing anything about it? They do lead Mikawa.”

“Not really. Lord Motonobu only ever does whatever he wants.”

○

Horizey: “Well, now. I see my father was just as terrible back then. You never do know what people will do when given the choice. Shame on him for living such a wild, unrestrained life. Yes.”

Unturning: “…Should I say something?”

Smoking Girl: “So why were you in such a rush, Masazumi?”

Vice President: “I was just getting to that.”

●

According to the guards, Mikawa was working on the case as well.

“They said Lord Tadakatsu had been looking into it some as well.”

What would Futayo have said if she were here?

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Then I guess they were wrong.”

Responding to a hallucinated voice earned Masazumi some painful looks.

At any rate, she said she would be back by evening and left for the Musashi.

She had to hurry. She wanted to greet her father and stop by the Blue Thunder to give her thanks. But…

“Why did I oversleep? Waking up to find the sun is already up is the absolute worst reason to need to hurry.”

○

Asama: “I actually have some interesting information related to Masazumi’s oversleeping.”

Vice President: “Eh? It’s a little late now, but do you know something?”

Asama: “Yes. Masazumi, remember how you said you spoke with the bodyguard girl during the night? I believe you mentioned the shining moonlight.”

Vice President: “Um, yes. I remember that.”

Asama: “The records I have say Mikawa was cloudy that night. And…”

Silver Wolf: “Did you find something?”

Asama: “Yes. The sign frame I gave Masazumi back then would have been tracking her life sign readings and such, so I checked the records just now. You said you woke up in the middle of the night…but this says it was 7 in the morning. Why would you see that as a moonlit night?”

Vice President: “Meh, these things happen.”

Flat Vassal: “Vice President! Vice President! Now isn’t the time to be accepting!”

Gold Mar: “A mysterious phenomenon maybe?”

Tachibana Wife: “Localized thunderstorms and sun showers are common enough on the continent, but having a clear sky in just one area would be a tad difficult. Not to mention having a moonlit night at the wrong time.”

Unturning: “I do think there is a mysterious phenomenon where it seems to be night outside when it’s really daytime. I believe it has its origins in a solar eclipse.”

Asama: “Well, I can’t say if anything like that happened, but I do know that when Masazumi woke up and thought it was the middle of the night, it was in fact already morning – or at least the early morning.”

Art-Ga: “Masazumi, was something haunting you at the time?”

Vice President: “I can’t really say since I didn’t notice this when it happened.”

Silver Wolf: “But this kind of problem occurred because we weren’t monitoring Masazumi well enough, didn’t it?”

Asama: “Anyway, this was when we first became aware that Masazumi had been caught up in the Mikawa murder case.”

●

Asama nodded at what Kimi said.

…How did she know about that?

If Honda Masazumi had met Kimi’s mother, it must have been at the Blue Thunder. If she left the Tama diplomatic building and walked down the main street, she would have arrived in that area.

When kneading the dough during the day, she would use long-distance attacks and hyper palm strikes that could be heard from the bow. And she also made gyoza and pickled vegetables when she as in the mood, so the Blue Thunder had become a bakery/café and she was well known in the area as an intermediator.

Asama didn’t know if Honda Masazumi had been drawn in by the Blue Thunder’s atmosphere, but…

“It sounds like Toori-kun and Kimi’s mom managed to catch her.”

That said, Honda Masazumi was actually a significant factor regarding the case, so she spoke to the others who were giving her curious looks.

“I imagine some of you are already aware, but Provisional Councilor Honda Masanobu has a daughter named Honda Masazumi who has submitted a change of residence request from Mikawa. And we have approved it.”

“Will she be joining us? Is she a name inheritor?” asked Naruze.

Asama nodded.

“She will be in our year, yes. But…”

“I looked into this myself, but she is not a name inheritor,” said Mitotsudaira. “Neither is her provisional councilor father.”

“The Testament Union would never overlook the approval of a name inheritor politician, especially one who is going to be a major player in the near future,” said Naomasa. “And in Mikawa, all the inherited names go to automatons anyway.”

The others nodded in understanding. They all understood – to some extent – the issues that policy had caused.

…A lot of the former name inheritors left for Musashi or other places.

Naito must have recalled the trouble when it happened because she tilted her head a bit and spoke up.

“I know it’s rare, but don’t some people in Mikawa go for a split name inheritance? Couldn’t she do that?”

“The impression I get is the Testament Union only approved the policy because it let them keep all the Far Eastern name inheritors in Mikawa and they were all automatons. They would never approve a split inheritance unless it benefited them in some way.” Neshinbara shrugged. “I also heard a certain story when I was in Mikawa before. Care to hear it?”

“What story?” Asama asked cautiously.

Neshinbara chose his words carefully.

“A certain girl underwent gender reassignment surgery in order to receive an inherited name, but that attempt failed when Mikawa’s new policy meant that name went to an automaton instead.”

“Honda Masazumi-san never completed that surgery.”

“Eh?”

Naruze threw her Magie Figur against the floor, breaking it. “Hold on! I’m going to need some specifics here or I can’t draw it right!”

○

Vice President: “Was not drawing it never an option!?”

Art-Ga: “Huh? Don’t be ridiculous. If I don’t draw it, who do you think will? Believe me, you’re safest if a friend like me does it.”

Vice President: “You’re not making any sense!”

Gold Mar: “In Ga-chan’s defense, she needs to draw it to get it out of her system.”

Flat Vassal: “That just makes it worse…”

●

“Anyway,” said Asama.

Neshinbara’s story was something you could find with a search of Mikawa’s divine network.

…It is a fairly old story, though.

It was from before Honda Masanobu moved to Musashi on his own.

And Asama had seen talk of Honda Masazumi earning excellent grades afterwards. As far as Asama could tell, she was fairly well known in Mikawa. The kind of person where most any one would say “oh, her” if you mentioned her.

Asama didn’t know what Masazumi thought about it herself, but that seemed to be the situation in Mikawa.

“But there are a lot of people on the Musashi who were treated that way…”

Adele raised her hand.

“I’ve always wondered about that. Why does no one here ever seem to talk about how they were treated? They always seem to cause some trouble in Catholic or Mlasi territory and then seek asylum here.”

“My guess is, they can’t help but fight back after being oppressed, but once they get themselves in trouble, they realize they’ve screwed up and flee to Musashi. Oh, and people like that are more than welcome in Shinto.”

“But once they realize they can do those things whenever they want, they stop doing them, don’t they?” said Naito.

Everyone nodded in agreement. And Kimi…

“Heh heh. I imagine much the same thing happens with marriage.”

“Well, I can’t say if- oh, Sanyou-sensei! Where are you going!?”

“Are you making fun of her?”

“No, she was there! She was really there! Wasn’t she, Mito!? You can tell from her scent, can’t you!?”

“I choose not to comment.”

But for now, Asama summed up what they knew about Honda Masazumi.

“She dresses like a boy, but she’s a girl. She isn’t a name inheritor, but she is the daughter of Provisional Councilor Honda Masanobu. Her grades are good, but she of course hasn’t done anything like the training and mock battles our teacher puts us through. It would be best to assume she isn’t a fighter.”

“Why do you sound so certain she’ll be in our class?” asked Naomasa.

“Well, the change of residence form goes to Principal Sakai too.”

“Ohh,” said the others.

“I swear he just chucks anyone unusual in our class,” said Ohiroshiki.

“That he does, that he does. For example, there’s the guy who’s so much of a pedo he bought an ice cream stand with his own money. Didn’t you mention something about wanting to directly hand out the ice cream? Thank goodness Principal Sakai had the foresight to put the potential criminals where we could keep an eye on them.”

“Ha ha ha. Indeed, Naruze-kun. Like when they increased the censorship standards so you told the Public Morals Committee, ‘This is censored in ink that idiots can’t see! Anyone who’s gone through compulsory education can see it! What? You can’t see it? How stupid are you? Ah ha ha!’ and then had your doujinshi banned from sale!”

This was rapidly devolving into a “both sides are wrong” situation.

…I’m too normal to keep up.

Kimi placed a hand on Asama’s shoulder from behind and Asama had to brush it off three times. And then…

“Okay, I’m going to change the subject now.”

Everyone focused back on her, so she raised her finger before continuing.

“That Honda Masazumi-san we were discussing was actually attacked last night.”

○

Horizey: “I know it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but it occurs to me that Masazumi-sama received the underwear pull on the bridge because Toori-sama happened to be out that day.”

Vice President: “Don’t phrase that so it sounds like he pulled my underwear down too!”

Silver Wolf: “To continue that line of reasoning, was my king’s absence there also to blame for the Representative Committee Head receiving the underwear pull by Masazumi?”

Tachibana Wife: “If so, the Chancellor’s absence was also to blame for Unno of the Sanada Ten Braves receiving-”

Asama: “No, I think that one would have happened regardless.”

Wise Sister: “Yes, because I alone am special! No one’s underwear is safe!”

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! How is Kimi so quick to dance out of the way!?”

Scarred: “Um, how about we use the leftover vegetables to make a soup for Master Tenzou and the other boys?”

Unturning: “I feel like that would end up with all the best food going to them…”

Asama: “Anyway, now for the discussion of Masazumi’s attack.”

Girls: “You do love wildly changing the subject, don’t you!?”

●

“I will start by explaining what I found in my investigation of the incident.”

Mitotsudaira looked out at the group, noting that almost everyone was there despite it being spring break. Probably because today was the final preparations for the end-of-school-year festival and then the opening ceremony.

She thought she had learned how to handle being the center of attention here. She was occasionally uncertain how to behave, but…

…I have recently learned how to get by even without my king with me.

Was that due to joining the Knight League, working for the Chancellor’s Officers, and speaking up in class? It was reassuring to have her king nearby, but she had been hanging out with Tomo and Kimi a lot lately too. She appreciated their presence now. Kimi was making a strange gesture where she lifted her breasts and shook her lips side to side, but it made no sense and Mitotsudaira chose to ignore it.

“Honda Masazumi was attacked on the outskirts of Mikawa, in a residential area between her home and the meeting place.”

“That was a pretty brazen attack,” said Naomasa.

“While it is a residential area, a lot of the homes there are now vacant. Most of them are either used as storehouses or just left empty.”

“In that case,” said Urquiaga. “The attacker would have had no shortage of hideouts.”

“She was saved when the Mikawa Vice Chancellor’s aide intervened, but there was some talk of a scuffle before that.”

Naito raised her hand at that.

“So can that Honda what’s-her-face fight?”

●

In Naito’s honest opinion…

…We don’t need any more close quarters fighters…

We have Noririn and Pe-yan. There’s also Adele and Masa. Mitotsudaira too. Tenzou…should probably stick to sneaking around. Oh, and there’s Piroshiki and Hassan…well, Hassan uses curry. Curry isn’t close quarters or long range. It feels like something else.

But for long range, we only have me, Naruze, and Asama-chi.

We might be in trouble in an emergency. We have decent maneuverability, so we’ll probably be given a hit-and-run role unless it’s on a limited battlefield.

…Hmm.

Musashi was at peace, so she only thought about these things because of where she came from and because she lived as a Technohexen. The struggle over delivery business ranks had been getting wild of late and, once you gained some combat knowledge, you ended up viewing everything through that lens.

You began to think of everyone in terms of how well they could fight. But in this age, anyone who belonged to an academy could fight to some extent.

She just wished there was some way to prove they were better than most.

“What’s wrong, Margot?”

Ga-chan is great at joining in on my thoughts.

“Not really. I just have a general sense of what you’re thinking.”

Okay, now you’re reading a little too much. But regardless…

…I’m not really sure what we would gain by proving we can fight, though.

For her, it would be a more fulfilling life. Climbing the ranks and becoming known as a Technohexen felt great and it led to better jobs and pay.

But what about in terms of the entire class?

How well could they fight as a group of warriors?

Mitotsudaira trusted Toori as a knight, but…

…To-chan has been kind of out of it lately.

Having a king made a difference. Everyone was vaguely aware of that now.

Naito agreed and, while she didn’t know what the future would bring, she thought they would be fine as long as it started with their king. But with that in mind…

“If she’s a close quarters fighter, we don’t really need her.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. She didn’t have a combat style listed.”

“Really?”

Some combat styles had to be earned through special qualifications, but most of the basic ones came from middle school gym class or from taking an elective. Of course, those styles were considered “trainee” styles and the real ones required taking a test and were only available for age 15 and up. But…

“She doesn’t have one at all?”

“That’s right. I saw her and she’s skinny as a rail,” said Mitotsudaira.

“If she quit her gender reassignment surgery partway through, she must not be interested in athletics,” said Neshinbara.

Naito felt like he was making assumptions there, but she also felt like he was right in this case.

Everyone sighed in minor disappointment because they had been thinking the girl could have filled some kind of role if she had a useful combat style. But…

…Wait?

Naito had a realization.

The girl had tried to inherit Honda Masazumi’s name and she didn’t have a combat style.

…Does that mean what I think it does?

Would she be their first real politician?

●

Just as Naito looked up in realization, Asama looked to the group and spoke.

“When I go to Mikawa today, I feel like I need to meet with Honda Masazumi and ask about the events of last night. So does anyone want to accompany me as a bodyguard or to help me investigate?”

“Oh, I’ll go with you.”

It was more of a whim than anything, but Naito still raised her hand.

She wanted to see the girl who would be joining their class once her change of residence request was unfrozen and she could fly back to the Musashi on her broom in an emergency. She could also carry someone with her.

Naruze must have had the same idea, but…

“Then I’ll keep working and monitor your progress on my Magie Figur.”

“Oh, sorry, Ga-chan. I’ll buy you something on my way back.”

“Judge. That’s what I’m really after.”

Naito gave her a quick kiss for that comment and then sighed. She realized Adele had her hand up too.

“I can help with the investigation. And if it does come to a fight, the Extra Special Duty Officer and I can take the forward positions.”

That settled it. Mitotsudaira clapped her hands and everyone nodded before getting up. Asama sent a summary of the meeting to the Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council, but Naito…

“Will I be able to get lunch over there?”

Maybe I should buy something here.

○

Gold Mar: “That’s how we ended up taking a trip to Mikawa.”

Vice President: “And you completely missed me while I went to Musashi.”

Scarred: “Really?”

Flat Vassal: “Asama-san was actually monitoring the Vice President, but since she hadn’t left home until late morning, we concluded she was spending the day in Mikawa.”

Asama: “Monitoring someone around the clock feels like a violation of their privacy, so I planned to make another check once we arrive in Mikawa.”

Vice President: “I wonder if we passed each other at the first checkpoint. I made good time because I was lucky enough to hitch a ride on a cargo wagon. Thinking back, the congestion before the Battle of Mikawa really was abnormal.”

●

Masazumi’s first stop after arriving on the Musashi was her father’s house.

Unlike the day before, the place was quiet and her luggage had arrived.

Her father hadn’t touched most of the luggage, including what she had left with him, so Masazumi ended up opening it in the dining room. The professional container was airtight and she had some difficulty opening it, but…

“This contains my personal belongings and mom’s personal belongings.”

She felt like she was talking to a stranger.

Her father simply stood across the table from her while she pulled her own things from the container. Her first thought was…

…I need a change of clothes if I’m going back to Mikawa.

Even with washing charms, the clothing would get worn out. Her father must have understood that because…

“Your room is in the very back on the left, Masazumi. I cleared it out for you, so you can take your things there.”

That was a relief to hear.

His firm tone told her she didn’t need to ask if he was sure. So instead…

“Okay.”

“Use ‘judge’. This is a provisional councilor’s house. Keep that in mind as you live here.”

“Is there anything in particular I should focus on?”

“Politely greet all guests. But once I greet them, leave the house and do not return until our meeting has concluded.”

“Judge.”

She understood what he meant. She was being exiled.

…It isn’t the same as the exile policy in Mikawa, but I guess I can’t escape it even at home.

She just had to accept it. Having a home at all was enough. And…

“I will likely ask your assistance with some work and with contacting people. Now, depending on your plans for the future…”

“I still plan to get into politics here in Musashi. And I plan to study at the academy to accomplish that.”

He had been too busy for her to tell him this yesterday, but she managed to speak from the heart now.

“––––––––”

Her father looked at her with obvious hesitation. He looked away from her but finally looked back to her.

“Masazumi,” he said. “What are you talking about? You should strive to be something other than a Musashi politician.”

●

Masazumi definitely felt herself wondering why.

Becoming a politician was why she had gone through the gender reassignment surgery for an inherited name.

…Do I not matter to him anymore?

If she was just going to give up on everything she had done, it felt like suddenly losing everything that gave her value.

Whenever she had encountered difficulties while living in Mikawa, there was one thing that had always helped her and supported her. It was something that had blossomed inside her as she read and gathered all sorts of information.

…My dream of being a politician when I grew up.

It was that important to her.

But if she lost all of that now…

“Why?” she asked. “What right do you have to dictate my future?”

“Masazumi,” her father said. “That is not what I meant.”

“Then…?”

“If you do not understand, you will never grow past this point.”

Her father tapped a finger against the container on the table and gestured for her to go back to her room.

“Go look at your room. I will organize your mother’s things while you do.”

“What do you mean organize them?”

“Her grave has already been prepared. Go bury them there when you have a chance.”

Wait, she thought.

…Wasn’t she your wife?

He was going to separate out her possessions and send them straight to her grave? And…

“You aren’t going to do that yourself?”

“Masazumi,” he said. “I am saying I trust you to do it.”

“––––––”

She felt like he was playing word games with her.

But that phrasing gave them a compromise and gave her a way out.

“Judge.”

If that was how he saw it, she would perform the task with care.

She chose to see it as her trusting her with the task.

○

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Who is this depressing girl? Could she be the same one in front of me now?”

Unturning: “Hard to think it only took her about a year and three months to become a warmonger screaming for war at every turn.”

Horizey: “How can someone change so much in such a short time? It is truly is one of life’s greatest mysteries.”

Vice President: “Horizon! You did too! You changed too!”

Flat Vassal: “Let’s take a look at Vicereine Horizon from the records of that day.”

●

The news that an automaton named P-01s had begun working at the Blue Thunder spread through the neighborhood that morning.

Automatons had a tendency to inspire an “I swear I’ve seen her before” reaction, but P-01s was especially distinctive.

For you see, P-01s was well-mannered, beautiful, and sagac- gah!

○

Silver Wolf: “Horizon! Horizon! You wouldn’t stub your finger typing if you didn’t force yourself to use fancy words!”

Horizey: “You couldn’t be more right. I need to stop typing so fast.”

●

The news that an automaton named P-01s had begun working at the Blue Thunder spread through the neighborhood that morning.

Automatons had a tendency to inspire an “I swear I’ve seen her before” reaction, but P-01s was especially distinctive.

Not only did P-01s have a conspicuous appearance, but the Blue Thunder’s menu underwent a change starting that day.

“Here is your ice tea and fried egg.”

The customer looked in front of him to see a glass full of a clear liquid. Then he looked to the egg that had clearly been fried on the burner in its shell.

“Um, what is this?”

“Judge. This is your ice tea and fried egg. Just as you feared.”

“So you admit it’s worth fearing!””

A few customers at another table turned his way.

“Ha ha ha. So you fell for it too!”

“If you’d just ordered the Morning☆Set, you would’ve gotten a ball and chain too! This is what you get for ordering something you thought was safe!”

“Isn’t getting more of this worse!?”

“Anyway,” P-01s said to the customer. “Please dig in.”

“Wait!” said the customer. “You expect me to eat this stuff!?”

“Sir.” P-01s narrowed her eyes. “If you cannot eat a fried egg, why did you order one?”

“Eh!? I don’t get a say here!?”

“Try cracking the shell.”

The customer kept a cautious eye on P-01s while he cracked the egg on the side of his plate. And…

“A fried egg came out…”

“I made sure to cook it evenly from the outside. I added some sauce with an injector to prevent any juices from leaking out and stirred it with my gravitational control. Once it was cooked, I added some water for moisture and had the manager give it a final check.”

“You went to all that trouble!?”

“No trouble. I merely fried an egg.”

“T-thanks!”

“Now, then.” P-01s gestured toward the glass of clear water. “Please start with a drink.”

“J-judge!”

The customer drank the glass of water. And he froze for a moment.

“This is tea!”

“I did not like the discoloration, so I used my gravitational control to have the coloring components float to the top where I removed them. And – tah dah – you have colorless tea that still smells and tastes like tea. Granted, this removed the polyphenols, but I can make a dumpling out of them for you if you wish.”

“N-no, this is plenty!”

The customer bowed, P-01s bowed back, and some quiet applause filled the café.

○

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. I think that’s about how it went.”

Horizey: “Impressive, Kimi-sama! You missed the part where the manager slapped him and forced him to eat it, but it was through daily interactions like this that I gained so many solid repeat customers.”

Unturning: “I’m hearing a lot of unfamiliar phrases in here. What should I do about that?”

Gold Mar: “You win by making them familiar, Narumin!”

Wise Sister: “By the way, this was around the time my foolish brother met up with me and we joined the competition for catching eels to be used as prizes at the festival stands and played mini-tentacles together for a bit.”

●

“Heh heh. Look, foolish brother! That old man moves like a hunter and he’s catching a ton of them, so toss in a bait bomb! A bait bomb! And hold the eels between your fingers for a tentacle attack!”

“Ohh! Sis, we’re an unstoppable combo, aren’t we!?”

“Heh heh heh. But a classy wicked woman knows to let the local kids win in the end! So eliminate that 3rd-year girl who’s really putting her back into it! She was sent by the Chancellor’s Officers, so don’t bother holding back! Now’s your chance! Her back is turned, so unhook her bra and stick that eel inside her inner suit!”

“Sis! Sis! Respect for your seniors is null and void in a competition, right!?”

○

Flat Vassal: “I’m betting that was a lot more one-sided than you’re making it sound.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. The eels you ate at the festival were the comrades in arms who fought alongside my foolish brother and me in our battle against the old men and our upperclassmen! So make sure to thank them! It’s wriggling time!! C’mon, get slimy with it!”

Art-Ga: “Masazumi, this is what they were up to when you were having so much trouble.”

Vice President: “D-damn! And I lose if I let it bother me, don’t I!?”

Nagaya-Stable: “Why do you always compare yourself to the worst possible people?”

●

Masazumi entered the room she had been given.

She had to use an outdoor walkway, walk down a cramped hallway, and pass through a few ‘partitions’ like the kitchen, but she guessed this was all for crime prevention. There was a ceiling, so she knew the place was soundproofed.

The room she entered was a simple one.

It was a about 5 square meters. It had a window on the aft wall and a bed. Next to the bed was a cloth and bamboo closet, but she wasn’t sure she had anything to put in it besides her uniform.

…I could use a bookcase.

But she was pretty sure Musashi had a weight tax. If she couldn’t keep many books with her…

“Is there a library?”

There would be one at the academy. That was one more reason to look forward to her school life here. But at the same time, when she looked out the window to the small garden there…

…It’s all really small.

The garden had some hydrangeas which hadn’t bloomed yet and a tiny pond surrounded by small shrubs. Along the path through the garden, a tree was growing next to the fence. It was probably a persimmon tree. There were also garden lanterns, so it definitely had the look of a garden. But…

“Our Mikawa house was twice this size and the garden was so much bigger.”

Compared to her father’s harsh attitude toward her earlier, the room and the garden felt terribly small.

…Has he changed?

He used to be more easygoing and did things on a larger scale.

But now that she was here, their house was so small and yet…

…His attitude.

She didn’t want to say it, but she wondered if her father had made a mistake in coming here. She wondered if he had been so hard with her because he didn’t want her to realize he had screwed up.

If so, it was almost comical. And in that case, he really had changed.

Masazumi set her luggage on the bed and then realized something.

“The to-may-toes!”

All the tomatoes Futayo had forced onto her were in her luggage.

…Oops!

Her father must have thought she had showed up with quite a lot of luggage in tow. But these are only some to-may-toes I didn’t ask for. Don’t let this fool you, dad. I’m too poor to own so much luggage.

“I do have a toma-ton of them, don’t I? Just kidding.”

Her pun must have angered Musashi’s god because the window shattered.

“Sakuya wouldn’t do that! Maybe it was a mysterious phenomenon!?”

Fine, forget that part. But I will be expressing great displeasure with the person who interfered with my memory.

“Dad!”

Masazumi passed back through the partitions to reach the dining room again.

…Huh?

He wasn’t there. The container remained on the table, its contents untouched. Instead, a letter sat on the table.

<Ciao. Papa will be loving on a neighborhood friend’s kitten for work, so you can spend today checking on the grave and sightseeing Musashi. But don’t be a naughty girl!>

○

Vice President: “Wait! My father would never say that!!”

Flat Vassal: “I feel like that letter got wilder by the sentence.”

Vice President: “That’s not how he talks at all!”

○

“Look! Look! Koni-tan! Your Luna-tan likes me more than you! That’s a good, Luna-tan. You eat those kitty treats in my lap.”

“K-khhh! She’s never let me feed her in my lap!”

“Heh heh heh. Your mistake was asking me to look after her when she was born! I had my hands full at the time with Masazumi arriving on the Musashi and all the cleaning up I had to do, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I even brought Masazumi’s underwear and inner suit to show my wife at her grave!”

“Nobu-tan! I’m not sure if that’s sweet or creepy!”

“What else was I supposed to show her when Masazumi was so good at organizing that every last memento of my wife was hidden way down at the bottom where I didn’t notice them!? …Oh, whoops. Luna-tan, do you want some dried sardines now? But not the salty ones. Their bad for good little kitties!”

“Eh!? But I thought she hated dried sardines! What…what’s that look of scorn for!!”

○

Vice President: “I get that he must have been busy at the time. I mean, the Musashi was at risk of being stopped at Mikawa. So I…”

Wise Sister: “Horizon, you weren’t singing at the graveyard yet at the point, were you?”

Horizey: “Judge. By the evening, my brain was full of trash and I decided to clear it out by singing at the top of my lungs. That broke a window, so the manager told me to sing outside from then on. And whenever I sang outside, people started giving me change and food.”

Gold Mar: “Were you a beggar?”

Asama: “Hmm. There are records of a mysterious phenomenon causing windows to suddenly shatter on the Musashi back then. That must be what we saw in Masazumi’s room earlier. If we know what path Horizon took back then, we might learn who was to blame. And I think that’s still recent enough to sue for compensation…”

Horizey: “Asama-sama! Asama-sama! It was a beggar! A mysterious beggar did it!”

Vice President: “Can I please continue my story!? I know it’s depressing, but it’s what happened!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. We aren’t your therapist! But if you insist, I will help you since I have a heart as big as the sea and the sky. Oh, Mary! You’re putting too much salt in that soup!”

Vice President: “You sure are picky for someone with such a big heart!”

Asama: “So, um, Masazumi, can you get the depressing part over with so we can move on? We have our own stories to tell.”

●

Masazumi left the house with the letter from her father.

She was curious about the door’s lock, but when she opened the door, a sign frame opened and confirmed her identity. That hadn’t been there before, so her father must have set it just now. It would likely do that whenever she used the door from now on.

…So this is my home now.

It still seemed small, but she wondered if that was just her being picky after the way he treated her mother’s belongings.

She decided it might be best to eventually leave here and live on her own. There had to be plenty of ways to make money on a trade ship. And…

“What am I supposed to do with my life if he won’t let me be a politician?”

That was the thought on her mind as she left the house.

First, she walked to the graveyard.

○

Horizey: “And when brokenhearted Masazumi-sama arrived in the graveyard, she met a loudly singing automaton. Join us next time for the latest episode titled ‘The Arms…!’ ”

Vice President: “I thought you weren’t singing in the graveyard yet at that point!”

Flat Vassal: “Anyway, the Mikawa group is up next.”

Unturning: “No, wait a second. I’d rather not be the center of attention, but I have something somewhat relevant to add. I think I get the overall picture of the incident now, so if you don’t mind.”

Horizey: “In the next episode, we will focus in on Narumi-sama back when she still lived in peace!”

Back to Chapter 7

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 9