Horizon:GT2 Chapter2

Chapter 2: Preparations and Landing

I came here for work

But the usual suspects

Are up to no good

And tacking on some extra charges

Isn’t that bad, is it?

Point Allocation (It’s Very Bad)

●

Adele went to Asakusa after breakfast.

She was there to prepare for the end-of-school-year festival.

Each ship ran its own festival during spring break, so it ended up being as exciting as Musashi Ariadust Academy’s summer festival.

…The spring festival coincides with graduation, so the middle and elementary schools can get in on it too.

It lasted about three days. “About” because the length and content of the festival differed between academies. Her Musashi Ariadust Academy was a high school, so each group, class, and year would receive their final grades, run festival stands, and…

“The attack festival on the first day is pretty incredible,” said Adele as she approached the reception area for the morning shift preparations. When she passed through a checkpoint-like gate built atop the large wooden containers, a sign frame automatically lit up above her head to check her identity, ensure her safety, and adjust her divine protections.

She was Catholic, but Shinto had no problem granting her divine protections.

…I have the Hidden Catholic setting to thank for that.

Shinto wasn’t very strict, so even if someone was monotheistic or wanted to eliminate other faiths, the only real response was, “Got any impurities? No? Then I guess you’re fine. And if you do, we’ll just purify them.” That partially came from Shinto’s basis in nature worship, but also from the concept of purification where everything was judged based on whether it was pure or impure.

In that sense, the religion is less a belief in a god and more a belief in the idea that anything without impurity has been purified, thought Adele. But she knew saying this to Asama would lead to an obsessively detailed rebuttal, so she would keep that thought to herself…except a divine transmission suddenly arrived.

“Um, Adele? I’m not obsessive.”

“That’s right, Adele! Asama is normal! A normal girl who loves to talk about and explain Shinto!”

Adele didn’t want to let them alter the definition of normal, but she had to focus on her work right now.

They were creating some simple lodgings on the surface of the “cargo plaza” created by lining up the large wooden containers on Asakusa.

○

Unturning: “Lodgings? Were you receiving a lot of visitors from outside?”

Flat Vassal: “Well, that was part of it, but Musashi itself is pretty big and the Testament Union could observe us a lot more closely when docked. So given the 10 PM curfew, it was best to use some package buildings to create some temporary longhouses near the center of the festival.”

Tachibana Wife: “And if you could construct them in time for the rest of the preparations, Musashi’s craftsmen and laborers wouldn’t have to commute back and forth every day. When I arrived on the Musashi, they had built some small-scale lodgings to accommodate the ship’s repairs.”

Scarred: “My presence in the embassy would have caused problems during the trip from England to IZUMO, so I stayed in a room attached to the academy. But that was only for around half a day.”

Asama: “Um, Mary, if you continue any further, I think Tenzou-kun will be in real danger.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, look at that thread go. Anyway, I guess I can do the next part.”

●

“Oh, not often you see Uqui there. Right, Ga-chan?”

Naito and Naruze were flying through the sky to make deliveries for the festival.

They were used to moving between the Musashi’s ships. They were still restricted from doing so at night, but starting this spring, they could freely travel along any routes they officially requested instead of just the established routes or the routes given to them for a particular job.

…Not that we couldn’t play with the others in the free airspace before.

They had brand new acceleration spells now and they were in the top 10 of the delivery business. They were officially ranked. And they hoped to increase their rank a lot during this festival. But…

“You’re right. That is unusual.”

As they passed by Asakusa’s starboard side, they saw the lodgings being set up on the cargo plaza at the ship’s outer edge. Toori had sent them a divine mail saying some of their class had been assigned there.

“That explains why I was seeing so many familiar faces here. Is Uqui doing construction work?”

“So he’s doing physical labor after his morning training with us? That’s especially frustrating since we even hit him with a few weak shots.”

“Ga-chan, you were trying to hit him for real, weren’t you?”

Naito could only change the subject with a “but anyway”.

They had started doing early morning air combat training with Urquiaga during their 1st year. He had invited them one day out of the blue and they had agreed since they knew they would be competing for the top spots in the delivery business.

Their licenses restricted the routes they could fly on, but having that spelled out in the rules could have its uses. They had since developed skills well beyond what their licenses allowed, but…

“Uqui comes from an inquisitor family, doesn’t he? But when Tres España increased their obsession with pure blood, his family started running a bedding store since those were in vogue at the time. And finally, they moved to Musashi.”

“Doesn’t he want to be an inquisitor? Is he hoping to reclaim his family’s old position?”

“Hm, I’m not sure how useful that would be. Catholicism has a lot of restrictions within the Far East.”

That was true.

“During Matsudaira’s rule, the Far East issues a ban on the Tsirhc religion. Which is why Shinto is having all the Catholics in the Far East use the hidden setting, but that requires a double contract, which means it costs more. And the functions are restricted.”

So…

“He might end up taking over his parents’ bedding store, but expanding his horizons is still a good idea.”

“That’s a lot of speculation, Margot.”

“Meanwhile, we already know we’re going to be flying. But what if we had a change of heart and decided to do something else?”

What would happen then?

“I feel like Uqui has a broader dream than we do.”

“But we have both our dreams.”

Naito thought about Naruze’s response. Both. That would mean…

…Yes.

Whatever she was thinking, Naruze would have her own thoughts too. So…

“We’re fine the way we are. If you think of him as a ramen specialist, then we’re, um, pizza and pasta specialists.”

“Soba and udon would work too,” said Naruze with a bitter smile by Naito’s side, where she pressed their cheeks together. When they rested their wings together too, Naito felt Naruze’s warmth through the feathers. If they weren’t careful, this could lead to a midair collision which would send them off course, so…

“That’s as far as that goes.”

They pressed their foreheads together and moved an arm’s length apart for safety. Then they flew toward Asakusa’s starboard side.

“Hey!”

Adele was waving up at them.

“The idiot and the ninja aren’t here,” noted Naruze. “Do you know where they are, Margot?”

“To-chan is out shopping with Kimi. Tenzou said he had an urgent job in Mikawa.”

“What about Asama?”

“Almirante said the immigration bureau’s OS is being updated today, so probably dealing with that? I think she said something about purification earlier. I wasn’t really listening since we aren’t heading to the landport so it doesn’t apply to us.”

“That’s right,” said Naruze as the wind changed direction.

…Midmorning, huh?

The spring sunshine was unexpectedly strong. In the sky, it was first noticeable from the heat of the air and then by the change to the wind. Those changes seemed especially noticeable when the Musashi was docked in a landport and very little of it was in contact with the sky. But that may have been something only winged species noticed. Anyway…

“Hey!”

They flew in an arc down toward Asakusa’s starboard side.

“We have something for the morning shift. Some sweets and such from Murayama’s central shopping district.”

●

Masazumi had predicted last night how she would react to this.

She was boarding a ship for the first time to move from Mikawa to Musashi. When you lived in Mikawa, you would frequently see the Musashi docking at or departing from the landport or see its massive form flying in the distance.

She had wanted to ride on it more times than she could remember.

But this was her first time onboard.

She boarded from the landport north of Mikawa. Mikawa was one of Musashi’s headquarters, so it usually remained docked there for around two weeks while trading with the neutral territory of Mikawa.

Wearing her uniform, she passed between the returning traders and the transport system and climbed the stairs on the Musashi’s starboard side.

This was a diplomatic ship named Tama. The climb was equivalent to ascending a small mountain, which was enough to work up a sweat, but she finally arrived at the surface city. She first found herself in front of the immigration facility. She could see the rest of the city past there as she entered the building.

…Oh.

The entrance was a hallway about 3m tall and wide. After climbing a shallow ascent with a railing, she entered a waiting room full of chairs.

A torii-style information terminal was open on the wall. It said to take a number and wait for it to be called, so she held up her hand and a torii with the number 37 appeared in her palm.

It didn’t disappear. She felt self-conscious with that glowing light in her hand, but she looked around and saw others with little toriis waiting in the room which covered approximately 45 square meters.

I should have brought a book, she realized as she started to wait, but then she found the torii in her hand had some information scrolling across it. Was that meant to help pass the time? After a transition made to look like a cloud of cherry blossoms blowing by, it switched to some news. The news covered Musashi’s current population, taxation system, and an introduction of each ship. It frequently informed her where the government offices were located.

“If you’re ever in trouble, look no further than a Shinto trial! In a true show of equality, everyone gets the same result! Amazing!”

Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a trial?

When it showed some help wanted ads from each ship, she had a sudden thought.

…Right. I’m here to be processed as a Musashi resident.

She had thought she would feel more like an outsider, but she didn’t. Maybe that came from walking here on foot, but she felt more like she was waiting her turn at the hospital. And…

“#37 please.”

A young female voice called her number, so she stood up, said “that’s me”, and walked over.

●

The name Honda Masazumi rang a bell for Asama.

…That’s the daughter of Provisional Councilor Honda Masanobu, isn’t it?

Her father had told her there was a girl her own age in Mikawa. An official request to have her move to Musashi had arrived and the girl herself had sent a change of residence request of her own.

That meant she was requesting residency today. And permanent residency at that.

As a representative of the Asama Shrine – Musashi’s local shrine – and on a more personal level, Asama wanted to handle the entire process for this girl since they would be classmates afterwards. She wasn’t privy to the circumstances at the Mikawa government office, but this girl had gone to a Mikawa high school through the end of her first year. On Musashi, she would likely end up at Musashi Ariadust Academy, the same as Asama, so…

“Um, what should we do about this girl, Mito?”

“What do you mean? She’s our age, isn’t she? Is that a problem?”

“Well, isn’t it? As soon as she learns what our school is like and what life on the Musashi is like, she might run right back to Mikawa.”

○

Vice President: “Now, hold on.”

Gold Mar: “Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

Horizey: “Are you telling me shocking and scandalous things occur aboard the Musashi? How have I never noticed?”

Unturning: “What am I even supposed to say to that?”

Silver Wolf: “I-it’s best to just ignore it. I think.”

●

Mitotsudaira just about nodded in agreement with Asama but brought a hand to her chin instead.

“I see. So she’s our age and she’ll be coming to our school with the expectations set by her old academy down in Mikawa.”

They both fell silent for a few seconds before Asama responded while staring down at the ground.

“What is Toori-kun up to right now?”

“W-wouldn’t you know better than me, Tomo?”

“I know Adele said he was spending spring break dancing naked through each of the academy’s windows to purify them.”

“Where’d he learn that freaky ritual? At the Asama Shrine?”

<You can’t pin this one on me. By, god>

“Um, Mito, we have a direct connection right now, so you could earn yourself some divine punishment if you say the wrong thing. Try to be careful, okay?”

“Judge. But why is my king doing that?”

“Apparently a ghostly woman was reflected in the window the other day and people were calling it one of the academy’s seven mysteries. I’m pretty sure that was only a mysterious phenomenon from being so close to Mikawa, but he said he wanted to exorcise her.”

“So it’s technically a public works project?”

“No, he didn’t submit the proper paperwork, so it only counts as being a public nuisance.”

Mitotsudaira imagined the scene. And after a moment…

“If he’s bored, he should just say so.”

“What, did you want to join him?”

She imagined that scene. And after a moment…

“I-I would never do that! Hey, what is that weird smile supposed to mean!?”

“Calm down. Anyway, what are we supposed to do about this?”

“It’s not for us to worry about, is it? I think it comes down to this girl’s personality. I mean, this data says she’s the daughter of a provisional councilor.”

“Yes, neither she nor her father have an inherited name, but they’re named after the Honda clan. I know Mikawa gave a lot of their inherited names to automatons after driving out all the people, so they were probably caught up in that.”

“Oh right.” Mitotsudaira remembered now. “The provisional councilor in question is Honda Masanobu, isn’t it? That really strict-seeming one.”

…I see.

“His daughter is arriving and he isn’t even here to greet her. I know he’s supposed to be the secret leader of the council, but…yes, he really must be strict.”

○

“Hey! Koni-tan! You can stick your things in this room! In my room! Just chuck it on in there! What is wrong with you!? You’re supposed to treat black disk box sets with more care than that!”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! Can you not contradict yourself from one sentence to the next!?”

“Shut up and open up Masazumi’s room as temporary storage for our Ariake loot! Just make sure you don’t leave any signs Masazumi will notice when she gets back from her training camp!”

“Judge! We haven’t grown at all since Masazumi-kun decided to move here and we had to quickly clean up everything you had decorating the hallway!”

“Yes, we underestimated how long it would take to clean it all up, so I failed to arrive in a carriage to pick her up. Hey! Okudaira! Take all the divine figurines, black disks, and manga in the hallway and stick them in this room! Yes, the ceiling is warping, so be careful! Hit the wall too hard and my full set of the Ultra Alloy Deluxe Bronze Armor series will come crashing down on you! And you, Hachiya! Don’t bother returning that South American Sumo Star Incaesar wall scroll to the shelf! Just stick it in this room! And make sure to prostrate yourself for taking it out without permission! Got that!?”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! I can tell you’re panicking!”

“Shut up! We’re getting another shipment today! And I can’t be open with all this like you can at your place! Because I have a respectable image to uphold!”

●

Asama agreed on a general plan with Mitotsudaira. Simply put…

…No telling her anything she doesn’t directly ask about. That should work, right!?

Mitotsudaira was waiting in the adjacent room to avoid showing the girl anything unnecessary and she used a sign frame under the table to give Asama a thumbs up.

Asama was ready to go too, so she pressed the call button on her sign frame and put on her best smile.

“#37 please.”

A few seconds later, the sliding door opened and someone stepped inside.

●

Oh, thought Masazumi.

…That’s a shrine maiden.

She looks older than me. She’s so big.

…Really, really big.

I wish I could say I meant her height, but she’s sitting down right now.

○

Asama: “Um.”

Bell: So…w-which was it…really?”

Art-Ga: “Yeah, that happens. A lot even.”

Flat Vassal: “Am I supposed to say something here!? I am, aren’t I!?”

Wise Sister: “That’s right, Adele! C’mon! She’s right in front of you now, so come out and say it! Say she has giant boobs! Because that kind of size is something to flaunt! Oh, wait! That’s me in front of you!”

Flat Vassal: “Asama-san! Asama-san! I don’t care if you’re big, just do something about this girl!!”

●

Masazumi was relieved to find she was dealing with a shrine maiden.

She had already dealt with shrine maidens at her local Mikawa shrine when arranging the move.

Mysterious phenomena were common in Mikawa right now, so the city center was off limits at night. Thanks to that, a lot of the work done at the government office in the city center had been distributed elsewhere – most of it to the academies and shrines. Masazumi had registered for the move at the “village head” building that the committee ran at Mikawa and then she had gone to a local shrine staffed by shrine maidens sent out by the Atsuta Shrine.

“Excuse me. I’m planning to move to Musashi, so I need to arrange for my divine protections to be transferred.”

The smiling shrine maidens at the reception desk had immediately frozen in place when they heard why she was there.

She had decided it was best not to ask why and the shrine maidens had seemed worried for her.

“You’re going to Musashi? Did something happen for you to lose all hope?”

“You aren’t the easily manipulated type, are you?”

“Remember to keep a positive outlook no matter what happens, okay?”

She was still wondering what that had been about. But at the moment, the Musashi shrine maiden gestured for her to sit and asked the standard questions.

“You are Honda Masazumi, correct?”

●

Asama decided to get through this by sticking to the standard questions.

First, she asked the girl’s name. That would confirm this really was Honda Masazumi. And after asking…

“Make sure to respond honestly. You are in the presence of a god here.”

“For future reference, what happens if I lie?”

“Well, there are three courses here. They are hard to describe, so they are represented by these three icons, but those are hard to interpret, so I will describe them for you: this one is the photography punishment, this one is the, um, butt punishment, and this one is the paint punishment. All of them are public punishments. Shinto worships the sun, so we believe in keeping everything out in the sunlight. So after you complete one of these, an alarm sounds and you are questioned at the guard station.”

“Tomo! Tomo! Don’t you have the order reversed!?” said Mitotsudaira via divine transmission from the adjacent room.

“No, Mito. Haven’t you heard that you should state your conclusion first and provide your reasoning afterwards? Shinto places a lot of value on procedure. We do manage many ceremonies throughout people’s lives.”

“Tomo! Tomo! What happened to sticking to the standard questions!?”

She’s the one who asked. I’m still safe. Even if three times safe is out.

Also, Asama was in control of the process. So she directed them back toward the standard.

“What brings you here today?”

“Judge. I requested to move from Mikawa to Musashi.”

…Oh, is that so?

“Oh, dear.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You got your thoughts and your standard response switched!”

…Oh, whoops.

The girl’s response was so exactly what she expected she screwed up her reaction. But that had to have sounded weird, so…

“Oh, um, yes. A change of residence then? Approval for your request should come through by this evening.”

“Judge. That’s fine since I was already planning to return to Mikawa briefly to make sure I didn’t forget anything and to lock up. …I have to say, Musashi seems like a nice place.”

“No, it’s-”

…Oh, whoops.

“Tomo! Tomo! Your thoughts are escaping again!”

“Don’t worry,” replied Asama via her sign frame. “I caught myself in time.”

“Try to catch yourself before you say any of it next time!”

I agree, but I can still fix this one. I just have to change that response into…

“N-no, it’s nothing special. I just hope it can live up to your expectations.”

“I hope so too,” said the Honda daughter. She took a breath. “But you must get a lot of change of residence requests this time of year. Unlike election season, which is about the change of presidents instead.”

○

Art-Ga: “Th-that one…caught me off guard!”

Flat Vassal: “Um, uh, Vice President? Why did you think that would make a good first impression?”

Vice President: “H-hold on! I don’t remember making that one!”

Asama: “I think you purged it from your memory when Mito and I refused to acknowledge it.”

Silver Wolf: “Judge. You were so confused by our lack of reaction that you said it a few more times.”

Wise Sister: “Oh, dear, Masazumi? Were you lonely? Were you feeling blue because they ignored you? Hm?”

Vice President: “You’re all only talking about your mental image of me! You shouldn’t judge people based on your own imagination. I swear you’re like a pack of ravenous dogs when you see a chance to tease someone!”

Girls: “Now who’s using their imagination!?”

●

Asama ignored the girl’s dangerous comment.

…She must be nervous. I hope.

Then she provided a warning.

“Now, there is one thing you need to be careful about.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, there are a lot of entertainer god worshipers on Musashi, so try not to lose your mi- try to be careful. How you behave around them can lead to trouble surprisingly easily.”

“I see,” the girl said with a look that said she didn’t realize how dangerous her previous comment had been. At this rate, a careless joke of hers could easily make her a victim of him, his brother, or the new Chancellor.

…W-well, I’ve done my part by warning her.

Asama prepared to move on, but Honda Masazumi went “oh” and suddenly looked down at herself.

“I just realized…sorry, but I’m wearing a boy’s uniform. I hope that’s alright. I’m a girl, so I don’t want you to accidentally register me as a boy because I’m dressed like this.”

Oh, thought Asama. She hadn’t needed this warning, but…

“Yes, that is perfectly fine. I have all your data sent over from Mikawa and…”

And…

“Shinto is perfectly okay with crossdressing. A lot of people here are really into it.”

“Tomo! Tomo!” That isn’t what she wanted to know!”

Oh, whoops.

“That was a Musashi issue, so you can pretend I didn’t say it.”

○

Asama: “Thinking back, I did a great job of staying on that tightrope step after step, didn’t I?”

Tachibana Wife: “It looks more to me like you stepped in it each and every time.”

Silver Wolf: “A-anyway, you went on to explain the divine protections and give Masazumi permission to board, right? Right?”

●

“This gives you temporary immigration status…which is basically a temporary boarding pass, so would you like to take a look around the Musashi?”

Masazumi nodded at the shrine maiden’s question.

“Yes, I was planning to leave my luggage at my father’s house.”

That was located on Musashino, the first ship of the Musashi’s central row of ships. She knew that much, but she wasn’t sure how movement between ships was handled and would have to figure that out when she got there. But…

“On the Musashi, the divine protections installed in your hard point parts provide an information terminal which you can use in an emergency. On that note, how are your divine transmissions set up currently?”

How were they? Masazumi had let her mother set up her divine protections and the contract continued to automatically withdraw payment even with her mother gone. She had checked on all that back in Mikawa, but…

…I don’t use sign frames for divine transmissions or anything else.

They had a portable shrine back home and she had to have a contract with that, but…

“How often do people generally use divine transmissions on the Musashi?”

“It depends a lot on the person. But you can check official notifications on the city message board just like at Mikawa and it allows you to do a lot of things you would otherwise have to visit a physical location for.”

“Then I can live without it for now.”

The shrine maiden briefly froze.

●

“Um, isn’t this where she would normally arrange for a contract?”

“Tomo! Tomo! Snap out of business mode! You need to do this the way she wants!”

“But we have a great deal to celebrate graduation season and the new school year, so it’s practically a steal. Any divine protection you sign up for comes with free installation and you get three bonus substitutions for the first three months after signing up! Not to mention that a contract with the Asama Shrine gives you access to Inari and the Seven Gods of Fortune with zero substitutions required, so March is the best time to sign up, Mito!”

“Tomo! Tomo! Are you trying to sell me an upgrade!?”

○

Scarred: “So did you sign up for a contract?”

Vice President: “No. I didn’t have any money.”

Asama: “I did go on to explain the benefits a contract provides on the Musashi and the downsides of not having sign frame access.”

Unturning: “I went through that too, but you really don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve experienced it for yourself.”

Flat Vassal: “What happened after that, Vice President?”

Vice President: “My request hadn’t been approved yet, but they let me onto the Musashi since I had a temporary boarding pass. After passing the health inspection, I collected my luggage and…I think I went to Musashino first. To drop off my luggage.”

Silver Wolf: “Did that all go smoothly? I know your father is strict.”

Vice President: “It was fine. I was only dropping off my luggage, so he only said he was busy and ignored me. He said he would make the arrangements for my mother’s grave.”

Horizey: “Time out!”

'Silver Wolf: “Oh, come to think of it…”

Flat Vassal: “Is something wrong, Vicereine Horizon?”

Horizey: “Adele-sama, what makes you think that something is wrong? I am as calm and collected as ever.”

Gold Mar: “I suppose…that’s technically true.”

Asama: “Anyway, that was also when Horizon arrived on the Musashi. I checked over all those records after the Battle of Mikawa, but how about we go over that again here?”

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