Horizon:Volume 8C Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Inheritors in a Secret Place

Well

I guess I’m

That kinda person too

Point Allocation (I Wanted to Try It)

Asama awoke to someone shaking her.

…Hwuh?

After eating dinner and reviewing some necessary information with everyone, she had packed up what could be packed up at this point and then entered the tent.

Horizon, him, Kimi, Mitotsudaira, Asama, and Mitotsudaira’s mother were all together.

It was still late summer, but it got fairly chilly in the forest. They needed a blanket and they kept the fire burning outside, so the heat of the smoldering charcoal could reach the tent from outside.

The forest was calm at night, save for the occasional sound of wild animals stepping on leafy branches.

“Oh, there’s some scent left here, corrrrn.”

“Wait! That’s the old granny’s scent, corrrrrn!”

She also heard some fetishistic comments from the unicorns and wondered if she should report them to some kind of authority figure. But that aside, something had become a part of her schedule here in the still nights.

…Restful sleep.

She didn’t need compressed sleep or a waking spell here.

She woke with the sunrise and she woke with the ground below her. Both were a challenge on the Musashi and could only happen in an unnatural way.

But not this morning.

Someone had grabbed her shoulder and shaken her.

“Wh-what do you want?”

It came out more as a “whaddya wa”, but she couldn’t help it. She opened her eyes to find only the pale moonlight shining in from outside the tent.

Two figures were moving in the moonlight shining through the fabric.

They were him and Horizon. He must have woken Asama first. Next, he shook Mitotsudaira’s shoulder while Horizon moved toward Kimi.

…Um, what time is it?

Asama opened a sign frame and he turned toward her.

“Hey, people will notice.”

She knew what he meant. The sign frame was too bright.

While Mitotsudaira was waking, Asama opened her sign frame below her blanket. She altered the settings for everyone in the tent and for the tent’s own divine protections. She made sure all of their sign frames would be unlit.

…Oh, it actually worked for Mito’s mom too.

That meant Mito’s mother had left some of her environmental settings open to Asama. Knowing a Vice Chancellor trusted her that much made her nervous, but she had something else to focus on at the moment.

“Um, Toori-kun? What is this about?” she whispered.

He nodded. And…

“Uhh, give me a sec.”

Mito and Kimi were up now, so he woke Mito’s mother next. Then everyone looked to him for explanation.

“Why did you wake us, my king?”

“Take a look at this.”

He pulled something from the box sitting next to his pillow.

He passed them each a slice of it on a paper plate.

“A poundcake?”

“I made it when we first arrived here. They’re better after a few days, so I stored it away with a refrigeration divine protection charm.”

“Oh, this scent. You used the citrus fruits from my garden.”

“I used them when I came here before too, but none of the others but Nate have had them, right?”

Asama nodded confirmation. So did Horizon, but she also glared at him so hard it was obvious even in the dark. She may have been upset by the lack of an explanation.

“Why are you doing this, Toori-sama?”

“Well, y’know. I thought it would be nice to have something that was our little secret.”

That reason made Asama’s heart pound in her chest.

You have to do things like this from time to time, thought Toori.

“We did this once when we visited our great-grandma.”

Sis looked up since she had been a part of that.

“Our great-grandma wasn’t doing great, so the family and the neighbors were visiting her. But we had come from so far away we spent the night in the next room over. Then she woke me and sis up in the middle of the night.”

The memories felt so dreamlike.

He wasn’t entirely sure it had really happened. But this was what he remembered.

“Our great-grandma took us to the kitchen while everyone else was asleep. We weren’t really sure we should be doing it since it was obviously meant as a secret, y’know?”

And…

“She sliced us some bread, put jam between two slices, and gave it to us with a smile. She asked us how we liked it, but it wasn’t anything special for us. I mean, our mom ran a bakery.”

But you know what?

“It was really good. So good I still remember it. I don’t know why, though.”

So…

“It only happened once with her, but we can do it any number of times.”

He said it. He had to. Because…

“This is our last high school summer break. And it’s ending. Well, I guess it technically ended yesterday. But…”

But…

…So much has happened.

Thinking back to Mikawa, Horizon joined us, Tenzou, Uqui, and Noriki snagged themselves wives, Neshinbara caught himself a stalker, and there was all that stuff with Yoshiyori, Anne, Old Man Matsunaga, and Yoshitsune. And, well…

“–––––”

Horizon, Asama, and Nate have gotten a lot closer.

…Oh, whoops.

I meant to end that with what’s happened here, but I can’t do that.

“I can’t tell you what’s for the best and what isn’t.”

I still can’t put to words why my great-grandma did that. But I think it must have been this. This feeling I have right now. So…

“I feel like we can just call it all a ‘secret’.”

He thought back to his great-grandma’s face at the time. She had looked so satisfied and so amused.

“Because what’s wrong with wanting to keep the really good stuff a secret?”

Mitotsudaira saw Horizon approach him on her knees and place her right hand on his head.

“You should look at me more directly when you speak to me, Toori-sama,” she said. “But you do not talk about yourself very often. So I will help myself.”

She grabbed the poundcake from her plate, and…

“––––––”

She kissed him.

After three seconds, she pulled away and nodded.

“That too is a secret.”

“Eh!? But didn’t you just snap a photo of it!? And I was hoping to write about it on the student council site! You mean I can’t!? …Sorry. I got carried away. Yes, sorry.”

Mitotsudaira was very curious about the look Horizon was giving him at the moment, but then Horizon turned back her way. And Horizon gestured toward the king.

“Feel free to help yourselves too, Mitotsudaira-sama, Asama-sama.”

“I-I…!”

Mitotsudaira felt like she had already gone overboard during the day, So…

“S-some other time.”

Her mother slapped her on the back of the head.

While Mitotsudaira’s mother spun her daughter around 180 degrees and began lecturing her, Asama exhaled a heated sigh.

…Wow.

Incredible is the only way to describe Horizon here. Based on their usual joint comedy acts- well, their usual interactions, I should say. Based on that, I know she wouldn’t have done that unless she wanted to. But in that case…

“Um, Horizon? What led you to do something so manly?”

“Heh. I know that impudent boy is the type to kiss someone like it’s some kind of trick, so I was merely providing an example of how it’s meant to be done.”

“Heh heh. I think you caught my foolish brother completely off guard.”

I need to remember that, thought Asama, but when she did something, it generally felt like he was letting her do it her way. And maybe that really was what was happening.

But she did have another thought.

“So this is our little secret, is it?”

Everyone in their class tended to be pretty open about things, but it was still nice to have some secret fun like this.

Asama ate her poundcake and found it contained an accent of citrus rind. She was afraid she would gain weight eating this so late at night, but she made that another secret. And…

…This flavor.

I’ll remember this, she thought.

She made sure not to think I need to remember this and make it an obligation. She was certain she would always remember it. And that more things like this would happen.

“Ha ha.”

She found herself close to tears again.

That was a problem, but she was terribly happy.

Because she found it so easy to believe these things would keep happening and that she would remember it all without feeling obligated to.

“I hope I can make a secret for us too.”

“Heh heh. The two of you should have no trouble doing that,” said Kimi.

“The two of us?”

That specific number bothered Asama, so she asked. Kimi loosely held her blanket around herself before responding.

“Just climb in my foolish brother’s bed at night and whisper ‘let’s make a secret’ in his ear.”

“I-I knew it! I knew you were going to say something like that!”

Mitotsudaira’s mother slapped her daughter’s head and said “listen to his sister!”, but Asama had a feeling Mito did need some encouragement in that regard.

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that, Tomo!?”

“Anyway,” said Horizon, looking to him and eating her poundcake. “This is quite the wide-reaching death flag you have set up for us, Toori-sama.”

“Th-that occurred to me too, but I was trying not to bring it up!”

Those two are never going to die, are they? thought Asama. Because…

…They have me supporting them.

Once they were done eating, they returned to their blankets and chatted.

This was something only they knew about. It was a one-time event never to repeat itself.

Next morning, would it remain a secret that he had spread his arms and they had used them as pillows?

Fukushima felt her support give way and she shook back and forth.

No, it was more accurate to say she lurched.

“Mh.”

She had been asleep. There was nothing wrong with that, but her body had reacted when she lost her balance.

She was currently at the summit of the mountain she had been training on.

The summit was a wide-open space. It must have had some kind of ruins there at one point because it had been cleared and leveled, but the surrounding trees obstructed the view from there.

Instead, there was a manmade observation platform.

That was why she assumed there had been ruins here.

The concrete stairs and platform were about the size of a simple building. Had it been an observation platform to begin with, or had a house or corporate building’s walls fallen away over the years?

She had no way of knowing, but if she climbed to the top, she would have a clear view to east and west.

So she had decided to camp at the base of the platform.

The overhang of the platform provided a roof.

Hoping that would keep the night dew off her, she sat on the east side, held Ichinotani in her arms, and placed a simple blanket over herself to sleep.

But it had been a while since she last slept sitting up. She had leaned forward too far, lost her balance, and caught herself by holding onto Ichinotani.

…That was close.

My posture was bad, she concluded, straightening her back and taking a breath.

The air had grown a lot colder.

The mountain wasn’t all that tall, but the top was almost entirely exposed to the wind. She hadn’t realized how much that chilled the air.

“This must mean summer is coming to an end,” she told herself. “Now, then.”

She decided to get back to sleep. The sunrise would reach her here and that would wake her.

So there was no reason to stay up now. She would sleep and get a fresh start in the morning.

“–––––––”

Suddenly, she gasped.

A blade from behind her shoulder was resting above her right collarbone.

Fukushima sucked in a breath.

…How could this happen!?

It happened suddenly.

Without any warning of any kind.

The blade was thick and too long to be a spearhead. If it was a sword, it had to be a meter and a half long.

That was too big for a human to wield. And…

…I cannot move!

The blade radiated an eerie chill.

No, it was like a form of supernatural energy. Her body was sensing the action the blade could take.

She could tell it would cut her down if she made one wrong move.

She could also tell avoiding this blade was beyond her abilities.

If she could do that, she would have noticed it before it got this close.

But she hadn’t noticed. She could tell the blade’s wielder had done her a favor.

They had placed this chilling presence in the blade as a message to her.

She let out a breath.

What should she do? It had all happened so suddenly she was mostly just confused, but…

…I have so much room for improvement.

She did not feel fear.

She did not think about how the blade on her shoulder could cut her or wonder what she should do about it. The only things in her mind were the memories of training over the past 2 weeks, and…

…How painfully inexperienced I am even after all of that.

That thought made her feel better.

Struggling futilely wasn’t going to help.

If this blade attacked her, how could she respond? If she had any chance…

…I need to focus on getting away.

She might have to accept the loss of an arm. She sensed that much of a difference in strength. But she also felt a desire to live and to not die here. So…

“––––––”

Fukushima lowered her head with Ichinotani still held loosely between her arms.

They could do whatever they wanted.

She would respond accordingly. Survival was her top priority. No matter how pathetic it made her look.

…Ha.

It felt disrespectful to even wonder who was waiting for her, but that was what she wanted to do.

She wanted to survive, get back home, and meet that person.

She felt that way for the first time in days. And at that precise moment…

“…”

The blade pulled back.

It vanished.

The pressure and chill on her right shoulder receded.

It went away.

…Oh.

Fukushima very nearly looked back behind her.

But she resisted the urge.

That wasn’t what this was. That blade had not been a greeting. It had been meant to test her response, to reveal its wielder’s power, and to let her know they were there.

If she looked back, she would be cut down.

She was so confident of that an unusual sweat soaked her. But…

“Phew.”

A sigh suddenly left the pit of her stomach. The tension drained from her and the sweat followed. That could only mean one thing.

…Have they gone?

The intense chill and presence were nowhere to be found. So…

“Who was that?”

She slowly looked behind her, remembering to remain cautious.

She saw what was there.

Or rather, she saw what wasn’t there.

Only the wall supporting the observation deck’s stairs.

With the thickness of the wall and the width of the stairs, it had to be about 5m to the other side.

There wasn’t room for someone between her and the wall, but no blade could have reached her through it either.

“…”

Fukushima gasped and looked up into the sky, wondering what that could have been.

Had it been a mountain god, or a prank played by a war god passing through? But…

“I am in thy debt.”

She reflected on how inexperienced she still was as she lowered her eyes from the sky to the forest.

The night was still chilly, so she pulled the blanket around herself and shut her eyes once more.

“She’s made a lot of progress, don’t you think, Lady Oichi?”

An enormous two-horned man traveled through the night shadows cast by the trees.

He had a black, armor-looking body and Oichi rode on his shoulder.

“Katsuie, you really need to stop scaring people like that.”

“Testament,” replied Katsuie Shibata.

He adjusted the position of the baggage he was carrying on his back and the right shoulder Oichi was using as a seat and he traveled along the dark mountain path at a running pace.

“Honestly, I thought maybe Naru Naru was out here in the mountains, but that’s Fukushima from Hashiba’s group. I dunno what she’s doing here, but Naru Naru must have high hopes for this underclassman. And I thought this bunch was going to be just as tedious as the rest.”

“It would get boring if they were all the same, wouldn’t it? And being stubborn about it isn’t any fun either.”

“True enough,” agreed Shibata. He raised his right hand. The demonic hand grasped at the empty air. “I’ve heard that observation platform is all that remains of an amusement park that was here in the age before the Age of the Gods.”

“It would have been so romantic to speak together up there.”

“Right? I was really hoping to finish out the night like that.” Shibata smiled. “But I couldn’t help but mess with her after seeing here there.”

“I know.” Oichi smiled too. “She was impressive.”

“I can see why Naru Naru told her about his favorite hideaway spot. He’s probably out being an antisocial hermit somewhere else, so maybe we should’ve searched out where that is. How about we ask Toshiie?”

“It would be better if we didn’t, Katsuie. Do that and he would feel lonely.”

“Probably so.” The demonic man sighed and clenched his right hand again. “She could’ve gotten away if I’d tried to kill her.”

“I could tell.” Oichi smiled bitterly, her bangs blowing in the wind and hiding her face. “She still has a lot to learn, but what are you going to do?”

“Good question.” Shibata looked up into the sky. “You’re right that she has a lot to learn. She needs more to tie all her skills together. Naru Naru’s the same really. So I’m thinking I should get involved.”

“Get involved how?”

“Testament.” Shibata nodded, reached out his left hand, and brushed up his wife’s hair. “You know me. Keeping things safe isn’t my style.”

He saw his wife was smiling.

“You are wonderful,” she said. “As wonderful as can be. So…”

So…

“I am wonderful too since we will die together.”

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