Horizon:Volume 4B Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Marcher at the Appointed Time

If you kind of understand it

But not really understand it

Can you kind of understand it

But really understand it?

Point Allocation (Requires Effort)

“Then let’s get started.”

Ookubo stepped forward and spoke to everyone. I can’t let up, she told herself.

“How about it, everyone? Do you not see any problems with the Vice President’s goal and three suggestions?”

No one answered. They only tilted their heads. So Ookubo turned toward the Vice President.

“Listen. Stopping the Apocalypse, freeing us from provisional rule, and asking the other nations to develop the land are all ideal visions of the future. But they raise several questions as well. …Do you really think the other nations will agree to free us from provisional rule and to develop that harsh land? If you’re bringing this up without any way of convincing them to agree, then you’re deceiving us all.”

Ookubo succinctly stated her conclusion.

“So it isn’t possible.”

“How can you know that?”

“First of all, you claim you’re going to ‘stop Hashiba’, but we already lost.”

Ookubo wrote up a complaint on the sign frame showing the Vice President’s suggestions.

1: Stop Hashiba.

X: We already lost to Hashiba.

She tapped the sign frame as she said more.

“You need to look at reality when you decide on your policies. …Musashi has already lost, so how are we supposed to stop Hashiba? You have no proof we can do anything,” said Ookubo. “Listen. Policies with no basis in reality are dangerous. And I have some complaints about your second policy as well. You have no realistic basis for it either. Just look. You say you want to ‘give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations’, but you can’t do that.”

After all…

“You have yet to visit all of the Far East.”

Ookubo did not overlook that the Vice President’s eyebrows rose a little. Whether that was surprise or something else, the girl had not expected this. So Ookubo continued along that line.

“You’re only partway through visiting the entire world, so you can’t possibly know how all the nations will react. So you claim we will ‘cooperate with the other nations’, but you don’t know whether they will even let us cooperate or if cooperation will lead to political bonds. It isn’t realistic. …And so your idealistic ideas are already over. They’re nice ideals, but in reality ‘they might fail’. Can we really bet the future of our nation on that?”

Ookubo spread her arms toward the crowds and said “listen” again.

“Musashi and the Far East are on their last chance. After Mikawa and the Armada, the other nations had high hopes for us and you said a lot of clever things, right? But we couldn’t stand up to Hashiba and we lost. …After betraying everyone’s expectations, how much value does Musashi even have anymore?”

Ookubo gestured toward the entirety of the Ariake and the Musashi’s eight ships inside.

“What were you thinking remodeling and arming the ship? You used a ton of your budget on that, didn’t you? That means you can’t do this again. If we fail this time, it’s all over. They’ll take everything from us and then the Logismoi Oplo and the Apocalypse will be the least of our worries. …Are you really going to bet Musashi and the Far East on that?”

Ookubo added her complaints to the Vice President’s argument on the sign frame.

“Just look.”

2: Give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations.

X: There is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate.

X: Musashi is on its last chance, so how can we take such a large gamble?

“That’s about it. It isn’t realistic. So…”

Ookubo sighed as she spoke.

“Let’s open our eyes to reality. …And then return the Far East to its pre-Mikawa days.”

She’s chosen a pain-in-the-ass way of doing this, thought Masazumi.

Ookubo’s argument contained a misunderstanding that was likely intentional.

…If politics didn’t allow for idealistic ideas, you wouldn’t be able to have “goals” and “policies” in the first place…

Goals were only goals because they were incomplete. And a plan was created to make those incomplete goals a reality. It was the same in politics. Goals were what one wanted to do with the nation and the policies were the plan to achieve the goals.

Deciding on the goals and policies was a politician’s role.

Azuma: “Um, I just had a thought. …Is it really not possible to only do things that you know you can accomplish, just like Ookubo-san is suggesting?”

Mal-Ga: “You’re being naïve. You need to focus on Masazumi’s deeper thoughts. …If we only do what’s guaranteed to work, it means we can’t go to war, right? And you need to remember that Masazumi became a politician because she wanted to go to war. Far Eastern politics will summon hell!”

Azuma: “Oh, I get it now! Sorry, Masazumi-kun, I didn’t understand your motivations properly!”

Vice President: “D-dammit! I won’t get mad. I won’t!”

“Hey, can I ask something?”

A crossdresser spoke up in the girls’ room.

This was the Sviet Rus waiting room for the girls. Light reflected off the snow filled the windows, so the room was bright white. Inside, Horizon, Mitotsudaira, Mary, and the crossdresser sat around the tea table. Tenzou stuck his head inside from the half-opened sliding door.

“Um, Toori-dono, this is the girls’ room…”

“What? But I’m a girl right now! And since I’m a diplomat, you’ve gotta call me Diploko! Don’t forget it! If you want to join us in here, you’ve gotta become a girl too. Since you’re name’s Tenzou, we’ll call you Nzoko!”

“Wh-why go for a name that sounds like the general of an evil organization!?”

“Heh heh. I think Tenko sounds cute,” said Mary with a hand on her cheek.

Next to Mary, Horizon drank all her tea at once and held her cup out toward Mary to ask for more. Then she glanced over at the idiot.

“Mitotsudaira-sama, prepare your silver chains. …Now, ask your question.”

“Y-you just had to set up your defenses like crazy before asking, didn’t you?”

But the crossdresser scratched his head in thought and asked his question.

“What did Tenzou mean when he was mumbling something like, ‘We’d in twubble as a nyation if we could only do what we knew would work’?”

“I didn’t say that! I didn’t!”

“Heh heh. It’s cute how you sometimes misspeak like that, Master Tenzou.”

“I did say that! I did!”

Mitotsudaira was a little concerned by how things were going, but then the crossdresser asked another question.

“Did Seijun mess up?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well.” He nodded and tilted his head. “She doesn’t seem very excited. And while I’m the President, I don’t really get a lot of this.”

Yeah.

“If I understood more of it, I’d be able to say something or tease her.”

Oh, dear,” thought Mitotsudaira.

…My king is doing this in his own way…

He was still relying on Masazumi, but he was wondering what he could do as king. Of course, the greatest help a king could provide was his support, but…

“You’re worried as an individual who holds the position of king, aren’t you?”

“Hmm, maybe that’s it,” said the crossdresser. “I’m worried about all of you: Nate, Horizon, sis, Asama, and everyone else. …Oh, and Tenzou, you’re here too, aren’t you?”

“Wh-why was I just tacked onto the end there!?”

Mitotsudaira thought to herself as she helped Mary calm down the ninja.

…What brought on this change?

No, she knew the answer: losing that battle. Before that, he must have spoken with her mother about what it meant to be a king. And in England, he had spoken with Horizon about their future plans.

“My king.”

She had a lot on her mind, but she had a feeling that everything was fine for the time being. So she spoke to help her ruler relax.

“Masazumi has not messed up. The Representative Committee Head is simply that good.”

“What do you mean? I mean, from a specs standpoint, a glasses committee head does sound pretty skilled.”

Horizon snapped her fingers, so Mitotsudaira pulled him over with the silver chains, smiled, and spoke.

“Listen.”

“Oh!? Oh!? You wanna try this!? Just so you know, I’m not wearing a supporter or any underwear below this! Listen up, silver chain! Get close and you’ll be wrapping around my lack of a supporter! Are you sure you want that!?”

“Y-you are the worst!!”

The silver chain rose up in disgust and turned the tight arm toward Mitotsudaira. She stroked it to calm it while Horizon glared at the crossdresser to quiet him down.

“Now, Mitotsudaira-sama, go ahead. If need be, you can only coil it around his neck.”

“Judge. …Listen. The Representative Committee Head has negatively repainted ‘goals’ and ‘policies’ as something you can’t be sure will work out.”

“But if you don’t know if it’ll work out, wouldn’t it be better not to do it?”

The 1st Special Duty Officer raised his hand from over by the door and answered the crossdresser’s question.

“Listen, Toori-dono. Think of it like this: Can a bakery that never introduces any new products ever expand?”

“So it’s like a porn game maker that only produces remakes?”

The 1st Special Duty Officer nearly answered but then decided against it. He slowly looked over at Mary and confirmed that she had not understood the idiot’s question and was tilting her head.

“Hm… I have no idea what you mean, Toori-dono.”

“There’s a lot I want to say about that, but setting aside remakes, it’s true you got yourself a wife without broadening your horizons beyond the one genre… Aren’t you going to be in trouble without some more variations in genre, like neglect, honey, in the bath, or two sisters at the same time?”

“Hm? Are you two talking about a kind of game, Master Tenzou?”

“Eh!? …Y-yes, a game! It’s a kind of game! A fun kind of game!”

“Oh, my. Even if I don’t understand, I’ll do what I can to help when you’re researching the topic. It is a wife’s duty to help out her husband.”

The 1st Special Duty Officer said nothing and simply gave the idiot a trembling thumbs up.

“Yes, yes.” Horizon nodded twice and turned toward Mitotsudaira. “As a nation, it is true you will not develop if you keep everything the same.”

“Really?” asked the crossdresser. “Just so you know, there are standard things that every bakery needs to have.”

“Yes, but the Blue Thunder serves light meals, pickled vegetables, and snacks as well.”

Even Horizon likely had a vague understanding that the Blue Thunder’s position as a bakery/café was somewhat iffy.

“Listen, Chancellor. …Things might seem stable while you always make the same bread and it’s true that will provide a steady income.”

It would have been easier to have Heidi explain this, but Mitotsudaira was working to expand her perfume brand, so she used her knowledge from that.

“But, Chancellor? …Even if you don’t change, everyone else will. If you don’t follow those changes, you won’t fit in with them and you will become outdated.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“If other places are making bread according to the current trends, do you really think an outdated bakery will sell any bread? …Even if you lower your prices to draw in some customers, your income will shrink and even that might not be enough to keep people from leaving for the other bakeries.”

“Oh, I get it,” said the crossdresser.

“Neither Blue Thunder has been making things exactly the same forever,” added Horizon. “After all, you search out the cheapest and best tasting flour and other ingredients from the distributor, you buy a new oven when need be, update the one you have, or even change manufacturer. The final product looks the same, but it is constantly changing.”

“Then…why would anyone accept what that glasses committee head is saying? Her policies won’t lead to any development, right? So why would she say that?”

“Toori-sama.”

Horizon brought the teacup to her mouth, took a sip of tea, and set it down.

“Sorry. That is a little too hot. Heh. It’s about the temperature of Tenzou-sama and Mary-sama.”

“D-dammit! You got me!” shouted the crossdresser. “I don’t know how, but that had to be at my expense!!”

Horizon gave a triumphant thumbs up, but Mitotsudaira steered them back on topic.

“It is true that people will accept the Representative Committee Head’s suggestion that we shouldn’t develop. Isn’t that right, Horizon?”

“Judge. It is a simple matter. Before, Toori-sama asked why old things are bad, didn’t he? This is the same. …Most people prefer what is old and stable. Even if the new things are better, they wonder why we have to change because they will miss the old way of doing things.”

“Of course,” added Mitotsudaira. “Nostalgia isn’t enough for politics. The Representative Committee Head likely has some way of doing things the old way while still updating it for modern times. Using the bakery analogy, it’s like using a new oven but still following the old recipe.”

I see, thought Masazumi.

Winning a debate like this generally meant to crush your opponent’s argument while keeping your own argument alive.

But Ookubo had gone a step beyond that.

…Is she focusing on public opinion?

Returning the Far East to its pre-Mikawa state.

That meant returning to an age of being entirely under the Testament Union’s rule. All of their battles and negotiations thus far would be rendered meaningless and they would obediently accept the Testament Union’s rule.

But, thought Masazumi. The Far East is still under provisional rule.

That was undoubtedly true. While Musashi was on the path to freedom from the provisional rule, the other nations’ power over them had not weakened. At Mikawa, they had set up defenses to prevent attacks on the reservations around the Far East, but they would have been in real danger otherwise. So what was Ookubo saying?

…Referring to a pre-Mikawa state implies that we’re free of their rule now.

Of course, Masazumi was saying they needed to request freedom from the provisional rule. But…

Vice President: “Perhaps people can picture scenes from the past more vividly than a suggested future.”

“Probably,” replied Naito.

Gold Mar: “But why is she stating things in a way that works against her? She’s making it sound like we’ve freed them and she’s going to bring them back to an age of bondage. Doesn’t that hurt her case?”

Vice President: “Annoyingly enough, stating things like that is actually incredibly effective.”

Masazumi did not even need to explain because Ookubo pointed at her with her left hand and opened her mouth.

“Let me add one thing about our objective of bringing the Far East back to a pre-Battle of Mikawa state.”

…Here it comes.

Masazumi knew what she was going to say, but she let her say it.

She decided it was better to let her opponent state her full argument than to try to silence her.

So Masazumi listened to Ookubo who turned toward the crowd and extended her right hand.

“Returning to a pre-Battle of Mikawa state sounds like placing ourselves back under provisional rule, doesn’t it? But think about this: have we actually escaped that rule since Mikawa? Has our environment dramatically improved in the last three months? …It hasn’t, has it!? It’s been battle, tension from the possibility of more battle, exhaustion, damage, and defeat! We’re supposed to be gaining our freedom, but we haven’t achieved a single thing that brings us closer to that! We’ve worked at it for three months and gained nothing but defeat! So now that we’re on our final chance, doesn’t this seem like a good time to call it quits!? We still have the Musashi, so we can still go back to the way things were. So…”

Ookubo spread her arms and shouted to the crowd below.

“If we had gained anything but exhaustion and loss since Mikawa, I would listen. But we haven’t and this is our chance to return to the old age of peace. I’m willing to say it: we may not have been free, but we had peace. I’m saying we should return to the cramped but peaceful Musashi and Far East that we have lost since Mikawa. So…”

She displayed the third policy.

“ ‘End the provisional rule and request the expansion of the world at the Peace of Westphalia.’ …That’s quite the dream, isn’t it? But as I said before, we have no proof the other nations will cooperate, so it’s an empty argument. Also…”

Also…

“As I said, there hasn’t been a single sign of freeing ourselves over the past three months! And if we don’t know whether or not the other nations will cooperate, can we really end the provisional rule!?”

She displayed her complaints alongside the policy.

3: End the provisional rule and request the expansion of the world at the Peace of Westphalia.

X: Just as with 2, there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate.

X: There is no sign of the rule ending, so can we really do that?

“How about that?” said Ookubo. “What realistic policies do you even have, Vice President!?”

“You have a very strict underclassman there.”

As they walked between walls of snow, Adele listened to Yoshiaki and turned to Yoshiyasu.

Yoshiyasu tilted her head at Adele’s smile.

“I’m not all that strict. This much is normal for a Student Council President.”

Strict… said Adele in her heart.

They were walking below Mogami’s Yamagata Castle. Yamagata Castle had entered a land port for aerial ships, but the surrounding castle town was also built down into the ground.

The pit a hundred meters deep and fifty meters wide seemed to stretch on forever as a giant atrium. The layered city was lined up side by side on the inner cliff walls like the teeth of a comb.

Starting at about thirty meters belowground, multilayer wooden wide blocks were lined up.

“Each block has between fifteen and twenty stories. A block can be removed for a farm, so it is a lot like the Musashi. But…”

Adele walked with Yoshiaki at about five stories down.

There was a passageway with deep eaves and a rope bridge connected it to the vertical block on the other side.

Walls of snow stood at the bottom of the pit below. They had built up and accumulated during the winter and lots of running water could be heard from the bottom of the snow.

“We accumulate ether fuel by converting that flowing water into power. Although about half of it is used to preserve the paddy fields in the various blocks.”

It was true that paddy fields were visible within the majority of the blocks. The sunlight was reproduced by spells and the rice plants were dense and verdant. And down in the underground areas…

“Are all those sealed areas filled with paddies?”

“If we open them based on how the snow falls, it changes the timing of the harvest, which is convenient.”

The other people on the path readily passed by and greeted Yoshiaki. Adele watched that and turned to Yoshiyasu who was staring at the multilayer houses.

Then Yoshiaki spoke to that girl viewing her city.

“What do you think of Mogami?”

“It’s a nice city. The use of thermal heating seems to be effective. And while you have decent circulation of goods, you also make use of the inconveniences. You dig into the accumulated winter snow to create passageways to the other side, don’t you?”

“Testament. The snow passageways gradually sink as the snow melts, but everyone celebrates it as it means spring is coming. But…”

As Yoshiaki continued on ahead, she asked a question.

“Can Musashi celebrate and purify that sort of inconvenience?”

“Eh? Celebrate…and purify?”

“Testament. In Shinto, the inconveniences of nature are celebrated as divisions between and turning points of the seasons. So rather than inconveniences, you accept them as ‘signs’ and keep them pure. If you accepted them as inconveniences, you would have to get rid of them which would not be easy.”

So…

“What is it that Musashi is experiencing right now? Is it an inconvenience you can celebrate? Or is it an inconvenience you view as an obstacle?”

Hearing that, Adele opened a sign frame and displayed the current state of Masazumi’s argument as relayed by Asama.

●Vice President: Resistance Side

Objective: Take back the Far East’s status and achieve peace by retrieving the Logismoi Oplo and stopping the Apocalypse.

1: Stop Hashiba.

X: We already lost to Hashiba.

2: Give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations.

X: There is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate.

X: Musashi is on its last chance, so how can we take such a large gamble?

3: End the provisional rule and request the expansion of the world at the Peace of Westphalia.

X: Just as with 2, there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate.

X: There is no sign of the rule ending, so can we really do that?

Wow, thought Adele. She’s going all out here.

Mal-Ga: “This is getting tricky. Everyone would live their lives without thinking about any of this if no one brought it up, but once you put it to words and make them think about it, they’ll start saying it needs to be fixed. Even though it mostly doesn’t matter and can be left with the politicians.”

Flat Vassal: “So this really is bad?”

“It is,” sent Naruze. And…

Mal-Ga: “Most people will just have to trust what they hear in this debate. Even if both sides list up their claims, people don’t want to think about it too much. They’d prefer to have someone else explain why it’s wrong and then they can just confirm that part for themselves. So all the Representative Committee Head has to do is-…”

Righteousness: “Add as many Xs to her opponent’s claims as she can? The people who want all this explained to them will think it’s wrong if it has an X next to it.”

“Yoshiyasu.”

Yoshiaki stopped walking.

She placed her hands on the railing by the pit and smiled with half her face turned toward Yoshiyasu.

“This might be a sudden question, but do you think anyone is perfect?”

“I know that the people who want to be perfect speak louder than everyone else. …That’s what I was doing a month ago.”

“What about now?”

“I don’t know.”

Yoshiyasu placed her hands on the railing too, so Adele followed suit.

…Oh.

Looking down from the wooden railing, she saw a pit deeper than Musashi’s atrium parks. It may have been similar to the areas where all the blocks had been removed from the basic structure for remodeling. Above, below, and on the other side, she saw rows of houses and blocks with different functions. People walked along the passageways and rope bridges to support their lives and work. A closer look showed children playing despite how high up they were and they all waved or bowed when they noticed Yoshiaki.

Yoshiaki narrowed her eyes and waved back, but Yoshiyasu hung her head next to the woman.

“Yoshiaki…how can I end up like this?”

“Heh heh… You have Musashi, don’t you? How does it look to you?”

“Musashi looks the same as this to me,” said Yoshiyasu. “But I don’t think I could create this or Musashi.”

“And that’s why I can call you a fool. …The previous two generations were too kind to you.”

“Wha-…!?”

Yoshiyasu’s head shot up in what Adele knew was preparation to protest.

…Yeah, Yoshiyasu-san really loves her big brother and big sister!

Yes! thought Adele with a mentally clenched fist, but then a straight line struck Yoshiyasu’s forehead.

It was Yoshiaki’s fan. It was closed and, as it was gently held out, it stopped Yoshiyasu from moving her forehead forward.

The girl’s initial movement was being held back. Only a slight bit of strength was needed when she had yet to gather her strength.

“Yoshiyasu,” said Yoshiaki with a smile. “The previous two generations were too kind to tell you that you were mistaken. And that is why you are half right…and half wrong.”

“Half…?”

“Yes. …As a politician, you have thought too seriously about what creates a nation and what keeps it running. You are no match for Musashi’s Vice President or Representative Committee Head like that. Just watch.”

Yoshiaki swung and spread her fan to indicate the entire atrium.

“The debate on the Musashi will be very valuable for you.”

Ookubo swung an arm atop the bridge. She kept her body light, made a half spin, and let her red stole flutter.

The many people gathered in the road and plaza down below had stopped saying much. That was not surprising. On the list of debate points, The Vice President’s side was covered in Xs from Ookubo’s complaints.

She could tell everyone was looking at those Xs and at the two debaters. The number of Xs made them think the Vice President was “wrong”, so they were hesitating.

…I see.

So this is the viewpoint of a politician.

This was a special student general assembly. They were directly debating Musashi’s future as a nation, so it was worth hearing for the normal people as well as the students.

She had seen this from the crowd below three months before at Mikawa.

But she understood something now that she was on the top.

She could sense the presence of the people from here. Instead of the overlapping silhouettes continuing to the horizon when walking through the city on the same level as them, she viewed them from above and could see them all as individuals. Instead of all walking in the same direction, they each moved toward their own destination and did or said whatever they wanted. That was only within the narrow field of her vision, but that was exactly why she wanted to spread her arms to grasp it all.

She wanted to respond to this.

But she restrained herself. Instead of responding to the sensation she found here, she had to do what she came here to do.

“Listen.”

She opened her hand toward the people below and opened her mouth.

“I will add another complaint to the first policy of ‘stop Hashiba’. …I want to have two Xs for each.”

She had no intention of holding back.

“You know what?” Ookubo walked left and right atop the bridge and swung her arm as if to keep time. “Listen. You’re forgetting something very important about stopping Hashiba. Hashiba’s temporary rule of the Far East is already established in the Testament descriptions. When the Vice President says she is going to stop Hashiba, she’s saying she won’t let Hashiba establish their rule and thus she will be defying the Testament. Can we really do that? So to put it simply…”

Ookubo added another X to the Vice President’s first policy.

1: Stop Hashiba.

X: We already lost to Hashiba.

X: Not allowing Hashiba’s rule means opposing the Testament.

“There you have it.”

Now she had two Xs for each. But…

…I’m not done yet.

She would not hold back. Her attack was still insufficient. For example, both #2 and #3 had “there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate” listed. If they found out the other nations would cooperate, it would instantly erase two of her Xs.

So she started thinking.

2: Give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations.

3: End the provisional rule and request the expansion of the world at the Peace of Westphalia.

Between those two, which one could she better argue against with something other than “there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate”?

…#2.

For #2, Musashi was helping the other nations.

For #3, Musashi was asking the other nations for help.

If actively interfering with the other nations and resolving their issues could be interpreted as “cooperation”…

…Then the cooperation for #2 can be pulled off with Musashi’s actions alone.

Ookubo decided that the Vice President would definitely argue that point, so…

“Sensei, about ‘there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate’ under #2 and #3. As far as I can tell, those are saying the same thing, so…”

“Wait.”

The Vice President called out to her while petting the anteater on her shoulder with her right hand.

“Do you debate by retracting your arguments to make new ones?”

She placed her left hand on her chest and looked straight at Ookubo.

“You made an argument you knew you would retract and now you’re going to make your true argument. It was all a plan to damage my image, wasn’t it?”

“If we’re going there, then what you’re saying right now is just to damage my image.”

Ookubo tilted her head and said what had to be said with a bitter smile.

“I just want to make a proper argument. So…”

She stated her new rejection of the Vice President’s 2: Give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations.

“The nations that are now under P.A. Oda and Hashiba’s control are Musashi’s enemy. We can’t get their cooperation, can we? In other words, the M.H.R.R. Catholics, K.P.A. Italia, Houjou, and western Qing-Takeda are all Musashi’s enemy at this point. In that case, isn’t it impossible for Musashi to avoid war with powerful nations?”

That was not all.

She had rejected a small portion of it, but she needed to reject it on a more fundamental level. She had to reject the basis and ultimate objective of her opponent’s argument.

She prepared to give the most useful rejection for what was to come.

“Are you listening?” she asked. “You say you want to retrieve the Logismoi Oplo and stop the Apocalypse, but you don’t even know how to do that, do you? If you want to go on a journey to solve those mysteries, leave us out of it. The members of the Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers with too much time on their hands can go do that on their own. Besides, nothing says doing that will bring freedom or peace to the Far East. It may have worked as an excuse to get us out of the Battle of Mikawa and it may have helped Musashi make it this far, but now that we have retrieved Vicereine Horizon and she is safe and sound, how about we relax and let the nations with the other Logismoi Oplo decide what to do with them?”

So…

“Your objective has brought nothing but loss and it has no guarantee of success. Retrieving the Logismoi Oplo and stopping the Apocalypse gave us a justification to take back Vicereine Horizon, but its usefulness is more or less gone now. …At the very least, it isn’t something Musashi can handle after losing a battle like that.”

Ookubo took a breath and swept a hand outwards. She heard a cheer from the crowd as that hand indicated the sign frame with her rewritten list of rebuttals.

●Vice President: Resistance Side

Objective: Take back the Far East’s status and achieve peace by retrieving the Logismoi Oplo and stopping the Apocalypse.

X: Wasn’t our justification the retrieval of Vicereine Horizon?

X: This is too much for Musashi to accomplish.

1: Stop Hashiba.

X: We already lost to Hashiba.

X: Not allowing Hashiba’s rule means opposing the Testament.

2: Give the Musashi the ability to fight and use that power to cooperate with the other nations.

X: War with the many powerful nations under Hashiba’s control would be unavoidable.

X: Musashi is on its last chance, so how can we take such a large gamble?

3: End the provisional rule and request the expansion of the world at the Peace of Westphalia.

X: Just as with 2, there is no guarantee the other nations will cooperate.

X: There is no sign of the rule ending, so can we really do that?

Ookubo gave the Vice President a powerful look and spoke.

“That about sums up the current situation. I could expand on some of those topics, but I want to avoid getting too fixated on any one thing.”

The Vice President, however, did not respond. That was why Ookubo turned to Oriotorai.

“Sensei, I have played all of my cards. You can let the Vice President have a turn now.”

Oriotorai, however, did not respond to her prompting. She simply looked next to Ookubo with a look of surprise. Drawn by that look, Ookubo looked there too.

The Vice President had raised her right hand a little.

“Sorry, Ookubo. I have something to say about your goal and policies. I am here as a representative of the current Student Council and Chancellor’s Officers, but from my point of view, I would like to say something about your goal and policies. And…”

Here it comes, thought Ookubo as she inhaled and mentally prepared herself. But…

“I will not be rejecting them.”

…Eh?

Ookubo had assumed a rebuttal was coming. After all, she had just done that herself by protesting the Vice President’s goal and policies.

But the Vice President had a different view.

“There is no point in us rejecting the future you have suggested, Representative Committee Head. We accept that future has value. …That is what I am saying.”

The Vice President announced that she had abandoned her chance to attack.

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