Horizon:Volume 1 Chapter 06

Chapter 06: Fated Ones Beyond the Door

Whilst being fearful, we hope.

What should that suddenness be called?

Point Allocation (Romantist)

●

A bell rang.

Sounding a fixed melody, the sound of a bell which let one know of the school's noon break. A tone which told of Musashi's noon.

That sound was not only above Musashi, it also used the ships' interior broadcasters; the inside was also informed.

The ships' interior.

An underground residential area where rooms were lined up in a wall. On that pathway, three meters in width, a single boy was walking.

A boy dragging a long a travel bag on which the name "Azuma" was written.

"...The room farthest in, huh? Even though I finished moving quickly, I spent a really long time on the paperwork."

On the pathway he looked at, on the wall there was "Okutama: Horizontal Passage 1-15" "Musashi Ariadust Academy Student Dormitory".

A joint housing-type horizontal passage placed underground Ariadust Academy.

In the villages' roads, even during the lunch break figures were many. Because, people who were going to work after noon were there.

Between the people returning to their own rooms, and furthermore people leaving them, the everyday sound of voices being exchanged which he had not heard for so long was audible.

A certain male student was walking together with his friends, and while counting up numbers on the fingers of his hands-

"--The time for my part-time, I think I'll do it for one more hour. After next year, it'll be my full-time job, so from now on I think I'll get clothes for outside work, but the citizens' weight limit won't be enough above two kilos--"

Behind the words being exchanged, a certain female student pressed a company cell-phone type Divine Transmitter to her ear-

"--Yeah, a part-time job at Suwa Shrine's contract stand, so let's bring back some eggs for our rationing on our way ba--Eh? It's a family ticket, so we can't do an individual refund. If that's the case--yeah, the horizontal passage at Okutama 1-7, you coming?"

-she formed a smile, and as the boys walking nearby were comparing the personal armaments pulled from their waists with each others'-

'--As I thought, it was a straight sword; I think that it's good that the grip is the imperial "Eisen Ritter" brand. Just, impacts with Mobile Shells are a prerequisite, so won't it be tail heavy if you install an attachment?"

They exchanged opinions with each other.

There were similarities in the types of topics, but for each person, occasionally the name of some known people would be said.

Oriotorai and Tenzou in an equipment related topic, and for Ability, Shinto's Asama and Shirojiro; For a Europe-type topic, Naruze, Knight and Ulquiaga's names would appear. What Azuma, stories about them entering his ear, thought was-

...I've returned.

For this one month, I was summoned by the Testament Union from my second year's summer break, and I finished up the restoration of authority as well the sealing of my own powers.

Without meeting up with anybody from the same generation, all I heard were things that I had to understand. Compared to that-

...It's somehow pretty varied.

In the fact that I thought that this atmosphere was really pleasant, I was thinking that I had gotten used to this place. If I too were to talk, I'd definitely be a pretty varied person.

For other topics too, thanks to the fact that he was at the Testament Union, he knew a lot of things. Even concerning the fact that K.P.A. Italia's Pope-Chancellor and Tres Espana's Special Duty are coming to Mikawa, rising up to the topics of many people, Azuma knows.

When he left the Academy, he was spoken to by Heidi regarding those kinds of information.

"If you're going to sell information about the Testament Union, let it be special please...huh."

At night, I'm probably going to do that. Whatever the case, I had been invited by Toori and company.

...Ghost hunting at night, huh.

●

Ghost hunting.

'They've thought of something weird again', Azuma thought.

At what Toori said-

"That End of Days something seems to be mainstream, I wondered if there weren't any phenomenon, and when I tried looking, at our Academy, there was a rumour from a long time ago that ghosts would come out! Don't you want to search a little!?"

Wasn't that a pretty major ghost story in Academies everywhere?

...Because of the disturbance in the Earth Pulse, I wonder if that kind of small Phenomena is becoming easier to occur.

Just, gathering at the Academy at night is an event which draws one's interests even while small.

It certainly seems that last year we did something similar to this. That was about monsters coming out in a　clubroom in Okutama's seventh underground floor, it was taken as looking around at night with everyone, and I joined in. If I state the conclusion first-

...A huge disaster.

Toori had wrapped his entire body up to his face in gold tights, playing the role of the ghost, but seriously getting freaked out by the weird dance at the scene, Asama started rapid firing her bow along with a scream, and that was the start of the disaster.

...I wonder what it's going to be like this year.

And, what I had taken interest in was what Toori had spoken of, what made this ghost hunt an eve, "Tomorrow's Confession'. Who it was to seemed to be a secret, but it probably won't turn out well; the feeling that everyone in the class was nervous couldn't be anything other than that they had great expectations.

...What will tomorrow be like?

'Well, it'll probably be something fun,' walking while smiling wrly, Azuma passed by the decorative plants and the baggage left by the residents, eventually reaching the inner tip of the horizontal passage.

There was a room. A room which held the room number of his goal.

What was on the front was a six-tatami room with a sliding door. In a student dormitory where four-tatami rooms were many, a six-tatami solitary room was precious. He did think about whether this had any relation to his birth, but he decided to rethought it, 'there were rooms left over, right?".

And, Azuma inserted the key into the sliding door's keyhole.

At that interval, there was something he noticed. The room that Azuma is using from now on has a sliding door, but-

...Not a paper sliding door, but a western-style sliding door made of boards? Was the previous user a European?

Because Musashi's interior was fundamentally a Far East style, its sliding doors were of paper, and in the case that one wanted a western style one, it was normal to replace it with a door. However, right now, before his eyes was an eclectic object, a sliding door made out of boards.

...That's a strange modification. Well, it's fine, people messing with rooms are pretty numerous though.

In the same grade, for example the two people Knight and Naruze, the modificiations of the western rooms that they owned were known.

Once, Azuma had been tasked by Oriotorai with the distribution of topic printouts, and he had seen the two's room, but it was the structure of a workshop where half the four-tatami floor, re-coated with resin, was a closet and half was pots and kettles on which desks and work tables were placed. In its center, decorations of things like lace and stuffed animals were there, and the bed on the walls was a state where one was meant to be shared by two, but the courage to ask the meaning of that, as expected, did not well up.

Anyway, the one agreement between everyone was that because there was no difference in floor level in a western room, modification was easy.

...If it's me, what would I do?

Thinking, Azuma turned the lock and opened the sliding door.

There was a room. Because it was inside the ship, there were no windows.

A six-tatami room has a passage, one-tatami wide, in the middle, and from the left and right walls, beds and extensions with adjustable heights that could be used as large desks existed on the upper and lower levels. Therefore, in terms of structure it was a four-person room, but so the stuffiness could be removed, it was basically used as a three-person room; one of the extensions could be used freely.

However, as for the room which Azuma had entered, two of the extensions on the left hand side had been removed.

There in place of them was a wooden table, and furthermore-

"...Eh?"

The front where his gaze sent a question. In front of the placed table, a single girl existed.

●

...Eh?

Azuma dropped his neck forwards.

The girl with flaxen-coloured hair was seated in a large chair, facing the desk.

She was in the middle of working. With a pen, she was writing words on the notes placed on the desk.

However, was she concentrating on the notes? She did not notice me.

...Uum.

In the inside of the room, seen by the gaze of I, who was confused, nothing was stuck onto the wooden walls but a calendar. As if a substitute, on the wall bed which was set to be low, a large futon was spread out, and passing below the large shelf which was the top plank of the desk, a clothes hanger made of string was there.

On the hanger, shirts, skirts, and things which had an underwear-like tint were also visible.

When Azuma had confirmed up until that point.

She suddenly looked this way. Stopping the pen which was writing on her notes, the absolute middle of her movement of taking a breath. Her gaze, lightly turning her neck and taking a breath, stopped this way.

Blue eyes, the instant he saw those. Azuma drew his body back-

"Ah! I-I'm sorry! It seems like I've mistaken my room...!"

Moving backwards, he panicked and returned to the corridor. While doing so, the sound of his travel bag hitting the sliding door sounded, but-

"I'm sorry!"

-saying that, he placed his hand on the sliding door and shut it. But, right before, Azuma certainly saw it. That beyond the closing sliding door, the girl with flaxen-coloured hair opened her eyes wide and was looking this way.

And, Azuma saw one more fact. That was-

...That large chair.

Was a weelchair.

"----"

It being now, he understood the meaning of closing the sliding door with great force. Why it was a western style sliding door. That was-

...Because, in a state where one is riding a wheelchair, an opening door is inconvenient.

However, in the case of a sliding door, all one has to do is slide it to the side. You can open it with the same operation from outside and inside, and one's wheelchair won't hit the door. If that's the case-

...This is a room for the sake of that person.

Azuma raised his face and looked at the nameplate case above the sliding door. The nameplate case, displaying the name of the resident, had a paper, a handwritten name written on it, inserted inside. There was-

"Miram Polk..."

He muttered and nodded; Azuma looked at the residential guide in his hand. However, the number of his designated room was not mistaken. If that is the case, saying that he had gotten the room wrong to the girl inside was not a true excuse-

...Who should I consult about this?

Azuma sighed and spun on his heel. First, the horizontal passage management room which handles the management of the rooms.

●

The sunlight was below the sky which started to move from noon towards the afternoon.

The mountain surface of Mikawa's north side; towards the valley on which "Kagamihara" "Matsudaira Family" was written with greenery, Musashi descended.

On the southwest of the Musashi-use continental port which Musashi entered as if sinking into, the flat ground which leveled the mountains expanded outwards in continuity, there was the flat ground-type common use continental port where Aerial Ships from other countries landed.

And, at the south of the continental port which Musashi entered, the east of the common use continental port, there was a large city which had surroundings of outskirt settlements and fields.

It was Mikawa. The owner of Musashi, while being the representative of the Far East, opposing the Testament Union, it formed a formal alliance with the Oda family, who swallowed the Osman, which opposed Europe; it was the territory of the Matsudaira family.

And, Musashi, sinking its body towards the place of its own settlement, sounded the warning sirens of its eight ships at the same time.

It was the clamor which told of Musashi's stop.

●Mikawa Surroundings Outline Map●

Toori: "Sis! Sis! We've arrived at Mikawa, so teach me about the area!"

Kimi: "Guess there's no helping it...first of all, the outline of the surroundings is something like this."

■ Mikawa Surroundings Summary Map

[From most northwards to most southwards.]

● Musashi-use continental port

● Eastern mountain range

● Western mountain range

● Western mountain corridor

● Eastern mountain corridor

● Central mountain range

● Mikawa

● Western hall

● New Nagoya Castle

● Mikawa outskirts

● Common use continental port

The Sea

※The western mountain corridor is very rugged; nothing but centaurs can move across it.

(This is so that Gods of War and large armies from Musashi cannot invade the common use continental port used by other countries.)

Toori: "Alllrigghtt! Then, while munching on miso pork cutlet kishimen and chicken-flavoured tempura, let's go 'Oohhhhh, ahhhhhhh' and have uiro as our finisher!"

Kimi: "...Nobody cares about you, so please go grovel in front of Nagoya's people."

Back to Chapter 05

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 07