Horizon:Volume 9A Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Rooftop Visitor

I believe that

A senseless soul is found

In a senseless body

In a senseless spirit

And in senseless actions.

Point Allocation (Shaja)

●

Sakon was deeply troubled.

“Oh, there she is! I found ‘Azuchi’-san, Onitakemaru-san! Hello, it’s nice to meet you. Oh, this here is Onitakemaru-san. He can be loud, but if you just accept it as normal and don’t let it bother you, he can be a lot of fun.

“Like, um, do you know that Rockin’ Kokeshi that sways side to side and dances when you make noise? They sold them as a souvenir in Hida. They were apparently banned from sale shortly after they first went on sale because they seemed cursed and they would twitch in a really provocative kind of way. Anyway, he’s like one of those.”

“Do not try to communicate using references no one else will get!”

“You need to calm down, Onitakemaru-san. I was only introducing you.”

He shouted “damn you”, but that made him seem all the more like those souvenirs, which was quite charming. But…

“Oops.”

A shell unexpectedly flew by overhead. Then again, I’d be back to normal in 30 seconds even if it did hit me. Meanwhile…

“Um, ‘Azuchi’-san? Do you have a moment?”

The next one hit her.

●

It only took 25 seconds. She had fallen over in the meantime, so she got back up.

“Hey!” shouted Onitakemaru. “You need to be more careful since you’re so unnecessarily tall!”

“Whew, I haven’t taken a direct hit from artillery in a while. It’s a good thing I removed you to greet her.”

“But you would have taken less damage and recovered more quickly with me on.”

“I wouldn’t have had the chin closed, so the shock would have sent you flying off to who knows where.”

“I’d call for you, so come get me! That is your duty!”

“Excuse me. Shaja.”

Oh, whoops. Sakon looked over to see “Azuchi” giving the two of them an expressionless look.

…Umm.

“Just out of curiosity, what was it like when that shell hit me?”

“Eh? Oh, it looked like you went ‘pop!’ and disappeared. Shaja.”

“That’s interesting. I can’t see it myself.”

“You need to be more cautious,” said Onitakemaru. “I asked while you were out and her policy is to ignore the shells that won’t the ship, so you need to stay crouched.”

“Onitakemaru-san, you sound like a really good navigation device.”

“ ‘Really good’ doesn’t even begin to describe a shogun like me!”

“Yes, yes.” After Sakon sat down on her knees, she found “Azuchi” looking her in the eye, so she went ahead and set Onitakemaru’s helmet next to her. “Um, I would like to get inside the Azuchi.”

“Huh? You mean inside the ship? Shaja.”

“Testament. I do. But, um, it seems I missed my chance to do so.”

“Because she was wandering around out on the deck,” added Onitakemaru.

“You’re the one who was so excited about going to Hokuriku for the first time you shouted ‘yippee!’”

“I did nothing of the sort!”

You did in your head, I just know it. But as expected, “Azuchi” looked confused.

“Why not use one of the many emergency hatches? Shaja.”

That was the expected response, but Sakon waved her hand dismissively.

“Because I would get stuck.”

“Her butt is bigger than you would think and those emergency hatches all lead to passageways you have to duck through, right? Even if Kohime got down on her knees, her stomach on up wouldn’t fit.”

“D-don’t call it my stomach! Call it my waist! You make it sound like I have a big gut.”

“I see.” “Azuchi” nodded and viewed Sakon more closely. Sakon moved her hand side to side at her waist.

“I would only fit up to around here.”

“Now, there may be some that work, but the few she tried didn’t. I suggested she go ask you and she agreed, guessing you would be up on the roof. I didn’t expect her to climb up here, though.”

“I see.” “Azuchi” nodded again. And, “I could have given you an immediate response had you asked via lernen figur. Shaja.”

●

“Azuchi” looked at the two people in front of her.

Sakon had a smile frozen on her face while she pushed on Onitakemaru’s helmet to roll him around.

“D-damn you! And you agreed with my suggestion!”

“No, I was only following your ‘really good’ instructions.”

“You would betray me the instant things don’t go your way!?”

They must be good friends, concluded “Azuchi” while realizing something else.

…Yes.

If I work outside, distractions like this can interrupt the chain of command.

She considered whether or not she should return to the bridge while she responded to them.

“The hatch behind me leads directly into a vertical passageway that should suit your needs. Shaja.”

“Oh, oh. Thank you so much, ‘Azuchi’-san!”

“Ah, you idiot! Damn you!”

“Eh?”

Sakon had stood up, so she took another direct hit to the head.

●

“Sakon got lost and died twice on the roof? That was fast.”

While receiving some portable food in the dining hall, Kasuya thought, She died a lot back at Aki. Twice is basically nothing.

…But if they’re saying she “died”, it must have been her head or torso.

Of course, it wasn’t quite the same thing as actually dying. During the Aki training camp, they had tried saying she had “resurrected”, but they had thought that sounded too over the top. After some thought, they had all given their ideas.

“Why not call it an ‘error’?” Kasuya had suggested.

“Treat it that lightly and she will start earning three ‘errors’ without a second thought,” her guardian had said. So…

“Then what if we only say she died if it was her head or torso?”

It was impressive how that shrine maiden managed to sound so dignified saying that. But it certainly looked and felt like she died when that happened. When it was only a limb, Sakon would say she had been “hit”, so she apparently saw that as a minor injury.

Loup-Garous had decent regenerative abilities too, but Kasuya couldn’t do anything on that level. But…

“She gets really hungry after doing that, so I bet she will stop by here later.”

Meanwhile, Kasuya saw Takenaka holding her head. She also noticed Katagiri collapsed on the table next to Takenaka.

“Is something wrong?”

“Eh? Oh, no. Do you need something, Kasuya-san?”

Takenaka wiped her mouth off with a napkin and Kasuya pointed toward the kitchen.

“I was told to submit a request to you if I wanted a second serving or had a special request. And they are handing out Hida beef bentos today.”

The smell wafting out from the kitchen was irresistible. But…

“Why are you here too, Katagiri?”

“Eh? Well, you know how the Battle of Shizugatake came as a surprise? I’ve been sending out a bunch of messages essentially saying ‘we’ll settles this tonight, so don’t make a fuss’ to everyone not participating and to the surrounding nations. I’m currently taking a break in here.”

“You must have to customize the message for each clan, so that can’t be easy.”

“Testament,” said Katagiri, but he straightened up in his seat and opened a lernen figur. “But this is my job.”

He had gotten a lot more confident of late. But something about this bothered Kasuya.

“Takenaka? I couldn’t help but notice this lernen figur from your Three Thousand Worlds.”

The lernen figur hovering next to Takenaka displayed a certain diagram.

“This shows the current state of and predictions for the Sakuma Fleet’s movements. What are we going to do about them?”

●

“Azuchi” checked something after sending Sakon and Onitakemaru inside.

…Here it comes.

During the exchange of artillery fire, the parts of the Sakuma Fleet to port and starboard began to move. No, this was only an extension of what they were already doing.

“They are retreating. Shaja.”

True to her Urban Name, Retreating Sakuma’s fleet had been retreating this entire time.

But that action produced a certain effect.

“By retreating, their fleet gathers at the rear, increasing their density. So…”

“Azuchi” raised her voice, while noting the lernen figur by her hands telling her that preparations for gravitational acceleration were nearly complete.

“Takenaka-sama, I need an answer! Shaja!”

●

Takenaka took a breath. Now is the time to settle this.

She gave a nod and Kasuya took action after accepting two portable food boxes. Kasuya handed one to Sakon, who had arrived in the dining hall, and then spoke to everyone present.

“It’s time to go, everyone!”

“Testament!”

The response was powerful and everyone got to work. A voice responded from the kitchen.

“Hey! We have some extras from cancels and overestimating demand! You can take the whole box!”

Sakon took the box and held it below her arm.

The rest was simple. Takenaka knew what to say while she watched everyone hurry to their standby posts.

“Azuchi, begin gravitational cruising! Follow the directions I gave you before!”

●

Hirano heard Takenaka’s instructions first of all.

She was on the ether management floor of the 1st central ship’s engine division.

The floor was 30m long and nearly 20m wide and tall, it was directly linked to the power system, its management system was made up of 32 oblong torii running down the center, and it had covered mechanical kamidana lined up on either side.

The Tsurugi Shrine’s shrine maidens were swapping out the program charms installed in the kamidana. The plain wood cartridges were cleaned by automatic purification when connected. And once they were in place…

“Contact!”

With that, walls of light emerged from each oblong kamidana and raced down the management floor. With each one, the gravitational acceleration mechanisms in the main engine division gave a roar and the sounds of acceleration transformed to the ringing of a Shinto shrine’s large bell.

This continued without end. The roaring of the engines might as well have been a giant musical instrument. The sound reverberated through the floor and everyone applied silence spell lernen figures to their ears.

Hirano thought to herself while the sound made her hair, clothing, and skin tremor.

…It’s finally happening. No, it’s already happening!

She would generally remain on the Azuchi. Because the Tsurugi Shrine was in charge of managing the ether conduits in the power system for the Azuchi’s engine division. There was dedicated engine division personnel for that, but some aspects of ether management required a religious expert to handle.

It was the Tsurugi Shrine’s shrine maidens that allowed the Azuchi’s power system to remain so small and efficient. That was how they could outdo the similarly-sized Musashi in speed.

…From what I’ve heard, being a city ship means the Musashi uses more decentralized authority, so the Asama Shrine doesn’t have complete authority over the engine division.

As a city, authority was likely split between the people and the government. With a densely populated city, they had to maintain the proper balance while making sure they could still operate with any one piece missing. That was how Musashi did things.

But the Azuchi was different. It was a warship and it focused on internal efficiency to make sure it could fight.

As for what happened if one of the pieces was missing…

“We respond with multiple personnel! Let’s get Nightless Castle Azuchi to its big performance!”

“Yes, ma’am!” responded the management shrine maidens, who had plenty of experience.

After Mikatagahara, Hirano had traveled around completing the tuning necessary for the Honnouji Incident, but these shrine maidens had remained aboard the Azuchi and been the foundation of its ordinary cruising through several battles. Now that they were used to it, they probably understood the whole of the system better than your average engine division worker. And now..

“Beginning linked power deployment! This will be a major burden on the system, but will it hold, everyone!?”

“It will! Even if we went a little nuts before and ruptured its rear!”

Out the countless lernen figures in the air, the shrine maidens ran over to the 6 groups of 32 that applied to power management. They all gave the necessary approvals.

“Team leader!”

It had been a while since anyone had called Hirano that. She tapped the sword emblem lernen figur in front of her and responded.

“Begin linked power deployment! Respond to the Sakuma Fleet’s attack!”

●

Oh, thought Sakuma. So the Azuchi really is going to charge on ahead?

She had of course considered this possibility. This was her second time taking on a colossal ship. Last time, the Musashi had taught her a painful lesson at Novgorod.

But that was only because the Musashi had side flipped over her fleet and fired their main cannon along the way.

She had seen that the Azuchi was also capable of flipping like that when it was traveling to Kantou. If they intended to fly past her fleet, that was likely the method they would use. But…

“Now, now, now. You need to set it up first. How’s this for starters?”

Sakuma gave her fleet a command.

“Pack in tight at the center and make a full speed retreat!”

●

“Wow, that is dirty.”

On the roof deck of her own ship’s bridge, Niwa thought it was about time to prepare to fire on the Azuchi. She smiled bitterly at the fleet battle she saw playing out in the southern sky.

…Sakuma-san loves her simple-but-annoying-to-deal-with tactics.

The two fleets were flying toward each other head-on. And as the others on the deck watched…

“Niwa-sama! Aren’t they going to collide!?”

“Watch out! The Sakuma’s fleet is going to crash! Can someone explain what she’s thinking!?”

“Oh, how like a spring wind she is. Like an easterly gust scattering the cherry blossoms in the light of the moon. Hee hee, laughs the wind.”

“I asked for an explanation, not a poem!”

Ugh, fine.” Niwa cleared her throat and everyone turned her way and sat on the deck while she turned her back on the battlefield and spoke to them.

“So, uh, listen up. I’ll explain this for you to pass the time until it’s our turn.”

“Shaja!”

…A strong response.

She nodded once and opened a diagram on an insha kotob. It showed the Azuchi and the Sakuma Fleet from above and from the side. The two sides were approaching, but the Sakuma Fleet was lined up end-to-end in front of the Azuchi. Their current course would lead to a head-on collision, but…

“Sakuma-san is using a simple tactic. She ordered her split fleet to rapidly fall back while moving in toward the center. That effectively creates two long lines of ships.”

That was the best method if they wanted to stop the Azuchi’s advance. Right now, the Azuchi would want to avoid the damage from a head-on collision more than just about anything else.

“But if they simply form up in front of the Azuchi, the Azuchi will just flip over them.”

Everyone nodded in understanding.

They had seen the Musashi do that at Novgorod.

And the Azuchi’s power system was equivalent to the upgraded Musashi’s. These were not just your average aerial ships. They were linked with towing belts and they could manage worldclass maneuvering.

Plus, the Azuchi had already performed a side flip on their way to Kantou. They had the knowhow.

So Sakuma had lured them into it.

“Sakuma-san split her fleet to either side to lure them in. The Sakuma Fleet wouldn’t actually want a head-on collision with the Azuchi. And their split formation would give them more opportunity to damage the Azuchi’s port and starboard ships. But once the Azuchi tried to pass between them, they’ve blocked the way forward. Guiding the Azuchi straight in like that means their gambit was successful.”

A hand went up. It belonged to a female student with a guitar on her back.

“Couldn’t they have continued attacking from the sides?”

“The Azuchi has gravitational acceleration, so it could force its way through the split fleet. They would use their defense barriers as a wall and fly rapidly on through. That was what Sakuma-san lured them into trying. By keeping her fleet split and falling back at the same speed as the Azuchi.”

But…

“Falling back at high speed makes something possible when maneuvering a ship. Do you know what that is?”

She heard only confusion from the listeners. A few exchanged a glance and asked their neighbor.

“Does it let them maintain their distance from the Azuchi?”

“No, no. I wouldn’t really call that maneuvering, though. So…”

“Testament.” A drummer boy raised the hand holding his drumstick. “The higher speed allows for quicker maneuvering.”

“Correct.”

Niwa nodded and the listeners raised their voices in excitement. The drummer bowed toward her and she nodded back before tapping the diagram.

She displayed the actions a ship could make at low versus high speed.

At low speed, they could turn more sharply, but it took time to cover distances. But…

“At high speed, sharp turns are difficult, but they can move more to the side, so they cover more ground faster than at low speed. So falling back at the Azuchi’s higher speed lets them change their course more quickly. That lets them rapidly gather in front of the Azuchi and form a wall there.”

Sakuma had created a wall. From the Azuchi’s perspective, it was a 2-dimensional wall with plenty of depth.

“Sakuma-san left the center open to lure the Azuchi in and now she’s taking action to stop the Azuchi’s gravitational acceleration.”

What did that mean?

“A side flip required a period of acceleration similar to an approach run. The bow needs to dip down a lot while traveling straight forward. But now the Sakuma Fleet has formed a thick wall in front of the 1st central ship’s nose. Attempting a side flip from here would mean a head-on collision with the Sakuma Fleet. They didn’t do anything special to stop the Azuchi’s flip. Any ship can do the same thing. But it’s just like Sakuma-san to choose a method that assumes a head-on collision. …Now, how will the Azuchi respond?”

●

Sakuma grasped the big picture from her flagship at the center of her fleet.

“Front ships back to the 7th line! Maintain altitude and abandon ship once the Azuchi reaches you! The 8th line on back should wait for now, but be prepared to take action!”

The Azuchi was coming. The 1st and 2nd central ship were leading the charge.

…Is that to reduce air resistance?

For a ship of the Azuchi’s size, the weight of the atmosphere was a significant slowing factor. The Musashi distributed that using their 1st port and starboard ships’ powerful bows and their interference spells, but the Azuchi didn’t have those to reduce the odds of being hit by artillery, so they sent their central ships out ahead to split the atmosphere to the sides.

The front and rear central ships used their virtual oceans to accelerate to the limit. And they would soon shift to gravitational cruising.

But as things were, that would mean a head-on collision.

“Front ships, prepare to fire!”

Sakuma only had to hold her ground. That would stop the Azuchi.

…That’s right, that’s right! I know your tricks!

She knew what actions a Musashi-size ship needed to perform a side flip.

She had seen it at Novgorod and again in Kantou. Yes, she had been defending P.A. Oda’s eastern border, so she had gotten a good look at the Azuchi’s side flip.

It had performed the flip right out of gravitational cruising then, but she had recorded the data to compare it to how the Musashi entered their flip. She had even exchanged that data for the data “Azuchi” had taken.

So she knew what kind of action the Azuchi needed. So she was confident the Azuchi would stop to avoid a head-on collision. All their acceleration now was a simple bluff.

…They think they can scare me into clearing the way!

“All hands, show them what you’re made of!”

She wouldn’t run. None of them would.

“That’s right.

…I’ll retreat, but I won’t run!

That was how Sakuma saw it.

Of course it was. No matter how great the foe and no matter how impossible the history recreation, she had played her part in the retreating battles. And…

“Shiba-chan, I remember what you said before the Battle of Shizugatake.”

A smile escaped onto the corners of her lips.

Yes, this was what Shibata had said.

“Sakuma, it’s not surprising, but I’ve never seen one of your retreating battles. You generally quit while you’re ahead and even those you retreat from get to see it all from behind! So…so let me see it this time.”

How could she refuse after that? She had to do it.

“Shiba-chan,” she said, watching the Azuchi approach by pushing its virtual ocean acceleration to the limit. The layer of virtual ocean around the ship was already scattering into the air and freezing into flecks of ice.

The cloud of ice rushed in like a white wave. And the massive ship approached behind it, towering above Sakuma on the left and the right. But…

“Don’t send me to the vanguard.”

She knew what that meant.

“You might as well be saying you won’t be around to see it once we’ve already lost.”

●

Niwa watched the approach and retreat playing out on the diagram.

She was honestly disturbed by it.

…You’re letting them get too close!

She was decent enough at fleet battles, but she preferred ground battles. However, even she could tell that approach was abnormal. And she could also tell…

“Sakuma-san, you need to start firing!”

Sakuma had a reason for letting the Azuchi get so close.

Because this gave her the proximity and relative speed needed to break through the Azuchi’s powerful defense barriers.

She wouldn’t just stop the enemy. She would damage them and delay any additional attacks. So she had stopped firing meaningless shells and had her ships retreat while having the rear lines of ships ascend to get a clear angle of fire.

And Niwa could tell their current position was about as good as it was going to get.

That was exactly when white light raced across the southern sky.

Ether light burst as Sakuma’s 64 ships all opened fire at once.

●

Sakuma watched what happened after she gave the order to fire.

…The Azuchi is continuing forward!?

She had opened fire based on the calculations telling her she could break the Azuchi’s defense barriers even from head on.

But if the Azuchi was still advancing, it could only mean they had done something to strengthen those barriers. That put Sakuma’s fleet at risk, but…

“Whatever, whatever, whatever! I’ve fired my shells! We’ll start by seeing what happens when they hit!!”

She watched as the Azuchi made its move. The bridge navigator detected it and shouted over to Sakuma.

“Sakuma-sama! The Azuchi’s central ships have opened up their sides!”

“Are they braking!?”

This couldn’t be gravitational acceleration. Doing that would mean running right into Sakuma’s shells followed by a head-on collision with her fleet. So they had to be opening up their armor panels to perform an air brake.

“But it’s too late! We’ve already fired!”

As soon as she said that, a new light burst out beyond the artillery light. It was…

…Acceleration light!?

●

Sakuma saw the acceleration light emitted by the Azuchi.

It was the blue light of gravitational acceleration. But why would they do that? Were they really going to ram Sakuma’s fleet?

Sakuma watched as the Azuchi left behind all of the supply transport ships it had been towing.

It shot forward at full power. If they continued like that, a collision was unavoidable, but…

“No!?”

The acceleration light was too powerful. So this was something different. The Azuchi had indeed entered gravitational cruising, but…

“Wait, wait, wait! Are they backing up!? After shooting forward like that!?”

●

The Azuchi shook hard.

“Azuchi” was strapped to the bridge roof with a harness, but she was watching everything that happened.

“Gravitational cruising in reverse! Shaja!”

The gravitational thrusters had all been deployed from the sides, except facing backwards.

…We will now fall back!

After drawing the Sakuma Fleet in as much as possible, they switched to full speed in reverse using their gravitational acceleration.

The Azuchi’s central ships were set up to travel backwards with only their port and starboard gravitational thrusters and the ships had clearly extended several meters beyond the malleability of armor and metal. Everything groaned in protest as it tore through the chilly sky, but…

“Here we go! Shaja!”

●

“No, no, no! That’s not possible, you idiots!”

…What are they doing?

The Azuchi still hadn’t applied the brakes. The momentum of their forward charge launched a wave of pressure forward, producing a great roar. It sounded a lot like a colossal paper bag popping. But past that, the Azuchi had simply reduced its speed a bit. And it wasn’t enough. The massive ship slid through the sky without stopping as it approached Sakuma’s bow.

Then Sakuma’s shells reached it. In that instant…

“Sakuma-san!”

A divine transmission arrived from Niwa.

“Their port and starboard ships are behind them!”

●

“Huh?” questioned Sakuma. There was nothing odd about the Azuchi having its port and starboard ships fall back. Because…

…Keeping their central ships out front helps with the air resistance during gravitational acceleration.

“No!”

That wasn’t it. Because that only applied during forward gravitational acceleration. When moving in reverse like this, why would they do that except as a feint?

“The towing belts!”

As soon as she found the answer, she heard a metallic shriek high in the sky. It came from the west and the east. It echoed as if in a valley and it was clearly coming from the sides of the Azuchi’s central ships.

She recognized the sound. It was the shriek of towing belts being forced to tow a heavy load.

“Did they keep their port and starboard ships back in order to pull the central ships back with the towing belts!?”

●

Katagiri had resigned himself to his fate.

What other choice did he have when this this happened right when he was trying to evacuate the dining hall?

…Oh, wow.

They came to a sudden stop. No, a ship as massively heavy as the Azuchi couldn’t just stop. But the rapid movement felt inside the ship had suddenly ceased and everything was pushed forward by momentum.

The dining hall’s tables all had their legs fixed to the floor. But those fixtures had just popped off with the sound of breaking metal. And these fixtures hadn’t broken even during their side flip on the way to Kantou.

…Oh, but maybe the fatigue has been building up.

He hated how rational he was at times like this. At any rate, most of the tables were long enough to seat six, so while the cooking tools hanging up in the kitchen slid along their hanging rails and crashed into the wall, the freed tables crashed into the other tables and repeatedly damaged the floor with their momentum.

It sounded like the rapid chattering of giant teeth. Five seconds ago, a table had been rushing toward Katagiri. Three seconds ago, he had realized there wasn’t time to run away and his torso would be torn in half. Two seconds ago, the approaching table’s leg broke, so it bounced him up diagonally.

Presently, he was rolling along the tables gathered at the bow end of the dining hall before bouncing off the wall.

It was far from a common experience, but…

“Th-that was lucky! First I’m lucky enough to dodge Kiyomasa-san’s Caledfwlch and now this!”

He had a reason for getting right back up. Namely…

“Takenaka-senpai!”

He looked over to see Takenaka sitting on a table two away from this one, her face inside a paper bag.

…She always is prepared!

But the situation was not good. After all, everything had been pushed forward. And…

“Um, is it just me, or is this getting stronger!?”

What did that mean? He had wondered if they were serious about this, but…

“Can the Azuchi really reverse direction like this!?”

●

“Azuchi” realized the forces were in equilibrium.

The status reports coming from the bridge and elsewhere told her the towing of the central ships had worked as planned. Even though the shells were approaching outside and everything felt like it was being thrown forward.

…I can see it!

The towing belts connecting to the port and starboard ships were sparking. As for the ships themselves…

“ ‘Azuchi’-sama!”

The automata in charge of the port and starboard ships contacted her.

“The four port and starboard ships have secured their towing belts! We can begin full towing support! Shaja!”

“Will this work? Shaja.”

“It will,” replied the other automata. “Our calculations are always accurate. Shaja!”

●

Hirano performed a minor dance while tightening her inner suit’s chest band to keep the inertia from jiggling her chest.

The ether management floor of the 1st central ship’s engine division was shaking as much as any other part of the Azuchi. Everything was bending and creaking and several of the shrine maidens had fallen to their knees. But…

…We can hold together, can’t we!?

The management system and the program kamidana remained intact and running.

The Azuchi’s core permitted it all to happen. So…

“The rest comes down to us. We can do this! Activate linked power deployment spell!”

She stood before a 7m spell circle. It was surrounded by blue torii and a sword emblem rotated in the center.

That program would manage the entire maneuver. The initialization phase had already been installed, but the main phase was yet to begin. It was extremely precise and some discrepancies with the actual events could arise, so the main phase portion had been constructed so it could be retuned in real time.

Hirano would be completing it while she installed it.

The automaton calculations said the work could begin when the installation was around 20% complete, which let them start around 12 seconds before the full installation was complete.

This was highly dependent on the structure of the program and the order at which it was deployed, but it showed that times were gradually changing. She used a dance step to send her thanks to the Azuchi’s dosojin who managed the output and then she guided the data through the ship as the administrator.

She did not have time to recite a purification prayer, so she used her dance as a substitution and twirled.

“Taking control of linked power deployment. Submit!”

She drew a sword from her hip and stabbed it down into the spell circle before her.

The spell circle immediately broke, the glass-shattering sound acting as a response to all the creaking and groaning. And…

“ ‘Azuchi’!”

She removed her blade and sheathed it with the proper follow through motion while she spoke.

“Go now!”

●

It happened suddenly.

Sakuma saw unexpected darkness directly ahead.

…Huh?

Her brief confusion came from the illusion that she had gone blind.

But she hadn’t.

Tons of sparks were thrown into the empty space before her eyes.

That was the artillery fire her fleet had launched toward the Azuchi.

What had happened? No, she knew the answer. But it was just so ordinary and so massive that she had trouble accepting it. Yes, she knew exactly what had happened here.

…The Azuchi backed up!?

●

Takenaka shouted as the severe inertia nearly threw her paper bag forward.

“1st central ship, ready main cannon!”

In the instant she sucked in a breath, she felt an odd weightlessness. But before she could determine what that was, she finished her command.

“Aim dead ahead! Fire on the Sakuma Fleet!”

Back to Chapter 17

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 19