Horizon:Volume 8C

Front Cover
Full Cover
Installation 1
Installation 2
Title Page
Illustration 1
Characters 1
Characters 2
Table of Contents
Character Introduction 1
Character Introduction 2
Character Introduction 3
Glossary 1
Glossary 2
Glossary 3
World 1
World 2
Study
Page 019
Page 041
Page 065
Page 103
Page 113
Page 135
Page 157
Page 189
Page 201
Page 215
Page 247
Page 279
Page 307
Page 327
Page 361
Page 397
Page 427
Page 459
Page 487
Page 493
Page 517
Page 543
Page 555
Page 575
Page 605
Page 631
Page 667
Page 693
Page 699
Page 713
Page 735
Page 741
Page 765
Page 803
Page 829
Page 849
Page 877
Page 907
Page 941
Page 949
Page 977
Page 990-991

Cover Flap[edit]

Kawakami Minoru:

Born on January 3, 1975. From Tokyo. Finished writhing the novel version of Obstacle Series – Clash of Hexennacht at about the same time as he finished writing this. Look forward to it!

Satoyasu:

Born in Yamagata and raised in Tochigi. “The scum-removing ladle I bought for making my favorite pork miso soup works great. Really gets that scum off the broth.” Should you be doing that when it’s getting warmer this time of year?

Installation[edit]

Miriam Poqou

This one would require a lot of spoilers, so I can just skip it, right!?

I can’t?

Then let’s chat about other stuff.

Miriam uses a wheelchair, so let’s talk about that. Wheeled devices for carrying people have existed a lot longer than you would think. Carriages and chariots technically count (even if they use a different power source), but they apparently already had wheeled chairs people could push around since the middle ages. For example, during his later life, records say Philip II moved around in a chair equipped with what we would call casters.

Allowing the seated person to move them around required a bit more craftsmanship on the wheels and that idea came to fruition in 1650. The year 1648 acts as a major dividing line in the Horizon world, but they can always rely on Testament notes or Far Eastern records. Surprisingly, Japan had the tsuchiguruma, which was like a baby carriage with an open top that people could sit in and propel with a staff or their hands. I wonder if they were seen as a simpler version of a litter? Of course, they were normally pulled by a rope or pushed from behind, but they could be self-propelled and some daring people apparently traveled around in them. The Japanese were surprisingly active back then…

Anyway, the controls on the front of the armrest for Miriam’s wheelchair use an interpretation of that, saying she is indirectly moving the chair herself since it is powered by her Blessings.

When we think of wheeled vehicles, a bicycle tends to come to mind, but wagons and so much more came in between the chariots seen in movies from the Roman period and the bicycle. For Japan, wheeled transportation brings to mind oxcarts and wagons, but there was a missing link there too. In fact, maybe it was the presence of horses and those alternative that created less of a need for bicycles. Or maybe the culture and market at the time didn’t accept them and suppressed them.

As for her design, she is one of the few who don’t wear tights. You can see her forehead because she finds her bangs to be a pain to deal with and she doesn’t wear her hair up because she wants to make things easier for her when she can’t take a bath. Her hair can get kind of messy thanks to that, but she doesn’t mind. She does make sure she looks decently presentable at all times in case she receives an unexpected visitor, though. She wears her jacket like a stole so she can lie down in bed with minimal fussing around with clothing. She likes lying around in bed quite a lot. When Azuma and the girl arrived, she thought it would mean more time in her wheelchair, but Azuma spends a lot of time pacing on the floor and tidying up, so she actually gets more time in her bed.

(Kawakami Minoru)

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere - 8C[edit]

—In that case.

Characters[edit]

Sake[edit]

Title: Sake – Sharp Sword

Top right: The more you swallow, the more it swallows you.

Top Box:

Guaranteed to knock you out

Sake – Sharp Sword

The definitive sake developed in the pursuit beauty and flavor. Recommended for drinking and for boosting your weapon’s divine protections before battle.

This special character bottle features an extra-large label depicting Hirano-sama, the heavy drinker of Hashiba’s Ten Spears.

A 1sho bottle in paulownia box starts at 13,000 yen.

○Order Here

Bottom Box:

A Super Goro for you and me

Super Goro

Cheap! Harsh! But it gets you good and drunk! Super Goro is the ethanol legend from the world of shochu!

“Water is valuable, so make sure you ‘water’ it down with sake instead.”

“I start drinking and next thing I know it’s midday.”

If that sounds like you, then make sure to buy a 16-liter pack for a mere 8,500 yen!

○Order Here

Characters[edit]

● Musashi

Aoi Kimi: Toori’s older sister and worshipper of the god of eroticism and dancing. Fundamentally high-tension and selfish in practice.
Aoi Toori: Protagonist. Musashi Ariadust Academy’s chancellor and student council president. Mr. Impossible.
Asama Tomo: Daughter of the Asama Shrine, Musashi’s main shrine. Childhood friend and overall victim of Toori and Kimi.
Azuma: Child of the emperor and a half-god. All his abilities have been sealed and he lives on the Musashi.
Adele Balfette: From a vassal family that arrived from France. Glasses girl.
Itou Kenji: Cheerful incubus. Nude, bald, and muscular. Known as Itoken.
Ohiroshiki Ginji: Gourmet otaku with a Heart-sama style build.
Kiyonari Urquiaga: 2nd special duty officer. Flying half-dragon. Hopes to be an inquisitor. Known as Uqui.
Shirojiro Bertoni: Treasurer. Young leading member of Musashi’s commerce and industry guild.
Tenzou Crossunite: 1st special duty officer. Ninja and errand-runner who always covers his face with his hat.
Toussaint Neshinbara: Secretary. Loves history, wants to be an author, and writes doujins.
Naomasa: 6th special duty officer. Older sister type who works in the engine division. Smokes and laughs loudly.
Nate Mitotsudaira: 5th special duty officer. Member of a knight family and inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name. Half werewolf.
Nenji: Slime with about 3 HP. Manly.
Noriki: Laborer boy who supports his family. Clumsy martial artist. Silent and unsociable.
Heidi Augesvarer: Treasurer’s aide. Shirojiro’s partner. Has a white fox named Erimaki.
Hassan Furubushi: Calpis logo-style Indian. Lives while eating and drinking only curry.
Persona-kun: Super macho man with a bucket helmet. Silent, strong, and kindhearted.
Horizon Ariadust: Toori’s childhood friend and current ruler of Mikawa. Currently an automaton. Her emotions were taken as parts for the Logismoi Oplo.
Honda Futayo: Former Mikawa student. Honda Tadakatsu’s daughter. Uses a strongly old-fashioned speech pattern.
Honda Masazumi: Vice president of the student council. Diligent exchange student who arrived from Mikawa the previous year. Has various issues with her family.
Marga Naruze: 4th special duty officer. Black-haired six-winged Weiss Hexen. Member of the manga club.
Margot Naito: 3rd special duty officer. Blonde-haired six-winged Schwarz Hexen. Always smiling.
Miriam Poqou: Girl who stays in her room because she lives in a wheelchair.
Mukai Suzu: Blind but always gives it her all. Acts as everyone’s stopper.
Tachibana Muneshige: Former Tres España 1st special duty officer. Amore. Currently working to regain his inherited name.
Tachibana Gin: Former Tres España 3rd special duty officer. Muneshige’s wife and possessor of cannon-style false arms. Fifty times.
Mary Stuart: Half-sister of English Queen Elizabeth. Well-endowed blonde. Living with Tenzou as his future wife. Owner of Ex. Collbrande.
Mishina Hiro: Granddaughter of the engine division’s chief. Loves mechanical things. Naomasa’s underclassman. Her name is pronounced Hiro, not Dai.
Mishina Shouichi: Mishina Hiro’s father. Taizou’s son-in-law. Head of Kantou IZUMO.
Satomi Yoshiyasu: Satomi Academy’s student council president. Small but does not cry. Uses the god of war Righteousness.
Ookubo Tadachika/Nagayasu: A rare Far Easterner with a double inherited name. A second year and head of the representative committee. Speaks in a fake-sounding Kansai dialect.
Kanou: Ookubo’s maid. An automaton. Head of the public morals committee. A second year.
Date Shigezane [Narumi]: Masamune’s cousin. Vice chancellor of the Date clan and uses a mobile shell named Unturning Centipede. Confident elder sister type.
Yagyuu Munenori: A 1st year ninja samurai who serves Ookubo. Hunterrrrrrr chaaaaaaaaaaance!
Houjou Ujinao: Chancellor and student council vice president of the Houjou Association of Indian States. A demonic long-lived, but has an automaton body.
Nagaoka Tadaoki: He’s super scaryyyyyyyyyyyy! His dick’s pitch blaaaaaaaaaaack!

● Academy Officials

Oriotri Makiko: High-speed battling teacher. Always wears a track suit.
Sakai Tadatsugu: Musashi Ariadust Academy’s president. Used to be a very able person but was demoted.
“Musashi”: Automaton that supervises the Musashi and overall commander. Her sharp comments are hard to put up with.
Yoshinao: King of Musashi who was sent from Hexagone Française. Has a veto right toward the academy and has the authority to manage Musashi.
Sanyou Mitsuki: Class 3-Bamboo’s homeroom teacher. Looks up to Oriotorai. Somewhat sensitive and unlucky.

● Hexagone Française

Reine de Garou: Turenne. Hexagone Française’s vice chancellor. Mitotsudaira’s mom. All-around giant breasts.
Mitotsudaira’s Father: The Reine des Garous’s husband. A victim who is full of happiness and readily cries. Not so much passive as always under attack. 24 days.

● Tres España

Felipe Segundo: Chancellor and student council president. Hard-working middle-aged man.
Juana: Vice president of the student council. Female teacher type. Logismoi Oplo user.
Velázquez: Secretary. Long-lived. Painter and Testamenta Arma user. Middle-aged.
Hironaka Takakane: Vice chancellor. Ghost. Baseball team captain. Testamenta Arma user.
Era Fusae: 2nd special duty officer. Long-lived. Ghost. Takakane’s wife. Track team captain.
Valdés Siblings: 4th and 5th special duty officers. Baseball team members.

● P.A. Oda

Niwa Nagahide: #2 of the Six Heavenly Demon Army and Five Great Peaks. A dancer and quick to adapt.
Mori Ranmaru: Nobunaga’s page. An old-fashioned automaton who originally belonged to the Imperial Palace, but was sent to P.A. Oda.

● M.H.R.R.

Hashiba Toukichirou: M.H.R.R. Vice President and monkey-masked automaton girl. The nervous bomber type.
Olimpia: Innocentius’s older and younger stepsister. Current Pope-Chancellor.
Matthias: Representative of M.H.R.R.’s Catholics. Student Council President. Younger brother of Chancellor and Emperor Rudolf II. Being a puppet is fun!
Maeda Toshiie: Catholic representative. Treasurer. Samurai attendant that has become a ghost and is peacefully spending his days with his wife Matsu.
Fukushima Masanori: Under Hashiba’s direct command. Ten Spears #1. Speaks in an old-fashioned way.
Katou Kiyomasa: Under Hashiba’s direct command. Ten Spears #2. The busty blonde type and speaks politely.
Ishida Mitsunari: An earnest but inexperienced data entity who is often troubled. Ten Spears #3.
Katou Yoshiaki: Ten Spears #4. Gold-haired, gold-winged Weiss Hexen. Speaks sharply, but surprisingly tends to act as a mediator.
Wakisaka Yasuharu (Angie): Ten Spears #5. Black-haired, black-winged Schwarz Hexen. The carefree type, but she truly is carefree.
Hirano Nagayasu: Ten Spears #6. Representative of the Tsurugi Shrine, Oda’s main shrine. Busty. Launches swords instead of arrows and drinks a lot. Loves unreliable people.
Hachisuka Koroku: Shouroku. God of war pilot of the Hidamari Genbu. The cool kid of the Ten Spears.
Kasuya Takenori: Ten Spears #8. Black wolf. Close-quarters fighter who defeated Takigawa. Has a chest.
Takenaka Hanbei: Ten Spears #9. Hashiba’s tactician. Carefree long-lived girl. Has also inherited the name of Kuroda Kanbei.
Katagiri Katsumoto: Ten Spears #10. An earnest boy who can also negotiate.
Kani Saizou: Extremely high probability of people misreading her name. The energetic aide to the Ten Spears. Fukushima’s underclassman. Nickname: Kanitama.
Ootani Yoshitsugu: An earnest, hot-blooded, sincere, and honest virus with a strong sense of justice. Liked by cats.
Nabeshima Naoshige: Kani’s childhood friend who moved to the Ryuuzouji clan. The big sister type. A mechanical dragon pilot who bosses the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji around.
Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji: “The five of us!” “Are the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji!” “There’s five of us!” “But we’re the Four Heavenly Kings!” “Get outta the way!” and so on.
Asano Yoshinaga: Kani’s childhood friend and the type to get good grades. Tallllks with a weird intonaaation.
Ikeda Terumasa: Kani’s childhood friend and a builder. Is doing a lot of stuff with the Shirasagi Castle.
Shima Sakon: 3m tall, held back 5 times, and can regenerate. But it makes her go yowch. Uses the mobile shell Onitakemaru. Kohime.
Onitakemaru: A Shogun. A mobile shell. Real easy to get worked up. I’m a mobile shell now, but you got a problem with that!?
Komaoumaru: Kiso no Yoshinaka. Tomoe Gozen’s former husband. Fires beams from his mouth even after resurrecting.
Ishikawa Kazumasa: Teacher of the Ten Spears and other related students. Originally lived on the Musashi, but left for P.A. Oda after losing to Oriotri.

● Other Forces

Tomoe Gozen: M.H.R.R. Protestant with Luther as a second inherited name. A ghost. Uses a Testamenta Arma and this people with a Testament copy hammer.
Christina: Lady Nagaoka. Fully prepared to die. Lives on the north end of Nördlingen.
Masaki Tokishige: Satomi’s current representative. A fairly hard worker who serves Hashiba. Uses the god of war called Integrity.

Glossary[edit]

A[edit]

Academy: An educational facility. Used as the center of political and military power. Tend to have many branch schools.
Academy Rules: The basic laws upheld between academies. Agreed to by the Testament Union.
Age of Dawn: The age before the Testament was established.
Amako clan: Former IZUMO land. Destroyed by Mouri and Hexagone Française.
Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning: The action taken during the Age of Dawn that led to the creation of the Testament and Harmonic World.
Apocalypse: The end of the world. 1648 when the Testament’s history descriptions end.
ArchsArt: England’s primary corporation.
Ariake: Floating dock for the Musashi provided by Kantou IZUMO.
Armada battle: A naval battle fought between England and Tres España. Tres España planned to land on England but their fleet was destroyed.
Artificial Apocalypse: A compressed ley line distortion created in England’s Avalon to research the Apocalypse.
ATELL: The smallest unit of ether. Used for spells.
Avalon: A space created in England to research the artificial Apocalypse.
Azuchi Castle: P.A. Oda’s giant aerial warship.

B[edit]

Blessings: The amount of ether needed for a human to exist for one hour. 3600 ATELL. Conversion unit for a spell’s ATELL consumption.
Bunroku Campaign: Hashiba’s invasion of Korea. The first one.

C[edit]

Catholic: The old mainstream version of Tsirhc.
Chancellor’s Officers: An organization led by the chancellor which leads the academy and performs work such as defense.
Change of Rank: Having one’s clan taken away.
Contradiction Allowance: The foundational ability of the world. Allows the simultaneous existence of all sorts of physical laws.

D[edit]

Divine States: Former name of the Far East.
Divine Weapon: A weapon that, unlike a normal weapon, has a unique ability.
Divinely Ordained Prayer Academies: The original academies that existed during the Age of Dawn. More a guiding frontline base than a place of learning.
Dragon Line Reactor: A bomb that uses a runaway ley line reactor to destroy a wide area.
Dragon Races: The dragons. There are Celestial Dragons which are spirits and Terrestrial Dragons which are beasts and the Celestial Dragons are of a higher level. They dominated during the history recreation of the Germanic invasions, but ultimately lost. They are now scattered across the land.
Dunhi: A religion. Focused on reincarnation.

E[edit]

Edel Brocken: Magic brand. Location of headquarters unknown.
Eisenritter: Primary corporation of M.H.R.R.’s Protestant principalities.
Emperor: A divine individual who is said to control the ley lines using the Imperial Regalia in Kyou. Does not interfere with the world.
England: Uses a floating island and does not control any Far Eastern land or Far Eastern daimyo.
Ether: Component that makes up contradiction-allowing space.
Ether Engine: An engine that uses ether’s space-altering ability. The effect changes based on the internal crest.
Ether Fuel: Ether that has been purified into fuel. Used as External Blessings or for ether engines.
Ether Reactor: A reactor that extracts and purifies ether from the air. Has a lower output than a ley line reactor, but is relatively safe.
Europa: Hexagone Française’s primary corporation.
Excalibur: Has a first and second version.
External Blessings: Blessings accumulated outside of oneself. Ether fuel is an example.

F[edit]

Fan Gang: Qing brand. Durable but a bit rough.
Far East: Name of the Divine States after the Harmonic Unification War.
Fino Alba: K.P.A. Italian brand. Their use of springs is their selling point.

G[edit]

God of War: A giant humanoid machine that people combine with to move.
Graduation: No limit for nations other than the Far East. Far Easterners must graduate at 18.
Grande y Felicísima Armada: Tres España’s fleet for the Armada battle. Made up of cutting-edge ships.
Great Return: When Hashiba returned with all his troops while attacking Mouri during Nobunaga’s assassination. The rushed march covered about 200 km in less than ten days.

H[edit]

Harmonic Territory: Locations where the fallen Harmonic World Divine States unified with the real world while breaking apart.
Harmonic Unification War: A war between the harmonic world residents and the real world (Divine States) residents after the destruction of the harmonic world. The harmonic world residents won and began a provisional rule over the Divine States.
Harmonic World: A former alternate space that copied the Divine States. Preserved through ley line control.
Hexagone Française: Mouri clan + France.
Hidetsugu Incident: Hidetsugu, Hashiba’s nephew who was going to be left in charge during the next generation, earned Hashiba’s anger and was forced to commit suicide. The reason is unknown, but his concubine Komahime had to commit suicide with him.
History Recreation: Recreating the Testament descriptions to maintain the path the world takes.
Holy Spells: Tsirhc spells. The Catholics are related to the Testament and holy individuals while the Protestants derive power only from the Testament.
H.R.R.M.: Holy Knights Ironworks Guild. Primary corporation of M.H.R.R.’s Catholic principalities.

I[edit]

Imperial Palace: Where the Emperor lives and governs from in Kyou. It is said the three Imperial Regalia are used to control the ley lines, but the details are highly classified.
Inherited Name: The name of a historical figure given to an appropriate individual for the history recreation.
Internal Blessings: blessings stored within oneself.
IZUMO: The Far East’s largest corporation. The headquarters for Far Eastern shrines and the corporation that built the Musashi.

J[edit]

Judge/Judgment: Means “understood”. Used by criminals.

K[edit]

K.P.A. Italia: Association of Aki States + Union of Italian City States.

L[edit]

Laws for the Samurai Clans: Laws established after the Matsudaira clan established the Edo Shogunate. It determined the status of the samurai clans, but it centralized power by declaring a ‘Change of Rank’ if a clan or castle had no heir.
Ley Line: The thicker of the pathways through which ether flows.
Ley Line Reactor: A reactor that extracts and refines either from ley lines. Can easily cause lay line mutations and destroy everything within several kilometers if they explode. Due to their instability, they are banned by the Tsirhc religion.
Logismoi Oplo: Weapons of mass destruction created on the motif of the seven deadly sins.

M[edit]

Magic: Folk spells currently under persecution in Europe.
M.H.R.R.: Hashiba clan + Holy Roman Empires.
Mikawa: Destroyed by the collapse of Lord Motonobu’s ley line reactor.
Mito: South of Oushuu and north of Edo. Mitotsudaira’s territory.
Mlasi: A later non-Tsirhc religion that also worships the Testament.
Mouse: A spirit beast device to act as an intermediary between the Shinto religion and its musicians. Other religions use different names.
Musashi: Aerial city ship. The sole independent territory allowed for the Far East.

[First Starboard Ship – Shinagawa/Second Starboard Ship – Tama/Third Starboard Ship – Takao/First Central Ship – Musashino/Back Central Ship – Okutama/First Port Ship – Asakusa/Second Port Ship – Murayama/Third Port Ship – Oume]

Musashi Ariadust Academy: The Far East’s representative academy which exists on Okutama of Musashi.
Musician: A religion’s worshiper.

N[edit]

Novgorod: A large trade city on the western end of Russia. It is a floating city, but became a city of the dead after Ivan IV the Terrible’s purge.

O[edit]

Oat: A religion based on China’s sages.
Offering: Providing a god with something they will enjoy or Internal Blessings.
Official Events: Refers to the ceremonies, exams, etc. that an academy must complete during each term. If these are not completed, the academy may not take part in any external politics.
Orei Metallo/Nero: Ore or water containing ether. Can be used as ether fuel.
Orthodox: The Orthodox Concerto religion. Sviet Rus’s unique branch of Catholicism.
Oushuu: The Tohoku region. The Date clan rules the east and the Mogami clan rules the west.
Oushuu Fujiwara (Hiraizumi): A hidden village of the long-lived in southern Oushuu.

P[edit]

P.A. Oda: Oda clan + Ottomans.
Peace of Westphalia: The peace treaty that ended the Thirty Years’ War.
Protestant: A new style of Tsirhc created to escape the corruption of Catholicism and to adjust to the new age.
Provisional Council: Group of adults who act as bureaucrats toward Musashi’s student council, chancellor’s officers, and student committees.

Q[edit]

Qing-Takeda: Combination of China and the Takeda clan.

R[edit]

Religion: Organizations or groups that worship a god or the Testament.

S[edit]

San Mercado: Tres Españan brand.
Shaja: Used in Mlasi regions and means “understood”. Originally meant “courage”.
Shinto: Far Eastern religion. Worships the Far Eastern gods and uses divine music spells.
Shirasago Enterprises: IZUMO’s shrine brand.
Siege of Otate: Conflict over the succession of the Uesugi clan after Kenshin’s death. Uesugi Kagekatsu and Nagao Kagetora fought and Kagekatsu won.
Sign Frame: Spell device needed to use each religion’s basic protection.
Song of Passage: Prototype of a fairy tale created in the Far East during the Edo period.
Spell: Causing a miracle in a certain space by processing ether.
Spirit Spell: Primitive spells used by talking to and borrowing the power of spirits, which are ether with a will of its own.
Student Council: The organization that handles an academy’s domestic and foreign affairs.
Substitution: Offering something to please a god instead of using Blessings to activate a spell.
Sviet Rus: Uesugi clan + Russia.

T[edit]

Tes/Testament: Means “understood”.
Testament: A history book that provides the history of the earth’s previous age. There are seven pairs and excerpts.
Testament Descriptions: History of the earth’s previous age that is automatically updated by the Testament. However, it stopped updating after the description for 1648.
Testament Union: An organization meant to lead the history recreation.
Testamenta Arma: Weapons that use the ability of the Testaments.
Tres España: Oouchi and Ootomo clans + Spain. Currently includes Portugal.
Tsirhc: A religion which places the Son of God at the top. Worships the Testament.

World[edit]

The Story So Far:

Okay, the summer event’s starting. This is when the Ariake becomes an alternate dimension of endless sun and powerful impure thoughts.

During summer break, a weird priest struck some poses, the “take this, and this” and so much more was made into doujinshis, and the Musashi arrived in Kantou using the Seventh Fleet. Then they pressed their dick against some pool ice and gained friendly relations with Sweden using dynamite. Makes you wonder what kind of summer they’ve been having. And to top it all off, they went to M.H.R.R. with the entire Ariake. And now they’ve started harassing Akechi Mitsuhide’s subordinate.

Divine Chat Screenname List:

Azuma: Azuma
Asama: Asama Tomo
Obscene: Itou Kenji (Itoken)
Me: Aoi Toori
Gold Mar: Margot Naito
Righteousness: Satomi Yoshiyasu
Scarred: Mary Stuart
Silver Wolf: Nate Mitosudaira
Still Got It: Reine des Garous
Wise Sister: Aoi Kimi
481: Mishina Shouichi
Tachibana Husband: Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Wife: Tachibana Gin
Smoking Girl: Naomasa
10ZO: Tenzou Crossunite
Tonbokiri: Honda Futayo
Sticky King: Nenji
83: Hassan Furubushi
Flat Vassal: Adele Balfette
Vice President: Honda Masazumi
Bell: Mukai Suzu
Horizey: Horizon Ariadust
Art-Ga: Marga Naruze
Circle Be: Heidi Augesvarer
347: Mishina Hiro
Novice: Toussaint Neshinbara
Musashi King: Yoshinao
Four Eyes: Shakespeare
Worshipper: Ohiroshiki Ginji
Laborer: Noriki
Unturning: Date Narumi
Kagetsuna-kun: Katakura Kojuurou
Fang: Oniniwa Tsunamoto
Caretaker: Rusu Makikage
Taki: Takigawa Ichimasu
Great Upperclassmen: Shibata Katsuie
O12: Oichi
Lily Flower: Sassa Narimasa
Omaeda: Maeda Toshiie
Fuwaa: Fuwa Mitsuharu
Mory: Mori Nagayoshi
Nine Tail Girl: Mogami Yosahiaki
Shigeko: Honjou Shigenaga
KageV: Uesugi Kagekatsu
Tomo-no-Bu: Saitou Tomonobu
Nagaya-Stable: Ookubo Tadachika
CAN: Kanou
Llaf: Fukushima Masanori
Kiyo-Massive: Katou Kiyomasa
The Boy: Katagiri Katsumoto
Kuro-Take: Takenaka Hanbei
Kimee: Katou Yoshiaki
AnG: Wakisaka Yasuharu
6: Hachisuka Koroku
An-Ri: Henri
Ar-Man: Armand
Super Justice: Ootani Yoshitsugu
Nari Nari Nari: Ishida Mitsunari
Kanitama: Kani Saizou
Nine Horns: Kuki Yoshitaka
Three Legs: Suzuki Magoichi
Black Wolf: Kasuya Takenori
Nabe3: Nabeshima Naoshige
Asano: Asano Yoshinaga
IT: Ikeda Terumasa
Okaaa: Nagaoka Tadaoki
Koni-ko: Konishi Yukinaga
■――: Yagyuu Munenori
Self-Destruct Girl: Christina
Kohime: Shima Sakon
Onitakemaru: Onitakemaru

Far Eastern Powers: [Same map as before]

Relationships Between the Major Powers: [Same as before]

Musashi’s Plans:

Toori: Sis! Sis! What are we going to do on the Ariake? And how’s it all gonna turn out?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. Ariake brother, We hope to draw out Akechi by negotiating with Reizei, his automaton subordinate. Then we want to visit Mitotsudaira’s parent’s home to investigate the Honnouji Incident and some other memories. We have a lot to do.

Study: The Current Locations of Hashiba, Musashi, and the Other Nations[edit]

Toori: Sis! Sis! We’re at the second half of summer break and I know we’re in M.H.R.R. Protestant territory near Kyoto, but what are the other nations doing?

Kimi: Well, they might be panicking a bit knowing Musashi is causing trouble. P.A. Oda would have thought they could ignore us during the break and bring their own strength into order, but then we came in and said “nope”.

Toori: So we’re causing trouble for them just like Seijun wanted?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. We probably shouldn’t be harassing Europe and the other nations too, but we’ve forced them all to redo their plans for the second half of the break. Now here’s a general look at the locations of the Hashiba and Musashi forces.

1: Musashi

2: Shibata Team

3: Kiyomasa Team

4: Azuchi Team

5: Kyou

6: Mitsunari Team

7: Ikeda Team

8: Reine des Garous’s Home

Toori: Man, Hashiba’s people are having fun all over the place. Lucky.

Sis: They’re doing training camps. It’s training. Meanwhile we’re having a full-on porn festival.

Chapter 56: Searcher in the Dark[edit]

Now, then

How should we

Proceed from here?

Point Allocation (Summer Harassment)

Tenzou thought about Masazumi’s statement while breaking down a box behind the sales table.

…Masazumi-dono is getting aggressive again!

After all, she had just asked if it would be possible for Akechi Mitsuhide to grant Musashi the rights to his inherited name.

Tenzou knew that was a crucial suggestion.

Akechi Mitsuhide was the leader of the Honnouji Incident.

While Nobunaga resided in Honnouji Temple on the outskirts of Kyou, he was attacked by his trusted confidant Akechi Mitsuhide. Nobunaga had been advancing along the shortest route to uniting the Far East, but his death caused the Oda clan to fracture. Hashiba ultimately came out on top and unified the Far East.

Nobunaga’s assassination was a necessary step toward Hashiba’s rule.

There were a number of theories about the incident, but based on the Testament, Tenzou felt certain it acted as a turning point regarding who would unify the Far East.

…It’s used a lot in games too.

But even if a game featured real people, it could cause an international incident if it included their assassination.

For example, there was the modern simulation game Nobunaga’s Ambitious Member: Extra Hard Edition – PK Kit. When the game reached 1583, Akechi Mitsuhide would pull out his extra-hard ambitious member and start “PKing” people, so to speak. If you made a wrong move there, you would get some devastating events (like “Oh, no! Sakuma was just PKed!”) which led to a forced game over in an event PK. The conditions needed to avoid that changed with each new entry in the series, so the online walkthrough sites would get a lot of activity every so often.

And in the classic dating sim series Tea-kimeki Memorial, you had to hit Akechi Mitsuhide with a teacup at that time period. In the fighting game Savage Historical Reign 48, Akechi Mitsuhide would temporarily enter “Fatality Akechi Time” at 15:83 (16:23), so everyone would always play as Akechi when stopping by the arcade after school.

Similar things had been seen a lot this year in divine TV dramas, novels, and manga, so it was a strange time when all of society was focused on the Honnouji Incident.

But the nations other than P.A. Oda had a certain concern about all this.

…Will Akechi Mitsuhide really cause the Honnouji Incident?

Tenzou thought about it.

…Akechi Mitsuhide himself has the greatest ability to stop the Honnouji Incident from happening.

Akechi was currently managing Kyou because the Testament said he held the important role of communicating with the Imperial Court.

To put it another way, Honnouji would not happen if he remained in Kyou.

He did not have a Treachery Meter that would fill up when the time was right like he did in the games. P.A. Oda would be giving him instructions, but he would have his own thoughts on matters.

…Did P.A. Oda send him to Kyou instead of staying at Lake Biwa Azuchi with Nobunaga in order to put some distance between them?

Some of this was speculation, but it felt like P.A. Oda as a whole was being cautious about Honnouji and that Akechi had his own reasons for hesitating.

Neshinbara explained why while opening a box of books.

Novice: “Three days after the Honnouji Incident, Akechi’s forces are wiped out at the battle of Yamazaki. Akechi Mitsuhide is slain while he attempts to escape. Were you aware of this when you made this request, Crossdressing Honda-kun?”

That was exactly it.

If they received Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name, they would be forced to follow its history recreation.

Novice: “We would be able to intervene in Honnouji like that, but Musashi would be defeated at the following Battle of Yamazaki and might never be able to step back up onto the international stage. Did you account for those risks, Crossdressing Honda-kun?”

Neshinbara asked essentially the same question again.

Tenzou could tell everyone was focused on his words. The white flowers had stopped spilling from Mary’s hair where she stood at the front of the sales area and Naito had stopped her casual chatting.

Narumi stopped indifferently gathering up the broken down boxes and stretched. They even stopped receiving snack acquisition status reports from Futayo.

Tenzou followed Asama and Mitotsudaira’s gazes to see the arms preparing for a countdown by Horizon’s feet.

…Y-yeah, that tends to happen when we’re focused on him!

Masazumi must have understood that because she paused for a moment.

Vice President: “What’s gotten into you, Neshinbara?”

Only then did she speak to Neshinbara.

Vice President: “You’re acting like you actually have something important to say.”

Gold Mar: “Yeah, he makes that mistake a lot.”

Uqui: “He even struck a pose just now.”

Tachibana Wife: “Isn’t it a bad sign that he’s so similar to Lord Motonobu?”

Novice: “Wh-what’s wrong with that!? You need to get in the right mental state for these things! Isn’t that the first step toward solving any problem!?”

Flat Vassal: “That would mean you need to get all worked up just to figure out how to clean up some dog doo, so it sounds like faulty reasoning to me.”

Art-Ga: “Sadly, I think some people here would do exactly that.”

At least they don’t let it get dull around here, thought Masazumi.

“Musashi would like to receive Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name.”

Within Musashi, that suggestion had its pros and cons, but it had one major benefit for P.A. Oda and Akechi in particular.

“Akechi Mitsuhide’s history recreation demands he be slain, but we can complete that recreation without it ending in death.”

So that’s what she’s going with, thought Tomoe Gozen.

Receiving Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name would indeed be their top candidate for intervening in Honnouji. If they were the one behind the attack, they would be in direct control.

Akechi and Nobunaga were both important figures at Honnouji.

Akechi Mitsuhide would be slain, but so would Nobunaga. And the latter’s death had to happen during the incident. So if they were going to take control and avoid as much risk as possible, Akechi was the better option. Especially since Musashi had no way of contacting Nobunaga at the moment, so Akechi Mitsuhide’s name was their only real option. Furthermore…

…This connects back to their policy.

Musashi would not let anyone be lost over the history recreation.

They couldn’t always live up to that, but it was the primary justification behind their actions. That policy meant the Testament Union nations could ask Musashi to “violate the history recreation” for them. There was an escape route there and Musashi was trying to get Akechi Mitsuhide to use it.

But there was a problem with that method. Because…

“We still don’t know if Akechi Mitsuhide will really die.” As a test, Tomoe Gozen asked another helpful question. “Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit making this move before you even know if he will die?”

“Not at all.” The Musashi Vice President spoke before Reizei, the ancient automaton who identified herself as Akechi’s aide. “The Testament Union Representative of K.P.A. Italia is currently under M.H.R.R.’s control, effectively placing them under Hashiba’s command. And Hashiba’s policy is a strict adherence to the history recreation. And who is it that slays Akechi Mitsuhide? Are you suggesting Hashiba will spare him just because he is on their side?”

Precisely.

The Honnouji Incident was a history recreation for P.A. Oda, and the Oda clan in particular. So…

“Nobunaga might not be forced to die since that history recreation is being run by P.A. Oda or Oda,” said the Musashi Vice President. “But Akechi Mitsuhide will be slain by Hashiba. That will end in death. Unless Hashiba changes their policy, Akechi Mitsuhide’s name inheritor will be slain because that is the duty of the Testament Union. Only we can change that.”

Now.

“Reizei, you claim to be Akechi Mitsuhide’s aide. By any chance, is protecting your master a part of your command system? Or,” she said. “Is this something only Akechi Mitsuhide himself can decide?”

Masazumi sighed inwardly after getting that out there.

She had honestly given this a bit of thought.

…She is an automaton after all.

Automatons always wanted to make the optimal choice. So someone had to provide them with the criteria used to determine what was “optimal”.

For Reizei, that would be Akechi Mitsuhide.

Reizei had expected Musashi to be after his inherited name, but what would be her primary objective when choosing how she negotiated with them?

…Protecting his life.

So that was what Masazumi would use.

“Well? Can you make a decision related to your master’s life?”

Horizey: “Masazumi-sama! We sound like the bad guys here! The bad guys!”

Vice President: “Just out of curiosity, do any of the Horizon Rules apply here?”

Horizon: “No, you are in top form, so there is no need for me to step forward.”

Then she was safe. She felt like she could finish this without issue.

The arms had started shadow boxing down at her feet, but she was probably still fine. Hopefully. If anything happens, I can weasel out of it by insisting they’re a mysterious phenomenon. Yes, I’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.

At any rate, she had to wait for a response. All she could really do was stand there in front of Reizei, but…

“Testament. This is indeed a difficult issue. I cannot make the decision myself.”

She opened a sign frame and held it to her ear.

“Akechi-sama, do you have a moment?”

“Oh, hello. This is Akechi. …Eh? Reizei-kun? What, is it time to withdraw already? No? It isn’t? Then what is it? …Eh? Am I busy? Well, Sakuma-kun contacted me earlier and now I have to make two rounds on this limited book. Yes, there’s a book about Sakuma-kun’s house arrest. Yes, the circle is named Piercing Devil Sword. But some people were saying the censorship is insufficient so now the security warrior monks are here. I expect this to take another 40 minutes. And there are still people I want to greet and things I want to buy, so who knows how long it will take in all. …Um, yes. So what are you doing, Reizei-kun? Who are you speaking with? …Wait, you aren’t going behind my back again, are you!? Are you!?”

“I have an answer.”

Masazumi saw Reizei calmly look her in the eye with the sign frame still against her ear.

The automaton nodded.

“Akechi-sama is too busy to join us at the moment.”

Gold Mar: “I wonder which book he’s lined up for.”

10ZO: “If it’s a Kanou one, the big ones are absolute hell by this time.”

Asama: “I’ve helped with these things from time to time and the lines do get really bad at around an hour after the event begins.”

What do we do now? wondered Masazumi.

“Hey, I have a suggestion.”

After drinking some water from her bamboo bottle, Naruze wrapped a bandanna around her forehead to soak up the sweat and walked over. Masazumi assumed Naruze had business with her, but she raised a hand toward Reizei instead.

“If the guy on that sign frame is lined up over there, we can help out. We’ll get your master finished in less than half the time.”

Naruze held out her hand.

“–––––”

Reizei thought for a moment and then responded.

“That is all you will do?”

“Of course it is.” Naruze smiled a little. “After all, these events are all about speed and efficiency. When one circle gets their line done faster, the people leaving that line can move on to other circles faster and the people ultimately visit more circles over the course of the event and everyone gets to know each other better. That leaves people more motivated to participate the next day and breathes life into the event. But if things get bogged down, it slows everything down, people can’t get the books they want, and people won’t interact as much. …You want a solution to your problem and I can provide one. So how about it?”

Reizei thought for another moment. Her expression went blank and after about three seconds…

“If that really is all you will do, then please do so.”

She handed Naruze the sign frame she had been holding to her ear.

“Okay,” said Naruze, taking the sign frame. She held it between her ear and shoulder out of a habit built up from drawing. When it hovered next to her face, her eyes tended to drift over toward it.

“Hello, Akechi Mitsuhide. Where are you right now?”

“Huh? Reizei-kun? Did your voice just change? And personality too?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is someone else entirely, so don’t worry.”

10ZO: “W-wouldn’t that be a good reason to worry!?”

Shut up.

“It doesn’t really matter, so just tell me which line you’re in.”

“Well, um, uh.”

The wind she heard over his voice sounded familiar.

“Oh, so you’re on Musashino’s port side. Then you must be in Piercing Devil Sword’s line.”

“How did you know that!?”

She had used the wind.

The wind formed by the ship’s structure and hull was different for each ship.

Each ship had a different structure and, with the exception of the first ships, Musashi’s port and starboard ships were not symmetrical. And those first ships required different intership transportation between their outer and inner sides, so the docking equipment different greatly. Also, the two center ships created different-sounding winds thanks to the linked transportation equipment needed for the towing belts.

If you worked in Musashi’s delivery business, you would learn to tell those apart pretty quick. The intensity and tone of the wind would tell what the wind was doing between the ships, which helped you reduce fuel consumption and avoid accidents.

Also…

…The Ariake’s interior is air conditioned, so you can leave your window open on days like this.

With this many people around, the wind generally rose across a wider area than usual.

Once you were used to it, you could hear the entire Musashi making a noise like a deep whistle. You couldn’t hear it on the ship since the buffering spells eliminated it, but off the ship was a different story. The buffering had mostly been deactivated with all these people and it could be amplified when listening over a sign frame. Naruze wasn’t on Suzu’s level, but…

“You can tell more than you’d think.”

Almirante was really good at it. When you called him, he would immediately say “Oh, you’re port of Takao” or whatever. On his better days, he would also tell you whether you were flying high or low.

That kind of skill came in handy here.

“So where are you headed once you’re done with Piercing Devil Sword?”

“U-um, the next on my list is Horny Muramasa.”

“You like the hard stuff, huh?”

“N-not particularly.”

“I see.” Naruze nodded and moved on. “On your way to Horny Muramasa, stay closer to Murayama when passing between Musashino and Murayama. Get too close to Musashino and you’ll get caught in the line for Third Takamagahara. But Murayama’s side is selling books only people into the iron ore genre care about, so you should make excellent time if you stay near the ‘I’ line. There’s a shop along the way selling chilled drinks, so grab something there to stay hydrated. …So what’s after that?”

“Oh, w-well! Next would be Secret Rikyu.”

“You really like the hard stuff, huh?”

“N-not particularly.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Naruze nodded but then shook her head. “Unfortunately, they sold out earlier.”

“Eh!? But my information said their line is still growing!”

“Their line is so long word hasn’t reached the end of it yet. The seller stopped by and informed me personally.”

“Wh-who are you!?”

“A good question.” Naruze thought for a moment and turned toward Masazumi. “I can’t give him my name, can I?”

“You are from Musashi, but it wouldn’t be proper to have you negotiate instead of me.”

“Thought so.” Naruze pulled the sign frame toward her lips. “Don’t worry. It’s like I said before. I’m just a stranger.”

“B-but you know your way around a little too well! Please let me know who you are! Or at least let me call you Sensei!”

“Please don’t. I’m not the Sensei type.”

Hearing that, the idiot turned her way and raised his right hand.

Me: “Sensei!”

Horizey: “Sensei!”

Wise Sister: “Sensei!”

“Stop it,” said Naruze with a smile. And back into the sign frame: “I’ll tell you your next route, so listen up.”

Masazumi saw Naruze return the sign frame a while later.

Reizei accepted it and started to bow toward Naruze, but the Schwarz Hexen stopped her.

“No thanks are necessary. This was in the best interests of everyone involved.”

Naruze had already returned to breaking down empty boxes and gathering up the various types of trash.

Left behind, Reizei turned toward Masazumi.

“Um.”

“Don’t let it bother you. She’s a veteran. A veteran seller, I should say. Your master might be a veteran buyer, but she has access to information he doesn’t.”

“I see,” said Reizei, convinced. Then she bowed toward the sign frame. “Akechi-sama. …Sensei? No, it is only me. Why do you sound so disappointed?”

Reizei raised a hand and looked to Tomoe Gozen. And…

“Excuse me. I would like to calculate out whether or not Akechi-sama will have time to come here, so can anyone provide me with information on the state of things inside the Ariake?”

“I participate every year, so I would probably be your best bet,” said Tomoe Gozen. “Musashi Vice President, can you send me a report on the current situation inside the Ariake?”

Musashino: “That would be difficult as things are changing by the second, but if I know what route he is taking, I can focus my simulation along that route. Over.”

That meant it was possible, so Reizei nodded.

“If Akechi-sama can find the time, then I believe he can meet with you. But I would like to question you further about your intentions before I decide whether or not he should meet with you.”

“That’s good enough. We just need you to judge us while we work to ensure your master can meet us, correct?”

After breaking down another box to their right, Naruze raised her arms and shouted “yes!”

Everyone in the vicinity applauded without knowing what it was even about.

Vice President: “Why would they applaud if they don’t know what’s going on?”

Silver Wolf: “Judge. That’s just how festivals work, Masazumi. They might not understand, but someone is celebrating and they want to join in to share that joy.”

Me: “It’s the summer break mood combined with a festival. Don’t you know what that’s like, Seijun?”

Vice President: “Hmm, I generally use long breaks to work through my backlog of books or study politics.”

Everyone took a shocked step back.

It was Asama who spoke up with a smile.

“B-but you come across some lovely books while reading through your backlog, don’t you?”

“Not really. They’re only in the backlog because they’re the ones I wasn’t interested in enough to read right away, so I generally have to force myself through them.”

Everyone exchanged a glance, which gave Masazumi a very bad feeling.

“Wait.”

“Heh heh. You can’t do that, Masazumi!” said the idiot sister. “You only have half the break left now, but this is important!”

Everyone except for those working at the sales table were huddling together and whispering.

“I knew she was indoorsy, but this is worse than I thought.”

“She’s definitely the kind of person who thinks she needs to be productive over the break.”

“She’s clearly the type to just listen to the sounds of a local festival from home.”

“S-so what if I am!? And Horizon’s never even had a summer break before, so what makes her any different!?”

“I have received an arm power up and I am living a much richer life with our new ‘battle formation’, so I have determined I am living my best life.”

“Th-then what about the black algae creatures over there?”

“Summer break is for playing! Playing in the marsh!” said one.

“Lots of nutrients! Get big and flabby!” said another.

“You know what this means?” The idiot sister placed a hand on her chin. “You’re worth less than the garbage flowing through the sewers, Masazumi! You need to get flabby! Yes! Like this! This! Flabby, flabby, splaaash!”

“I’m going to ignore that last bit, but I was afraid you were going to say that first bit! And who needs all of you, anyway? I have Tsukinowa!”

“Maa?”

Tsukinowa’s questioning tone was followed by Urquiaga’s raised hand.

“In that case, why not go on a trip or something with your anteater?”

“Eh, lying around at home having Tsukinowa turn the pages for me is good enough for me. And Tsukinowa doesn’t mind.”

“Wow…” they all said, clearly disturbed.

“Um.” Mitotsudaira raised a hand. “Isn’t that only because Tsukinowa doesn’t know anything about the outside world?”

“Masazumi, wild anteaters live surprisingly active lives on the Dark Continent’s savanna, so he should really get some sunlight at least once a day.”

“What, is he a plant now?”

But if this would affect Tsukinowa’s growth, she needed to take it into consideration as his owner.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll think about going outside more. I do need to check the used bookstores for new arrivals.”

“I should probably commend you for taking a step in the right direction, but…does your father not get after you at home for this?”

“Hmm.” Masazumi realized she was groaning again. “He usually spends the breaks working through his backlog of documents and other tasks for work, so he often spends the night working at a colleague’s house.”

“Hey! Koni-tan! The armholes on this new body pillow costume are a godsend! I had to stick my arm out from the crotch with the previous costume, so I got the guards called on me at least thrice!”

“Exactly what I was thinking, Nobu-tan! Anyway, our harvest has finally arrived! I spent the last three days alternating between preserving my strength and body building my ‘pulling out money’ muscles, so things are going so smoothly!”

“Koni-tan, how are the others faring!? This is Suganuma’s first time and he insisted he could last all day, but the fool chose the Hour of the Ox’s full-body gold armor as a costume! He hasn’t learned that choosing the coolest costume means tapping out first, so he must be stewing in his own sweat by now!”

“During elementary school, they were saying people born in the Hour of the Ox didn’t deserve rights, so that golden armor is bringing back a lot of bad memories, Nobu-tan!”

“Ha ha ha ha! I was born in the Hour of the Snake, which made me the mastermind behind it all! Anyway, the weather has been great at this event! …Oh, you there! If you want a photo, feel free to take one!”

“Seeing how hard my father and his colleagues worked, I figured a hopeful politician like me shouldn’t be heading out to play either.”

“It still helps to find a reason to get outside, even if it’s only to take a short break from work.”

Masazumi felt it was a bad sign she didn’t quite understand.

…Besides, reading counts as taking a break and a productive use of my time simultaneously.

She felt like the others wouldn’t understand that, so she didn’t bother explaining. And then…

“Okay, everyone! If you see Seijun-kun outside, make sure to snatch her up and take her somewhere fun!”

“D-do that and I’m definitely never setting foot outside!”

She quieted the idiot with an elbow and then noticed some movement. Tomoe Gozen had walked over to Reizei to give her some advice. She opened a map of the Ariake and showed Reizei the route Akechi Mitsuhide was currently taking.

“Vice President, wait just a moment. I am calculating the time while teaching her how these events work.”

“Judge.”

Reizei glared at her while bowing.

“…Do you need something?”

“Testament. There is no point in hiding it at this point, but this is my first time at an event like this.”

“Yeah, that makes senses for an Imperial Palace automaton.” Masazumi nodded a few times and tried to come up with some advice she could give Reizei. “I’m sure you’re busy, but do try to get out more often.”

She chose to ignore how the others froze in place behind her.

Chapter 57: Arguer at the Sales Table[edit]

Can you tell me

What is most important

At places like this?

Point Allocation (Manners)

Masazumi assisted the others while Tomoe Gozen taught Reizei how events like this worked.

She was surprised to discover how much she enjoyed the atmosphere.

She had originally only planned to make an appearance if important figures from the other nations showed up.

She had expected everyone to be busy and for her to feel out of place since she had no experience with these events.

But when she actually arrived, she discovered a festival.

So many people were moving around, they all had an objective in mind, and everyone was brimming with passion.

…It’s not quite that they’re enjoying it.

They were absorbed by it.

They were focused on whatever objective they had in mind. That might be obtaining a book someone had made, interacting with the other people here, or just experiencing the atmosphere.

With so many people moving around and working, it was hard not to be absorbed by it. Some people had gathered in the rest spaces or the rest lounge set up on the Musashi’s deck where they could plan out the rest of their day or just catch their breath and observe their surroundings.

Masazumi was one of those.

“Masazumi, can you-”

Mitotsudaira was pointing at one of the inventory boxes. It wasn’t being used, so it needed to be broken down.

…Oh.

But she saw Tomoe Gozen raise her hand across the way. Reizei nodded as well. That meant they were ready. So…

“Sorry, but it looks like I have work to do. Can you take care of that box?”

“Of course,” said Neshinbara. “That is your real job, so we will leave you to it.”

He was adding his signature and thoughts on the event to a notebook being passed around to all the nearby circles. He handed it to Naruze who nodded Masazumi’s way.

“We set everything up for you, so go do what you need to do.”

Masazumi had never expected those two to be sending her off like this.

But it reminded her that this was her purpose here, so she spoke to Reizei.

“Okay, it’s time you gave us your opinion on my suggestion. Or maybe I should call it your analysis.”

Reizei could not make a decision about her master’s life and death, so she merely asked for an analysis of the request.

“Would it be possible for Akechi Mitsuhide to grant his inherited name to Musashi?”

Masazumi saw Reizei tilt her head in response to the question.

She left it tilted as she responded.

“I can make no decisions related to my master’s life and death, so let me ask this instead: why?”

I see, thought Masazumi.

She had chosen to ask a question of her own in lieu of providing any sort of answer.

…I guess I have to answer that then.

“The many ways we benefit seem obvious to me. Do I really need to list them all for you?”

“Then how do we benefit?”

“We would eliminate Akechi Mitsuhide’s death.”

Reizei responded by straightening her head and nodded.

“Do you think Akechi-sama will be lost at the Honnouji Incident?”

“Judge, we do.”

I’m making some pretty bold moves here,” thought Masazumi.

“Or more accurately, at the Battle of Yamazaki. …Akechi Mitsuhide will be lost there, won’t he?”

Her question was really only for confirmation, but Reizei opened a sign frame and held it to her ear. And after a few quiet words…

“I have news for you.” The automaton’s tone remained entirely calm. “Akechi-sama says he has no intention of dying at the Battle of Yamazaki.”

Me: “Seijun-kun’s theory has been utterly destroyed! Now, what will become of defeated Seijun-kun!? Tune in next week to find out!”

Vice President: “Shut up, idiot. And don’t give me a next episode preview. But it is true this is a major bombshell for us!”

Flat Vassal: “So what are you going to do about it?”

Vice President: “That’s the question. …And doesn’t this seem odd? Yamazaki will be run by P.A. Oda – or Hashiba really – so Akechi Mitsuhide should be forced to go through with this history recreation. So why hasn’t he accepted his death there?”

Silver Wolf: “Masazumi! Masazumi! You’re making it really obvious you failed to even consider this possibility!”

Reizei listened to what the Musashi Vice President had to say.

“Can I ask something?” She raised her right hand and asked her question. “Hashiba will be in charge of the Battle of Yamazaki, so why won’t Akechi Mitsuhide be forced to go through with his history recreation? That feels like a double standard after everything Hashiba has done.”

I see, thought Reizei.

…A sharp observation.

No, most everyone out there would have reached the same conclusion about Akechi’s fate. Since Hashiba controlled the Testament Union, everyone would assume their policy would apply to him. However…

“Hashiba-sama controls M.H.R.R. and her policy differs from P.A. Oda’s. And from P.A. Oda’s perspective, Hashiba-sama is Akechi-sama’s subordinate. She is his underclassman. Why should he have to accept her policy?”

And she had one more thing to say here.

“P.A. Oda has left the Testament Union. That means the Testament Union has no power to demand they obey the Testament.”

Me: “Seijun-kun’s theory has been utterly destroyed a second time! Now, what will become of twice-defeated Seijun-kun!? Tune in next week to find out!”

Vice President: “Shut up again, idiot. And don’t give me a sequel.”

Flat Vassal: “Um, and what are you going to do about this?”

Vice President: “Hm. Doesn’t this seem odd?”

Tachibana Wife: “V-Vice President, I think you should attempt greater flexibility of thought!”

Masazumi groaned in thought.

…I didn’t expect this.

It wasn’t that she wanted Akechi Mitsuhide to die, but everything about Hashiba had made it seem inevitable.

Why was he the only one who could escape that fate?

Reizei claimed it was because he came from a different nation, because he was Hashiba’s superior, and because P.A. Oda had cut their ties with the Testament Union.

But if that were true…

“Can I ask about something that just occurred to me?”

“If you wish.”

Masazumi raised her right index finger and pointed in a certain direction: northeast. That was where you would find…

“Hokuriku. The Shibata forces there will eventually be defeated by Hashiba and Shibata Katsuie will be lost. But according to the reasoning you just gave, Shibata could survive that, couldn’t he?”

The automaton had an immediate answer.

“No, that does not apply to Lord Shibata.”

Novice: “Hold on!”

Vice President: “I know exactly how you feel.”

Horizey: “Miiitoootsuuudaaaiiiraaa-saaamaaa!”

Silver Wolf: “J-judge, I think she means, um…well, you know!”

Smoking Girl: “No, I don’t know.”

Silver Wolf: “Judge! Reizei’s response was not the usual optimal response you would expect from an automaton!”

Which meant…

Silver Wolf: “Identical conditions should have resulted in an identical conclusion, yet she instead said it doesn’t apply!”

Horizey: “What!? Such a bizarre move for an automaton!”

Horizon currently had her arms down at her feet gathering up the strings scattered there.

Horizey: “I never imagined an automaton could be so strange!”

Unturning: “Kiyonari, I feel like only I am qualified to respond to that one, but what do you think I should do?”

Uqui: “Narumi, keep in mind that it is Horizon inside that automaton body.”

Gold Mar: “That doesn’t really answer Narumin’s question.”

At any rate, Balfette responded while accepting a bamboo bottle of water from the idiot. She wiped the sweat from her hands before carrying extra books to the sales table.

Flat Vassal: “Um, so you’re saying the usual automaton rules don’t apply?”

“Exactly,” replied Masazumi.

…The same conditions and conclusion should apply to Akechi and Shibata.

Unturning: “Yes, especially since Reizei is from the Imperial Palace. The palace is inviolable, so she isn’t part of P.A. Oda even though she serves Akechi. The same of course applies to Shibata. So she shouldn’t have any circumstances or connections leading to a different decision between the two of them.”

So…

Tachibana Wife: “I have a couple of guesses as to how she arrived at that answer. First, some special condition could apply to Shibata. And second, some special condition could apply to Akechi but not to Shibata.”

Vice President: “Which do you think it is?”

Novice: “Heh, coming to me for advice?”

Vice President: “Horizoooon!!”

Horizey: “I vote for Option 3: we have finally discovered an insane automaton.”

Unturning: “Kiyonari…”

Uqui: “I know what you want to say, but she is perfectly sane…by Musashi standards.”

You never get used to it, but it helps if you just accept it.

At any rate, Masazumi could make a pretty good guess now. So…

Vice President: “I doubt Reizei has ever closely interacted with Shibata, so there’s only one real possibility here.”

Namely…

Vice President: “There is more to Akechi than meets the eye.”

Oh? thought Tomoe Gozen. She had been inspecting a lernen figur listing the print orders Guericke and the others had received.

…They’re starting to see what kind of place the Imperial Palace is.

The place was locked up tight, so no one knew what was going on inside. It was the Emperor’s living space, so it was bound to have its secrets.

…That place is always lurking there in the background.

Her starting point more than 500 years ago would be when she left her rural birthplace with Iko and Komaoumaru, but the biggest turning point in her life had come from the Imperial Palace.

Reizei acted as a gatekeeper for the Imperial Palace. She was the one sent in to negotiate with this Protestant principality that bordered Kyou.

So this time, Tomoe Gozen had acted as an intermediary and brought Reizei here when she said she wanted to ask Musashi their reasons directly. However…

“Reizei.”

Tomoe Gozen found herself speaking. Because…

“Tell them, Reizei.”

“Tell them what, Tomoe Gozen?”

“The answer to their rude question. I’m sure Mikawa and Kantou seem like the middle of nowhere compared to Kyou, but they see the Imperial Palace as a relic of the past.” She chose her words so as not to let out her own thoughts from more than 500 years ago. “Which is why they don’t fear rudely intruding on the Imperial Palace’s business. Unlike us.”

This was a bad idea. A very bad one.

Tomoe Gozen smiled bitterly on the inside and wiped away sweat brought on by the festival’s heat.

But when the handkerchief touched her cheek, she didn’t find a bitter smile there. That was a genuine smile – a daring one even. She was somewhat surprised to feel it there with her fingers.

…That’s right.

She had once failed to intrude on the Imperial Palace’s business and kept her distance, even if she hadn’t avoided it altogether.

And now some people who knew nothing about it and had no connection to it were intruding.

That was something she could not do. However…

…Yes, that’s right.

She wanted them to do it and she had used her position to let them.

Maybe she was running away, maybe it was an ugly thing to do, and maybe she was shoving this burden onto their shoulders. But…

…The personal feelings pushing me in this direction will set the world and this era in motion, using someone other than me.

She only had to trust in her relationship with them and ask the question.

Presently, she saw the Musashi Vice President open her mouth.

“Akechi Mitsuhide says he has no intention of dying at the Battle of Yamazaki, correct?” She pulled her head back with her right hand. “Then where does he intend to die?”

Suzu heard a creaking sound.

It wasn’t a sound she should have heard here.

That creaking wasn’t made by the sales tables, the chairs, the floor, the flagpoles, the Musashi behind them, or anything else here.

With perhaps one exception:

…Horizon?

No. And it wasn’t Gin or Narumi’s prosthetics either. She had never heard this specific sound before, but it was a lot like…

…An automaton’s joints!

Reizei was the source.

Suzu sensed no motion from Reizei.

However, Reizei had still done something.

She had chosen to respond to Masazumi’s question with motionless and worked to remain motionless.

She had abandoned the automated movement for which automatons were named.

Suzu knew why she had done that.

Bell: “Reizei-san…was, um…surprised. But she…tried to…hide it!”

She must have been surprised by Masazumi’s question. So…

Bell: “Masazumi!”

Vice President: “Judge. Thank you, Mukai.”

Masazumi kept her back turned, but she did pat her shoulder loud enough to make a noise and then raised the hand.

…Oh.

Suzu’s meaning had gotten through to her.

Good, thought Suzu. Because she knew this was very important.

It was a matter of life and death, after all.

…This is something Toori-kun had trouble with a long time ago…and Horizon only figured out recently.

She didn’t understand it all that well herself.

The rules of the history recreation were found in politics, war, and in the gap between the public and the private. In the modern age, people were beginning to ask what to do about those rules.

Masazumi stood at the forefront of that trend and Reizei had reacted to her question about death.

Suzu had noticed Reizei’s caution and passed that information along to Masazumi.

Bell: “Masazumi.”

Masazumi had asked about something they had struggled with and accepted. And…

Vice President: “Judge. We need to know how our negotiating partner views his own fate.”

In other words…

“Akechi Mitsuhide has no intention of dying at the Battle of Yamazaki,” restated Masazumi. “But he has some thoughts about where he will die, doesn’t he?”

Reizei stopped moving altogether.

She remained motionless.

This question clearly exceeded her authority as an automaton even more than the previous one.

She was being asked about her master’s life and death and about her master’s decision on the matter.

But that didn’t mean she could just ask her master for an answer.

…I am an old-fashioned Imperial Palace model.

The Imperial Palace was inviolable. She had protected that place since the Age of Dawn, so she could not rely on her master to resolve a problem of her own making.

She nodded once. She used that gesture of acknowledgment to accept her current situation.

That girl was asking about Akechi Mitsuhide, who she had accepted as her master. The girl was asking when and where he intended to die.

That was a private matter. He had his rights and she could not violate them. So…

…Very well.

She could not answer this question.

Even if she did know the answer, her optimal choice as an automaton was to not answer. So…

“I am unable to answer that question,” she said. “And I doubt Akechi-sama would be able to tell you if it is correct or not.”

She cut off this line of questioning. She would not – could not – let this continue.

So she ended her motionlessness and asked a question of her own.

“Do you have any other questions?”

…She’s trying to get out of answering.

That was Masazumi’s assessment of Reizei’s decision.

Fortunately, Reizei was an automaton. She always based her decision on what she considered optimal, so she would not end the entire discussion because she was afraid or overthinking things.

She would only end the discussion once she concluded neither side had anything further to discuss and then she would refuse to listen to anything Masazumi might say.

Masazumi’s task remained unchanged.

She had to hit the bull’s eye.

Just like an automaton, she only had to make the optimal play and wait for the reaction.

This was a rough form of negotiation with no dealmaking or compromising. But now that she thought about it…

…This is just like dealing with Horizon, the Tachibana Wife, or the Date Vice Chancellor.

Futayo could also be that way sometimes.

“I see.”

Masazumi considered what topic to bring up next.

Reizei was asking for another question, but what other question could she ask?

Vice President: “Hey, anyone got any questions I could ask?”

10ZO: “Y-you gave up on coming up with something yourself awfully quick there, Masazumi-dono!”

Flat Vassal: “And what else could we ask if we can’t even ask if Lord Akechi has thoughts about where he’ll die?”

Bell: B-but she did…react.”

Unturning: “Couldn’t we forcibly intervene? If rejecting any forced deaths in the history recreation is Musashi’s policy, isn’t this a good enough excuse to intervene? In other words…”

Horizey: “This means warrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

Gold Mar: “Someone dodging a question during an international meeting might be the worst justification for declaring war I’ve ever heard.”

Tachibana Wife: “Um, actually, wars were started over petty things like that all the time during the Warring States period.”

Tachibana Husband: “Wars have been declared because a leader was served bad food or because the sister they had married off returned home. The Far East sure is broad-minded, don’t you think?”

Art-Ga: “Okay, Adele. You’re up.”

Flat Vassal: “Eh!? Eh!? For what!?”

Horizey: “War is so much simpler than trying to find another question to ask! So you’re up, Adele-sama. I feel like Musashi’s primary export will soon be be ‘a wide variety or wars, both seasonal and annual’, but perhaps that is just the character of the Far East as a whole.”

Tonbokiri: “Masazumi is a great Vice President. She makes sure I always have work to do.”

Vice President: “That is not ‘great’! Besides, we aren’t at war with them yet!”

Asama: “Um, Masazumi? ‘Yet’?”

Horizey: “Yayyyyyy! How merciful you are, Masazumi-sama, to actually give the Imperial Palace a chance to talk things out first!”

Maybe that was a bad choice of words, thought Masazumi with a hand on her forehead.

…No, I already explained that war is an option as a last resort.

But it’s only a last resort, so I doubt we’ll be using it here, she added.

Besides, this was a peaceful meeting. They were simply searching out each other’s positions. Threatening war there would make them no better than a yakuza state that threatens people into doing what they want.

Nothing’s better than peace. And the possibility of war can be used to ensure you keep that peace. So it’s important to keep that card in your deck. Yes.

“I must warn you, Reizei-sama.”

Out of nowhere, Horizon raised her right hand and spoke to Reizei.

“If you give Masazumi-sama an answer she doesn’t like or take a condescending attitude during negotiations with her, you are liable to end up on the receiving end of a war or worse.”

All of Reizei’s decisions froze.

…Wh-what was that? War? Or worse?

A subconscious safety feature forcibly adjusted her thoughts. A boot up jingle played in her head and she was functioning once more.

Automatons could not feel “panicked”, but her experiences and statistics told her that her current situation was very similar.

She needed to calm down.

She started by assessing the situation. The Musashi Vice President stood across from her. Statistically, the look on the girl’s face was one of light tension, but was that really true? Her research said Musashi prided itself in being “a combat nation with strict standards regarding jokes”, so this could be meant as a humorous facial expression.

She needed to be careful.

As a negotiator and as an automaton, her job was to seek out the optimal decision for herself and her opponent. If the optimal decisions for the two of them shifted too far apart, they could not find a compromise and neither one of them would benefit. So…

“Musashi Vice President.”

She needed to confirm whether or not a meeting between Musashi and her master was necessary. And to do so…

“War leads to many losses and creates a situation I cannot possibly call optimal. Thus, war is only optimal in the sense that it ensures one side will win and a conclusion will be reached.”

Now, then.

“You will not be making that choice here, will you?”

She asked just to be sure. The Musashi Vice President patted the Musashi Princess’s shoulders and hurriedly nodded.

“O-of course not. I would never.”

“Are you sure?” pressed Reizei.

This time, the Musashi Princess patted the Musashi Vice President’s shoulders thrice.

“Masazumi-sama, there is no smile in your eyes.”

“There doesn’t need to be!”

After that whispered exchange, the Musashi Vice President spoke to the group gathered behind her.

“Isn’t that right, everyone!?”

Their 4th Special Duty Officer Technohexen looked back over her shoulder. Reizei’s information said she was a Weiss Hexen, but she was wearing a Scwharz Hexen costume like all the others. That may have been some kind of rule here.

“Poor Masazumi… I can’t stand to see her suppressing her true desires like this.”

“I know, Ga-chan. She’s forcing herself to give that automaton what she wants.”

“Um, Lady Masazumi? I don’t entirely understand, but nothing good comes from bottling up your feelings. Right, Master Tenzou?”

“J-judge! Exactly right! You shouldn’t do that, Masazumi-dono!”

“Wait! Hey! Do none of you understand the situation here!?”

Hearing that, they all turned toward the crossdresser.

The Musashi Chancellor slowly shrugged while they all watched.

“It’s been more than 2 weeks since Seijun’s last war, so the urge is probably getting unbearable.”

“Wait!”

Reizei very much agreed with the Musashi Vice President here. But then someone else joined the conversation.

“You are correct, my king.” The Mito Lord addressed the crossdresser while looking toward her Vice President. “Which is why we shouldn’t be treating this like we’re casually asking her to go grab a quick bowl of ramen. We should treat it like we are inviting her out for a big, juicy steak.”

“THIS MEANS WARRRRRRRRRRRR! …Oh, excuse me. I ended up recreating the joy I would feel if that cut of meat had just been served to me. How indecent of me. Bad Horizon.”

“I never knew you had such a healthy love of meat, Horizon!” exclaimed the Mito Lord.

“Judge.” The crossdresser nodded and looked to the Vice President. He also gave the princess a thumbs up. “There you go, Seijun.”

“There I go what!?”

Reizei realized she had gone motionless again while listening to their conversation.

…What is this?

She had a feeling things were progressing in a direction she wouldn’t like.

But then the Musashi Vice President quickly turned her way.

“Don’t worry! Everything will be fine!”

She smiled at Reizei while ignoring the others chanting “War! War! War!” behind her like baby birds asking their mother for food.

“There won’t be any war! So just relax and continue the negotiations! Okay!?”

How am I supposed to believe that?

Chapter 58: Curious People in a Curious Place[edit]

Oh?

Some people

Are talking about me…

Point Allocation (Should We Trade Places?)

“And with that said…”

Reizei watched the Musashi Vice President speak with her arms spread.

“I want you to trust what you see and feel here.”

…How am I supposed to do that!?

Automatons had an especially hard time with problems they had to think through on their own. After all, their souls were generally born to provide assistance. They had trouble wanting things, thinking about things, and doing things on their own.

So in negotiations, they generally sought the optimal answer for both parties to ensure neither side lost out. If possible, they would prioritize an optimal answer that matched their master’s wishes, but even then their idea of “optimal” was to avoid anything that went against the other side’s optimal answer.

They did their best to reach an optimal answer that was a positive thing for both parties.

Simply put, it was an absolute form of compromise.

That attitude was crucial for keeping the Imperial Palace inviolable. Reizei had held herself to that standard ever since the Age of Dawn. However…

…This is my first time negotiating with someone whose optimal answer is war!

After all, the people constructed the current system during the Age of Dawn specifically to avoid any further war. And we entered the Imperial Palace to assist with that…and some other things as well.

Why did this girl want war? The Musashi Vice President appeared to be forcing a smile.

“To be very clear, Musashi is a pacifist nation.”

Yet…

“We can’t take the option of war off the table when dealing with the other nations, but it is always a last resort. Musashi never starts a war. If the world finds peace, we intend to disarm ourselves.”

However…

“May I ask something?” said Reizei.

“Judge. What is it?”

Reizei just came out and asked it.

“How often have you relied on war to resolve your problems with other nations?”

Masazumi considered that.

…There was Mikawa…but we didn’t really have a choice there.

The Armada Battle was something we agreed on while speaking with England. The battles among the Special Duty Officers before that were something England started.

The IZUMO battle, Magdeburg, and Mikatagahara were things we got roped into against our will. Oh, the three nations meeting didn’t lead to war with Mogami. And in addition to that…

Gold Mar: “Seijun, Seijun.”

Vice President: “Hm? What is it, Naito?”

“Judge,” said Naito while making rolls of coins.

Gold Mar: “She asked how often we used war to solve our problems, not how many times we’ve declared war. Make sure you answer the right question.”

Art-Ga: “Have we ever solved our problems with something other than war? And how many negotiations have we had that didn’t lead straight to war?”

Horizey: “What about Ookubo-sama’s fun and exciting student assembly at Mito that we didn’t participate in?”

Tachibana Wife: “That was only used to gather opinions within Musashi, so I don’t think it counts as solving our problems with another nation.”

Uqui: “Then what about the negotiation with Ankokuji Ekei the other day?”

“Oh, yeah!” shouted the others.

Me: “I can’t believe one actually exists!”

…Do I need to kick your butt!?

Meanwhile, everyone opened sign frames without stopping their work.

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. But are there any others? Out with it, everyone! Spill the beans!”

Flat Vassal: “Judge! What about when the Satomi Student Council President and I went to Mogami!? The 2nd Special Duty Officer having fun in Date and Sviet Rus going to Novgorod don’t count, though.”

Asama: “Um…wouldn’t the negotiation with Oushuu Fujiwara technically count?”

Scarred: “What about your negotiation with Howard?”

Novice: “That was more Bertoni-kun’s negotiation than Musashi’s.”

Me: “So is that all of them?”

…I sure hope not.

That thought was cut off by Mary nodding and speaking.

Scarred: “We have had a lot of negotiations and we are short on time, so wouldn’t it be better to conclude we have had five or so peaceful negotiations instead of checking over them all right now?”

Reizei watched the Musashi Vice President nod and speak.

“To answer your question, it sounds like there have been five or so times my negotiations haven’t led to war.”

Reizei found an extremely upsetting decision being made in her mind.

“Five times?”

“Five or so times. Or so I’ve been told.”

“Isn’t that really low?”

“Hmm.” The Musashi Vice President crossed her arms and groaned a bit before answering. “Whether it’s high or low is a subjective thing, so I can’t really give you a definitive answer. It sounds like a lot to me personally.”

Asama: “Five times is a lot!? Are you sure you should be saying that, Masazumi!?”

Vice President: “It’s called negotiating, okay!? Agreeing with her that it’s low let’s her control the conversation!”

Art-Ga: “Let’s see, Asama’s line on this page can be ‘five times isn’t anywhere near enough for me’.”

Still Got It: “And it shouldn’t be! Five times is when you’re just getting started! Don’t let her outdo you, Nate!”

Silver Wolf: “Why are you a part of this conversation!?”

Novice: “This is really making us sound like a yakuza nation, isn’t it?”

Flat Vassal: “Eh? Is it?”

10ZO: “It kind of is. I mean, if 5 times without war seems like a lot, then it implies we intended for even more of our negotiations to end in war.”

Vice President: “Oops.”

Almost Everyone: “Think before you speak!”

Reizei watched the Musashi Vice President smile and speak.

“You know, now that I think about it, that is pretty low. Only five times without war? That’s disastrously low, don’t you think?”

…What kind of question is that!?

Reizei simulated her possible answers in her head.

Say it is a lot → She says “then let’s not do that again” and declares war.

Say it is low → She says “might as well stick with what we know best” and declares war.

…Every option leads to war!

Reizei worked her brain for around three seconds, running more than ten quadrillion simulations.

“T-to answer your question,” she said. “Whether it is high or low is a subjective thing, so I cannot provide a definitive answer.”

Vice President: “See, what did I tell you!? People’s opinions of how many times we have and haven’t gone to war are subjective! I was right.”

Unturning: “So you are leaving that as a question for later historians to answer.”

Bell: “Wh-what happens…then?”

Tachibana Wife: “Musashi and the Vice President are attempting to create a peaceful world, so the question is how that peaceful world will judge her war declaration rate when looking back on this age. The answer seems obvious to me.”

Art-Ga: “Wayyyy too much war!”

Vice President: “Hey, have you all forgotten this is the Warring States period? This is the standard way of life for the people of our age. It doesn’t matter what people in the future think.”

Gold Mar: “Now you’re just making excuses.”

…Anyway, we have to be in a better position now that the Musashi is armed and we can use the threat of war when negotiating. Probably, anyway.

Masazumi just about convinced herself with that wishful thinking, but…

Horizey: “Masazumi-sama, I understand that starting negotiations with an attitude of ‘eh, might as well go to war’ is how your Masazumi Rules work, but that will fill Musashi’s Evil Gauge much too quickly for my liking, so could you possibly limit yourself to no more than three times a day?”

Me: “Wouldn’t once a week be better?”

Horizey: “No, Toori-sama. If we restrict her too much, she will be unable to contain herself and might began an entirely unprovoked invasion.”

No, I wouldn’t.

And three times a day sounds like enough to conquer the world in about a month.

…That’s pretty fast. Maybe that should be our plan!

No, it shouldn’t.

My thoughts are switching back forth a lot today. Could it be the festive mood?

Anyway, I’m coming off as a big war proponent, but it should only be used sparingly. Yes, sparingly. I only need to sprinkle a bit of war on top of our negotiations. I need to stay positive. That’s crucial for a politician.

War was always a possibility and it was a possibility that influenced the other side, so it could be useful in negotiations.

She felt like she was getting the order backwards and she would probably have to fix that later, but it was always possible to get a fresh start.

What mattered now was she had trapped Reizei in this discussion.

Reizei had tried to run away and compromise, but Masazumi had trapped her right in front of her now. And in a way, that was thanks to the others causing a scene behind her. Now there’s an idea I don’t like. Isn’t there any other way of interpreting this?

Bell: “M-Masazumi…you look…sad?”

Gold Mar: “I bet it’s just heat exhaustion. It is hot in the Ariake after all.”

How do they stay so positive at all times?

Anyway, I need to fight back too.

Remember to stay positive. So…

“Exactly, Reizei. Whether we go to war a lot or a little doesn’t matter. This is the Warring States period and the age of the Thirty Years’ War, after all.” Masazumi addressed Reizei who looked cautious. “I am a pacificist and Musashi tries to avoid war whenever possible. Yes, wars do sometimes happen and I can’t really explain why, but I say we chalk that up to the age we live in. Let’s stay positive, Reizei. …Now, when does Akechi Mitsuhide plan to die?”

She asked the question Reizei had dodged earlier.

…She says she can’t tell us anything about her master.

So Masazumi only had to ask this.

“I want to hear your thoughts on the matter. Not the truth your master knows – your own personal thoughts.”

Reizei considered that.

…My thoughts?

Her personal thoughts about her master.

In a way, that felt like a contradictory request. But she also knew this question was directed at something automatons had trouble with and something they excelled out.

In an automaton’s thoughts, all questions and answers were separated out.

Automatons could not mix their thoughts together. They were worse than humans at comprehensive thinking, but they excelled at what the Musashi Vice President had just asked about.

She could separate her own personal thoughts from her master’s thoughts concerning his death.

Humans could not do the same.

Akechi Mitsuhide had already told her what he had decided on the matter.

Humans could not forget what they had been told.

And as long as they had their memory of being told, they couldn’t say for sure that any thoughts they had were truly only their own.

A connection had been created there.

So even if they successfully isolated their own thoughts on the matter, they could never stop doubting and neither could anyone else. That was why humans placed more weight on connections than on their own personal thoughts.

…Because they can no longer isolate their personal thoughts.

But automatons were different.

If they were given parameters to use, they could produce their own isolated thoughts.

They could not handle comprehensive thinking since the conditions branched off so much, but they could always select what was needed with something that could be scanned and categorized.

When Akechi Mitsuhide had conveyed his decision to her, she had repeatedly examined it. That was the only way for her to trust in what he had said and it supported her now.

But now she would eliminate that support.

She would consider this question without the decision he had told her.

“You want to know when Akechi-sama will be lost?”

She unemotionally focused on her personal thoughts.

She placed herself a step removed from Akechi Mitsuhide to perform her own duty and nothing else.

“Musashi negotiator, I have a request for you as the Imperial Palace’s negotiator.”

She had to make this clear as a defender of the Imperial Palace.

“Will you preserve the Imperial Palace’s inviolable status?”

Reizei spoke to the Musashi Vice President to fulfill her duty.

“I cannot answer your question if you cannot do that.”

“Why not?”

That was the expected question.

It was also a question she had faced several times in the past.

…Yes.

Tomoe Gozen was standing to the side observing the discussion in silence. Reizei had answered the same question in Tomoe Gozen’s time.

The regents had stormed in and asked if there was any way of saving Tomoe Gozen and the others.

She had warned them there were a few different reasons and their questions were a problem.

Tomoe Gozen was surely thinking back on that time. She had not stormed into the Imperial Palace back then, but that was why she imagined the scene now.

She was realizing what exchange must have occurred then.

And Reizei provided the same response she had back then.

She had no sentiment.

Her answer had always been the same and it always would.

“Because the Imperial Palace is the Emperor’s residence. It must remain inviolable.”

“Then,” said the girl. “Why is Akechi Mitsuhide allowed to interfere with you?”

Reizei was unsure if she should answer that one.

She chose to answer because this girl was the type to dig in her heels.

Any member of the imperial court would back off when she gave that standard line. They knew displeasing the Imperial Palace by refusing to back down would lead to political conflict.

But these people felt no such fear. So Reizei answered not to further negotiations but to convince Musashi to give up.

“There is a simple reason why Akechi-sama can interfere with us.”

It was because…

“We have accepted him as our master.”

Unturning: “Hm? Wouldn’t the Emperor be master to the Imperial Palace’s automatons?”

Horizey: “Asama-samaaaaa!”

Asama: “Yes, yes, yes. Um, I don’t know very much about those automatons, but automatons can operate without a master, can’t they?”

Horizey: “A masterless automaton sounds like a sort of mysterious phenomenon to me.”

Unturning: “Kiyonari, I can’t…”

Uqui: “You let her win if you react. Look, you see her arms down at her feet gesturing for you to say something, don’t you?”

Asama: “Umm, as you can see, there are some automatons without masters. For that matter, the Musashi’s automatons are masterless too.”

Art-Ga: “Oh, one of them kind of has a master, so I’ll ask the Musashino’s bridge about it real quick.”

Musashino: “ ‘Musashi’-sama? We just received a divine transmission from down below asking if Sakai-sama is your mast- ‘Musashi’-sama!? Why did you shut down our connection!? Hello!? Can you hear me!? Over.”

Silver Wolf: “Well, officially anyway, none of the Musashi automatons have masters.”

Gold Mar: “It feels weird only realizing it now, but I guess I never really thought about it before. So how can they function without one?”

Smoking Girl: “Because they are part of a larger system. In this case, the Musashi’s massive flight system. Their position there provides them with a clearly defined role. To put it another way, you could view that role as their master.”

Tachibana Wife: “I can only speculate, but if they do have a clear master, they need that master’s decision about anything they do. But in a system that must remain running at all times and must respond to emergencies, needing to seek out their master would only waste precious time.”

Flat Vassal: “Um, in that case…”

Asama: “Yes, Reizei-san and the others like her have been given roles within the Far East’s ley line management system centered on the Emperor. Did you get all that, Masazumi?”

“I see.”

Masazumi could now make a few guesses and recognized some connections that had been left unsaid.

Reizei stood in front of her.

The crowds were walking by nearby and anyone who wasn’t paying attention probably saw them as friends chatting next to the sales table. Anyone who was paying attention would see it as two nations “happening across each other” at the event. They would either pretend they hadn’t seen anything or try to spy on them from a distance.

Vice President: “Crossunite.”

10ZO: “Judge. I have already called in the Ariake’s guards and had them arrest some people I noticed people using lipreading and other spying techniques.”

A student was yelling at a nearby intersection while the guards took him away.

“N-no! I was only mouthing the words I just lipread, not savoring the scents of all the nearby girls in my mouth!”

I’m pretty sure both of those options are bad.

At any rate, it sounded like they could speak here without being overheard. Back behind the sales table, Naruze said they were down to just two boxes left and the others cheered, but Masazumi had no idea how impressive that was.

But she could see something more clearly now.

“Reizei.”

She had to confirm something before asking Reizei her thoughts on Akechi Mitsuhide’s death.

“I think I know what it means for Akechi Mitsuhide to be your master,” she said. “You see him as someone who shares your understanding of and problems regarding the Imperial Palace system, don’t you? You have accepted him as your master because you can incorporate him into the Imperial Palace management system.”

Tomoe Gozen was monitoring the progression of negotiations. And her thought here was…

…So she understands that the Imperial Palace is a system.

Since Tomoe Gozen had been born in an age when the imperial court still held a lot of power, she had a strong understanding of the palace as the center of the Divine States’ political system.

But people born in the current age tended to not even know what the imperial court really was. They just pictured people with white makeup and shaved eyebrows reciting poetry and getting rich off of their court rank.

That image wasn’t entirely wrong, but people these days could take a more detached view than in Tomoe Gozen’s time. That meant they didn’t fear the court and could freely talk about and analyze them.

“I see.”

Tomoe Gozen repeated the Musashi Vice President’s line because she agreed with that she had said.

If Reizei and the other automatons lacked a master, it was because they belonged to the system that was the Imperial Palace. Their role was probably to protect the Emperor who managed the ley lines within, so they had to keep the palace inviolable.

Just like a delicate device or spell, the system was not designed to be messed with.

The Imperial Palace had held more political authority back in Tomoe Gozen’s time, so she had to wonder how that inviolable system had dealt with her situation back then.

She knew everyone had been turned away at the entrance.

But then she found herself questioning the strict adherence to the Testament back then.

If the Imperial Palace was a single complete system, then she could only think of two possible reasons they hadn’t been granted leniency with their history recreation.

First, it was a way of pushing them away and keeping the Imperial Palace inviolable.

And second…

…I wonder.

She wasn’t certain, but this other possibility dealt with a major problem regarding that system.

When she considered the rejection of her issue back then in comparison to the current discussion, that possibility was hard to ignore.

…What if rejecting situations like ours was an intended part of the Imperial Palace system?

That would mean, she added, following that line of thought.

This idea had occurred to her while listening in on someone’s discussion at this noisy event, but if she were to convert it into words…

“Could it be?”

She kept her voice too low for anyone to hear and completed the thought in her mind.

…Is forcing compliance with the Testament part of the system to preserve the Imperial Palace?

Tomoe Gozen did not understand why she had gasped.

What does this mean? she thought, about several things at once.

Did she mean her guess? Did she mean what that guess pointed to? Or did she mean herself considering these things here?

She wasn’t sure.

But that was the question on her mind.

What if the system to preserve the Imperial Palace included a forced compliance with the Testament?

…The Musashi is rejecting a part of their system by using interpretations.

In that case, this could lead to a direct confrontation between the Imperial Palace and Musashi.

That was too dangerous.

But she also knew what it meant for her to be thinking about all this.

“Ha.”

She belatedly realized what Reizei had meant earlier and what Matsunaga Hisahide had meant when he spoke to Musashi that one time.

…I see.

They were starting to question the old order and the things it took for granted.

But this new order would not destroy the old. If the Imperial Palace would choose their death through the destruction of that system, then Musashi would attempt to stop the losses that would cause.

They were a troublesome lot, but that was why she had left this with them. It hadn’t been entirely subconscious, but she had known they could reveal the truth of the Imperial Palace.

But she had been able to guess they would not crush or end the palace after revealing its truth. She had guessed they would turn it into something new, which would not satisfy her old grudge.

And now the Musashi Vice President was working at just that.

She made it sound like a greeting.

“I find it fascinating to think Akechi Mitsuhide has a strong understanding of the Imperial Palace. Because that means someone living in the present can involve himself in a system that has existed since the Age of Dawn. And…” She made her move. “That means it would be possible for us to involve ourselves in it as well.”

“That is not possible,” stated Reizei. Immediately.

…That will not happen.

There were a few reasons why. But the most important one was also the one she could safely give them.

“Akechi Mitsuhide-sama is all we need.”

“That’s the thing.” The Musashi Vice President pointed at herself with her thumb. “We’re saying we’ll take his place. By receiving his inherited name.”

“You cannot do that.”

Masazumi heard Reizei’s denial.

She did not take it as a rejection because she knew this was merely a decision of whether or not it would be possible.

Of course, Masazumi didn’t know why it was impossible.

But she doubted Reizei would be willing to tell her.

She did have one thought, though.

Reizei had some reason to think of Akechi Mitsuhide as special and he shared some problem with Reizei and her fellow Imperial Palace automatons. And this had to be something Masazumi had already seen and experienced. Because…

“Yeah, I can see why you have to be so vague about your reasons.” Masazumi chose her words carefully. “Because if you say it any more clearly, you’d be taken away, wouldn’t you?”

…The Double Border Crest.

Masazumi had that term in her mind when she saw Reizei freeze.

The automaton chose not to move. And for a long time.

That meant she understood what Masazumi had said.

The Double Border Crest.

Reizei understood that, but she was having trouble determining why Masazumi had hinted at that.

Of course she was having trouble. She had been inside the Imperial Palace, so she hadn’t seen or experienced what Masazumi had.

Why did Musashi know so much about the Double Border Crest?

If she didn’t have an answer to that, then her automaton mind would spin in circles until she ended that train of thought.

This problem tended to show itself the more important an issue it was for Musashi.

So…

“I can have the Asama Shrine send over the relevant data if necessary, but we – I – have encountered it.”

She thought back to those times.

It had honestly been enough to make her tremble.

For her, her mother had disappeared, and…

“William of Orange, the Chancellor of Holland, was taken away in the Age of Dawn ruins located below Novgorod. And when he was, it appeared behind our backs.”

And…

“We saw it again the other day with Mori Ranmaru who was sent to P.A. Oda from the Imperial Palace.”

“#32?”

“Correct, #18.”

Masazumi asked the question inside her. The question summed up her thoughts when her mother disappeared, at Novgorod, and the other day with Ranmaru.

“What is that?”

There were several implied whys in that question.

Why did my mother disappear?

Why was I targeted?

Why are you targeted?

Why is it all connected to the Imperial Palace?

…Why?

She doubted Reizei could actually answer those questions. If she did, it was sure to appear behind her.

But she had her own thoughts on the matter.

“Mori Ranmaru asked us not to attack your Imperial Palace.”

“#32.”

That was the same designator as before, but this time it wasn’t a question. It sounded to Masazumi like a statement of acceptance or resignation.

Masazumi only had to continue speaking to approach this automaton.

“We can go to war and fight back against any force that attempts to destroy us, but I’m sure the same is true of you. You can’t just take it when someone attacks you for no reason.”

But…

“What is that?”

The Double Border Crest. And to combine that with what the Prince of Orange had said…

“What is the Princess?”

Again, she knew she wasn’t going to get any answers to these questions. But…

“Answer me.”

She connected it all back to her initial request to Reizei.

“What are your thoughts regarding your master?”

In other words…

“When and where does Akechi Mitsuhide intend to be taken away by the Princess?”

Mary briefly shrank down while handing books to the line of buyers.

…He intends to be taken away by the Princess?

She had never thought of it that way.

Her father, Henry VIII, had been taken in the Princess Disappearances. It was a mysterious phenomenon and he had been taken away so thoroughly that she and her sister had both failed to follow the ether remnants.

They had still been children at the time, but the adults had all said the king had been taken away.

Afterwards, the general consensus had been to put her sister on the throne while Mary would assist in the history recreation, but they had ultimately reached an impasse there.

She had sometimes thought their father would have had a solution if he had still been with them. She had also wished there had been an authority over the two of them who could have helped when they needed to right a misunderstanding brought on by their respective positions.

But their father hadn’t been there.

He had been taken away, so she just had to accept it. Their inability to follow him had taught them all too well how real it was.

“Mary-dono, you appear to be running low on books.”

He passed her a fresh stack of books from the side.

“Oh.”

Had he noticed she had gotten lost in thought? He ignored the way the people in the line all opened their sign frames and started typing something.

“An event like this really is a group effort, isn’t it?” he said.

“You mean…?”

He nodded, telling her they couldn’t hold up the line so she should keep her question short when she sent it.

“If you have any thoughts, someone will make sure you can step forward and ask about it.”

So…

“You are free to think.”

He did understand. Knowing that felt like enough for her.

“Master Tenzou, do you mind if I ask too much of you?”

“Judge. You are really setting your sights high this time, aren’t you?”

“Eh?”

“None of your requests have ever felt like too much to me.”

She felt heat rapidly rising from her neck.

…Oh, um, wait…

She had thought she had gotten over this weird tension after rearranging their room the other day, but here it was again. She felt like she had gained a new switch inside her after Odawara and he kept unintentionally hitting it.

But the spilling flowers didn’t lie. Her blood instantly heated up.

“U-um, I apologize, but the heat seems to be getting to me. Can you take over for me?”

He had intended to do that from the beginning, but now she had a reason to ask for it. She bowed toward the line in front of her.

“I am sorry, everyone, but Master Tenzou will be taking over.”

“Judge!”

They all nodded unusually vigorously and began typing away at their sign frames for some inexplicable reason.

Art-Ga: “The thread I started before the event just exploded. What did you do, Tenzou? It’s honestly scary.”

10ZO: “N-none of this would have happened if not for you, Naruze-dono!”

Mary lightly slapped her heated cheeks and returned to the inventory space. The crossdressing Chancellor had a bamboo water bottle for her. She drank some of that, accepted a wet hand towel from Asama, and pressed it against her face.

…It’s cool.

The folded hand towel had a cooling charm attached. The unexpected chilliness helped her adjust her thoughts with a sigh. She brought the water bottle’s reed straw to her mouth again.

She wasn’t sure what to think when she recognized the flavor of yuzu in the water.

But for now, she hurriedly opened a sign frame to ask her question regarding what she had heard earlier.

Scarred: “Um, I have a question about what you said concerning the Double Border Crest.”

This was her question.

Scarred: “Would someone really intentionally let it take them?”

Tenzou nodded at Mary’s question while watching the line of expressionless people who kept glancing his way.

…If that is an option, then what about when Henry VIII was taken?

Then again, they didn’t know one way or the other if he had wanted to be taken.

However, it was always a possibility.

Asama: “Someone…with a connection to it? Well, I don’t know if that’s how it works, but someone like that could summon it to them to intentionally have it take them away. We saw it nearly happen to Mori Ranmaru-san and Reizei-san appears to be in a similar situation.”

Vice President: “I’d like to believe it wasn’t intentional with my mother, though.”

Horizey: “Judge. I find it hard to believe the mother of a girl who regularly collapses on the side of the road and spends all of her monthly income on books would abandon her daughter by letting herself get Double Border Crested.”

Was that supposed to be comforting? But Tenzou, and probably Suzu, heard a quiet snort of laughter from Masazumi.

He could only say one thing for now.

10ZO: “It would be best to assume some of the crest’s victims were taken willingly.”

Silver Wolf: “By why do that?”

Each of them probably had their own reasons. But…

Vice President: “Did you forget? The Nonexistent Academy was trying to befriend the Princess, but that failed and so the Prince of Orange, a student there, was taken by the Princess Disappearances. Thinking back, that may have been something he wanted.”

No, silently replied Tenzou. And…

Me: “Seijun, aren’t you getting a little overexcited here?”

Vice President: “What’s wrong with that?”

Me: “Did you think up some awful pun?”

Vice President: “It isn’t awful. It’s just so clever I doubt any of you would get it.”

A concerned stir ran through the others.

But their Vice President relaxed her shoulders. And…

Vice President: He was trying to leave a message for us, but that got him taken by the Princess. …The Princess has caused us a lot of trouble, but I think we finally know where she lives.”

The Imperial Palace.

That place connected Mori Ranmaru, Reizei, and Akechi Mitsuhide.

Of course, Reizei wouldn’t answer if asked about this.

But Masazumi asked the question needed to obtain further confirmation.

“Akechi Mitsuhide said he has no intention of dying. But what about being taken by the Princess Disappearances?”

And she asked another question.

“When does he intend to summon a Princess Disappearance for himself?”

Reizei just about responded.

She could immediately give an honest answer. However…

…How much does she know?

How much did she know about the Double Border Crest and the Imperial Palace? This question told Reizei that the Musashi Vice President was searching for a certain answer.

…Can they share our problem?

Her master was Akechi Mitsuhide.

That would not change until she deemed him to be unfit as a master.

They had all made that same decision as automatons, so they all obeyed him.

So he would remain their master for the time being. And given when he would be lost, it was highly unlikely he would ever be deemed unfit as a master before then.

Thus, these people here could not become her master.

That is correct, she told herself.

These people had not arrived in time.

They had been slower than Akechi.

Also, they had yet to reach the center of it all. They were still searching for that.

“It is too bad.”

If only they had had more time or fate had dealt them a better hand.

…Then we might have welcomed you as our master.

They could not share her problem, so she decided to provide a plain response.

But in that very moment, the Musashi Vice President spoke unexpectedly.

“We will not disappear. …And we don’t intend to let Lord Akechi disappear either.”

“–––––”

“Do you get what I mean?” she asked. “Your answer was meant to bring that option into view for you. And if you believe it will happen soon, then we can demonstrate our intent to intervene. Of course, I doubt we’re qualified to do that yet, but if we can make up for that,” she said. “Then a single word from you would be enough to prevent your master from being lost.”

That was a bold move, thought Narumi.

She did not know much about automaton thoughts and traits. There hadn’t been many of them in Date land, but more than that, she wasn’t the type to intrude on other people’s thoughts.

But her life and experiences on the Musashi had taught her the general way they thought.

They always sought the optimal answer.

That in turn gave them trouble with grasping comprehensive information. So…

…She has her trapped.

When would Akechi Mitsuhide be lost? That question had forced the automaton to bring the answer to mind and then the Musashi Vice President had overturned that assumed loss with a possible intervention.

…Reizei has accepted the loss of her master, but what if she doesn’t have to accept it?

Unturning: “When an automaton does have a master, how significant is it when they lose that master?”

Narumi considered that question.

Unturning: “If they might not lose their master after all, is that a plus in their mind? Or is it nothing since it means nothing actually changes?”

But she could see something here: Reizei.

The automaton hadn’t moved for a while now.

She couldn’t move.

“If she gives her answer, it’s all over.”

The automaton’s stillness eloquently answered the Musashi Vice President’s question.

“Because if she gives her answer, we will intervene. She wants to avoid that, but she also doesn’t want to avoid it, so she freezes up. That’s all the answer we need,” said Narumi. “Akechi Mitsuhide will be lost soon.”

Masazumi watched Reizei.

The frozen automaton might as well have answered the question already.

Akechi Mitsuhide would have himself lost soon.

When would that be?

The Battle of Yamazaki? The Honnouji Incident? Some other upcoming event?

If it was Honnouji…

…We will intervene.

She did not know if Reizei would answer or not. It was very likely she would reject them. But if so, they could still negotiate with Akechi Mitsuhide himself.

It was too soon to say this would work. With the Battle of Yamazaki, there was a good possibility that Akechi Mitsuhide’s decision would come after Honnouji.

What would they do then?

…No.

The question now was when it would be. They could focus on the rest after they knew that. And…

“–––––”

Reizei resumed moving.

She straightened up and opened her mouth.

And at precisely that moment…

“Wow, sorry about all this trouble, Reizei-kun.”

A male voice suddenly came from behind Reizei.

Masazumi looked that way to see a tall and lanky man. He wore a tightly-wrapped turban pulled down over his eyes, he wore a large backpack, and he used a wooden forked cane.

Masazumi heard what Reizei called him when she turned his way.

“Akechi-sama!”

Chapter 59: On-Site Decisionmaker[edit]

Um, what is this?

It’s a treasure trove

And not just of porn

Point Allocation (It’s Exciting?)

Tadaoki felt like he was hallucinating inside the Ariake.

…This is weird.

He was aware his tastes – especially in music – were nothing like his peers.

But for some reason, when he looked around here…

“Why are there so many books, cover discs, and self-published wax discs here?”

There was so much vulgar M.H.R.R. local music.

M.H.R.R. was most famous for its knight music, but those were either depressing songs from the time they kept losing battles to the barbarians or the really fancy songs that came about during the time of “everyone’s old man” Karl the Great. He found the latter especially annoying since it was so glorified in modern times and they would add in brass instruments.

This, on the other hand, was more intense than flashy.

It was barbarian music.

It was the anti-establishment music of the nonhumans who lived in the forests, of the pirates, and of the Vikings. Roaring noise was placed over string instruments and he especially liked the kind that included some Far Eastern instruments too.

But from his wife’s point of view…

“I had heard there were a lot of original works and musical products on the first day and it seems that was accurate.”

His wife had escorted him here which had honestly made him feel kind of inadequate as a guy, but now that he was here, he was extremely thankful.

…I can’t believe she likes this vulgar music too.

It was an unexpected point in common.

He knew he didn’t have the best manners. Most people had avoided him back at his original M.H.R.R. school and he only avoided more friction with his upperclassmen now because of he had known Nabeshima and Kani from back home.

He knew he wasn’t a virtuous person. He was a brat. And being aware of it only made it worse.

He felt his inherited name was partly to blame.

The historical Nagaoka Tadaoki was often treated like a daimyo because he could write poetry and knew the proper tea etiquette. But during battle, he had used underhanded methods and slaughtered people. He had also restricted what his wife could do while sleeping around a lot himself.

…He joined the Warring States period as something like a well-raised anarchist.

Tadaoki himself didn’t have such a nice upbringing, so he had needed to work hard learning the ropes. Poetry and tea were a real pain. After arriving on the Musashi, he had met with the club adviser for the middle school he would be attending to discuss his plans for after summer break.

“Nagaoka-kun, why do you have a rifle with you while writing poetry?”

“Oh, that. It’s technically part of my history recreation. The historical Nagaoka Tadaoki cut down 36 poets he didn’t like, right? That’s what my Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry is for, but I haven’t actually done that part yet. I was kind of wondering how to handle it.”

The adviser had then very politely suggested he would be better served by joining the high school poetry club. When he had asked which high school that was, he had learned it was the nudist’s school.

What would happen if he went there? He feared he would end up with it painted gold next time.

…But I need to study up on poetry and tea for my wife’s sake.

His inherited name would mean a lot more once he was in high school two years from now. He needed to learn a lot before then, so he wanted to make good use of summer break.

But, he thought.

…I have weird tastes in music.

“Tadaoki-sama?”

“Judge.” He was starting to get used to that response.

“Do you like this kind of thing?”

“Eh? Yes, you see that shop – do you call them shops? – over there selling Hundred-Headed Hydra? I like them a lot. Oh, and I like Plaguer that debuted this year.”

“Oh, I know them. I can sing Black Deathmatch by Plaguer.”

“For real?”

“Testament.” His wife’s lips curled into a smile. “Plaguer is a band from Musashi and I saw them perform at the Gagaku Festival that Musashi held at Aki two years ago. When they had their official debut this year, I was like ‘oh, I know them’.”

“Then can you do karaoke?”

“I-if it’s in a private room.”

“It has to be to be soundproofed.”

He wondered why she needed to specify that, but then she took his hand and squeezed. She’s squeezing pretty tight. But I’m a guy, so I won’t complain about the pain. I won’t pull my hand back either.

But…

“Tadaoki-sama, I hope I can increase my repertoire of songs.”

“What kind do you usually listen to?”

“Do you have any recommendations?”

He considered that and took a look around.

“That spirit band called Lucky You is great to fall asleep too and I like Blast 66 which makes their drums sound like explosions.”

“Did you suggest those because I was sleeping in my residence and because I use bombs?”

He had, but on second thought, he was afraid she might pull some explosives out and cause a scene.

That had been careless of him. However…

“Lucky You does love songs and Blast usually does songs about determination.”

Bands tended to have their own personal style, but not every one of their songs would use that style. Especially in recent years when music was evolving so quickly with new instruments being recreated and such. The world was changing as well. If you continued with the same type of lyrics for too long, your songs would sound outdated. Tadaoki had learned Laborer Emperor from videos in elementary school, but now it counted as a nostalgic song.

Music was always changing and showing a new side to itself, so…

“I could help broaden your horizons if you told me what kind of music you like.”

“But my taste in music started with you, Tadaoki-sama.”

“I see,” he said before it hit him.

…Eh?

He looked up to see his wife looking up at the ceiling instead of at him.

…She’s still hiding something.

He could tell that much, but this was weirdly awkward. He wondered if there were parts of himself he should change to be more like her. That felt a little too transactional for his liking, but he did want to know more about her and get closer to her.

“Tadaoki-sama.” She pulled on his hand. “What do you think the Musashi group is doing right now?”

“Who knows. Something exciting, no doubt.”

“No doubt.” She smiled a little. “Events like this have a way of luring shut-ins like me out to join the excitement.”

…I thought if he was coming at all it would be later on, even with Naruze’s help.

Masazumi observed the lanky man.

Everyone else was directing their eyes or attention his way too. And…

Horizey: “Who’s this guy?”

You should be able to guess. And did you not hear Reizei say the answer out loud?

Me: “C’mon, Horizon, it’s obvious. This is Seijun’s homeroom teacher from elementary school here to say, ‘Masssazumi-kuuun, why are you out here peddling this Anus Eye filth?’ ”

Homeroom teacher? Sorry, but I went to the Atsuta Shrine’s academy for elementary school where the shrine’s people took turns teaching us. And they weren’t anything like your impression there. Also, I definitely don’t want to hear that from a man who clearly bought a lot of what people are selling here. Not to mention that the Anus Eye thing was your doing, idiot.

Vice President: “Does anyone have the right answer?”

Flat Vassal: “Now I’m scared to answer!”

Yeah, I can see that. But…

Bell: “Ak…echi…um…uh.”

Mukai gave the correct answer, but everyone only tilted their heads.

Me: “Hey, Seijun, Bell-san’s so upset that you’re not giving the right answer that I think it’s making her ‘back itchy’ or something?”

Horizey: “Toori-sama, try not to hold it against Masazumi-sama. As poor as she is, it is a wonder she isn’t making all of our backs itchy.”

That’s even worse. And what does being poor have to do with itchy backs?

Finally, Akechi Mitsuhide looked up and spoke quietly to the group gathered around him.

“Oh, hello. I am Akechi Mitsuhide.”

Everyone exchanged a glance.

“That costume looks nothing like him,” said the idiot. “Not that I know what the real one looks like.”

“That is the real one!”

Everyone exchanged another glance.

Me: “I knew that! I did! I was only joking! Get a sense of humor, Seijun!”

10ZO: “When your excuses are that bad, it’s almost impressive.”

Novice: “Nooooooooooo! I’m out of autograph paper!”

Four Eyes: “That’s what you get for being so excited about the event you used it all up before it even began.”

But the Date Vice Chancellor raised her hand.

Unturning: “What’s going on? Why is Akechi Mitsuhide here?”

Everyone slowly scanned their eyes around the entire Ariake and then viewed Akechi’s backpack and the many wall scrolls poking out of the top.

Silver Wolf: “I feel like it would be best not to ask him why he’s here.”

Unturning: “Good point.”

Flat Vassal: “Eh!? We’re done already!? That was it!?”

Not everything has to be an extended bit. And I’m not interested in a detailed explanation about this anyway.

Vice President: “I so hope he doesn’t have much in common with Ohiroshiki.”

Worshiper: “I-I’m interested in sweets too! You know, like ‘come with me and I’ll give you a treat’!”

Flat Vassal: “Call the guards!!”

He hadn’t actually done anything yet, so that would be a tricky one.

But Masazumi knew why Akechi had joined them here.

“Are you assisting Reizei, Lord Akechi?”

“Not really. While following my route, a friend asked me to pick up the new book you’re selling here. I was nearby, so I figured I could stop by and get back on my route with minimal time loss.”

Naito readied a copy of Naruze’s new book bundled with a copy of Neshinbara’s.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Akechi bowed over and over while holding up the new book bundle and Masazumi gave some awkward monosyllabic responses before getting out an actual question.

“Was this really so important?”

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to get here in time, so I was fully prepared for it to be sold out.”

He bowed again, so Masazumi bowed back.

“Umm.” She started before getting to what she needed to say. “We were in the middle of negotiating with Reizei, but do you want to take over? Or should we continue with her?”

“We can’t keep him here, Masazumi. This is a busy place. Then again, Margot saved him the trouble of waiting in line just now, so he should be able to give us that much time.”

“That’s true,” said Masazumi with a nod of thanks toward Naito who only waved and said “don’t mention it”.

…We sure are casual about this.

The way Akechi had shown up probably helped there. Even Tomoe Gozen had joined the idiot’s group and was drinking some water through a straw held in the corner of her mouth. Masazumi was surprised to find ghosts could drink, but apparently they could.

Akechi raised his head.

“Reizei-kun passed on most of what you said, so you don’t need to fill me in. I understand you met William.” He asked a question. “So how much do you know?”

Novice: “If you must know, I suppose the time has come to discuss the battle between the forces of light and darkness long fought behind the scenes in the Far East. Yes, the Honnouji Incident is but one of their many conspiracies. It is in truth the final showdown in which a pair of lovers trapped in the cycle of reincarnation since the Heian Period will settle things once and for all with the ancient monsters who have plagued them across several lifetimes. First, they must open a rift in the Sea of Japan and reach the shrine hidden below the waves…”

Horizey: “Masazumi-sama. Neshinbara-sama will continue on like this until someone insults him enough, so I recommend doing so sooner rather than later.”

Asama: “Um, Horizon? We all know that already, so you could stand to soften your wording.”

Novice: “So could you, Asama-kun!”

Vice President: “Anyway, explaining how much we know isn’t going to be easy.”

They need to reach a consensus here, thought Tomoe Gozen.

How much information did Musashi have at the moment?

“Concerning the Imperial Palace, we only know as much as Tomoe Gozen told us.” The Musashi Vice President counted off on her fingers. “First, there was Lord Motonobu’s speech at the Battle of Mikawa. We know Sakakibara Yasumasa was taken by the Princess Disappearances. In England, we learned about Henry VIII’s disappearance and information regarding Carlos I at Avalon.”

“Such as?”

“That Carlos I and Henry VIII worked together.”

Musashi’s 4th Special Duty Officer said “maybe I should write a book about those two”, but Tomoe Gozen chose to pretend she hadn’t heard it. Akechi’s request for clarification just now would help glue the pieces together.

…So all of that is connected.

“At Hexagone Française, Richelieu also fell victim to the Princess Disappearances,” said the Musashi Vice President. “And he left behind a message beforehand: the Princess has a parent. And strangely enough, both he and Henry VIII had gone missing for a period in the past.”

“I see. Please continue.”

Akechi’s repeated shallow nods showed no sign of hostility. If anything, he had the calm demeanor of a teacher compared to the Musashi Vice President’s challenging behavior.

“At Oushuu, we held a meeting with Fujiwara Yasuhira where we learned of the Divinely Ordained Prayer Academies built during the Age of Dawn to guide the people. And at Novgorod, we arranged to meet with the Prince of Orange and he told us the school Henry VIII and the others attended was modeled after those academies. He said they had tried and failed to make friends with the Princess there. The Double Border Crest appeared behind him then and he disappeared.”

The Musashi Vice President’s tone sounded somewhat cold for that last part.

…Maybe because it happened to her too.

The Double Border Crest of the Princess Disappearances had appeared behind her.

She was keeping all emotion from her voice to avoid letting her emotions concerning that show through. She probably also wanted to see how Akechi reacted to this information. But…

“Testament.”

Akechi nodded as if to confirm what he had been told.

He was also telling her to continue.

…He’s letting her know he already knew that much.

Or he had been able to guess it. But the Musashi Vice President nodded back and continued. She took a breath and looked straight at him.

“We thought the trail had gone cold at that point, but we found some strange ruins below Sanada. Lord Motonobu’s brother Lord Nobuyasu had researched something there.”

“What did you find there?”

“Some strange…output devices? Or something like that. Eight of them were arranged in a circle with a ninth in the center. Lord Nobuyasu was apparently taken by the Princess Disappearances as well. Curiously, those ruins were newer than the Nonexistent Academy which was said to have been in session 30 years ago.”

“And what did you conclude from that?”

“I think Lord Nobuyasu began on some independent research after the Nonexistent Academy you all attended had completed whatever it was meant to do.”

“I see.”

Akechi nodded and gestured for Reizei to hold his backpack.

“Please continue.”

“Judge. At the time, we met with Hexagone Française and gave some thought to the Apocalypse. We still don’t know what exactly P.A. Oda’s Genesis Project is, but based on what information has leaked out, we think it is your plan for how to deal with the Apocalypse.”

“To end it but not let it end?”

“Correct. We think the Apocalypse is a thinning out of the world’s ether density. The Apocalypse countermeasure we are working on has been based on that ever since.”

And…

“Based on information we learned at Sanada, we found a ceiling relief in the ruins below Odawara. It appeared to be a later addition, but it had been erased, leaving only the Double Border Crest. That brought us back to square one,” she said. “But then we learned about a certain incident. Tomoe Gozen over there told us how the Imperial Palace forced a strict history recreation on her. We also have a coded memo Carlos I wrote for the Prince of Orange, but we can’t read it yet. We also learned from Mori Ranmaru that the Imperial Palace and the Princess Disappearances are connected.”

“I see.”

Akechi sighed before nodding this time.

His tone said that was enough.

A moment later, he asked another question.

“Then where do you think the Princess is?”

“That is hard to say.”

“Isn’t that-”

Dodging the question? thought Tomoe Gozen.

Based on the timing of Akechi’s question and his position here, he had to be waiting for an answer. He wanted to hear the Musashi Vice President’s thoughts, even if they were wrong.

…It has to be the Imperial Palace.

Mori Ranmaru had shown them Reizei’s background. If the Princess Disappearances had some connection to those automatons who had existed since the Age of Dawn, then the Princess could only be in the Imperial Palace.

But the Musashi Vice Chancellor had dodged the question. And…

“I doubt my mother had any connection to the Imperial Palace. I’ve looked into it countless times now.”

And…

“If my mother spent three years at your Nonexistent Academy just like Richelieu and the others, was it located inside the Imperial Palace? I doubt it. If it was, someone would have seen so many people moving in and out of the palace over the course of three years, but I’ve never heard anything about that. You, my mother, and the others were somewhere else when you tried to make friends with the Princess.”

So…

“Maybe the similar phrasing doesn’t work here, but if the Princess is at the Nonexistent Academy, then I would say she is ‘nowhere’. Maybe the Imperial Palace is her origin point, but she is everywhere and nowhere. I don’t know what she is, but that is my answer.”

Masazumi inhaled.

She held her right hand behind her, and…

“Here, Masazumi-sama. Take this.”

Horizon handed her a bamboo bottle.

The lid was open and it didn’t have a reed straw.

Was she supposed to chug it?

…She’s probably telling me to keep up this momentum.

So she chugged it. The bamboo bottle’s contents had the refreshingly sweet scent of a sports drink.

“That was a sports pudding,” said Horizon.

Asama heard a half choke half groan from Masazumi.

Asama was adjusting the local divine protections and managing the book inventory, but she could see Masazumi holding the bamboo bottle nearly vertical against her mouth.

“–––––”

Masazumi was leaning back some as well, so Asama tried speaking to her.

“Are you okay, Masazumi?”

Masazumi held her empty left palm out toward Asama, apparently to say “don’t worry”. Then she held that palm out toward Akechi, Reizei, and the others.

“…”

Separate from all the noise around them, Masazumi hopped up and down a few times.

Gold Mar: “I know what this is. It’s what happens when you can’t handle a ‘skewer’ like Ture-yan and Kimi-chan were demonstrating that one time.”

Art-Ga: “Oh, yeah. That. …Did you figure that one out yet, Asama?”

Asama: “No, I can’t do it with something as thick as a bamboo bottle yet.”

Almost Everyone: “…”

Asama: “I-I assume! It seems reasonable to assume something that big would be impossible, especially with that kind of density! Mito, why won’t you look me in the eye!?”

Horizey: “I am in awe of your determination to expand your horizons, Asama-sama.”

Asama continued trying to defend herself while Masazumi trembled a bit.

She must have gotten it down. There was an audible gulp followed by around three seconds of silence.

“Now, let’s get back to our talk.”

“Don’t try to pretend that didn’t happen!”

Everyone turned to face her for that one.

Vice President: “Wait! I don’t need a reaction from you on every little thing! Besides, what was I supposed to do if not pretend it didn’t happen? Answer me that one!”

Unturning: “Kiyonari, now she is asking for a reaction.”

Uqui: “Politicians are known for flipflopping.”

10ZO: “To get us back on topic, what are your thoughts in the discussion, Masazumi-dono?”

Scarred: “Judge. I have a few questions about the Princess myself.”

Vice President: “I have a question about something else and I think it might just be related.”

Flat Vassal: “Hm? What else is there that could be related to the Princess stuff?”

Vice President: “The Genesis Project.”

“Yes. The Genesis Project. We don’t know much about that either,” Masazumi said to Akechi.

…He probably has all the answers.

“We only know what Lord Matsunaga told us: to end it but not let it end. I feel like we haven’t lived up to the expectation he placed on us there. But…”

But…

“Lord Motonobu created the Nonexistent Academy where you tried to make friends with the Princess and he also started the Genesis Project as a solution to the Apocalypse. I think there is a connection between the two.”

As she spoke, she found herself treating the question inside her as a fact.

It was all speculation, but by following this logical path, it could become “true” as far as their discussion was concerned. That happened a lot in book criticism.

And whichever of those “truths” seemed most accurate would be seen as a fact.

…I need to keep in mind that everyone else has the same possibility.

She was not the only victim of the Princess Disappearances, so she could not let her emotions convince her that her argument had to be correct because she was a victim.

That was important.

She inhaled.

Heat filled the event, but she only now realized that the area behind the sales table had a nice breeze.

Asama had probably given the Ariake an air conditioning divine protection.

It was weird how that realization made the sports pudding sit unusually heavy in her gut. At least I won’t need to rehydrate for a while now, she decided.

“As you can see, we basically don’t know anything. But…” She pointed toward the group behind her. “We’re working on the code the Swedish Chancellor gave us, we’re analyzing something we noticed below Houjou, and we’re figuring out the date of the Honnouji Incident.”

So…

“We might not know anything now, but we will find the answers and catch up. We have a time limit, but we will eventually be ready to bring our request to you. The request for your inherited name.”

“I see,” said Akechi for who knows how many times now. And, “This could be a problem.”

“Why is that?”

If he said he didn’t fear death or intended to die, they would intervene.

Masazumi intended to. But…

“Hey, mister,” said the idiot out of the blue. “Do you think school is fun?”

Reizei did not know what the crossdresser’s question was meant to accomplish.

…Huh?

An academy was a place of learning. If you enjoyed learning, it would be fun by default. It was also a place to meet people your own age, compete with people older than you, and teach people younger than you, all of which would be enjoyable.

It would all have so much more meaning in this era of crises, like Lord Motonobu had said at Mikawa, and that was all the more reason to find it enjoyable.

So Reizei did not understand why he would ask a question with such an obvious answer.

Akechi may have been thinking the same thing because he tilted his head.

“I do. My master and the others have made a lot of progress on so many things and we have learned so much about each other.”

“Like what? Who do you think is the coolest?”

“Well.” Akechi smiled a little. “The most shocking has to be Shibata-kun. It’s hard to believe someone can be so careless, but you also find you can rely on him for anything. And at the risk of being misunderstood, I was always amazed at what Niwa-kun was willing to do, but lately she has proven that she isn’t going to slow down with age.”

The few people nearby who opened insha kotobs and started posting on the divine network were concerning, but there was nothing Reizei could do about that.

“Hey,” said the crossdresser after hearing Akechi’s answer. “It took doing whatever you did at that Nonexistent Academy for you to stand on equal footing with those cool people, right?”

So…

“Come to us when you need someone to rely on, okay?”

Mitotsudaira saw Horizon cross her arms.

“That crafty boy,” whispered Horizon with a nod.

Mitotsudaira thought she saw a smile on her lips.

…Oh.

When she looked again, Horizon was back to normal.

But she understood. She had thought she knew what her king meant, but Horizon’s response confirmed it.

…Akechi Mitsuhide hasn’t forgotten what happened at that Nonexistent Academy, has he?

He must have enjoyed it. He would have had as fulfilling a school life as Class Plum. In fact, he may have had an even more fulfilling one. But…

“We failed,” said Akechi Mitsuhide.

“No, you didn’t,” said Mitotsudaira’s king. “I can only base this on what Seijun’s been saying, but still.” He looked to the rest of them before continuing. “You weren’t lost, so it wasn’t a complete failure. And if you’re willing to see us as allies or even friends, then you haven’t failed for as long as we’re still around.”

But…

“So P.A. Oda is fun, huh?”

“It is.” Akechi Mitsuhide smiled bitterly, suggesting he understood what her king was saying. “I want to give some concrete form to the past, but I don’t want help from everyone in P.A. Oda for that. Because if I did, I couldn’t stand on equal footing with them afterwards.”

“In that case,” said Horizon, unfolding her arms. “You are carrying the past with you as you live in the present, aren’t you?”

“I am embarrassed to admit I am.”

“No.” Horizon pointed toward Mitotsudaira’s king. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about compared to some shameless people I could mention. Particularly one who had a street named after his past mistake and started a war over it on its 10th anniversary.”

It wasn’t clear why, but Akechi smiled at that.

Mitotsudaira was glad he understood. At the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about unilateral hostility from this man.

This could lead to unwanted pity, but this was her king’s decision and it was the path the rest of them wanted as well.

“Now, then.” Akechi Mitsuhide put his backpack back on. “I need to get going. Thank you for the books.”

“It was our pleasure. That’s what this event is all about, after all,” replied Margot instead of Naruze.

Naruze may have been avoiding talking so he wouldn’t realize she was the one who had spoken with him via sign frame earlier. Regardless, Akechi bowed and Reizei followed suit.

And just as he took a breath and prepared to leave, Masazumi spoke up.

“I would like another meeting, Lord Akechi. I answered your questions and explained our present situation. So…”

Mitotsudaira could predict what Masazumi was going to say next, so she and the others pointed at Akechi and spoke in unison.

“One win for Masazumi!”

Horizey: “That was a close one, Masazumi-sama. He nearly managed to escape that with some dignity intact. You can never let your guard down!”

Vice President: “W-wait! I never said I was using the Masazumi Rules!”

Gold Mar: “You didn’t have to, so don’t worry about it, Seijun.”

Silver Wolf: “Judge. That was the perfect timing for it, so we all figured it out on our own.”

Tachibana Husband: “Would the official acronym be MVPR for Musashi Vice President Rules? Or do we want to emphasize the rules part and make it RMVP for Rules of the Musashi Vice President?”

Horizey: “Ho ho? So now you have a counter move equal to my Horizon Rules. I imagine I will make my move first, but going second gives you the chance for a dramatic comeback.”

Vice President: “I didn’t ask for some weird special move!”

Masazumi heard Akechi chuckling.

He held out a hand to stop Reizei from interrupting.

“Then how about I give you some homework?”

Namely…

“The things Motonobu-sensei did were originally proposed by someone else.”

“–––––”

“That was of course his own teacher. There was apparently a teacher in P.A. Oda who inherited the name of Oda Nobuhide, the father of Oda Nobunaga in the Testament. He apparently died early, but some say he was actually a victim of the Princess Disappearances and he had proven something with an experiment.”

“You mean…?”

“Testament.” Akechi nodded. “The rumor is he proved the existence of the Princess.”

And…

“Motonobu-sensei followed in his footsteps by starting a certain project.”

“Do you mean the Genesis Project?”

Surprisingly, Akechi Mitsuhide tilted his head slightly.

“That is half right. Because…”

He paused for a moment there.

This is over, Masazumi realized.

The meeting and exchange of information was over for now. But…

“We can pick this up again on September 2. Will the Musashi still be around then?”

“Judge.”

That quiet word was all she could manage.

This lanky man’s appearance made it clear he was familiar with these events. He spoke politely and modestly, but she felt a great pressure behind his words. Of course she did.

…He spent time with my mother and that group.

She wanted to ask about that, but she chose not to here. It wasn’t time for that and they hadn’t spoken enough to delve that deeply.

Besides, she and her mother were different in family name and every other way, so he would have no way of knowing. So…

“Where and when should we meet on September 2?”

“Good question.” Akechi looked back her way. “We will meet at 5 PM. As for the location…please meet me in front of the Imperial Palace in Kyou. Can you make your visit discreet?”

If so…

“We can continue this discussion then, students of Musashi.”

Tomoe Gozen felt the air moving.

Akechi Mitsuhide nodded to her as he left and she nodded back. She also nodded toward Reizei.

Reizei was not looking her way. But…

“Thank you.”

“You’re free to blame me if you’d prefer.”

“No. It has been a long time since Akechi-sama laughed of his own accord.”

“Then this was a valuable experience.”

“Testament.”

Reizei nodded and left with Akechi. Tomoe Gozen watched them go, but the Vice President…

“Sigh, I’m exhausted.”

Her stretch seemed to be contagious because the others all sighed and stretched while exchanging looks.

Everyone had to know how big a move this had been.

…This is about more than just the Imperial Palace.

It also had to do with the Genesis Project that P.A. Oda was running in secret.

Their next meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide would be on September 2.

If the Honnouji Incident didn’t happen before that, Musashi’s odds of intervening went way up. Also…

Asama: “I need to work on determining the Honnouji Incident’s date.”

Novice: “I’m feeling pretty fired up now. I need to get back to work on that code.”

Art-Ga: “Glad to see you two are feeling motivated. And I’ve got my examination of those ruins to do.”

That was probably part of the “homework” he had left with them.

…I’m impressed they’ve managed to get as far as they have.

They pushed for war to bring their opponent to a stop and then settled things using their Vice President’s negotiations. And their Chancellor and the rest would use that to find a compromise.

…I could learn something from that.

She wasn’t kidding. She truly thought that.

Chapter 60: Students of Heaven and Earth[edit]

Leeet’s see

Thiiis goes like thiiis

And thaaat goes like thaaat

Point Allocation (Talking More Than Expected)

“Well done, Asano-sama. You have solved your problems in a few different places.”

Mochizuki spoke to Asano in the large basin being used as a training ground.

It was early afternoon, when they normally would have just eaten lunch, but they had instead continued training on Asano’s suggestion.

Asano’s spell let her place phase spaces. She had worked to use up all of her spaces during the morning, so now Mochizuki was inspecting the results.

Mochizuki had marked all of their locations and her job was to determine whether or not their intended purpose would be effective against an opponent.

As an automaton, she could judge what the person who had set up the trap had been thinking. She could not determine their motive behind it, but she could determine what ideas led to that choice. She used that to judge Asano’s training and, after analyzing her way of thinking from beginning to end, she had arrived at one conclusion.

…She takes this seriously.

To be honest, Asano’s weird way of talking had led Mochizuki to believe she wasn’t paying attention. So she had warned Asano to “be careful” and “try not to hurt yourself”. But…

…She really wasn’t paying attention!!

When walking around like normal, Asano would get her foot caught in a dip in the ground and trip or lose her footing. Once, she had even stepped right through the stone holding up bedrock, causing Mochizuki to fall with her.

Mochizuki had been worried, but those worries had evaporated after inspecting the girl’s handiwork.

“You have excellent focus.”

The placement of phase space traps was extremely precise, but also had an unpredictable fluctuation to it. She had taken a long time on today’s placements, but that was probably because the initial placement was everything for her.

She had spent her time thinking and then placed them in locations she had absolute confidence in.

That required focus.

She normally looked so unfocused, but only because she was thinking. When she needed to act, she would gather those thoughts and deal with it all at once. That was her style.

That trait was clear to see in the placement of her phase space traps.

As precise as their locations were, they were not based on nervous calculations. They were placed along the contours of the natural terrain.

That kept them from standing out as traps.

Phase spaces were invisible until activated, of course, but a cautious person would focus on any location that felt suspicious and stay away from it if something felt off to them.

Even with an invisible phase space, it helped to place them where you would have a line of fire on your enemy.

“So people tend to place them in obvious locations.”

“But iiif they’re toooo well hidden, you won’t have a liiine of fire.”

That delicate balance would be something she had learned recently.

…She would do quite well setting up traps with natural materials as well.

“But you mustn’t place them behind cover too much. Even if an expert warrior triggers your trap, they can still react to the trap breaking through the leaves and branches providing cover.”

“Yeahhh, I ran across some peeeople like thaaat before.”

She had recently fought the Tachibana Couple. They had been skilled enough to see the trap activate and still react in time. She had also fought a Yagyuu name inheritor who had a strong ninja side despite being a samurai.

She had lost, but it had been a good experience for her.

Now she had to find a way to reach greater heights and build up the skills and experience necessary.

“Based on your records, you did a lot of running around the Satomi mountains.”

“I diiidn’t have a choiiice. It was eeexhausting.”

Based on how she was walking now, that would have been a product of her focus. She could keep up with Mochizuki as they climbed the slope, but…

“Asano-sama, you should train in descending a slope.”

“Realllly? But I went uuup just fine.”

“Descending requires jumping depending on the terrain and accidents are common when you can’t identify loose stones. Ascending is simple to learn. Even crawling works fine for that. But descending is another matter. …Asano-sama, I have noticed that you avoid danger well while ascending, so I have determined you can learn how to descend easily enough.”

“I desceeended just fine in Satooomi?”

“Satomi’s mountains are like hills compared to Sanada’s. They have a lot of dirt ground and grass that will cushion your falls.”

“Wherrre will I be fiiighting next?”

“If you train here, you will be fine most anywhere, assuming the weather doesn’t change.”

Mochizuki then tested Asano.

…Is this the best way to put it?

“I leave it up to you to shift your focus when ascending to the appropriate focus when descending.”

Asano raised her head and strength filled her gaze for just a moment.

“Hmmm. Thaaat’s pretty tooough.”

Her gaze relaxed again, but that was fine for now.

She was sure to focus on her feet and her surroundings once she began her descent. She would trip and fall plenty of times, but she would learn more each time.

There were some – like Sasuke – who had a natural talent for mountain travel. When he was paired with Saizou in the mountains or forest, they demonstrated mobility and combat ability exceeding the Vice Chancellor level.

But not everyone had the talent and experience to fly through the forest like the wind itself. Like Mochizuki and Asano.

“Consistency in your movements is key. Do you get what I mean?”

“My taaactics remake my surroooundings into a weeeapon. I can uuuse myself as a distraction therrre, so consiiistency is more important than speeeed.”

“Testament. That is true for all ninjas.”

Just then, a loud noise burst from beyond the edge of the basin.

It came from a mechanical dragon. The red color marked it as Nabeshima’s Unambitious. The thunderous applause coming from the forest had to be the Terrestrial Dragon teachers.

“What was that?”

“Sheee’s flying straiiight up. She tooold me this morrrning.”

Until the day before yesterday, Nabeshima had still been training how to walk, run, take off, and land.

“So she too is improving step by step.”

Nabeshima hadn’t felt like this in her mechanical dragon’s cockpit in a while.

…Wow, I’m so high up.

For around three weeks now, she had been going through a program of mostly ground-based movement training. Even when training takeoff and landing, the Terrestrial Dragons had insisted she not fly higher than the Ueda Academy because doing it all at low altitude “looks cool”. However, that had been easier said than done, and…

…I can’t get much speed at low altitude.

The mechanical dragon didn’t so much fly as it launched itself with a lot of thrust. That process was repeated again and again in midair to achieve the wanted acceleration and to make course adjustments.

But landing required reducing that speed. At low altitude, even a slight stall or insufficient output would mean not reaching her destination or damaging her surroundings. But too much momentum would mean arriving at the landing site along a parallel trajectory to the ground, either passing it by or loudly sliding along the ground.

Her flight style had honestly been pretty rough before. She had focused on momentum and launched herself down from high altitude to land, figuring she only had to stop by the end of the long runway space available to her.

According to the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji: “That’s basically how the Terrestrial Dragons of the New World do it.”

Simply put, real dragons were designed differently and flew differently because of it.

Also, Terrestrial Dragons had divine protections as living creatures. When flying, they would use their thrusters and wings to help them take flight as flying artifacts.

Meanwhile, a mechanical dragon used only its great power to fly, so it required a different flight style. They couldn’t be expected to fly in the same way as a Terrestrial Dragon that had benefits beyond simple power output.

Once the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji explained that to her, she had agreed with them and brought it up next time she was doing takeoff and landing training. However…

“Listen up for a second. Your movements are pretty good for a mechanical dragon. I can tell you know what you’re doing,” interrupted the large Terrestrial Dragon named Kakei Torahide. He was a Lindworm-style, an excellent flying type. “But that’s all based on the small and illiterate New World species. Those are unintelligent animals, so their movements don’t have the culture ours do. They’re just beasts.”

So…

“Dragons like that don’t truly live in their land. I mean, they literally do live there, but they don’t settle somewhere, govern it, and cultivate it. So as much as those inferior dragons and beast dragons resemble us, they’re like monkeys are to you.”

“So you’re telling me not to be a monkey?”

“You’re just copying the monkeys, so you’re even worse than them.”

“But that’s emotional reasoning.”

“Oh? You’re a smart girl.”

“Of course she is!” shouted the Four Heavenly Kings behind her while she continued listening to Torahide and the others.

“Beasts get slain by people.”

“And Terrestrial Dragons don’t?”

“Unfortunately,” said Torahide with a light shake of his body. This thick armor bore a fresh crack and wound at the center of the throat. “Being slain is an honor in dragon culture.”

“But I don’t want to be slain.”

“That’s my point,” he said. “Try doing everything we can do. You don’t need to reach our level, but you can learn to emulate us using the mechanical dragon as a machine. So try it at least once.”

Listen.

“I can do it all but I was still slain, but you can’t let yourself be slain when you do it all. So what is the minimum line you must reach?”

I see, thought Nabeshima. This training wasn’t just about whether she could or couldn’t do something. It was about filling her library of actions with real dragon movements, not just her instincts or imagination.

“Then I’ll do it.”

She was quick to make up her mind.

“Building up a library of movements will help all of Ryuuzouji’s dragons, so I’ll work through them all over the course of the break and remake the entire OS. Also…”

Also…

“If I already had all this ground-based movement training back then, I bet the battle at the Miura Peninsula would have turned out differently.”

She could have gotten a solid grip on the pliable crust without the dirt slope crumbling below her and occasionally spun around.

The Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji had to understand that too. So…

“Help me out with this. If I can improve my ground combat this much…” She looked up into the sky. “I can’t wait to see how much my aerial combat improves too.”

The Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji ended up staying inside after that. She thought maybe they weren’t happy about being forced into doing this, but after two days, they emerged to show what they had accomplished.

“This local workshop support system can work alongside the Ryuuzouji workshop. Link it to a transport ship repair site and – assuming appropriate materials are available – it can be used just like the blast furnaces back home. The standards will get a little confused, but we would need to at least remake the mainframe if you remade the OS.”

So…

“Milady, do not think about improving the rest of Ryuuzouji with the OS.”

“Why not?”

“Your victories are all the advertisement we need,” they replied with a smile.

She smiled back and cried later inside the cockpit. She had known she was promising more than she could deliver when she said it, so that counter hit her hard. She realized this was her first good cry since managing to calm down here after her loss. Damn. What am I doing crying on a campaign? Stupid summer break.

I won’t lose again.

And after finally mastering her takeoff training, she was starting on vertical ascent training.

She shot straight up into the sky.

“Oh.”

She arrived so much higher than before.

Once she was high enough, Nabeshima held the heavens and the earth in her hands for the first time in a while.

She had last done this on her way from the Azuchi to Sanada, so it had been four weeks.

She had so much expectation for the “sky” as she made this full-power ascent.

Except…

…Oh?

What was this? Something felt wrong with the controls in her hand and in the rest of her ascending body.

She was ascending in the same way Torahide had shown her first as an example.

He had pointed all of his thrusters downward and then raised his output more gradually instead of pouring it all on at once.

…You make yourself float first and then launch yourself upwards.

You directed the force on your body upwards and then pushed up from there.

“This is the best and easiest way. The increase from the initial low output is like the warmup stretches or soaking you do before getting in the pool.”

“You’ve seen us do that?”

“To us, that honestly looks a lot like food gathering together and washing itself for us.”

“Sure does,” agreed the other Terrestrial Dragons.

“We wouldn’t actually do anything since eating people is forbidden, but man does it put you in the mood for a meat hotpot.”

“Right? It’s great to watch while you eat.”

“But humans barely smell like meat anymore, so I doubt they’d even taste good.”

Was that how it worked?

But as she flew under their watchful eye, she sensed something with her entire body.

“Ohh…”

She felt a powerful anxiety. She had flown even higher than this before, but this time it felt like…

“I’m…falling!?”

“Oh, looks like she’s really reacting to it. It’s probably even easier to sense in that mechanical dragon.”

Hearing that comment from Torahide, Kiyomasa looked up overhead.

She was putting away the cloth for their picnic-style lunch and wrapping up Asano’s uneaten lunch separate from the main picnic basket, but now she saw an ascending mechanical dragon.

“That’s a real clean ascent,” said one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji next to her.

“And straight. No shaking at all,” said another.

“I imagine so,” said Torahide.

“Why would you imagine that?” asked Unno, who was wearing a track suit.

“Because.” Torahide turned her way. “The most important aspect of ground-based movement training isn’t to run with your front and hind legs. It’s to learn how to move using your entire body. That gives you a feel for controlling your entire body. It comes naturally for us, but not so much for mechanical dragon pilots. We do it without thinking, so focusing on the specific movements of our limbs is actually a pain.”

And…

“Once she learned how the entire body moves when she moves each part and vice versa, she did low-altitude takeoff and landing training which requires precise power control. So what happens when she simply launches herself upwards with her thrusters after all that precise work?”

“I’m not a dragon or a mechanical dragon pilot,” said Unno.

The Terrestrial Dragons across the way huddled their heads together.

“Did you hear that? Unno-san isn’t even trying.”

“The young think they can get away with saying ‘I don’t know’ forever, don’t they?”

“Eh, it just means she’s stupid.”

Unno raised her fist toward the gossiping dragons and they fled.

“Now, now. Don’t be mad. …Anyway, um.” Kiyomasa thought about this as training and considered what state Nabeshima would be in now. “She has a better feel for the entire mechanical dragon now and she knows how to control the acceleration power too.”

“And what does that mean? She is making a clean ascent, just like I asked her too.”

Testament, thought Kiyomasa. Her Caledfwlch could fly for short periods using its rear thrusters, so she used that as a starting point here.

“She must feel anxious,” she said. “She has previously flown her mechanical dragon quite well and felt like she was one with its movements, but that was all based on her own imagination. Now that she understands how real dragons move and the logic behind it, she will have noticed the differences in her own movements. Especially when focusing only on the thrusters for a vertical ascent.”

“Correct. She is feeling the entirety of the dragon for the first time. She is realizing just how heavy dragons are and how difficult it is for them to fly. And she should be learning just how meaningless a dragon’s great size and strength are in the sky. After all, there is no ground to brace against. Yet her senses are much sharper than before. Without slamming on all her power at once, she can tell just how unstable her balance is up there.”

So…

“She is finally ‘living’ as a dragon in a way she wasn’t before. …But the real test is yet to come. The descent is going to terrify her, but that’s just what it means to live as a dragon.”

Kiyomasa saw Torahide turn toward the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji.

“Hey, that girl is going to be a hell of a pilot. I guarantee it. None of our people ever got this far in so short a time. …Yeah, I mean you lot!”

The Terrestrial Dragons fleeing through the forest quickly saluted and Unno raised both arms to mock them. Kiyomasa assumed that last part was some kind of local custom, but then she saw the acceleration light slowly descending in the sky.

…We are making good use of our time.

It was summer, but she could predict great results from their time spent here.

And…

“I wonder.”

Was Fukushima viewing this same sky?

Fukushima was viewing the sky.

She was sprawled out on the dirt. She could hear the cicada cries and…

“God, you’re hopeless. I should’ve ignored you and gone into the mountains.”

Sassa’s voice was followed by departing footsteps.

She tried to scramble to her feet, but…

…Kh…

“Don’t try to move right away. I cracked your ribs.”

She supported herself with her arms and saw Sassa look back over the shoulder of his summer uniform. He clicked his tongue on the riverside clearing they were using as a training ground.

“You’re way too distracted for this. Don’t even bother forcing yourself to train right now. You’ll just injure yourself. I’m not gonna hold back just cause you’re a girl.”

“…Testament.”

She nodded and noticed that Ichinotani’s shaft was bent.

…How did that happen?

She remembered using it for defense. He had stepped straight toward her and then leaped at her.

“You looked ready to dodge it, but then you froze in place.”

“No, that isn’t what happened…”

“It was the end result anyway. Thinking up a plan isn’t enough for training. That’s why I hit you.”

Ichinotani’s shaft was bent and…

…My ribs are cracked.

But she didn’t have her defense to thank for the light damage. Sassa must have held back, despite saying he wouldn’t. He had adjusted his strength to damage the spear and then do only light damage to her.

Fukushima wasn’t sure she could adjust her strength so precisely when attacking through her opponent’s weapon like that.

She knew Sassa was strong enough to have broken straight through the spear and her torso. He could have destroyed her entire body with the vibration provided by a simple touch.

She could not do the same.

“Keh.”

She watched him leaving once more and bowed from her seated position.

“Thank thee for thy instruction!”

She felt a straining in her right ribs along with a chill-like pain, but she had to be courteous.

But when she inhaled after speaking, the sweat poured from her.

She was injured.

Recovery would probably take two or three days with divine protections and spells. In the meantime, she would be stuck with indoor training and stretches that wouldn’t place a burden on her side. However…

…I am pathetic.

She was two weeks into the training camp, but she had yet to see any improvement.

Fukushima stared into the sky while listening to the cicadas.

“The break is already half over…”

She had heard the Musashi and the Ariake had arrived in an eastern Protestant principality near Kyou’s western border.

That probably put it west-southwest of here. But to avoid the cold air, the Shibata Team was set up in a basin on the southeast side of the mountaintop, meaning the mountain blocked the Musashi from view.

Probably a way of telling us to focus on our training, she thought, noting the thoughtfulness of the decision. But…

…Sassa-sama is so strong.

For the past two weeks, she had been undergoing basic strength training under Sassa’s instruction and the occasional combat training against Maeda’s ghost warriors.

She had sparred with Sassa a few times, but she had never come close to matching him.

She was frustrated to find her attacks could not reach him.

She was trying to use Headfirst Fall and ideal movements, but she couldn’t even circle around him well and she would end up out of breath after only ten or so minutes.

“And then I lose…”

She would compliment his skills and ask him how he had done it, but he would always turn around and leave.

She must have been too pathetic for him to answer. Even though he had chosen to skip his usual training in the mountains to assist her.

She had tried to work at it more, but she still couldn’t hit him.

He had left again after she essentially self-destructed.

But she did have one new opportunity.

Kani’s schedule and post had changed after she began improving Sasamura. She now spent most of her time in the Shibata fleet’s workshop and testing ground, so the training ground she had been using was free.

Fukushima wasn’t sure what Sassa’s reasons were, but while he had mostly observed her and prioritized his own training before, he had started including light sparring matches as an official part of her training regimen three days ago.

They would spar once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but she had yet to land a single attack. And on occasion…

“Hey, take this.”

He would make an attack that she simply could not avoid, so she would take it as he demanded.

She should have been able to dodge them. However…

…I feel like I can avoid them.

But then her body would stop moving.

She would reach that conclusion in her head and stop there because it was good enough.

But this wasn’t an issue of pride or overconfidence. She knew herself it was a bad sign.

Yet her body would still stop there.

Was she sick of fighting?

Was she so sick of it she couldn’t find the motivation to dodge an attack she had dodged countless times before?

Her body could move if she told it to.

It was a communication failure. That term reminded her of Kiyomasa.

…Kiyo-dono.

The first thing that came to mind was how she had made Kiyomasa cry. Did that mean she had yet to accept what had happened?

Situationally, Kiyomasa had said she loved Fukushima, but there had been a miscommunication, that miscommunication was entirely Fukushima’s fault, and it had hurt Kiyomasa.

Besides, even if Kiyomasa had said she loved her, that love had to be a thing of the past now.

She had to hate Fukushima after being hurt like that. She had only said it to throw out that love so she could hate Fukushima now.

“…!”

Fukushima flung herself onto her back, slamming the back of her head against the ground.

She felt more of a vibration than pain and her vision briefly went dark. But…

…Kh.

The rapid position change made her right ribs ache.

“Ow ow ow,” she muttered, wondering what the hell she was doing. And…

“Hey,” called Sassa in the distance. “You’re injured, so training’s off for the time being.”

“Huh?”

Instead of sitting up, she twisted around to face Sassa who was pointing back at her while walking.

“Even I can tell you’re distracted, idiot. Toshi will tell you a good place in the mountains, so go live up there for a while, got it?” he said. “What you need right now is mental training! So get to it!”

Chapter 61: Worrier at the Party[edit]

Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

Anus Eye!

I’m calling you

Anus Eye from now on!

Point Allocation (I’ll let you do whatever you want tonight…)

“A toast to both of us selling out!”

Naruze raised a wooden mug and everyone else in the Main Blue Thunder followed suit.

While they were wooden, the hoops were made of metal and they made a nice sound when bumped together. After that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought I was going to die of weariness and exhaustion when I got in Suzu’s bath, but I’m glad I didn’t!” announced Naruze.

“Y-you could have…had your party…there.”

“No, no, no,” Naruze said to Suzu, snatching some food from the silver chains carrying platters to the tables. “The guys and the girls are separate there and we can’t hold a private party out in a public park either.”

Naito checked on the general atmosphere while watching Suzu nod in understanding.

The Chancellor, Horizon, Asama, and Mary were cooking in the kitchen while Mitotsudaira and Tenzou worked as waiters. Adele was providing support wherever it was needed, so it was all about the same as usual.

The fascinating part was how at home the Tachibana Couple and Narumi looked. The couple were focused on a PR Committee news program summing up the day’s events on the Ariake and Narumi was drinking happily, perhaps thinking back on what had happened during the day.

Naruze was giving herself a good head start on getting drunk, so she was already slapping Neshinbara on the back.

“Ah ha ha ha ha! Way to go selling Anus Eye! Now you’ve got nothing to fear! You’re the fearless Anus Eye! Ah ha ha ha!”

It was honestly impressive. Mitotsudaira commented on it while carrying some Blue Thunder boiled pork to their table.

“Naruze doesn’t usually drink this much, does she?”

“Yeah, I don’t think she expected this Summer ImMoral to be so much fun.”

“She didn’t expect to sell out?”

“It’s not that.” Naito waved a hand and looked up at Mitotsudaira skillfully slicing the boiled pork with a knife. “Maybe I shouldn’t say so, but this was her first time doing one of these events with the entire class.”

It was usually just Naito and Naruze. They would sometimes get help from students their year or below in the other circles, but…

“ImMoral makes you register by circle, so when she’s putting out her own book, the others are focused on their own books and can’t help out. And since it’s on the Ariake and the Musashi could be anywhere in the Far East, they oftentimes can’t show up at all.”

So…

“It was really to help out with Seijun’s negotiations, but I think she still enjoyed having everyone here with us. Also, I think this was a lot of pressure on her.”

I’m saying way too much, thought Naito, but she decided it didn’t matter.

“It might not look like it, but she actually feels kind of bad about drawing doujinshis all the time.”

“R-really?” asked Suzu.

“Probably.”

Why did it sound so much more convincing now that she had said it out loud?

Anyway, she had a pretty good read on this.

“The more time she spends on this hobby – or personal business or whatever you want to call it – the less time she can spend on whatever the Chancellor and the rest of you are doing. She also ends up feeling sick from sleep deprivation.”

“I get the feeling her grades actually improve when she’s sleep deprived,” said Mitotsudaira.

Suzu smiled a bit at that. Naito kind of agreed too. However…

“Everyone…understands.”

Suzu was right.

Once they had started working, they had all been focused on the event. When they had sold out, Tenzou and Adele had high-fived at the sales table and Mary had hurriedly joined in to not feel left out.

…They can celebrate Ga-chan’s success like it’s their own.

This was different from the other circles or Naito. With those others, it was more about sharing a mutual understanding of the highs and lows of this kind of work.

But this is more about hanging out with some freak- with some friends. Yes, friends. I didn’t actually say it, so it’s all good. But anyway…

“She wants everyone to understand her, but she also doesn’t want you to just pretend you do. As selfish as that might be.”

“I know what you mean.”

Mitotsudaira could say that because she was only here with everyone because the others had come to understand her.

The wolf smiled and sniffed at the boiled pork.

“But I’m not sure if we really do understand her. I mean, I would expect a baffling answer if she was asked what was so great about what she draws. And I think everyone would have a different answer as to what made today such a success.”

“She understands all that. Which is why she’s so happy she could share this success with everyone. What we’re seeing now is a reaction to the pressure she was feeling.”

Naito pointed over at Naruze who was laughing with Kimi.

Naruze had likely received praise from the event staff for how well she had managed her line, so she was passing that thanks along to Kimi who had been in charge of that. From there, they began discussing the kind of people who had shown up.

“Heh heh. You can always count on me to bring in customers and manage the line,” said Kimi, taking Naruze’s hand and checking her nails for damage. It was enough to tell that Kimi really was perfect for that job.

“What would have happened if she was left with a lot of unsold inventory?” asked Tenzou, carrying a bowl full of blanched cabbage.

“In that case…” began Naito.

Tenzou placed a few hand towels on the table, so the idea was probably to wrap the meat in the cabbage. She spotted Horizon slicing some bread in the kitchen, so they were apparently making lighter snacks to last a while instead of one big heavy meal.

“Oh, I want some of that fresh-baked stuff,” said Naito and the right arm raised and nodded its hand.

Then she returned to Tenzou’s question.

“If it hadn’t sold, she would be right here having a consolation party. Then it would be best if we just grumbled and complained and commiserated with her. Don’t tell her she’ll do better next time, though. See, she tries to keep up with the latest trends, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. You can start by helping figure out what went wrong this time. I guess you can tell her she’ll do better next time after that.”

“Judge. The event really is a group effort, isn’t it?”

“Judge,” echoed Mitotsudaira, shrugging. “It’s like a kind of battle. If you win, you celebrate. If you lose, you accept that and come up with a plan. And you do that by reviewing what happened and planning for next time.”

“Right. But as passionate as she can get about planning out next time, it tends to be useless since the trends change or she changes her mind.”

“In that case,” said the wolf. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to discuss it all with us instead of feeling so responsible for everything?”

Naito felt some brief surprise at that. Oh, I should tell that to Ga-chan next time she screws up, she realized. That’s exactly right, she laughed. She doesn’t need to feel responsible for her failures. But…

“But she still doesn’t want to fail if she can avoid it.”

“Then today was enjoyable in about every way,” said Mitotsudaira as she finished slicing the meat and wiped off the knife with a hand towel.

“Mito-tsan, why does that pork smell weird? Not bad, just unusual.”

“It was boiled the Western way but seasoned the Far Eastern way. It was boiled in a pot of water in the oven and then left to soak in a pot of tsukedare sauce overnight. Then that entire pot was reheated in the oven.”

Naito could easily imagine that method had been designed to produce a lot of it at a time.

The entire pot was placed in the oven so it wouldn’t take up a spot on the stovetop. And heating the entire boiling pot in the oven during peak hours would let them prepare some soft meat in about an hour with minimal effort.

…The Far Eastern seasoning will trick you into thinking it’s roasted more than Western sauces or salt would.

Was that to make the soft meat not seem so disappointing? But…

…I bet this is how they do it at the other Blue Thunder.

That would make it a tradition the Chancellor learned from his mom, she thought.

“Hey, Tenzou!” called the Chancellor from the counter. “Take these noodles.”

Noodles? wondered Naito as Tenzou brought over a wooden bowl covered with a lid. Mitotsudaira and Gin looked over in interest, so Tenzou dramatically opened the lid. He managed to look pretty cool doing it.

“Not bad, Tenzou. Way to show off.”

Meanwhile, the wolf groaned.

The bowl was full of pasta cooked in olive oil. Then Tenzou brought enough small bowls for them all.

“First, you add a layer of blanched cabbage! Then you add as many noodles as you want and finally some boiled pork in tare sauce!”

The wolf’s eyes followed the bowl he handed to Naito, but Naito wasn’t about to hand it over.

“Hey, thanks.”

“Think nothing of it,” said Tenzou as he turned around to grab a bowl for Mitotsudaira too.

“Gold Mar, do you want some bread?” called the Chancellor.

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Okay, Nate. If you’re free, you can take these cod fritters to the tables.”

“M-my king, asking that of me now is just plain mean!”

“I see you aren’t going to let yourself be ‘free’ right now, Mito-tsan. …Huh, this meat splits real easy with only a fork, so it’s easy to divide into bites inside the bowl.”

Was that why it was boiled instead of roasted? The thick pork could be split into three or four layers, so Naito started by splitting it into its layers. She considered cutting it to bite size from there, but she instead stabbed her fork into it, tangled up some pasta, and shoved it all in her mouth for an extra-big bite.

…Oh.

The olive oil made the pasta smooth but also gave it a somewhat fruity flavor. She split it with her teeth.

After feeling a non-noodly squishiness within, a teriyaki flavor and some pork oil flowed out through the net of pasta.

“Now this is a flavor that will get you fat.”

This was designed for guys, she concluded just as Tenzou returned with a plate covered in several glistening green sticks on it.

“Tenzou, what are those?”

“Skinned and boiled asparagus. Asama-dono made them.”

Naito speared one on her fork and tried it.

…Oh? Oh?

It was soft. She had expected a crunchy texture since it was asparagus, but skinned it was more like a really long grape. It was seasoned with only a hint of salt, so it would go well with most anything and would probably be good cold as well.

“Now this is a flavor that’ll trick you into thinking you’re being healthy.”

Suzu nodded in agreement repeatedly, so she must have really liked them. Mitotsudaira had already finished her noodles, but the arms had carried over some freshly toasted bread and she was enjoying a sandwich made by taking some of her cabbage soaked in pork oil and olive oil and placing it between two slices of bread.

I can be creative too, thought Naito as she grabbed some parsley from the toppings on the table and sprinkled that on some pasta that she wrapped around some asparagus and pork. And…

“Margot.”

A hand reached over her right shoulder and snatched the fork from her hand.

Naruze brought the fork to her own mouth and pulled the rolled-up pasta off with her lips.

“Hee hee. That’s mine now, Mar-”

She froze before finishing her sentence. She chewed a few times in silence.

“…!”

Then she pointed at the Chancellor while listing to the side. It was kind of cute.

Masazumi took a breath while sensing the others heating up.

She sat at the side table next to the counter. She was using a stool, so she had her back resting against the wall. This position gave her a view of the entire room because she had hoped it would let her speak to them all at a moment’s notice, but then she realized that was how it always worked.

…Still, a lot happened today.

She felt exhausted and she knew why.

It was about her mother.

She had known this was coming since Novgorod. She had suspected her mother had had something to do with the Princess.

But her mother had seemed the odd woman out compared to the big names like Henry VIII, the Prince of Orange, and Richelieu. Her mother hadn’t been a name inheritor and she hadn’t even been a teacher.

That would mean Lord Motonobu had been gathering people whether they were a name inheritor or not. What would that mean for the Princess Disappearances happening around the world?

“What a pain.”

“What is, Masazumi?” asked Futayo.

“If the Princess Disappearance victims are all from Lord Motonobu’s Nonexistent Academy, whether they were a name inheritor or not, we have to reassess the situation.”

“The Princess Disappearances have been happening for a long time, Crossdressing Honda-kun.” Neshinbara turned her way while grabbing a slice from a pizza given a square shape for a more efficient use of oven space. “Based on what we know, the Princess Disappearances seem to happen when someone comes too close to the truth about the Princess. The ones who knew what they were doing seem to have been from Lord Motonobu’s academy, but the others were probably unwitting victims.”

“My mother wasn’t investigating the Princess. I did go through everything she left behind.”

“In that case.” Adele turned around with a stack of empty plates. “Why not ask your dad about it?”

“Hmm. I’d have a hard time asking him since our personal feelings would rise to the forefront.”

“Really?”

“Judge.” Masazumi nodded. “I don’t know what his real reasons were, but he did leave his family behind. So me asking about it would be awkward and him talking about it would be awkward. And if he doesn’t know anything about this, it’s all the more awkward. Besides, we know it happened to her and we know she didn’t leave behind any clues, so I’m not sure what we could learn.”

“It could help you come to terms with what happened.”

“Honestly, I think we’ve done that fairly well already.” She nodded again. The idiot held out a cutting board of sushi and she placed one on the small plate Adele handed her. “I mean, we’ve had to deal with the questions of ‘why the Princess Disappearances?’ and ‘why us?’ this whole time. So…”

She decided to pause long enough to eat the sushi. At first glance, it looked to be gomoku sushi. But…

…Nh!

She froze when she detected an unexpected flavor.

“Oh, this is pretty good,” said the Date Vice Chancellor. “It’s consommé gomoku rice sushi, isn’t it?”

Masazumi had expected the sushi to taste Far Eastern, but it actually tasted more like a pilaf. She looked over to see Horizon raising her hand.

“I was trying to make some takikomi gohan, but I know nothing about dashi, so I received a consommé cube from Asama-sama, threw that in with the gokoku fried rice, cooked it, and – abra kadabra – now we have some lightly-seasoned oilless fried rice.”

“I thought using it for sushi would make it easier to eat and I thought it would taste fine chilled. That’s why I chilled it and wrapped it up like that, but from your reaction, I’m thinking making chicken consommé would have been better.”

Asama’s smiling addition to the explanation meant this had been a joint effort.

The idiot held out the cutting board again.

“This one has vegetables inside it. It’s the whole roll, though.”

“Surely I’m supposed to cut it apart and eat it with chopsticks…”

Futayo looked interested, so Masazumi let her have it. However…

“That was surprisingly edible for you, Horizon.”

“Heh. An accident I assure you, Masazumi-sama. I never imagined it would turn out so appetizing.”

“What are you trying to make your food if not appetizing?” asked the idiot.

But the others hung their heads and whispered to each other.

“Come to think of it, you never see the dishes served here over at the other Blue Thunder.”

“They sometimes have limited-edition menus like the ‘Fun Morning’ one or the ‘Chancy Lunch’ one, but never anything normal.”

“How did it end up like this when you’re teaching her how to cook, my king?” asked Mitotsudaira.

Horizon silently struck a triumphant pose, which seemed to be all the answer anyone needed.

Masazumi had nearly lost herself in thought about that, so she appreciated the easy escape.

Then, without warning, Neshinbara turned around and spoke to her.

“You might not be aware, Crossdressing Honda-kun, but you aren’t the only person here whose parent was taken by the Princess Disappearances.”

“I think I heard something about that before.”

Hadn’t there been one other Princess Disappearance case in the past?

“Who was it again?”

Horizon raised both arms and her voice.

“I believe you are referring to me!”

“That’s right,” confirmed Asama. “But, Horizon, try to look a little more sad about it.”

“How can I when I have zero memory of it?”

After some scattered comments on Horizon’s positive outlook on life, Masazumi turned toward Asama with a frown.

“Really? Was it Horizon’s mother?”

“Well, it would be more accurate to say it seems like it was. It was never confirmed because all trace of it was gone by the time anyone from the shrine could show up to inspect it.”

“Where did it happen?”

“The Blue Thunder. The other one, I mean.”

Horizon turned toward Asama, trembling.

“Are you telling me I have been working in a haunted building this entire time!?”

“Well, it has been remodeled since then. But what made you think it was you?”

“Heh,” laughed Horizon, brushing a hand through her bangs. “Urquiaga-samaaaa! Oh, that was a random selection. Now, go ahead.”

“It is easily deduced from the fact that the Double Border Crest appeared behind her and that her parents are gone.”

“Since when can you be so reasonable, Kiyonari?”

That was a good point. Masazumi was worrying over her mother’s past, but the same conditions applied to Horizon’s mother.

“But.” Asama opened a sign frame. “This was before we entered elementary school. Horizon lived with her mom on Tama and their home was being remodeled into a café at the time. Then one day, she went to check on the state of the remodeling and never returned.”

“Where did we live during the remodeling?”

“A temporary home below Tama.” Asama wasn’t sure about this next part, but it seemed likely. “If Toori-kun’s mom set you up there, then I think the room you stayed in below Tama until you moved in here was actually the same place.”

Horizon began to sweat.

“Um, I would much prefer to learn it was not the same place. It seemed so cramped and dirty, so I thought I would remodel it and slammed my luggage against the wall, which made a bit of a crack and…well, let’s just leave it at that. There was also my high-powered tossing and turning or the very artistic way the corner of my dresser smashed the tatami mats…and I may have moved in here without telling anyone about any of it.”

“You should really report that for the sake of whoever moves in next. I can take care of that for you.”

Horizon gave her a double thumbs up, so Asama sent a template report.

Tama: “ ‘Musashi’-sama! ‘Musashi’-sama! I have received a request for a full interior replacement for a small room in my underground area even though we are so busy with the event! Over.”

Musashi: “ ‘Tama’, that is the room Horizon-sama once used for a short time, so it had been left untouched since. If she has damaged it herself, that means she is asking to have it remodeled instead. How could you let this happen, ‘Tama’? Over.”

Tama: “Eh!? This is my fault!? Over.”

Okutama: “If you ask me and my ample experience, you should have sent a warning or a notice to have something done as soon as her identity was revealed. Over.”

Musashino: “We have been unable to see eye to eye since that final exam, but for once we agree, ‘Okutama’! To think those people would actually solve our problem…oh, but they were the cause of it as well! Over.”

Asama received a message from “Tama” saying “Understood… Over.” The ellipsis was troubling, but she chose to continue the discussion instead.

“It was officially recorded as a spiriting away. No one actually saw a Double Border Crest and when Toori-kun’s mom arrived to check on things, she only saw some red light fading away.”

“Thanks to that, mom was actually a top suspect,” said Toori.

“That’s true,” added Kimi. She had just finished a slice of pizza, so she licked off her fingers and wiped off her fingers and lips with a napkin. “My foolish brother was a real mama’s boy at the time, so when the guards were questioning her, he said, ‘Mom wouldn’t do that! If she was gonna kill you, she’d be way more direct about it!’ Needless to say, that didn’t help her case.”

“Yeah, but sis, I seem to remember you laughing your ass off next to us saying, “Mom’s going to the pigpen!? Please no! I don’t want to be a piglet!’ ”

Asama hated how she kind of remembered that.

What she remembered more vividly were the grim look on her father’s face and that her sickly mother had been in charge of the inspection. It was possible that was a false memory she had created for herself, but thinking back, the choice was probably because another woman would have an easier time investigating.

At the time, the Princess Disappearances had been a minor type of spiriting away and there was no sign of the ether traces that usually lingered afterwards, so…

“After an inquiry at IZUMO’s small outer sanctum office, it was judged ‘a spiriting away that is currently thought to be a Princess Disappearance’. That appears to be what Neshinbara-kun believes as well…if you can trust him.”

“Wh-what is that supposed to mean, Asama-kun!?”

“Now, Asama-sama.” Horizon tilted her head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Really, it comes down to you arriving on the Musashi as P-01s. And once we learned your identity…well, nothing was known for certain. And…” She hesitated but decided to say it. “You, um, never mentioned your mother.”

Horizon froze.

Everyone was sweating nervously in the summer night. Naruze watched Horizon raise her right hand, smack herself on the head, and turn toward the others.

“Now that you mention it!”

Margot clearly wanted to say something and poked at Naruze’s hip and Naruze felt the exact same way.

But Horizon crossed her arms and continued.

“It was partially just that it slipped my mind, but I also didn’t think much about my mother after the extreme impact left by my awful father.”

“To be honest, um, I did try to steer the conversation in that direction a few times,” said Asama. “Like with the unopened room over there.”

“I didn’t pick up on your hints in the slightest. What a blunder!” said Horizon. “But this never caused me any trouble, so it all worked out in the end. Yes.”

She’s the real deal, thought Naruze as Margot poked at her hip again.

Asama actually had something else to say about this.

“Toori-kun and Kimi’s mom has her reasons for refusing to accept that Yoshiki-san – that’s Horizon’s mom – was a victim of the Princess Disappearances. According to her, ‘she just wandered off somewhere and she’ll be back before you know it’. So…”

So…

“That’s why she runs the other Blue Thunder. She originally ran her café here, but if she doesn’t use that one, she would lose the rights to it. And it had just been remodeled into a café.”

“So technically speaking…” said Horizon.

“Yeah, it belongs to you,” said Toori. “My mom was originally your mom’s bodyguard, so this is probably her way of taking responsibility.”

So…

“You showing back up before your mom did was probably a big surprise for her.”

That made Horizon freeze again.

She was sweating again and she raised her right hand.

“Um, I just thought working part-time might be kind of fun and thought at most I would learn how to cook, so I’m not sure about suddenly learning I have to run the café myself.”

“W-well, I doubt you’ll just be put in charge all at once.” Asama sighed. “My dad can tell you about your mom too, so why not go speak with him?”

“Judge. He did have trouble keeping up with the shogi game against my arms. But anyway…”

Horizon took a breath, nodded a few times as if to accept the information she had just received, and turned toward Asama.

“Excellent work, Asama-sama.”

“Please, I didn’t do anything. I am happy that something in me could be useful, though.”

Naruze turned toward her with a straight face.

“Something in you? Useful? Which inner part of you were you hoping would be useful?”

“Naruze, let’s not think about a new book when you’re still celebrating the old one.”

“That aside, I am very glad to have you with me, Asama-sama.” Horizon bowed. “And your mother was part of my awful father’s academy, just like mine, Masazumi-sama’s, and Mary-sama’s father, wasn’t she?”

Asama didn’t know what Horizon was talking about.

The first thought in her head was simply…

…Huh?

Her mother had died of illness. It had been a constitutional thing and her body’s mold had been affected by it. She recalled her mother saying she had chosen to live for the things she wanted in life instead of inhibiting herself. In that sense, it was less dying of illness and more…

…Yes.

Asama belatedly realized her mother hadn’t been just been waiting for death to arrive. She had been using her limited life to live as much as possible. But…

“My mother wasn’t a Princess Disappearances victim.”

“Um, but, Tomo.”

Mitotsudaira turned Asama’s way after constructing a yakiniku burger. Whatever she might claim, she had clearly used too much meat. It was spilling out from between the bread.

“Oops.”

“Um, you can take care of that first.”

“Excuse me,” said the wolf before shoving the burger into her mouth, starting with the bottom where the meat was falling out. After quickly consuming about half of it, she wiped off her mouth with the napkin Adele handed her. “Do you remember what happened in Novgorod?”

“Eh? Of course I do. The Double Border Crest appeared behind Horizon, Masazumi, and Mary.”

Masazumi raised her hand.

“That isn’t accurate. Well, it is, but it isn’t the whole story,” she said. “It appeared behind you too.”

Mitotsudaira saw Asama freeze.

She frowned with a hand on her forehead and mimed moving a parcel from right to left.

“Umm…”

“Tomo?”

“What is it, Mito?”

“Judge.” She nodded. “I called your name back then. Because I didn’t know why it had appeared behind you.”

“Eh?”

Asama squeezed her lips together and Mitotsudaira thought she knew why.

“Did you think I was just asking you to solve the problem?”

“Yes, but, um…why would I think otherwise when the Double Border Crest doesn’t normally appear behind people?”

“Well, no, I suppose it doesn’t,” said Margot.

“Right?” replied Asama.

Asama then tapped her right neck hard point part and Hanami emerged.

“Yes,” said the Mouse.

“Oh, Hanami. They say the Double Border Crest appeared behind me at Novgorod. Do you remember?”

“––––––”

Mitotsudaira saw Hanami give Asama one hell of a look.

…I didn’t realize she could make faces like that.

They were fairly in tune with each other on the emotional front, so it meant a lot when they had such different reactions. Asama didn’t know what this meant exactly, but she seemed to accept it. However…

“But…why?”

“W-well, I doubt it’s because of that,” said Mitotsudaira.

“You know.” Asama averted her gaze. “This is kind of depressing. I cast spells on the three of you back then and I’ve put together some countermeasures since then based on that, but if I was fine without any of that, it means nothing I did really mattered.”

“But you have all the best Asama Shrine divine protections,” said Toori. “Horizon doesn’t care about that, Seijun’s too poor, and Mary is a Shinto beginner, so their defenses and divine protections wouldn’t be on your level.”

“Huh, now that you mention it…”

“Hold on,” interrupted Masazumi. “Why did my reason have to be a personal attack!?”

Asama faced them again and gave a troubled smile.

“Sorry about that, Masazumi. …Toori-kun, try to be nicer.”

Seeing Asama’s posture and attitude recover, Mitotsudaira performed a mental fist pump.

…Way to go, my king!

Everything to do with Asama’s “lid” had taught them she could fall hard when something got her down. But with that dealt with, Mitotsudaira felt comfortable asking another question.

“Tomo, you only provided protections for those three back then?”

“I’m embarrassed to admit it, but yes. After Hanami sounded the alarm, I activated the spells and divine protections I had prepared and I later received a feedback report on that. Basically, I didn’t look much past what I had done myself.”

“Since there wasn’t much of a difference between the four of you, failing to notice the one behind you doesn’t seem to have led to any real problems,” said Narumi.

Mitotsudaira appreciated that comment.

“Based on the known conditions, this would be related to your mother, wouldn’t it, Tomo?”

“We can’t say for sure…and I don’t like the idea of it,” said Asama. “You see, my mother sort of showed up at my father’s place uninvited and my father used to be fairly passionate, and, well…he doesn’t get along well with my mother’s family. They seem to think he stole her away when she was in poor health.” She placed a hand on her chin – or her lips really – and tilted her head. “If she did go missing for a while like Henry VIII and Horizon’s mom, then it might explain some things about my mother.”

“That’s right.” Kimi pointed at Masazumi, Mary, and Horizon in that order. “Heh heh. But the fact that you were too busy helping those three to defend yourself says to me your mom skills were activating.”

“I see,” said Nenji. “You do hear about mothers who rush into a burning building to save their child!”

“Oh, come on. What I did wasn’t that heroic.”

“It certainly was not.” Mitotsudaira sighed. She knew what she had to say here. “When you get so focused on something you get tunnel vision, you can also lose sight of yourself. You really need to focus on your own safety first.”

“Oh.”

Asama pressed her lips together and blushed.

…Ho ho.

“Did that remind you of something?”

“I’m guessing something Odawara-related.”

“I-it’s not a guessing game, Naito!”

“Well, she saved my rear there, so I’d say it was heroic,” said Toori. “Besides, she understands what you’re saying. And if she doesn’t, the rest of you will help her out.”

“I see.” Horizon bowed toward Asama. “I should have done this much earlier, but thank you very much for your assistance at Novgorod.”

“No, thank you…”

Asama bowed back. Was this an example of courtesy between close friends?

“I will ask my dad if the Double Border Crest behind me could have anything to do with my mom.”

She already had a sign frame up, so she clearly saw this as a problem. Meanwhile…

“We have two more days,” said Mitotsudaira. “We are automatically a part of the Ariake’s event with the Musashi here, but if we can help Naruze’s circle through the third day, we might as well. After that, we will be sneaking away to visit my mother’s house, so we should review any related problems before that.”

“We have our tasks to complete too,” agreed Naruze before raising her wooden mug again. “This party somehow turned itself into a meeting, so how about we have another toast to focus back on what really matters?”

The party continued until early the following morning. Suzu and the others who tapped out early went to sleep in the futons laid out in the bedrooms, but Naruze was in high spirits and lasted a lot longer.

Naruze herself claimed she wanted to “see the day through to the end”, but she was still exhausted and ended up falling asleep in the café area. When the others carried her to the bedroom, they decided it was time for the rest of them to get to sleep in the bedrooms or café.

Horizon’s arms were on night watch duty and the boys set up a camping tent in the bedroom for some indoor camping (“I thought this would be useless after Sanada, but here we are using it again”), but after waking up the following morning, Adele made the mistake of saying that looked fun and ended up the unwilling new owner of a tent. They had it sent to her small room.

Once everyone was up the next morning, they returned to their homes and then went back out into the Ariake to prepare for the third day and afterwards. The second and third days went smoothly and the Summer Exchange of Immaculate Morals in Manga Form came to an end with an afterparty attended by many Europeans.

Afterwards, work began on cleaning up the festival structures, the Musashi exhibition continued, the European visitors spent the night in lodging facilities within the Ariake or aboard the Musashi, negotiations were held between corporate guilds, printing equipment was ordered, and all sorts of other deals were worked out.

Masazumi received a report from Tenzou on the actions of the other nations, but…

“A few of these are troubling, but that’s probably because everyone knows now is the time to act.”

With that in mind, Musashi’s main fighters slipped secretly away from the Musashi starting on the 25th. That was to keep P.A. Oda or Hashiba from asking too many questions about the Musashi’s presence in Protestant territory and so they could hold a strategy meeting for what was to come.

Their secret destination was the Reine des Garous’s home. The candy house in the forest.

Beforehand, they would all make their individual preparations for intervening in Honnouji and meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide. Once there, they would hold a weeklong meeting.

With all those plans in place, they entered the second half of summer break with their excitement from the Ariake intact.

Chapter 62: Rester in the Great Outdoors[edit]

Where is it?

It is here

But what does finding it

Teach me?

Point Allocation (Mikawa Mystery)

There’s the ocean, thought Terumasa.

The summer sun shined down on the waves of vast Mikawa Bay.

He was a little disappointed he wasn’t on a sandy beach. Instead, he stood on the cracked pavement of an ancient road. The road had a shallow slant and it vanished below the waves a few dozen meters away.

Gravel and pieces of the ruins had been washed up, creating a wall.

The city and the ruins of Mikawa had been here.

“This isn’t what I expected Mikawa to look like.”

He had never been, but based on what his friends had said, he had imagined the giant New Nagoya Castle, dark clouds in the sky, and mysterious phenomena and monsters running wild.

…That’s generally how it looks in games.

Mikawa was neutral ground and had served as an intermediary with P.A. Oda, but it had still belonged to the Testament Union and so games usually called it Miwaka or some other variation on the name. When you visited that overcast land, a shady merchant who spoke like a teacher would sell you the second-best weapons in the game but they always came with a penalty.

But now…

“It’s just the ocean.”

There was no New Nagoya Castle, no dark clouds, and no city of mysterious phenomena.

Only a costal wall of wreckage and the vast ocean.

Landslides were still common on the damaged part of the land, so more wreckage would enter the water and get washed up to add to the wall. Even now, he could see large pillars of water on the east-west horizon, showing him where parts of the wreckage wall were being torn down by a landslide.

In the long term, the important items of this era would sink to the bottom of Mikawa Bay to form a new layer that helped define the bay’s future shape.

While the bay continued to grow and change, Terumasa’s group had stationed themselves in the vestiges of the ruins to the north of the bay.

A shrine maiden upperclassman, who could read the terrain, had confirmed that spot was situated between two rivers and would be relatively unaffected by the ocean.

“Of course, when things collapse, it happens all at once, so maybe it doesn’t matter much, Ikeda-kun.”

When she said that with a smile, he could only agree.

For an M.H.R.R. resident, standing on the ground and viewing the entrance to the ocean was a rare experience. The closest ocean to M.H.R.R. was the Seto Inland Sea and the North Sea felt more like a shadow than an ocean.

But this was the Pacific Ocean. The sun was bright and the sea breeze was blowing.

…This isn’t what makes the Far East’s north and south residents so different, is it?

“They do eat different fish too.”

In M.H.R.R., he had never had a chance to eat bonito.

When he had worked on repairing the Azuchi, the people who went down to Satomi had done some fishing to resupply on food. He had eaten bonito sashimi for the first time then.

His first impression had been how strong its flavor was, but he thought it would be better cut thin and served with a European sauce or dip instead of cut thick and served with soy sauce. Nabeshima had laughed at him when he said so, which had reminded him she had spent time in the Dark Continent where she could have eaten both northern and southern Far Eastern fish.

…Culturally, Kantou is a lot more rural.

He felt sort of left behind by it all.

But he didn’t need to get used to it. It was already August 24. He had spent a little over 10 days in Kantou, but nearly two weeks had passed since he arrived here. He was familiar enough with the local food that he was pretty sure eating it in the future would remind him of his time here. Even now…

“IkeTeru! Let’s get-get-get! A late lunch-lunch-lunch!”

“You mean that thing where they catch one of the wild Nagoya cochins?”

That was apparently a Nagoya specialty. He didn’t know if it was in the Testament or if Lord Motonobu was behind it, but Nagoya had built a farm for the Nagoya cochin which was known as a local gourmet ingredient. Hearing the farm had survived the trouble here, his warriors had gone on an expedition there the day after arriving. They had returned half a day later after suffering a humiliating defeat against a flock of giant chickens towering more than 4 meters tall. They had held a grudge after that, so…

“Let’s fry them all!”

“We can’t eat the skin if we don’t pluck them first!”

“Hey, check this out! The footmark one left when it kicked him looks like an arrow pointing to his crotch!”

“Were they aiming there!?”

They had all gulped at the Nagoya cochin’s combat abilities, but after making some rice balls out of rice cooked in sake, they had left the following day on a very drunk mission to capture some giant chickens. Osakabe-hime had run a search in her library to help them out, so their opinion of her had risen. And their opinion of me dropped. How is that fair? But…

“They really didn’t need to erect a sign saying ‘Land Seized by Ikeda Team’ at the farm.”

“Using your authority-ity-ity?”

“But this place is neutral ground. Well, I’m sure the experts can work it all out, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

He wanted to focus on his work instead. Because…

“A lot of the wreckage has been pulled out into the bay.”

Those really are ruins, thought Terumasa.

The giant buildings from the ruins were a lot heavier than the reinforced wooden buildings that used modern construction. They were causing more changes to the bay than he had expected.

His initial simulation had assumed most of Mikawa was made up of reinforced wooden buildings, so they had suggested the waves would wash everything up onto shore. Even if the receding waves pulled it back, it would be relatively light sand and dirt that would rise to the surface and be washed back out again.

The information from the Azuchi’s trips above Mikawa and from the ninjas sent by cooperative academies had reached the same conclusion.

But that had been wrong.

From the outside, it looked like the wreckage covered the edge of the bay and was absent near the river mouths where they were.

But the ocean floor told a different story.

There were ruins there.

The heavy materials from the ruins and the wreckage of the paved roads formed a ring along the edge of the ocean floor.

After the explosion tore deep into the bay, the ruins must have collapsed and then been scooped up by the water flowing in from the ocean.

…Thanks to their weight, they rolled up onto the land.

After the explosion, the current flowing into the newly formed hole must have been very powerful. Looking back past their transport ship, he could see a tall building stabbed into the mountain slope.

Similar wreckage could be seen all around. The current had clearly carried them along, using the rising bay floor as a ramp to launch them into the air.

But that was only a fraction of the whole. What had happened to everything else?

“Before the water receded, the heavier wreckage piled up along Mikawa Bay’s original coast. Once the water did recede, that stopped the lighter wreckage, forming a dam.”

That had settled down within the bay and sunk further as the original coast collapsed.

They hadn’t fully surveyed the bay floor, but from their survey of the area straight out from here, they knew the ruins had sunk along the curving path of a shoal.

And even among the modern structures, the most important facilities had used heavier materials.

Most likely, quite a lot was sunk in the center of the bay or past the submerged heavy wreckage.

The wreckage in front of him now was what had slipped past all that to reach here.

“We need to concentrate our salvage efforts on the ocean, don’t we?”

For that, they had asked M.H.R.R. to send some excavators and ether detectors.

M.H.R.R. used them to excavate resources from the ocean floor in the North Sea.

Those were already powered up. Large scaffolding had been fixed in place on the ocean using gravitational control and the machines were visible at work searching deep below the waves at points calculated by Osakabe-hime.

At the same time, they were investigating the shallower areas and the walls of wreckage.

“Now, then.”

Terumasa turned toward a point low to the ground behind him.

Several figures lay atop a waterproof mat laid out in front their transport ship.

Those were automatons. They were missing many of their parts, but…

“These automatons served Kazuno and fought Tres España on the outskirts of Nagoya.”

He had finally found them. They had been in the wall of wreckage to the west or in the shallows, but…

“The first order of business is seeing if they still have their cores, but then we can start salvaging their souls. Once that’s done, we can finally reach some conclusions.”

“Work-ork-ork-ork?”

“Testament,” confirmed Terumasa. “I can’t avoid it now that we’ve salvaged some. The excavators searching the bay out there are more just in case we can find something more.”

The occasional red light would rise into the sky from the ocean.

“Why do I have to spend all my time playing with dolls like a shut-in after visiting the beach during the summer?”

“Wowwww! It’s the ocean! The beach! So much better than spending our time underground like a shut-in!”

A tall shadow fell on the beach with arms raised.

Shorter shadows removed their clothing while the tall one began some warmup stretches.

One of the shorter ones called out to the tall one.

“Is this your first time at the beach, Sakon?”

“Testament! They apparently go to the beach for an elementary school class trip, but I skipped elementary school.” Sakon put her hands on her hips and looked out into the Seto Inland Sea. “So I’m so glad I was given this job. I could see the ocean from the Aki lodging house, but Aki only has sheer cliff faces. I can’t thank Mitsunari-sama enough for giving me time off on a perfect mainland beach.”

“I deserve no thanks,” said Mitsunari. “And I am sorry for arranging an Aki tour for the previous day off.”

Hirano smiled and waved her hand dismissively.

“No, that was a learning experience for me. Aki is partnered with the Tsurugi Shrine, but that gave me a chance to see what things are really like there. And given how many extra courses Kasuya ordered at dinner, I think she enjoyed it too.”

“You ate a lot yourself, Hirano,” said Kasuya. “I will admit I got a little carried away trying to keep up with Sakon.”

“The workers went completely pale, didn’t they!?” said Sakon. “But in hindsight, what kind of meat even was that? It didn’t taste like beef.”

“It was Tajima beef. If you liked it, I can arrange for a different dish using it today. K.P.A. Italia can get ingredients from Hexagone Française and Tres España,” said Mitsunari.

“We can get foreign ingredients here?” asked Sakon.

“Aki has no land, so it must compete in commerce, Kohime. Thus, they show off their control over other nations and show off their own culture’s strength by cooking foreign ingredients with their own seasonings. The sweetmeats you were scarfing down last week were made with citrus fruits from Shikoku.”

“I-I was not scarfing them down! They served more every time I ate some, so I was seeing how far they would go. And no one calls them sweetmeats anymore. We just call them sweets!”

“You have inherited the name of an ancient Far Eastern warrior, so try talking like one!”

The helmet lying on a towel argued with Sakon while a small figure stepped forward.

It was Ootani.

His miniature form ran across the beach wearing only swim trunks and a warrior’s helmet. And he raised a hand to the others.

“I shall go first to ensure it is safe!”

The others turned to him in interest and watched him enter the ocean as if tackling the waves.

Kasuya decided she should probably ask the question on her mind.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Mitsunari? He won’t crackle away into nothing when the water hits him, will he?”

“Testament. There is nothing to worry about, Kasuya-sama. Our ether structure cannot be broken down by water. It could be a concern if the water had a high ether conductivity, though. Isn’t that right, Ootani-kun?”

“Testament! I appreciate the concern, Kasuya-sama! Spending time with all of you has taught me that Mitsunari-kun is not the only decent member of the Ten Spears!”

“What did Yoshiaki and Angie do to you?”

“Anyway,” said Ootani. “I’m off!”

A wave immediately swallowed him up. And…

“…”

Sakon clenched her fists and stared into the water expectantly. After a minute of nothing, Kasuya had another question.

“Hirano? What could you add to water to increase its ether conductivity?”

“Well, I’m a little afraid to say it at the moment, but…salt.”

“Ootani-kun! Ootani-kun! Please tell me you’re still out there!”

“The ocean is a dangerous place,” muttered Sakon, using her height to search for him.

Ootani was found at an even smaller size, tangled up in seaweed and unable to float back up to the surface.

“Th-thank you so much! I shall find a way to repay you while slaying the dragons underground!”

“You had better. Kohime has been getting lazy now that she is too comfortable with it.”

For the first time in her life, Kasuya saw a data entity prostrating to an eboshi helmet and the helmet responding. Another surprise was the effect of Sakon’s large size when she tried to use a bamboo snorkel.

“I float too much to dive down. Is this supposed to be a practical experiment in buoyancy?”

And…

“You’re surprisingly comfortable in the water, Hirano.”

“I purify myself every day at the Tsurugi Shrine. And now that Aki is in the ocean, the ley line route provides a direct connection.”

She scooped up the water to show it glowed.

That was ether light.

“The ether concentration is high enough that I can make it react if I concentrate. Although actually using it would require washing the salt out of the seawater, so the cleansing process would be a pain.”

“Testament. That must be why the water feels so ticklish on my skin.”

Mitsunari had hesitantly entered the water after they applied an anti-conduction spell coating to her. At this point, she had moved out as far as Sakon. Whether she floated or not appeared to be determined by the difference in data density, not by weight, so while she could take baths fine…

“I am very heavy here.”

“Should I lift you up?” asked Sakon.

“No, do not bother. This is data worth gathering.”

Mitsunari turned to the southeast. Their current home was there. Aki was formed from several cliff faces and the bedrock.

“From below, you can really tell how much bigger it is than an aerial ship,” said Kasuya.

“Yes, it’s even bigger than the Azuchi. And even in its split state, each portion is taller than any existing aerial ship,” said Hirano.

Kasuya found this situation a little strange. As a Loup-Garou, she was from Hexagone Française, but as a student, she was from M.H.R.R.

“I never imagined I would be welcomed to K.P.A. Italia as a VIP.”

“Agreed. I feel bad when they give me such nice ships for my trips to and from the Tsurugi Shrine. It reminds me I need to do my job right.”

Hirano had already made two round trips between here and the Tsurugi Shrine, the Oda clan’s primary shrine. She generally stayed here for four days a week. But in Kasuya’s opinion…

“I prefer having you here since it really helps us make progress underground.”

“I put in a real effort before, so it looks like we’ll finish before the break ends, doesn’t it?”

“Testament. There are one or two more every day. If we can’t deal with half of them during the morning, I’m really going to get worried.”

“Honestly, it’s an easy job for me since the vanguard provides a barrier between me and them.”

Kasuya found her job easy since the rear guard provided support, so that probably meant they were both in the right place.

…But I need to make Hirano’s job even easier if I can.

The dragon slaying below Aki was a lot like a duel since the battlefield and opponents were limited. The battle came down to plowing through with brute force, so other than the opponents being dragons, there wasn’t anything special about them.

But a real battlefield was different.

Battlefields were much larger and more complex and so many more individuals and groups would clash there. Hirano’s job as a representative of the Tsurugi Shrine would be to provide divine protections and perform infrastructure management.

Kasuya hoped they could reach the point where Hirano could focus on that.

But Hirano…

“If I don’t train with my sword arrows, we’ll be in trouble when we need one. We can’t underestimate Musashi’s strength.”

“The Battles of Yamazaki and Shizugatake come first, remember?”

“True,” agreed Hirano before pointing toward the beach. She probably meant they should get out of the water and take a break, but… “My ether purification worked better than I thought, so I want to make some divine protection adjustments. That way tonight’s dragon slaying will go a lot more smoothly.” She brushed her hair back, sending water flying. “How familiar are you with the Shibata Team, Kasuya?”

“Eh? I worked with them during what I guess you could call my training period, but I was way out on the edge of their territory and mostly just kept in touch with their local treasurer. Really, I’m more familiar with the Emperor’s soldiers and the Hashiba Team that brought me supplies. It didn’t help that the Shibata Team was traveling a lot to battle Sviet Rus.”

“I periodically interact with them, so it sounds like I know them better than you.” Hirano sighed and parted the waves as she walked toward the beach. “I want to avoid fighting amongst ourselves if at all possible. Even if the Testament says we win.”

We might not know each other very well, but we belong to the same shrine, thought Hirano.

Shinto wasn’t picky. The gods all had their own authorities and they gave their worshipers divine protections based on those authorities, but you could generally get something beyond your god’s authority using either the connections between the gods or through the greatest foundation and most notable trait of Shinto – the purification process by which difficulties were swept away.

To put it another way, the Shinto gods all had different specializations, but since they all had the basic “sweep away difficulties” skill, they could all respond to any kind of difficulty using it.

Thanks to that, Shinto had few restrictions on the gods’ authorities and lax rules for the worshipers compared to most other polytheistic religions.

Through the Age of the Gods, the gods had been in charge of their respective authorities and had swept away the difficulties that stood on the way of their authority rather than directly give people divine protections. But that had no longer been enough once the people began living in the heavens.

Thanks to that, the Shinto gods were much laxer about helping people out and Hirano helped arrange that help. However…

“Shinto doesn’t have a strong concept of enemies and allies. It’s a major benefit and major flaw in the religion.”

So…

“When we fight each other, we all have our difficulties purified away, so we can all fight at our best. So the more we work at it, the better we can wield our strength. But…”

“But one side has to win.”

“Yes, that’s the problem.”

Shinto was lax. It didn’t discriminate between anyone. She wished all of the P.A. Oda worshipers of the Tsurugi Shrine could continue living peacefully with each other. It was her job to watch over them when they visited the shrine, so she also knew they all wished the same thing.

They had had a record number of New Year’s visitors this year and she knew that was a sign that they were all wishing happiness for everyone else as the Apocalypse approached.

But all of that was doomed to come crumbling down in a history recreation battle.

And that battle was likely coming up soon.

Her feet dug into the sand. The wet sand. The dark sand. When she reached the dry, light sand, it felt hot below her feet. She preferred the cool sand, but…

“I know we have to go through with it since Hashiba insists on strict adherence with the history recreation, but it’s disappointing we have to fight against people working toward the same thing as us.”

“In a broader sense, our battle with Musashi is the same.”

Kasuya walked up alongside her and shook her body, sending water flying from her hair.

“No one out there isn’t hoping for some kind of happiness,” said Kasuya. “And, Hirano, you empathize too much with the people you help. Everyone might remember that you helped them, but they don’t remember you as much as you think they do.”

“I can’t help it.”

Kasuya was still dripping when they arrived at the towel, so Hirano reached out, took a charm, and handed it to Kasuya.

“Can I really us this?” asked Kasuya, since she was a nonhuman.

“It only removes filth, which it mostly identifies physically. So…”

Hirano attached it to Kasuya’s hair and pressed the activation tag. When she passed it across the hair, something white fell from the bottom of the charm.

Salt.

“It covers a spatial range, so you can just pass it over the top of the hair. Brushing with it could harm your hair, after all. It’s normally used to cleanse someone before healing them.”

“Blood and seawater may be similar for a Loup-Garou.”

When Kasuya used the charm like a brush, a pale light scattered along with the salt. Her Loup-Garou grooming divine protection was working with the charm to purify the seawater.

Being a werewolf comes with its perks, Hirano thought but didn’t say. She worked with divine protections enough to know it had its downsides as well.

So to change the subject, she returned to their previous topic.

“I really can’t help it.”

“That you love helping people?”

“Yes.” Hirano had said this countless times before. “Because my mother told me so much about how hopeless a person father was.”

“It was the exact opposite with my mother.”

“It really was,” agreed Hirano, recalling what their mothers had been like. “My mother always seemed so happy when she talked about him. I think that’s why I love hopeless people so much.”

“You sound pretty hopeless yourself.”

“Oh, but make no mistake. Being undisciplined isn’t the same thing as being hopeless.”

“How so?”

“They can’t sit around relying on money or anything like that and they can’t just complain all the time. I like to help people who screw up everything they try to do, enjoy pointless things, and get by without complaining.”

“That’s a tall order. Or a complex one, at least.”

Maybe so, but I want someone who is really worth helping. If they can do everything themselves, they don’t need my help. It would be one thing if they relied on me where I knew my skills lie, but how can I trust them if they get spoiled and demand more than that? I would have to clench my fist and make a very strong argument!

She ended up firing herself up, but that was just how strongly she felt about this.

“It’s unusual for you to talk about these things, Hirano. I appreciate it.”

“Is it? I remember saying this a lot.”

“We all have things like this. I know I do.”

“Fair enough,” agreed Hirano, grabbing a towel and drying herself off. She wanted to lie down on the towel for some sunbathing, but something else caught her attention.

Aki.

“Kasuya.” She looked up at the giant structure. “What are your thoughts on the pope’s dream we are fighting?”

Hirano had a question on her mind.

They were currently working to battle the pope’s dream. Based on the reports she had seen, the pope had special dream powers. In that case…

“Does this mean the pope predicts something like this will be arriving in the future?”

“It would be very bad if so.” Kasuya pressed her lips together. “We are defeating them quickly now, but I can tell they are growing stronger every time. What if that means the pope’s dream is growing clearer and there is some ‘final form’ we have to deal with?”

“They have all been some form of Terrestrial Dragon so far, but it might just be that those are the only kind of dragon she is familiar with.”

“Testament.” Kasuya smiled bitterly and shrugged. “I don’t want to even imagine how difficult the battles would be if we did this again during a winter break training camp.”

“Agreed,” said Hirano with a bitter smile of her own.

…We have so much to think about.

“We have to face Musashi, but the Battle of Shizugatake comes first. I wonder how Fukushima and the underclassmen like Kani feel about that?”

“Oh? You hadn’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“I see she isn’t sitting down after all,” noted Kasuya with a smile toward Sakon splashing around in the distance catching fish. “Kani is really enjoying herself and the Shibata Team helped her upgrade her equipment. Fukushima, on the other hand, went into the mountains for some mental training.”

“That sounds awfully independent for a group training camp.”

Hirano heard Sakon saying “look, a shark” before she continued.

“Fukushima has a tendency to overthink things, so I do hope she is careful.”

“The mountains get cold at night even during the summer, so I need to be careful.”

Fukushima was gathering a bundle of branches that had lost their leaves.

She was on a mountain about half a day’s travel away from the Shibata Team’s fleet. She was about halfway up the mountain, right where the trees began to change. She had set up camp near a small waterfall in a rocky area there.

This was her second day out here.

She had switched off her divine transmissions once she had completed her preparations. Takenaka had taught her how to send an emergency transmission if necessary, but she had no intention of using that.

The place was so quiet.

That was why she had initially set up a spell field for keeping animals away and placed her tent near the waterfall.

…But the waterfall was so loud I couldn’t sleep last night.

The sound and the vibration in the ground had been a surprise.

The water also carried branches and rocks that fell into the basin and those more unusual sounds always caught her attention.

Once the sun had risen, she had moved the tent. The waterfall put a lot of moisture in the air, so she had moved her camp to the south side of the slope to avoid getting chilled and keep her luggage dry.

Then she had finally gotten some sleep and awoken to find it was blazing hot.

She had chosen a very sunny spot for her tent and she had also closed the tent’s ventilation to keep the waterfall’s moisture out.

Once it was too hot to bear any longer, she had emerged to find it was past noon.

She had brought food with her, but Sassa had tasked her with being self-sufficient.

“This ain’t a vacation,” he had insisted.

“He tends to wander off and not show back up until a few days later,” Fuwa had explained.

He must train himself out in the wilderness like this, she concluded. That meant this was Sassa’s way of helping her.

She gathered up some larger branches and found a fallen tree she could use for firewood.

For training, she found a flat area she could use for kata training and a rocky area with some steep drop offs.

She might find some better places once she explored further, but she had the bare minimum she needed.

By the time she had set up a clapper and some spells to keep animals away and for security, it was nearly evening.

“Now, then.”

She gathered some water and started a fire for dinner and then she got to thinking.

…Those unwanted thoughts really have stopped.

“Testament,” said Fukushima.

It was only her second day out here, but she was already noticing a change in herself.

“I see.”

Kani was right.

She nodded a few more times while finishing her early dinner and washing the dishes. The smell of the food would attract animals, so she left the dishes and pot soak after washing them.

Once she started considering whether to keep or extinguish the fire, she noticed her surroundings had grown dark.

She hadn’t noticed the falling darkness while staring at the fire. She considered doing some night training, but she instead did some stretches and went to bed.

In the tent, she crawled into her sleeping bag, noted the waterfall wasn’t as loud tonight, thought about how busy she would be tomorrow, and shut her eyes.

She could not get to sleep.

She tried, but sleep would not come.

Chapter 63: Late Night Stalker in the Late Night Kitchen[edit]

Y’know

I think about

These things too

Point Allocation (The Nerve of This Boy)

As the night wore on, Fukushima was hit by an urge she couldn’t explain. Something she had been mentally suppressing felt like it was pushing up from the back of her head and bottom of her chest.

“Kh.”

Feeling like she had strings pasted to the undersides of her muscles, she sat up and then pressed her back against a protruding rock below her mat.

…What is this?

She wondered if it was exhaustion. When she took a break from exercising, she would feel a tingling in her relaxing muscles just before falling asleep because they wanted to be used more.

But this was different. She wasn’t sure how to describe it, but she knew this wasn’t exhaustion or insufficient exercise.

It was anger.

The thoughts she had suppressed for the past two days were trying to flood back out into her mind.

Oh, no, she thought. I must not let them out. Because…

“Suppressing this is why I am out here.”

She tossed and turned a few times and opened her eyes yet again to look up.

Of course, she was in her tent. The green tent only looked like a dark shadow at night.

She couldn’t even see herself clearly in the dark, indistinct space.

She tried to convince herself she was tossing and turning because it was hot and she couldn’t get to sleep because she had slept during the day.

“––––––”

The urge crawled along her back.

Back then…back when? No, her mind was refusing to look back. But she couldn’t help it because she could tell looking back and remembering would end poorly.

But she did know she had seriously screwed up back then. That was why she had hit her head hard and scolded herself.

But that scolding was meaningless. Not when it had all already happened back then.

So what was she supposed to do?

“I…”

She thought about it and felt the crawling sensation rise from her back to her neck.

She couldn’t bear it and rolled onto her stomach, but she still felt a ticklish tremor below her back muscles.

So she inhaled.

She pulled her knees to her chest, sat up, and placed her arms below her knees. She tensed her back to stretch the muscles and eliminate that crawling sensation.

It would not stop.

But instead of feeling like thick strings were wriggling along her back, she felt a strange heat around the tendons connecting the muscles and an itch like some fingers were lightly rubbing from within her back.

“Kh.”

The sensation was ticklish, but it felt disgusting coming from inside her like that.

She wasn’t doing enough.

She had to tense her back more to stretch the muscles more. So she released her legs and pulled over the sleeping bag. She rolled that up and held it tight between her arms.

“–––––”

She shut her eyes, hoping this would pass soon.

…Something is starting here.

Mitotsudaira hung her head while seated at a table.

She was in the Main Blue Thunder after business hours. They had just finished preparing for their visit to her mother’s house tomorrow.

The clock struck 12 at night and Horizon spoke from the head of the table.

“Tomorrow we pay Mitotsudaira-sama’s mother’s house a visit, but first we must hold the official Main Blue Thunder Girls Expenses Competition.”

“Must it be a competition?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“It must.”

Kimi nodded in agreement, standing next to Horizon. She snapped her fingers.

“Read it off, foolish brother.”

Behind the counter, the king stopped cleaning to open a sign frame.

“Let’s see, should I start with food?”

“Y-yes, please…do.”

Asama hung her head to show she had already resigned herself to her fate, but then she looked up.

“Oh, d-do the things I bring from the shrine get deducted from my number?”

“S-stop trying to weasel out of this, Tomo!”

“Hm, I think we’re going to keep it simple this time,” said the king.

“Judge.” Horizon nodded. “Then take it away, Toori-sama. Oh, but you do not need to mention 4th place. We all know which one of us…” She brushed a hand through her hair. “Heh, has zero food expenses.”

“Heh heh. Impressive, Horizon! That shrine maiden and wolf could learn a thing or two from you!”

…All I’m learning here is how much regret one person can feel!

Thinking back, Mitotsudaira realized she had eaten a lot over the past several days. She blamed the Ariake manga festival. They had stayed up all night and they had packed lunches or eaten out for the lunches, so that had increased how much she ate.

No, it was her king she blamed the most. Because…

…Whenever I’m eating, he just serves me more and more for his own amusement.

And no knight could refuse food served her by her king, so she always ate it. She had eaten a lot. She had eaten so much she had been worried about the following morning, but it had all worked out thanks to her Loup-Garou blood. It isn’t often I want to thank my mother…and on second thought I am not doing that here either

She could tell the type and quality of the meat just bey eating it. All of the meat had been of high quality and it had generally been a mixture of cuts, but always served so the tougher and softer cuts were separated.

That was further reason to blame her king. Because…

…Even when he served me something that looked the same, it would be subtly different once I ate it.

She recalled what he had done when she got back late at night the other day: “Here’s some Musashi-style boiled pork. It should have a nice refreshing flavor.”

He had made a stock of dark beer and soy sauce mixed at a 2:1 ratio, added some onion and salt, and lightly marinated the pork before roughly boiling it. The mixture of the beer’s bitterness and the soy sauce’s saltiness had given it a somewhat adult flavor. Adding mustard had given it a Western flavor, but it had indeed been a refreshing flavor all around. She had found it helped invigorate her in the summer heat. The seasoning was simple, it could be chilled, and…

…He clearly used good meat.

There was also that one night he served some smoked meat, but that went well with sake, which should add a lot to Asama’s score. Two birds with one stone, really.

…Wait, no!

At any rate, she had given into her desires and eaten all sorts of food, so she was worried.

And…

“Okay, I’ll start with 3rd place.”

Mitotsudaira listened intently.

“Nate. Your food expenses for a week are estimated at just over 10 thousand yen.”

Asama nearly fell to her knees while sitting in a chair.

She felt like every joint in her spine collapsed by about 5mm as her head crashed down onto the table.

…Oh, no. I lost to Mito? Then I must be in 1st place!

My drinking is a problem. A big problem.

But why did a café like this stock Far Eastern sake? And the good stuff too.

…Probably because Toori-kun’s mom drinks.

In fact, his mom had mentioned it before: “Those are mine, but if you just can’t resist, Tomo-chan, you can drink them and replace them. You can use them for cooking too.”

That’s right. I mostly used them for cooking. I had a bottle there on the countertop and a measuring cup next to it for some taste testing- oh, dear. There’s the problem. The big problem. I emptied five bottles like that.

The grilled chicken and fish was a problem too. She wasn’t used to doing the cooking, so when it was her turn, she had bought too much and had ingredients left over, so she had ended up making large lunches for everyone at Summer ImMoral Manga.

…I’m still making excuses, aren’t I!?

She knew she was doing it, but she couldn’t stop. I need to cut back after our visit to Mito’s family home and after the Honnouji Incident. Yes. I need Honnouji to happen soon so I can vindicate myself.

“2nd place is Asama. Sake was your biggest expense. About 30 thousand a week?”

“Eh?” Asama looked up in surprise. “It was only that bad?”

“Drinking mom’s sake hurt you a lot, but you’re pretty frugal otherwise. Without the sake, you’d be sitting at around 4 thousand.”

Everyone looked up at the ceiling and counted something on their fingers. After a bit, Mitotsudaira looked down.

“How did you only spend that much cooking?”

“Yes, that was an awful lot of food for such a low price, Asama-sama!”

“Heh heh heh. Your drinking ruined it, though.”

“Y-you just had to say it, didn’t you, Kimi!? Didn’t you!?”

She knew she had her mother’s teachings to thank here. She didn’t want to think of herself as cheap and her cooking had been well-liked, so…

“I might be able to save a lot of money if I’m the one cooking. Mito did some cooking too, but I did it more during the Ariake manga festival and I get the feeling it will work out that way more often in the future too.”

Oh, and…

“Far Eastern cooking uses lighter seasonings, it mostly just uses salt or dashi, and you rarely cook things in fat, so I think those little things add up in the long run.”

“I see,” said the others before turning toward Kimi.

“Kimi.”

“Heh heh. Yes?”

“You must be in 1st place.”

Come to think of it, Kimi had accompanied Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Horizon in the cooking and the eating. So she would naturally have the largest expenses based on what she had eaten.

So…

“Are you ready?”

“I am! Go, foolish brother! I can take it!”

“Sure,” he said before reading the sign frame.

“1st place is…” He couldn’t look them in the eye. “Horizon.”

Horizon raised her arms and struck a pose.

“Victory is miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!”

“Um, Horizon?” said the king. “This says you eat 70 thousand a week. Care to explain how that happened?”

“70 thousand?” muttered Mitotsudaira, impressed. Horizon slapped her stomach before answering.

“It’s called burning 10 thousand worth of fuel every single day! Because it’s all so good.”

“What were you eating that cost so much?”

“That is a simple matter,” said Horizon. “I helped Toori-sama cook, helped Asama-sama cook, helped Mitotsudaira-sama cook, helped Kimi-sama cook, ate the finished products, and then gave into the summer break mood while working at the Blue Thunder too. Oh, and I would eat more when I was too hungry to keep going at night.”

“Toori-kun, um, hold on a second.”

Asama took the king over to a corner of the room. She raised a finger and said things like “the thing is” and “if you ask me” and “Horizon is a free spirit, so you need to rein her in” while he repeated “okay” and “got it”. It was a scene they had witnessed countless times.

Then the king returned.

“Okay, you need to cut back.”

“Judge. Now you have seen a small glimpse of what I am truly capable of. Scared yet?”

Mitotsudaira and Asama could only answer yes. But in that case…

“How did Kimi end up in 4th place?”

“That is a simple matter,” said Horizon, so Asama beckoned Kimi over.

Just like with the king, she took her to a corner of the room and said things like “listen, Kimi” and “you can’t just give her food whenever she wants it” and “if you must give her something, make it something lighter” while Kimi reacted with mock distress. It was a scene as nonsensical as they had come to expect with Kimi.

Then Kimi returned.

“Heh heh heh. Am I perfect, or what!?” She pointed at Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Horizon in turn. “Sake! Meat! Everything! Living with this kind of debauchery is going to be exiting indeed, foolish brother!”

“I thought this was a lot of fun because of how it reflected your personalities so well,” he said.

“Just out of curiosity, what were your expenses, my king?”

“Like this.” He showed them the sign frame. “I was between Nate and Sis. About 5 thousand, I think? Like Asama said, I bet we could keep our expenses down a lot depending on how many days a week we cook and if we use leftover ingredients. Not to mention baking our own bread instead of buying it, or just using rice instead.”

Mitotsudaira could understand that since she used to ask her maid automaton to buy bread for her so she could live her life as a knight. She did know how to bake bread, but it was so time consuming.

…So cooking rice is always an alternative.

She only now considered bringing some rice to her mother’s house. There would be a Mito store open at the market near the port next morning, so she could buy some there.

“Oh, I’ll be bringing rice with my luggage. Auge-chan says she’ll be sending supplies periodically by transport ship, so we could order some through there as well.” He turned toward Asama. “Which reminds me, has Seijun contacted you?”

“Eh? Oh, she has. She says they finished paying back their debt.”

Horizon opened a sign frame.

Horizey: “Congratulations, Heidi-sama! Your acquittal means the Udon Kingdom has lost their living gods, so perhaps you would consider leveling up to producing dried noodles.”

Circle Be: “As much as I would love to be a living god, I would prefer something easier to pass next time! Anyway, we hope to meet up with you after making some money in Kantou, but we should probably arrange all that with Masazumi. Oh, and Asama-chi?”

Asama: “Yes?”

Circle Be: “Thank you for arranging this. We did repay the debt ourselves, but we still needed your help to get started.”

Silver Wolf: “You’ve learned your lesson, I hope?”

Horizey: “Do not worry, Mitotsudaira-sama. I am sure they will give the people what they want by doing it again.”

Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.

Circle Be: “I also have something to give you, Asama-chi.”

Everyone looked to Asama curiously, but then the king looked up.

“Oh, it must be the rights to my God Mosaic.”

“Huh?”

Asama wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

The God Mosaic was an Amaterasu optical spell and it could be bought at most any shrine, not just the Asama Shrine.

So she knew he had been buying it from Heidi because she had arranged a really good deal, but…

“I want you in charge now, Asama. You’re the Asama Shrine Representative, so I had worried it would be too much of a bother for you and the shrine every time I wanted to strip, but I think it’s about time. Auge-chan was trying to thank you in a really indirect way so you didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“No, it’s not a problem at all – for me or the shrine. Although I’m not sure if I should really thank you for something like this.”

“Heh heh. So now Asama is the master of my foolish brother’s crotch.”

“O-officially speaking only!”

“So now I would require Asama-sama’s permission get the uncensored version of Toori-sama when we combine?”

“No, no, no. Heidi’s authority here is only over managing the spell inventory. The usage rights are based on how Toori-kun has it set up.”

So…

“Um…does anyone else want that authority?”

Horizon looked at the others. Kimi placed a hand on her chin and said “it wouldn’t be all that funny to use it on myself”, and Mitotsudaira suddenly grew very interested in the kitchen so she didn’t have to look anyone in the eye.

“What does that authority give you?” inquired Horizon.

“It lets you manage the spell inventory, so you really just make sure he doesn’t run out.”

Horizon fell silent and gradually began sweating more and more.

“B-but! You can set it to refill automatically if you want!”

“Heh. I already have you handle my divine transmission settings and everything else. It might be romantic or cute to keep this one thing under my control, but perhaps I should keep in mind who the best person for the job is.”

“Horizon, you have blood dripping from your mouth… And we all fail to keep that in mind from time to time.”

Horizon mimed moving a piece of luggage from left to right and then nodded toward Asama.

“To be blunt, my body protests when I attempt annoying tasks.”

“Um, yes, I’ve noticed.”

“I am sure there are some things you need that authority to accomplish, so if I am ever annoyed with the God Mosaic, I will shout ‘Asama-samaaaa!’ and you can provide a lightning bolt or something. In fact, leaving you in charge has its perks because I could not add that kind of option myself.”

Asama checked out of curiosity and found the Takemikazuchi lightning bolt option had a discount since Takemikazuchi served Amaterasu. On the other hand…

“The vertical solar beam from high heaven would be cheaper.”

“The atmosphere would weaken it, so wouldn’t the discount be canceled out by the extra cost to strengthen it?” pointed out Mitotsudaira.

“And isn’t the lightning bolt more convenient since it can be used at night and indoors?”

“Wh-what are you people planning to do to my crotch!?” protested Toori.

“Heh heh.” Kimi laughed quietly. “I would recommend just letting them do what they want to you. But is there anything you want to do to them?”

“Eh?” His head dropped forward. “Sleeping buried beneath you all would be like heaven on earth.”

That reminded Asama of their camping trip to Sanada. She had used his arm as a pillow in that cramped tent. Thinking back, that trial period had been even more intense than now.

“Okay.” Kimi pointed at her brother. “Let’s cut straight to the good part! Act out what you want to do, foolish brother! And make yourself look good!”

You’re a genius, sis! shouted Toori on the inside.

I’ve actually given this a lot of thought, but it’s great to have a chance to try it out.

“Let’s see,” he said, thinking of this as a test. “If I wanted to look cool with Horizon, I would…”

“Peh.”

“I haven’t even started yet!!”

He was at the counter, so he mimed grabbing Horizon’s shoulders to make sure her imagined arms didn’t come off, moved in close to make sure her imagined elbow didn’t uppercut him, made sure her imagined knee did not shoot up to hit him, made sure her imagined head didn’t headbutt him, and…

“My king! My king! Why are you moving so stiffly!?”

“Heh. Do you see how high difficulty I am now?” boasted Horizon.

“Fix that, foolish brother! Fix it! Yes, fix it and continue!”

“Okay,” he said before starting on his next line. First, he looked the imagined Horizon in the eye. “Horizon,” he said. “I swear I’ll treat you right.”

So…

“If you would respond more peacefully than usual, it would be a win-win for both of us. Or at least, I won’t end up sobbing after we’re done or have to quit partway through due to accumulated damage. So how about it? No? Yeah, didn’t think so…”

“Toori-kun! You’re kind of rambling now!”

“I believe I got the gist of it,” said Horizon.

“Eh? You did!?”

“Judge.” She nodded. “He is challenging me to a quick duel.”

Mitotsudaira sensed her king crouching behind the counter.

“U-um, my king?”

“Sh, Mitotsudaira-sama. Spoiling him is Asama-sama’s job. And no sign frames have appeared near her, so I doubt he is about to die of sadness or anything like that.”

“Y-you sure are strict, Horizon!” snapped back her king.

He is a real entertainer if he can stand back up after that.

As for Kimi…

“Foolish brother, figure out what you did wrong and rework it! Now do Mitotsudaira!”

…Eh!?

Mitotsudaira felt her face go pale but then it bounced back to extremely flushed.

…Ehhh!?

She looked around in a fluster to see Asama giving her the smile of a girl who had yet to consider her own upcoming turn. Horizon was clapping and Kimi was performing a weirdly understandable pantomime that meant: “Hold out your hand → Ask her to shake → Pat her if she does it” I am not a dog, you know?

“Leave it to me,” said her king with a thumbs up. “Nate.”

He gave a casual smile and mimed beckoning her over.

“Come here. Cooome here. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There’s a good girl. Did you know you can pat a wolf here to keep her docile? See, you’re narrowing your eyes already. It tricks you into thinking I’m part of your pack, so I can hold my arm out and you won’t bite it. ‘Chomp!’ Ow ow ow ow ow!”

“My king! Isn’t that joke from the Age of the Gods!?”

The worst part was how it was partially accurate. But he gave another thumbs up.

“Nate.”

She heard him speaking to an imagined version of her.

“Can you prove to me that you’re really my knight?”

And…

“Eh? How? Well, uh, you just have to…you know. No, no, I’m serious. Just a little bit, okay? Yeah, I won’t do anything weird. No, no, no. I swear I’m serious. I won’t do anything that would hurt you. And you can tell me to stop at any time. Yeah, just a little bit.”

“What in the world are you imagining!?”

“Okay!” Kimi smiled and dropped her raised hand. “You need to rework that one too, foolish brother! In fact, start over from scratch! Got that!?”

Asama saw blushing Mitotsudaira take a breath.

…Wow.

Kimi had put an end to it, but she had seen the wolf tremble for a moment before that.

When he put it like that, Mitotsudaira had no choice but to respond. It had caught her by surprise here, so she hadn’t had a choice even if she did have a countermeasure in mind.

So she must have imagined it and now she was taking a breath to calm herself.

“Mito, you have some work to do too.”

“I do. I can’t let myself fall silent and fail to respond to my king.”

“But,” said Horizon, raising her right hand. “With Toori-sama and Mitotsudaira-sama, I was honestly imagining something more like ‘Nate, how would you like to eat my “meat” tonight?’ ‘I would love that. I was really craving an extra-large serving of “meat” tonight!’ ”

“We aren’t my mother and father.”

“Your parents are like that, aren’t they?” said Asama. “But the way you ordered them makes it sound like your mother is the one in control.”

“Because she is. But as absurd as all of this has been, it has been very ‘educational’. Because I had never even considered how I would respond to these things,” she said. “I also need to consider the possibility of him turning it into a joke.”

That reminded Asama of something: Horizon.

He and she had made jokes, but what if the things they said before the jokes were how they actually felt?

…Oh.

Horizon had not said “I believe I got the gist of it” in response to his joke.

So if you isolated just their initial responses, it came out to:

“I swear I’ll treat you right.”

“I believe I got the gist of it.”

That was why he had responded with “You did!?”

…Wow.

It sort of reminded her of the way those two had canceled out each other’s arguments back at Mikawa. She knew she could be a pain to deal with too, but with those two, it was less about being a pain and just how they were made.

They formed a single whole together. People referred to couples that way from time to time, but it really seemed true here. Although with Horizon, there was a serious chance she really would challenge him to a duel. If that happened, how were the rest of them supposed to respond? Asama suspected she could find a similar situation recorded in the Asama Shrine’s library, but there was a beauty to figuring things out on your own, so maybe a beginner shouldn’t worry too much about that. Oh, but I already know more or less what he likes based on the porn games he plays.

“Now do Asama, foolish brother!”

Now it was her turn.

Mitotsudaira saw Asama exhaling.

…She’s keeping a natural stance!

Would that let her react to and accept whatever might be coming her way?

“You look like a true master, Asama-sama!”

“No, it’s just that I more or less know what’s coming.”

“Okay, foolish brother! Begin!”

“Uh, sure,” said the king, posing behind the counter.

He faced an imaginary Asama and scratched his head.

“Asama,” he said. “Can we do it?”

…Really!? That’s all!?

Confused, Mitotsudaira looked over at Asama. The shrine maiden had her lips pressed together and looked a bit angry and a bit troubled. But then she raised her right index finger and wagged it back and forth.

“W-well, if you insist.”

“Nope! That’s a foul!!” Kimi pulled a whistle from her cleavage, blew it, and waved at Asama. “That response is against he rules! You’re out!”

Oops, thought Asama.

He had said pretty much what she had imagined, so she had accidentally responded.

…But that’s generally how it is between us.

Their relationship was like a lazy kind of happiness. They didn’t try to show off or go to too much effort with each other. That was more Horizon and Mitotsudaira’s territory. With her…

“If I did have a complaint, maybe it would be better if you made it feel like I was doing you a favor more than granting a request? It would feel less like there was an obligation.”

“Yeah, after I said it, I thought I could’ve made it sound more special.”

“Heh heh. That happens a lot with you.”

It also felt like her ordinary self was being judged here. It was difficult to only be that way when it was convenient. So…

“You had better keep doing my foolish brother lots of favors. Heh heh heh.”

“Based on that laugh, I’m guessing you just think it will be funny!”

“How can you and my king act so normal about this?”

“Yes, I feel like Asama-sama could stand to play a little harder to get there.”

“No, no. That isn’t like me.”

Despite what she said, she had honestly been kind of cautious. Maybe she had been partially expecting the opposite from him, but…

…It would be very bad if he used some cool line with me.

Based on Horizon and Mitotsudaira’s reactions, they had also expected him to use a line like that on her.

But how would she have reacted if he had used one?

She might have laughed it off because it didn’t suit them. On the other hand, she might have felt she didn’t deserve it. But what if he did like he with Mitotsudaira and took something from their everyday life and gave it a different meaning? Like “Can you prove to me that you’re really my shrine maiden?” That one was designed for Mitotsudaira, so it felt off just changing the one word, but…

…Hmm.

She couldn’t even imagine what he could have said for her because he had never said anything like it. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but she felt a tingle in her spine at how solidified their relationship had become. However…

…What would I do if he said something like that?

“Oh.”

Her imagination ran wild for a moment.

This is bad, thought Asama.

She had trouble reacting when he did something she didn’t expect. That was a lesson she had learned the hard way. They knew each other really well, which brought a certain sense of comfort, and they knew they could rely on each other, so even if something unexpected happened, she felt like she could handle it based on her past experience.

That was why she knew how hopeless he was.

But what if he showed her another way of looking at that same relationship?

What if she had to accept it right then and there instead acclimating to it over time?

She would have no idea what she was doing, but still accept it. In other words…

…L-letting him have his way with me!?

Nothing like that had ever happened before.

Her job and role as a shrine maiden meant she primarily did things for other people. She could generally look after herself, so she wasn’t used to having other people do something for her.

What would she do if that happened?

No, what would be done to her?

And what would she do afterwards?

These thoughts were racing through her head when he turned toward her.

“Asama.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’ll rework that.”

“P-please do.”

She wasn’t sure what she was even saying. Frankly, she was overwhelmed.

…Wow.

Even her own imagination had trouble reacting when he did something she didn’t expect.

…The master of the natural stance just self-destructed.

A question occurred to Mitotsudaira as she watched Asama blush and stare motionlessly off into space.

“My king? Purely hypothetically, how would you go about it with Kimi?”

“I wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant, yet it made a lot of sense to her.

But in that case…

“What about you Kimi? What would you tell my king in a situation like that?”

“Hm? That would be easy.”

Kimi brushed back her hair and then placed the hand below her chest where she knocked on her skin a few times.

“Foolish brother?” She smiled. “Come to me.”

Horizey: “Kimi-sama, show some restraint!”

Silver Wolf: “Wh-why do you make it sound like he belongs with you or like you’re a great ocean he calls home!?”

Asama: “Also, Kimi? You really shouldn’t joke about this.”

Wise Sister: “Silly girls. Where do you think he goes when he’s run into some trouble with you and things are too awkward to be with you? I’m his safehouse for times like that. He comes to me to goof off for an evening, vent his frustrations, and eat some delicious treats. Then I send him back out ready to face you the next morning. It would be weird for you to do that and send him off to another one of you, wouldn’t it?”

Horizey: “Um, Kimi-sama, I feel like that is the opposite of showing restraint.”

Mitotsudaira listened to the idiot sister.

“Anyway, I’ll help out where I can and my foolish brother will come up with some improved ideas, so I hope we can all enjoy living together. I’ll be sitting on the sidelines laughing at your troubles.”

“You’re the worst!” shouted Mitotsudaira. “Just the worst!”

“Heh heh. That concludes tonight’s sex talk! Your homework is to agonize over everything we talked about here!”

“Um, Sis? What about me?”

“You got carried away and bought a silver hair book, a knight book, and a shrine maiden book, didn’t you? Then go get studying.”

Kimi then turned to Horizon. She struck the same pose as before, brushing her hair back and knocking below her chest.

“Go like this, Horizon! You can learn to be just as unrestrained as me!”

“Judge!”

Horizon stood up and brushed her hair back.

“Ohh,” gasped an impressed Asama, but then Horizon slapped herself on the belly.

“Bring it oooooooooooooon!”

Did everything have to devolve into a joke in this house?

Later that night, Mitotsudaira heard her king collapsing in the washroom, but she decided not to investigate when Asama got up but stayed put and when she noticed Horizon’s arms were missing.

They would be leaving the next morning.

They needed to visit her mother’s house and see if Kasuya’s Argent Clou could be found there. They also needed to confirm some information and do some strategizing, so they would be holding several meetings while there.

Chapter 64: Girl Wandering Nearby[edit]

Hey, where are you going?

Should I go with you?

Should I go regardless?

Are you going to the beach?

Point Allocation (Does it count as the beach if it’s a lake?)

Tomoe Gozen looked up into the sky.

It felt like forever since she had seen that sky, but also like no time at all. Because she was looking up at it from within the Ariake.

The top was open for the morning ventilation.

From 8 to 9, the Ariake would open its upper armor. They hadn’t done it during the Summer Exchange of Immaculate Morals in Manga Form for security reasons, but that was over now.

The top opened up every morning and evening, both to display IZUMO’s technological prowess and to give everyone in that enclosed space a refreshing change of pace.

The transport ships moving in and out of the Ariake would aim for those times instead of using the specialized hatches. That would get the air moving, increasing the efficiency of ventilation.

A lot was in motion at this time.

Everyone stepped out of their lodgings to look up into the sky and they often planned their meals for this time.

Tomoe Gozen had gone that route herself. She sat at the outer edge of South-3 Wide Block, one of the Ariake’s major restaurant wide blocks. The location also gave her a head-on view of the Musashi.

She was eating buckwheat dumplings and fruit at a Far Eastern restaurant’s parasol-equipped table.

“Guericke, what are the other nations up to? Your print-focused viewpoint should provide some valuable insights.”

“Testament.” Guericke sat across from her in a summer uniform. He set down a bundle of paper bags. “The Catholic principalities and our enemy nations are currently coming to greet us while we go greet them. It might not last, however.”

And…

“Those nations are interested in purchasing print equipment and we are discussing having IZUMO or ourselves begin some experimental business there to bolster our later budget.”

“Don’t we all have bigger things to worry about right now?”

“Testament,” he replied just as someone else walked up from the side.

“The other nations probably think the future of the Apocalypse and the Thirty Years’ War are dependent on M.H.R.R.’s Hashiba and P.A. Oda’s Nobunaga. Yes.”

Tomoe Gozen turned to face the newcomer.

“Christina. You aren’t accompanying them to Hexagone Française?”

Christina answered Tomoe Gozen’s question with a “testament”.

Today was the 25th. The Musashi group had departed for Hexagone Française early in the morning.

They were traveling west hidden aboard one of the trade ships traveling to the Protestant principalities. The more observant nations would probably notice they were missing, but very few people knew where they were going.

…And Hexagone Française’s Mouri will be making peace with Hashiba after the break.

Musashi was sneaking into a nation that would soon be an enemy. People won’t expect that one, thought Christina with an internal smile. And…

“May I take a seat?”

“Feel free. Unless anyone else around here has a problem with it?”

Tomoe Gozen looked to the surrounding tables and the people seated there quickly looked the other way.

Christina had apparently been gathering a lot of attention. She was bad at noticing things like that, but…

…This would have played out differently if Tadaoki-sama was with me.

But she would get to do that before long.

“Tadaoki-sama and I will be taking a look around the Ariake today, so I can’t visit for too long.”

“Seeing the sights?”

“We plan to visit the Ariake Sea, which is really just a large reservoir lake up on the second level. We will have some fun there for a while and then do karaoke.”

“Just like two young lovebirds, huh?”

“I was a late bloomer, so I can’t afford to worry about appearances.”

That changed Tomoe Gozen’s expression. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and then she smiled a little.

“I’m jealous, honestly.”

Christina bowed her head.

“I apologize for never taking any of your advice back at the Nagaoka residence.”

“Are you apologizing as an individual?”

“I am apologizing as Lady Nagaoka.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, I would love to say I only lectured you because it’s in my nature as Luther’s name inheritor, but unfortunately, I can’t.”

“Is this about Komaoumaru-sama?”

“You catch on quickly.”

“Claiming no interest in romance is a coward’s excuse,” she said, meaning every word.

She glanced at her surroundings, but she honestly didn’t understand why.

She knew the person next to her was Saxony Representative Guericke. He was a Protestant leader involved in the print business, so he often worked as an aide for Luther, aka Tomoe Gozen. Most of his income came from the print business, but that business was mostly comprised of printings based on the history recreation and doujinshis.

…That makes it a very unstable business.

Did all his serious political work leave him wanting to cut loose and enjoy something more fun?

But Christina decided someone like that would be easier to talk to.

She could let him take the records, which would make it easier to reach a consensus with the Protestants. With that in mind, she continued the previous topic.

“What has Komaoumaru-sama been doing since then?”

“We don’t know. We lost track of him after he was transported to Lake Biwa Azuchi. We know he is working for Hashiba, so he will likely be sent in to fight when Hashiba deems it necessary. I would love to deliver the finishing blow myself, but we might not meet on the battlefield.”

“You will have to trust Musashi to handle it then.”

“The Date Vice Chancellor nearly lost all of her equipment to him. He’ll likely be even stronger next time, so he will be a formidable opponent indeed.”

“Should I pass that on to them?”

“Probably so.” Tomoe Gozen smiled a little. “I’m sure they’ll do whatever they please and find their own response. That’s just how they do things. The problem is I have to work under the assumption that I might run into him at some point down the line.”

“Is there any way to defeat him?”

“Plenty. The question is whether or not you can pull them off.”

“So you can’t just be all talk, is that it?” said Christina, smiling bitterly.

Guericke raised his right hand next to her.

“I apologize, Tomoe Gozen, but I forgot to schedule a morning program to record. May I do so now?”

“What kind of program?”

“The summer break special for Absolute Tax Collectors: Matthew 7 put out by Ariake Academy. It begins at 10.”

“Yes.” Christina nodded. “The Vatican carelessly gave the Far East approval to produce it, so it ended up depicting a flying pyramid warship transforming into a giant god of war and then crushing the Roman army.”

“Testament. The Catholics have been greenlighting a lot of things like that lately, perhaps as a way of combating us Protestants. And the Protestants gave authorization as well because it was deemed too absurd for anyone to worship.”

“They fail to understand how much Far Easterners worship giant transforming gods of war.”

“Which has given me one more thing to look forward too while here on the Ariake.”

He bowed toward Christina for some reason, but the Protestant representative who had authorized it was right there at the table with them, so she felt like he should be thanking her instead. But regardless…

“Is this an example of a cultural exchange?”

“The Far East actually sends a delegation to Europe in this time period. If we interpret things too liberally, the Testament Union will put a stop to it, but Innocentius is gone now and I hear Olimpia is still asleep from her dreaming spell.”

Christina had honestly been out of the loop on this stuff of late. She was no longer engulfed in information like she used to be. If anything, she was living her life rediscovering the things she now had at hand and within herself.

But she did have one relevant piece of information available to her.

“I had heard the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope were on close terms.”

“Matthias is an eccentric and quite literally inhuman. Olimpia is, if anything, the young and sociable type. They both prefer remaining indoors, but I expect Matthias is the one being pulled out of his comfort zone.”

In other words…

“That Holy Roman Emperor makes you realize people’s appearances are entirely meaningless, but he’s fallen in love with this ‘new’ pope who ages backwards and will eventually disappear. What was that, Guericke? You just laughed at me, didn’t you?”

“N-no, I wouldn’t dream of it. I was laughing at the preview for next week’s episode of another show that I happened across while setting this one to record.”

It sounded like a bad excuse, but Christina noticed the show on his screen was All-Around Genius Leonardo Village. Tadaoki watched that one and it was indeed a funny show. Every episode had the leader invent something dangerous and his apprentices had to work together to solve the problems caused by the invention. In the last episode she had seen, the leader had built a military base, but she hadn’t seen what happened with the stairs on the second floor they couldn’t get open.

…Oh, I can ask Tadaoki-sama what happened!

That was called communication.

She nodded toward Guericke in thanks and he nodded back, looking bewildered. And…

“Tomoe Gozen, what do you make of the current situation in the world?”

“Testament,” replied Tomoe Gozen. “The same as you. Everyone is waiting to see what Musashi and Hashiba do.”

Tomoe Gozen grabbed the menu to order something before they talked.

She had just eaten some buckwheat dumplings, but…

“I think I’ll have some amanatto and salmon jerky.”

“Tomoe Gozen, you sound like a drinker!” said Guericke. “Oh, and I will have this ‘salmon sandwich – good fortune set’.”

“Why does it come with a dog doll?”

“I-I want this princess one, not the dog!”

“Excuse me, waitress! We will have this, this, and this – with the dog.”

“Tomoe Gozen!”

“Oh,” said Christina, raising her own hand. “I’ll have the ramen burger from the All-Around Genius Leonardo Village collab.”

“Quite the adventurer, aren’t you?”

“You need to pursue the latest trends if you hope to have the latest information.”

“Anyway,” said Tomoe Gozen. “The other nations have been pretty busy during the break. Let’s discuss that.”

…The world sure is keeping busy for the Apocalypse being so close.

Tomoe Gozen focused on the things she had seen herself.

“Mouri will likely use Ankokuji Ekei to make peace with Hashiba after the break. But they haven’t done anything regarding Sekigahara outside of saying they will strictly follow the history recreation. Things seem to be going well for them, but what do you think?”

“Mouri is working to build up their ‘earnings’ from the break until Sekigahara.”

That reminded Tomoe Gozen that Christina had been there for Ankokuji Ekei and the Musashi Vice President’s discussion.

Tomoe Gozen wished she had been able to be there too, but…

“In other words, Mouri is working to protect their purely Mouri people. They will side with Hashiba, but they will do whatever it takes to ensure Mouri does not decline. That means Hashiba can’t use Mouri until Sekigahara begins. And I suppose Mouri will use their cooperation at Sekigahara as a shield to give them an edge when dealing with Hashiba.”

“Meanwhile, the Kantou nations are beginning to cooperate with Musashi.”

Christina spoke quietly, seeming to let the words fall onto the table.

…Oh?

It was interesting that a European like her had that Kantou information on hand.

She must have been gathering and analyzing information on a variety of topics herself.

Christina intertwined her fingers on the table as she continued.

“Kantou, Oushuu, and Sviet Rus are all well on their way to becoming Musashi’s allies. Same for Hexagone Française and England in Europe. I think we can assume Musashi and those allies are attempting to restrict P.A. Oda’s actions.”

“What will the other nations do if that happens?”

“I’m sure they are doing all sorts of things during the break, but by now on the 25th, I assume most nations have progressed their history recreation to at least mid-September. Because,” said Christina, but that was when the amanatto arrived.

“Want some?” asked Tomoe Gozen, considerately indicating the pile of food on her plate, so Christina took one. She held it in a napkin, transported it to her mouth, and raised her eyebrows.

“I thought that was sugar, but it’s salt.”

“It uses ghost-friendly salt, so they call it ‘unsweet amanatto’. You can decide for yourself if that’s contradictory or self-defeating.”

“Fair enough.” Christina nodded. And, “I assume most nations are predicting the Honnouji Incident to occur at the end of the break or in early September. They should have seen Hashiba following that schedule and the result of Musashi negotiating with them when they entered Kantou. Thus, we can predict those nations will have their anti-P.A. Oda and anti-M.H.R.R. plans in place by the end of the break. I expect they hope to reduce Musashi’s influence at Westphalia by saying Musashi’s actions forced them to oppose P.A. Oda and Hashiba like that.”

“Testament. I agree with you there. It was Musashi moving up a few history recreations that pushed us past our defeat at Nördlingen already. If Europe could just work together, we could stand up to Hashiba without that ‘defeat’ hanging over our heads. Hexagone Française is going to be the key to all of this, but it’s already determined they’ll be the conquerors of Europe. So the other nations are going to plan their post-break actions based on how much they think Hexagone Française will use that position to help Mouri out. But…”

Tomoe Gozen grabbed one of the beans and noted how tasty the salt was seeping out from between her teeth when she bit into it.

…Oh, it’s extra salty for Summer ImMoral Manga, isn’t it?

She was clearly in high spirits if she thought that tasted good. Her sense of taste could be malleable.

But she did have something to say about this.

“On the 10th, Musashi decided to head west like they were leading the way for Hashiba. On the 15th, they arrived here along with the Ariake. All the other nations must have started asking some questions about that. They had thought they could spend the 2nd term focusing on P.A. Oda and Hashiba and wait until Westphalia to deal with Musashi, but what if this means Musashi will be more involved than they thought?”

“Testament. Which is why they were focused on internal issues starting in the second half of the break. Because if Musashi successfully intervenes and defeats P.A. Oda, all of their preparations to focus on P.A. Oda and Hashiba will go to waste.”

And…

“In that case, Europe will be forced to instead deal with Musashi, if not with both Musashi and Hashiba leading what remains of the Oda clan.”

“And?” prompted Tomoe Gozen, wondering just how much she was smiling. Hopefully I’m not enjoying this even more than I think I am, she thought as she continued. “Which history recreations will those countries need to start considering now?”

“To start with, the Honnouji Incident, the Battle of Yamazaki, and the Battle of Shizugatake, which determines where Hashiba will be going,” said Christina. “And before they deal with Musashi at Westphalia, they may have to consider Sekigahara and the Battle of Komaki Nagakute, both battles fought between Hashiba and Musashi. None of the other nations can make any careless moves until those are complete.

“That is why I have concluded the other nations won’t be doing much of anything until mid-September when Honnouji and Yamazaki should be complete.”

Christina took a breath after laying out her speculation.

…It has been so long since I’ve had a discussion like this.

Not since she spoke at Musashi’s pool. Since then, she had done some information gathering, but she had mostly been discovering new aspects of this new life, spending all day on dates with Tadaoki, and sometimes sulking in bed all day when she couldn’t see him.

…Why didn’t I use those days for information gathering!?

She decided to chalk it all up to her being a late bloomer. At any rate, she had enjoyed the summer festival that had doubled as preparing the inside of the Ariake after departing Kantou. She had also enjoyed the three days of Summer ImMoral Manga. Not to mention…

“Hey, Christina? I don’t know where your mind’s gotten off to, but bring it back.”

“T-Testament! I will try my best!”

She opened a lernen figur showing the photos of Tadaoki she had taken during Summer ImMoral and set the back of the screen to be nontransparent. That would make it look like she was reviewing the data Tomoe Gozen and Guericke had sent her.

Nagaya-Stable: “Excuse me, Nagaoka-kun. I am Musashi Representative Council Head Ookubo. Do you have a moment?”

Nagabuto: “Huh? What do you want? I’m kind of busy right now.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Well, I just received word from the secret bodyguard we have following Lady Nagaoka. Apparently she’s viewing some pictures of you in public, but while she made sure no one can see them from the front, anyone behind her can see them just fine. She’s basically surrounded by different nations’ 1st Special Duty Officers or their subordinates, so I just thought…but if you’re busy, don’t worry about it.”

Nagabuto: “Don’t let that sliiiiiiiiiide! Dammit, I’m on my way! I’ll be right there!”

Christina set the photos up in a slide show, which was enough to make her happy.

With that done, she had something to tell Tomoe Gozen. She used the voice she always used with that woman.

“Were you aware that one nation has been making some troubling moves?”

“You mean the nation of the setting sun, don’t you?”

“Testament. Tres España is using its baseball team as an excuse to visit here.”

That much wasn’t too strange, but…

“I heard Vice President Juana intends to continue traveling with the baseball team after Summer ImMoral.”

“Did you get that from your information network?”

“Their tournament’s location means a lot of that information finds its way to Nördlingen.”

She had several guesses what this could mean, but…

“Depending on how you interpret that information, I believe this counts as repaying the favor you paid me at Nördlingen.”

“In what way?”

“Testament.” Christina nodded. “You were the one that set it up so Musashi could use Summer ImMoral as an excuse to return to Kantou, weren’t you?”

“Um, that was me actually,” interrupted Guericke.

“Shut up, you!”

Tomoe Gozen shouted so loud the surrounding people turned around and Guericke shut his mouth. What was that about? wondered Christina as she continued speaking.

“Musashi coming here forced the other nations to rearrange their plans with a new focus on Musashi. And since you, Tomoe Gozen, set that up, they now must give thought to your influence as Westphalia approaches. It was a brilliant move, Tomoe Gozen.”

“Please, it was noth-” began Guericke.

“Shut up, you!”

Tomoe Gozen shouted again and the entire area went silent.

At any rate, Christina had repaid the woman for Nördlingen.

“Tomoe Gozen. The way I put that should help prevent Musashi and Hashiba from ignoring the Protestants, gather the other nations’ attention on you, and make them listen to what you say.”

“It’s just like you to be so confident in that conclusion. But I have a hunch this was also meant to help you reclaim your influence as the Swedish Chancellor.”

“We are on summer break, Tomoe Gozen, so we need to enjoy ourselves.”

She saw Tadaoki running this way. For some reason, he was shouting “Waiiiiiiiiiiit!” which was odd since she wasn’t going anywhere. But…

“I wonder how Musashi and Hashiba will spend the rest of their break.”

Koroku was bored as could be.

Summer break had entered its final week. She had already finished all of her summer homework, but…

…Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

Summer homework was meant to keep your academic abilities up during the long break, but each student was allowed to choose their own completion rate and she had completed hers before the break was even half over.

She hadn’t been rushing through it; it had just happened when she completed as much as she could each day without stressing herself out.

It just so happened that she completed a lot of it at once that way. Not so much because she liked schoolwork, though.

“It’s the video games.”

She spent her spare time on games and her maintenance or improvements for Genbu. Schoolwork was a hindrance to those things.

“Schoolwork gets in the way of everything else.”

And everything else got in the way of schoolwork.

Which led to her concerns about her summer homework:

…Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

She had finished it all early so it wouldn’t get in the way of her free time for the rest of the break, but…

“After so much free time, I’ll end up an idiot who can’t remember a thing I studied.”

She had asked the others about that last night. Ishikawa and the Spears currently on Azuchi had all been in the dining hall for once, so she had explained the issue. Ishikawa had been the first to respond:

“Koroku-chan? You seem to think you’ve discovered a flaw in the education system, but to be honest, even us teachers want to set everything aside and take a long break sometimes. I mean look at how much summer homework we give ourselves: none.”

“Aren’t you being a little too honest there?”

“Don’t worry, Shouroku,” chimed in Wakisaka, stirring the bamboo charcoal syrup into her shaved ice. “My plan is to get away with never doing the homework at all, so we can all start trying again when the 2nd term starts.”

“Angie, you have guts saying that right in front of your teacher,” said Ishikawa. “But, Koroku, let me make one thing clear. Not studying doesn’t turn you into an idiot.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Testament,” confirmed Yoshiaki. “It doesn’t. The people who study get smarter and the rest return to being wild apes.”

“Kime-chan! I’m on track to being a monkey next term!”

Koroku recalled how, in the 4th and latest season of Pendragon Ball Z, the protagonist had started saying “Howdy! I’m a country boy!” to emphasize his past as a feral child, but that in turn reminded her how few divine TV shows there were in Kantou.

In Houjou land, they had replayed the same show in an infinite loop as “a demonstration of reincarnation”, but she had her doubts that was the real reason. At any rate, Katagiri was the last one to give his advice.

“Can’t you just do some extra studying during the rest of the break, Hachisuka-san?”

“Would you?”

“Eh? Yes, I would.”

“But it’s a waste of time.”

Her response there made everyone freeze in place. Sensing everyone’s attention on her, Takenaka shrugged and gave her opinion.

“If you ask me, whether or not you find something to be a waste of time and whether or not you feel guilty not doing it are different things.”

“Oh, well said, Take! I can’t wrap my head around all these issues, so I’m gonna ignore it all until the new term!”

“I am not looking forward to grading the work of a bunch of apes,” said Ishikawa.

“Y-you’re the one who abandoned us for so long last term!”

“Testament,” said Ishikawa. She held a Kyoto-style parfait in her left hand and was about to dig in like it was chazuke. “Teaching is so much easier when your students are so self-sufficient.”

Koroku didn’t like that focus on what was easier, but it sounded like the best plan was for everyone to take a stance on the homework they felt comfortable with. She had tried to do some extra studying, but she couldn’t get in the mood for it and stopped after only a quick review.

…So the rest of the break will be playing games and heading out.

She looked up overhead.

She saw the white sky there.

The real sky was covered by the giant dome of a stealth barrier.

She looked back down to see the Azuchi’s deck and the Azuchi’s water dock past that.

“It’s been ten days since we got back.”

Past the enormous water dock space was the lake itself.

“When will Lake Biwa Azuchi be able to remove this dome?”

Koroku could see Lake Biwa Azuchi, the giant water dock built into the lake’s north side, and the castle town.

…Azuchi Academy was originally here and the town was built around that.

According to the Testament, the Oda clan’s Azuchi Castle had been the largest castle in the Warring States period and its castle town had been large and prosperous. To provide some prosperity while under provisional rule, this place had been built before the inheritance of Nobunaga’s name “to prepare for the coming age”.

That had been led by Nobuhide, the previous head of the Oda clan, but…

“One day, the Oda clan suddenly demolished Azuchi Castle and began to construct Lake Biwa Azuchi here.”

“Huh? What? You studying Oda history, Shouroku? Is that part of a summer project?”

She heard a voice from overhead.

Wakisaka wore a swimsuit and carried a bag while hanging upside down from the bottom of her descending schale besen.

She used her wings to keep herself aloft.

“Want to head out, Shouroku? Kime-chan and the others went to the sail pool built on Lake Biwa.”

“Why are you running late?”

“I was doing a bit of my homework after what you said last night. Ballistic calculations and stuff like that. I figured it would be best to know the basics of how physically launched shells move.

“But anyway,” said Wakisaka. “Did you bring a vacation swimsuit?”

“Are you trying to provoke me?”

“Not at all.” Wakisaka waved her hand dismissively. “This year has been so heavily influenced by the wars that started last year, you know? And curiously, fashion here has started adopting the latest trends from Hexagone Française and K.P.A. Italia. The stuff from the Sa’id and Far East Academy Store brands are all so plain, but the Sakaiya and SAKAI brands are putting things out this year, which gives us blues and reds.”

“I like the NORIKANE-ASIA brand.”

“The fashionable brand from Fan Gang!? I underestimated you, Shouroku.”

In what way? At any rate, she wanted to step out and get some fresh air. “Just take me outside.”

“But your swimsuit!”

She sure was stubborn. Koroku saw no option but to reach for the schale besen’s propulsion part and pull herself up.

“Oh, you aren’t taking no for an answer, are you?”

“I’m not in a good mood.”

She meant that in regards to the immediate situation, but…

“I can imagine.”

The quick response suggested Wakisaka had a good understanding of her.

So Koroku sighed and viewed Lake Biwa Azuchi from the slightly more elevated vantage point. The elliptical dome with a maximum diameter of 12km across contained the wharf, the town of Azuchi which was becoming little more than a warehouse district, and an R&D facility. And…

“How can this not put me in a bad mood?”

“You mean that such a large facility was built to prepare for the Genesis Project?” asked Wakisaka, gesturing toward a large empty space.

The otherwise dense warehouse district and wharf had an empty area with a radius of about 2km.

That space was shaped like a mortar and it was paved all the way down. It had ten holes on the interior and some structures that must have been supporting something there before.

“Honnouji,” murmured Koroku, naming what had filled that great space before it was dismantled and transported away. “The starting point for ending it but not letting it end.”

Wakisaka nodded at what Koroku said while sitting in the space that functioned like a rear seat.

…Shouroku takes this all so seriously.

She faced the plain facts and accepted them using her senses.

She had shown a fair bit of emotion during the confrontation between Musashi and Azuchi before, but she didn’t let that influence her point of view or judgment of what was right and wrong.

That suggested a reason for her “bad mood”.

…She isn’t convinced this is the right thing to do.

But there was no helping that, so Wakisaka knew what she had to do.

“Time to go.”

No more sitting around. Never brooding is one of my strong points. Besides, you can’t brood over all this complicated stuff if you’re keeping busy, which means actions are more important than thinking. Probably anyway.

But if I’m going to keep Shouroku company…

“So anyway, have you heard?”

“No.”

…You could at least ask “heard what”?

But this was their usual pattern. Her airspace management divine protection sensed the white sky ahead of them and displayed a safe route on an insha kotob.

She synced that insha kotob with her schale besen’s controls and made any necessary adjustments with her feet, allowing for hands-free flying. She adjusted the position of the bag holding her swimsuit and other supplies.

“The previous clan head, Nobuhide…-sensei I guess I should say? Apparently it really was the Double Border Crest that got him.”

“I knew that.”

“Huh? So you had heard? Did Take tell you?”

“I heard it from Hirano’s mother along with you.”

“You did?”

She didn’t really remember. But…

“Well, that happens a lot with us, doesn’t it?”

“Testament. It isn’t worth worrying about.”

Such a realist, this girl. She might be more grownup than me, thought Angie.

“Then had you heard this?” she asked. “Nobuhide-sensei’s top student was Matsudaira Motonobu, who was a hostage of the Oda clan at the time for the history recreation. Y’know, the old guy who blew up Mikawa.”

“I knew that,” said Koroku.

Angie nodded.

That much anyone would know if they bothered to look into it. The history recreations between P.A. Oda and Matsudaira were pretty important, both because they went on to control the Far East and because their connection was what had allowed Matsudaira to use Mikawa as neutral ground between P.A. Oda and the Testament Union.

“How about this?” said Angie. “The Oda clan fell into chaos after Nobuhide-sensei’s disappearance, but did you know it was Matsudaira Motonobu who set in motion all the plans leading to the present?”

“I had my suspicions.”

Ooh, a less confident answer. But…

“Oh.”

The insha kotob displaying directions suddenly told her to ascend.

A transport ship had left the port behind her and it was traveling southeast.

…On its way to Honnouji, huh?

“They said they moved it to a new location because this was going to be too largescale to do here.”

The new location was southeast of Lake Biwa. That ship was probably carrying materials there. Based on the ether readings her Magie Figur was getting, the construction was really getting underway over there.

…Will Nagayasu be here soon?

Angie wondered that while the ascent moved her legs.

“What made you suspect that?” she asked.

“The Genesis Project was Lord Motonobu’s idea, so of course he played a part in it.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Koroku wasn’t done yet.

“After Oda Nobuhide’s disappearance, Motonobu ran a few research projects, but those all failed. Only then did he start the Genesis Project. Since that project was fulfilling Nobuhide’s will, at least to an extent, P.A. Oda’s leaders chose to play their part. Now, I’m sure all that wasn’t as simple as that summary makes it sound, but I’ve heard bits and pieces about that part of the story and I figure that covers the general outline of events well enough.”

“And now we’re flying above it all.”

“Hence the bad mood,” said Koroku.

An enormous water dock sat below them. Azuchi currently occupied it, but next to it…

“We need to stop our enemy if we want this to succeed and that means we need power.”

There was another enormous water dock.

Its storage space was larger even than the Azuchi.

“It’ll all end soon. And then it will never end.”

And once that happened…

“How about you buy a swimsuit, Shouroku?”

The white wall in front of them opened to reveal the blue sky.

Koroku sat up and tried to get a view past Angie’s wings.

Would you look at that, thought Angie. She’s interested in things outside after all.

“I can’t help but wonder,” said Angie, relieved by her nearby teammate’s behavior, “what’s going to happen with Fukushiman and the others.”

Fukushima had a dull awakening.

It was a little late to call it morning, but that was unavoidable. The throbbing in her back last night had bothered her so badly she had slept shallowly and never for very long at a time.

She knew she couldn’t keep going like this, so she skipped breakfast and got right to training, hoping that would help clear her drowsy mind.

“––––––”

After striking a tree with her wooden sword a few times, last night’s throbbing came back.

That told her this wasn’t it.

“This does not count as training.”

She had hoped to train in the basics of sword fighting by striking, jabbing, and slashing the trunk with her worn-down wooden sword.

But last night’s throbbing in her back had been due to insufficient exercise.

“I am supposed to be training my mind, but I am only engaging in some wooden sword exercises.”

That wasn’t enough. But another cause came to mind too.

…I keep remembering what happened with Kiyo-dono.

She could tell her focus was slipping.

Yet sitting cross-legged and meditating did not stop the unwanted thoughts. No matter how much she managed to calm herself, the memory would pop into her mind and she would end up wracked with regret.

She needed to make sure she couldn’t think at all. As a fighter, she knew exactly how to do that.

“My best bet is to lose myself in training.”

She had learned last night that her current level of training was insufficient.

If she was truly exhausted, she could fall asleep without being plagued by unwanted thoughts.

And her dull mind this morning told her just how important sleep was.

If that throbbing returned and she couldn’t sleep tonight, her outdoor life would only get worse.

In that case…

“No going easy on myself. I need to do some real training and get some proper sleep tonight. An excellent plan.”

But now that she had to come up with “real training” to do, she hit a roadblock.

She leaned her elbow against the tree torn up by her attacks and spoke to herself.

“What exactly am I supposed to do?”

What kind of training would wear her out enough?

She needed mental training. Simply moving her body was not going to get her there.

But what would?

Her mind wandered in search of an answer and Kiyomasa suddenly came to mind.

The “suddenly” was the worst part.

The rebound was really bad. She felt ungrateful for trying to forget about Kiyomasa and she also recalled how badly she had hurt Kiyomasa, which made it all the worse.

“–––––”

When Kiyomasa’s tearful expression and voice in that moment of rejection sprang to mind, Fukushima peeled herself away from the tree.

“Kh.”

Impulsively, she just about struck the tree trunk again, but she stopped herself.

She knew doing that wouldn’t help. She had learned that all too well last night.

“That is right.”

Simple exercise did not clear those thoughts from her mind.

She would still recall that moment when she slept or took a break.

How could she stop the throbbing sensing that created?

…Testament.

“How am I supposed to atone for hurting her?”

Fukushima sighed and looked into the sky.

The sky was only visible as a white light past the leaves of the trees, but it looked like afternoon was beginning.

Her body felt dull, but more like it was rusty than weary. She lowered her head and found her chin was a bit narrower than usual.

I have lost weight, she thought while placing her hand on the tree trunk, turning around, and walking away.

She walked to her tent, grabbed some portable food, and made her way to the water to wash her face.

Chapter 65: Outdoor Discoverer[edit]

Hey, check that out

What could it be?

Oh, dearie me

It does make a lot of noise, doesn’t it?

Point Allocation (My Pot!)

Fukushima undid her inner suit down past her navel and poured water inside.

Instead of using the waterfall basin itself, she was in a waterway one level down the rocky ledge. The waterway was about 3m wide and a bit more than hip deep.

She would not enter the basin.

Even with such a small waterfall, the pool below covered a 10m square. She had checked the depth once and it was deep enough to submerge herself up to the head in places.

…I could try some water training.

No, that would be dangerous with this current, she concluded.

Hence why she used the lower waterway to wash herself.

The waterway had likely been a crack in the rock below the basin to begin with. It must have broken wider over the years until the water could flow through the rock, sometimes pouring over a ledge, sometimes winding through various gaps, and ultimately forming a mountain stream at the bottom.

At the point it became a stream, she had seen many signs of animal life.

This rocky area was exposed to the sky and very damp. The waterfall and cliff face turned it into a dead end, so she hadn’t found any signs of the animals coming here.

She was still only vaguely aware of how alone she was here, but…

“I shouldn’t have to worry about that.”

Since Sassa had introduced her to this area, he had likely used this place too. In fact…

…I have seen signs of him training here.

Those signs were on the ground.

Sometimes she would find areas a few meters across where the ground was unnaturally packed down. She also saw signs of the cliff face having collapsed.

How much strength would it take for a single person to cause that over a short period of time?

She had known Sassa was skilled, but based on his appearance and the rumors she heard about his lifestyle, she had assumed he was more the type to rely on talent.

But he wasn’t.

Maybe he did have talent, but he had put in enough hard work to wear himself down. She also saw signs that his training had given him a great sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.

For example, the collapsed cliff face.

He had likely triggered the collapse by attacking the cliff. But instead of just once, there were three identical collapses lined up side by side. And starting from the right, each one had torn deeper into the rock.

He had definitely tested himself here, returning later to test himself again.

But, thought Fukushima. Where did he train?

“The packed-down areas would be where he trained his footwork.”

He may have swung his fists as well, but there weren’t many trees nearby and the few there were unharmed.

So had he only punched at the air for training? And had he punched the cliff face to test himself after training?

Fukushima tilted her head in thought, placed her shoes at the edge of the water, and let herself sink into the current like she was sitting down. She kept her back to the waterfall, inhaled, and submerged herself to the shoulders.

Once inside, the water rushed into her opened inner suit.

…Brr.

She had done this a few times already, but she still wasn’t used to it.

A lernen figur opened and automatically ran a body temperature regulation divine protection.

She only felt the chill of the water for a moment.

She knew it was an illusion, but she felt like she was soaking in a warm bath.

She sighed and relaxed her body.

After submerging herself, she noticed how strong the current was. It was enough to nearly wash her downstream now that she sat in its path.

That current meant there was barely any algae at the bottom. Everywhere the water touched remained bare rock and she only felt vegetation rather than slick rock in some more sheltered spots.

She lifted her hips a bit to let the water flow below her and support her. After that…

“Nh.”

She pulled her arms halfway from the inner suit’s sleeves, stuck her hands near her hips, and created a gap there.

The water entered that gap.

Her tights were nearly pushed down, but she pulled them back up and allowed the water to wash over her butt and between her legs.

When she let go, the felt the pressure of the water inside her suit.

She wasn’t trying to squeeze her body. This, combined with a cleansing divine protection, acted as a crude form of washing.

The inner suit and tights were highly permeable in just the one direction, so washing them from the outside was fairly meaningless. That only removed the filth on the outside.

To get rid of the sweat staining the inside, you had to wash them from the inside out.

This was a cleaning method with its origins in the Middle East, so P.A. Oda, M.H.R.R., and Tres España excelled at it.

But without a facility for it around, she had to resort to this.

“I must let water flow through them until the filth has leaked out.”

The Far East had a close relationship to the water, so they primarily used this method. They would fill a bucket with detergent water, fill the clothing with water like a water balloon, wring it out, and strike it against a washboard or something similar.

Detergent was not an option doing it the way Fukushima was, but…

…I have heard this described as “lazy washing”.

But her circumstances demanded it.

She also removed her hair tie and washed her hair with a comb-shaped cleansing charm.

She washed her face, soaked her head starting from the back, and lay back in the water like she was sleeping so the water rushed toward the bottom of her suit.

She felt a downward tugging, but she resisted it.

Her usual routine was to count to 100 like that.

She did not shut her eyes, instead opting to look into the sky.

But then a thought came to her.

“Kiyo-dono.”

Fukushima was having trouble even grasping who she was herself, but she doubted Kiyomasa was having the same trouble.

Kiyomasa had gone to Sanada with their underclassmen.

Fukushima honestly felt nervous about Sanada since the old Seven Spears were there. She wasn’t about to feel guilty about what happened, but she was still cautious about having an old enemy as an ally, even temporarily.

She knew Kiyomasa was the best choice for that mission. Or Kasuya could handle it because dogs – or a wolf in this case – always looked after their pack. She felt like Yoshiaki and Wakisaka would leave a bad impression once it was all over, but maybe she was being uncharitable there. Hachisuka-dono would probably just play games the entire time.

Come to think of it, the game I ordered for her should be arriving soon.

“Hm? What are you doing here, Shouroku?”

“There was a mysterious phenomenon.”

“Huh? Didn’t you already hold an avant-garde exorcism and then start using Fukushima’s room for good measure?”

“Yes, but…I got a divine mail from Sa’id saying I had been anonymously gifted the sequel to the horror game I apparently beat without realizing it.”

“That sounds like a mysterious phenomenon to me, Kime-chan! One that gives people free games!”

“Can we get one that gives out free hams and chocolates for our room?”

“I feel like this mysterious phenomenon is following me.”

…I just know Hachisuka-dono will love it.

Fukushima nodded in the water a few times, but…

“Why is it I can communicate with Hachisuka-dono and the others so flawlessly, yet it all goes so horribly wrong with Kiyo-dono?”

She didn’t want to think it was an issue of compatibility. They had gotten along so well before, after all.

What could it be? she wondered until she heard a sound.

On the rock ledge above, something had fallen into the waterway just past the waterfall basin.

She knew what it was right away. Based on the clanging sound, it had to be the pot she had left soaking after washing it. She was normally so exhausted once it was time to cook that she hadn’t been using any other containers. She knew she shouldn’t be making hotpots all the time, but…

…I must have left it in a bad spot last night.

At this rate, the waterway’s current would send the pot over the ledge.

The height of that ledge put it right at eye level, so Fukushima stared at the water flowing over until she saw the pot slipping and sometimes tumbling along the waterway.

The metal pot clanged loudly whenever it hit the bottom of the water, making her sweat each time. Sometimes cast-metal items would break clean through instead of chipping. She had bought this one as an export from the Nanbu clan while she was in Kantou, but the tariffs had made it pretty expensive. She had known she needed to make it last, but it hadn’t even been a month since then.

“I-I need to rescue it!”

She held her hands out to catch the pot as it was swept over the ledge.

The water pressure was strong, maybe because the current bent downwards once it began to fall. Her arms felt like they were being crushed downwards when she held them straight out. But…

“Nh.”

With the water passing through the sides and back of her inner suit, Fukushima got her hands inside the falling current of the waterway. Some water got on her face, but she couldn’t let that stop her. In fact, she held her breath and plunged her head into the falling water.

…Good.

She was inside.

She only had an instant to get this right. She could see the pot picking up speed as it tumbled through the water.

She needed to support her own body if she was going to catch it, so she stuck her elbows against the bottom of the waterway, stretched her arms out, and ran the backs of her hands against the bottom.

…Huh?

She sensed a sudden chill.

She felt something on the rocky bottom that shouldn’t have been there.

“What is this?”

When she placed her hands palm-up on the bare rock below the water…

…My hands slot right in!?

The rock seemed to capture her hands in its grasp. She only felt smooth, round rock – no sharp corners.

It was a lot like someone’s hands were holding hers from below. The bizarre sensation made her gasp.

“Eh?”

And the tumbling pot scored a solid counterattack on her face.

A herd of deer that happened to be drinking water from the stream looked up when they heard an odd sound from upstream.

With a large splash, a strange creature with a black hemispherical head came flying out.

Its forelegs flailed until it landed in the rocky waterway too high up to see from down here. After another loud splash, the creature collapsed.

The water flowing from upstream was unusually wavy afterwards, but the deer exchanged a glance and…

“What was that thing!? It’s horrifying!”

“You hadn’t heard? They’re called humans.”

“In our paradise down south, I hear those humans worship us as gods, feed us, look after us, and even bow to us.”

“And that was one of them?”

“Does it matter? Now keep quiet.” One of the deer gestured with its head for the others to leave the stream. “The one that frequently visits here is a strange creature indeed, but we owe him a lot.”

Fukushima nearly drowned.

Ending up with the pot on her head was…fine, she supposed. It was far better than letting the pot wash downstream.

But the thin, movable handle meant to hang it up got caught around her neck like a helmet’s strap. The rest was simple enough. She collapsed backwards with her head oriented downstream, the helmet caught the current, and its handle started strangling her.

I very nearly died.

If she did end up drowning like this, would the pot carry her downstream all the way to the Shibata Team? Or would the pot catch somewhere and she wouldn’t be discovered until later, when they would wonder if she had fallen in the water while testing a new helmet to increase her head’s defenses?

But it didn’t matter because she got her hands on the rock and pushed herself up.

…Thank goodness I survived.

She got her upper body up onto the bank and set down the pot. And…

“What was that?”

She had been surprised.

She had flinched at an odd sensation found when sticking her arms at the bottom of the waterway, and that had let the pot hit her.

Downstream, she saw some deer leaving but not fleeing. I interrupted the poor things while they were trying to drink, she realized.

“––––––”

Then she looked back to where the water was falling from shelf of rock.

She readied her arms and stuck them into the water. Her shoulders and face too.

She entered the water.

All sound was drowned out by the dull rush of the current and the sunlight dimmed.

She felt pressure as she entered a world cut off from everything outside the water.

But she was interested in checking on something within the force of the current.

She ran the backs of her hands along the rocky bottom, searched around a bit, searched more closely, and…

…Found it!

She felt the same thing as before.

There were “backs of hands” in the rock, large enough to contain the backs of her own hands. They were shaped just right to contain her hands, and…

“Could it be?”

She knew what this had to be.

…Someone punched this rock!

Then it hit her.

This was why Sassa had introduced her to this area.

This was why she couldn’t find the evidence of his training.

This also had to be why no animals ventured near the waterfall basin.

“The basin and this waterfall were both made by Sassa-senpai!”

Water splashed from Fukushima’s body as she took a few steps back.

…What does this mean?

She looked up and found the waterfall itself was no different.

She noticed the rock at the top of the waterfall formed a V-shape. That probably could form naturally, but…

“The stream must have split and flowed elsewhere originally, but he made it converge here.”

He had punched the rock.

Based on what she had felt below the water, he had used no more than his fists.

How much strength and skill did you need to excavate the rock like that?

But Sassa could do it.

He had smashed into the rock, caused all the water to fall here, and created the basin and waterway.

That explained why the animals came to this area for water.

“In that case,” said Fukushima, climbing onto the bank.

She fastened her inner suit which was a bit swollen from the water inside and she let the water’s own pressure push the water out as she climbed up onto the rock shelf.

She approached the basin.

The pool was 10m long and wide.

This must have been what Sassa wanted. He had smashed the rock shelf and redirected the water here in order to create it.

But what for?

“I know what.”

The deepest part of the basin was deep enough to fully submerge her, but it probably only came up to Sassa’s shoulders.

That gave her the answer.

“He used the water for heavy burden training.”

The bottom of the basin was not smooth. The current roiled in the basin, but it had an exit.

Sassa had only needed to stand in that chaotic current and throw his punches. The water wouldn’t let him swing his fists like he wanted and the buoyancy of his body would make it hard to keep his feet on the bottom. The water pressure and current would tug at him, throwing him off balance and pulling his feet out from under him.

He was under a heavy burden the entire time.

What did that give him?

“A training ground where he can never relax.”

Fukushima finally understood what mental training was all about. This was Sassa’s version of it.

She wasn’t supposed to be finding enlightenment or thinking deep thoughts.

She was supposed to be focusing on her training at all times.

“I am in thy debt.”

Fukushima bowed toward the basin and sucked in a breath.

Then she returned to her tent and collected her weapon.

Ichinotani’s shaft was fixed and she felt like wielding it for the first time in a while.

“It is time.”

I should start with a shallower part. And if I ultimately work my way up to being fully submerged, can I report back that I trained under an even heavier burden than he did?

She did not do up her hair. She also wanted to feel the water, so she undid her inner suit down to the chest.

“–––––”

Fukushima jumped into the water without hesitation.

“Wow, this spring water is incredibly pure. It’s had forest purification applied, hasn’t it?”

Mary nodded at Asama’s question.

They were in an Hexagone Française forest, next to a spring located near Mitotsudaira’s mother’s candy house. A small stream flowed from the spring. The bottom of the gently-flowing stream was sandy and Asama had her hand in it.

“Oh, this sand is fine enough for use in sanding.”

“Nothing seems to have changed since last time we were here. The spring is hip deep on average and water gathers in the stream as well, so it works well as a bath.”

“Mary, you came here with Mito and Naito, right?”

“Judge. To rescue Chancellor Wetman. But,” said Mary, thinking back to that time. “When we arrived, the Chancellor had made friends with Lady Mitotsudaira’s mother and we were welcomed as guests.”

“That is about the only possible result given Mito’s mom and Toori-kun’s personalities,” said Asama, opening a sign frame and taking a look around.

As a spirit spell user, Mary could sense the water quality and state of the surrounding forest like it was a sixth sense.

“Lady Asama, shall I link with the local spirits?”

“We agreed to work with the Suga Shrine during the Kantou Liberation, so if this counts as Mouri land, I should be able to get help from the Suga Shrine which holds authority over the local god.”

Light shined from the center of the spring, above the stream, within the nearby forest, and around the path leading here.

An Asama Shrine sign frame appeared.

“Submit.”

Asama broke the sign frame with a clap from the sides, producing a nice sound.

…Oh.

Mary sensed a change in the air around her. Before, it had been clear but with a depthless chill to it. But now…

“This is Musashi’s air, isn’t it?”

“Well, not quite. It’s actually the Asama Shrine’s ‘presence’. That lets me bring the life-support and other related divine protections here to the forest.

“Since we are a major shrine, the local god appears to be kindly letting me arrange the divine protections. That means I have to handle all the divine protections myself and the Asama Shrine will pay the fuel-related costs by sending divine protections and offerings via the Suga Shrine later on.”

“Um, what does that mean exactly?”

“Hmm.” Asama thought to herself before finally answering. “If ‘Musashi’-san were to visit you and Tenzou-kun in your room, you would feel the need to show her your hospitality, right? This is like ‘Musashi’-san presenting you some divine protections and leaving so you didn’t feel the need.”

“Funny how that scenario works with Lady ‘Musashi’, but not rally with Principal Sakai.”

“Yes, funny,” agreed Asama, not looking Mary in the eye.

Then Asama reopened her water quality management sign frame.

“I should teach you how to read this. It gives all sorts of information: water quality, benefits as a bath, best food pairing, etc. This will let you confirm what you can sense more generally.”

“Judge. My senses alone weren’t enough with the Double Border Crest last time.”

Asama must have understood that Mary had noticed the problem but had no way of solving it.

“Speaking of, I still can’t believe one appeared behind me too.”

“You were probably too focused on dealing with ours to notice.”

“I was so careless. I asked my dad about it, but he apparently doesn’t know all that much about what my mom was up to before they met. It doesn’t help that he isn’t on good terms with my mom’s family, but he says he’s going to try looking into it.”

“I hope he finds some good memories and stories about your mother.”

“To be honest, I suspect he actually meets with my mom’s soul. I sometimes sense a presence at the shrine or Toori-kun will greet someone, but when we look over, there’s no one there.”

“Then it sounds like the real first step is for your father to have a nice talk with your mother.”

“Probably so.” Asama smiled bitterly and stuck her hand back into the sandy bottom of the stream.

Then she changed the subject.

“But this sure is a safe place. Maybe it’s a Loup-Garou divine protection, but I think there’s a mild rejection field around here that keeps out everything dangerous without approval from the area’s master. The forest itself will lead them astray, sending them down a different path. Or off a cliff if it’s warranted.”

“That goes to show how pure of heart Lady Mitotsudaira’s father was.”

“I suppose it does.” Asama smiled. And, “We need to head back. The others should be about done setting up the tents, so now we need to finetune the divine protections there That said, I have set up this spring area as a secondary divine protection station to supplement the one at the candy house, so we could also eat by the water here.”

“Um, weren’t we going to use the candy house’s front garden? We were told to set up the tents next to the candy house too.”

“Yes, but,” said Asama. “Mito’s mom and dad’s presence is a little too strong over there. …Hm?”

“Is something wrong?”

“Something just grabbed me from the sand.”

Asama pulled whatever it was from the sand like she was yanking a vegetable from the ground.

It was Horizon’s arms.

Asama: “Horizon! Horizon! You’re disarmed right now, aren’t you!?”

Horizey: “Oh? Did you find them while they were our taking their walk?”

Bell: “Their…walk???”

Art-Ga: “I think she means she let them crawl around.”

Vice President: “Stop sitting around and start fixing dinner!”

Never a dull moment, noted Mitotsudaira from the candy house’s kitchen.

It was nearly dinner time.

She wanted to get everything ready, but the house didn’t have room for everyone. It was looking like most of the cooking would be done at the outdoor stove in the clearing next to the house, but the more detailed work was still best done in the indoor kitchen. Plus, the outdoor equipment had fallen into disrepair and was taking a fair amount of time to get back in working order.

In the future, they would slice up the ingredients in the kitchen and cook them outside.

But for today, the 1st Special Duty Officer and some others were stuck making sure the outdoor stove could support a fire and hold its heat.

So for today’s dinner, it was mostly Mitotsudaira and her king whipping up something in the kitchen.

Once they knew the outside stove could hold its heat, they would use it to keep the cooked food warm.

Mitotsudaira was in charge of the actual cooking. Her mother had sent a sign frame providing the location of the various equipment and tools and Mitotsudaira was surprised to find her mother hadn’t misremembered anything. That probably showed just how long she had lived here. But that wasn’t everything her mother had said.

That wasn’t all either.

It kept going.

I will admit the mirror reflected my king perfectly, but there were three “textbooks” hidden there, mother. And how am I supposed to put my feet on such a tall windowsill? Our heights are nothing alike.

She had tried it and her king had mimicked her, only to topple backwards. What were we thinking?

At any rate, the inside of the house had become a place to store their luggage, materials, and ingredients. They could cook and work in there, but any meetings would have to be done outside. The others had been hesitant to enter the back bedroom until her mother had sent a divine transmission telling them, “You can use the bedroom for changing clothes and a first-aid room if necessary. The room is certainly no stranger to the removal of clothes and what could be broadly defined as providing aid.”

Once inside, Mitotsudaira noted her king’s scent from the time he had collapsed from a nosebleed in there.

…It’s always something with him, isn’t it?

She thought back on it all as she continued cooking.

She was cooking some meat she wanted to get done before Asama and Mary returned.

Like a wolf burying her prey to hide it, the shed back behind the house had a preservation field made from fallen leaves. Mitotsudaira had never used one of those herself, but according to her mother…

“There is a large wooden box in the back of the shed. If you stick your hand into the fallen leaves packed inside and pull it back out, you will extract the meat I have stored in there. You can indicate the year you want once you’re accustomed to it, but for now, you just want some that’s well preserved, right? It’s mostly boar and deer, but there’s also the occasional unicorn or terrestrial dragon, so have fun trying to get one of the good ones, okay?”

Her first try had been ordinary deer. Everyone’s split reactions between “thank goodness” and “boring” added a lot of pressure for her second pull. Neshinbara had curiously peered inside, speculating that the box contained a phase space with a preservation divine protection, but he had lacked the guts to stick his hand inside.

But her king…

“Maman, so I just have to stick my hand in and something’ll come out?”

“My, my. Why don’t you try it and find out?”

“Deal!”

He had stuck his hand in and pulled it out to find a toy crown in his hand.

“What the heck?”

“Oh, you got a rare one. I believe that was a prize won from the Gallian warrior state that was accidentally destroyed by the Reine des Garous from seven generations ago. That box is one of our family artifacts, so it gives people the item it thinks they deserve.”

“Aoi-kun, that box may carry more historical value than your average ruins,” Neshinbara had said.

“Mother, what happens if we flip the box upside down and dump out its contents?”

“What, are you that hungry? Oh, but it also has underwear and dresses inside, so stick your hand in and think about them if you need some.”

Adele had raised her hand.

“I was wondering why the candy house is so tidy.”

“This feels like airing out our family’s dirty laundry, but this is basically just a trash can to you, isn’t it?”

“What about the dress your husband gave you, maman?”

“I have that with me. I still use it.”

Mitotsudaira decided it was best not to ask what she meant by that. But now it felt like they had a near infinite supply of meat. She had tried sticking her hand in a few more times and found jars of pickles or jam courtesy of her father, so the box may have known that she was those two’s daughter.

But that had led Narumi and Gin to make a decision.

“That makes the Mito Lord the leader of our food procurement team.”

“Good idea. 5th Special Duty Officer, whatever you pull out will determine our menu for the day, so while I doubt it’s possible, do try to pull out a balanced diet for us.”

“N-not to worry. If I pull out lamb, it counts as a vegetable!”

She had decided to ignore the way everyone stared at her. However…

…So if mother still “uses” that dress, does that mean she still wears it?

Surely there had to be some adjustments at the chest and butt, but I can see why she chose “Still Got It” as a screen name.

Mitotsudaira might end up like that in the future.

Maybe anyway.

Visiting her mother’s home had caused her to think about her roots and what she would inherit from her parents as much as, and probably more than, the others around her.

The silver equipment that they had been told was in the shed out back was in the back room, but her mother had the key to unlock that room.

“I will stop by there for some supplies when the time is right,” her mother had said. “We can exchange whatever information we have gathered then. Doesn’t that sound good?”

On their end, that information would include Neshinbara’s decoding work, Naruze’s reproduction of the Houjou ruins, and Asama’s predicted date for the Honnouji Incident.

Akechi Mitsuhide had asked them to visit Kyou on September 2.

Today was the 25th. So…

“We have about a week left to finish our summer homework, don’t we?” said Mitotsudaira before raising her head.

She was in the candy house’s kitchen. A few people were watching on as she faced a hunk of meat sitting a table that functioned as a countertop.

It was venison.

The venison was cured.

She had started off with the thigh meat on the bone, but she had earlier removed the inner thigh meat and hip joint from the bone. It must have been a very large deer since the thighbone was as large a cow’s, but…

“I once butchered meat like this back in middle school. This should work the same as with a cow. But deer have tougher fibers, so it is safer to split it vertically when removing the bones. And with deer, what looks like the butt is actually the thigh, what looks like the thigh is actually the shin, and what looks like the shin is actually the foot, so if you aren’t careful about the location of the joints between the bones and location of the tendons, it can be hard to get the bones away.”

She explained this while slicing the meat thin and handing it to her king who was already equipped with an apron.

He placed the meat on a cooking tray.

“Is there anything I need to be careful about when cooking it?”

“Venison rapidly grows tough once you pass 70 degrees. The blood’s scent changes, gaining a powerful iron smell. So it is generally cooked at a lower temperature that’s just high enough to kill any parasites. Keep that in mind and it should come out nice and tender,” she explained. “I order lots of venison for yakiniku because it tastes better more lightly cooked, which helps me keep up a faster pace. You do need to actually cook it to make sure it is safe to eat, but you ruin the flavor if you worry too much and overcook it.”

Everyone nodded, looking impressed, but then Margot shook her head.

“Wait, Mito-tsan. The taste isn’t enough to explain your rapid consumption of meat and your impressive high scores at the end of a meal.”

Mitotsudaira thought Margot had a point. But when she paused in her work…

“Anyway, I have enough meat for everyone. For now, I plan to cut some thin slices and lightly boil it in salt for our vegetable appetizer. Once the stove’s heat retention test is complete, I will use the remaining heat to make roast beef.”

That would be their main dish. And after that…

“While we eat, we can have our initial meeting regarding the Honnouji Incident. Does that sound good?”

Chapter 66: Outdoor Meeters[edit]

She fell for it

She did, didn’t she?

Another victim…

Point Allocation (Is This a Series Now?)

They ate their early dinner in relative peace.

Naruze could tell everyone had thoughts about their future.

They ate in the clearing next to the candy house, which made for an unusual location, but they placed a pot on the campfire surrounded by tents and sat around the fire on log chairs.

The sky was still light to the west. They looked up to see the stars begin to appear as they ate, but they were all picturing something else in their heads.

…Our intervention in the Honnouji Incident.

They had known this was coming, but that wasn’t the same as seeing it approaching so fast.

It was an important event from a historical perspective and it deserved attention in the present since it would mean a changing of leaders for a major power.

Intervening here would be very different from the more regional battles they had fought in before.

They wouldn’t be setting a small portion of history in motion.

They would be setting the very backbone of history in motion. But…

…When it happens, it happens.

They had been busy for the start and middle of the break, partially due to ImMoral Manga. But with that over, they had to start preparing for the second term.

This was their third year.

“How should I put it?”

Naruze spoke while some others chatted here and there, but she was more thinking aloud than expecting a response.

“I thought I would be focused on more cultural things by this point in my third year. You know, thinking about how to continue the delivery business after we graduate, making my creative work stand out more, and figuring out the best final doujinshi of my academic career.”

But…

“I never imagined I would be doing an early-morning concert at Nördlingen or causing a scene at the Ariake’s summer festival. I honestly planned to be a little more subdued than that.”

“Naruze.” Masazumi placed some boiled meat and vegetables between bread, added some tomato sauce, and asked a question. “Is drawing doujinshis of us your idea of being ‘cultural’?”

“Putting myself in your shoes and thinking through the scenarios counts as a literary thought experiment.”

Masazumi looked up into the sky and thought on that. And…

“I see. So it’s cultural.”

“It’s part of the creative process. And isn’t it more fun when it hits the protagonist hard?”

Saying that brought a thought to Naruze’s mind.

….It’s like what I said about the Honnouji Incident. When it happens, it happens.

I have a bad habit of accepting these things when I’m the one teasing someone else.

But it hadn’t happened yet.

They were still in the preparation phase. So…

“So how about it, everyone? Do you know what to do about Honnouji yet?”

Naruze saw Futayo raise her hand first.

“The Honnouji Incident will likely be a localized battle. I don’t know what will happen to the location, but it seems unlikely the battlefield will be lost. This should function similarly to attacking a castle, so everyone serving Musashi should spend the break undergoing charge and withdrawal training.”

“I see,” said Horizon, piling some boiled vegetables on her plate. “As this is an assassination history recreation, it would be nice if we could just blast the entire castle with Musashi’s Kanesada main cannon, but that is unfortunately not an option. Musashi is completely useless more often than not, isn’t it?”

Musashino: “ ‘Musashi’-sama! ‘Musashi’-sama! You don’t need to go on Tachibana-sama’s site and post ‘Lype Katathlipse, on the other hand, is always useless. Over.’ in the comments! Over.”

Horizey: “No, the problem with that one is that it does hit, only rarely.”

Tachibana Wife: “Master Muneshige! Master Muneshige! You don’t need to create a new ‘User Statements’ section!”

We got secondary and tertiary damage from that one, noted Naruze before asking Futayo a question.

“Do we know who we’ll be up against?”

Tenzou raised his hand in response. He scanned his eyes across everyone before answering.

“In the historical Honnouji Incident, it was almost entirely Lord Nobunaga alone. There were some smaller names there like Mori Ranmaru, but it is generally thought to only have been around 100 in all.”

“But,” said someone else – Narumi. She did not tilt her head. “What about our version of it?”

“There will likely be a half-dragon guard unit,” replied Asama, opening a sign frame. “When Mori Ranmaru spoke with Masazumi before, we learned she had a half-dragon named Yasuke along as a bodyguard. Tenzou-kun and Mito both noticed him, but…well…”

“Judge. Based on my inspection, Honnouji’s security is handled by Lord Nobunaga’s personal half-dragon unit and automaton unit.”

“Oh?” everyone nodded.

Gold Mar: “We’ve never gone up against half-dragons or automatons as a main fighting force.”

Art-Ga: “Houjou used a lot of automatons and we fought them at Odawara, but half-dragons are definitely new.”

Naruze and everyone else looked to Urquiaga.

Eventually, Neshinbara spoke up.

“Urquiaga-kun? Do all half-dragons have the same fetish as you? If so, we could probably solve this all through negotiation.”

“I will have you know my love of elder sisters is an acquired trait.”

“We have also confirmed it to be incurable,” added Narumi and no one doubted her.

Then Mitotsudaira turned toward Futayo.

“So our enemies will be half-dragons and automatons. Futayo, can you adjust the training of our troops accordingly?”

The wolf’s question directed everyone’s attention toward Futayo, who was starting to sweat.

Eventually Gin cleared her throat.

“Um, Honda Futayo?”

“Gin-dono, do you promise you won’t be mad?”

Gin breathed in so deep everyone noticed.

Then she leaned back, visibly suppressed some kind of reaction, and scratched at the air with her prosthetic fingers.

“Gin-sama. If this is difficult for you, how about a quick drink?”

Horizon hesitantly handed her a teacup which Gin leaned back to drink in a single swig.

“That was pudding udon,” said Horizon.

Mitotsudaira saw Gin freeze in place.

Silver Wolf: “It’s caught, isn’t it?”

Sticky King: “Horizon’s jokes can be so extreme they leave you truly breathless.”

Unturning: “Wait, could this happen to me too?”

Uqui: “Narumi, our class is a battlefield. The slightest opening can be fatal.”

If only that weren’t somewhat true.

But in the meantime, Gin finally managed to hold her right prosthetic palm out toward Muneshige while she turned toward Mitotsudaira. Then she adjusted the position of her hips a bit.

…Oh, she’s using abdominal breathing.

And in time with her orderly breathing…

“––––”

She swallowed it.

“Ohh!” exclaimed Naito and some others with a scattering of applause while Gin corrected her posture, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and returned the teacup to Horizon.

“Thank you for the drink.”

“Judge. I had determined that pudding udon would be perfect for calming people.”

“Why?”

Vice President: “Why would you ask her that?”

But Horizon accepted the teacup, nodded, and…

“Sweet things are known to have a calming effect. And I felt udon would be better than soba.”

Gold Mar: “Why is she combining a known fact with a feeling?”

10ZO: “I’m more curious why she felt the need to include noodles at all…”

“Anyway.” Horizon took Gin’s hand and placed another teacup in it. “Now that you have calmed down, you can drink this. It is maccha flavor.”

“Master Muneshige! Master Muneshige! I have won!”

“Ha ha ha. Gin, I appreciate the elegant way you can drink without making a noise.”

Horizon placed a drink on Gin’s hand for her husband as well, but was that drink really safe, given everything?

“Futayo, shouldn’t you coordinate your training with the 1st Special Duty Officer’s intel?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Judge. That would be best. That way Gin-dono will not have to yell at me. Ha ha ha.”

Gin clenched her empty hand so hard it trembled, but Mitotsudaira was concerned by how restless Horizon looked behind her. But to continue the conversation…

“So we know what kinds of forces Nobunaga will have, but…”

One thing bothered her.

“Is it possible some other force will join in using an interpretation?”

“Yes, the Hashiba forces,” said Neshinbara with a swish of his right hand.

The downward swing of his arm opened a sign frame, but it kept following his hand’s movement, crashed into the ground, and shattered.

“––––––”

After around 5 seconds, Neshinbara opened a new sign frame in the usual way.

“A-anyway.”

“Don’t just shrug that off!”

No one was letting him get away with that.

Wise Sister: “Okay! It’s Super Neshinbara Time, the show for all you history buffs out there! Our commentators today are Tachibana Gin, name inheritor of the female warrior who people often forget in favor of her husband, and our own Mitotsudaira, who’s barking and yipping out in front there!”

Silver Wolf: “H-have you forgotten that I am the landlord tonight!?”

Novice: “W-wait! Why is the show named after me if I’m not even part of it!?”

Art-Ga: “And then tragedy struck!”

Horizey: “No, Naruze-sama. Those sorts of tragedies do not actually happen. You see, when people are young, they assume they can do anything, believe all sorts of falsehoods, overestimate their own abilities, and see a hidden side to the world that does not actually exist. Now, Neshinbara-sama? Have you paid your printing fees from the other day?”

Novice: “Gwahhhhhhhhhhh! The flames of hell are sapping my body of its freedom!!?”

“Anyway,” said Mitotsudaira with a glance to Gin and a raised index finger.

“The biggest threat is the Battle of Yamazaki that follows Honnouji.”

Gin explained for her, dipping a spoon into her teacup.

“When Hashiba returned to avenge Lord Nobunaga, he caught up to Akechi Mitsuhide during the Battle of Yamazaki and some say he slew Lord Mitsuhide there. If Musashi takes Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name as the Vice President suggested, then this will present Hashiba their greatest opportunity to strike Musashi.

“And,” she continued. “I expect Hashiba will send either the Azuchi or their main fighters to Honnouji to prevent us from intervening. Their presence would act as a threat: intervene and we will start the Battle of Yamazaki immediately afterwards.”

Mitotsudaira agreed.

But she did have one thing to add. She turned toward Masazumi as she did so.

“I have one question as my king’s knight, Masazumi.”

She had to ask this.

“Who will inherit Akechi Mitsuhide’s name?”

“Judge.”

Mitotsudaira saw Masazumi cross her arms and nod.

…Who will inherit that name?

Akechi Mitsuhide would be slain.

That was a plain fact written in the Testament. And Hashiba forced people to keep a strict adherence to the Testament. So…

“That name inheritor could end up dying.”

“I know that. So,” said Masazumi. She tilted her head and paused for an “um”. “Do we have any volunteers?”

Everyone responded to her call.

They all lowered their hands, counted to three, and raised them.

“Figure it out yourself!!”

Masazumi responded to that rare unified retort.

Vice President: “Why can’t you show such a united front all the time?”

Gold Mar: “Wait, wait, wait, wait. Seijun, that’s not what this was about.”

Art-Ga: “And does this mean you set this up without any kind of plan?”

No, she had a plan. A few of them in fact. However…

“Whatever we end up doing is going to have its downsides. There are pros and cons to each method.”

“I would love to hear your ideas,” said Mitotsudaira.

“Judge,” replied Masazumi before pointing at Mitotsudaira. “My first idea is you. You can inherit Akechi Mitsuhide’s name.”

“M-me!?”

The Mito Lord expressed confusion, but Narumi realized what the Vice President was hinting at here.

…Makes sense.

“A defensive choice.”

When she stated her impression of the idea, everyone turned to look at her.

She was used to gathering attention, so she raised her hand and explained her meaning.

“Her provisional inherited name as the Mito Lord doesn’t come into play until after Akechi Mitsuhide’s death. Thus, it would be politically difficult to make her die even if she is Mitsuhide. Especially when Hexagone Française would be involved too.”

“Judge. Precisely. A lot of our name inheritors have connections to other nations, so it would be dangerous for any one nation to try and have them killed. So even if we do inherit Akechi Mitsuhide’s name, Hashiba will have a hard time forcing the name inheritor’s death.

“Which means,” she added, “the Tachibana Wife and Date Vice Chancellor are candidates too.”

“Judge,” was all the response Narumi provided.

She saw Tachibana Gin nod as well.

Tachibana Gin had the look of someone determined to do what was necessary in an emergency. Narumi knew she probably did too. Same for the Mito Lord. But in that case…

“What’s the downside?”

The Musashi Vice President took a bite of her meat sandwich and a sip of her barley tea before responding.

“It would be hard to justify,” she sighed. “You are all capable enough to fill the role, but I don’t see how we justify choosing you specifically to inherit that name.”

In that case, Narumi knew what to ask next.

“If a defensive choice is hard to justify, then what about an offensive choice?”

The Musashi Vice President’s eyes scanned the group. And…

“That would mean me…”

She pointed at two others. She barely had to move her right index finger to move from one to the other.

“Or that idiot and Horizon.”

Gin wondered how the others would respond to the Musashi Vice President’s suggestion.

…Let’s see.

That boy could be seen as their king and choosing him created the possibility of him being slain in the future.

How would everyone react to that? Gin imagined it.

…That’s right.

Just as she thought she had a good idea, the Mito Lord stood up.

She turned her gaze toward her king, turned her body toward him, and placed her hand on her chest.

“If you make that choice, my king, I swear I will protect you.”

Yes.

“The idea might be frightening and make us cautious, but that is why we will not let our guard down. If we all work together, there is nothing we cannot do.”

Gin nodded on the inside. Exactly as I imagined.

Art-Ga: “No, that won’t work. She needs to stand up and say, ‘That is unacceptable! My king could be slain! It is too dangerous! I will inherit the name to ensure his safety!’ Then he says, ‘Nate…’. But later on, the knight gets worried and visits her king late at night… Can I fit all that into 2 pages?”

Still Got It: “Wonderful. I would like three copies once it is finished. One for me, one for my husband, and one to put in storage.”

Silver Wolf: “Why are you listening in on this meeting!?”

Nate’s right, thought Toori.

“If I do it, I know you’ll all make it work and I’ll have Nate by my side. And if something does happen, there’s always Asama’s divine power and sis. And if Horizon does, she has all of you plus me.”

Horizon immediately held a hand out next to her ear.

“What was that you added at the very end there, Toori-sama?”

“W-well, that you would have me.”

“And how would that be remotely useful? Please, elucidate us.”

He considered it. And…

“I’ll make sure you’re never lonely?”

Asama saw Horizon stare up into the sky in thought for a few seconds before tilting her head.

“I suppose that works.”

She tapped his shoulder a few times.

“Doing the Honnouji Incident to keep me company is not a bad follow up to declaring world domination as a love confession.”

…In that case…

Just as Asama nodded to herself, Horizon spoke.

“Masazumi-sama, we will manage. No matter what might happen.”

Good, thought Masazumi.

…This is a lot easier when I have our leaders’ support.

Since she felt that way, she decided she was not cut out for a position at the very top. And since she was that way…

…As an upperclassman, I need to show that kind of support for the underclassmen.

She nodded inwardly a few times and sent a divine mail to her underclassmen.

“Milady! The Vice President just sent a bizarre message promising her support if we want help with anything!”

“It’s a trap, Kanou-kun. Trust her and ask for help and we’ll end up with twice as much work!”

Masazumi received a reply from Kanou saying, “We do not have any pressing issues at present, but thank you for the thoughtful offer.” She nodded again at how great these underclassmen were.

I’m so lucky to have them. And what’s this about no pressing issues?

…That means I can send them more work without worrying.

She did so.

Now to focus on her class’s current issue. She had the idiot and Horizon’s approval, so…

“The question is what happens if either Aoi or Horizon inherited Akechi Mitsuhide’s name.”

“What does happen?”

Mitotsudaira was the first to ask, probably because she was worried as his protector knight. A look around showed Asama had opened a sign frame and started a search for relevant divine protections.

…It means so much that I can leave the idiot and Horizon’s safety in their capable hands.

They were individuals, but they had power and authority. She couldn’t imagine anyone better to immediately handle a problem.

Then she realized she held a similar position.

She took care of the problems on the political front.

So while the distance between them and the type of relationship they had might differ, everyone here now was letting her handle things for them. In a way, everyone from Musashi was supporting their goal and handling some portion of it.

…Judge.

She could sense this so much more clearly now that they were away from the Musashi. Well, she had noticed this plenty of times before, but…

“Oh.”

She kind of got it.

“There must be a lot of pressure leading up to these turning points.”

When she said it out loud, she felt so much surer it was true. Was that the Kotodama at work?

But everyone here was like that, including her.

“Both the idiot and Horizon could easily inherit Akechi Mitsuhide’s name. Not only are they Musashi’s Viceroy and Vicereine, but the one is Musashi Ariadust Academy’s Chancellor and President and the other has inherited the name of Matsudaira Motonobu’s daughter.”

In other words…

“Aoe is the representative of an entire nation, so he is plenty qualified…in name anyway. Horizon’s position was accepted by the Testament Union at Mikawa, so they have to respect that position now too.”

“Wh-what was that about me only being qualified in name!?”

You really don’t want me answering that one.

But this did introduce a problem.

“Aoi, Horizon. I feel like this is a problem for just the two of you, but listen up.”

“What is it, Masazumi-sama?”

“Judge. The two of you have another name inheritance issue to deal with.”

Namely…

“Matsudaira Motonobu. Which one of you will inherit the name of the Far East’s future ruler?”

Chapter 67: Questioners Around the Fire[edit]

Hm

For now

I’m hungry?

Point Allocation (Meat)

“You want to know whether Toori-kun or Horizon should inherit Lord Motonobu’s name?”

Good question, thought Asama.

If he achieved world domination and it was viewed from a Far Eastern perspective, it would make sense for him to inherit the name of the Far East’s ruler. Or rather, the state of the world would require it.

But then there was Horizon.

“You received a number of rights as Matsudaira Motonobu’s heir at Mikawa, didn’t you?”

Horizon responded with a tilt of her head.

She frowned and held a hand to her chin.

“Hm. I do not recall this.”

“Um, to give themselves a pretext for executing you and all that, the Testament Union gave you several different rights.”

“Oh, yes. I remember Caretaker Girl saying something about that.”

“You really need to thank that Caretaker Girl next time you meet her, okay?” he said.

Horizon began to sweat.

An awkward mood of “what now?” set in and Horizon raised her right hand before replying.

“I mentioned Caretaker Girl before, remember?”

“Judge. I remember,” said Mitotsudaira.

“Well, given the time of year, I decided I should send Tres España a summer gift. I spoke with the manager and wrote a letter to go along with the gift.”

“Wait.” Naruze held her right hand out. “What kind of letter?”

“Judge,” said Horizon, opening a sign frame.

“Dear Caretaker Girl. How are you enjoying your summer? I have you to thank for avoiding being squeaky-clean purified at my execution and am now making excellent headway toward world domination. Your land of the setting sun appears to be having a difficult time, but you’re not bankrupt yet! I believe you can turn this around and I am always praying you remain in good health.”

Gold Mar: “So do we have a new international incident on our hands, or what?”

Vice President: “Hey, Aoi! This hasn’t been sent out yet, has it!? It’s still at your place, I hope!”

Me: “It would be with my mom, not the Main Blue Thunder, so I couldn’t tell you.”

Asama: “Will it even reach her if we don’t know her name?”

Horizey: “Judge. That is why I sent it to the Tres Españan Student Council asking to have it delivered to ‘Caretaker Girl’. I assumed that would reach her.”

Worshiper: “The scary part is I can see that working.”

Horizey: “I did consider including a drawing of her just to be safe, but to get back on topic, I was seated with my back to her and do not remember what she looked like. How am I supposed to thank her now?”

Silver Wolf: “I get the feeling this Caretaker Girl holds a much more important position in your mind than she knows.”

Flat Vassal: “This feels like the kind of problem that will go away if we ignore it.”

We’ll have to deal with that eventually, thought Masazumi. But for now…

“Can we get back to talking about whether Aoi or Horizon should inherit Matsudaira Motonobu’s name?”

“When do you think we should do that?”

“I would be fine with doing it right away, but it would be easier to wait until Sekigahara. Because Matsudaira will control the Far East by then.”

“Judge,” said Horizon and the idiot raised a hand.

“Could we share the name?”

“It isn’t impossible. There is precedent.”

Everyone gave Masazumi a “there is?” look.

“Because some inherited names have absurd stories about them, like that they never slept or were all powerful. To make sure the other nations don’t get nitpicky, those names will be shared by a group of two or three.”

“I recall Leonardo da Vinci being handled that way.”

Naruze was correct.

“Judge. He needed to be an expert in art, design, language, and athletics, which some said was too much for a single person to handle. So his name was shared.”

“That’s right,” Naruze nodded and opened some art history information on a Magie Figur. “It was generally split between an athletic Leonardo and a literary and scientific Leonardo, but it was eventually expanded to be Strength #1, Skill #2, and then a V-3 who acted as an intermediary. Oh, and the V of V-3 was short for Vinci.”

“I remember that. Didn’t they all ride around on the futuristic mechanical horse they had designed? They said they were being ‘faithful to the source material’, by which they meant true to history.”

“You people know a lot about this,” said Masazumi.

“Only because there was a tokusatsu show based on it. It was recently remade as part of the Tensho Series, which is about famous people plotting against each other. The way Robo-Vinci is defeated each episode is pretty popular.”

People can get a lot of weird trivia from kid’s shows, thought Masazumi, but she never knew what they were talking about since those shows had been banned at her house.

She was only learning about the power of that kind of media now that she was working part-time at an elementary school.

…I can’t help it that my dad banned me from watching any of it.

“It’s time, Koni-tan! For the next week, the Eiroku Series version of Masked Universale is airing in the evenings! I had to deprive myself in Mikawa since it would have been bad for Masazumi’s upbringing, so I need to catch this broadcast here on Musashi!”

“Ho ho? So, Nobu-tan, when I accidentally handed you my V-3 ukiyo-e business card instead of my normal one when we first met, you accepted it without comment because you had an interest in such things!?”

“Heh. I had written you off as a lost cause for clinging to the old-and-busted V-3 instead of embracing the new hotness – the Sky-V primitive helicopter! I felt so sorry for you I declined to give you my #1 business card in return!”

“Nobu-tan! Nobu-tan! If you had given me that, I would have prostrated before you and licked your shoes!”

“My dad was so strict about that kind of thing.”

Mitotsudaira noticed Masazumi reminiscing with her arms crossed, so she decided it was worth saying something to her.

Masazumi seemed to think she was placing her father “above her” as an authority figure, but it sounded more like she was complaining about his narrowminded parenting style. So Mitotsudaira didn’t know if this was necessary, but she spoke up anyway.

“Your family was in a unique position, Masazumi, so can you really blame him?”

“Judge. Not really, no. …So what were things like with your family, Mitotsudaira?”

Still Got It: “Allow me! It was the end of the Renaissance back then and reproducing ancient culture and stories was the hot thing. So I always looked forward to the educational program about the Gilgamesh mythology. Then Nate’s father and I would reenact the part where-”

Mitotsudaira used a burst of acceleration to break the sign frame, but her king crossed his arms nearby.

“Oh, yeah. I remember that one. You could see it when the Musashi was near Hexagone Française, so I would stay up late, watch it, and talk about it at school the next day. Got me the nickname of Gil the Hero King.”

“Heh heh. My foolish brother would shout, ‘Sis! Sis! She’s got boobs like Asama!’, so I would correct him: ‘No, she doesn’t. Asama’s are more like this.’ ”

“Wh-why am I all of a sudden a part of this!?”

Mitotsudaira was surprised to find this weird connection between her king and her parents.

Her mother sent over some episodes she had recorded at the time, but the old videos had a really small file size.

…You can tell that was a long time ago.

That thought helped it all click into place for her. But then Adele spoke up.

“Oh, but the version of the Vinci Series aired at the 5th Special Duty Officer’s home would have been the special foreign version, right? It had some unique changes like including the Sun Son character leading up to the selection of the Roi-Soleil.”

“Eh!? Really!? You saw that, Nate!?”

I did. But…

“I-it was my father who liked to watch it. And thinking back, my parents knew Hexagone Française’s previous Chancellor, so they may have been involved in the Roi-Soleil selection specials.”

“Really? Damn, I should’ve asked papan about it when he was here before.”

My king is so cute when he gets really into something like this. So to spoil him a bit…

Silver Wolf: “Um, mother? I have a small – very small – very, very small – favor to ask you.”

Still Got It: “Oh? You only need a small one? Well, in that case…”

Her mother responded.

Still Got It: “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-”

She really stretched out the first word.

Margot counted the seconds on her finger and made it to 32.

Still Got It: “-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat is it, Nate?”

Silver Wolf: “Wh-why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this!?”

Tachibana Wife: “She held that word for an impressive amount of time.”

Horizey: “You can’t possibly back out after she hits you with that one.”

Mitotsudaira felt terribly ashamed, although she wasn’t quite sure why, but she asked her mother to ask her father about that old program. And to send over any recordings if she had them.

…Th-that was exhausting.

Actually, this feels more like a good example of how a mother and her daughter are meant to interact. The problem is I don’t know how they’re going to exaggerate and misinterpret it. But anyway…

“My king, I will have an offering for you soon!”

“I didn’t expect to suddenly get some material from over a decade ago, but thanks, Nate.”

“I-it isn’t time to thank me yet.”

Naruze responded to that line by erasing part of her storyboard and redoing it, but then they heard someone clap their hands.

It was Masazumi. She looked to them all.

“Judge, judge. We got sidetracked there, didn’t we?”

They all nodded and Masazumi sighed.

“Who do I blame for this?”

“Yourself!” everyone shouted back.

Huh? thought Masazumi, tilting her head.

…Did I start that one?

Oh, well. It’s the future that matters. Yes, focus on the future. You can ignore your current mistakes when you have a bright and shining future to look forward to. And now I’m sounding like a self-help seminar. Not that I’ve ever been to one.

“Masazumi! Masazumi! Stop playing with your anteater and look back this way!”

Oops. I accidentally started playing with Tsukinowa.

“Let’s see, we were discussing whether or not the idiot and Horizon could share the inherited name, right?”

“Yes, I believe that was where we left off,” confirmed Mary.

Masazumi nodded to her and thought.

“They could share the name, but we don’t have much justification for it.”

“You can say it, Masazumi-sama. This boy lacks the- gah!”

“Horizon! Horizon! You’re not supposed to bite your tongue before you try and say the big word!”

This running gag has lost me. But…

“The fact is, Lord Motonobu did not share the name with anyone, so finding justification for it now would be difficult. That’s why I want to continue this discussion on the assumption that the name will be inherited by one or the other. Got that?”

Asama recorded Masazumi’s words and felt herself blush for no real reason.

She looked over to see Mitotsudaira and Suzu doing the same.

Because Masazumi had essentially said…

…Toori-kun and Horizon’s relationship makes them effectively the same!

They weren’t married, but their relationship was similar.

As the daughter of a shrine dedicated to such ceremonies, Asama wanted to rejoice.

It was a cause for celebration, but the others were involved in this as well. So…

…Oh.

Depending on the pair’s decisions or situation, she might need to reassess their divine protections and spells. There were services that prioritized name inheritors and there were family discounts, so a different relationship could mean a different choice was more efficient or otherwise beneficial. And since it involved the others too…

Asama: “I shouldn’t hesitate to adjust your contracts and divine protections based on your relationship to each other, should I?”

Me: “Looking at the shrine contracts, are Horizon, Nate, and I all basically part of your family?”

Asama: “Eh? No, it doesn’t go that far. See, a shrine maiden has to serve their god or goddess ‘first and foremost’, so if you were to become part of the Asama Shrine, it would cause some issues with my prioritization.”

Art-Ga: “Yeah, I wasn’t sure how that worked out when I was drawing a scenario like that, so what would happen if your relationship with the Chancellor became more clearly defined?”

You were drawing that? Asama thought, but she decided imagining the contents was too much of a challenge for her.

But to answer Naruze’s question…

Asama: “At the Asama Shrine, I don’t think it would actually cause too much of an issue with our Musashi-related Shinto activities. Because my dad is there and he could continue to serve Sakuya ‘first and foremost’. But I would have to decide whether to route my spells and divine protections through my dad or manage them myself. This is something I should probably work out now, so I might approach some of you to discuss it.”

Scarred: “What would you need to discuss?”

Asama: “Routing my contacts through my dad would require paying a routing fee, so it would be cheaper to make a contract with him directly.”

Everyone nodded in understanding and Narumi smiled Asama’s way.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Asama thought about what that was supposed to mean.

She was preparing to reassess her job and learn more about her limits in it. It was a bit like shutting down a small portion of what she had always done. But…

…Yes.

She was changing homes. Her room might be smaller, but there would be things she could only do at this new home.

She would still be the Asama Shrine Representative, but she would think about him first and foremost.

…I’ve decided that’s what I want to do now.

It wasn’t that she could if she wanted to. She did want to. So…

“Yes, I am enjoying myself.”

“I see,” replied Narumi with a nod.

Asama nodded back.

“Asama,” said Urquiaga. “Narumi’s ‘I see’ is a rare treat.”

That’s true, she thought, which filled her with heat. But her beating heart brought the heat to her chest, not her face.

When Narumi came to Musashi, she must have put some restrictions on herself but she had chosen who she would think about first and foremost in the same way. The same had to be true of Mary and she felt like the Tachibana Couple were gradually reaching that point.

Mitotsudaira would be the same too, but…

…Horizon.

Her too. Although she started out nearly at zero rather than restricting herself. But now she’s free to be herself…although “herself” can be a little much. Still, I’m part of what allowed her to reach this point.

The framework inside Horizon always put him first and foremost. He was the one who shared her borderline, so their position and height were equal.

In a way, all of that had been determined back at Mikawa when they first truly met. So she had to be aware that it was growing harder to understand just how significant that had been, but…

“Horizon.”

This was like when she had tried to reclaim her tears. No, this was something even more personal.

“Make sure you remember how Narumi-san said ‘I see’ here.”

She had decided to stay here. She had decided what she wanted to do here. And that wasn’t just mental activity. It was a small, meaningless piece of determination, but that was the entire point.

“The time will come when you ‘see’ too.”

“I had a feeling I would when I thought back on what I have observed the rest of you doing.”

Horizon looked to Asama and then to Mitotsudaira.

“You are saying I came here because I made a similar decision with Toori-sama, aren’t you?”

“I must have done so unwittingly,” said Horizon. “But…”

This would probably happen plenty more in the future too. But for now…

“I am here because I made that choice, aren’t I?”

She still wasn’t certain of it, but she felt that Asama was correct and she would eventually become aware of it in retrospect. She could tell that much from looking at the others.

You made the choice first, but the determination and resolve came even earlier.

“You must be able to make the decision before it can become your decision. And this ‘seeing’ is something that comes later.”

She still did not know what to call it. But she could sense something while watching Asama and Mitotsudaira now.

“I am convinced it is something I have too. This has given me one more thing to believe in.”

“Is that so?” Masazumi replied to Horizon, confirming her words.

…This is kind of incredible.

It can seem like Horizon hasn’t changed at all from Mikawa to here, but she’s actually calmed down quite a lot. Sure, she still shouts weird things without warning and does things that make no sense, but I’d like to think that’s just her schtick. But the more worrying parts of her behavior do seem to be gone. Well, other than the Horizon Rules. Could she please stop doing that?

But if Masazumi was going to let the others handle these issues…

“Horizon, I want you to make a decision about all of that and I want you to rely on Asama and Mitotsudaira when you need help.”

After hearing the “judge” in reply, Masazumi moved on.

“The rest of you should already be training and working on your concentration.”

“That’s right,” calmly stated Naruze. “Margot and I didn’t so great on that exam, so we need to shape up. But, hey, at least we didn’t do as bad as Tenzou.”

“You’ve got that right, Ga-chan. Almirante and the others caused me a lot of trouble during the exam. But, hey, at least I didn’t embarrass myself as badly as Tenzou.”

“Wh-what is with these double-team insults!?”

“That’s right!” replied Mary. She placed her hand on her chest next to Tenzou. “Master Tenzou had his hands full carrying me at the time!”

Art-Ga: “So, Tenzou. Which do you want uploaded to the divine net – that statement or what you said about us insulting you?”

10ZO: “Um, I would really prefer neither?”

Me: “Hey, hey. Lay off, Black Mar. Mary’s one of our most powerful weapons and we can’t move her around without Tenzou.”

Flat Vassal: “Sure, the 1st Special Duty Officer carries Mary-san, but Excalibur can fly. Him carrying her around seems kind of redundant.”

Me: “Tenzou, what good are you?”

10ZO: “Your support didn’t last long!!”

This gives us a lot to think about, thought Mary.

The exam had arrived without warning, so she hadn’t been prepared. It was true she had hesitated when it came time to run on the rooftops. Because if her foot broke through the roof, the poor resident would have to fix it.

That was why she had let him carry her, but it was true Excalibur belonged to her. It liked him a lot, but it did not belong to him. So…

“Master Tenzou, I am sorry for stealing your thunder.”

“No, the point was for us to all work together. And carrying you meant you did not have to worry about being caught by the transport ship. It is important to view the tactical value of our actions. So,” he said. “You managed to run some at Nördlingen, but most of the structures on the Musashi are wooden. The next mock battle should happen halfway through the 2nd term, so how about you try running through some open spaces before then? Once you are used to it…”

“Yes?”

“We can run hand in hand.”

He would not be letting go of her hand. That insistence made her happy, but also embarrassed. She knew she had to do better than this as some flowers spilled from her.

On the other side of the fire, Naito and Naruze were fanning her with paper plates. But it’s quite cool out, so that isn’t necessary.

But if she was going to join the battlefield…

“What will the Honnouji Incident be like?”

That would be a localized battle, so they did not know if it would involve a large group of warriors or a naval battle.

Based on Mary’s own research, the battle was fought around a single temple being used as lodgings.

In that case, she thought just before he spoke.

“We expect it to be some type of fortress newly built outside of Kyou.”

Tenzou pulled up a sign frame showing a summary of his investigations over summer break. He bowed toward Asama and she distributed it to everyone.

It first gave P.A. Oda’s activities.

“P.A. Oda’s Lake Biwa Azuchi is still on alert and we have not done much investigation there because sending someone in and having them captured would be a major pain. But…”

But…

“We have confirmed some largescale construction within a stealth field at the new location of Honnouji east of Kyou. We have also confirmed materials being transported there from Lake Biwa Azuchi.”

“Why do you think it’s a fortress? Couldn’t it be an aerial ship?” asked Naruze.

Asama shook her head.

“This will be a largescale ley line ceremony, so I think it will be a grounded facility. Especially if they are including a ley line reactor.”

“We have information saying they have set up something like massive keystones in order to erect the field. The original terrain was a hill, so they may be building a surface structure with something built underground.”

“It would be trouble if they holed up inside there,” said Futayo.

He had to agree with her there. But…

“I’m not sure they will,” said Masazumi. She stood up and grabbed more bread from the table. “When we arrive at Honnouji, I have a feeling they might just let us in or let us watch the proceedings.”

“Because of Hashiba’s insistence on strictly following the Testament?”

“Right. The Honnouji Incident is basically P.A. Oda’s domain, but they could pass it off to Hashiba if they want. We shouldn’t throw out the possibility quite yet. If our intentions are in line with theirs, they can at least let us observe. We still have to deal with the Battle of Yamazaki against Hashiba afterwards, so it won’t all be so easy.”

“Then,” said Gin. “What is the plan for breaking into the surface fortress?”

“Neshinbara-dono, what are your thoughts?”

Neshinbara answered Tenzou’s question by striking a new pose.

“An excellent question. There is one main point we need to keep in mind vis-à-vis the history recreation. Namely…”

Neshinbara displayed a fire effect on his sign frame. He opened four such frames and placed them around him.

“Honnouji is burned down. Which leads to Nobunaga’s body never being discovered.”

So…

“Normally, they might not need to be so strict, but I expect they will recreate this to prevent any other nations from interfering. They have already shown some insistence on keeping battles to their original form – like the fire ships during the Armada battle or Nördlingen being mostly fought outside the city.”

“So, Secretary, what will this fortress version of Honnouji be like?” asked Adele.

Neshinbara covered his face with a hand before responding.

“Judge. It is home to the one known only as…Darkness.”

Horizey: “To be blunt, I think we should create a new rule where anyone who hinders our discussions is physically ejected from them.”

Vice President: “Hmm. I feel like it wouldn’t be long before there wasn’t anyone left, which would hinder our discussions in a different way.”

Me: “Now, hold on! Who’s been hindering our discussions!? I can’t believe anyone would have the gall to get in the way of these crucial meetings! Right, Tenzou!?”

Silver Wolf: “My king! My king! Are you aiming to be the first victim of that rule!?”

“Okayyy, moving on.”

Neshinbara saw the arms looking at him from 5m away on the other side of the campfire. They sometimes shook their hands in a threatening way, but based on their frequent attacks on Aoi, any actual attack would be instantaneous. I need to be on my best behavior.

But he did have a question about Crossunite’s opinion.

“They have no reason to build a fortress.”

“Why not? They’ve transported in all the materials.”

“We’re discussing on the assumption that we’re attacking, but P.A. Oda would have planned it as no more than Akechi Mitsuhide slaying Nobunaga.”

So…

“Defenses against interference from outsiders makes sense, but take that to the level of a fortress and now Akechi Mitsuhide can’t get in either.”

“I see. Then what form do you think Honnouji will take, Neshinbara-dono?”

“Give a real answer or we will entertain ourselves by chucking you into the spring out back,” warned Horizon.

“Heh. The answer could not be more obvious. There is only one possible form for Honnouji.”

He displayed a hand-drawn prediction on a sign frame. A distinctive castle rose toward the heavens.

“A demon castle!”

“Now that Neshinbara-sama has been dealt with, does anyone else have an opinion to share?”

Mitotsudaira saw everyone avoid reacting to armless Horizon’s question.

She also heard the distant sound of something being thrown into water from the direction of the spring, but she chose to ignore that.

“I think his point was that it would something they could use to complete the history recreation but would also prevent anyone from interfering. In that case…”

There was a precedent here.

“Aki’s Itsukushima had the shrine itself built to match the historical shrine, but the ground below it was made into a floating island, remember? The Asama Shrine is similar, just with the Musashi instead of a floating island.”

So…

“Instead of asking whether or not Honnouji will be a fortress or the historical temple, shouldn’t we be asking what kind of facility it will be built on top of?”

“What makes you think there will be some kind of facility below it, Mitotsudaira?” asked Masazumi.

Mitotsudaira turned toward someone then: Asama.

“Tomo, do you have any idea what they could have built for that field the 1st Special Duty Officer was talking about?”

“Eh? Um, yes. I can’t know for certain, but I would guess they were a set of keystones to suppress the 8 or 12 directions. You know how my binder skirt stabs into the ground in different directions to stabilize me when I fire Umetsubaki? It’s the same as that.”

Mitotsudaira based her answer on that.

“Directional keystones make for a powerful defense barrier, but they have fallen out of style because destroying one of the directions opens a gaping hole in your defenses. That would suggest these are not for defense, but then what are they for? We have heard of something similar, haven’t we?”

Masazumi raised her hand.

Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure if this was due to Masazumi’s Mikawa background, but…

“What do you think they are, Masazumi?”

“Ley line reactors,” she replied, folding a jam-coated piece of bread in half to make a simple sandwich. “At New Nagoya Castle, the ley line reactors in the four cardinal directions were pushed past their limits to trigger an explosion in the center. So what if the structures in each direction here are indeed ley line reactors?”

She took a breath.

“We know Lord Motonobu started the Genesis Project on the P.A. Oda side of things, so what if the explosion of New Nagoya Castle was a test run for this?”

So…

“What if the Honnouji Incident is a key part of the Genesis Project?”

Gin felt the Vice President was jumping to conclusions.

Jumping from an examination of the materials to ley line reactors and then to the Genesis Project was too much.

But while Gin hadn’t been involved in all that, the Vice President was from Mikawa. She would know far more local information and rumors about Lord Motonobu and other Mikawa officials than Gin would.

It was possible all of that extra information had created a connection that Gin only saw as jumping to conclusions.

But she did agree with part of it.

…Yes.

“We saw it too.”

Back in Mikawa, she and Muneshige had seen the four pillars of ether light rising into the night sky. Muneshige had tried and failed to reach their source and they had withdrawn.

Muneshige had even spoken with Lord Motonobu. So…

“I have a suggestion,” calmly stated Muneshige. “At the time, Tres España and K.P.A. Italia, under the Papa Schola’s command, had trouble believing what they were seeing play out before their eyes.”

“We had no idea what was going on either,’ said the Chancellor.

Muneshige nodded.

“Hence my suggestion.” He placed his hands on his lap and gave a slight bow. “Even if something seems impossible, it can still be the truth. And if Lord Motonobu has prepared something here, I believe we must overcome it since we are the ones who have strayed from his plans.”

Gin knew the battle on that night had been a valuable experience for Muneshige and a crucial turning point for him.

His defeat to Honda Futayo had been the true deciding factor, but he had taken the first step down his current path on that night. He had thrown everything he could against Honda Tadakatsu at Mikawa and it hadn’t been enough.

If that man still lived, Muneshige could have worked to surpass him. But…

“I told Lord Motonobu that I did not know.”

And…

“He said that saying ‘I do not know’ to avoid thinking about it any further meant I would look away from a crisis and I would die if something even more frightening were to come along.”

However…

“Maybe I am just not that smart, but there are a lot of things I do not know. But never again will I stop thinking about those things.”

“Is that true, Master Muneshige?”

“Judge.” He nodded. “When I realized you were gone, Gin, I immediately thought about it, shouted ‘amore’ five times, and rushed all the way to Musashi.”

Flat Vassal: “Isn’t that more of a reflexive response, which is the opposite of thinking?”

Bell: “Adele, this is…a sweet story. I think…”

Gold Mar: “And what made you feel the need for the ‘I think’ qualifier?”

Gin somehow managed to endure the surprise attack.

She took a deep breath and suppressed the reflexive urge to scold him. Her habits of scolding and protesting were something of a problem. She had recently found a trick to breaking those habits on the divine network.

…Before scolding him, I need to understand why he did it.

Yes, reaching an understanding prevents you from acting rashly. So I need to know why Master Muneshige mentioned me here.

“…”

The understanding she found came with embarrassment so great she nearly died, so she stripped away only the positive parts and threw out the rest.

The 3rd and 4th Special Duty Officers were providing commentary.

“Oh, look. That really got to her.”

“Yeah, you can see how hard she’s trying to look calm.”

She really wished they would not make things up about her. Because in truth, it had hit her even harder than that.

But she knew what Muneshige was trying to say.

“We did not join Musashi in order to die,” Gin said to the Vice President. “We joined so we would not have to stop thinking. And it seems that has led our thoughts beyond what Lord Motonobu had expected, but this may be putting that to the test.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Judge.” Gin nodded. “The location. The materials sent to the structures in each direction. Their knowledge of and technology for ley line reactors. Lord Motonobu’s participation and the Genesis Project. With only this to go on, it seems too soon to think something like the Battle of Mikawa will happen here.”

But…

“It does not seem too soon to think something like the Battle of Mikawa could happen here.”

So…

“Since that could happen, I have a recommendation as someone who was there the first time.”

This is a form of vengeance, thought Gin. They had lost so much and then gained so much and it had all begun with the loss of Mikawa.

But some things had been lost forever.

Thus, this was a form of vengeance.

Those who remained were avenging those who were lost.

They would ensure nothing like that could happen again…

…And we will surpass who we were back then.

He had been a name inheritor back then and now he had to surpass that. He had to avenge the past he had lost by overcoming it in the present.

The exam from the other day had ended well.

60 points. Different people would view it differently, but they saw that not as a failure but above the median. And that had now become their baseline.

Against an opponent on the Reine des Garous’s level, 60 points was an excellent result for now.

Their goal for next time would be around 75 points. Between that and 80 points was about where Muneshige had been at Mikawa.

The time for vengeance was nigh. So…

“Make every possible preparation,” she announced.

A voice immediately answered her.

“I grant my authorization.”

She looked up in surprise to see a familiar face directly across the campfire.

Honda Futayo was looking to her and him as she spoke.

“I grant my authorization as Vice Chancellor to prepare for this as a second Battle of Mikawa.”

Futayo must have her own thoughts on this, thought Masazumi, reaching a silent understanding.

Based on the records from the time, Futayo had taken a “wait and see” stance on the conflict her father’s group had begun at Mikawa.

It had been the most sensible choice for the Far East, but the results had been disastrous.

She had been in contact with K.P.A. Italia, so the “wait and see” stance had created a distinction between her group and the Mikawa group. That had led to Futayo’s group working for the Testament Union until her defeat against the idiot sister at the conclusion of the student body assembly.

But what would have happened if she hadn’t waited to act?

She wouldn’t have had to oppose the Testament Union.

Would she have started by trying to join with the Musashi group? Or would she have instead tried to explain Mikawa’s actions to the Testament Union? If she had, it would have at least reduced the Testament Union’s effectiveness in the earliest phase, such as with capturing Horizon.

Masazumi could see that much.

Futayo herself could probably see so much more.

That other Honda never said much, rarely revealed what she was thinking, and seemed to live life based on her current mood, but based on what she had just said…

…What’s this?

Has it been eating you up inside this whole time?

Masazumi mentally relaxed her shoulders before speaking.

“I also grant my authorization as Vice President. Is that fine with you, Aoi?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

A casual response, but what else was new? She knew she could trust him to have her back. So…

“Everyone, assume this is the greatest threat we have ever faced. It really is for P.A. Oda, so I’m sure they’ll be following Lord Motonobu’s teachings by thinking it through and acting accordingly.”

So…

“Crossunite, give Futayo and the others your findings based on the assumption that Honnouji is ground-based, but as a ‘lodging temple’ built to prevent interference rather than as a full-on fortress. Neshinbara, you work up a strategy for-”

“Neshinbara-sama is still absent after being ejected, Masazumi-sama,” said Horizon.

“I-I’m right here! I ran back as soon as I could!”

Masazumi looked back to see a soaking wet Neshinbara running over from downstream.

“The river carried you far,” commented the Date Vice Chancellor while Neshinbara started wringing out his clothes below a nearby tree.

Given how much water was coming out, he wouldn’t be useful for a while. Masazumi had no choice but to move on.

“Okay, Crossunite. You work things out with Neshinbara. Next…”

“Wait.” The Date Vice Chancellor raised her right hand. “There is one thing I would like to say.”

“Judge. What is it?”

“Judge,” she replied. And, “The Honnouji Incident begins the downfall of P.A. Oda. And you think it may double as the Genesis Project meant to stop the Apocalypse, right?”

Everyone nodded. This was the kind of topic Neshinbara really liked, but it had come from Masazumi this time. She wondered what the Date Vice Chancellor was going to say about it.

“If the Genesis Project and the Honnouji Incident are one and the same, it means P.A. Oda’s international standing and value will rise rather than fall – since they stopped the Apocalypse and all. They will be the ones to pave the way to the next era instead of declining like they are supposed to. But that means the reverse can also be true. Do you see where I am going with this?”

She continued.

“If we stop the Genesis Project with no plan of our own, Musashi will be seen as the great enemy of the next era. So do we have a plan?”

Chapter 68: Confirmers During the Debate[edit]

Hm? What’s this?

Um…what is this?

Ha ha ha. What could this be!?

Point Allocation (No Answer)

Asama noticed everyone go quiet at Narumi’s suggestion that they would be the great enemy of the next era.

But one hand did go up – Toori’s. He tilted his head before speaking.

“So have we made any progress on our Apocalypse solution?”

“Well, we haven’t collected all of the Logismoi Oplo like Lord Motonobu told us to. So we still don’t know what the power to ‘influence the Apocalypse’ could be.”

Masazumi’s statement was no different from when they had checked on this before summer break.

Asama only had one thing to add:

“The Logismoi Oplo have started some kind of change or evolution with Horizon, so I doubt even Lord Motonobu could have told us what our Apocalypse solution will be.”

“I see.” Horizon nodded. “In other words, I have begun to live too free of a life and I have neglected to focus on the Apocalypse solution. Is that it, Asama-sama?”

“As much as I hate to say it, more or less.”

“Yay!” cheered Kimi, high-fiving Horizon. This is really awkward with Gin-san side-eyeing us like that. But then Horizon put a hand on her chin and said more.

“How about we take a field trip to see what this Genesis Project is all about?”

“Well, we do have to defend our actions at Westphalia after retrieving all of the Logismoi Oplo, but we know that won’t happen until after Honnouji,” said Naruze. “So what happens to us if the Genesis Project stops the Apocalypse before that?”

“We celebrate that the world isn’t ending?”

Masazumi had a point.

“But,” Asama added. This linked back to their discussion at the Sanada camp. “We still don’t know what the Genesis Project means by ending it but not letting it end.”

“Judge. If that means sacrificing something, then we must put a stop to it,” said Mitotsudaira.

“Isn’t there a pretty good chance of that being the case?” said Naito.

Everyone gave her a “whaddya mean?” look, so she tapped the sign frame Tenzou had made.

“The Honnouji Incident is all about Nobunaga’s death, right?”

So…

“I don’t know how it would work, but it could be that killing Nobunaga stops the Apocalypse.”

I don’t understand, thought Mary.

Next to her, Tenzou was crossing his arms in thought.

…How could executing Lord Nobunaga lead to saving the world from the Apocalypse?”

Mary tried to think up a way for that to work. After all, her situation had been similar. The plan had been to execute her and send her power back into England to defend England.

But there were too many unknowns here. Both about P.A. Oda and about Nobunaga.

The Tachibana Couple had relayed Lord Motonobu’s words earlier and Mary only now came to realize how hard it was to never give up on thinking.

You could not settle on an answer prematurely, but you could not give up and just say “I don’t know” either.

But just as there were some unknowns, there were some knowns as well. Such as…

“We think they are building ley line reactors. What does that accomplish?”

“Maybe they need a power boost for some kind of ceremony?” suggested Naito. “Now I’m starting to sound like Bara-yan.”

Then a hand went up – Kimi’s.

“Could they be summoning a god? Something like: I sacrifice my Nobunaga to summon Cause of the Apocalypse! Defeat it by the end of the turn or it’s game over for the world!”

“Um, Kimi? The Apocalypse is affecting all of the ley lines, so I don’t think summoning that would be possible.”

Mary agreed with Asama about that, so she provided some additional information.

“Gods and spirits are only a small portion of the ley lines as a whole. As powerful as they might be, they are nothing compared to the vastness of the ley lines. So the vast majority of the ley lines contain no conscious beings.”

“Mary-dono, would that be analogous to the ocean and the fish?”

“The ratio is probably even smaller than comparing the entire sky to all of the aerial ships currently airborne.”

That was true. If something existed in every part of the ley lines, the spirit world there would be overcrowded and cramped.

Those beings had influence and had control over different aspects, but there was no density there, which was what made it so fluid.

And in that case…

“Summoning the Apocalypse would probably require summoning this entire world.”

“Then how about this?” Naruze raised her right hand and looked to Mary, Masazumi, and the others. “What if they summon the Princess? Not that we know what the Princess even is.”

Mary nearly responded but stopped herself.

…The Crest could appear.

She could see Masazumi and Asama looking somewhat concerned as well.

But the Date Vice Chancellor raised her hand and tilted her head.

“The Princess is probably an individual mysterious phenomenon, right? What we’ve heard makes her sound like something more personal.”

So…

“Why would they need such a massive facility to summon her? Especially when it seems like she can be summoned if you just say the wrong thing.”

What did that mean?

“The personal Princess and the largescale Apocalypse are separate things. They seem connected, but they aren’t. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Regardless, this is one thing we don’t know: what is the Princess?’

So we’ve come back to this, thought Mitotsudaira.

“So you want to know what the Princess is?”

It felt like they were approaching the truth. Even in this discussion, they were able to make some speculation, even if it was built atop theories.

But the most crucial question remained unanswered. And at the same time…

…The Princess is targeting some of us.

Horizon, Masazumi, Mary, and – although she hadn’t noticed it at the time – Asama.

The fact that those four had been singled out and targeted suggested the Princess had a mind and worked on an individual level.

She was a mysterious phenomenon.

But the Apocalypse was different. It covered the entire world.

It was something else.

“Nate, is it something like the relationship between your mom and that forest she created?”

“No. You can think of my mother’s forest as a part of her body. Like she’s spreading out her skirt. It is humanity’s idea of fear, which allows it to contain many different things, but they all follow the same theme.”

But…

“The Apocalypse is different, isn’t it? It happened before anyone realized it, so it isn’t the same as humanity’s imagination or anything like that.”

“And yet we know two things exist here: the Apocalypse and the Princess,” said Mary.

Mitotsudaira had to agree with that. And to add onto it…

“In my mother’s case, defeating her is meaningless unless you destroy that entire forest too. Because they are one and the same.”

So…

“If the Princess and the Apocalypse are the same, killing the Princess would not get rid of the Apocalypse.”

And…

“The same is true if they are two different things.”

What did that mean? The 1st Special Duty Officer sighed before speaking.

“That means they aren’t summoning the Princess or the Apocalypse at Honnouji. It would be safest to assume they are planning something else.”

Something about what he said felt off to Mitotsudaira.

So did something about her own thoughts and what her king had said.

…Huh?

What was this feeling?

She wasn’t sure, but she needed to continue thinking about it. And…

“Is something wrong, Nate?”

“Not really. Something just seems off about the way we’re talking about the Apocalypse and the Princess.”

“What might that be, Mitotsudaira-sama?” asked Horizon. “If you could whisper some spoilers to me real quick…”

Wouldn’t spoilers here summon the Princess?

But that wasn’t what Mitotsudaira had to say.

…Yes.

“We’ve thought about this from several angles now, but we still don’t understand anything. That makes me wonder if we’re looking at this entirely wrong.”

In other words…

“Could the answer be entirely unrelated to figuring out the Apocalypse and the princess?”

“I agree.”

Mitotsudaira heard a voice come from the forest leading to the spring.

She looked that way to see the Secretary striking a pose in front of a tree. He wrung out his hair and sucked in a breath.

“We still have other mysteries to solve: the code left with me, Naruze-kun’s question, and Asama-kun’s dating of Honnouji. Perhaps we could find a different answer if we pursue those questions.”

So…

“It is crucial that we continue thinking. That is what has brought us this far. If all we have are fantasies, the question is whether we have the facts necessary to confirm or deny those fantasies. So how about it?” he said. “Turning up further information can be our homework assignment for the next week. And at the end of the week, we can have another in-depth conversation like this one.”

“Judge.” Masazumi nodded toward Neshinbara. “I was already planning to discuss these things on our last day here. In that sense, tonight is only meant to be the opening round. I wanted us to reach a consensus on our current thoughts.”

But…

“Crossunite, the Tachibana Couple, and the Date Vice Chancellor made some valuable points. If it comes to it, we might need to fight our way into Honnouji, so make sure you are ready for that.”

“Eh?”

Naruze’s eyebrows rose, but Masazumi wasn’t sure what that look meant.

“What is it, Naruze?”

Naruze exchanged a glance with Naito. And then with the others too.

What is this about? wondered Masazumi as everyone looked to Noriki. He smiled bitterly.

“I have to do it this time?”

He gave Masazumi a carefree smile.

“If it comes to it? This entire discussion made it sound like that was a foregone conclusion.”

Naito saw Masazumi frown, cross her arms, tilt her head, and then tilt her entire body. That last movement came with a voice.

“Huhhhh?”

She was clearly wondering how this had happened, but she had a more important question to ask.

“None of you questioned it when it sounded like we were definitely going to fight our way in?”

“I mean, we all knew you would go that route eventually.”

“Gin, this is very strange.”

“Yes, it is, Master Muneshige.”

It was amazing how easily those two could accept these things. But the one who had worked the hardest was Tenzou.

“I spent a lot of time and effort gathering and analyzing enough information for either option.”

“Tenzou, have Mary add another item to your lunches.”

“J-judge! I will see what I can do!” replied Mary.

She probably would. But…

“Seijun, are you saying you’d be willing to go the pacifist route if you had to?”

“I kind of thought I already was…”

She heard a few comments of “kind of?” and “thought?”, but then Naruze spoke up.

“Masazumi, I know it sounds like pass-a-fist, but it has nothing to do with punching people.”

“It does sound like that, doesn’t it?” said Naito.

“Look, I just like to plan for the worst-case scenario, okay?” said Masazumi.

Then she looked to Neshinbara and the others, doing a poor job of hiding she was only trying to change the subject.

“Um, anyway. Neshinbara, Naruze, and Asama. It’s fine if you don’t have an answer yet, but can you give us a status report on your questions?”

Adele saw Neshinbara say “very well” and remove his sleeves near the fire.

He hung them from a nearby tree branch and the water he couldn’t wring from them dripped out, but…

“Our punishments sure can be harsh,” said Adele.

“Personally, I thought it was a valuable experience because it let me hop in the Loup Garou royal family’s spring ahead of everyone else. There isn’t a spirit of the spring, is there, Mitotsudaira-kun?”

“I seriously doubt it.”

Then the Chancellor stood up, spread his arms and faced the Vicereine.

“Which of these did your arms launch into my spring: this history nerd Neshinbara, or this all-around cringey Neshinbara? Be honest.”

“I do not want either.”

“Okay, that’s an honest answer, but what’s the reward supposed to be in this case?”

“Aoi-kun, could you not say that while staring at me!?”

Adele decided not to choose and changed the subject instead.

“So Secretary, how are you doing with that code?”

The 4th Special Duty Officer had worked to motivate him on that during ImMoral Manga the other day. But…

“I’m having trouble at the moment, actually.”

“You mean you aren’t working on it?”

“No, I said I’m having trouble. I can’t seem to make any progress.”

He brushed back his wet hair and Suzu tilted her head.

“What kind…of trouble?”

“Eh? Oh, well, um, you know? It’s important to trust your intuition when trying to figure out what all those numbers mean.”

The 4th Special Duty Officer suddenly opened a Magie Figur. It was in comm mode and she glared into it.

“Hello, Kappa Printing? Oh, right, right. Hemisphere. That’s what I meant. Anyway, you do mail-order sales, don’t you? Could you let me see our Secretary’s purchase history?”

“Don’t abuse your connections to access my private information!!”

“You spent so much time getting your manuscript done just under the wire and then you spent all your time afterwards reading through your purchases instead of working. What makes you think you deserve privacy?”

A few Protestant sign frames appeared in front of the 4th Special Duty Officer as she glared at him. The 3rd Special Duty Officer leaned over to take a look and everyone else nearby did the same.

“Neshinbara! I see some titles from the elder sister genre on here! There is hope for you yet!”

“Shakespeare-san needs to know about this, doesn’t she?”

“Are these occasional history books so he can trick himself into thinking this is all for research?”

“Th-this is supposed to be private, so stop judging me for it!”

Four Eyes: “Could you stop signing the receipts ‘your honorable customer’? It’s pathetic.”

…She found that fast.

Then a question occurred to Adele.

“What does the Chancellor do with these things?”

“Huh? I’m not a coward like Neshinbara, so I sign my own name! Aoi Toori! Send it to Aoi Toori! And no hiding the title! I have them write down exactly what I bought and slap it on the package label! I make sure to thank them too! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The idiot high-fived his sister and Adele turned to Asama, whose shoulders were slumping.

“Do those purchases count as official expenses?”

“No, but I have considered it for the shrine maiden, knight, and silver hair ones.”

There were scattered comments about Asama being overprotective and Adele silently agreed with them.

But based on what she had heard…

“So have you not worked on the code at all, Secretary?”

“In my defense, I’m working hard to finish my summer homework so I can focus on the code as soon as possible!”

“Heh heh. Raise your hand if you have already finished your summer homework!” said Kimi.

Almost everyone raised their hand. The only other one who didn’t was the 4th Special Duty Officer.

“I was delayed by my ImMoral Manga manuscript too, so I still have about half a day of Far Eastern homework left.”

“Ga-chan likes writing essays, so she always saves them for last.”

“True. I just love it when they ask you to write what the author was thinking! I can write some nonsense like ‘The author had the protagonist get rejected by his love interest because he had fallen in love with the love interest and was too jealous to let the protagonist be with her!’ And when my answer gets marked wrong, I can rejoice because it means I’m an independent thinker. It’s not like we’ve actually asked the author about it, so it’s all about who can come up with the most convincing guess. Isn’t it amazing they actually put that on tests!?”

“But you always lose about 10 points to that.”

“No, Margot! Don’t bring reality into this! They’re the ones who asked me to imagine an answer!”

Adele thought she probably should focus more on reality, but she knew better than to expect that from the 4th Special Duty Officer. She supported a solid chunk of Musashi’s economy, so it was probably best to leave things be.

…And saying something could inspire her to write a doujinshi about me.

Next, the Vice President asked a question of the Secretary.

“So you plan to make progress during the coming week?”

“I have a hunch, so a week should be plenty of time.”

“What kind of hunch?”

“Heh.” The Secretary brushed up his bangs. “After following a few hunches, I believe the numbers are replacements for words. Now I just need to find the right replacement pattern.”

Everyone exchanged a glance.

Eventually, Noriki said “me again?”, approached Neshinbara, and slapped his shoulder with a smile. And…

“You already told us that last time.”

Novice: “Wait, r-really? I don’t remember that!”

Worshiper: “Actually, Neshinbara-kun, didn’t you say yourself it was a replacement for the kana? Back when we were having nagashi udon.”

Novice: “O-oh, right! I did say that! Yes, that’s right. I was starting with the kana!”

Unturning: “I remember thinking then that the 50 kana wasn’t going to work with a code that has triple digit numbers.”

Novice: “Yeah, that’s the real problem with this code. The highest number in it is 115, but the Song of Passage for example is 108 characters long. 115 is a lot.”

Obscene: “Ha ha ha. I know you can come up with some crazy logic to explain it!”

Flat Vassal: “That’s right. No one’s going to stop you.”

Scarred: “A society that lets people make mistakes is a wonderful thing.”

Horizey: “An excellent point, Mary-sama. People grow from their mistakes. Just look at Neshinbara-sama. A cautionary tale about what happens if you grow from too many mistakes if there ever was one.”

Novice: “Just when I think you’re being nice for once, you go in for the kill, Ariadust-kun!”

Sounds like he has his work cut out for him, thought Masazumi.

“Neshinbara, I doubt I would be much help on this, but feel free to ask for advice if you need it. We could even have a meeting about it.”

“No need. I develop codes and ciphers for my stories, so I just need to see this as an extension of that and try out a few options.”

“Then next up is Naruze.”

Neshinbara immediately responded.

“H-hold on! Don’t you have more of a reaction for me!?”

Four Eyes: “God, you’re a pain. Try being less obvious about how badly you want attention.”

Novice: “I’m not as bad as you!”

…Yeah, I really agree with him on that one.

But Masazumi did have something to say to Neshinbara.

“Keep working.”

And…

“Make sure you finish by the deadline. The printers aren’t going to wait for you to finish. And I know it’s a bit late now, but that cover was awful. And how could you leave it to someone else to throw a party once you were done? It worked out since Naito and Naruze made some extra arrangements and Aoi was willing to do it, but still. Oh, and make sure you pay your taxes. Got that?”

“You’re going to kill me with the pressure of that stream of consciousness lecture!”

A Magie Figure flew over and stabbed into Neshinbara’s forehead.

It came from Naruze.

“Here’s a reference site for the taxes. Don’t screw it up in any way that makes me liable.”

Then the Weiss Hexen shrugged.

“As for my project, I screwed it up a bit, so I’m redoing it from the start.”

Naruze opened a Magie Figur.

It displayed a single image, but…

“Is that…a pattern?”

Asama’s assessment was understandable. Naruze could see the image through the back of the transparent Magie Figur. It showed a distorted circular pattern created from a curve twisting in toward the center in a way that looked like concentric circles.

It was a kinetic pattern reminiscent of pouring cream in your coffee while stirring it.

However…

“This was a failure. I underestimated it. Or rather, I started from a mistaken assumption.”

“Sorry, but I’m not sure what you mean,” said the Tachibana Husband.

His confusion probably came from having seen something similar before. But not exactly the same.

“You might have seen a similar style since Tres España makes so much porcelain.”

So what was it?

“This is a type of trick art using bent lines.”

Gin understood why Muneshige was confused.

Naruze was correct that Tres España produced a lot of porcelain.

Of course, every nation produced porcelain by this time and porcelain of similar quality had always been produced in continental Asia and was beginning to show up in the Far East as well.

But Tres Españan porcelain had one distinctive trait.

“The intricacy of the patterns.”

Some were simpler, but they generally started with an Arabia-inspired design and added European culture on top. Glossy white plates or cups would have blue patterns drawn on and, whether those were flowers, ivy, or representations of seasons or the sky, the end result would be a lively geometric collage.

There would be so much blue it could be hard to tell it had started as white porcelain. And…

“Plates and such have their patterns designed around the inner curves so the pattern looks pretty when viewed from head on.”

So…

“Are you saying a similar pattern and structure was present in that location?”

“You don’t remember what was on the ceiling of that final room before it collapsed?”

Naruze’s question led Asama and a few others to open sign frames.

They must have taken photos of that scene.

The 1st Special Duty Officer had the most photos, including one from immediately after entering the hall of the underground ruins.

He had raised an illumination spell and that light gave a view of the stone hall as it was before anyone had entered it.

The collapse and flooding had barely affected it then. It was only a large, dimly-lit circular hall.

“The ceiling is curved like a dome,” noted the 1st Special Duty Officer.

His opened sign frame displayed the image with the brightness amplified. It did indeed show a shallow dome.

The photo Muneshige had taken was the same.

They had looked up at that dome in the ruins they had been granted access to as a reward for the Siege of Kanie Castle after the Siege of Odawara.

She recalled water covering the floor, but it hadn’t been enough to hinder movement.

That was where they had found their biggest disappointment.

…What is that?

Gin’s thoughts were cut off by movement. The Vice President lifted the 1st Special Duty Officer’s sign frame with her fingers and tilted her head.

“Didn’t we discover there wasn’t anything on the ceiling of these ruins?” she asked, looking to the center of the dome.

There was a picture there. People were drawn around the edge of the dome, holding hands and looking up toward the center. Looking toward…

“The other places had signs of something being carved away, but the one below Houjou had the Double Border Crest drawn there. So,” said the Vice President. “We still don’t know what any of it means. We only have more questions to ask. Like what the Double Border Crest was doing there.”

“No,” Gin replied on reflex. “Something bothered the 4th Special Duty Officer enough to investigate that place and something bothered me about the Double Border Crest on the ceiling, but I just now saw the link between them.”

Gin spoke the answer that had come to her without warning.

“The image that was carved away wasn’t on the ceiling.”

Gin recalled that moment.

It had happened about a month ago.

She had looked up in the Houjou ruins to see something similar to what they had seen at Novgorod and Sanada.

There was a domed space and people were drawn holding hands in a circle, but the center of the image had been carved away at the previous sites.

They had been told the Houjou ruins were the oldest ones and the image still existed there, but they only found the Double Border Crest there. And…

“The area of the ceiling carved away in the previous images seemed smaller than the area covered by the Double Border Crest.”

She hadn’t known what that meant at the time, but …

“Wouldn’t the simplest answer be that the oldest ruins at Houjou had depicted something different from the ruins in the other regions?”

“There is one other explanation.”

That being…

“What if the Double Border Crest had been given another role?”

“Huh? What other role?” asked the Vice President.

Gin nodded and the vassal tossed more wood on the fire. Gin’s words seemed to join the fragrant scent of the burning wood.

“It was a focal point for viewing the image.”

Masazumi was confused by the Tachibana Wife’s answer.

“Eh?”

But a moment later, she figured it out.

“So you were supposed to stand directly below the Double Border Crest and look up at the ceiling?”

“Judge. Exactly.”

The Tachibana Wife nodded and turned toward Naruze.

She spoke to the girl who was spinning her pen.

“Long ago, I imagine the dome ceiling was polished to reflect something on the floor.”

That was the “trick art using bent lines” Naruze had mentioned.

“The image was on the floor and reflected from the ceiling, rather than on the ceiling itself.”

Gin continued.

“So why were the Houjou ruins the only one without the ceiling image carved away, leaving only the Double Border Crest there?”

Because…

“I imagine the other ruins had a relief carved into the ceiling.”

“Whereas the Houjou one was…?”

“A drawing.”

And…

“I don’t know if it covered the entire floor, but whatever was on the floor would only look right when standing directly below the Double Border Crest and looking up at the ceiling. It was that sort of trick art.”

She couldn’t say why they had gone to so much trouble, but…

“I think the assessment of the Houjou ruins as older than the ones in Novgorod or Sanada was correct. I do not know what happened during the Age of Dawn, but it seems there was a period where they did not want to make a plain image of whatever it was, but in a later period, they simply carved that image into the ceiling.”

But…

“In an even later period, they carved away those carvings for whatever reason, but either the floors in the older ruins were too covered in dust and dirt or they weren’t aware of the trick art at all, so those ones remained untouched.”

“And Naruze noticed…?”

“Judge,” continued Gin. “The Houjou ruins had dust and dirt covering the floor, but the area was well preserved thanks to being underground and the flooding must have washed a portion of the floor clean. That is what you noticed, isn’t it, 4th Special Duty Officer?”

Naruze raised her hands in mock surrender.

“When I saw the Double Border Crest on the ceiling, it seemed unfinished to me.”

Because…

“You’d normally draw something other than the Double Border Crest in a space like that. It’s too small for the people to be looking up at, so I figured it was unfinished. That’s why I had the Chancellor stand in the center and photographed all around him.”

Naruze spread her Magie Figur horizontally.

It stretched past a panorama and the ends connected to create a 360-degree view. It showed…

“The water on the floor was wavy, so it reflected the light all wrong.”

But…

“There were some parts where you could make out pieces of the image on the floor.”

Her analysis said it was mostly toward the center. Which made sense if the reflection on the ceiling expanded it.

But thinking back, there had been signs even then.

“When the ceiling collapsed, the inside of the dome was really clean. It reflected the light and everything. I think that settles it. Back when it was made, the visitors would have stood below the Double Border Crest, looked up at the ceiling, and meditated on something.”

“Meditated on what?”

“I don’t know.”

How could she know? But the means helped reveal the ends.

“They were expressing something they didn’t want to be found so easily. It must have been some kind of secret faith.”

Yes.

“Books sold at a big event are great, but ones sold in secret at a small event are good too.”

“Don’t ruin this!”

They all took issue with her analogy, but she thought it was a good comparison.

Masazumi sighed after hearing what Naruze had to say.

She sat on a log chair and sighed again. Then she took a bite of her folded bread with jam inside.

…Oh, this is sweet.

Of course it was, but her sense of taste was unusually sharp right now. She sighed a third time.

“Is something wrong, Masazumi?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Eh? N-no.”

How could she put this? If she had to describe how she felt…

“I’m relieved.”

They still didn’t know anything about the Double Border Crest, the Princess Disappearances, or the nonexistent academy, but they were pursuing the mysterious phenomena and the unwritten history they had discovered. However…

…I really did think we had hit a dead end at Houjou.

It had felt like all their efforts up to that point had been for nothing. So…

“I’m glad everything with Sanada’s Celestial Dragons and with the Prince of Orange weren’t for nothing.”

“It’s too soon to say for sure. I still haven’t completed the image.”

That was true, once she thought about it.

But they had hope now and that made all the difference.

And when Masazumi thought about the relief she was feeling now…

…That’s right.

The Double Border Crest was really weighing on her mind.

The Crest had first appeared to her when she had failed her name inheritance, her father had left for Musashi, and she was wondering how to go about her new life with just her mother.

Her mother had been a kind person. She could recall those memories with ease whether she idealized the memories or not. That had been Mikawa and her mother to her.

In a way, that had been the final home she could escape to even when she failed.

But it had been taken from her without warning and she had been forced to change who she was.

It wasn’t that she had never wanted to go back to the way things were, but when those thoughts did come, it was always to go back to before her father left or before she had sought an inherited name.

So that had been a turning point.

The Double Border Crest divided her life between Mikawa and Musashi. And in that sense…

“This is like vengeance for me.”

The Tachibana Couple looked up across the fire.

“What do you mean?”

“Judge. Maybe everyone has something like this, but…you know. There was this one event that forced me to change my course in life and led to where I am today. For me, that was the Double Border Crest,” she said. “Solving these mysteries and finding all the answers may be a way for me to avenge the person I was before that. Because then I can tell my past self I’ve seen all there is to see about the thing that gave her so much grief and took everything from her.”

So…

“I can tell her not to be afraid.”

“Seijun.”

“Judge,” she replied to the idiot. “I know. That’s how I saw things when I first started on this new path.”

Because…

“Where I am now, I would tell my past self she not to let it all scare her. I’d tell her to come here because she’s going to have even bigger problems to deal with before long.”

It was the same thing he had done: hold out your hand and tell them to come to you.

“Thinking back, I’m glad my father immediately called me to Musashi and I’m glad I agreed. If I had stayed in Mikawa and taken longer coming here…”

She couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, even a second’s delay in learning how to handle all of you would’ve been disastrous.”

Wise Sister: “Are you ready!? It’s Flat Politician Poem Time!”

Horizey: “Masazumi-sama, I appreciate the boldness of getting after Neshinbara-sama so much and then turning around and getting poetic about speaking to the Old Mikawa version of yourself!”

Scarred: “Please, Masazumi-sama is allowed to have moments like this. She can’t be all war all the time.”

Vice President: “That last comment was by far the most painful!!”

Naito sensed the nighttime atmosphere in Masazumi’s words.

…It takes this sort of atmosphere to share things like that, doesn’t it?

In the classroom, it had to be afterschool when no one was around. At the Blue Thunder…well, it would be at night again. It took an unusual space to feel like you could let out the secrets you kept inside.

This was somewhere Masazumi had never been and it was night. Naruze was occasionally glancing over into the forest. She was probably curious because this was the surface and it was an unknown land. Naito had scouted around a bit earlier, so she decided to show Naruze around tomorrow. So…

“Want to work outside tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. Since we’re here and all. I have some thoughts about these forests near M.H.R.R. And it should make for a nice change of pace in my work. “

The Magie Figur that Naruze had open displayed the pattern from before. She had been focused on drawing for a while now, but she had realized something about three days ago.

“Nooooo! I screwed up bad!”

She had used some colorful language while throwing several copied Magie Figurs against the ground to shatter them, so she must have been extremely frustrated. She didn’t often react so much, so it had drawn Naito’s curiosity.

And she hadn’t worked on the pattern for the three days since.

She was probably redoing her plans to ensure she didn’t screw up again.

“Ga-chan, about Take 2 of that pattern…”

“Judge. I more or less see what I need to do this time, but I want something to get me started. I’ve admitted to my mistake already, but I want something that makes me really motivated to get going again. I mean, I was pretty motivated the first time around, so if I’m going to go through it all again, I want to feel even more motivated. I know, I know. I sound spoiled.”

“Is the approaching deadline not enough to motivate you?”

“There is that.” Naruze smiled bitterly. “Thanks to that, I should automatically get started once there’s about 3 days left, but I need more if I want to get going sooner than that.”

Then Horizon raised her hand and pointed at the Chancellor.

“Shall I have him make something?”

“Just for me?”

“That is the idea.”

“Judge.” Naruze nodded. “Once that’s done, let’s take it with us and go for a walk, Margot. Even if we don’t go far, it can still feel like we had an adventure. So after a break, I can get started on my storyboard.”

“Way to ruin it all right at the end there, Ga-chan. Just make sure you do your work too, okay?”

That was when Narumi turned their way.

“So what was wrong with this version?”

“Reflect this one on the ceiling and it reveals…absolutely nothing.”

Naruze opened a Magie Figur, but it instantly changed form.

Everyone gasped and looked up toward the sky. A glowing umbrella had appeared there, large enough to cover them all. And from within…

“I modified a projection spell for this. And if I project the image I showed you with it…”

Naruze entered the proper command and an image appeared on the inside of the dome-like umbrella.

There was something in the center.

“What is that? It’s like a collection of scribbles.”

It was more like hatching lines distorted into a teardrop shape. It could have been seen as a face or as an animal’s torso. But…

“This is wrong. The floor actually swelled upwards a bit.”

“Oh,” said Suzu. She wouldn’t have been able to sense the image projected overhead since it was a purely optical thing, but…

“It was…the water.”

Naito knew what Suzu meant.

“The water covering the floor created a flat surface, so I mistakenly assumed the floor was flat too.”

“S-sorry. I scanned it…but didn’t…get that much.”

“It’s not your fault, Suzu. We were in a hurry, so no one expects you to have picked up every little thing.”

Musashino: “I was providing sensory assistance for Suzu-sama, so direct any complaints to me. Over!”

Me: “Eh!? For real!? When I tried to barge onto the bridge naked the other day, they had a defense barrier set up to automatically appear and kick me out! They didn’t even acknowledge my presence! Can you believe it!?”

Asama: “C’mon, Toori-kun. Try to behave, okay?”

Flat Vassal: “Asama-san! It was way worse than what he’s describing! You can’t go easy on him like that!”

Unfortunately, being strict with him only made him misbehave more.

But getting back to the topic at hand…

“You have to redraw it, don’t you?” said Naito.

“Judge, that’s right. So I’m starting by creating a 3D mapping of the space and checking what things would look like projected on the ceiling as I go. Given how close that underground space was to the water, it makes sense the hall would be designed to drain water. I completely overlooked that. But,” said Naruze. “That failure was painful enough I’m not going to be drawing this like I know what the answer’s going to be. The whole point is I don’t know what I’m drawing, so my plan is to use the photos I took as a base and then estimate what the other lines could be like and redraw them as necessary. It’s actually a lot of fun.”

“Oh? Feeling motivated now, Ga-chan?”

Naito was glad to see a powerful smile on Naruze’s face when she nodded. As for Naito herself…

…I need to think about strengthening Schwarz Fräulein and Weiss Fräulein.

The last time they had flown, she felt like they had managed a boost in speed and mobility. They couldn’t do gravitational control like those Spears could, but there were tactics they could use to make up for that.

She wished she could use the combat simulator that made use of the bridge’s model creation technology, but she knew Futayo’s warriors would be using it right now.

She just had to do what she could with what she had.

That meant she and Naruze both knew what they had to do. There was only one thing left to decide before getting to their homework.

“Asama-chi. How are you doing on working out the Honnouji Incident’s date?”

Chapter 69: Perceiver in a Bright Place[edit]

You can hear how to make it

You can see what the finished product looks like

But you need to eat it to know how it tastes

Point Allocation (Conversation)

Asama opened a sign frame while everyone watched her.

Let’s see, she thought while displaying the calendar for this and next month.

“I will start by explaining what I do know.”

“Does that mean you haven’t reached an answer yet?” asked Gin.

She had no choice but to nod. A few of the others asked if that was true, but her upcoming explanation would answer that for them.

She tapped the sign frame and Hanami popped out to support her. To start with…

“The Honnouji Incident should involve largescale ley line interference or movement of ether fuel. That will likely occur on a lucky day that works well with the ley lines, so my idea was to discover their rehearsal day and use that to calculate out the date of the real event.”

“But you didn’t find anything?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“I did. I found a day I think probably was their rehearsal.”

She displayed something on top of August’s calendar.

“These are the ley lines movements around P.A. Oda which I had IZUMO monitoring for me.”

The blue line on the graph gradually moved above the dates. At the start, it wiggled up and down a little, but…

“Oh.”

Right when it got to August, the blue line rapidly rose.

She knew why they all gasped in surprise. The line suddenly turned red and rose even further. Then it turned horizontal near the top of the screen and intermittently fluctuated over a wide area.

But the line soon began to drop, much like when it had started to rise.

It dropped rapidly to its original height again.

After that, it occasionally rose again, but the blue line was moving through more and more of the calendar. Gin, Narumi, and Kimi would occasionally utter exclamations of surprise, but Asama agreed with that reaction.

…I need to explain this afterwards.

Meanwhile, the line arrived at August 25.

That was the extent of the extraction data she currently had. This was the end. And based on what they had…

“Umm, can you see this large peak on August 3? But there are very few notable reactions afterwards. That is a bit of a problem.”

“How so, Asama? Is that peak on a lucky day?”

“August 3 is Tomobiki.”

Hanami opened a sign frame and Asama read off the explanation there.

“Tomobiki is a neutral day where you will not find any conclusive results. It is a bit unstable as far as lucky days go, so the daytime is considered unlucky and the nighttime to be lucky.”

“Does that mean Tomobiki is the day they’re using for the Honnouji Incident?” asked Masazumi.

Asama had to think about that one for a bit.

…Umm.

She could explain this, but she had no way of knowing if it fit with the political and wartime issues at play. But…

“Asama, how about you tell us what you’re thinking?” he said. “If any of it’s not quite right, the others can fix it up until it is.”

“O-okay…”

Wow, he just chided me! She felt an oddly fresh sort of surprise and opened her mouth to speak.

“While it didn’t used to be, Tomobiki is now written with the character for ‘friend’, so it is considered to be a day that brings friends to you. That makes it a good day for celebrations like weddings, but a bad day for less auspicious occasions like funerals.”

“And the Honnouji Incident isn’t actually a celebration.”

Neshinbara was right. But Urquiaga had a different opinion:

“What if they chose that day on purpose because it is such an inauspicious occasion?”

“The problem is,” said Asama, “there are better days for both options: Taian and Butsumetsu. …Admittedly, the Honnouji Incident can be seen as both a good and a bad day for P.A. Oda.”

Still, Tomobiki was such a middle-of-the-road day and it bothered her.

“On Tomobiki, the bad luck wouldn’t just go to Nobunaga – it would affect all of Nobunaga’s friends participating. Not to mention…”

Just as Asama looked back at her sign frame, Kimi opened her mouth.

“Heh heh. There was no reaction on the following Tomobiki.”

“Exactly.” Asama tapped at a date on the sign frame. “Lucky days tend to go through a 6-day or 5-day cycle, so when the 3rd is Tomobiki, August’s Tomobikis would be on the 9th, 15th, 20th, and 26th, with the next one on September 1.”

But…

“There wasn’t any clear reaction on any of those days – or any day at all since the 3rd.”

“What do you make of that, Asama-sama?” asked Futayo.

It was rare for her to ask questions. But she was probably curious about the date since she would be in charge of the attack on that day. So Asama knew what she had to do.

…Yes, Toori-kun was right.

She would share all of her thoughts without hiding anything.

“I have three thoughts.”

First…

“One possibility is that the date is unrelated to the lucky days or there is some other deciding factor.”

Next…

“Another possibility is that P.A. Oda completed everything and discovered all of the problems with their rehearsal on August 3, so they decide they don’t need any further rehearsals.”

And last…

“Based on those two ideas, it is possible P.A. Oda used Tomobiki to decide which other day to schedule the actual event.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tomobiki is a lucky during the morning and evening and unlucky during the day. If they spent all day on their rehearsal, they should know whether their ceremony would be more effective on a lucky day or an unlucky day.”

What if that were the case?

“That would mean either Butsumetsu or Taian.”

She tapped the sign frame.

“The next Tomobiki is tomorrow: the 26th. The next Butsumetsu is the 28th and the next Taian is a day later on the 29th. They might not make any power adjustments on any of those days, but with summer break ending so soon, it would be best to keep an eye out for it.”

“And our meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide is on September 2,” pointed out Masazumi.

In that case…

“If I had to guess, I would say it’s September 3 or 4. The former is Butsumetsu and the latter is Taian.”

“What about the 2nd?”

“It is Senbu. That is a day of rest when you should avoid work, war, and public duties. The AM is unlucky and the PM is lucky, so it honestly isn’t a great day for doing anything major.”

“I see.” Masazumi nodded. “In that case, Asama, you continue monitoring the readings. And…”

“Yes, there will be a major ley line fluctuation directly beforehand if P.A. Oda does make their move with no relation to the lucky days.”

The same had happened at Mikawa.

She had received Mikawa’s data from IZUMO, so she would be able to raise the alarm if the same thing happened here.

…Of course, we wouldn’t have much time to respond at that point.

The others had been present for the Battle of Mikawa, so they would be well aware of that. There were exceptions like Mary and Narumi, but Mary would instinctually figure it out from the ley line activity and Narumi was used to being ready for battle at any moment as Vice Chancellor. In that case…

“I will contact everyone immediately if I sense anything dangerous, so be ready to respond if that happens.”

“Judge!” Futayo bowed and took a breath before straightening up again. “Whatever the case, I hope we can all prepare for our respective roles before our time in hiding here is complete. I would personally like to train up some of my own weaker areas. But for now…”

“Sure,” he replied, slightly rearranging the campfire’s wood to get the fire roaring again. “I’m gonna reheat the food and get the next course out. No one’s getting any training done if we don’t eat right on our first day here, so let’s make it a party tonight!”

Horizon grabbed some drinks and meats before turning toward Asama and Mito. Was she inviting them over?

“So you’re saying Lake Biwa Azuchi is training for the Honnouji Incident too?”

The meal with the guests was held outside. That wasn’t a rule at Sanada or anything, but Unno enjoyed the casualness of it. So when they had dinner after the sun had set, they either did it in the village near the academy or in front of the academy building.

The mechanical dragon training had ended early today and they had set up a parking apron for the dragon in the forest behind the academy, so dinner today was at the village. Since Unno was a shrine maiden, the casual meal space was set up in front of the small temple at the north of the village.

The northern edge reached the forest and slope that formed a border with the academy. The forest continued on to the east and west to surround the village. The lights of the houses and streets to the south were small and they had a big fire burning here at the temple to the north.

…It really feels like the end of summer now.

When she viewed the fire, she now sensed a warmth other than the heat. It helped that this was an elevated area. Per the calendar, it was past the peak of summer, so it started getting chilly once night fell.

Unno asked a question while setting down a container of chicken miso soup on the table.

“Your schedule is coming into focus and I can’t say I envy you Hashiba people.”

“Oh, we won’t be involved in the Honnouji Incident,” replied Kiyomasa, reaching for one of the rice balls lined up on the table. And, “Um, what do I do with this?”

“Put some miso on it and place it on the grill.”

Unno demonstrated by grabbing the miso spatula and rubbing the miso onto both sides. The rice balls were made solid, so she didn’t need to hold both sides. And from there…

“The grill is kind of dirty, but that just adds flavor. Once you notice a nice smell, flip it over. Notice that smell again and it’s done. It’ll be hot, so pick it up with a bamboo leaf to eat it.”

“You have so many options tonight.”

“We can finally tell what kind of crop we’re getting this year, so we’re using up all of last year’s rice. The best time of year is the end of next month. That’s when we get a full course meal of this year’s rice and the matsutake mushrooms.”

A nice smell was rising from the grill, so Unno flipped over her rice ball. Kiyomasa then placed hers on the grill too.

“Do you not need to grill the sides?”

“What are you, a perfectionist?”

“I suppose I am,” Kiyomasa replied, smiling bitterly.

Then Kiyomasa looked around.

It was the usual gang here: the training camp group, the instructors, and the various assistants and helpers. The villagers would occasionally pass by and greet them, but the usual group remained intact.

That may have been why Kiyomasa felt comfortable speaking in the flickering firelight.

“We will not play a part in the Honnouji Incident. In fact, most everyone in P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R. cannot participate in that history recreation.”

“But I thought Shibata’s forces were heading south to prepare.”

“Shibata-sama does whatever he wants.”

Unno had greeted him once in her P.A. Oda days and he had indeed seemed that way. And…

…Shibata opposes Hashiba, doesn’t he?

So while Hashiba’s strict adherence to the history recreation would have them stay put, Shibata would show off what he could do. But then Unno noticed a misunderstanding on her part.

“Ohh.”

She decided to apologize.

“Sorry. You have to face off against Akechi and then Shibata, don’t you?”

Kiyomasa raised her eyebrows. And…

“Unno-sama, there is smoke.”

“Oh, whoops.”

I burned it a little. She removed it from the grill, but it was too hot to touch even on the sides. The top surface was grilled nicely, though. The moisture remained as a slick sheen, but it had grill marks. It smelled great too.

“This is the life.”

Unno wasn’t sure if she should start grilling the next one or eat this one, but then she heard Mochizuki speaking to Asano on the other side of the grill.

“Since miso is the basic topping, you are free to add whatever else you like. For example, it is excellent if you add a liberal helping of this chicken tuna mayo with extra mayo before grilling and then add some green onions and such afterwards.”

“Whaaat is chicken tuuuna? Is fiiiish actually really rarrre here?”

They have been cooking up a lot of the river fish, thought Unno, noting how kind the village had been.

But the smell of the mayo one cooking was basically cheating.

“We can fight back with some Worcestershire sauce and katsuobushi.”

“This is getting less and less mountainy and more and more Kansai.”

Unno smiled bitterly at that. This was her home now and she had no doubt about it, but her taste buds still remembered the old times. So…

“Sorry.”

“No, I don’t mind. Our battles against Akechi-sama and Shibata-sama are a major trial for us.”

“A trial?”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa, reaching for her own rice ball.

Unno thought it had to be hot, but Kiyomasa calmly picked it up and placed it on the bamboo leaf she held in her other hand. And only then…

“Hot…”

“You’re supposed to stand it up and pick it up with the leaf, okay?”

“Testament,” nodded Kiyomasa, setting down the one to let it cool and reaching for the next rice ball.

“You’re surprisingly adventurous.”

“I want to try as many things as I can,” said Kiyomasa, grabbing the mountain vegetables miso. And, “Akechi-sama and Shibata-sama are from the generation that really started the Warring States period. Whereas for us, it’s more like…well, calling it a sport sounds irreverent, but all the rules are already in place by the time we come into the picture.”

“Are you saying you have to defeat Akechi and then overcome Shibata?”

“I would say Testament…but it isn’t that simple.”

“I get the feeling your training here isn’t going to be all that useful.”

“No, the two underclassmen are getting a lot out of this. And I have found value in it to, so I appreciate it.”

“When you arrived, you had a tendency to cry at the drop of a hat. Have you gotten over that?”

“I’m not sure.” Kiyomasa placed her next rice ball on the grill. “Part of me thinks I don’t have to.”

“Nothing good ever comes from preserving the status quo when you aren’t certain it’s a good thing.”

“Maybe I’m just afraid of giving up.”

Unno thought about that one. Their participation in the Siege of Kanie Castle may have been something like that.

Their small nation had an uncertain future that could take a turn for the worse. But instead of turning away from its current state, they had chosen to actively engage with it.

As a result, Sanada’s future was assured, but they were on the path to retirement.

They hadn’t given up, but perhaps they were afraid of what that meant.

…Hard to say.

Still, she would define what she was doing now as “preserving the status quo”. Instead of choosing to continue on or retire now, she was leaving it all up in the air and spending her time helping out with this training camp.

“Y’know.” She tried asking a question. “You might think you’re avoiding the thing you should be focusing on, but what if you think of it as spending time focusing on something else?”

Unno realized something after asking that question.

Kiyomasa had stopped moving. Her eyes were on the hand she had yet to remove from the rice ball she had just set down.

“Hey.”

“Eh? Oh, yes, testament. Sorry, I was thinking. But,” she added. “Sorry.”

She apologized a second time, but her tone was different this time.

And she continued with her eyebrows drooping in a smile.

“I was thinking the same thing just now.”

“You were?”

No, thought Unno. That wasn’t what she had to say. If she was being honest…

“That explains it.”

That was it.

…That’s right.

She couldn’t know for sure if they had been thinking the same thing. Everyone had their own worries, both personal and public. But if their problems had the same solution…

…That explains why it’s so easy for us to talk to each other.

They were both giving each other an excuse to “run away”. And if that was why they were here…

“Am I stuck in the past?” asked Kiyomasa.

“I’m saying this more to defend myself than you, but if you’re avoiding thinking about old things and focusing on what you need to do for the future, then it sounds like the opposite to me.”

After all…

“I bet it’s our focus on the future that makes this camp so useful for the underclassmen.”

“How strange.”

“What is?”

“We were trying to make an internal judgment on whether or not we’re doing the right thing here, but the external factors are already telling us we are.”

Which means…

“What really matters to us? Should we look to the problem we’re avoiding, or should we focus on what’s right in front of us?” She hung her head a bit. “But the more time passes, the more I feel like the problem I’m avoiding is going away forever. And if that happens, I’ll lose everything other than these external factors.”

“Hmm.”

How should I put this? Well, they do say honesty is a virtue. So…

“Sorry. You said a lot just now and I can’t keep up.”

“O-oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Unno waved a hand dismissively.

…Based on the time we’ve spent together, she seems to make these wild leaps of logic sometimes.

Is she just that smart, or am I just too dumb to follow along? It’s like she suddenly finds the right answer inside her. But in that case…

…This probably gives her a lot of trouble.

Come to think of it, Kakei was like that. He was an idiot, but he was great at figuring out what was about to happen. So while I was only thinking of causing some trouble and earning us some points, he was carrying the weight of Sanada’s future on his shoulders. And…

“Oh.”

Now she saw the connection.

“You see…”

She began speaking to draw in that “connection” that had suddenly occurred to her.

“Until we lost to you, I always felt like the things right in front of me and the things inside me were the same.”

“But…”

“Let me speak.”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa, which was a relief. Kiyomasa understood this. Maybe she didn’t understand the exact issue, but she understood how to deal with that sort of issue.

I appreciate that. It’s weird finding so much similarity with a former enemy. I guess my god was looking out for me after all. Yomi wasn’t any use at all, but I still need to offer my thanks. I should bring some sake as an offering on my next visit. But for now…

“After losing to you, we didn’t know what we should focus on, so we came here and tried to fulfill our roles as best we could, but then Musashi started discussing Sanada’s future. Now, traveling all the way to Izumo was fun, but as much as we wanted to support Sanada’s future, this is still a small nation without much influence.”

They hadn’t known who was their enemy and ally.

“In the end, I never did make the decision I wanted to. I always started off looking so cool and managing everything so well, but everything changes when you have an opponent. That opponent can do everything you can. And then you have to deal with nations and societies and all that annoying stuff.”

But…

“Nothing ever went well for me in the end, but Sanada managed to pull it together and now your underclassmen and our people are doing well. What am I supposed to make of this?” she added, half as a complaint and half in relief. “I’m sure we have the people who passed away to thank for all of this, but it really is strange. Even when things aren’t going well for me, everything else is going well. The things in front of me can work out even when those aren’t the same as the what’s inside me. So…”

“Yes?”

“Maybe if I change what I’m focusing on, I could have been happier.”

That was a weird phrasing that mixed the present and past tense.

But Kiyomasa had a response.

“There’s the happiness you sought after and the happiness you got and you aren’t sure which one you want?”

“Exactly.” Unno smiled bitterly. “Maybe I’m just selfish.”

“What do you think you should do about it?”

Good question, thought Unno. Kakei, Miyoshi, Isa, the previous Sasuke and Saizou, and Old Man Danzou had all gone on ahead of her, but…

“They must have already done everything they could do.”

“––––”

When she got no response from Kiyomasa, she turned to look at her.

She found Kiyomasa gasp in realization and flip her rice ball on the grill.

“I…” said Kiyomasa.

“Save it. Hearing you out would probably only wear me out.”

“S-sorry…”

You don’t need to apologize. I made you sit through mine. But because of that…

“I have to wonder.”

Unno felt like there was another answer here. Maybe this was just another way of “running away”, though.

“But I am glad I got to discuss this with you.”

She had not done everything she could do. It had all ended before she could. But…

…Despite our differences, we’re all human.

They might have different worries, but they all worried in the same way. So…

“You probably would have worried about the same things if you had been in our situation.”

So, thought Unno.

…I can get past my resentment.

There was a time when she had wanted to defeat them and make them feel the same way. In fact, she had lived for that goal until quite recently.

But she saw things differently now.

She knew they could have ended up the same.

Knowing that feels like enough. There’s no need to prove it myself. Or is it arrogant to think it was ever up to me? Or maybe this is all just an excuse because I’m tired. Well, I do know one thing for sure. I can’t see you as enemies anymore.”

She was through. Something made her feel that way and she had decided it was true. Or she thought she had.

The other Ten Braves might see things differently, but she was through. So…

“I think I’m going to ‘retire’. There was a happiness I had hoped to find, but I think I’m going to leave that with my past self and find my next happiness somewhere else.”

“Is that not what you have here?”

Unno smiled with the corners of her mouth.

“Hah. I’m not ready to compromise that much. Right?”

She looked back toward the forest where the trees began to shake as some Terrestrial Dragons got up.

There were three of them and they saluted the night sky.

“We pay our respects to Unno-san’s convoluted life and personality and to the roundabout conclusion she has settled on!”

“I mean, what was that? Unno-san kept blathering on like she’s writing in a middle school dream journal.”

“Right? She should have figured this out ages ago! My! My, my!”

She threw her fan sword and the three of them ran away.

But without warning…

“Hey.”

A giant form arrived from beyond the village.

“Torahide? Were you eavesdropping?”

“Terrestrial Dragons have excellent hearing, you stupid girl. Here.”

He reached out his hand and lowered three sake barrels wrapped in straw.

“You haven’t done the bon festival yet, have you?”

“No, but we had that local festival recently, so do we need to?”

“Just do it after the break is over. Make sure you dance too. This is for the festival.”

The dragon made his demands, turned around, and left. The villagers watched him go and the children ran after him as he vanished into the forest below.

“No one here says anything directly, do they?” asked Kiyomasa.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

It’s true, thought Unno. This was a small nation. It didn’t offer people the option of fulfilling their dreams for the future.

But even if you didn’t get quite what you wanted, if you held onto your dreams, someone would find a different form of happiness and it would live on in some way. That was how things worked here.

“That’s why.”

That was why she had decided to stay here. Or it was the reason she had settled on. She had only come up with it after the fact, but that seemed good enough for her. She might be in a different mood tomorrow, but as long as things settled down here…

“We’re all the same.”

Everyone – both enemy and ally – would eventually reach the same place with their after-the-fact happiness. So…

“How about you? Do your friends say things directly?”

Unno’s question made Kiyomasa think about herself.

The word friend made her think of one person first and foremost. She didn’t think that had changed, but…

…Fukushima-sama.

She honestly wondered what Fukushima was doing right now.

The fact that she was already feeling worried probably meant she had been terribly selfish and was now overwriting that with a different selfishness.

A selfishness that was extremely convenient for her. But…

“Not so much directly as ‘back and forth’ I suppose.”

Both she and Fukushima had an odd lack of self-confidence. Maybe it was due to sometimes winning and sometimes losing, but it was true they had a lofty goal.

“Just when I feel like we’ve finally made it to the peak, we slide back down.”

“But you don’t slide all the way down to the bottom, do you?”

“I’m too afraid to look down and see how solid my footing is, so when I slide down, I can’t tell if I’ve fallen more or less than last time.”

“Sounds like you have more serious issues than not saying things directly.”

Unno sounded genuine and it reminded Kiyomasa of just how many issues they did have. But she also felt like she tended to let others do the hard work for her.

She had often let someone climb on ahead of her and then watched them fall back down. And…

“I do support them and lift them so they won’t fall further than me.”

“That can’t be easy with history where it is.”

Kiyomasa knew Unno was referring to the Battle of Shizugatake fought against the Shibata forces, but that made her want to bow down and apologize.

…I’m so sorry. I’m only talking about a romantic problem.

And a very one-sided one at that. But…

“I wonder what she’s doing.”

Fukushima had met up with Shibata’s team. That team would be their opponent in the upcoming battle.

…I’m sorry.

For some reason, Kiyomasa felt the need to apologize.

I’m being selfish, she thought. Why am I trying to apologize after saying those things to you and forcing that whole mess on you?

Part of her felt it was too late to be thinking about all this, but none of it would reach Fukushima anyway. However…

“I have changed a lot too, haven’t I?”

Before, she had wanted Fukushima to know the pain she had felt, but now she wanted to take that back.

…Sigh.

Then I shouldn’t have said what I did.

And now I want her forgiveness.

“Oh.”

Kiyomasa realized why Fukushima had lied back then.

…She was being selfish.

Kiyomasa thought about Fukushima’s lie back then.

…What was that about?

Fukushima had deceived Kiyomasa, but she had thought she could preserve the status quo if it was overlooked.

What did that mean?

It was true Fukushima had lied. But if she hadn’t cared about Kiyomasa at all, she would have simply told the truth.

That meant she had lied in an attempt to preserve her relationship with Kiyomasa.

Kiyomasa knew she was being overly generous in her interpretation. She was letting herself be deceived. She told herself this would only lead to further lies and pain.

But she understood Fukushima’s selfishness.

Fukushima had been willing to lie to preserve their relationship.

“Honestly.”

And she had screwed it up so badly because honest people made for bad liars.

What should Kiyomasa have done then? She had known that was a lie, so…

…Fukushima-sama.

I should have done what I always do.

I should have simply asked her about it. I should have asked her why she lied. Then she could have told me she cared for me too.

Perhaps Fukushima had trusted that Kiyomasa would be willing to forgive a small lie like that. In fact, they couldn’t get along so well on the battlefield without the ability to forgive each other and shrug off small misunderstandings.

Kiyomasa had also acted out of character.

She usually accepted every last part of Fukushima, but this time she had given up on her and tried to push her away.

“I’m sorry.”

Once the words left her, she couldn’t stop it. Her vision blurred and she held a hand to her face.

“You made her cry!!” someone shouted from the forest and Unno ran after whoever it was.

That commotion made Kiyomasa smile even as she cried. And she felt certain that Fukushima was crying now too.

How could she dry those tears?

Training so much without stopping to eat was a mistake, thought Fukushima while collapsed on the rocks.

She was next to the waterfall basin at night.

She had just finished training in the water.

She had trained hard. Given it her all. She couldn’t have trained harder if she tried.

“Ha.”

She had wrung herself dry, until crawling back out of the water was the most she could manage.

She was soaked with water and all the water between her inner suit and skin was leaking back out.

She felt like she had wrung every last drop of sweat from her body because she had been training in the water for around 8 hours.

She would have been dehydrated if not for her reckless idea that she could simply drink the water around her when she was thirsty. Thanks to that, she was out of breath, but not thirsty. However…

…Water on an empty stomach isn’t the best.

It reminded her of training as a small child. She had been allowed to drink water during training, but she had felt her strength gradually fading the more she trained.

“They laughed at me for that.”

It made sense since water had no nutrients in it, but her young mind had assumed flavorless water would purify the body and keep her moving better than a sweet drink.

Now she knew better. But…

“Ha ha.”

Realizing she had made the same mistake again, she laughed out loud. That led to a further realization.

I haven’t laughed in a while. And…

“I am fine.”

Her body had moved how she wanted it.

She was breathing heavily, her pulse was racing, and she was so exhausted she could barely think.

Surely she would be able to sleep well tonight.

“I am fine.”

Yes, I am perfectly fine.

She repeated the words in her mind to drive them home to herself.

With everything else driven from her mind by exhaustion, she could tell herself she was fine and it would be true. Because if she didn’t-

“Oh.”

Fukushima had a sudden realization.

There was no one here to listen to or learn about her various thoughts.

She was all alone.

…What is this?

She had known she was alone. That was the entire point of going up in the mountains.

But this wasn’t about being physically alone.

This loneliness was something else.

“I…”

There was no one to listen to or hear her voice.

Here, below the night sky, she was the only person she could speak to.

She had no companions and she had so many questions.

…There is no one else here.

Which means, she thought.

“Ah.”

A tremor filled her breath.

“–––––”

Her view of the night sky suddenly blurred.

The blurring coincided with something much warmer than her face and cheeks dripping from the corners of her eyes.

They were tears.

Chapter 70: Resigned Girl at Rock Bottom[edit]

Curling up in a ball

And bawling like a child

Is called loneliness

Point Allocation (Self-Improvement)

I do not understand, thought Fukushima.

Why was she crying all of a sudden?

She had no idea what had caused this.

Her training was going well and she was thinking back on some good memories. She was fulfilled.

She had just figured out what to do about the anxiety plaguing her ever since she arrived here, so she had finally felt some calm and relief.

So why would she start crying now?

She didn’t know.

And she wanted to eliminate that mystery, so she tried to wipe the tears from her face.

“Oh.”

She couldn’t move.

Was she stuck to the rock shelf? She felt like the water flowing from her suit acted like paste and glued her in place.

Even a single drop of water running along her body felt as heavy as steel shackles, pinning her down with gravity.

She felt like every last one of her hairs had fallen and couldn’t get back up.

…What is this?

She was sprawled out on her back and, when she looked up into the night sky, she finally heard the roar of the waterfall.

That watery sound was both refreshing and noisy.

But it seemed almost friendly considering how she had been using all her might to train below it earlier.

She decided to sleep here tonight. The rock made for a hard bed, but her body temperature preservation divine protection was in effect. She wouldn’t get chilled.

But once she gave up on so many things, she came to understand one thing.

“I was tired, wasn’t I?”

She was exhausted.

She didn’t want to move any more.

She wanted to give up on thinking as well.

Why was that?

The answer came to her suddenly: I have been thinking too much about too many things.

About Kiyomasa.

About their enemies and their allies.

About herself and about the present. About the past and about the future.

She thought back on how she had thought about all of those things.

“––––”

She had thought enough.

She was alone here.

No one was watching or listening.

This wasn’t cowardly or weak She was simply tired.

“Kh, ah.”

I can’t believe this.

How much preparation did she need to realize something so obvious? How much was her pride going to hold her back?

If she couldn’t allow herself this when she was alone in the world, when could she?

In fact, she didn’t need to allow herself.

She was too exhausted to move, so she simply had to accept that fact.

If she wanted to prove she wasn’t tired, she only had to get moving. She only had to gather her strength in her fingers, get her elbows below her, sit up, and tilt forwards to stand up.

So that was what she would do.

She pressed her fingers against the rock as if grabbing it, pushed down, and got her elbows underneath her.

Sitting straight up was difficult. It was easier to twist your body and push both hands in the same direction as you did so.

So that was what she did.

“Nh.”

She did it. She managed it. She sat up.

Yes, she wasn’t tired. That was an illusion born of her weakness. That weakness wanted to irresponsibly throw everything out and take the easy road by not even thinking about anyone else or anything that required effort.

She was stronger than that. So…

“Oh.”

She saw the night sky directly in front of her.

Which meant she hadn’t moved a single finger.

“––––––”

She was still sprawled out on her back.

Thinking she had moved was the actual illusion born of her weakness.

In reality, she hadn’t even budged. Her thoughts about the others and the many pressures bearing down on her had driven her to the point that she hallucinated that movement.

She couldn’t move.

She knew why. She had worked her body hard without a bite to eat. But the former at least was what she had wanted to do.

She had wanted to keep training until she didn’t have to think anymore.

This was the result. She couldn’t move her body separately from her thoughts.

All she did was shed tears.

“Ah.”

She realized she had been making sobbing breaths for a while now.

What was this?

She couldn’t stop doing it.

…I can’t stand it anymore.

She couldn’t stand all this fighting while questioning herself. She couldn’t stand all the pressure she had placed on herself so she could think about the others and work toward their shared goal.

And she couldn’t stand herself for saying such awful things to Kiyomasa.

It was all true, so she had to accept it and live with it.

But that was so painful.

She kept telling herself it couldn’t be helped, but the pain kept growing.

She was being selfish. She had chosen this path and now she was complaining about it.

But no one was watching or listening. And she couldn’t even move anymore. She no longer had any of the things needed to preserve her pride.

“––––––”

Yes, it’s painful. I can’t stand it. I should stop.

That’s right.

If someone sent any kind words my way now, those words would only be cruelty disguised as kindness if they would return me to this path of pain.

And because they would sound so kind, I would feel all the worse for not wanting to accept them.

…Kiyo-dono.

She finally understood.

This was why Kiyomasa had cried. Fukushima had thought she was being kind, but she had forced a lie onto Kiyomasa. She had unfairly demanded Kiyomasa accept that lie in order to receive her kindness.

How could I do that?

“I am sorry.”

Her voice failed to form the words.

But no one was here to hear it.

What mattered was that she had apologized. Through that apology, she had come to understand how careless she had been.

“I am so sorry.”

I want to free Kiyo-dono.

I want to release her from my cage of shallow false kindness.

Can I do that if I apologize?

Can I eliminate some of my pain if I do that?

There I am thinking about myself again.

But it all goes back to me. If I give up on myself, that will only place more of a burden on her. I would only be forcing her to accept my self-sacrifice whether she wanted it or not.

So I need to take my selfishness, face her directly, set her free, and accept the consequences.

But at the moment…

“I am sorry.”

She was sprawled out on her back. Defenseless. If someone attacked now, she would be killed.

The roar of the waterfall drowned out all else, leaving her with only the stars in the sky and her own thoughts. Now that she felt like she had become a part of the rocks, the words of apology came so readily.

…Kiyo-dono.

She continued thinking.

…I shouldn’t have done that to thee.

I didn’t want to force my one-sided feelings onto thee and ended up doing so anyway. And I tried to manipulate thee to protect myself.

What a terrible thing to do.

I am sorry.

I hurt thee.

If I ever see thee again… If I have that opportunity…

“I…”

She formed the words, breathed in, and felt like her body had gotten even heavier.

Her vision blurred, darkened, and sank. Her breaths shortened and she felt some panic, but…

“–––––”

She didn’t remember what she had said.

She wasn’t even sure if she was passing out or falling asleep.

Her mind sank into darkness like it was sinking into water.

Koroku was playing a video game.

Night had fallen. It was well past dinnertime and past the usual lights out.

It was 1 AM. She only played a game that late when she was fairly serious about it.

She was still borrowing Fukushima’s room and she had a wall-size lernen figur open. The size wasn’t just on a whim – it gave her a wider view and let her keep more information on the screen. She had an optical processing lernen figur open in front of her face to view the screen in 3D.

“Kh.”

A god of war was moving on the screen.

She was on the Mikawa stage. She was fighting in the ancient city with New Nagoya Castle being destroyed by its ley line reactors in the background.

She moved among the rows of tall buildings.

She wasn’t seated on the floor like usual.

She was using Fukushima’s bed as a chair.

She had control lernen figurs on her palms, her back, and her feet. The palm ones controlled the god of war’s arms and were primarily used to attack, the back one let her tilt her body to move, and the feet ones were for special functions.

Leaning forward and pulling her feet back was the command for dashing.

Her god of war instantly passed by her field of view. The black giant resembled Genbu. It was named GENBU and the UM label indicated it was a user-created machine. But…

…The leg movements are too quiet.

She wished it let you customize that too. In fact, she wished it let you customize the layout of the power system instead of just the specs.

…Because Genbu is heavy.

She had attempted a variety of adjustments to lighten the real Genbu’s movements, but its transforming armor and gravitational control system made that impossible. So she had installed a dual power system for certain parts which let her give it a “speed boost” when she needed to push it past a certain limit.

But being fast and being nimble were too very different things.

When you needed that heavy speed, it was great, but it could also work against you.

It was doing that here.

“Shit.”

If the room’s owner heard her saying that, she would probably say, “Hachisuka-dono, I did not know thou used language like that,” but she used it a fair amount. But only when she was alone.

She ran. She had located the enemy. Genbu had solid ether detection, so she wouldn’t lose track of the enemy after locating them once. So she turned toward them and accelerated.

…There you are.

She saw a slender black form. A close-range god of war wearing a sword on its back cut across the street.

When the enemy noticed her, it turned toward her in the middle of the street.

But the enemy kept crossing the street to the left and moved behind one of the ruins.

The ancient building the enemy was using for cover was about 70m tall. Were they waiting to see what Koroku would do? If so…

“You’re on.”

Koroku ran toward the ruins on the left and attacked with the gravitational pressure of Hyper Jab, a special attack she launched from her left hand.

She launched the attack as if tossing it to the ground near the background building.

…It worked.

The entire building shook as a prelude to the effect. The impact traveled along the building’s internal frame and the windows shattered like a ripple running up the structure. Then the exterior and interior walls noisily collapsed, bending and breaking the frame in the process.

The entire building collapsed with a wave of destructive noises. However…

“There you are.”

Genbu’s ether detection could see right through the attack and resultant destruction.

The detection lernen figur showed the enemy stop before moving to the center of the street.

She had their attention.

…Now, then.

After a moment of consideration, Koroku turned her running body toward the collapsing building.

Genbu wouldn’t be crushed by destruction of that level.

With its high power and warship-class defense barriers, she could walk across the growing pile of rubble, break through the collapse, and reach the other side. That would let her charge at the enemy in the street from above and to the side. However…

“So what will I do?”

Koroku only had a moment to consider it.

Would she charge through the collapsing building, or would she turn and move along the street?

If her opponent had two options, she had two options as well.

Which would it be?

“Along the street?”

If so, she needed to consider the fact that the enemy would look to the collapsing building and realize they were being targeted.

Her enemy would likely expect her to break through the building, but if she was seen turning and using the street instead…

…They’ll have enough room to react.

If she chose the street and was seen, her enemy could respond.

That meant breaking through the rubble was the better option. That would prevent her enemy from seeing her initial action.

Genbu had the armor to pull it off.

This one building would let her stop the enemy’s escape and catch up.

That was a small price to pay. So…

“I’ll do it.”

She tilted her feet to take two steps. She adjusted her stance toward the collapsing building with rubble starting to pile up on the street and she sent the black giant along a forceful curve.

But a moment later…

…Hm?

She detected a sudden rise in her opponent’s ether reading on the other side of the building. Had they used a spell or some other boost after seeing the building’s destruction? Which could only mean…

…They’re coming.

The ether detection showed the enemy on the move.

They took a straight path.

They ran through the collapsing building.

Koroku couldn’t see the enemy.

The blown-up building’s rubble and glass were bad enough, but they were also illuminated by the ley line reactor collapse in the sky, resulting in random reflections.

The troublesome optical data could be handled by a physical filter on the sight devices, but that wouldn’t let her see through the collapsing rubble and glass.

…Stupid ruins.

Modern buildings would be connected to information torii or chapels, so she could use her authority as one of the Ten Spears to borrow their sight devices and gather their surrounding data.

But that didn’t work here. Much like in the attack on Paris, this was an outdoor battle where she only had her own sensors to rely on.

And the enemy was coming.

The enemy dot on her ether reading display was running through the collapsing building.

“But their god of war barely has any armor. Are they crazy!?”

She knew of people who would pull stunts like this, but it was still a bit disturbing to see for herself.

Besides, as tall as those ancient buildings were, they were designed for humans. Each floor was only about 2.5m tall.

That didn’t at all accommodate a heavy god of war’s height of around 10m.

There were only two ways of passing through there.

First, a lot of effort.

And second…

…A trick.

The latter would be a problem. It would mean her opponent knew she was using ether detection.

It would also mean they were using a more powerful ether reading as bait or a diversion.

That would use her ether detection against her.

And in that case, it wouldn’t matter if they had detected her or not.

If they knew how she moved – number of steps, length of her paces, and her momentum – they could work out where she was.

That was the kind of person she was up against here.

So which was it?

Was this real or a trick?

And if it was a trick, what was actually approaching her?

…A spell.

Ether detection detected an opponent’s ether output. That usually meant their motors or fuel system, but a spell would also work.

A boosting spell could be cast on a single point, which would create a strong ether reading even when the target was small.

If that was the case here, what had they boosted?

“A blade.”

They had boosted the sword on their back to break through her defense barrier and armor. They must have poured their entire power system into that boosting spell, which was why her ether detection had latched onto it.

They had thrown everything into offense. They weren’t considering the possibility of being attacked themselves.

That took guts.

So what could Koroku do about it?

She didn’t know for sure that was a sword flying through the building.

But since it was a possibility…

“Testament.”

Koroku moved Genbu.

…Backwards!

By putting distance between herself and the building, she would have time to determine whether it was a blade or the enemy approaching her.

And if it was only a blade and the enemy had moved back to the street to attack that way, she would have the distance to detect it and respond. She placed her feet down, leaned back, and took two steps back with each foot for a total of four. That made Genbu dash rapidly backwards.

She had her distance, so now she needed to worry about…

“Above!”

If this was a nimble enemy, that was what they would do.

…They would climb the collapsing building and dive at me.

Genbu couldn’t do that.

To watch out for it, Koroku checked overhead with her sight devices while backing up.

A moment later, Genbu detected motion.

A new ether reading had jumped from the roof of the crumbling building.

Her reaction was immediate action.

Genbu dodged the blade flying in from the front and tilted to the side. It used its tilt to slide one step to the side and straightened back up.

“Hyper Jab!”

It sent a gravity attack toward the diving enemy overhead.

Koroku responded with three consecutive actions.

She counterattacked with a Hyper Jab at the figure overhead.

She dodged the blade approaching from the front.

She looked to the street to…

…Respond!

The collapsed rubble exploded toward her.

“The sword!?”

The large sword was surrounded by ether light and a spell lernen figur effect and it flew straight toward her chest after she had supposedly dodged it.

They had predicted her response.

How far had they predicted it? She had already taken evasive action.

She quickly raised her toes. This created a space between the ground and the bottom of her feet, or in Genbu’s case, its bottom surface. Then she only had to alter the angle of the gravitational control for…

…Gravitational sliding!

This only worked with the solid footing of the urban area.

Genbu shifted half a body width to the right.

Then she swung up her left arm.

“An overhead Hyper Jab!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the power of a Hyper Jab burst above her.

The space-distorting attack created a ripple of light as it launched its force skyward.

It was directed at the reading from the roof. The rubble and the power that traveled through it struck the target located 12m overhead.

It was a scabbard.

The long shape was meant to contain the large sword and it was scattering ether light. That was probably some kind of defense spell.

That too wasn’t the enemy.

It was another decoy.

The enemy wasn’t in front or overhead. Which only left…

…Down the street!

Just as Koroku turned to look right, a shape flew down the street.

This time, it was shaped like the enemy.

Koroku resumed her gravitational sliding and sent Genbu to the right.

“There you are!”

The shape flew out from behind the rubble, using the street.

It had a humanoid shape, but…

…Armored clothes!?

It was only the armored clothing worn by gods of war.

The stripped-off garment had been blasted this way by the powerful wind produced by the building’s collapse. The enemy had even gone to the trouble of adding ether light to the black armored clothing.

“That wasn’t them!?”

Then where are they? she wondered.

Yet another shape arrived dead ahead from behind the flying sword.

It was a slender black god of war.

The slender god of war didn’t have a single lernen figur on it.

It had no boosting spells, but it hadn’t taken any damage either.

It had made its way through the collapsing building using martial arts and…

“A blade boosted enough to break through Genbu’s defense barrier can slice right through the force of the collapse,” explained the god of war in a woman’s voice.

It caught up to the sword flying out ahead of it, grabbed the hilt in both hands, and left the collapse with forced acceleration.

“Your judgement was solid, Koroku-chan.”

The enemy had a smile in her voice, but that was not sarcasm. The praise was sincere and it pierced right through Genbu.

Genbu’s left arm was pointed upwards and the right one was free.

Genbu attempted to intercept the slender god of war with its free right arm.

But it was too late.

The blade pierced through it just as the praise had.

The enemy had only praised her because the battle was already over.

The slender god of war passed by Genbu, but without dodging aside or circling around.

“–––––”

With slow-looking but swift footwork, it passed right by Genbu’s side. The motion actually looked smooth.

“I’ll be taking that back.”

On her way past, the enemy grabbed the tip of the blade emerging from Genbu’s back.

They pulled while moving away with a turn.

The yank on the blade produced a hard metallic clang. The sword’s guard had hit Genbu’s chest.

That was the end of it.

As soon as the lernen figur on the tip of the blade vanished…

“Class dismissed.”

With those words, a tremor spread outwards through Genbu.

The attack spell enclosed in the blade had erupted within Genbu’s armor.

The ancient building’s collapse ended at the same moment. Most of the rubble was blasted out across the ground like a landslide and only the reverberation hung in the air. And…

<Game Over>

A game over notification appeared on a console between kneeling Genbu and the slender god of war.

<Winner: Ishikawa Kazumasa. Win Streak: 10. Rank Up: Tiny Shogun -> Minor Shogun. Wins needed to reach Middle Shogun: 200 ordinary or a streak of 10 against higher-ranking opponents.>

Genbu had lost.

That meant Koroku’s combat training was complete.

<Today’s Special Apology: You have been chosen for August 26’s apology! To apologize for your shut-in life, we are offering you 6000 in-game pickling stones (material)!>

Sorry, but I don’t have a pickling craft skill, thought Koroku while lying cross-legged on the floor.

“Shit.”

She couldn’t stand this at all.

A one-way divine transmission came from her opponent. With video.

The location was brightly lit even though it was after lights out.

It was a large, crowded place with bright lights and heavily decorated walls. Several lights were visible lower down, but they were probably lernen figurs.

That was an arcade.

The one on the surface at Lake Biwa Azuchi. She had heard it was originally a training ground full of simulators for aerial ships, mechanical phoenixes, gods of war, and anti-personnel combat.

But all the ones that were out of date or unused for other reasons had been regathered and used for supplementary training. Before long, people had started coming to play them after school.

“And they had an arcade on their hands before they knew it.”

Someone moved into the center of the crowded image on the lernen figur.

It was Kazumasa.

The teacher wore a short-sleeved M.H.R.R. shirt and vest. She had her sword-bearing back to Koroku and her right arm thrust into the air.

Everyone there was cheering.

They were probably celebrating her victory. A great way to put Koroku, the loser, in a bad mood.

Then Kazumasa turned toward her.

She was smiling. Smiling so wide, it shut her eyes.

…She is downright merciless when it comes to competitions.

You could call it immature, but the woman still always won.

Kazumasa grabbed the lernen figur and pointed it toward herself. As a one-way divine transmission, the video and audio were reaching Koroku, but her own voice and image wouldn’t reach Kazumasa.

She couldn’t exactly complain like that, so she sent a request for a voice-only two-way divine transmission.

“What do you want?”

“Koroku-chan? I won.”

“We’ve only played once.”

“That was our 10th match. Although I did say continues were allowed, so I guess you could call all of that one very long match.”

That was true.

But Koroku hadn’t expected to lose 10 times in a row.

“Where did you learn to play like that?”

“Right here. Where else?” Kazumasa narrowed her eyes and nodded twice. “Listen,” she said. “While you were maintaining the Azuchi and working up a sweat training with Genbu, I was ignoring all of that and spending all day gaming in here.”

“I thought teachers were supposed to be good role models.”

“Hey, I won, didn’t I?”

Koroku didn’t have a comeback for that. Kazumasa smiled a little as she continued.

“Anyway, earning god of war pilot qualifications sounds like a pain and I don’t have the time, but I wanted to help train you. And then I saw you registered on the divine transmission version of this game. I was only interested in wining the prizes at the bowling alley here, but I thought I should put in some real effort to get along with my student better.”

“How much effort are we talking about here?”

“After getting an explanation of the controls, I spent 5 matches getting owned and 10 more matches getting the hang of the controls. After that, I worked my way up the ranks, figuring out how each of my opponents played. I only figured out yesterday you can customize your machine.”

Normally, you were supposed to customize your machine first, get a feel for how your custom machine moved, and adjust accordingly.

Had her machine been so devoid of upgrades because she had been fighting with the most basic machine to start with?

Even though it was a game, the machine’s hitbox was true to the visual appearance of the parts and the movement response took customizations into account as well.

When Kazumasa charged in toward Koroku, she had used some very precise movements to “slip past” Koroku, but…

…That was about as impressive as Fukushima’s ideal movements.

If Kazumasa could recreate that in the game, then Koroku had no chance of beating her.

A god of war’s movements were much more restricted than a person’s. Especially in a game. But this opponent had brought her movements to the level of a martial arts expert.

“This isn’t good training.”

“But you promised, remember?”

Kazumasa’s words made Koroku glare at her.

“Until summer break ends, I give you permission to be a delinquent every day between dinner and midnight. So after dinner, you can spend your night playing games with me.”

Kazumasa’s smiling statement received applause from the crowd behind her.

Is this what they’re so excited about? realized Koroku, feeling annoyed.

“So I have to put up with that for 4 days…”

She stretched out on the floor and expressed her sorrow at losing her video game alone time for the next while.

Kazumasa sighed in the large space.

She ended the divine transmission with Koroku, turned toward the others, and saw the men bowing at a 90 degree angle.

“Shaja! Thank you very much!”

“Testament! Thank you very much!”

They straightened back up and exchanged slapping high fives.

“Now Hachisuka-san will be coming here!”

“Yeah! A little girl at the arcade at night! What could be better!?”

“We need to make sure she heads back home with a doll from the Unidentified Flying Object Capture Fellow!”

Kazumasa didn’t quite understand, but at least Koroku seemed popular. One less problem for her to deal with as a teacher. But…

“Sensei! What are you doing here!?”

“Like I said earlier, a few of the training machines here were made from the simulation designs I swiped when I left Musashi.”

“Sensei! Sensei! Isn’t that extremely illegal!?”

“Once the models are out of date, they’re only good for playing games with. It worked the same way at Musashi. In a way, this is good for the evolution of our fighting forces and technologies. They probably weren’t happy about it, though.”

“So she’s aware of that part,” someone commented. Like someone always did.

So she gave her usual response.

“Yes, I am aware.”

Because…

“I love Musashi. I was born there a year after the current Musashi was built – you, there! Stop doing the math. Do you want me to knock you off the high score list? But anyway…”

She sighed.

“Because I love it, I don’t want to see it destroyed. Only I am allowed to destroy Musashi.”

A smile formed on the corners of her lips.

She could tell everyone had fallen silent to look her way.

To accept all of their gazes, she moved her legs. She walked to the largish platform that acted like the seat of honor. The largest insha kotob was for the most popular game.

“The equipment here is outdated, but the location is anything but. Sound familiar?” She turned around to see them all watching her from a step below. “I can’t return to Musashi until Musashi has been destroyed. But once that happens, I might be so satisfied I don’t feel like going back. Still…”

Still…

“Only I am allowed to destroy Musashi. But I am a teacher and am forbidden to directly attack them. That leaves me with only one option. Because I am a teacher.”

She reached out a hand and slapped the seat in front of the game.

“Now, let’s get training. Because I refuse to put any effort into my students. A simple shaja or testament is enough to join me. I was looking for a chance to further train myself anyway. I will lose the first 5 times and get the hang of the controls in the next 10 matches. I will kick all of your asses after that, so is anyone willing to try me in the first 15 matches when you still have a chance?”

Everyone fell silent.

But eventually…

“I’ll do it.”

A boy raised his hand. He was from P.A. Oda.

Everyone cheered as the boy approached with his nerves plain to see on his face.

How cute. Especially given how badly I’m going to thrash him.

“Sensei, can I use my main?”

“Testament. Never hold back against me.”

“Shaja,” he replied. Then he took his seat. Insha kotobs opened on his hands, in front of his eyes, below his feet, and on his lap.

“Let’s get the 1st match started.”

Everyone cheered and some smiling cries of support reached both players.

“Get her! Now’s your chance!”

“Sensei, that guy’s good! He held the top national spot at one point!”

“Make sure he doesn’t one-shot you with his first move!!”

“I will.” She nodded back with a smile.

Before she sat in her own seat, she sat on the armrest of her opponent’s seat and spoke to him.

“Listen,” she said. “I did the baseline tests for every game here, either when I was at Musashi or after coming here. I’ll still let you win one of the first 5 matches, though, so good luck.”

Chapter 71: Dancers at the Waterside[edit]

Tan tan ta-tan

Ta-ta-tan tan

Tan ta-ta-tah-ta

Ta-ta-ta-ta-tan

Point Allocation (Hey!)

“Okay, let’s start the 4th day – but effectively only the 3rd day – of Mitotsudaira’s training!”

A smiling voice was joined by some sounds.

The sounds were bells and a hand striking a thin membrane. A silver sound played to the beat of the tambourine.

The silver sound came from a pair of chains.

It was a solid sound similar to thick cloth being struck but with a waving motion to it.

These sounds came from a small stream running through the forest. The location was a bit down from the spring. There was a small clearing on the bank of the stream. A few people were making the sounds and moving in that grassy clearing.

One of those people was Mitotsudaira.

“Oh…um. Oh.”

She kept the beat while swinging her silver chains.

She wore her track suit and the silver chains in her hands had been pulled from the obelisks and chain dispensers she had driven into the ground. What she was doing here could be easily explained.

“Hey, tan, ta-ta, tahn, tan!”

The wolf swung the chains in time with the beat set by Kimi in a partially-removed track suit. But instead of grabbing something with the chains, she was letting them ripple across the ground while she sometimes pulled them toward her or shook them.

“––––––”

The chains ran forward. And in their waving motion, an extra strong, flying momentum ran through them without warning. But…

“Ah,” said Asama while working on her bow nearby and Mary tilted her head while burying Excalibur in the sand.

In an instant, the silver chains bent away from Mitotsudaira’s hands and the wave of acceleration traveling toward their tips lost their grounding.

“Agh.”

A groan escaped Mitotsudaira’s throat as the metal sound unraveled.

The waving silver sound seemed to collapse and the tips lost their speed. The only sound made now was the chains falling limp to the ground.

“Well, that didn’t work.”

The silver chains crawled back on their own and tried to coil up in front of the wolf, but their owner pulled back her wrist to tell them to return to their dispensers. That left the chains with the task of returning to their retracted position.

“What was that, Lady Mitotsudaira?”

Mitotsudaira shrugged as she answered Mary’s question.

“Training for giving the silver chains the bursts of acceleration I use.”

“That would mean it worked up to a point, wouldn’t it?”

“No,” sighed the wolf. “That initial burst was all from my arms. The chains didn’t do anything there. So it didn’t work at all.”

Mitotsudaira sighed and crossed her arms holding the retracted chains.

…How can I give my bursts of acceleration to the chains?

That had been her primary task ever since the exam.

Since it required swinging around the silver chains, there were only so many places on the Musashi she could use. The schoolyard or 2nd schoolyard would be best, but during summer break those were usually occupied by athletes training for their tournaments and whatnot.

She didn’t have the guts to get in their way.

So she was doing it here.

“Do you feel like you’re getting close, Mito?”

She wasn’t sure how to answer Asama’s question. Picking up and carrying a felled tree was easy enough, as was dropping branches in the process. But…

“Sensei said my inability to give the silver chains my burst of acceleration was my biggest flaw.”

“Heh heh. She said it was a flaw, but she didn’t say it was a problem you can fix.”

That was what worried her.

Her silver chains hadn’t been any help at the very end of the exam.

They had made accelerated attacks, but Oriotri had deflected them. The chains’ movements and speed were one-note and easily messed with.

It was true she couldn’t give the chains the bursts of acceleration she used herself.

She had thought that acceleration technique was all about her skeletal structure and great strength, so she had assumed it wouldn’t work with boneless chains.

But was that really true?

“How do the silver chains move?”

“With an ether current. They are made of an ether metal, so while they only look like chains, they are actually contained in a thin ether field. When they move, that field moves to move them.”

“That is similar to the process behind Excalibur’s flight.”

“Yes, the propulsion and power system are on the outside. They are externally powered.”

“Oh, like how my arrows have homing and acceleration spells applied.”

“Judge,” Mary nodded and Asama seemed to understand too.

But if that was how the silver chains moved…

“There’s no way to transfer your bursts of acceleration to them, is there?”

“That’s why I was wondering if I could give them speed with my hand movement. For example…”

Mitotsudaira swung her right hand overhead without pulling the silver chain back first.

Everyone watched as she accelerated that hand and controlled it with her shoulder.

“There.”

A dry bursting sound rang out.

“What was that?” asked Mary, eyebrows raised.

“Your hand broke the sound barrier, didn’t it?”

“It’s really easy to hear with a sword or similar weapon.”

She swung her hands with a tempo, producing consecutive sonic booms. A weak wind whipped up around her and some light began to scatter there. That was ether light. Mary narrowed her eyes when she saw it.

“The forest spirits are calling you the Reine des Garous.”

“I am not the queen, but this proves that my mother can reach this kind of speed with ease.”

Having a monster like that for a mother wasn’t easy. But…

“When I swing my hand like that and try to transfer the acceleration to the chain like it’s a whip…”

“Earlier, the power failed to propagate and collapsed instead. Is that what happens?”

“Judge. And that is very much a brute force method anyway. I’m simply giving the chains a wave of speed, so I can’t send them in whatever direction I want or instantly accelerate the entire chain at once.”

“Heh heh. Then what are you going to do?”

Kimi was the one helping Mitotsudaira get her rhythm down. They had been at it for a few days and it still wasn’t going well, but…

“I will attempt a few other methods before giving up. If I try enough options, I might find something useful, even if it doesn’t solve my initial problem.”

And just as Mitotsudaira shrugged…

“Oh, I thought I heard some nice sounds coming from this direction. Done training already?”

Across the stream, Naruze and some others had emerged from a forest plateau. She, Naito, Adele, and Suzu had been out gathering mountain vegetables in baskets.

That was for food today and based on how full their baskets were…

“You all had a productive day, didn’t you?”

Adele nodded at Mitotsudaira’s comment.

“Judge. What is with this forest!? We managed to gather so much I want to move in and live here! I mean, we visited one of the same places as before and it had all grown back. If everything grows back in a week’s time, I bet you could eat off of this every single day.”

“I’m more amazed that there’s enough for our entire class,” said the 3rd Special Duty Officer.

Suzu nodded and held a hand to her ear.

“I can sense…Mitotsudaira-san’s mother…here.”

The 5th Special Duty Officer did not look happy about that, but it wasn’t surprising.

This was the Reine des Garous’s forest. Anywhere near the candy house had to be prime real estate. The forest itself ensured she could live here comfortably.

…It’s like a fairy tale.

The spring and the stream were there to bathe in, quench your thirst, and clean with. The vegetation was for food and a pleasant atmosphere and the animals created an animal world where the queen reigned supreme.

They had seen a few types of animals in the distance while out. Like deer and squirrels. None of them seemed accustomed to people, but…

“If their group has grown too big, the animals above a certain age will go to Ture-yan themselves to be her prey. Because if she does it, they know they’ll be returned to the forest.”

“You mean through the Vicereine’s ‘excuse me!’ process that we’ve grown to associate with udon?” asked Adele.

The 4th Special Duty Officer smiled and came at Adele with a karate chop, so Adele accepted it with an “owww!”

According to the 4th Special Duty Officer…

“You can think of it as their souls completing the cycle.”

That was a little hard to grasp for someone born on Musashi where everything was artificial.

They had discussed that animism or whatever while finishing their food gathering and then they had heard a nice rhythmic sound on the way back. They had known that had to be Mitotsudaira’s morning training with the silver chains.

They had descended from the plateau to the stream and now they removed their shoes to cross the stream and join the others.

The clearing being used for training got a lot of sun.

Even in the forest, the summer sun and the humidity created an unpleasant heat.

“This place is nice.”

“I expect my mother used this place to nap. It vaguely smells of her perfume.”

Adele could just imagine the Reine des Garous playing in the stream and then lying down in the sun here.

“Sounds like a carefree life.”

“Yes, but she still left the forest with my father.”

“Heh heh. Proof that love is greater than boredom!”

That sounded obvious but also like a profound truth, so Adele made sure to jot it down.

At any rate, once they were together, they all focused on the gathered food.

They hadn’t taken anything that would be too much of a challenge to cook with. It was generally wild plants. And the edible kind. They had avoided the medicinal kind.

There were a lot of green onions, turnips, and the like, but…

“In the forest, ingredients like these tend to be sweet, don’t they?”

“Wouldn’t that be because the lack of selective breeding means people tend to choose the edible fruits more than the thin leaves?” said Mitotsudaira.

“Heh heh. Either way, I see you managed to gather a lot. Who was in charge?” said Kimi.

“We were.” The 3rd and 4th Special Duty Officers raised their hands. “Both our parents were from hereabouts.”

“They worked a sort of mountain guard unit.”

Asama nodded in interest at the pair’s response, but then she pointed deeper into the forest.

“You didn’t hear about it from that thing?”

They looked over to see a round white creature pacing in the distance.

It was a unicorn. Asama narrowed her eyes at it.

“It seems to be watching us.”

“I believe it is worried about your bow, Lady Asama.”

“I’m a bit curious, Asama-san. Are they acceptable prey by your rules?”

“Yes. Shinto says nothing about unicorns, so it is no more than another animal to me. I can’t say whether or not Mito’s mom hunted them, but if I slayed it with a purification arrow, its data management would likely return to normal and we would have some ordinary horse meat to cook.”

“Y-your conversation is making me uncomfortable-orrrrn!”

Asama turned back toward it and the white thing fled.

Everyone watched it go while the 3rd Special Duty Officer crossed her arms and spoke.

“They probably would know where we can find mountain vegetables, but I want to avoid working with them.”

“Right? And we know enough to get by on our own.”

Those two special duty officers had indeed known a lot and shared that knowledge with the others.

They had generally been right about where the mountain vegetables would be growing and where the footing was good or bad.

…Thinking back, the 3rd Special Duty Officer was chosen for the rescue team when the Chancellor was kidnapped that one time.

Probably because of her confidence and familiarity with this sort of forest.

They had known each other a long time, so it was surprising to still be learning new things and noticing changes.

And now everyone was undergoing their own training while living here.

…I can tell this is a turning point for us.

As a vassal, Adele could tell everyone had relaxed a lot since coming here.

They enjoyed a casual but fulfilling life in the forest, but they would sometimes fall silent, stare into the distance, and stop whatever they were doing.

And more than training on their own, they would gather together while everyone maintained and finetuned their weapons or even trained together.

It wasn’t like they would have been too worried if they were on their own.

Adele saw it as everyone wanting to be together as they approached the coming turning point.

Adele saw their previous big turning point as Mikawa.

A lot had happened there, there had been lots of trouble and conflict, and the Chancellor had made the situation a lot wor- Well, it makes for a good memory now. Putting it any other way would only mean digging up past unpleasantness, so let’s keep it at that.

Regardless, it all went back to Mikawa.

Both because of the Vicereine’s arrival and because everyone had confirmed their roles then. They had confirmed and reached an understanding of who they were as individuals and as a part of the whole. Because they couldn’t continue on to the future otherwise.

They had mostly remained in those roles since. But…

…The next turning point is coming.

The Honnouji Incident.

That wasn’t a Musashi history recreation. It belonged to the Oda clan and P.A. Oda, so if anything, Musashi was an observer as Matsudaira.

But their involvement here would determine a lot regarding their relationship with the other nations.

At the previous turning point of Mikawa, they had announced their participation in the Peace of Westphalia. Whether or not Musashi could intervene at Honnouji would be a major factor for the other nations to consider what Musashi said at Westphalia. This would be an accounting of everything they had built up since Mikawa – the relationships with other nations and other people.

They also had the Battle of Sekigahara and the Siege of Osaka afterwards, but the Honnouji Incident acted like a preliminary battle that determined how the rest would play out. In other words, if Sekigahara was the final exam, Honnouji was the midterm. How this event ended would determine what kind of future they could choose.

Sounds like a school that focuses a lot on your academic history, sighed Adele, but everyone who would be fighting on the front line or supporting everyone on the battlefield would have already overcome that.

So what would they do?

Everyone had their own answer in mind. They were coming up with ideas of how to accomplish it and they were determining what more they needed to get there.

So there was a simple reason why Kimi was helping the 5th Special Duty Officer while Asama and Mary accompanied them, maintaining their bow and Excalibur respectively.

“They’re all really excited, aren’t they?”

They could manage on their own.

But knowing someone was there alongside you made it more exciting.

That meaning must have gotten through because the 3rd Special Duty Officer put her hands on her hips and responded.

“There are times when I feel like I’m turning into Bara-yan. Like when I want to perform an action just right or go really fast in some everyday activity. So,” she said, looking to the 5th Special Duty Officer. “Maybe we were right to bring everyone here. On the Musashi, we might all be on edge and that would feel out of place there, but here our surroundings can accept it all. When we’re feeling really nervous, being in the forest lets us think of it as mental training or something and it feels okay to do that here.”

“Yes, and we eat outdoors and take turns cooking with the Chancellor and the others. On the Musashi, we would end up only grabbing some portable food during our breaks in training and try to stay focused.”

“You’re right about that, agreed Adele.

They were camping out in the candy house’s prime real estate. It wasn’t the usual place for their official training, so it was perfect for thinking about stuff without feeling rushed.

Being on the surface in and of itself made this all feel different.

And during it all, they were testing out and researching ideas and revealing what they had learned or were considering.

This place let them focus, but it was also unfamiliar to them.

Everything was going well.

It probably helped that they had already experienced something similar during their school trip to Sanada.

“It was the Vice President who set this up, wasn’t it?”

The Vice President herself was preparing for her meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide at 5 PM on September 2.

That would probably be the starting line leading to Honnouji.

She was currently inside the candy house reading through various materials, discussing things with those still on the Musashi, and otherwise preparing, but…

“I hope that works out,” said the 3rd Special Duty Officer.

Naito didn’t hesitate to speak.

The outdoors life here was pretty fun, but like Adele had said, everyone was gradually getting more worked up.

There was no point in pretending this was just a fun camping trip. So…

“We only have 5 days until the 2nd. We need to enjoy ourselves while we can.”

“You sure are daring.”

“I really like the excited atmosphere building up here. It reminds me of Ga-chan when a deadline is approaching. And…”

And…

“I wouldn’t want her like that all the time, but she looks really cool taking everything she has and pouring it into her work.”

“Margot, that’s just me feeling backed into a corner.”

Naruze said it with a smile, but she didn’t reject Naito’s view.

“It’s also cool how you always cut it so close,” said Naito

“I’m not sure I want approval of my flaws, but it’s true I couldn’t get through it without pouring everything I have into it.”

Naruze picked back up her basket of mountain vegetables. Probably a signal that they should get going.

Then Asama looked their way.

“What about your training?”

“Hm, I think we’ll join you in the afternoon. You’ll still be doing this then, won’t you?”

Naito took a step and felt something underfoot.

…Hm?

She looked down at the artificial hardness and shape.

“Excalibur?”

“Oh, I buried that earlier.”

“I get it.” Naito’s Technohexen sense told her the answer. “Refueling with ether from the ley lines?”

“Judge,” confirmed Mary. “The ley lines here are close to the ones back home.”

“Yeah, England’s residents were originally from Gaul,” said Adele.

If that was true, then the civilization and culture that had created Excalibur had crossed the sea – or the sky really – to reach England.

The Reine des Garous’s forest had mostly maintained its ancient form. If Mary was going to refuel outside of England, this place would probably be the best match since it had been largely untouched by history.

Mary must have sensed the same thing.

“It should be able to gather a decent amount.”

“If that works, Excalibur could be our decisive weapon.”

The others expressed their agreement while looking at the two buried Excaliburs. And Kimi…

“Heh heh. But wasn’t Excalibur given out by a spring spirit? Why not submerge it in that spring?”

“Someone could hurt themselves if it was hidden underwater there.”

Mary’s ability to say that with a straight face was truly incredible. Then there was Asama who crossed her arms and responded.

“I would be more worried about a spring spirit appearing after you threw it in.”

“Yeah, this is that sort of artifact, so a local spirit could be forcibly awoken as a spring spirit.”

“Judge. That did not happen last time when I brought it to the spring and used it as a float or as table for snacks, but if I submerged it…who knows.”

“Heh heh. Hard to tell if we’re being respectful or disrespectful of this historical artifact.”

“Well, because of those concerns, I am considering submerging it in the stream near the spring since the ley line current there should have the same mold.” Mary tilted her head. “The only mystery is how I managed to launch that attack back at Houjou.”

“If you mean the Love Love Homerun, Ma-yan, the answer is love. Your love.”

“But I have since tried swinging it while having feelings like that…”

“Then it wasn’t love. Not love at all.”

How about some consistency, Ga-chan? But…

“It’s possible the ether accumulated in the sword acts as a primer to draw out Mary’s power.”

Asama’s speculation made everyone look her way. She was currently adjusting the strength on the bobbin for her bow’s ether bowstring by twanging the empty string.

“That could be what happened before too. It had been a while since England, so the ether that had naturally built up could have linked Mary and Excalibur, triggering a destructive blast.”

“It’s plausible at least,” said Naito. “Our schale besen use a small acceleration spell starter to get the larger thruster activated.”

Mary held a hand to her chin. She was probably digging through her memories for any clues. But…

“I’m a little afraid to test it out. Even if it does work, I would be using up what I have built up.”

“Mary, you are the 1st Special Duty Officer’s aide, so you don’t have to fight on the front line.”

“Yeah, but she’s worried about the 1st Special Duty Officer.”

Adele’s comment made Mary blush.

…Oh?

An interest in gossip was the Technohexen way. Naito hadn’t heard much regarding Tenzou and Mary lately, partly because they were staying in different tents.

So just out of curiosity…

“How have things been going lately? Before coming here, I mean.”

Everyone waited for the answer and Naruze opened a Magie Figur and opened a transmission to the girls training at the candy house or spring. Mary failed to notice any of this and responded with a hand on her cheek.

“Well, lately – by which I mean when we were still on Musashi – I have started sleeping with my futon on the same floor height as Master Tenzou.”

“Eh? F-floor height???”

“Sh. Be quiet, Suzu. Tenzou whips it out at home, so we already knew their living arrangements were weird.”

“R-right,” replied Suzu, which was fine, but Mary…

“So you see. Because of the tatami mat layout, putting our futons next to each other initially meant one of us was moved half a mat up from the other. So Master Tenzou…”

Art-Ga: “Got in your futon and attacked!?”

Flat Vassal: “So he finally crossed that line!”

Horizey: “I suppose this means I should give Tenzou-sama a year’s supply of sekihan.”

The excitement was building and Mary wiggled with her hands on her cheeks.

“So Master Tenzou shifted his futon so our faces were side by side. For the last few days before we came here, I tried to get up before him every morning, but I never could manage it and it was so embarrassing.”

Art-Ga: “Okay, people! You got what you came here for, so scram!”

This was a tough one.

But Mitotsudaira turned toward Naito and tilted her head.

“What are you going to do once you join us this afternoon?”

“Shooting practice, I suppose. Midrange with non-boosted bullets. Maybe around 2km?”

“Oh, then I’ll need to give you some target sign frames,” said Asama.

“That sounds exciting,” said Mitotsudaira, but it wasn’t really.

“We’ll just be firing through the forest along the path of this stream, so it’s honestly pretty boring. If we place some anti-buffering spells against the stream’s current, it causes a lot of vibrations that let us simulate aerial control while we fire.”

Doing it while actually flying would be best, but this was Hexagone Française. If they only went up for short periods at night, they wouldn’t lose their focus. Maybe we should invite Uqui along, thought Naito.

“Is the Chancellor cooking again?”

“Judge. Horizon and my king are preparing lunch at the candy house.”

“Gin-san and Mune-san are helping too,” said Asama. “Urquiaga-kun and Masazumi are keeping an eye on things, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.”

“You couldn’t trust them less if you tried, could you?”

“Well, you know,” said Asama before opening a sign frame. It contained all the recipes they had received from the Reine des Garous – well, Mitotsudaira’s dad really.

Those two had left the recipes with the Chancellor when they stayed at the Main Blue Thunder before.

He and Horizon were trying out some of them now, but…

“European meat dishes differ a lot between the east and the west, but Gin-san seemed pretty interested in all that. I expect they have started something of a cooking school.”

If they were doing that now, it sounded unlikely lunch would be ready on time.

…But it also means we can look forward to dinner.

Yeah, there’s a lot to enjoy about this Hexagone Française trip. Training in the familiar territory of Musashi is great and all, but this has its advantages too.

The other boys were gathering firewood or training elsewhere. As for the rest of their fighters…

“Oh, is this turning into a training ground?”

Narumi approached them along the stream. She only wore a longish shirt. She was probably wearing a swimsuit below it, but it was a pretty casual outfit.

She had gone to the spring alone that morning, so if she was leaving now…

“You done measuring stuff, Narumin?”

“Thanks to the water here. It’s very pure, ether-wise.” Narumi brushed back her damp hair. “They might not be ready by the 2nd, but I should be able to build some new prosthetics.”

Narumi smiled bitterly when she saw everyone gathered in one place.

It was only some of the girls here, but they all played crucial roles. From what she had heard as she approached, they seemed to be reporting on their current statuses. In her case, Unturning Centipede’s repairs weren’t done yet, but…

“I guess you could say I have done what I can.”

This was about her prosthetics.

She used prosthetic arms and legs. She wore combat ones all the time, but there was one problem she had yet to fix: Unturning Centipede’s special moves – the movement technique called Countless Hundreds of Paths and the attack technique called Paths of Countless Hundreds.

They both involved bulk summoning her mobile shell’s legs and arms. But it only worked if the prosthetic arms and legs that connected to her were available within it all.

When she was with Date, she had included combat arms and legs in the summon parts, but that was too expensive now.

So with Musashi, she used ordinary prosthetics, but…

…That wasn’t enough during the battle against Komaoumaru.

Ordinary prosthetics had weak connectors. After using Countless Hundreds of Paths for combat mobility, she had discovered the connectors had broken at a rate of 3 in 5.

She could manage one use like that, but not consecutive uses.

That put her at risk if she was going to be fighting for this class.

In the worst case, the last ones she connected would break and she would be rendered immobile.

Thus, she was ordering prosthetics with improved connectors. They could be ordinary in every other way, but she needed to strengthen the connectors enough for repeat usage.

But if the base structure of the connectors was improved, it would be expensive and the design would take time. So…

“Spell boosting should work. The basic tech for the connection is already built into the prosthetic parts, but I still need to reassess it from the outside and inside.”

Specifically, she would check the connector model at an engineer’s workshop and consider its strength while working out a deal with a Shinto spell engineer.

The only modifications to the prosthetic parts would be remaking the “receive” portion of the connection spell.

So for the first few days since arriving here, she had been making a mold of the connector at the spring.

The prosthetic parts wore down the more she used it, but how it wore down told her how they “fit” her body. The deteriorated parts were the parts used most often and if she didn’t notice any problems, then they were a good match for her body.

She was taking readings of herself to investigate all of that.

But she needed clean readings. All excess dust and filth had to be removed before the scans and measurements were made.

That would normally mean using a tank of water that had received high level Shinto purification, but the Reine des Garous’s spring had the same properties.

Even though there was sand below and the water flowed between rocks.

…It’s her grooming divine protection at work, I’ll bet.

Removing her prosthetics and leaving the connectors exposed was kind of embarrassing. It felt like exposing something closer to the center of her being than simply being naked.

But doing it in water with a high ether content felt nice. The water was chilly, but it felt so welcoming and she could tell this was going to spoil her.

The rest was easy. She had an engineering license for maintenance, so she scanned the parts and contacted Musashi and sent them the necessary data plus any necessary rescans of the details.

They would do the rest given some time, so…

“I should be able to help out starting today.”

“Then will you be our target, Narumin?”

“As long as I am free to counterattack.”

“Never mind then…”

The way the Weiss Hexen and Schwarz Hexen exchanged a glance showed how serious they were. And she was honestly curious what would have happened if she had carelessly agreed.

But she could guess they would be engaging him in aerial combat. Her Unturning Centipede was being repaired. She could face them in a ground battle without that, but…

…Nothing to shoot with would make it a pain.

With Unturning Centipede, she could approach while ignoring the average projectiles. But that was difficult without it. She found herself wondering if that was a problem to consider now or later, which showed finishing the scans had taken some pressure off.

“Do the rest of you have anything in the works? Like developing a new spell or finetuning your Mice?”

“Oh,” said the Asama Shrine Representative. “Speaking of Mice, remember Mito’s Troiko? We might be able to see her here.”

“Troiko?” asked the English Princess with a tilt of her head. So was this a Musashi thing from before her arrival?

“Yes,” said the Mito Lord. She started to say something to the Asama Shrine Representative, but turned toward the others instead. “You could call her my Mouse. She is currently receiving some adjustments after a past incident.”

“She was originally a ley line stagnation that appeared on the Musashi, but Mito’s influence made her manifest as a Mouse and she wouldn’t disappear. So Mito took her in and she’s receiving adjustments at a shrine in the Greek region.”

“A Greek shrine?”

What did Greece have to do with Shinto? But the Asama Shrine Representative answered with her eyebrows raised.

“Yes, because she is a Cerberus.”

“And I thought a giant anteater was pushing it. Does Shinto have any rules at all?”

“In Shinto, anything can be a god as long as you purify and worship it.”

Why did she hang her head while saying that? But then she opened a sign frame.

“I managed to connect with the shrines on the Mediterranean coast while we were in the Udon Kingdom. The divine transmissions are still getting through since it’s summer break and Hexagone Française has a strong connection to Greece.”

She checked through three sign frames before stopping on one.

“Oh, good. We have permission. The image is smaller than the regular reports sent to our shrine, but you can still see her.”

Mary had never heard about this. Well, she had heard of Cerberuses. They were a nonhuman species she had seen in England. They couldn’t speak human language, but they understood it and most of them protected important locations as highly-skilled guard dogs. She was pretty sure there was one below Oxford.

But this one…

“Oh, my. She’s so small.”

Asama showed them a sign frame with a thumbnail-sized image. It depicted a little Cerberus sleeping.

That was a Mouse.

Her blue coat was like a darker shade of Mitotsudaira’s dress or silver hair. The three-headed dog-wolf had her four legs sprawled out in sleep.

A head would occasionally lift partway up, but it would soon fall back down, so she may have been dozing. Asama passed a thermo-display of the image to Suzu who touched the image with her hand.

“Oh, yes, yes…that’s right.” Suzu smiled a little. “This is…my first time…touching her.”

“She wouldn’t leave Mitotsudaira, would she?”

“I seem to recall Kimi constantly stealing her away, naming her Troiko, and otherwise interfering,” said Mitotsudaira.

“Um, what is her story?” asked Mary.

Mitotsudaira kept her eyes on the image as she answered.

“Like Tomo said, at the start of spring last year, she appeared when we purified a stagnation on the Musashi. My influence and our recent passage through the Greek region may have been what made her a Cerberus. She stayed behind after the stagnation was gone, so we decided to register her as a Mouse.”

Mitotsudaira sighed and her shoulders drooped, but it seemed to be out of relief.

“Tomo gives me seasonal reports and I had heard her recovery would be complete sometime next year, but it looks like the process is nearly complete already.”

“If anything, the rest of the time will be for educating her as a Mouse. This is Shinto’s first time turning a Cerberus into a Mouse, so her caretaker appears to be treating her with extra care. The caretaker even sent in a request to try it with a hellhound next.”

“What is wrong with Shinto?” muttered Naito, but this sounded like what you would get without any rules. Greek mythology didn’t seem too keen on rules either, so maybe they were a good match.

“That’s one more thing to look forward to, Lady Mitotsudaira.”

“I never expected to receive a surprise update here,” said Mitotsudaira before nodding, narrowing her eyes, and closing the sign frame. Then she sighed. “I need to pull it together. My justice is watching me.”

“I need to pull it together. I don’t like what I’m seeing here.”

Hearing Ookubo’s comment while they walked, Yoshiyasu held up her bamboo container and turned around.

“You aren’t going to eat yours?”

“Oh, I’m eating it.”

Ookubo held the same thing. It contained ice cream coffee. Since the Musashi was in M.H.R.R. Protestant airspace, the Ohiroshiki Group was running a joint campaign between the Protestants and Musashi.

…I thought ice cream coffee would be cold.

The coffee itself was room temperature. Some places even did it hot. But the amount of cream and ice cream on top was hard to believe. The bamboo container was about the size of a small beer mug, but the coffee didn’t even fill half of it and there was about as much cream and ice cream on top. But the cream wasn’t exactly chilled or sweet.

Yoshiyasu had initially tried to chug the coffee because it was so damn hot out and she had ended up with a mouthful of nothing but cream and ice cream, but now that she was used to it, she had figured out you were either supposed to wait for it to melt or mix it all together. Either way, she felt like scooping up the cream and eating that with the coffee or ice cream was the way to go. Or maybe not. Not that it matters.

…No one else here knows how you’re supposed to do it either.

Ookubo seemed to be a mix-it-together person. Maybe she wanted relief from the heat or maybe she was just impatient.

“Hey.”

She was walking toward the academy. She was on her way to the student council rec room. She would visit there once a day both for security purposes and to store the data sent by the Vice President. Yoshiyasu thought they should just leave it all on the divine network, but both Ookubo and the Vice President agreed this way was safer.

Yoshiyasu figured she should start doing the same.

Righteousness: “Hey, can I leave my data at Musashi?”

Integrity: “Huh!? And how am I supposed to check that data when I’m already so busy!?”

Righteousness: “Huh, that’s a good point actually. Why not come here?”

The other girl ended the transmission on her. She needs to do something about that short temper. Come to think of it, all that salty fish we eat at Satomi probably gives you high blood pressure. Yes, and both Yoshiyori and my sister were such tolerant people. I need to live a stress-free life. No matter what’s going on around me.

At any rate, they were on their way to the student council rec room. The Yagyuu boy was hidden there for security, ensuring it was safe. Yoshiyasu felt like they could just leave everything up to him, but…

…She is a stickler for the details.

After all the time they spent together from Satomi to here, Yoshiyasu felt she had a good grasp of who Ookubo was as a person.

And she had more to say beyond her earlier “hey”. She asked her question when they entered the main street leading to the academy.

“How are things right now?”

“Explaining it all would be too much effort.”

“Can you sum it up for me?”

“Still too much effort.”

“That bad, huh?”

Ookubo held out her empty container, so Yoshiyasu traded her partially-consumed one for it.

Ookubo immediately began mixing it together like she had her own earlier.

“Bad is a good word for it.”

“C’mon, I can tell you’re enjoying it.”

“For your information, I am a pacifist.”

“The Vice President says the same thing.”

Ookubo kicked her heel against the fence running alongside the sidewalk. The heat is really getting to her, thought Yoshiyasu, but…

“So who do you think we’ll be going to war with next?”

“P.A. Oda.”

“Why?”

“Hashiba’s the only group still making any moves right now.”

Meaning…

“Their preparations are nearly complete. The Honnouji Incident is happening soon.”

Chapter 72: Face-to-Face Players[edit]

Oh, could you ignore

That piece on the right?

No, no, no

Quit glancing over at it

Point Allocation (Beaten Pretty Badly)

The Honnouji Incident was happening soon.

Yoshiyasu tilted her head at Ookubo’s claim. She stepped up onto the stairs in front of the academy.

“Of course P.A. Oda is preparing for that, but we can’t know we’re their opponent.”

“Remember what the Vice President said? She wants the rights to Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name. You get what this means, don’t you? If we do intervene, then the Battle of Yamazaki follows after Honnouji.”

Yoshiyasu climbed the stairs. Ookubo stayed at her side, pushing a reed straw into her ice cream. And…

“The P.A. Oda leadership is going to make some kind of move, before our intervention in Honnouji, after it, or maybe both.”

“Are we ready for that?”

“We are.”

Before Yoshiyasu could ask about that, some light shined in the sky.

It was a sign frame displaying a ship-wide alert – one Yoshiyasu recognized.

“Kanesada is preparing to fire!?”

“Judge,” replied Ookubo, sitting down on the stairs. The wooden stairs had absorbed a lot of heat from the summer sun, but mist was occasionally sprayed over them.

“This is only training. Just watch. Things will go a little different this time.”

Sakai was at Yoshinao’s mansion. That meant on Musashino. The mansion was located near the bow. It was small but had a garden and a game was underway on the grass there.

Sakai and Yoshinao sat on opposite sides of a table, facing a chess board.

Neither one looked up at the alert sign frame in the sky. The ships adjusted their positions to take their Kanesada firing formation, but…

“Vice Principal Yoshinao, can we please start using our captured pieces?”

Sakai lowered his face to the top of the table to view the board from the side, but Yoshinao did the same on the other side to check on the state of the board.

“You may if you wish. We believe hostage negotiations should take place only once the battle is complete.”

“I feel like that would only end in a stalemate for us both. This game is already heading in the same direction as the last one.”

“You could always leave an opening for us to attack.”

“Why would I do that?” asked Sakai, taking an even deeper look from the side.

“We notice ‘Musashi’-kun is not here,” said Yoshinao.

“And I notice your wife isn’t here.”

“She is attending an M.H.R.R. music class today. We have heard M.H.R.R. instruments during this westward journey and they sound so much like the instruments of our home territory.”

“Would that be because M.H.R.R. and Tres España were united under Carlos I?”

“Judge,” confirmed Yoshinao. “Hexagone Française music has been growing gaudier of late, thanks to the opera and such. As has English music. Tres España has gained more strange instruments from the New World, but the best instruments to sing along to are still from Tres España or M.H.R.R.”

“I never knew you had such international tastes.”

“We appreciate the high praise of our wife,” said Yoshinao. And, “We also appreciate how those children are working so hard to intervene in the Honnouji Incident without harming Azuma-kun.”

“Getting down to business because you can’t seem to beat me?”

“You take too long to make your moves.”

“Can’t even admit the truth? Oh, I’ll be taking that knight two turns from now.”

“We placed it there as a sacrifice.”

“Well, that’s annoying,” said Sakai, pulling back to look at the board. “Kyou set things up to assist Azuma’s integration here, but your efforts to accept him were just as important if you ask me. I had hoped his presence would improve Musashi’s status, but everything else has been so intense there hasn’t been a chance to use that political advantage.”

“We mostly wanted to ensure the bloodline of the Far East’s leader was in a safe place, but Akechi’s arrangements were quite thorough as well. Even if all of that was rendered meaningless with the Battle of Mikawa.”

“They consider that battle as their starting point, so they aren’t even considering making use of Azuma. All Azuma did during the battle was look after that unidentified girl in Miriam’s room.”

“About that girl…”

“Which one?” asked Sakai.

“Hm.” Yoshinao crossed his arms. And, “The other one, we suppose.”

“Oh, that was mean.”

Sakai grimaced at the sight of Yoshinao taking his bishop with a knight.

And Yoshinao, “We have seen that Miriam girl out and about more often lately.”

“Yes, and there’s a bit of a mystery surrounding her. I’m not sure when she arrived on the Musashi.”

On the other hand…

“But she is a registered citizen and she takes her classes at home, so I don’t see the problem as long as she doesn’t cause any trouble. It’s just difficult to find older records concerning her. ‘Musashi’-san suggested she is a Funadama, a spirit that lives aboard a ship to make sure it never sinks and ‘disappears’.”

“Could she be something your teacher set up?”

“I wanted to ask, but they won’t hold a class reunion.”

“There isn’t much we can do about that either.”

“You weren’t a teacher back home, so you could hold a reunion for the both of us.”

“Why do we get the feeling that would be a reunion of ne’er-do-wells?”

“Judge,” said Sakai, but then Yoshinao made his next move.

“You have finally given us an opening.”

“How did you manage that?”

“You always seem to enjoy yourself when talking about women.”

“Eh? Do I? That could be a problem…”

“Not as far as we are concerned. Or is there someone in particular that would make it a problem? And on that note,” said Yoshinao. “How are ‘Musashi’-kun’s tests going?”

“Judge. A more exciting test should be coming soon.”

As soon as the words were out of Sakai’s mouth, a tremor reached them.

The ship shook vertically, lifting them up from below, and sign frames appeared all around.

<Request from Musashi: As scheduled, the base hulls of all ships will undergo a purge test and cleaning. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Over.>

“It’s kind of hard to see when it’s overhead. If only it would move around a little more.”

Tomoe Gozen watched the show from atop the wall around a Saxony city.

The show was the Musashi moving and coming apart.

She could tell at a glance that the Musashi had rearranged the positioning of its ships. She was pretty sure this was the configuration used to fire their Kanesada main cannon.

But then things changed.

“The base hulls are emerging!”

The center of each of Musashi’s ships were primarily made of residential wide blocks and long blocks lined up together. Those primary chunks were known as the base hulls. Each level had an 8x8 arrangement of wide blocks with a column of 4 long blocks in between each for a total of 92 blocks. The number of levels differed between ships, but those levels were stacked atop each other.

All of that was built in a block structure held in place by guide frames.

Currently, each ship’s surface level and the three levels below it were being removed from the top.

“You occasionally see the Musashi lifting out a few blocks from an interior wide block. Blocks that have deteriorated through aging or have been damaged in a fire can be a concern from a stability standpoint. So the 1st port or starboard ship will be brought in to lift the block out with a crane. Then the damaged portion will be removed and replaced.”

But this was on a much larger scale.

This was practice for fully removing the contents of each ship’s belly. They were only going three levels down this time, but if they could do this, it likely meant they could take the rest of the levels too.

Tomoe Gozen heard a bell resembling a whistle.

Several layers of defense barrier appeared atop the Musashi, both to prevent any external interference and to support the triple-layer blocks extracted by gravitational control.

“It sounds crazy, but they’re lifting out the top three levels all at once.”

“This is probably only possible with the new variable direction gravitational control devices they installed.”

For once, Guericke’s pen was racing across a lernen figur as he drew out a diagram of it all. Tomoe Gozen was reminded that he was a scientist – and one who loved his diagrams at that.

“Hm,” he said. “But,” he added as he moved his pen. “Testament. This is indeed making full use of the gravitational thrusters they use when firing their main cannon. But none of the acceleration light is showing. That likely means the variable direction gravitational thrusters are being redirected inwards.”

“What happens when they do that?”

“They cannot use their gravitational cruising, but all the power used to launch the Musashi at supersonic speed can be used internally. In addition to lifting the base hulls, they should be able to directly transport large cargo when at close range. And if used on the ship’s interior or surface, they could reinforce the frame or provide gravitational barriers for the armor.

“But,” he said. “The most frightening option is removing the base hulls like this. Do you understand what this allows the Musashi to do?”

The cities were being lifted vertically along the guiderails formed by the gravitational barriers.

The sky rang with the sounds of stoppers being removed from each block and the sounds of water pipes and other conduits being disconnected. When damaged, this same process would be used to remove the blocks while they were moved by crane.

A few transport ships were starting to ascend.

There were a few 300m Kraken-classes and a few 1000m Jormungand-classes. They flew up to the floating wide blocks and docked with them.

The cities were dismantled and divided between the transport ships. All with a single goal in mind.

“Is this to quickly evacuate the Musashi so it can focus on combat?” asked Tomoe Gozen.

“That is part of it.”

“Then is it to let them freely reinforce the interior of the ship to make the Musashi itself more powerful?

“That is part of it.”

“Give me the answer now if you know what’s good for you.”

“My apologies!” Guericke prostrated before continuing. “When the base hulls are removed, the Musashi no longer needs to dedicate a large portion of its power to supporting the residents. This allows them to pour all of their fuel into moving the ship. In other words…”

In other words…

“When the Musashi fired its main cannon before, it required their Chancellor’s assistance. But with the base hulls removed, the Musashi should be able to complete its main cannon firing sequence without any such assistance. Then it will only need fire authorization.”

“…”

“Is something wrong, Tomoe Gozen?”

“Well, you see.” Tomoe Gozen paused.

The nearby PR committee member and some students took notice.

“Eek! Gozen-sama is pausing for emphasis!”

“That’s a sure sign of a Protestant Punishment Attack!”

“RIP Kappa!”

An awkward sweat began to pour down Guericke’s brow. He held his hands out and shrugged as Tomoe Gozen glared down at him.

“Tomoe Gozen, isn’t it an insult to god when you let even minor aspects of the world enrage you?”

“It’s okay when I do it.”

Guericke was seriously sweating now. So…

“Um, what is this about?”

She answered him immediately.

“Do you not see the Musashi removing its base hulls as a fleet exercise up there? Well?”

She pointed her thumb up toward the fleet formation used for firing Kanesada.

“They’re doing this in their Kanesada firing formation, so of course this is about preparing to fire Kanesada. Don’t state the obvious to me.”

Her glare made Guericke prostrate again.

But this time she rested her bible hammer on his head like a staff and sighed.

“Right now, the Ariake is returning to Kantou while the Musashi tries to sell itself as a mercenary ship. But it’s also time for Musashi to show off their combat capabilities. That’s why they’re doing this out in the open instead of inside their stealth barrier. The point is to let Kyou, P.A. Oda, and Europe know they can still fight even with their Chancellor’s group absent.”

The cities were being dismantled in the sky.

This was both training and a demonstration. They were only doing the surface levels, but single blocks or several blocks together were being linked to the transport ships and flown around the airspace surrounding the Musashi.

“The entire diplomatic sector is probably being carried around the Musashi aboard a transport ship while the curious diplomats are given an explanation of the Kanesada firing sequence. Quite the advertisement they have here.”

“Tadaoki-sama! Our sector is being carried around in the lead! Wowwwwww, so this is how Musashi’s wide blocks and long blocks are structured and reinforced!”

“Hey, stay away from the edge. It’s windy, so you could be blown right off!”

Tadaoki sighed while a bit disturbed by his wife’s excitement as she got on her knees at the side of the wide block and peered over the edge.

They were in Tama’s surface city, which was currently being carried by a Konishi family transport ship. The ship was carrying a 6-block chunk, 3 blocks long and 2 blocks wide. The Konishi family was a major merchant family and held a position on the provisional council, so they were in charge of the very front of the procession. Christina wouldn’t have known the Konishi family would be in charge here, but when the notification had arrived during lunch, she had suddenly grabbed his hands and insisted they go.

That had come as a surprise since it was basically the first time she had taken his hand and led him somewhere.

…I need to get to the point I can take her hand and lead her.

He had a feeling he would be dealing with his wife’s curiosity for a long time to come, so he needed to be ready. And I chose someone like that to be my wife. Oh, does that mean I’m more grown up than I thought?

At any rate, sign frames opened in the sky. They displayed “Tama”.

“If you will look to the right, everyone, you will see a demonstration of how I produce the shell and how the ships are stabilized. The primary function of the Kanesada main cannon is a localized anti-warship armor-piercing shell, but it also applies gravitational and magnetic control at the time of launch, which can also be used to provide massages that are very effective on joint pain.”

It wasn’t clear if that was a joke, but knowing Musashi’s automatons, probably not. However…

“Hm?”

An alarm suddenly rang in the sky.

“Tama” bowed on the sign frame and spoke with a calm gaze.

“Now, please look behind you to the east.”

He did so. His wife looked up from the edge of the block and turned around.

A large sign frame used a telescope spell to provide a magnified view of the eastern sky.

The optical view of the distant east revealed a ship in a sky that shimmered like heat haze.

“What you see flying above Lake Biwa is the Azuchi.”

Tadaoki noticed several transport ships rising around the Azuchi and descending with large shapes aboard. He knew what those had to be.

“Is the Azuchi removing its base hulls too!?”

“In an emergency, we can dump the extra cargo to increase the odds of survival. It is a standard tactic for both transport ships and warships. To be honest, Hashiba-kun screwed that one up on the way to Kantou.”

On the bow of Azuchi’s central ship, Kazumasa held up a light-blocking lernen figur and viewed the distant blue shape of the Musashi.

…That was a close one.

She had thought the Musashi might go all the way and run a firing demonstration for Kanesada.

It would show off their strength as a mercenary, but it would also act as a show of force that their actions were inviolable.

It would show they were a valuable ally and a formidable enemy. It was necessary to ensure people took them seriously, but Kazumasa felt it was a little late for Musashi to be doing that.

But the meaning changed when it also acted as a warning to the base hull residents.

“They plan to go all out this time.”

Kazumasa could predict what they were going to do and Takenaka agreed.

So the Azuchi would do the same thing.

There was a basic difference in how the action worked since the Musashi had a virtual main cannon and the Azuchi did not. The Musashi removed their base hulls to give them more usable ether fuel and allow them to operate the virtual main cannon on their own.

But if the Azuchi removed their base hulls and preserved their ether fuel…

“We can strengthen our armor and frames and fire our ether cannons as much as we like.”

Their speed would be about the same. The Musashi would likely have the stronger defenses after their remodeling since it had no side cannons. That just left offense. The Musashi had fewer cannons, but their virtual main cannon was extremely powerful. The Azuchi had more cannons, but no virtual main cannon.

One had a single powerful attack and the other had plenty of weaker attacks.

They both had their pros and cons, so it was important for the Azuchi to make a demonstration as well.

If the Musashi was going to show off to gain popularity in Europe, the Azuchi would do the same.

The Azuchi’s base hulls were primarily made up of residential areas and warehouses. There were some living spaces, corporate space for R&D, and school space, but even with all of that, it took up less space than the Musashi’s base hulls.

However…

“How much of an advantage does this give us, ‘Azuchi’?”

“Testament. It provides a constant pool of about 27% power output. A lot of that will be used on reinforcements to make up for the missing structures, but in the short term, we should be able to use the full pool.”

Simply put…

“If we purged the base hulls like this on our way to Kantou, I predict we could shorten the trip time by about 20%. Over.”

“If only Hashiba-kun had been this resourceful.”

Kazumasa’s comment was her way of grading Hashiba’s performance.

Of course, Takenaka would have something to say since she had been in command at the time. Maybe they could have arrived at Kantou and won, but they would have purged their warehouses and been short on supplies. In the worst case, the battle could have begun anew and they would have lost the second time around.

But, thought Kazumasa.

…Why worry about that when you didn’t even win in the first place?

Takenaka and the others had ensured they would have a stable position after winning and gambled on whether or not they would arrive on time.

Kazumasa would have ensured they would arrive on time and gambled on whether or not they would could hold onto their victory afterwards.

In the end, Takenaka and the others had arrived on time, but Kuki had abandoned the fight.

Kazumasa might not agree with Kuki’s decision, but she admired the conviction behind it. He had given up on the immediate victory in order to protect the Honnouji Incident.

And if not for his decision, they would have suffered an even larger loss there.

That meant the problem was the delayed arrival that had pushed Kuki’s forces to that position.

Of course, Kazumasa had the advantage of hindsight here. She had watched the Azuchi’s rush from Paris to Kantou while eating at a teahouse next to Lake Biwa.

“Now, then.”

She opened a document in a lernen figur.

It listed the advantages of the purge in regards to Azuchi’s trip to Kantou. It was dated before summer break.

But she operated the lernen figur to fully delete it.

“We won’t be needing this anymore,” she said. “If I had helped them there, they would never learn anything. Defeat is an excellent teacher, so they will learn everything they need without me. Truly the best teaching method.”

And…

“Seeing the Azuchi purge its base hulls today will tell Europe and the surrounding nations they will have to deal with the Azuchi and Hashiba if they get involved with Musashi. So who will want to ally themselves with Musashi now? A show of force is the best way to isolate yourself. Now Musashi will need to defeat us if they hope to return to the way things were.”

Kazumasa raised her right hand as she spoke.

She surrounded the distant Musashi with it and raised her eyebrows in a slight smile.

“Have a gold star. You have put on an excellent show as our enemy.”

Fukushima left her tent.

I slept a long time, she noted.

Her plan now was to get some food and then train. The afternoon was ending and night was falling, but she decided now was as good a time as any to get her day started.

“I really have lost all discipline.”

After crying herself to sleep in her exhaustion last night, she had changed her outlook on a number of things.

Had the crying helped? Or was it letting out her honest thoughts that had done it?

She wasn’t sure what had caused it, but the tension inside her was gone.

She had woken around noon and gone through the motions of getting up.

Her mind had refused to hold any thoughts in it. She had only managed to gulp down plenty of water before returning to the tent and going back to sleep.

When she woke again, the entire day had passed. She had been holding her blanket in a tight embrace, but that may have been what gave her such an odd sense of relief as she slept.

Strangely, she no longer felt any need to say anything.

Before, she had spoken to herself a lot, but now she was shockingly silent, as was her mind.

After fixing some food, she realized night had fully fallen.

When did that happen? she wondered.

No, it had nearly been night when she got up. But her brain wasn’t working very well, so she stared at the campfire and wondered why it was still so bright out. Finally, she looked up and noticed all the stars in the sky.

“Oh.”

That was her first time speaking in a while, but it was really more just a sound escaping her throat.

…Nothing has changed.

She had worried, struggled, cried, worn herself out, and slept for an entire day, but had that changed anything?

Nothing had changed.

So had these past few days been a waste?

In the sense that nothing had changed, they had been.

But the fact that she could recognize the lack of change felt like it made everything worthwhile.

The question was how to look at this afterwards.

She was currently in a meaningless state.

She felt that was a surprisingly valuable thing.

She didn’t know what was going on in the world. Everyone may have been fighting in skirmishes around the world or they may have been learning a lot from their training camps, but she was not with them.

They would get by without her and the world would keep going without her.

Noticing movement in the campfire, she held out her hand.

The wind was making the fire flicker.

But the fire did not go out and the flickering vanished soon enough.

Nothing changed.

It looked like it had, but it returned to normal before long. So it was no surprise she couldn’t change anything when she was away from everyone. And…

“It is the same for us all.”

She was currently alone.

And everyone else was “alone” in relation to her. No one could reach her. Everyone was “isolated” from her at the moment.

That thought brought some more tears.

But these tears did not come from exhaustion and hitting a dead end.

She didn’t really understand it herself, but if she had to describe them, she would call them “tears of joy”.

Instead of feeling fear over being alone, she felt relief over knowing everyone was the same.

They were far apart. They could not speak with or see each other. It was possible some of them had even died.

But it was all the same as long as she didn’t know about it.

She could still trust them.

And if they were all in the same position in relation to each other, then they were all the same.

It didn’t matter that she couldn’t see them.

She trusted them. Maybe they would betray that trust in the end, but that would not change the fact that she had trusted them at one point. That was how she saw it. Because…

“–––––”

She could still feel the hard rock on her back from when she slept. And the corners of her eyes were still swollen from crying. She could trust in that.

So if she was alone, she wanted to relax and ignore even her own thoughts. She would simply do what her body told her to do.

She would train as much as she liked. Once she got tired, she would sleep until she wasn’t anymore. She would eat when she was hungry. If she didn’t have enough, she would go on a walk and search out more.

So that was what she did.

It was all very carefree.

She knew she was lacking a lot here, but it was easier on her body. And her mind remained much clearer since her body was handling all the decision making. She could only describe it as…

…Letting go of all that excess tension.

Something occurred to her while she was eating and looking up into the sky.

…Could I see the Musashi if I moved to the west side of the mountain?

It should be right there if she climbed the mountain.

She decided that wouldn’t be a bad thing to do on the final day of her training or shortly before, when she had gathered up all her things. That thought improved her mood a lot.

“Okay.”

As the night wore on, she grabbed Ichinotani and headed to the waterfall basin for the day’s training.

She trusted that the others were doing much the same thing.

The days passed and August came to an end.

Kiyomasa’s team had finished their training at Sanada. They planned to use September 1 as a rest day and return to Lake Biwa Azuchi on the 2nd.

Fukushima’s team was contacted by Takenaka on the Azuchi and told to instruct Fukushima to return from the mountains on the 2nd.

Meanwhile, Ishida and Kasuya’s teams were facing one of the pope’s worst dreams yet.

“Wh-why are there three more of them this time!? That isn’t the usual pattern!”

“Her dream isn’t adding in as many as we hunt down, is it?”

“Excuse me! I would love it if you stopped talking and gave me some help over here!”

They sometimes had to force Ootani out onto the front line, but the number of dragons was reducing.

The Musashi group planned to end their hidden training at the candy house on September 1 and to head directly to Kyou from there on the 2nd.

The final reports on their research and investigation topics would be held during their party on the night of September 1, so that whole day would be a rest day. They could set their various thoughts and tensions aside as they approached that rest day in a half-active and half-drained state.

Chapter 73: Cooker at the Hunting Grounds[edit]

Thanks for the food

Thank you for the food

Point Allocation (All Hell Is About To Break Loose…)

Mitsunari concluded the pope was a little late in waking up.

She opened a lernen figur in front of the others during their regular meeting in Aki’s surface dining hall that morning. Insulated containers were lined up on the long table like a buffet, providing as much food as a full dinner. It was a lot and it was heavy, but for good reason.

“Kohime! It is unbecoming to eat so much first thing in the morning!”

“No, no, no, no. I refuse to budge on this. Today is important. It’s the opening ceremony at school. We shouldn’t still be out here at our summer break training camp. So…”

Sakon’s thought was continued by Kasuya who sat across from her. Kasuya was filling her plate with nothing but meat dishes to ensure she got enough.

“Testament. So we need to finish this today. Or make enough headway that we can finish it tomorrow. Besides, we only have 4 left. There will probably be more now, but if we spend all day on this, we should be able to settle it.”

“I appreciate you saying so,” said Mitsunari.

Mitsunari knew she had set their pace too low to begin with.

The rate at which the dragons appeared had increased in the second half of their dragon slaying quest.

That had been a surprise, but she only had herself to blame for failing to take measures against the possibility.

…I was too closeminded in my schedule management.

She had tried to make use of the full time available to them and ensured there was time for breaks each day.

That had been a mistake. Not everything was going to play out the way she wanted. When the dragons started appearing in greater numbers in the second half, their leisurely schedule had fallen apart.

They should have poured all their efforts into it from the start, slayed all the dragons early, and spent the rest of their time resting and recuperating.

She had a feeling Kazumasa would lecture her on this when she returned to the Azuchi, but she knew she deserved it. She shouldn’t have delayed the end result in an attempt to keep things more leisurely.

She needed to focus on reaching the end result first.

…This was an important lesson.

Mitsunari had so much to learn. She had tried to learn as much as she could beforehand, but once she started using that knowledge, she was faced with surprise after surprise and felt flustered at all times. Not to mention that recent divine transmission from a member of the representative committee:

“Excuse me, Ishida-sama. I hate to be the bearer of bad news…”

“What is it? Go ahead and tell me.”

“Testament. Aki is wondering if you could pay a higher lodging fee. You are apparently using so much food it has pushed them well over their budget.”

She had bowed and apologized profusely, but when she looked at the breakfast before her eyes now, it did seem this group was eating too much from a statistical standpoint. However…

…Sakon-sama and Kasuya-sama always clean their plates.

That meant this was the correct amount. Or it could even be too little. She wondered how much she could pay out of her own pocket. Or could she ask Ootani to take money from an enemy nation’s divine transmission treasury?

But her biggest concern vis-à-vis food costs was not present today. Kasuya took a look around.

“Um, where is Hirano today?”

“Testament. Hirano-sama is at the Tsurugi Shrine setting up. She plans to join us later today.”

…I would really, really appreciate it if she has already eaten breakfast by the time she joins us.

No sooner had the thought entered her mind than the dining hall door opened.

“Yes! I made it in time for breakfast! You’re still serving breakfast, right!? You are, aren’t you!? Then I’ll start with an aperitif! …Oh, I’m Hirano Nagayasu. I’m with them over there! I brought some soy sauce with me, so I can eat whatever! Anyone else want some!?”

Mitsunari internally lamented the inopportune arrival of the girl who always consumed the most expensive alcohol.

…Today is going to be another long day, isn’t it?

It would have to be. Because…

“We’re going to be over budget come tomorrow, aren’t we?”

Mitsunari ran multiple calculations on whether or not she should stop the others from ordering more food with expressions she identified as smiles.

…Okay, I think it’s about time.

Asama knew today would be their last time enjoying an outdoor breakfast in front of the candy house. Tomorrow, a transport ship would collect them and their breakfast on the ship would be the bentos they made today.

That may have been why it was a rather large breakfast, even if they didn’t have to clean out the supplies or anything like that. Meat on the bone and various stews were lined up, but the many raw vegetables helped it feel more breakfasty. There was also a lot of bread, but Asama and Horizon had made this breakfast special.

They had given everything Far Eastern seasoning.

The simplest example was the soy sauce. They added a bit if a twist with the mirin. And they got creative with the kinako.

In the sauces for the meats, they had used the soy sauce as a secret ingredient and the mirin in place of wine and such. The kinako helped drive home the Far Eastern flavor, but it also worked well in a dessert sauce.

Trying her hand at Western dishes had been a bit of an adventure for Asama. After all, her mother hadn’t taught her much in that regard.

But she had learned something from all her contact with European cooking here.

…European food has a lot less variation in types of cooking. Or maybe you could call it types of flavors.

Most of their cooking was done through boiling it in a pot or baking it in an oven. And then the occasional frying.

Asama got the impression that the flavor was defined more by the sauce than by how it was cooked.

There were stews and soups, but those were generally a variation on the salt-based pot-au-feu. They were more about boiling everything down as much as possible and then adding in different sauces to be boiled in.

“The type of stock isn’t as important for them.”

In the Far East, soups were widely categorized by the type of stock used. It was even common for a soup to use multiple types of stock. For example, there was the difference between suimono and miso soup. Chicken soups were different again. You couldn’t just add miso to something to make it a miso soup. Horizon does that, but that’s something brand new if you ask me. Yes.

But in Europe, it was all pot-au-feu at its base. They took salt, vegetables, meat, and maybe fish and then boiled that down into a stock. That one stock was enthroned at the top as king.

Of course, there were also soups made without a stock, like the M.H.R.R. onion soup that Naruze and Naito had shown off, but…

“That was really just chopped onions, butter, and salt and it was difficult to cook right since you had to use middle heat and ensure the onions browned up without burning. Then you added a bit more hot water to make a thick onion soup.”

“That stuff is the best if you turn it into a paste and add it to meat or soak some bread in it. But since it’s so hard to make, it isn’t great for making every day.”

In other words, it wasn’t something you could just whip up on a whim.

Asama had tried it herself and burning it only a little had made the whole soup bitter. She had actually burned it intentionally thinking it would taste better with a bit of charring, so she had learned an important lesson. Adele, it had turned out, was a pro at making it.

“Well, you only need water, onions, and butter to make it, so it’s about all I eat in the winter!”

“Why did you list water first? And what happened to the salt?” Naito had pressed with the strictness of a local.

But thinking back…

…It’s so different from the Far East where we have several different stocks and the soups branch off from there.

On the other hand, the Far East didn’t seem to have many soups that required a lot of attention to make.

But when a dish was sauce-based, you could get more creative with the flavor.

So that was what they had done for the final breakfast. He had been wandering around nearby, worried about something, but Asama had left him with Kimi and prepared the breakfast she had envisioned. And that cooking had led her to another realization too.

Horizon could learn.

…Oh?

Asama had seen all of the super dishes Horizon made and the reactions of the victims, so she had assumed Horizon was the self-taught type. He would often explain things to her and give her lessons, but whenever she did her own thing, it never worked out well.

But it turned out Horizon was willing to learn from Asama.

Asama honestly wasn’t sure what this implied, but she decided it had to be a good thing.

Asama herself had had a tendency to learn from her mother but refuse to learn from anyone else. For example, there was the time her father had tried to teach her how to cook his specialty.

“I prefer mom’s cooking.”

She had refused and left that cultural man feeling very blue.

Was this something similar?

Had Horizon accepted Asama, or did she feel comfortable around Asama? It felt wrong to come out and ask that, but whatever her reasons were, Horizon had chosen to learn from her.

So nothing needed to change.

Asama felt comfortable continuing on like this. The most important lesson was managing the fire. Because the alternative was dangerous. Then there was the amount of water, the amount of ingredients, and how to chop and slice things. It was important to roll up your sleeves and handle each tool correctly. With seasonings, you needed to first imagine what you wanted to do with the base ingredients.

“If you want a stronger flavor, use more. If you want a lighter flavor, use less. That might seem basic, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget. Sometimes people use more because they want to get the flavor just right and then it’s too strong. Other times people use less because they’re afraid it will be too strong and then it’s too light.”

“You seem to be suggesting there is not a correct amount to reproduce a specific flavor.”

“Because there isn’t. The ‘correct amount’ differs from person to person.”

Asama put her mother’s lessons in her own words.

“The flavor you experience here today can be your baseline. Use that to decide whether you want a stronger or lighter flavor. That can be your flavor, no matter what anyone else thinks.”

“In that case…”

“You season a dish by adjusting the seasonings to approach the flavor you would want. So I don’t think you are as bad at cooking as some might think. You do get the occasional blast of a creative frontier spirit, but I think the problem is your lack of a baseline or a sense of your own tastes.”

Asama knew why that was.

Horizon had no memories. And since she had become an automaton, her tongue did not remember the flavors either. Not to mention…

…Toori-kun is a bit at fault too.

He must have tried to teach Horizon how to cook.

But that wasn’t what he had done.

“First, you need to learn which seasonings give which ingredients a certain flavor. Then you can use the processes you have learned to create the dish. The flavor is more important than the process. When you learn the process first, it can be harder to get the flavor right. Because you end up focusing so much on the work.”

Horizon stared at Asama.

“…”

She smacked herself on the head and took Asama’s hand.

“A brilliant lesson, Asama-sama! So much better than that impudent boy.”

“Your pot! Your pot is boiling over!”

Asama could guess how it had ended up that way. At the Blue Thunder, his mother was cooking as a job, so it really was nothing but work to complete. And since he knew how it was done already, his attempts at clever lessons ended up focusing on the process.

Asama had cooked alongside Horizon before this, but he or someone else had always been there too. She had never gotten into this then because she didn’t want to get in the way, but…

…I see.

She realized now that was the wrong way to look at it.

Oh, yes, right, I get it. She kept nodding in her mind, but that really was it. Horizon had no memories and her tongue was inexperienced. Lining up the ingredients and seasonings in front of someone and teaching them the proper method could work, but…

…Only if they already know what flavors those seasonings have.

Asama’s mother had taught her how to cook and how to season. That let her imagine the end result if she stewed fish or stewed meat and then seasoned them the same.

Horizon had been taught the methods without an understanding of the flavors. So she hadn’t paid much attention to the seasoning and cooked things according the methods she had learned, leading to a tendency toward creativity.

So Asama wanted to make up for that lack of education. She did so by cooking Western dishes in a Far Eastern style.

“This has soy sauce in it, doesn’t it?”

All of the Western dishes were ones they had eaten at some point during their stay here. That meant Horizon knew what they normally tasted like. So what happened when one of the seasonings was changed?

“You can tell? I used soy sauce as a secret ingredient.”

“That gives it a definite Far Eastern flavor, Asama-sama!”

That was how seasoning worked.

Since Horizon could tell, she did indeed have a sense of taste. So…

…Wow.

This introduced a lot more to look forward to in their new life living together. It could be fun to ask Horizon for some seasonings she wanted to try out and then actually use them as an experiment to see what happened.

But they had other business to take care of first.

…Our meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide at Kyou.

Some of them also had to share the final results of their research or investigation and Asama had some concerns regarding hers. Also…

“It’s about time, isn’t it?”

Once everyone had eaten the breakfast they had cooked, it would be time for their next task.

That task was getting some rest. They did have to prepare lunch, but other than that, everyone had the day off until sharing the research results at the meeting that night. Asama knew she would likely have to prepare for a dip in the spring, but…

“Asama-chi.”

Naito was gesturing her and Horizon over so only those two could see. Asama and Horizon exchanged a nod, and…

“Mito.”

She called out to Mitotsudaira who was sighing in satisfaction after her meal.

Asama and Horizon gathered the plates from the table and turned to Mitotsudaira.

“We will clean up here, so why don’t you go into the candy house and change into your swimsuit ahead of us?”

“Eh? Oh, judge. It’s that time already?”

“Um, yes. We have some preparations of our own to make, so it’d be great if you got things started for us,” said Naruze.

Mitotsudaira nodded and got up.

“Then I should hurry up and get changed so we have as much time to play as possible. Wait just a moment. I have cleared the back bedroom as a changing room.”

Mitotsudaira walked to the candy house and everyone heard the door open and close.

After three seconds passed, Adele looked to the others.

“She fell for it.”

“Yeah, that was shockingly easy,” said the 3rd Special Duty Officer, folding her arms in amazement.

“Fell for what?” asked the Date Vice Chancellor, who was still eating her breakfast and checking the news for different regions on her sign frame. “If this is some kind of trap, I hope it won’t affect me.”

“It’s not a trap. Not really, anyway,” said the 4th Special Duty Officer, who had been operating a Magie Figur for a while now.

Someone approached them as if in response.

“Oh, done with breakfast already? I was just washing my cup.”

It was the Chancellor. The 1st and 2nd Special Duty Officers followed after him, but the Vicereine spoke to him.

“Toori-sama, Mitotsudaira-sama said she wanted your help with something. In the candy house.”

“Huh? Nate did? Hmm.”

He tilted his head, but the 1st Special Duty Officer took his cup and set it down on the table.

“We will prepare for our day off here, so you go deal with whatever that is.”

“Sure. We can continue our conversation later.”

With that, the Chancellor walked toward the candy house. The 4th Special Duty Officer continued drawing something on her Magie Figur and slowly stood up while watching him go.

Her Weiss Hexen crop mark frame Magie Figur displayed a drawing of…

…The 5th Special Duty Officer.

The sketches were accurate and even had various backgrounds roughly drawn in as quick line drawings.

Art-Ga: “This should be a close approximation of a real-time feed.”

It showed the 5th Special Duty Officer enter the candy house’s dining room and look to the table. The extra meat Asama and the Vicereine had sliced up that morning sat there, so she took and ate a piece before wiping her mouth off with a handkerchief.

“How rude of me,” said the speech bubble coming from the bitter smile on her face. Then she moved to the living/bedroom in the back.

She unlocked the door and stepped in to the makeshift changing room where all their luggage was stored.

“Huh? Come to think of it, does the house’s front entrance lock from the inside?” quietly asked Asama.

When the 5th Special Duty Officer entered the back room, the front entrance opened in Naruze’s drawings.

“That house would never prevent the wolf’s king from entering,” said Kimi with a slight smile. “The Reine des Garous and my foolish brother have an understanding, after all.”

The Chancellor entered and looked around inside, puzzled.

“Ga-chan, am I imagining it, or did your drawing speed drop as soon as the scene shifted to the Chancellor?”

“Yeah, my motivation took a hit.”

Regardless, the Chancellor walked further inside. The candy house took on a cross-section view that showed the 5th Special Duty officer lock the room’s door and start to undress in the bedroom to the left while the Chancellor opened the pots on the stove to check inside.

“Oh, he’s checking to see which ones Horizon made,” noted Asama.

“Checking behind my back like that is such a stalkerish thing to do. What a creep.”

The 5th Special Duty Officer failed to notice the presence in the kitchen as she removed her inner suit. The drawing placed her behind the luggage stacked up in the bedroom to cover up her nudity. That must have been the 4th Special Duty Officer’s brand of mercy.

But just as the 5th Special Duty Officer picked up her swimsuit, the Chancellor opened the door to the bedroom.

“Hey, Nate. What was it you wanted help with?”

The 5th Special Duty Officer’s scream came from the real candy house and the 4th Special Duty Officer clenched her fist in triumph.

“Wh-wait, what is going on!?”

Toori considered Mitotsudaira’s question while standing with the door half open.

…What’s going on, huh?

“I opened the door and found you naked and staring at a swimsuit?”

“Correct! Absolutely correct! But that isn’t what I meant!”

It’s great that Nate will play along with these things, he thought. Horizon would get physical right away, Asama would find some way to lecture me about it, and I feel like it would turn into something else entirely with sis.

But what kind of something else?

“Sooo you were changing? You should really lock the door first.”

“I-I did lock it!”

It clearly hadn’t been locked, but if Nate was that insistent, maybe it had been?

Did I mess this up somehow? he wondered, raising his right hand

“Let’s put this to the test.”

“How exactly?”

“Close the door again and lock it from the inside.”

“Judge,” said Nate, covering up with a towel and approaching the door.

Mitotsudaira felt some regret as the bedroom door closed in front of her.

She remembered locking it, but then her king had come in. She didn’t know why, but it meant he had wanted a chance to be with her.

…What am I doing?

She mentally glared while speaking through the door.

She made sure to lock the door from the inside.

“My king, I just locked it.”

“Okay, then I’ll open it.”

It opened.

…Huh!?

Her king stuck his head through the cracked door.

“I thought you locked it?” was the first thing out of his mouth.

“I-I did lock it!”

She turned the lock to demonstrate. The machinery in the door latch operated and the deadbolt stuck out.

“See, I was doing it right.”

“Hm, then try it again.”

She tried it again. But…

“I thought you locked it?”

Her king stuck his head in again and she could only tilt her head.

“Hmm,” he turned his head. “Could the lock be broken? Let’s try it the other way around.”

“Good idea. We might notice something different on the other sides.”

“Right?” He smiled. “We don’t want people thinking it’s locked when it isn’t, so let’s keep testing.”

Naito joined a casual scrum with the others while viewing the Magie Figur by her hands.

The Magie Figur provided the situation inside the candy house. That situation might progress beyond Naruze’s imagination, so she was basing it off of the audio from the auditory spell that Horizon’s arms had carried beneath the floor.

As the Reine des Garous’s house, it had excellent anti-spell security, so the voices were only arriving in bits and pieces.

“Now I see why no one could overhear their 24-day marathon.”

“Didn’t most of that happen outdoors, though?”

“Would it be best to storm in like we did at the Asama Shrine with Asama-sama?”

“That is what happened with me, wasn’t it?”

Asama smiled and looked them all in the eye in turn, so everyone looked away. But Horizon…

“Last time it was Asama-sama’s turn and now it is Mitotsudaira-sama’s turn. This is excellent fodder- an excellent opportunity for my peeping- for my pursuit of life experiences.”

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Judge. By deepening his relationship with Mitotsudaira-sama, Toori-sama is further proving his worth as a man.”

Is that how you see it? wondered Naito. Is that how it works? she also wondered. But Narumi had her own response to Horizon.

“You sure are confident.”

That hit the nail on the head. Yes, Horizon was confident. And in her opinion…

“I am Toori-sama’s pair and duplicate, so there is no replacement for me. There is also no replacement for Asama-sama or Mitotsudaira-sama, but I tend to keep my distance and I am a special case. So in a way, I am resting on my laurels with the relationship I have here. However…”

However…

“There is the issue of my personality.”

“H-Horizon, if you think there is a problem with your personality, I can help you fix it,” said Asama.

“Heh heh. That’s right, Horizon!” said Kimi. “If you see a problem there, just leave it to me! Do as your wise sister says and that problem will be 5 or 6 times worse in a week, guaranteed!”

“No, no. I know I have hidden it well, but I am actually quite lazy.”

Everyone exchanged a glance and Noriki finally raised his hand.

“Should I say it?”

“No, I think everyone’s already thinking it,” said Naito.

“Never mind then!”

Noririn has been really Noririn lately.

But Horizon cracked her neck and continued.

“Anyway, in our first step toward being a surveillance state, let us find out what those two are up to. My arms are providing an on-scene report.”

Mitotsudaira saw the door close in front of her.

This time, her king was in the bedroom and she was in the kitchen.

“Oh, I should probably get changed too,” he said on the other side.

“Not into women’s clothing this time, please!”

Curious, Mitotsudaira checked the front door.

…It’s open too!?

She distinctly remembered locking it. She tried relocking it and it did indeed lock. What is going on here? she wondered before hearing the bedroom door lock. The metal deadbolt audibly slotted into the wall.

Okay, she thought, rushing back and grabbing the knob. She turned it, but…

“Huh?”

The knob turned without catching anything and the door didn’t open. She tried it a few more times, but it still didn’t work. Wondering if there was a trick to it, she pushed in or pulled out while turning, but still nothing.

“Hey, Nate. How’s it going?”

“I-it won’t open.”

“Eh? It won’t?”

There was an odd pause after that. After 4 or 5 seconds of silence, Mitotsudaira glared at the door.

“The girls’ luggage is in there, but I will make you regret it if you mess with any of it.”

“L-let’s not suspect people based on nothing! I wasn’t at all admiring how big the chest of Asama’s swimsuit is!”

“Asama-san! Asama-san! Either blush or aim your bow! You can’t do both!”

“Is Asama-sama’s reaction here one possible future I could have had!?”

“N-not at all, Horizon. My reaction is, um, kind of special.”

“So what would happen if he dug through Horizon’s stuff?”

“By the way, my king. Are you not interested in Horizon’s swimsuit?”

“The instant I started toward Horizon’s luggage, I saw a right arm silhouette in the window and thought better of it.”

Mitotsudaira was somewhat bothered by how much that made sense to her. But…

“So it won’t open?” he asked.

“No, it won’t.”

That was when it hit her.

…This is mother’s doing.

She didn’t know how it worked and it was wrong to suspect someone without evidence, but this felt exactly like something her mother would do. Yes, it was only a feeling, but she was pretty sure that feeling was accurate.

If she had to guess, the house itself understood the hierarchy of its residents and gave out permission accordingly. So while her mother had put her in charge, her king would naturally have greater authority.

…And mother really likes my king too.

That her father also liked him probably helped. But…

“Hm, so is there some weird rule where it only locks when I lock it?” her king asked.

He unlocked it and poked his head out.

“Anyway, Nate. You should hurry up and get changed.”

“J-judge. That’s right.”

She was covering up with a towel, but only her front. She wanted to avoid staying like this for long, so she entered the bedroom while her king left and got changed.

She put on her swimsuit and put on a shirt to keep the sun off and to keep her warm.

“But, my king, why are you here?”

“Hm? I thought you wanted help with something.”

…Huh!?

“That’s what Asama and the others said. So what is it?”

Silver Wolf: “Wh-what is the meaning of this, everyone!? What would I want help with!?”

Almost Everyone: “…”

Silver Wolf: “N-no response!? You’re watching this, aren’t you!? That’s the only explanation!”

“She’s the type to say it out loud because it turns her on, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I give her a lot of lines like that in the dounjinshis.”

“I didn’t realize how fun this is when you’re not the victim.”

“Asama-sama! Do you see now how amusing you are as a victim!?”

“That’s not quite what I said…”

I just need to ignore them, thought Mitotsudaira. The front door was locked after all.

And she did have business with her king.

“Um, my king? You said you would tell me about when I fell asleep before, remember?”

On the other side of the door, her king gave an “oh” of realization. And, “You promised to show me your swimsuit.”

…I-I forgot about that!

Well, we’re basically in a closely monitored box here, so this can’t go too far, she decided, opening the bedroom door.

“Hi,” said her king as he stepped inside.

She panicked a bit on the inside.

“Y-you don’t need to greet me.”

“Just setting the mood.”

He sat on the bed and patted on the blanket next to him.

“C’mon, Nate.”

This is a bedroom, you know? she thought, but she sat there anyway. Then he slid down to sit on the floor.

“Show me.”

In his mind, the bed must have been a stage, but this created a problem for Mitotsudaira.

“I-I have to adlib!?”

“Hm, then how bout you start with the crotch? Hey, don’t glare! Okay, fine. You can start by explaining the intent of the design and how each part functions.”

…That’s awfully businesslike.

She felt like they were killing each other’s anticipation here, but they were both beginners when it came to living together. However…

“Hey, Nate?”

“Yes?”

He looked up at her from the floor.

“My first impression is that it looks cool.”

She didn’t mind being told that. In fact, she felt heat building inside her. So…

“Then let us take a closer look and see if it lives up to your first impression.”

Chapter 74: Trapped Wolf[edit]

Well, this is inappropriate

Yes, very inappropriate indeed

And inappropriate things

Are so amusing

Point Allocation (Boomerang)

“Things have quieted down.”

Asama nodded in agreement with Naruze. Some of them had a hand on their chins, others like Mary had a delighted smile, and others were needlessly crouching down in great interest.

As for Asama herself…

…This seems inappropriate.

Unfortunately, it was also a lot of fun. It helped that she was confident this wouldn’t end badly for him and Mitotsudaira, but…

…Glimpsing an unfamiliar side of familiar people is a strange thing.

It was something of a surprise, but she mostly felt embarrassed due to identifying a little too hard with one of them. But that meant she was imagining herself in Mitotsudaira’s place.

“It does make me wonder what would happen if that was me…”

“And the two of us are in a position where that is a distinct possibility. Then again,” said Horizon, staring into the distance. “My personality presents a problem there.”

“We get that already, so can you choose whether you want to fix it or find a workable compromise?”

“But that would mean admitting defeat, Asama-sama.”

“Would it now?” was all Asama could say while hanging her head, but…

…Maybe that’s Horizon’s way of showing her love for Toori-kun.

It was like she would set extreme hurdles in his path.

But those hurdles kept him close by, so she wasn’t doing it because she disliked him. Just as Asama spoiled him and Mitotsudaira protected him, it was important for Horizon to help him overcome those hurdles.

Asama had arrived at that understanding recently.

It isn’t that she’s super domineering. She’s just strange- well, maybe she is strange, but I need to choose my words more carefully. I’m just saying she can be rather unique. Yes, and she seems to have some unique interests too. And speaking of unique interests…

“Asama-kun, why are you glaring at me? Do you have something to say?” asked Ohiroshiki.

Maybe unique isn’t as positive as I thought it was.

But Horizon did nearly lose herself before. Then she chose for herself to take a similar position to the one she had 10 years ago and that has led to the position she has now.

I bet that’s the reason for the hurdles she’s setting up now.

“Then again, I have heard my treatment of Toori-sama was set to hell mode in the past as well, so this must be normal for me.”

…N-no, don’t change your bet now!

Asama began silently arguing with herself, but Horizon’s position in the past had been unusual since she was Lord Motonobu’s child and her mother had been taken by the Double Border Crest.

That had made approaching her a challenge.

But if everyone was going to keep their distance over something she couldn’t control, she had decided to set up her own hurdles and keep that distance herself.

So those hurdles were tall.

But there had been one idiot who had attempted to clear those hurdles instead of tearing them down.

That had to explain it best.

So back then, she had stayed near him and chosen to lower the hurdles herself.

In the mornings, she had made breakfast because she didn’t have any family with her.

…Oh.

But he had rejected that. It was possible he had simply been teasing her to hide how happy he was that she had spontaneously made breakfast.

It was also possible Asama was mistaken about that or making assumptions, but…

“Horizon.”

She decided to say it.

“Do you want me to teach you how to cook when we get back to the Musashi?”

“That came so far out of left field I am worried about your mental health, but now that I think about it, that is the norm when it comes to you. I would like that very much.”

“Wait. That was quite an unusual assessment you made there.”

But that was just how it was.

This is fine.

I won’t let what happened a decade ago happen again.

So…

“Thank you, Horizon.”

“For what?”

“Just as you can see yourself in me…”

Asama had her own thoughts about this discussion with Horizon. She had failed to do anything a decade ago, but…

“I no longer think I’m as helpless as I used to be.”

“Heh heh. Took you long enough! It shouldn’t take much thought at all to figure that out! I cleared that one out ages ago!”

“Clear out? What are you even talking about?”

“You need to clear things out of your head if you want to keep your mind clean! Oh, dear! Asama, did you think I meant that physically!? Like an enema!? Adele, go fetch the transparent horse enema device from the shed! I’ll clear you out with the spring water!”

“Kimi, why is it always poop jokes with me lately!?”

Asama still wasn’t quite sure what that crazy person was talking about, but…

…None of this is stopping.

She found herself understanding more and more all the time.

Was it the passing time, or was she changing?

She was realizing and remembering so much. Looking back on the past felt like a negative thing to her, so it seemed strange that she sometimes found the answers there.

The past was already set in stone, so why could she find new answers there?

Maybe people found these things easier as they grew.

She thought she had met a wide variety of people and attended plenty of weddings, funerals, ceremonies, and festivals, but she had lately come to realize there was still so much she didn’t understand.

And at the moment…

“Oh.”

She saw a right arm using a rope to rappel down from the candy house’s roof.

“I see.” Masazumi crossed her arms. “Is it going to break in if anything happens?”

You think I would know?

“Um, so you see, the cut and color of the bottom of the chest makes it look like fangs or claws.”

Mitotsudaira was explaining her swimsuit while seated on the bed.

What you thought about a design came down to emotions and personal taste, but the form of the design was more objective.

The meaning behind the shape, materials, and the different parts somewhat depended on what the maker had in mind, but her own thoughts mattered as well. So…

“It is actually a modification of the unique square parts found in Hexagone Française design, but it looks like fangs to me.”

“Yeah, but I can see it too, so let’s go with that.”

Her king seemed to love both that shape and the material. The part that ran between her breasts was designed to look like a chain, but…

“Can I touch it?”

“Eh? Yes, if you want.”

Once he had permission, he reached out his hand. She considered leaning down since he couldn’t reach from the floor, but he got up on his knees instead.

He touched her.

He wasn’t directly touching her body or skin, but she still thought she felt it.

“Neat, it’s really made of metal.”

He lifted, pinched, and rubbed the chain part with his fingers, but she felt like he was doing that to a part of her body.

…C-calm down!

She breathed a mental sigh of relief when he let go of the chain. And then…

“Why is the coloration on the chest diagonal?”

“Eh? Oh, that. That helps show off the lines of my body.”

The act of explaining helped cool her head.

“The angle of the diagonal lines at the bottom of the chest has them leading to the hip hard point parts. Whether that draws your eyes to the line down the side of my hip or toward the interior decorations is like a game played with the viewer.”

“Can I touch it?”

“Yes, if you want.”

“Okay,” he said and touched it with his finger.

It being the chest of her swimsuit. His finger arrived at the seam in the cloth.

…He meant there!?

Mitotsudaira had thought he meant the hard point parts.

Her heart leaped in her chest and her body tensed, but she praised her own courage for not running away. However…

“Oh, did that surprise you? Sorry.”

“N-no, I-I don’t mind.”

She wasn’t sure what she was really saying, but her mind worked out the answer that would least obstruct her king. So…

“You mean these lines?”

Her king’s fingers ran down the seam lines, along her ribs, and down her sides.

Some “eek” or “eep” noises escaped her throat, but she avoided any further reaction. Oh, the bottom of my ribs is more sensitive than my sides, she realized like this was a strange experiment, but then her king’s fingers reached the hard point parts.

“Oh, I see.”

“S-see what?”

“Nate, this part is really cool.”

He touched just below the hard point parts.

That was the side of her pelvis. On both sides, that area was more bony than fleshy and the line ran diagonally downwards. To the front, this was her lower stomach. To the the rear, this was the top of her butt.

“This part fits just right in my hands.”

He pushed on her right side with his left hand.

…Ahh.

Before – yes, it was during the Kantou Liberation – I landed on my king after jumping and ended up mounting him. He grabbed me here when he lifted me up.

She was somewhat sensitive there. There wasn’t much flesh there, so it felt like he was directly grabbing her bones. And with no joints there, she couldn’t use her strength to resist.

If someone grabbed her there, she generally couldn’t resist.

Well, she could, but it would require thrashing with her entire body. Something she couldn’t do with her king.

“Kh…nh.”

A shaky voice left her throat and her king gave her a serious look.

“Nate, is it just me, or…”

“O-or what?”

“Do you like being touched?”

She hit him with a quick chop.

“Okay, sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Toori apologized on his knees to the blushing and upset wolf.

…I see now.

He understood Mitotsudaira’s reaction.

But he had trouble telling if she was legitimately enjoying this or if she was forcing herself to go along with it. Their king and knight relationship meant it was possible she was obeying even though she didn’t want this.

…She takes her knight stuff really seriously, after all.

But moving in with him had to have come from her personal wishes. It did, didn’t it? Please tell me it did.

So he wanted to get a better read of her. He knew she could relax if she slept in his lap, but he didn’t know just how close they had gotten.

“So, uh, Nate. You know how I’ve groped your chest a few times in the past?”

“How could I forget?”

…Wow, that is quite the look.

But he had something to say here. They had held an investiture when she moved in.

“Can I touch it?”

The wolf shrugged a bit.

“I do not mind, my king.”

“I’m not asking if you mind.”

That seemed to get through to her. “Oh,” she said, eyebrows raised, shoulders drooping, and legs somewhat apart. She scooted her butt forward a bit in the bed.

“I quite like it when you pet me or touch me, my king.”

“But you always get mad.”

“Because you treat me like a dog. I don’t make a fuss when you don’t do that, do I?”

He was pretty sure she had punched him at full power when he had groped her chest without any dog treatment, but apparently that time didn’t count. But he asked the same thing again now that he had heard that.

“Can I touch it?”

“Feel free.”

“Then I shall.”

She went “eh?”, but since he already had permission, he touched her.

He pressed his cheek against her inner thigh and held her legs around from the outside.

“You smell great, Nate.”

…Don’t sniff me!

This Mitotsudaira hadn’t expected. And her king was clearly enjoying it. He sniffed at her thighs like a puppy, moved to her stomach, then her side and navel, and continued up from there.

“Nh.”

He suddenly licked her.

An “oh” of question escaped her because she didn’t initially know what he had done. But the sensation soon sent a tremor through her.

“My king!”

“Oh, sorry. You just smelled so good. Then I noticed you were sweating and I wondered what it tasted like. Oh, and that was still only touching you – just with my tongue – so it’s what you agreed to!”

…No, it is not!

But she was curious about something. This was something she couldn’t tell herself.

“What do I smell like?”

Her king responded by moving his nose to the bottom of her chest and then her neck. He sniffed both times.

“Lean forward a bit.”

She leaned her head over and he sniffed at her hair. After asking her to sit upright again, he kissed her on the forehead, lowered his head, licked between her breasts and down to her navel, took her hand, sniffed the inside of her elbow, and finally licked between her fingers.

“Wait, my king!”

He was being far too generous. He had given her a quick lick of a kiss on the forehead back at the Blue Thunder, but this was leaps and bounds further. But he tilted his head with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Soup stock?”

“Soup stock!?”

“No, wait.” He moved down her body again, bringing his face to the thigh he had started at. “Can I sniff here?”

“Y-you might as well at this point.”

“Then I will,” he said, bringing his face between her legs.

…Wait.

“A-are you out of your mind!?”

“Well, I was curious about the back side, but I decided it would be better to start at the front.”

That made sense to her, so she lifted her hips and turned around for him. She fixed the rear lines a bit, but she wasn’t sure if she should keep her knees apart or together and ended up with them in an in-between state. She didn’t like that because it seemed to display her lack of resolve, but…

“Oh, the rear design drops diagonally down toward the center just like the front.”

“Eh? Oh, yes. Tomo and the others use the same basic design, so it has a standardized wedge shape.”

“I see.”

Her king’s finger suddenly slid down the rear wedge.

He was clearly tracing the center line, but he did it slowly and paused for a moment.

…Eek!

Resist. You must resist. You must not make any noise or movement now! Remember the arm-shaped warning you saw in the window earlier. You can’t avoid sweating, but you can keep yourself from trembling.

“Hm?”

“Wh-what does that mean?”

“Oh, uh, I was focused on the design, but was that over the line?”

That question made her tremble. It really didn’t help that she was lifting her butt up toward him. So she looked back over her shoulder.

“My king, move over there.”

She gestured to the side with her chin, so he sat on the bed by her back.

Mitotsudaira realized she had a thin layer of tears in her eyes and her mouth was trembling.

When she sighed, she found it was filled with heat.

“My king.”

She lowered her hips to the bed to take a sideways seat. And she looked to her king.

“It was way over the line.”

“Hmm.”

Toori sucked in a breath and interpreted things in his own personal way.

…My knight and I were discussing her swimsuit and enjoying some touching when she underwent a class change to wolf?

He knew from maman how incredible wolves could be. He wondered if Nate had that same mental synchronization ability

“Nate, Nate.”

The wolf tilted her head silently, so he slowly embraced her from behind.

Her shirt had already slipped off of her, so here bare skin touched him. But…

“How about this?”

He opened his own shirt and wrapped his arms and shirt around her. That brought her back against his chest and stomach.

“M-my king?”

“Here.”

When Mitotsudaira turned around, he held out his right index finger.

“––––––––”

After some hesitation, she bit it.

The first few gentle bites were nothing but the damp flesh of her lips, but…

“Nh.”

Then her teeth came. Awkwardly at first, seeming to test it out. But then she pressed them against his finger, leaving solid teeth marks as if she were seeing what he tasted like.

…Oh, this feels pretty nice.

I hope this doesn’t awaken something weird inside me, he thought while the wolf bit and sucked his finger like he had given her a new toy. She licked at it with her tongue and tried to bring it further into her mouth, so he placed the remaining fingers on her chin for support. And…

“What do I taste like?”

She pressed her tongue against his finger and licked off a glossy string before turning her eyes toward him. She let out a quiet laugh before answering.

“Like the meat you just ate. Like soy sauce.”

“Hm, but that isn’t what you smell like.”

“What do I smell like?”

“I couldn’t place it until you gave your answer now, but like that stuff – y’know, like papan’s sauce.”

“Father’s?”

Yes. Probably that.

“So like meat mixed with citrus?”

Her eyes widened at that. Then she blushed and looked away.

“I…prefer the smell of your cooking.”

“Yeah, but I think your smell is pretty great too.”

He took her left hand and brought a finger into his mouth. He sucked and bit the hard nail and slender finger so they couldn’t escape. He used his tongue to tell her to move it deeper into his mouth.

“You’re right. Your fingertip tastes like soy sauce.”

“I-I haven’t washed my hands yet!”

Well, that explains it, he thought before holding her in his arms again.

“My king?”

“Hm, you know how there’s that thing I haven’t told you about? From when you fell asleep after the Kantou Liberation?”

Well…

“This feels a lot like that time, so I guess I’ll tell you now.”

Mitotsudaira listened with her king’s finger against her mouth. The finger was only just barely touching her lips, so it felt like she was constantly kissing him. It felt the same for him, so…

“So, Nate. You’ve been by my side for a long time now and you’ve saved my rear a lot.”

“Of course I have. I am your knight.”

“But do you get anything out of it?”

That reminded her of the past. He had once saved her. She knew that wasn’t the only reason she did all this, but she still brought it up now.

“You have been by my side and saved me as well.”

“Um, so you’re saying it’s the same for both of us?”

“Any differences would be those born of the king-knight relationship.”

“Makes sense,” he said, holding her closer. “Then I’m not going to hold back anymore.”

“I would appreciate that. It is difficult for the knight to make the invitation.”

“Just wait in front of by the front door and I’ll know.”

“I’m not asking you to take me for a walk!”

“But anyway,” he said. “I once intended to do exactly that. Back when I was planning to leave Musashi.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She had known he had planned that at one point, but he had ultimately chosen a different path for his life.

“I was so pathetic back then. I kept dropping hints about those plans, trying to see how you would react.”

“I wouldn’t have minded. I would have accompanied you no matter where you went.”

“In that case,” he said. “If we had left Musashi, we might have been doing this somewhere else.”

…You win.

Mitotsudaira suddenly felt defeated.

He had won.

At the time, she and Asama had considered what they would do based on the assumption they would follow after him.

But at the time, she still hadn’t settled the conflict with her mother. If she had carelessly gone to Hexagone Française, she could have been driven out. So if it had come to that…

“I had considered letting Tomo take over then.”

“Oh, you would’ve come with us. I mean, you came to search for me at IZUMO, didn’t you?”

“But I was no match for mother.”

“If that had happened, I would have smoothed things over for you. I would’ve resigned as chancellor and whatever, so your mom wouldn’t have taken me hostage or anything.”

She realized he was probably right. And…

…Oh, he redirected the topic away from Tomo.

He was a good conversationalist. Or rather, he was hinting that he wanted to focus on her right now.

But in that case…

“If your mom had taken us here, we might have ended up doing this right here, just at another time. Probably next year sometime. That would fit the schedule I had in mind.”

“What were your plans exactly?”

“If you did come with me, I figured we could travel around doing the history recreation of your national pilgrimage or whatever it’s called. And if you said you didn’t want to join me, I figured I could go around learning the history of each region’s breads and learn how to make them.”

…If Tomo came along too, we probably would have discussed what route to take after descending to the surface.

My king would want to visit all the famous sites while traveling through Echigo and Tomo would want to visit all the power spots and distilleries. If all three of us went on a pilgrimage together…

…Oh, we would probably have a pretty good time.

She felt like her depressing view of the future from back then was crumbling around her.

But…

“My king, did you think we would go with you?”

“I thought I would be going it alone.”

That felt like a rejection, which made her sink down.

But in exchange, he held her even tighter from behind.

…Oh.

Her arms were basically digging into her body at this point. Her king’s arms were pressing against her enough to feel the softer flesh and harder bones against her. The way he subconsciously sniffed at her scent felt nice and she fought back by biting the finger held to her mouth.

“But I figured if I decided to travel on my own that you would choose for yourself to follow after me.”

“Well…”

“At the time, I thought you might, but now I know you would have.”

So…

“I prefer things the way they are now. That’s what I’ve been trying to say, Nate.”

“I also prefer things as they are.”

Toori nodded at the quiet comment from the wolf who was still facing forward.

The act of nodding rubbed his chin against her neck and shoulder. He wondered how her warm, damp skin would interpret his nod.

“I need you to keep on saving me, Nate.”

“Judge. I intend to.”

“I see.” He nodded again. “Then,” he began. “So, uh, Nate. This is something I haven’t told the others yet.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to create a kingdom.”

“Everyone already knows that.”

No, that’s not what I mean. I’m not sure how to put it, but…

“I’m really going to do it.”

“What do you mean?” Mitotsudaira raised her head and looked back toward him. “So you don’t mean what we have now? Something beyond this?”

“Judge. It’s so obvious, but I think that’s why no one’s thought about it.”

He didn’t see any change to the knight’s expression. She was simply waiting for him to say more. So he did.

“We all have our own dreams, right? Even Horizon’s starting to find a dream she wants to try and make true. So we’ll need a place to do that.”

“Isn’t that what the academy is for?”

“School belongs to the underclassmen. We’re gonna graduate.”

He was glad the word “but” came so readily to his lips.

…Seijun told me this, didn’t she?

He had a vague premonition, expectation, or prediction.

“The world is changing and the current age is when we need to try and change it if we can.”

So…

“I dunno about the other nations, but can’t we start to think about what we’ll do after graduating?”

“Well…”

“I don’t know how to do it.”

I don’t know cause I’m an idiot. But…

“I’m hoping someone – maybe all of you – will gather around, add in whatever’s necessary, take away whatever isn’t, and either naturally or forcefully create a place for us. That’s what a king wants.”

And…

“And I want that place to be where we can reach for our dreams and make sure they come true.”

He had some vague thoughts about this.

“Like the Main Blue Thunder. I was thinking we could remake it into a gathering place for us all. Seijun can come up with a plan for Musashi, Tenzou can bring us intel on the other nations, Asama can talk about spells and divine protections, Shiro can talk about money, Neshinbara and Black Mar can talk about doujinshis and books, and so on. And it doesn’t have to be just us. Flatty and the Glasses Underclassman can join us there too.”

Because…

“With a place like that, if anyone’s dream isn’t going well, the rest of us can gather there and make it happen in some form or another. I mean, think about it. Nothing we’ve done was done by just one of us. We did it all together, with each of us winning some and losing some.”

So…

“To create a kingdom where everyone’s dreams come true means creating a kingdom where everyone works to make everyone else’s dreams come true, and it has to be the king who holds it all together.”

“My king…”

“Hm? What is it?”

The wolf straightened up in his arms.

“Once you have a better grasp on your thoughts, I think you should tell Horizon about this. Because I just know that would be the kind of place where her dreams would come true.”

In other words…

“That would be a gathering place for our dreams and everyone else’s dreams too.”

“Right. So as the king, I’d serve the food and chime in whenever I wanted. You know, tease Seijun, have Tenzou research stuff I’m curious about, and tell Neshinbara or Black Mar about the latest trend so they’d do a story about it. And when everyone started sharing their dreams, I’d be slightly involved in all of them, giving me the highest overall involvement rate, proving it was my kingdom. How’s that sound?”

“I’m not sure what to say, but…it sounds like you’re saving the best position for yourself.”

“Hey, it was my idea.”

“In that case,” said the wolf. “What would I do?”

“I’d be a pretty pathetic king if I didn’t have knight.”

The knight nodded as if to say “of course”. And…

“My king, this is quite the sneak peak you are giving me.”

“Well, if I told Horizon at this point, she’d probably tilt her head and give me a weird look. And if I told Asama, it’d put her in one of her ‘half-excited, half-worried’ moods.”

“You’re right…”

The wolf laughed a little in his arms. That was when it happened. It was partially due to letting her shoulders droop and partially because she was shrinking down in his arms.

With a metallic clatter from her sides, the swimsuit fell away.

“Oh.”

Which one of them said that?

Mitotsudaira tried to catch the garment falling from her chest.

“Ah, m-my king.”

“Um, right.”

Her king held her around the chest, trapping her arms in the process.

…That isn’t what I meant!

She had meant for him to release her arms, but he did the exact opposite. In his mind, he was helping her cover up, which made her feel like he was protecting her and like he cared about her.

…Wait, have I always been so easily influenced!?

But this kept both of them from moving their arms, so they had no way of picking up the fallen swimsuit. And…

“U-um, my king?”

“So, uh.” His tone was deadly serious. “Can I cover you up with my palms instead of my arms?”

“That would ruin the mood, so no!”

…Come to think of it, isn’t there an urban legend about them growing if a boy massages them?

If that memory was surfacing, she knew she was extremely flustered. But…

“So what now, Nate? I know you’ll throw me right off the bed if I try to grope you now.”

“T-try not to imply you would do it otherwise.”

I get the feeling Tomo would have let him and Horizon would have sicced her arms on him before it got this far. Oh, we each have our own unique roles, don’t we? she realized, but that did nothing to solve the current problem.

“Um, my king?”

She decided to ask just to be sure.

“Do you want to see-”

“Yes!”

“-them? You could at least wait until I’m done with the question before answering!”

But regardless, she felt a belated blush rapidly coming on. When she had let him look at her earlier, the blush had gradually emerged from her entire body, but this time it seemed to come directly from her thoughts.

…My king is interested in me.

They had known each other long enough that she knew this wasn’t just an “as long as you’re offering” or “if it won’t cost me anything” sort of thing. They had touched on this topic back in the Udon Kingdom, but that had been about Horizon and this was a separate matter. So…

“My king…”

What was she going to do? She had an excuse to let him see. And it wouldn’t be weird to do so here. She felt some definite happiness at knowing he was interested in her. So…

“U-um.”

She hesitated. And finally…

“Today is for seeing my swimsuit.”

So…

“I want you to see that…some other time.”

How about that? thought Mitotsudaira.

Yes, today is the swimsuit day. Anything beyond that is going too far. But if she had to prepare something else for another day…

…I-I’ve lost either way!

This was a temporary retreat leading to another invasion. Yes, I’m taking a few steps back, but I have to take even more steps forward.

But at the moment, this was the most she could manage. That just left one thing.

“My king.”

She prepared to ask him what he thought about that.

That was when the large wafer floor in front of her shot straight up and her mother’s head popped out, shaking the audio and video recording spells she held in her hands.

“What are you doing, Nate! Keep going! You need to keep going!”

Chapter 75: A Mother in Public[edit]

You two!

Why aren’t you

Really going at it

Right now!?

Point Allocation (Wolf’s Front Line)

“There’s someone here!!”

Mitotsudaira used her full reaction speed to break free of her king’s arms and wrap her shirt around herself. Once she was more presentable, she noticed more heads poking up next to her mother, who had a wafer balanced on her head. Naruze took a look around.

“Tch.”

“Wh-what is that tongue click supposed to mean!?”

“Nate! You betrayed everyone’s expectations.”

“Th-that is one of the last things a parent should say to a child!”

“Now, now,” someone said, moving between Mitotsudaira and her mother.

That someone was Horizon. She removed another floor wafer to give everyone more space.

“This explains why the room is so soundproof. I thought it simply had a powerful spell or divine protection applied, but it also uses a triple-layer wafer structure. This cream between the layers must have been absorbing the sound.”

“Correct,” said Mitotsudaira’s mother. “And the walls are 12cm of milk chocolate, so only the loudest sounds can get through. Also, the window is half-dry candy, which has excellent anti-shock properties. The house’s divine protections have the non-heat and moisture resistant settings switched on, which means the scents linger but if you peel any of it away you can eat it as candy.”

It was a little concerning how intently Adele was staring at the floor wafers.

But Horizon blew a whistle she had pulled from somewhere and raised her right hand toward Mitotsudaira.

“Anyway, Mitotsudaira-sama, you are this close to receiving a yellow card. I thought you were going for some smooching like Asama-sama did, but getting fired up over some finger sucking? Brilliant stuff. I will need to give some thought on how to outdo you in that regard, but that can wait until another day”

“I-I see. Okay.”

Mitotsudaira nodded awkwardly back, but then Asama put a hand on her cheek and sighed.

“That was pretty impressive, Mito.”

“Wh-what was!? How much did you people listen in on!?”

“Oh?” Her mother looked back Mitotsudaira’s way without disturbing the wafer on her head. “Don’t you worry, Nate. We were listening in on the wholllllllllllllllllllllllllllll-”

Her mother held the word and spun around, somehow not hitting anyone else in that cramped hole. She spun around thrice, breaking off pieces of the thick wafer on her head, passing them out to the others, reaching out and breaking off pieces of the chocolate bar forming the edge of the bookcase, handing that to the others, and tossing it to Mitotsudaira and her king.

“-lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllle time!”

“I-I know that can’t be true based on how you’re reacting!”

“3 minutes 27 seconds. A new record,” said Asama.

“Judge. I am not sure I could respond if someone did that to me,” said Horizon.

Mitotsudaira knew those two were teasing her, but her mother would not stop. The woman pulled an entire wafer panel from the behind the bookcase.

“Anyway, I do apologize for my gutless daughter, everyone. I can’t believe she would refuse the honor of bringing their king-knight relationship to the next level.”

“M-mother. Based on the stories you told me, you couldn’t bring yourself to make the first move and stewed in your jealousy.”

“That is because I am a refined lady.”

That claim earned a round of applause from the others.

“My, my,” she said, bowing in each direction. “My point is, Nate, that your father and I never did anything like finger sucking and crotch sniffing when we were meeting in secret. I did snuggle up against him from behind, but that was only to indulge in some peaceful closeness…while fantasizing about some much more extreme activities.”

“Y-you couldn’t resist undermining your own point at the end, could you!?”

“Take this,” said her mother, tossing her the wafer she held.

“What is it?”

“Testament. When your king was here last, he attempted to resist my charm and fell flat on his face. This is the wafer he scraped his crotch against.”

The boys cringed at the thought, but her mother continued all the same.

“I considered giving it to you back then, but you were in such a hostile mood at the time, I thought you wouldn’t appreciate its value. And then I forgot all about it when I left here.”

“Ture-yan gets all worked up about the weirdest things,” said Margot.

The Technohexen sounded legitimately impressed, but Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure what to think about that. However…

“Mother, um, what do you expect me to do with this wafer?”

“Well, if you think of it as your king’s virtual crotch, you could chew on it, lick it, or take it home and curl up with it while you sleep. You could even have it installed in the floor of your king’s house and enjoy sleeping every night in his crotch’s sweet embrace. That way we all win.”

“How is that winning!?”

This was easily the most awkward gift Mitotsudaira had ever received. But then her king rubbed her head from behind. It felt unusually forceful, like he was pushing her hair down, but then he spoke to her mother.

“Did you hear what we were just discussing, maman?”

“Which part exactly?”

“About the future that might have happened but didn’t.”

Her mother’s expression changed when she heard that. She laughed quietly and narrowed her eyes.

“My daughter’s king is going to take all of her best points from me, isn’t he?”

“Ohh,” whispered Asama and Horizon gave a double thumbs up, but what was that about? And after a breath…

“Toori-sama,” said Horizon.

“Judge. I know. I’ll have a great story for you before long.”

“Judge,” said Horizon, exchanging a nod with the king. Then Masazumi raised her hand.

“Since we have the Reine des Garous here as Hexagone Française’s Vice Chancellor, how about the rest of you get changed and get some rest while Mitotsudaira inspects that shed.”

Also…

“Afterwards, we can have a meeting over dinner. Asama, Neshinbara, and Naruze can give us a report on their research then.”

“I know it requires ignoring the costs, but dismantling the Musashi isn’t going to take anywhere near as long as I thought. Of course, it’s only possible by redirecting all of the power output to that.”

“Milady, you do not have to discuss painful reality all the time, you know?”

That response came from higher up.

Ookubo was inside a Musashino god of war hangar. A few of the gods of war stored there were being equipped and then moved back into their hangar position.

This was being done with the pilots still onboard. The gods of war sat on or dangled from hanger-like hooks.

“Ow, ow, ow. I’ve done this before, but this position isn’t exactly comfortable!”

“Their structural integrity is subtly different from a human’s, so their optimal hangar position differs between model. Hey, you! Lift that crotch saddle a little higher if you can!”

“Ahh! But I’m weak in the armpits and crotch!”

Protests like that made the hangar a noisy place. But…

“Engine Division Chief, about my Righteousness…”

“It was repaired with great skill. And with a woman’s touch, looks like,” called down Engine Division Chief Mishina Taizou from the 2nd story area.

Righteousness stood within the 15m-tall hangar. It had been carried by the transport ship the Treasurers had sent as supplies after their negotiation with the Kantou nations the other day.

…I didn’t expect it to be stuffed in a container along with paper cushioning…

And the container had been labeled “XL Figurine”, so “Asakusa” had summoned her after receiving the container. When they had opened it, they had found Righteousness and a full set of its equipment. However…

“To strengthen the joints, they went for overall balance over a focus on the core. Makes sense. This works better for a focus on aerial battles than the settings you used previously.”

“Something more solid, would have made for more flight stability, though.”

“It’s all about getting a feel for the right balance. But I bet you can do amazing things with this after everything you’ve experienced.”

“You can tell?”

To answer, the Engine Division Chief opened a sign frame.

Large sign frames appeared over Righteousness’s joints in response. They displayed the rotating rings of the joints, which she recognized well.

Color appeared on the rings in the sign frames. Two points of red appeared at opposite angles along the inside.

“These were the most fatigued portions when you first arrived. The interior parts were worn down along the red and needed to be replaced.

“Yes. I’ve been wearing them down faster lately, so I was considering replacing them with stronger Orei Metallo.”

“I imagine so. Now take a look at this.”

The Engine Division Chief operated his sign frame. The red on the other frames began to spread.

It had started at two opposite angles, but it traveled 90 degrees from there until it covered the ring’s entire interior.

“Is that the wear and tear from the Kantou Liberation?”

“No.”

The Engine Division Chief shrugged while replaying that spread on a loop.

“This is simply a compilation of the points of greatest fatigue from each time you replaced the parts. Do you get it now? In the past, you had a rough piloting style that mostly took you along a straight line, but now you wear things down in all directions, even if you still favor one direction.”

So…

“Because you used to only every charge straight in, having a stronger core worked best. But now you move around a lot more freely, so while a strong core still feels right to you, it actually hinders you when you move outside your old comfort zone.”

“So what would happen if I made it more flexible?”

“You catch on quick,” he said with a smile. Then he pointed to the last frame of the looping diagrams. Four points on opposite angles, drawing out something like an X, had the strongest red.

“The red may never be entirely even, but as you progress, it should get closer to that. And not just one joint. This is true of the fingers, wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, crotch, shoulders, and back. If they were all more flexible, you could manage longer battles and allow impacts to escape more easily.”

“Then…?”

“But you’re used to a stiffer build and I bet it feels more comfortable for you. Changing it all at once would make it feel limp and weak to you. Let me guess: you noticed that in the past and made sure to choose the stiffest parts you could.”

She had to agree with that and he nodded back.

“Now the joints are given a directional tightness with spells. That way they can be flexible but still feel right to you, like they’re padded. For the exterior, it’s linked with the armor’s ASRA to stiffen things up and reduce the recoil when hit by a shock or impact. Beyond that, you’ll just have to get used to it.”

“Won’t that be expensive?”

“You’ll have to speak with the higher ups about that. …This is good work. Whoever did this has been paying a lot of attention to how you pilot.”

Hearing that, Yoshiyasu knew she had her work cut out for her: I have to negotiate the price with them? But she knew Tokishige was the type to do her job right. Yoshiyasu would just have to do the same here.

But when she looked to the movement in the hangar…

“Can you not send out every god of war in an emergency?”

Everyone looked her way and one of the god of war team leaders nodded her way.

“When the Musashi splits up for independent movement, we have to stay onboard as mobile cannons and to repair damage. If it comes to it, we can activate descent spells and jump overboard. But just in case, we want to leave behind enough of a labor force to keep things functioning. So…”

Another god of war took over.

“So a third of us will remain here. An Ookubo family transport ship will apparently carry this block, so we’ll be reliant on that. As will your Yatsufusa.”

Hearing that, Yoshiyasu looked to Yatsufusa.

The white canine god of war was stored surprisingly close to the front of the hangar.

“It didn’t even budge during the Kantou Liberation or since, did it?”

“You sure it isn’t out of fuel or something? Also, we were in Nördlingen during the Kantou Liberation, so maybe we were too far away.” The Engine Division Chief tilted his head. “You’ve gone to so much effort and it hasn’t responded at all. Maybe this thing’s just a jerk.”

“I’m thinking there might be something ceremonial I need to officially prove I can lead Satomi. Or maybe I’m just not ready yet.”

“You’re being awfully hard on yourself. But that attitude is a lot better than before.”

She felt some joy from that, but did that mean she was being more honest with herself?

People could change. So she knew what she had to believe in here.

“Yatsufusa isn’t saying I can never do it. For now, I need to build myself up, pursue my sister and Yoshiyori, and move past them.”

So…

“Now I need to figure out what it means to move past them.”

“This kind of talk is wasted in the hangar.”

“I doubt I can change who I am.” Yoshiyasu crossed her arms and looked to Righteousness and Yatsufusa. “Yatsufusa must be waiting. Not for my sister or for Yoshiyasu, but for me to show I’m on the path leading past them.”

She could believe that now. Because…

…That’s what the Kantou Liberation was all about.

The future her sister and Yoshiyori had left in her hands was not the same as the past those two had lived in. So Yatsufusa wasn’t asking for a recreation of the past – it was asking for someone who would lead Satomi into the future.

What would that require?

“Eventually, I will inherit Mogami and take control of Satomi too. I won’t even need Yatsufusa by then, but maybe it will accept me at that point.”

“You seem awfully sure of yourself.”

“How could I not be when Righteousness always receives such excellent maintenance?”

“Thanks,” said the Engine Division Head and the others raised their hands in thanks too. And…

“And this time, it looks like the maintenance wasn’t the only good part. Dammit, Tokishige.”

Yoshiyasu compared Righteousness with a vermilion god of war situated to the side of the hangar.

That was Jizuri Suzaku.

It was the 6th Special Duty Officer’s machine and it had been repaired at and returned from Satomi along with Righteousness. Side by side, they were blue and red – dog and bird. The gods of war had different motifs, but they had one thing in common.

“They gave us flight devices.”

Righteousness had brand new ones and Suzaku had vermilion ones.

“I’ve already told Naomasa, but they still need some fine-tuning and can’t be used right away. Still, Satomi sent us the basic specs and some virtual training spells, so I know she’ll be testing it out as soon as she’s back. After all…” The Engine Division Head looked up at the Suzaku with the corners of his lips rising. “With those 6 wings, the Suzaku must be closer to its original design than ever. Getting the balance just right is going to be a pain, though.”

Mary quite liked visiting other people’s homes. That didn’t mean she disliked her small home – she just liked seeing how other people lived their lives.

On the 4th level of England, most homes had been small, handmade structures made of stone, since wood was so valuable. Everything was done analog from the moment of construction, so they were always fun to look at.

…Thinking back, I may have been wishing I could abandon everything and live like that myself.

On Musashi, it was a minor disappointment that the underground houses and blocks were all basically the same. Spending the night at the Main Blue Thunder, Suzu’s bathhouse, and the student council rec room stood out in her mind because those had been fun times and because the larger spaces had felt more liberating.

And now she was enjoying the candy house and its storage shed.

“They are such unique places.”

Everyone was supposed to be resting now, but they had split between either playing in the stream and spring or investigating the shed. The shed team included Mitotsudaira, her mother, Mary, Asama, Horizon, and Naito.

“Is Lady Naruze not joining us?”

“No. She still has to finish up her research report for tonight, so she wants to be left alone.”

“Master Neshinbara must be the same. I imagine he would be eager to take a peek in here otherwise.”

They were heading toward the storage shed built as a separate structure to the side of the candy house. The gap between appeared to be a workspace for odd jobs and it currently had a scattering of dried leaves covering it. Mitotsudaira’s mother looked to the ground while leading the way.

“Nate, the environment is automatically preserved, but you should still clean up around here.”

“If you tell me how to access the necessary tools, I will do so after we finish this.”

“That’s just one more thing for me to teach you.”

Before, those two hadn’t been able to converse like this. They had managed it on the Musashi already, but…

…They really have changed.

It helped that Mitotsudaira was more confident in herself now, but her mother was also less cautious and hesitant when it came to her daughter.

They understood now where to take a step back and where to show their respect. They now had an understanding of “how hard they could bite” similar to playful wolves.

They had needed to fight it out once to reach this point. Excalibur had needed to fly in and assist, which showed just how far their “biting” had gone and that they had needed external assistance to end it.

That meant they had thrown everything but themselves at each other.

…Just like with me.

Was that conflict at England enough?

Actually, what am I even supposed to do if it wasn’t? How can I look her in the eye next time I visit England? I feel like a short visit won’t be enough to figure it all out.

“––––––”

But after coming so far, Mary knew one thing about herself.

…I want to get a look at the houses in England one day.

That perspective helped reduce her caution, fear, and sense of duty. Instead…

“It feels more like heading home.”

She applied the current situation to her own situation and the two wolves looked back at her.

“It does.” The mother smiled. “I do wish someone could make use of it while I am away, though.”

“Glance my way all you want, mother, I have a home at Musashi. And how am I supposed to know this place as well as you when this is only my second time here?”

“Now, now,” cut in Asama. “We already checked inside the shed. And, um, used that treasure chest you use as a storage closet.”

“What happened with the shed when you created your forest in Kantou, Mom-sama?”

“Mom-sama?” muttered Mitotsudaira, but the mother herself only smiled and rubbed Horizon’s head. Mitotsudaira then answered, causing a sway in the shirt draped over her shoulders like a coat.

“There was a silver weapon leaning against the outside of the shed here.”

She indicated the side of the shed.

They took a look. Naito flapped her wings a bit to get a higher vantage point. She could see the shed and the forest around it, but…

“There’s nothing but firewood all around it.”

“When my husband comes here…well, you know how skinny he is, right? So he tends to need a fire, but when he starts one, he takes off his clothes and his smell ends up all through the house. So when I get back, I go around sniffing at all the chairs and doorknobs and whatnot.”

“Mother! It took you no time at all to get off topic!”

Asama pursed her lips and gave her thoughts.

“Mito, should I ask Masa to give your partition a doorknob?”

“Please do!” answered her mother.

“Unnecessary!” shouted Mitotsudaira herself.

It was wonderful how they had complete opposite opinions, but while Horizon placed a hand on Mitotsudaira’s shoulder, Mary understood how this worked.

“You have asked the spirits to automatically pile up the firewood, haven’t you?”

“Do you do that in England too?”

“Judge. England does not have much wood, so to ensure none of it falls off from the ocean, we have asked the environmental control water spirits to collect anything that drifts off and carry to a set location.”

But in that case…

“Is the equipment that Lady Mitotsudaira saw inside the shed?”

“Hm, where did that get off to? Give me a second, Nate.”

Mitotsudaira’s mother entered the shed.

“Wait,” called Mitotsudaira, taking the lead. And 30 seconds later…

“Hee hee. What about this swimsuit, Nate? I had it stored in the shed.”

“What happened to the equipment!?”

Mitotsudaira’s mother ignored the protest and opened the shed with her shirt draped over her shoulders.

“It’s in the back room, isn’t it? Which is locked.”

The mother looked to her daughter.

“Nate, you couldn’t open that?”

“Judge. It required your authorization.”

“I bet your king could have opened it.”

“Eh?” Mitotsudaira froze and her mother smiled bitterly.

“You still have a lot to learn.”

That was true of Mary as well, so why did she feel a smile growing inside her?

…The back of the shed…

“Coming in,” said Asama as she stepped inside the shed. The space was filled with tools – mostly agricultural ones – the treasure chest they had made such heavy use of, and some hemp sacks that were probably some other kind of artifact. She had come here and checked a few times, but the tools were surprisingly similar to the Far Eastern ones and fulfilled her thirst for knowledge.

“This door, right? Here, Nate, you do it.”

Mitotsudaira reached for the knob as told. She pulled. She pushed. But…

“It won’t budge.”

“No, it won’t,” agreed Asama. Then Mitotsudaira’s mother reached for the door and slid it to the left.

Eh? they all thought as the mother shut the door and then slapped her daughter on the butt.

“Try it again now, Nate.”

“Th-the trick was that simple!?”

Mitotsudaira reached for the door and tried to slide it to the left.

“Nh!”

It wouldn’t budge. She tried a few more times, using bursts of acceleration, but…

“It won’t open, mother! Stop teasing me and open it.”

“If you insist.”

Mitotsudaira’s mother placed a hand on her cheek and smiled. Then she reached for the door and pushed it into the room beyond.

Eh? they all thought as she gently shut the door.

“Does anyone else want to try it?”

Everyone quickly shook their heads, so she placed a hand on her cheek and snapped her fingers.

The door parted, one half sliding left and the other right.

“Now, let’s go.”

Silver Wolf: “Does she have to be so infuriating!?”

Gold Mar: “Everyone else is really missing out.”

Art-Ga: “Eh!? What!? Is something fun happening in that shed!?”

Scarred: “Yes. Lady Mitotsudaira’s mother told Lady Mitotsudaira to do it and then spread the entrance open.”

Art-Ga: “Noooooooooooo! I am so drawing that once I’m done with this! I swear I will!”

Asama: “Um, Naruze, it’s not what it sounds like, so please calm down.”

But what was inside the back room? The Asama Shrine had a treasure room where Umetsubaki and other equipment were stored, so could this be similar?

“Coming in.”

Asama switched her prosthetic eye Konoha into ether detection mode and stepped through the door.

…This room is huge!

That was Asama’s first thought after stepping through the door.

This was a storage shed. To match the candy house, the walls were made from chocolate bar columns and cookie walls and the roof was thatched with hard sugar candy made to look like straw. What is that stuff called again?

But the shed hadn’t looked all that large from the outside. And the entrance area had taken up about 2/3 of that apparent space. That shouldn’t have left much space for this room, but…

“Storing straw and other materials requires a lot of space, so I expanded this room as a phase space. If necessary, you can remove that wall over there for a larger entrance.”

The inside space was more than 3 times the shed’s apparent size. The floor was covered in straw, but…

“Are those chocolate covered wheat puffs and pretzels?” asked Asama.

“You can easily store them here with the right environmental settings.”

But that wasn’t the primary thing being stored at the moment. Duckboards and waterproof sheets were used to protect futons, tables, and other furniture.

“I remember these!” exclaimed Mitotsudaira.

“Yes, I took them to the mansion when you were little, Nate. They are artifacts passed down in our Loup-Garou family and the children’s bed is always filled with straw to make it feel like sleeping in a den. The study desk is made so you can feel the silence and darkness of the forest when you sit in it.”

So…

“I put them all in storage in case you ever have a child. And I am sure you will do the same once you are done with them.”

…Wow.

Asama felt outdone.

She was beaten.

That woman was several steps ahead of them in life. She had so many more experiences. She had everything her species and family had built up over generations. And this knowledge covered everything from childhood to adulthood.

…Yeah…

Some might call her overprotective or forcing her lifestyle on her child, but there was another way of looking at it.

“This is the only thing I can do for you,” said Mitotsudaira’s mother.

“I really don’t think that’s true.”

Asama decided to interpret that as modesty.

The equivalent for Asama was the knowledge and techniques her mother had taught her.

Those had been left with her so they could help her as she grew up. Mary and Naito likely had the same in some form or another. And in Mitotsudaira’s case, this was it. Plus…

“Listen.”

Mitotsudaira’s mother hugged Horizon from behind.

She’s being buried… Wait, my chest size is perfectly normal if you compare me to her. Naito, you don’t have to mime drawing spheres in the air to compare.

But the wolf mother kept talking.

“You may have forgotten, but that just means it is forgotten. It does not mean it never happened. So if you are curious, then come to me and I will teach you. Nate was a challenging child to raise, after all.”

And…

“If anything I teach you inspires an emotional response, then that must be something you were once taught but later forgot.”

Horizon raised her right hand and the mother tilted her head with a smile.

“Yes, what is it?”

“What should I do if I only react to the poop stories which are always found when discussing childrearing?”

“That would be troubling…”

“Mother! Mother! You weren’t really planning on telling any of those stories, were you!?”

The stubborn mother lifted the still-buried Horizon and moved to a corner of the storage shed. The two of them whispered about something for a bit before the mother carried Horizon back.

“Do not worry, Nate. She knows most everything now.”

“How is that a reason not to worry!?”

“I do believe this has been an educational experience for me,” said Horizon.

“Wouldn’t any childrearing stories be valuable for all of us to hear?” asked Naito.

“Judge. I agree. I often babysat back at England, so I could add to the conversation too. Plus, I would love to hear those stories.”

Mitotsudaira’s situation wasn’t looking good, so Asama tried to help out.

“Maybe we could minimize the damage to Mito by having individual lessons for anyone who wants them?”

Art-Ga: “When is it!? When does the class start!? I’ve already written myself a reservation form!”

Sorry, but that would be counterfeit.

But Mitotsudaira’s mother gave Horizon a squeeze before releasing her. The fact that it looked like removing Horizon from a mold showed just how big the woman’s size was. Then she raised a hand to call everyone over.

“I found it over here.”

A few items were lined up and stacked up in the back of the large space.

What was that one that looked like the fang bone of an unfamiliar creature? There were also swords and spears.

“Are those spoils of war?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“I imagine each generation had something they were proud of winning. Oh, but these could curse you or cut you if you touch them, so be careful. If anything does happen, kick the shaft as hard as you can and then stomp on it. Then it should cry and apologize. Afterwards, you can pour vinegar on it to make it scream.”

…That might be the harshest artifact management system I’ve ever heard of.

I guess that’s what you get with werewolf royalty, thought Asama as Mitotsudaira’s mother came to a stop in front of a few items in a wooden frame.

“Well, Nate? Is the weapon you saw in my past here?”

Kasuya Takenori of the Hashiba Ten Spears had used a silver weapon.

Specifically, silver nails. Asama had seen them herself through a telescope spell. They had attached to Kasuya’s arms, expanded in a cross shape, and attacked with a drilling action.

If they weren’t here, it would mean Kasuya had stolen them. But…

“That’s them right there,” said Mitotsudaira.

She reached out to the two silver nails placed in the wooden frame.

Mitotsudaira had found the pair of silver nails. They were definitely the ones she remembered from her mother’s past.

But the same thing occurred to her now as it had back then.

…Something’s different.

She recalled her memory of battling Kasuya. Kasuya’s weapons had transformed, greatly changing shape in the process. But…

“These are no more than pile bunkers.”

“Mito-tsan. I feel like pile bunkers should be impressive enough on their own.”

I think you’re right. But…

“They were a lot like these, but not exactly the same, mother. These can’t transform into drills or claws.”

“Drills? Claws? Nate, are you sure you didn’t dream that?”

“You fought Kasuya too, mother!”

“Fought? I was simply having fun singing, dancing, and playing. I was so into it I don’t really remember much about the people who were playing with me.” Her mother tilted her head. “But I do agree that the weapon that black-haired girl used was a bit different from this.”

“Do you have any more like this?”

“I would have to ask my mother to know for sure.” She turned toward Asama. “Do you do necromancy?”

“No, and there’s a bit of a debate over whether or not that is acceptable in Shinto. And I’m not sure it works with a spirit’s ancestors anyway.”

Mary tilted her head at that.

“When a nonreligious spirit dies, its soul joins the ley lines separate from its body. That is why the ley lines contain such vast memories which are said to link to the future. That is supposedly what triggers the updates to the Testament.”

I see, thought Mitotsudaira, but if this continued much longer, they would have a lecture on religion and spirits on their hands. Asama and Mary both loved discussing these things and Mitotsudaira knew her mother was fond of it too. So…

“Do any of the other Loup-Garou families have silver items?”

“You do see a lot of black hair in the Eastern European Loup-Garous.” Her mother placed a hand on her chin. “But during the Hundred Years’ War, I thought the Loup-Garou families from that region fought for the M.H.R.R. side instead of for Hexagone Française and Joan of Arc. And I had heard the frequency of black hair came from the fierce fighting against the prominent equestrian nomads in the east.”

“Which would mean…?”

“Maybe Hashiba made it themselves? Or one of the peoples in Eastern Europe made it?”

“W-would it be that easy to make!?”

Her mother smiled bitterly and pulled a small silver box from her cleavage.

“This was made about 200 years ago. To be honest, the way the Musashi flies through the sky is a lot more technically impressive.”

“Y-you have a point…”

Mitotsudaira had to give her mother that one.

Besides, their family’s silver nails were right there.

“Could you use these ones, Mito-tsan?” suggested Margot. “That would give you twice the weapons and give you even more of an advantage at close range.”

“Um, mother?”

“Most divine weapons choose their wielder themselves. I have my mother’s sword in here, but I can’t use it. And I so wish I could since it’s so cool.”

“Stop staring at the sword and sighing. …Then what about the silver chains?”

“Testament.” Her mother nodded. “They’re very friendly, so I knew they would accept you soon enough.”

“You’re telling me I inherited a family artifact for such a silly reason!?”

But it was true they had been friendly from the moment she had first tried using them.

For her own sake, Mitotsudaira took a breath.

“This must mean Kasuya is a lone werewolf just like me.”

“Nate.” Her mother stroked the silver nails. “There aren’t many of our species left, so do treat that girl with care.”

Mitotsudaira knew what her mother was getting at, but they had their positions in their respective nations to consider.

“Mother, she and I are enemies.”

“That is the problem, isn’t it? If only you were as strong as me. Then you could bring about peace without worrying about her.”

“Mitotsudaira-sama, I believe that is asking too much of you both physically and mentally. Do you agree?” asked Horizon.

She very much did. But…

“Well, this investigation didn’t last long.”

Mitotsudaira wanted to search for some equipment she could use, but apparently there wouldn’t be time for that.

She sensed a familiar presence outside. A familiar voice called in from the entrance to the shed.

“Hey, Nate!? Horizon!? Asama!?”

It was her king. But what did he want?

“Come on out or you won’t have any time to rest.”

That was true. The sun was hot, but they could not spend all their time in the water.

They had a meeting at dinnertime, after all. So the three of them exchanged a glance.

“Mother, is there a spot around here you think we could have a lot of fun playing around in?”

“Since you are in swimsuits, you could try digging into the bottom of the spring. You will find some polished stones in the sand there, but some of them are gemstones from a nearby vein.”

Everyone froze when they heard that. Everyone except for Mary who clasped her hands together.

“That could cover the expenses of moving to a new house!”

“Now things are getting interesting,” said Naito, so Mitotsudaira chose to simply nod and accept it.

Chapter 76: Relaxer at the Rest Spot[edit]

The next thing I knew

I was enjoying summer break

More than I thought

Point Allocation (I’m Glad I Noticed)

Narumi sighed with nothing to do but wait for dinner.

…I’m exhausted.

She savored the pleasant weariness in a log seat.

To relax, she had taken a stroll through the forest and checked out some spots she hadn’t gone before.

She had meant it as a simple distraction, but she had soon realized how quick her pace was.

…My mind is still in combat mode.

So after that, she had taken a dip in the spring and river to cool her head some. She had spent some of that time joining the Musashi Vice Chancellor in seeing how many flips they could make when diving from an elevated area adjacent to the spring and she had spent the rest of the time zoning out. She had enjoyed both, but partway through, he had arrived with the storage shed group and the boys.

“Narumi, they say there is treasure buried below that spring.”

The problems had started there.

The spring wasn’t what you would call deep, but it still had depth. It was tricky to work with.

They had split up into groups and started searching below the sand.

“Okay, let’s see who can stay underwater the longest!” the Chancellor had suggested.

Even more problems had started there. Because I can get competitive.

She had thought the 1st Special Duty Officer would last the longest, but half-dragons could seal off their respiratory system, which let him last a while too. But his hands couldn’t grasp much of the “treasure”, so the ones who ended up staying underwater longest were Musashi’s princess, who realized her flexible arms could come in handy here, and the rest of the Chancellor’s Main Blue Thunder group. The winged Technohexen had the most trouble. Viewed from above, their main wings and secondary wings had acted like floats and Narumi felt like that would be worth researching.

The biggest highlight was when the Acting Captain had discovered some agate below the sand, earning everyone’s applause.

Meanwhile, the 6th Special Duty Officer returned from the forest.

“Are you done training?” asked Narumi.

“I have the basics down, but I’m still not combat ready.”

She had apparently equipped new flight devices on her god of war. So she had set up a virtual test ground in the forest to test the control system and gravitational control.

She had set up a hexagonal barrier made from trees. Inside that barrier, the ground was slanted and gravity was stronger. From outside, it looked a lot like the 6th Special Duty Officer was being pushed off balance by something, but she said that was only the sloped ground and powerful wind blowing inside.

…We had a similar facility in Sendai Castle.

Due to all the snow at Date, they used a similar technique to create indoor training grounds. When entering one of those enclosed spaces, the god of war pilots would insist on practicing their surfing to prepare for the summer, but Narumi had always seen that as wasted effort since the ocean water was only tolerable for about a week in the summer.

But when Narumi had visited the forest earlier, she had seen a few trees with the bark stripped from all around their trunks.

During the virtual training, the 6th Special Duty Officer had likely used those trees in place of the god of war’s shoulder-riding hook. The bark was already growing back, another reminder this was the Reine des Garous’s land.

The others were also rounding out their training, taking breaks, or goofing off.

“––––––”

It was only evening, but the campfire was blazing and Narumi felt sleepy seated in front of it and smelling the dinner preparations.

Summer break would be over soon, but…

“How strange.”

“What is, Narumi?” he asked, carrying over some firewood.

“Only now is this feeling like summer break.”

“It has felt that way to me the entire time.”

“Have you finished your summer homework?”

“I had but two assignments: enjoy myself and worship elder sisters.”

“That deserves a thank you.”

She smiled a little, which helped wake her up.

“Now, then,” she said, looking around and noticing some more classmates sitting on the logs around the fire. That just left…

“I would love to see what we discovered about those mysteries.”

“Judge,” replied the Vice President. She took a look around. “We can report on our progress over dinner.”

Soon, dinner began. There was some fierce fighting over the appetizers, but since it was the last day, they took their time with dinner. Masazumi spoke up while watching the idiot put a large piece of meat over the campfire as the post-meeting main dish.

“Okay. I think I’ll start with my own report to sum up what we have accomplished while here.”

Meanwhile, she noted that was probably a pig or boar leg on the fire. The bone had been removed and a stick inserted in place of a skewer. After tying it to the stick with string, the stick was placed horizontally over the fire and rotated to cook the meat evenly.

Crossunite and Mary were tasked with rotating the stick. They stood across the fire from each other to do so.

“Are you ready, Master Tenzou?”

“Judge. Whenever you are, Mary-dono. I will need your help to know when it is done.”

Unturning: “Is flirting while rotating a pig leg considered good manners?”

Uqui: “How about we try it, Narumi?”

Novice: “It’s really easy to trigger a fire alarm doing that, so do be careful.”

Masazumi wanted to ask him if he knew that from experience, but decided against it after realizing how interminable his answer would probably be. Instead, she opened a sign frame and got down to business.

“Tomorrow morning, we will leave here on a transport ship and fly to Kyou.”

She displayed a map showing Hexagone Française and M.H.R.R. A red line drew out the route from here to the far west end of Kyou and Mitotsudaira asked a question while holding the front of her shirt closed.

“We aren’t going to stop by the Musashi first? Or even have the Musashi join us?”

“If the Musashi moves from where it is, P.A. Oda will raise their guard. Using a transport ship is akin to traveling in secret. As far as we can tell, Akechi hasn’t informed P.A. Oda about our meeting.”

Meaning…

“This is an unofficial meeting. Which is why I think we can actually broach the subject of Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name.”

“What if he won’t agree to that?” asked Gin.

Masazumi had a single answer for that.

“We listen carefully to what he has to say.”

That should have gone without saying, but…

“Because you people never listen.”

“Th-that is quite the reason there, Vice President!”

“Which is why I want you to quiet down and listen now, Balfette. I mean, do you have any idea how often someone is trying to say something witty, but the rest of you won’t shut up and the moment is lost? If it weren’t for that, my fantastic jokes would be getting tons of laughs, but instead-”

“Enough!!”

If they all say it, I guess I have to listen. Because we’re a democracy where the majority rules.

“Listen,” she began, waiting until everyone’s eyes were on her before continuing. “Since Akechi’s side agreed to the meeting, he must want to discuss something. Maybe he wants to hear what we have to say and maybe he has something to tell us. And this is after learning we want his inherited name.”

So…

“So we will ask him if he is willing to do that or not. If he isn’t, we just have to ask him why he agreed to speak with us, knowing what we wanted.”

“Judge. That does seem like the right way to go about this,” said Gin, slightly lowering her head.

“What could he wish to discuss if he is refusing our request?” asked Nenji, tilting his entire body.

“He’s probably gonna lecture us on how stupid it was to think he’d ever agree to that. Probably thinks anyone dumb enough to even ask needs a talking to.”

“Toori-kun, these are international negotiations, not a class meeting.”

…Probably shouldn’t mention that’s one of the possibilities I’ve considered.

“The biggest thing we have to watch out for is arriving in Kyou and finding he isn’t there,” said Masazumi.

“Would that mean he is keeping us busy so we cannot intervene in Honnouji?” asked Tenzou.

“Judge. But in that case, we just have to board the Musashi when it catches up to us and head to Honnouji. We won’t have met with Akechi Mitsuhide, so we’ll have to use wanting to hurry the Honnouji Incident along as our reason for intervening. But…”

Asama picked up after the “but”.

“In that case, the Honnouji Incident will probably happen on September 2.”

“Having it tomorrow would be a real pain… But anyway, that’s how I see it. I’m going to simulate some possibilities of what he might say, have Ookubo come up with some ideas, and think about how we should respond. So Naruze, Neshinbara, and Asama, I want the results of your research in case I can use any of it in the meeting. How are things going?”

“Judge. I will go first, while also providing some advice.”

That was Neshinbara. He stood up and opened a sign frame in the light of the setting sun.

Musashi’s Secretary pushed up his glasses.

“Now, let us discuss the coded text and the shadow organization it hints at.”

Hearing that made Crossunite accidentally spin the pork half a rotation too far, so he apologized to a surprised Mary. But…

“Never mind. Go ahead, Neshinbara.”

“N-never mind what, Crossdressing Honda-kun!?”

“Don’t tempt me to say it when I already decided to spare you. Now show us the code.”

Akechi Mitsuhide would know about this code too. As would Hashiba since they had sent it to them.

“We need to know what it says.”

“Allow me to explain.”

Neshinbara started by displaying the original text of what Christina had given them. It was five lines of numbers.

12-46-57-68-58-78-66-110-32-43

96-26-94-115-79-90-26-42-106-43-82-115-91

90-92-42-23-79-81-104-83-42-105-11-87-84-85-86

31-24-84-73-100-64-43-18-75-90-26-42-83-84-85-86-55

81-43-75-67-19-20-36-77-101-23-90-25

“I think we can safely assume these numbers represent sentences meant to tell someone something. So that just leaves converting them into those sentences.”

“Do you know what the decryption key is?”

“I tried so many different things: the Bible, the Iroha, the official Academy Rules, the names of the people taken in the Princess Disappearances, and so on. But,” said Neshinbara. “The Song of Passage was the winner.”

“Huh?” they all responded.

“Neshinbara, didn’t you say yourself that the Song of Passage wasn’t long enough?”

“I did. The biggest number in here is 115, but the Song of Passage is only 108 characters long. But,” said Neshinbara. “Let’s start by assigning numbers to each Far Eastern character in the Song of Passage.”

To-1

O-2

Ri-3

Ma-4

Se-5

To-6

O-7

Ri-8

Ma-9

Se-10

I-11

Ka-12

Ba-13

I-14

Zu-15

Ko-16

Ga-17

Ho-18

So-19

Mi-20

Chi-21

Na-22

Re-23

Ba-24

Te-25

N-26

Ji-27

N-28

Mo-29

To-30

He-31

To-32

I-33

Ta-34

Ru-35

Ho-36

So-37

Mi-38

Chi-39

Go-40

I-41

Ke-42

N-43

Go-44

Mu-45

Yo-46

U-47

To-48

O-49

Re-50

Nu-51

To-52

Te-53

Mo-54

Ko-55

No-56

Ko-57

No-58

To-59

O-60

No-61

O-62

I-63

Wa-64

I-65

Ni-66

Ri-67

Yo-68

U-69

No-70

O-71

Fu-72

Da-73

Wo-74

O-75

Sa-76

Me-77

Ni-78

Sa-79

N-80

Zu-81

I-82

Ki-83

Ha-84

Yo-85

I-86

Na-87

Gi-88

Ka-89

E-90

Ri-91

Ha-92

Ko-93

Wa-94

Ki-95

Wa-96

Ga-97

Na-98

Ka-99

Ko-100

Wa-101

Ki-102

No-103

To-104

O-105

Shi-106

Ka-107

Na-108

“With this, try decoding the 66-110-32-43 at the end of the first line. Oh, but leave the 110 blank since the numbers don’t go that high.”

Asama raised her hand and tilted her head.

“Ni-?-To-N.”

Everyone exchanged a glance.

“Ni ton? That could mean 2 tons!” said Noriki, looking fully serious. “That’s far too much for one person to carry without a spell!”

“So…what? Were Carlos I and the recipient hitting each other with heavy weights?”

“Why is that the first thing that comes to mind for you, Adele?”

It probably comes naturally to her. But that aside…

“You’re forgetting the ‘?’ in the middle, so it doesn’t seem like it means much of anything. So what does it mean, Secretary?”

“Just for fun, try subtracting 9 from those numbers. In other words, use 57-101-23-34. Can you convert those, Asama-kun?”

“Let’s see…ko-wa-re-ta? So would it mean ‘broken’?”

Everyone exchanged a glance.

“That must mean he used a 2-ton weight, but it broke, 5th Special Duty Officer!” said Adele, looking fully serious.

“Are you volunteering to try it out yourself, Adele?”

“Heh heh. It must mean Asama’s chest has broken since that pair must weigh two tons together! Isn’t that right, Asama! Oh, that smile is soooo cute. Your cheeks are all tense. Are you alright? Are you?”

“Why did we only get an actual word after subtracting 9, Neshinbara-dono?” asked Tenzou.

“Well, you see, I thought maybe the code worked by subtracting a specific code number from each of the numbers. And that number is 9.”

Aoi raised his arms overhead.

“Nein!”

Neshinbara ignored him. Our shticks don’t work well together. Yours isn’t beautiful enough. But…

“Um…wh-why…9?”

“An excellent question, Mukai-kun!”

“Get to the point,” said Date Narumi, cracking her neck.

He hesitated for 5 seconds before obeying. As the Secretary, I want the meeting to run smoothly. So this is good.

“The first code number I considered was 1. This is Carlos I’s memo after all.”

Someone had a question about that: Mary, who was rotating the meat. She was humming with Crossunite to sync their timing, but she stopped for now.

“Where did the other 8 come from?”

“You would know better than anyone, Stuart-kun. Because…”

“Oh, from my father, Henry VIII.”

Art-Ga: “She just stole his line, didn’t she?”

Gold Mar: “I think he gave her too big a hint.”

10ZO: “Mary-dono herself mentioned Henry VIII back in the Tower of London.”

Novice: “W-well excuse me! What does it matter as long as the answer is out there now!?”

Neshinbara saw Mitotsudaira raise her hand.

“Question, Mitotsudaira-kun?”

“Not really. I’m just amazed you managed to figure out that code number.”

“It is all about having sharp perception and determination. Yes.”

Meanwhile, the Technohexen were whispering to each other.

“I bet he brute-forced it – trying each number until he found one that worked.”

“Yeah, he definitely came up with that stuff about Henry VIII after the fact.”

“Just a thought,” said Aoi. “But couldn’t it be a reference to the 9 deadly sins?”

“Oh, no! This poor code was forced to reveal itself! We have a code rapist on our hands! Carlos I must be blushing in his grave! ‘No! My code! Taken by force!’ ”

“I-it doesn’t matter how I solved it! Blame him for making such a lazy code!”

Hearing that, Ariadust started sweating and turned toward Asama.

“Um, Asama-sama.”

“Eh? Wh-what is it?”

“Judge. You know how we set up locking spells on our partitions before coming here?”

“Oh, did you come up with a lazy password and then immediately forgot what it was? Let’s see…yes, I can unlock that for you, so I will arrange that as soon as we get back.”

“Yesssssss! You’re so nice, Asama-sama!”

Gold Mar: “So is Asama-chi a villain now?”

Horizey: “Which gives me the modest position of villain’s landlady!”

Silver Wolf: “You’ll use whichever identity works to your advantage at any given moment, won’t you!? Impressive, Horizon!”

This is good stuff. I should use it in my next book.

But I had completely forgotten about the Logismoi Oplo as a possibility for the code number, thought Neshinbara. And…

“So anyway. We want to subtract 9 from all of the numbers and try reading it. This is what you get.”

Risototooukowareta

Nagayoshinozugaigatadashii

Zukiiinofukiwoiwaoniosame

Nazuowarikotamanizugaiwoosameyo

Futarinoseijiyohaizuko

There it is, thought Adele. It didn’t have any spaces, but she thought she could read it.

“Let’s see,” she started. She interpreted it to mean…

“The risotto and the king are broken.

“The friendship diagram is correct.

“Place the zucchini butterbur in the rock.

“Break the shepherd's purse and place the diagram in the egg.

“Serves 2. All done. Oops.”

Adele realized what she had just read.

“Were they traying to cook a European dish for two and screwed it up!? But what’s that about a rock!? Is there a rock freezer that works like an ice box!? Or does it mean a stone oven!?”

“You’re just hungry, aren’t you?”

Then Gin raised her hand.

“Secretary, based on this text, I don’t think you have enough characters to write the full plaintext. I don’t need the specifics, but how many characters are missing from the Song of Passage?”

“Judge. If you use the Song of Passage to encode a text, you won’t have an ‘a’. It is also missing a ‘su’, ‘bu’, and ‘tsu’.”

“In that case,” said Asama. “They may have used a similar sounding character in their place. For example, any ‘su’ or ‘tsu’ might be encoded as a ‘zu’. If we include those possibilities, it would look like this.”

Risototooukowareta

Nagayoshinozu(tsu/su)gaigatadashii

Zu(tsu/su)kiiinofu(bu)kiwoiwaoniosame

Nazu(tsu/su)owarikotamanizu(tsu/su)gaiwoosameyo

Futarinoseijiyohaizu(tsu/su)ko

Everyone observed the text Asama sent to their sign frames and attempted to read the altered parts.

“Hold on…”

The 6th Special Duty Officer pursed her lips before giving her interpretation.

“Something and the king are broken.

“Nagayoshi’s skull is correct.

“Offer the something weapon to the rock.

“At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.”

Things were making a little more sense with those replacements. Even Adele could tell.

“Where’d the risotto go!?”

“The 2-ton impact is gone as well, Adele!”

Why does everyone think I care about that? Fine. I’ll send Raging Beast after you all.

But the 1st Special Duty Officer spoke up while rotating the pork with Mary.

“That message is starting to sound ominous. But…”

“Judge,” agreed the Vice President. “The end of summer is right now, Neshinbara.”

The Secretary nodded.

“It feels like we solved the code only to find another code. Some of the words here are probably a code for something else. And I get the feeling these are something only the sender and receiver would understand. I mean, take Nagayoshi for example. Does anyone here know a lot about name inheritors?”

Gin raised her hand and nodded.

“Nagayoshi could mean Nori Nagayoshi, Ikeda Terumasa’s brother Ikeda Nagayoshi, Miyoshi Nagayoshi, or even Asano Nagamasa who we fought at Satomi since the historical one went by Asano Nagayoshi as a child. But,” she said. “What could it mean that one of their skulls is correct?”

“That isn’t even the problem here. Remember, this memo was written at least a decade ago. The only one of those name inheritors who was around back then was Miyoshi Nagayoshi, but we don’t know if he went missing for a while 30 years ago.”

Vice President: “Ookubo.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Give me a second. …Miyoshi Nagayoshi is still alive. But the conditions for his inherited name have been completed, so he is currently working as a negotiator at his home reservation. As for 30 years ago…”

Ookubo paused.

Nagaya-Stable: “Couldn’t have.”

Novice: “Why not?”

Nagaya-Stable: “He turned 24 this year. There’s no way he could have gone to that whatever-it-was academy. So do you need his skull?”

Vice President: “No, thanks. It probably isn’t him.”

Adele nodded.

“If they are using his skull at the end of summer, I bet that Miyoshi Nagayoshi is not having a fun time right now.”

“Would using him even matter if he doesn’t have his inherited name anymore? Anyway, what does everyone else think about this?” asked Masazumi.

“I say Nagayoshi is a code for something else,” said Ohiroshiki, wiping away the sweat produced by the fire’s heat. “Remember, these people used their own names as part of the code, so the entire code could be based on things only those in their immediate group would understand.”

“So could Nagayoshi be a nickname?”

“Then what about the skull?”

“Skull could mean head, which could mean that person’s idea,” suggested Mary.

Everyone nodded in agreement there. Except the Vice President who crossed her arms.

“Thanks to my time in England, I mostly associate skulls with explosions.”

“Vice President, what were you doing in England?” asked Adele.

“Well, while you and Mukai were flying through the sky, I was running away from an army of skeletons!”

Come to think of it, that wasn’t a fun time for any of us, was it? But…

“Whether it’s an idea or a bomb, it sounds dangerous to me.” Narumi stared into the fire and sighed. “The end of summer. What could that be referring to? The Honnouji Incident? The Battle of Yamazaki? The Battle of Shizugatake?”

“Wait, Narumi.”

Narumi heard him stop her.

“Why? Are you suggesting the code might not be referring to this summer since it was written so long ago?” she said. “But P.A. Oda hasn’t done anything that matches this code in previous years. And now they’re up to something at the end of this summer. I say we should be on our guard.”

“Not that, Narumi.”

“Then what?”

He held his hand out in front of her face. He used his finger to draw out the line of her gaze from her eyes to the fire.

“Are you planning on hogging all the meat from the back of the pig’s knee?”

“How could you tell?”

“I know you well enough to recognize when you are using important-sounding fluff as a diversion.” He sighed. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if what they’re doing is related to this code or not. Our job is to harass them when we see fit. Solving this code is only for our own self-satisfaction. And…”

And…

“That is why you were using the topic to hide how you were eyeing the meat.”

“Can you please use that analytical skill on something useful?” protested the Vice President.

A laugh escaped Narumi. She has a point, she thought.

“I really do think this sounds dangerous.” She had a reason for that. “Just think of what P.A. Oda has shown off so far: military might, a great fleet, national strength, the Azuchi, the dragon reactors, and forced history recreation compliance. But this suggests they have something else beyond all that.”

So she wanted them to do everything they could to prepare. With that in mind, she asked a question.

“Secretary, do you have any ideas regarding the parts of the code we still can’t read?”

Asama knew what Narumi was getting at.

…Masa pointed out the same thing, but there are parts we still can’t read at all.

Asama couldn’t figure them out herself, but if Narumi couldn’t either, then that clinched it. In other words…

“What could the ‘risototo’ in the first line and the ‘zukiii’ in the third line mean?”

Neshinbara crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“I can’t make heads or tails of it either. I mean, what could ‘risototo’ possibly mean?”

“Risott-” blurted Adele before noticing everyone’s eyes on her and opting not to finish the word.

Smart choice. Say that again and they’ll be making risotto jokes about you for ages.

Asama had another question.

“Are we sure the ‘oukowareta’ part means ‘the king is broken’?”

“It could mean something else if the ‘risototo’ part connects with the ‘ou’ part. It’s also possible I decoded that line wrong.”

“Could that be a part that uses a second code?” asked Tenzou.

Neshinbara pushed up his glasses.

“I know I said some parts are codewords, but are you suggesting they applied a second code more like the first one?”

“Judge. I mean, the ‘risototo’ is the very first thing in the text. Couldn’t that be a sign that whatever is used to decode that needs to be applied to other parts of the text?”

“Then look at these two sections: ‘ri-so-to-to’ and ‘zu-ki-i-i’. I bet they’re coded in the same way,” said Asama.

“Oh,” said the others.

“Those are both two characters followed by a character repeated twice. I don’t know what the first two characters could mean, but the repeated ones are probably the result of the coding process.”

“So are you asking me to figure out that that process is?” asked Neshinbara.

“Oh, nooooo! The code rapist is at it again!” shouted Kimi.

“I really don’t think he can brute-force this one,” said Asama.

“Calm down.” Neshinbara raised a hand. “We can read most of it now. And that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

Everyone applauded. “Please, please,” he said, raising his hands to try to stop them, but everyone kept applauding.

“A splendid job, Neshinbara-sama! I never knew you were an accomplished code rapist with a specialty in brute-force fucking!”

“I know it works eventually, but most people aren’t stupid enough to try it.”

“Why would he start with the most difficult method?”

Everyone started clapping more quietly.

“W-wait! Anything but this sad kind of applause! My heart had only just been cleansed by the great outdoors! Must you contaminate it again during the final feast!?”

He’s having fun, I see. Or rather…

…He’s probably in a good mood after breaking most of the code.

“Okay,” said someone else.

It was Naruze. She stuck her pen behind her ear and opened a Magie Figur.

“Neshinbara can go focus on solving that second code. We should have time for another report before tomorrow’s meeting or the Honnouji Incident. Meanwhile, I have something I want to show you and get your opinions on.”

Namely…

“I’ve finished the image from the floor that was reflected off the ceiling.”

Mary saw it while rotating the meat.

…Huh?

Everyone fell silent. They had all been applauding earlier, but now they were frozen in place and staring at the image held up by Naruze.

It formed a circle. People were lined up around the inner edge of the circle, praising the center of the circle. They held hands – some smiling and others singing. But in the center…

“Is that…a baby?”

It was an infant. Its small form was wrapped in a cloth. But…

“Excuse me,” said Mary. “I have a question that may be rude.”

“Go ahead,” replied Naruze. “I know what you’re going to ask and it isn’t rude.”

“In that case,” said Mary. “It’s about that infant.”

She went ahead and asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Why doesn’t it have a face?”

Chapter 77: Speakers in a Circle[edit]

Hmm

Once you are

Asking why

You can find the answer within yourself

Point Allocation (I Speak From Experience)

The image of a faceless baby gave Suzu an odd chill.

She could not see, but she could perceive things around her from heat, air movements, and sound. Reflected sound in particular allowed her to sense objects’ shapes as if stretching out her sense of touch, so she could sense the shape of someone’s face and, in opportune conditions, the direction they were looking based on the bulge of their cornea and the movement of their eyeball.

Everyone’s face was shaped different. Their expression and the direction they were facing would reveal when they were focused on her and what they were thinking.

Ever since she had figured that out, she had paid a lot of attention to faces and expressions. However…

…No…face?

Suzu transferred Naruze’s image to her own sign frame, switched to a thermal display, and felt it with her fingers.

The detailed display gave bent lines of heat following the curvature of the domed ceiling. The simple display flattened out the heat lines into a 2D image.

She could not feel a face on either version.

Everyone should have had their own face.

But not this baby.

“What…does that mean?”

Babies were a constant presence. Whether they cried, laughed, or slept, they were always making noises to make their presence known. Their heat and scent also gave them a constant presence.

So what was this image supposed to be? It did have heat, but that was only the thermal display designed to let Suzu perceive it. Originally, it had only been lines reflected off the ceiling, so it wouldn’t have had a scent either. It was only an image.

But as an image, the artist would have been trying to express something. If this was indeed a baby, it meant the artist had drawn an image representing a baby in order to say something. And yet…

“…”

Suzu traced her fingers across the face but felt nothing.

The baby was lying down and facing up toward Suzu. So was it crying, laughing, sleeping, or just staring up at her?

None of the above. It wasn’t that she couldn’t tell. There simply was not an answer.

“Why?” The word slipped out of her mouth. “Why…would you…do this?”

Art-Ga: “Hey, I was just copying the original.”

Bell: “Oh…s-sorry. I didn’t mean it…like that.”

Horizey: “Suzu-sama is spared Naruze-sama’s doujinshis, yet some ancient artist has dragged an angry response out of her. My next mission is to strike back at said ancient artist. Masazumi-sama!”

Vice President: “Why is everyone gasping and staring at me like that!?”

Me: “How do you not have a joke for that one?”

Vice President: “Y-you try coming up with a pun about ancient people without warning!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. What did ancient physicians have in common with our Vice President who insists her jokes are funny?”

Horizey: “What?”

Wise Sister: “Some seriously mistaken beliefs about humor(s).”

Vice President: “D-dammit, I’ll show you one day! And that was the Aoi Sister’s joke, not Aoi’s, so it doesn’t count! But I’ll still judge it fairly!”

Bell: “U-um…calm down, Masazumi. Th-that was…my fault.”

Asama: “No, no, no, it wasn’t, Suzu-san. You did nothing wrong, so calm down!”

Their cannibalism is going full force, thought Ookubo atop the bridge to the Musashino.

The center of Musashino had only just been repaired from the damage caused by Kakei Torahide when it was damaged again by the “Take this, and this!” during the exam, so it was being repaired again. To give some clearance when firing Kanesada, they had decided to dig a valley straight down the center of the Musashino. That had meant connecting together the few parks on the ship and several bridges had been set up to provide a path above.

The wide and long blocks connected by the bridges used them as trade routes to and from the port and starboard ships. The bridges could also be split and connected to the level below instead.

“These bridges may be all we have here for the rest of the year.”

“At least we won’t have to run along rooftops if a battle breaks out on the ship.”

“True,” she agreed while waiting for Yoshiyasu. A pleasant wind blew in during the evening, carrying in an even stronger scent of daily life. Come to think of it, there weren’t any official bridges passing above the cities before, she thought, recalling that the cost of the bridges included the light blocked from the city below and any repairs if a bridge were to fall.

Personally, she liked the bridges because she would be able to see any foreign spy attempting to approach her and no one could tail her unnoticed. It helped that she knew Yagyuu was hidden nearby as a bodyguard, but…

Nagaya-stable: “So what’s up with this faceless baby picture?”

Art-Ga: “Good question. When I redrew this, I was worried I had overlooked something, but a closer inspection left me confident there wasn’t anything more.”

So…

Art-Ga: “This image shows everyone worshiping the faceless child.”

What did that mean?

Faces were everything in politics. You could read your opponent’s expressions, but you could also use yours as a weapon by forming expressions. Not to mention that you needed a mouth to speak.

It was necessary to do anything passively or actively.

Flat Vassal: “Is this…you know.”

Is Risotto-senpai at it again? Ookubo thought on reflex.

…No, don’t be rude.

Every suggestion was useful since it could help lead to the correct answer. Musashi had often found the route to victory in that way, so it was worth listening. Although risotto definitely wouldn’t be a useful suggestion this time.

Asama: “Know what, Adele?”

Flat Vassal: “Judge! You know, that thing you see at tourist destinations! Where you stick your face in from behind and get your picture taken! They have a Tengu one on Takao!”

That’s my home! thought Ookubo, breaking her sign frame.

“I have to say, I never realized how much of a pain it is to draw something without knowing what it is.”

Naruze crossed her arms and sighed.

The arms offered her a bamboo glass with a “please, have a drink” gesture, so she accepted it.

…I’m getting the hang of figuring out what they want to say.

Masazumi sometimes seemed to converse with them with ease. She had thought that was too out there to work in a doujinshi, but maybe people just needed to get used to it first. Yes, it can work. I’m sure of it now.

She took a sniff of the bamboo glass’s contents and found it contained barley tea. So it’s safe. At least I didn’t smell custard.

But she had something to say first.

“Only the face is missing. The hands and cloth have plenty of detail.”

“Then did they just forget to draw it in the original?” asked Adele.

That was a possibility.

“That could be. The artist could have run out of time or suddenly died in a sports accident.” Naruze zoomed in on a portion of the image. She focused on the part of the cloth around the neck like a collar. “But this must have been meant for people to look up at it from below. The image had deteriorated at the ‘collar’ located near the center, so there are signs of redrawing and reinforcements. The paint is thicker there.”

The repairs were well done. The painting and linework had clearly been done either by the original artist or one of equal skill. So…

“I think the face was left this way intentionally.”

“The what is this baby, 4th Special Duty Officer?”

“There is one more thing I’ve noticed.”

Naruze smiled a little as she held up her drawing. She spread her arms a little to make it look like she was holding hands with the group drawn there.

“Everyone is celebrating. That much is clear. And there is a baby. That too is clear. But…”

“There are no parents,” bluntly stated Horizon. “Did the ancient people have a habit of abandoning their babies, Masazumi-sama!?”

“If only those parents had instead gotten some lessons from a port manager.”

“Let me guess, lessons on ‘berth control’?”

Naruze’s answer made Masazumi freeze, so Naruze sighed and took a swig of the barley tea in her bamboo glass. Horizon chose that moment to turn toward her.

“That is barley tea pudding.”

She really did it, thought Naito. Horizon was setting a new record for consecutive wins.

“You alright, Ga-chan?”

Naruze responded by turning away while bending backwards in disgust.

…Ohh, her skin is always so beautiful after she bathes.

Winged species’ backs had muscles forming the base of their wings, so it was hard to see directly where the wings connected to the rest of them. Naruze’s back showed definite tension at the moment, but…

“You alright?”

A light tap wasn’t going to get through. She pushed her finger in like a jab instead. She struck hard enough it made a noise. That forced Naruze’s main wings to spread apart. And…

“You jabbed her pretty hard,” said Mitotsudaira.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. We’re protected well there. It’s the same as a chicken’s breast meat.”

“Is it?” said Mitotsudaira while Naruze twisted her back. Finally, Naruze sighed and turned a tearful face toward Naito.

“H-hey, Margot?”

“Yes, I know. That wasn’t fun, was it?”

Naito kissed Naruze, ignoring the excited reaction from the others. And…

“Nh.”

Naruze fed her the barley tea pudding mouth-to-mouth.

…Impressive.

Naruze knew from Margot’s tongue that the other girl accepted and swallowed the pudding without panicking. Once she got it down, she pulled away.

“Thanks,” said Naruze.

“Don’t mention it. What’s that faint mint flavor, Ga-chan?”

“Oh, I was chewing on a mint leaf before dinner.”

Naruze laughed and that was the end of it. There would probably be more later on, but she had to focus on the present.

And personally, there was one thing she hoped might help with her drawing.

“Neshinbara, give us one of your crazy leaps of logic.”

“Judge.” He nodded. “What we have here is evidence of the Motherless Children.”

Gold Mar: “Why plural?”

Tachibana Wife: “Probably to hint at the existence of more than just this one.”

Tonbokiri: “Interesting. Well done, glasses boy! A well thought out premise!”

Unturning: “Sure would be awkward if he only said it by accident.”

Novice: “Fine, you win! It was a mistake! But that’s a common mistake!”

Horizey: “But still a mistake. Try not to do it again.”

Novice: “Must you be so strict with me!? Even if this one was fair!”

Mitotsudaira had a question about the idea of a “motherless child”.

“Isn’t it possible this child truly had no mother?”

She directed the question at her mother who had been listening in silence this whole time.

Her mother was staring at the rotating meat, looking deadly serious.

…Oh, she’s after the same part as Narumi.

Mitotsudaira had secretly been after that too, but this increased the challenge. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to try and get them to split it or if she should go after the thigh roast, which she considered the 2nd best part. But that aside…

“Nate? Why do you think that?”

“Well, we know of people who are born without a mother. Automatons and spirits, for example.”

And…

“You have said Loup-Garous were originally born from people’s fear. Could this child be something similar?”

“Nate.” Her mother narrowed her eyes. “Earth gods, especially harvest ones, tend to be goddesses. Do you see my point?”

“Well…”

Not really, thought Mitotsudaira, but she noticed Asama leaning eagerly forward and giving her looks that urged her to answer.

“How about you answer?” she told Asama.

“Eh!? Oh, well, this feels indulgent, but, um, ancient cultures tended to think of the environment something was born from as its ‘mother’. So the mother earth goddess symbolized nature as a whole.”

“Testament. So you mean ancient cultures would have defined a ‘mother’ for any automatons or spirits that were born back then?”

So would that mean the concept of a motherless child wasn’t possible after all?

“But we see one depicted here.”

Mitotsudaira searched for some way that could be possible. Asama’s explanation and her mother’s thoughts were based on nature worship, or maybe environment worship better described it. But…

“What about beings like Ootani Yoshitsugu and Ishida Mitsunari who we have faced before?”

“We would have to start by debating whether they count as an artificial intelligence or a living being,” said Naomasa. “And whether or not they had that kind of technology back in the Age of Dawn.”

Mitotsudaira realized Naomasa was right. They were talking about ancient times, shortly after people had descended from the sky and lost most of their technology. So…

“Where would this faceless child’s mother be?”

Speaking it aloud led her to a realization.

…Oh?

If the “mother” was depicted in this image, what would it be? Going back to the idea of environmental worship…

“Could it be…this?”

She held up her sign frame and traced her finger around the image.

“Could it be that the people surrounding the child gave birth to it?”

Naruze immediately opened a few different images, including the ones taken below Novgorod and below Sanada. The surrounding people had survived in those reliefs.

“No, that’s not it. …Oh, I’m not saying Mitotsudaira is wrong here.”

She had learned something by comparing those underground reliefs.

“The surrounding people are different in each one. So instead of having a set image to work from, I bet the artists were given a description of the image they should make.”

“In that case…would it just be the environment?” asked Adele while looking at the image. “In other words, the image wasn’t meant to depict who it was that gave birth to this child.”

“Yes, which makes this more difficult. I mean, if this was made based on a description, that means the description went out of its way to specify the child had no face.”

What did that mean?

“Why provide that specific detail when everything else was more generally defined?”

“Could it be…well, you know?” The Reine des Garous tilted her head. “How should I put this? It’s, um, does anyone know what I mean?”

I would be impressed if anyone did, thought Naruze just before the daughter raised her right hand with her face staring straight down at the ground.

“What is it, Mitotsudaira?

“U-um, well, you know?”

Art-Ga: “The daughter is just as bad!”

Silver Wolf: “I-I am not! I was about to go on and explain!”

The wolf sucked in a breath, raised her head, and pointed at the meat over the fire.

“All of us – okay, some of us are probably thinking about which part of that meat we want to eat, but we generally don’t know which part we will be served, right? We can only wonder what we will end up with.”

“Mito, if you want the meat already, I can ask Toori-kun to-”

“This isn’t about that. Horizon, put your knife and fork down.”

Mitotsudaira cleared her throat and continued.

“Everyone creating the environment has differing opinions. This might seem contradictory, but what if there was no way to build a clear image of the child. Could that be why they couldn’t give the child a face?”

“I see what you mean. If it had a face, then it would be someone’s child, or it wouldn’t match what someone was imagining.”

Margot had it right. But in that case…

“Would that mean everyone in that crowd wished for the child to be born?”

That led to another question.

“If so, why did someone go to so much trouble to keep the image a secret?”

“I feel like we have to ask whether the child or the parent came first here.”

Narumi was right, but if it came to that, they were stuck.

“It feels like we’re running in circles.”

“Oh, I have one thing to say,” said Neshinbara.

He crossed his legs and swung his shoulder, sending his sign frame soaring away from him.

He watched it fade into the shadowy forest. After the three full seconds it took to fully disappear into the distance, he opened a new one.

“Anyway.”

“Are you on a cheap contract that only allows a single main sign frame?” asked Naruze.

“Wh-what’s wrong with only having the one main one!?”

She hadn’t expected the reaction to come from Adele, but then Neshinbara laughed.

“Heh. Always choose your weapon with the utmost care.”

“Master Tenzou, do you only wear the one short sword?”

“No, I have three that I use in a rotation.”

“A-anyway, to get back on topic! We were discussing that child.” Neshinbara tapped the image from behind. “Since it is depicted with a physical form, we should assume it is some form of incarnation. It is not an undefined being.”

Silver Wolf: “What do mean an incarnation?”

Still Got It: “You have to ask, Nate!? That is the act of taking meat inside your body.”

Asama: “No, I don’t think that’s what it means. It means a being like humans who have a physical body. Or to put it another way, a being with a determined form.”

Still Got It: “Yes, exactly what I meant. Do you understand now, Nate?”

Silver Wolf: “How selfish can a parent be!?”

“But is it possible for a human to be born without a face? It sounds like something from a horror movie.”

Asama tilted her head at Adele’s question. There were faceless gods in Shinto and other mythologies. And since they had a visible form, you could say they were an incarnation. But…

“There are no records of anyone like that being born and worshiped. But,” she continued, comparing Neshinbara’s idea to the present situation. “I think a being like that may have been defined by how all the people at the time ‘perceived’ it.”

“Then what is this?” asked Masazumi.

Asama could only tilt her head at that. If she had to give some kind of answer at this point…

“Maybe they were trying to create a god like this? I couldn’t tell you how or why, but that would explain the imagery.”

“So is it possible that…the Princess is something like this too?”

“The Princess? Like this how?”

“Well. We know she is a mysterious phenomenon of unknown origin, but we see a certain humanity or personality in her based on what we know about her. Even though the messages left behind could just be quoting something else for all we know.”

And…

“And even if the phenomenon itself has no mind of its own…well, shrines and temples do see mysterious phenomena born from the molds at those places that write prayers and sutras all over the place. If you looked at the texts chosen at random by the mold, you could start to see a personality there as well. I can’t say for sure the Princess Disappearances work that way, but since we do not know who or what the Princess is, we kind of see her as faceless, don’t we?”

Everyone nodded in understanding, so Asama took a breath.

…This is all very complicated.

For example, if a mysterious phenomenon used the mold of a deceased person and abducted people, the abductees would see the personality of that deceased person in it. It could seem cruel, but the only course of action was to crush the mold along with the phenomenon.

They still did not know what the Princess Disappearances were. But…

“If an actual person were behind it…I feel like they could do something more with it. Simply abducting people seems so – well, childish isn’t quite the right word, but I think you get what I mean.”

In that case…

“We can’t reject the possibility that the being drawn in this picture is something similar. I just think we need to keep in mind that that option is out there.”

“Um, what are the odds this is the Princess?”

“This is much older than the Princess,” said Masazumi. “And why would everyone worship a phenomenon that spirited people away?”

Asama had to agree.

“Mysterious phenomena have their own molds, so what the Princess Disappearances are wouldn’t change. If this is the Princess, it would mean people were being abducted left and right ever since the Age of Dawn.”

“There are actually records of what seem like Princess Disappearances going back ages, but it isn’t clear when they started and they have been much more frequent in recent years,” said Neshinbara.

“If this is the Princess, wouldn’t there be some pretty clear records going way back?”

“I see what you mean.”

He crossed his arms, but tilted his head.

Asama understood why he kept that questioning pose. If this wasn’t the Princess, then what was the Princess and what was this? But…

“Anyway, that’s what I have.” Naruze signaled the end of her report and shrugged. “I can’t tell you what this might be, but maybe it can help as a jumping off point for searching through old texts and records. It could also act as a hint for how we view the Princess.”

“True,” said Masazumi. “Personally, I’m relieved the trail hadn’t actually gone cold there. I get the feeling we’ll learn a lot more by following this lead.”

Naruze snorted a proud laugh and everyone applauded. She nodded, put away her Magie Figur, and turned toward Asama.

“Okay, you’re up, Asama. What did you figure out about the Honnouji Incident’s date?”

Yes, it’s my turn, thought Asama. She took a breath.

“I’m going to be completely honest. This graph shows the ether consumption readings I have managed to get from P.A. Oda.”

Asama displayed a bar graph on her sign frame.

It showed P.A. Oda’s estimated ether consumption since the start of August. It was on the rise and rose in steps.

“It continues to rise even now. But…” She came out and said it. “I can’t make sense of it myself. That is, the rises don’t correspond to the lucky days or anything like that. So to be honest, I don’t know what it’s based on.”

When Asama said she didn’t know, Masazumi first looked to Futayo.

“Futayo, could you get your people moving if it turns out to be tonight?”

“I could. The Musashi is operating on the same schedule as us, so they are resting today. Some should have already traveled through the forest and entered Kyou.”

“Really?” asked Naruze and Crossunite nodded.

“Because P.A. Oda – or Hashiba really – applied divine transmission restrictions at Magdeburg. So any personnel with divine transmission expertise were sent in early this time. Some went undercover as tourists or merchants and others are hiding in the surrounding forest. The undercover group are being assisted by the various committees and are receiving instructions from the Representative Committee Head.”

“That explains why Ookubo was having fun joining our meetings.”

Nagaya-Stable: “That was for my job.”

…And you’re the type to enjoy your work. Like me.

Our underclassmen could stand to be more honest, thought Masazumi, but she still appreciated Ookubo commanding that undercover operation. That job required a special touch when war was brewing. She had been involved in a lot during the invasion of Satomi too, so this was probably similar.

She was doing what it took to make the mission a success.

That couldn’t be easy since it involved working with Crossunite, cooperating with the committees, and answering to such a unique Vice President. For that reason…

Vice President: “Thanks for everything, Ookubo.”

“Kanou-kun, th-the Vice President just said something really creepy. Is this a trap? It must be, right? She’s about to give me an even more impossible job than usual, isn’t she?”

“Milady, I prefer to believe this comes from legitimate kindness. Which means her guard is down and now is the time to rebel.”

“Barely back on the Musashi and you two aren’t holding back at all, are you?”

Masazumi held her right knee while seated on the log seat. She was only wearing a shirt draped over her swimsuit and the feeling of the wood against her butt was new to her. This wasn’t something she had a chance to experience on the Musashi. Did I ever at Mikawa? she wondered, but…

…Will we be using this as firewood later?

After the excitement with Mitotsudaira during the day, she got the feeling the Reine des Garous would be sending Aoi’s seat directly to the Musashi. She made a mental note to not to sit on it if it ended up at the Main Blue Thunder.

“So we just have to take action if it looks like they’re making their move. And since the Honnouji Incident involves Akechi Mitsuhide, it probably won’t be until after our meeting with him tomorrow night. Asama, we don’t need specifics. Are there any more general predictions you can give us?”

“Um, yes. First, look at this pattern.”

On her sign frame, P.A. Oda’s ether consumption rose in steps.

The peak line had settled down some since a few days before, but…

“As you can see, most of the biggest peaks were at the start of August. And it is hard to say if it will continue to rise. If they are pooling the ether in P.A. Oda, then that pool should be far greater than the previous peaks, but Honnouji hasn’t happened yet, we don’t know how much they have pooled, and we can’t predict what their limit is.”

“Does that mean Honnouji could happen at any time?”

“Yes,” confirmed Asama. “But it’s strange. These peaks have no relation to the lucky days. It seems so haphazard or scattered. But…”

She raised a different sign frame. It also displayed some peak lines, but the Date Vice Chancellor tilted her head when she saw the dates.

“Those are a few days earlier than P.A. Oda’s peaks. What are they?”

“The ether consumption at P.A. Oda’s Tsurugi Shrine. Since it is a major shrine and the Oda clan’s main shrine, I looked into it with some help from IZUMO and others.”

The way Crossunite nodded hinted at who the “others” were.

Everyone began whispering.

“So Tenzou actually did something useful?”

“I did notice him disappear for a while before we came here.”

“Was he enjoying himself so much here because he just got through working?”

“W-work is enjoyable too when I have a lunch from Mary-dono.”

“My,” said Mary, accelerating the whispering. As for Masazumi…

“He helped me out a lot too. So, Asama, what do these readings tell you?”

“That the Oda clan will be managing the ether output for Honnouji from the Tsurugi Shrine and they appear to be finished with testing. The later readings are a lot more stable and…”

Asama opened another similar sign frame. But this one’s readings were lower and dropping.

“These are the ether readings of Aki as observed from nearby locations.”

“That shows the opposite of the Tsurugi Shrine’s readings, so was the Tsurugi Shrine absorbing Aki’s ether fuel?”

“It looks that way. Based on visual confirmation and local information, Hirano Nagayasu, one of Hashiba’s Ten Spears and the Tsurugi Shrine Representative, has been traveling between Aki and the Tsurugi Shrine. And…”

And…

“She was at Aki when this stable period began. That may mean she made the final adjustments at Aki. Which would suggest they have fuel route established.”

“Could we destroy their Aki fuel route now?”

“Well, the fuel sent from Aki is being transferred using ley line divine transmissions.” Asama pressed her lips together and exasperation entered her voice. “They did the same thing during the battle at Novgorod. By inserting ether materials into the ley lines, they can extract a purified version from the ley lines at the destination. So you could say there is no ‘middle’ of the route.”

“Is it like sending water down an underground stream and having someone draw it out on the other side?” asked Gin.

Asama nodded.

“More or less. The same water can be drawn out at the destination since they have the appropriate mold, but it still requires a high level of control with the preservation of ether and such.”

And…

“Aki is currently submerged in the ocean and Honnouji is close to Lake Biwa. Water ley lines are highly fluid and that commonality may make the process easier.”

“So can they start at any time?” asked the Reine des Garous.

Asama nodded.

“Hashiba cannot take part in Honnouji. This is just one of their leaders working to control an external part of it in preparation. Now they should be able to do it whenever they want.” Asama tapped her sign frame. “But the adjustments we can see here entirely ignored the lucky days. If anything, I would guess it’s based some kind of operation schedule, such as one for P.A. Oda’s internal preparations. Since they don’t seem to care if it happens on Butsumetsu or anything else.”

Masazumi had a question about that.

“So what about today? Or tomorrow?”

“Today is Tomobiki, tomorrow is Senbu, and the day after that is Butsumetsu. It’s hard to say.” Asama tilted her head. “If P.A. Oda wants to view this as an Akechi Mitsuhide event, they won’t want it to fail and I doubt they would choose Senbu or Butsumetsu. On the other hand, if they think of it as Nobunaga’s death, then Butsumetsu would probably be better than Senbu.”

“So you could make an argument for anything,” said Naito and Asama nodded.

“The worst day for the ether consumption was Tomobiki, so I was actually worried about today. But given our meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide on the 2nd, that seems unlikely. The next Tomobiki is on the 7th. That puts it a week into the new term and it does seem like they’re ready to go, but then what do the stable peaks mean?”

Asama sighed and tilted her head.

“I tried to give you as much information as possible, but that’s really all I have.”

Asama was frustrated.

…Stupid foreign nations!

P.A. Oda was the Oda clan and the Tsurugi Shrine was up to something. That led her to suspect the Shinto lucky days would play a role.

But now she had a feeling P.A. Oda was being more practical and realistic about these things.

She knew that was an option, but…

“This is how Shinto and its divine protections work. The cycle of lucky days is based on the rotation of ley line activity, so it isn’t just superstition. There is real meaning there.”

“How much of a difference does it make?”

“Comparing times when it has an influence and when it doesn’t – it depends on the location, but the difference can be as much as 10%. If that builds up over a half-day period, it can create a powerful wave.”

“It waxes and wanes, doesn’t it?” suggested Mitotsudaira’s mother and Asama nodded.

The mention of waxing and waning led him and Horizon to look up at the evening moons.

“It feels a little chillier when the moons are out, doesn’t it?”

“How could it not when the moons are that beautiful?” said Asama, looking up to see the two moons. They were nearly full, forming a pair of almost complete circles.

“It reminds me of the Kantou Liberation,” said Mitotsudaira’s mother.

“W-wait, mother. Could you not go Loup-Garou and spew your forest all over the place?”

“Yes, that had a powerful effect on the ley-”

Asama trailed off in realization.

…Wait.

A question crept into her mind, but he was the one to voice it. He looked to Mitotsudaira’s mother.

“Maman, does the moon really play a role in that transformation?”

“No, when I was blasted and vaporized, my unstoppable womanly ocean happened to leak out. That’s all.”

“Do embodiments of fear not have to play by the rules, or what?”

“Well, you could say I had my restraint forcibly taken from me there.”

Hearing that, Asama got to work on a sign frame.

She had something to look up. Although she honestly knew the answer already.

“Asama-sama, you are looking pale.”

“Y-yes, um, I do think we managed to avoid the worst-case, but give me a second.”

Her hands were trembling, but the search didn’t take long.

“Um,” she began. “Can you all take a look at this? Based on a quick search…”

They all looked up wordlessly. They were ready and resolved, so they were telling her to come out and say it.

“I’ve figured it out. It was the phases of the moons!”

Muneshige was a fast typist. He had trained that skill back when he served as Tres España’s 1st Special Duty Officer.

So he could run a search just as fast as the Secretary or 1st Special Duty Officer.

What he found was a nonhuman support site.

“Some nonhumans transform based on the phases of the moons, so knowing the state of the moons is important for them.”

“Oh, I found the same sight as Mune Mune. I think.”

“Judge,” he nodded, discovering a certain fact on said site.

The Asama Shrine Representative continued speaking.

“It comes down to the phases of the moons. They influence the ley lines, making them more active, but while the cycle of lucky days affects the flow of the ley lines on the surface, the moons’ influence shines down from the heavens.”

There was a simple reason for this.

“It is said the moons are made of spirit stone. The 2nd moon in particular was refined during the Age of the Gods, so its light has a major effect on the surface.”

And…

“The last day of especially heavy ether consumption in P.A. Oda was August 3. That was August’s full moon.”

“Hold on! Then when’s September’s full moon?”

When Muneshige called out in accordance with this class’s rules, the Vicereine suddenly slapped the Chancellor.

“Owww! But I think I get where this is going, so I want to hear this!”

“You have already lost, Toori-sama! You have been Suzu-sama’s friend for more than a decade and you still don’t know not to shout unnecessarily!?”

“N-no…um, I don’t…mind.”

The Vicereine nodded toward the acting captain, clapped her hands, and spoke to the others.

“Very well, Suzu-sama says she does not mind, so we will end this conversation here. The end!”

“Y-you’ll find any reason to avoid apologizing, won’t you? And I just know you’ll do it again as soon as you find an opportunity.”

The Chancellor and Vicereine’s amore is rather complicated, but it is just as passionate.

Next to Muneshige, Gin tapped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the Asama Shrine Representative.

“Excuse me, Master Muneshige, but the Asama Shrine Representative is attempting to speak.”

“Oh,” said the Asama Shrine Representative, tilting her head and tapping her sign frame. “The next full moon is tomorrow.”

Worshiper: “Try to give a revelation like that more gravity, Asama-kun!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. She takes everyone so seriously all the time and has even become something of a crybaby of late, but a major world event gets no gravity whatsoever.”

Gold Mar: “But as serious as their situation might seem, aren’t they all on course to be very happy – well, except for the Chancellor’s stamina?”

Novice: “Yes, we can sacrifice Aoi-kun’s stamina to level up Asama-kun! And remove Ariadust-kun’s annoyance and trouble from the field! Then we tap the arms and lock in Aoi-kun as their battery!”

Silver Wolf: “Then you can play me to recover my king’s stamina and end the turn!”

Art-Ga: “Unfortunately, your card can only be played upside-down at night and that absorbs twice the stamina.”

Still Got It: “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I think I got the gist of it.”

Asama: “Naruze, why are you drawing a card of me!? And why does it have such a high cost!?”

Adele had a thought while everyone made a fuss over this.

…They do put out an officers card game every year.

The expansion that had come out before the break had her support card as the main card. The expansion had a Kantou Liberation theme and a Crossing of Iga set was scheduled for release after the break. The fact that it wasn’t a Honnouji set showed the planning wasn’t quite in line with reality. But…

“Asama-san, why does your artillery version have the higher cost?”

“Eh? Wh-what are you talking about?”

If she wants some help, I can get us back on topic, decided Adele.

“If tomorrow is the full moon, does that mean the Honnouji Incident is happening tomorrow?”

“It’s entirely possible,” said the Date Vice Chancellor.

“Tomorrow is our meeting, after all.”

“Ha ha ha. Maybe he just wants to greet us by saying ‘and now I’m off to Honnouji’!” said the incubus.

She hated that she couldn’t deny that possibility.

But everyone turned to look at one person: the Vice President. She nodded and raised her right hand.

“We’re ready whenever it might happen. Tomorrow, I will go and hear what he has to say. And I will say what we want to say. Then we see what happens.”

“What if we find Kyou deserted and this was all a big diversion?”

“I highly doubt that would happen,” said the 1st Special Duty Officer and the Chancellor sat down in the same pose.

“I highly doubt that would happen. So says my ninja intuition.”

The 1st Special Duty Officer clenched his left fist, but was defeated when Mary laughed a little.

The Vice President also gave a snort of laughter.

“We are looking into it. Because something like that could happen. Also…Futayo.”

“If we need to go now, we could leave immediately. You say we are ready whenever it might happen, which means the battle has effectively already begun. So…”

So…

“Eating bathing, sleeping, and fighting. Those are already our everyday lives. We have transformed ourselves into embodiments of harassment in preparation for the Honnouji Incident.”

“Judge. For once I agree with you, Vice Chancellor.”

If Gin said so, it had to be true.

“Today we rest. Tomorrow we have the meeting starting in the evening, so I doubt we will lose our focus. We should get as much pre-battle rest as we can get until we leave early tomorrow morning,” said Gin. “In other words, act as if the battle is tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded.

“Judge!”

Gin was a little shaken by everyone’s response.

…Eh?

She had not meant to be giving orders before a major event. She had thought of that as something for the Vice President or Vice Chancellor to do, not her. But…

“Um.”

Asking if they were okay with her doing that would be weird at this point and the others were already preparing to eat anyway.

This had caught her off guard. And preventing her from asking anything about it just felt cruel. However…

“Gin.” Muneshige moved out in front of her and handed her a plate. “You did well commanding them.”

“Master Muneshige, that just establishes I really was doing that.”

But she felt the command she had given was the appropriate one.

Everyone had their role and they would all be working toward victory. So it didn’t really matter who made the command as long as it was appropriate.

…I can’t believe this.

These people, she started in her head, but too much time had already passed.

“Okay, let’s get this meat carved up.”

The Date Vice Chancellor gasped, but the 5th Special Duty Officer was more on the ball and slid into place with her plate at the ready. It was honestly impressive.

Gin ended up 7th in line. Right next to Muneshige.

Chapter 78: Storytellers Before Quitting Time[edit]

Now that I think about it

The finishing blow is no more than

The last attack made

Point Allocation (So Take It Easy)

Fukushima looked to the side.

To the right. That meant the east and she knew the fleet city formed by the Shibata Team’s ships should be there in the distance. However…

“I cannot see it.”

The trees obstructed her view.

Since her training ground was in the rocks, it had felt like an elevated location to her.

But now that she actually paid attention, it had a lot of trees and was fairly low in the mountain range.

…Which means the trees are higher up than the mountain path.

So would she be able to see the Musashi or even the Shibata Team if she went to the summit?

She worried about that while walking along the path.

She carried her cowling spear Ichinotani, some portable food, water, and a simple blanket. She had plenty of first aid and rescue spells, but she wasn’t sure how necessary they had been.

At any rate, she had packed up all of her things at her base.

It was currently after dinner.

Her plan was to reach the summit or some other good vantage point before it got too late and camp there. The following morning, she would check on the Musashi in the sky and head back.

Her mountain hermit life was over. Because…

“This is addictive.”

The problem was how nice she found it to train.

Another problem was how she could find endless solo training tasks out here as long as she was creative enough.

A third problem was how she had started to figure out this whole self-sufficiency thing.

A final problem was how the various downsides of “roughing it” didn’t bother her too much.

That last one was the biggest problem.

For example, she had noticed this morning that the butt of her tights was torn. Probably from when she had lost her balance training in the water and hit her butt on the inner wall of the waterfall basin pool. She was using powerful defensive and buffering divine protections, so she had felt them directly on her skin. They created something like a defense barrier to cover the hole in the tights.

That was why she hadn’t noticed until the morning, but when she held up the torn tights…

“Well, no one is here to see me.”

That mindset scared her.

…This is a bad sign!

I was not like this a month ago. I know I wasn’t. Well, maybe I was a little, but not much. Probably. I think. Testament.

But lately, she had been living a more logical life. Or rather, she just did whatever her body told her it wanted.

“Hm.”

As a result, she had really whipped her body into shape.

All of her movements now exceeded her expectations. She had eliminated everything unnecessary from them.

…Thinking back, I have had frequent night duty and an unpredictable schedule since before the Paris battle.

She had eaten late at night and consumed her meals as quickly as she could. She had also eaten a lot of sweets in social settings. That was a problem. Why was it a problem? Because the sweets had gotten a lot richer as they approached Hexagone Française.

But her current diet had paid off, she was stronger now, and she felt like this stay in the mountains had been a success. But I also feel like I have become rougher around the edges.

That is a problem.

So she decided to pull out some spare tights. At the start, she was pretty sure she had gotten out a new pair every time they tore even a little. She checked and found she only had two pairs left.

“Just in case, I should continue wearing the torn pair and change into a new pair just before getting back.”

No, that thought process was dangerous. So she put on the new pair.

“That should do it.”

Or so she thought until she noticed the jiggling of her chest.

She had stopped putting in the defense and anti-jiggle pads since they were such a pain to wash. On closer inspection, she could see through the inner suit a bit. Which meant the waist and crotch would be the same.

…So should I put on a new inner suit too?

She agonized over that decision for a long time and compromised with putting on one that she had washed earlier.

She was seeing more and more problems with her behavior. Even if she had gone back to the wild for the past few days, that level of jiggling and see-throughness would have been entirely unacceptable in public.

“But there is no one here to see me. And I usually only wear a shirt and underwear on the Azuchi.”

She again had to tell herself that line of thinking was dangerous.

She had been so focused on doing what her body wanted she was forgetting all about her ethics and morality. She had planned to use her lernen figur as a clock and to check for messages on occasion, but she had ended up not using it.

At first, she had used the divine transmission edition of Galileo’s A Heliocentric Theory You Can’t Deny as reference while observing the night sky, but now she was satisfied simply staring up at the stars.

She did the same tonight. The forest on either side of her left only a narrow strip of the sky visible.

But she was on a slope, so the moonlight shined diagonally down through the forest ceiling that rose in steps.

She could not see the moons themselves, but the night sky was bright and the stars looked a bit duller than usual.

“Now, then.”

It was time to go see the Musashi. What would things be like when she woke up in her camp tomorrow morning?

She had been so busy and felt so refreshed from her time in the mountains that she felt a little sad leaving it behind. But…

“This should be a good idea too.”

“Do you think a combo attack is a good idea here!?”

“I do!”

Sakon heard Kasuya’s answer while Kasuya raced forward from between Sakon’s legs.

Their battlefield was a dark hall. The enemy was the white dragon approaching from head on.

That Terrestrial Dragon was the final one. Probably anyway. Kasuya was leaping beneath the dragon from between Sakon’s legs. So to make sure Kasuya wasn’t crushed by the dragon…

“I’ll catch the dragon’s head!”

She stomped her heels against the floor to give herself a solid foundation. And…

“I hold this position!”

“Yes, even if it kills you, Kohime!”

“N-no, thank you. I don’t want to be killed. But I will hold this position. I’m just not a killing-obsessed shogun.”

“Keep your eyes on the enemy, Kohime!”

The Terrestrial Dragon was coming. But…

…Like this!

She held it back with her arms. She held her position. The dragon’s face alone was 15 or 16 meters. It had to weigh thousands or even tens of thousands of times more than she did. But…

“Sakon-sama! Dragons swing their bodies downwards when they attack people!”

Whether the dragon was going to crash into them, crush them, and fling them upwards, it had to swing down first. So if she matched that timing…

“Kohime! Redirect it with your shoulders!”

Onitakemaru adjusted the hardness of her body. He wasn’t actually changing how hard the materials were. He was adjusting the connections between the armor and power system to essentially create a solid pillar from her legs to her shoulders.

The mobile shell would support the weight, not her body. Her only real job was to keep her balance and provide support where extra force was needed.

Sparks flew from the power system all across her body. The dragon’s head was approaching from overhead. But…

“Foolish beast!” roared Onitakemaru.

She held her position, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

“This is part of the pope’s dream, so you really shouldn’t call it foolish.”

“And I am the great shogun’s reality!”

“Hey, our combo isn’t done yet!” shouted Kasuya, leaping forward.

…Oh!

The dragon moved. Once it realized it couldn’t force Kasuya down, it tried to push her away.

The threat there was having her feet lifted from the floor. With a crushing attack, Onitakemaru could briefly endure it even with the opponent weighing so much more. But there was nothing they could do if she was in the air. So…

“Take care of it, Kasuya-san!”

“Testament!!” replied Kasuya as a distorted sound rang out.

After rushing out from between Sakon’s legs, Kasuya had reached the dragon’s throat.

The scales there were said to be a dragon’s greatest weak point. Sakon couldn’t see it with the dragon’s jaws right in front of her, but she knew what that sound had to be.

Kasuya’s drill bunker had shattered those throat scales.

A moment later…

“Kohime!” shouted Onitakemaru and her body had full freedom of motion again.

The dragon did not push her. The dragon’s head was not even aware that its weak point had been destroyed. The nerve impulses were too slow and the pain hadn’t reached its brain yet.

But not so for the nerve bundle responsible for the dragon’s movements. The nerve bundles located around its body could be seen as secondary brains responsible for reflexively avoiding attacks and damage. One of those had felt the pain of losing the throat scales.

The dragon’s neck took a reflexive action to avoid the danger.

It jerked upwards to distance its throat from Kasuya below it.

That resulted in its legs stretching straight and its head being pulled down toward Sakon, moving opposite of its neck.

Sakon lost her grip, the dragon’s jaws dropped right in front of her face, and she could see its eyes. Wow, that’s really scary, flashed through her mind in shock.

But a moment later, the sound of second attack landing came from below the dragon’s lowering face.

That attack was courtesy of Kasuya.

Attacking the throat scales with her first attack had caused its jaws to drop down in front of her. So if she hit those from behind…

“…!”

The pain in the jaw was sent directly to the head.

The dragon’s mouth opened, raising a cry of agony.

Then Sakon raised her voice, as if completely ignoring the dragon’s deafening cry right in front of her. She had already filled her lungs with air, so…

“Vorwärts!”

Kasuya slid feet first.

Overhead, the dragon’s jaws passed by behind her. Those jaws were opened wide and its face badly broken.

Sakon’s acoustic attack had erupted right in its face.

The destructive impact sounded like a pane of glass thrown against the floor. The scattering ether light broke the dragon’s fangs and face armor, sending them flying into the air.

…That’s one powerful attack!

They had tested it outside beforehand, so Kasuya knew its range. The dragon also shielded her from its effects and she knew the safest spot was below Sakon. She wanted to be a shield for everyone- No, that isn’t quite accurate. She wants to be our guardian, would you say? Whatever the case, she liked it when peopled moved behind her for protection. So Kasuya slipped between the girl’s legs just like when she had moved out.

“Kah!”

Sakon spat blood to the floor.

Her acoustic attack was a lot like a dragon’s explosive roar and it put a terrible strain on the human body. It damaged her lungs, throat, and mouth. But the blood she spat turned to a red mist in midair and flew back up to gather around her neck.

She was rapidly regenerating.

Kasuya wasn’t sure if that counted as no harm done, but she could say Sakon had done her job.

Kasuya had made the initial attack to keep the dragon in place and the acoustic attack had forcibly opened the dragon’s mouth. So now…

“Hirano!”

Kasuya shouted the name at the same time Sakon ducked down. Kasuya slid back behind Sakon as she saw it.

Hirano nocked a launching sword to her bow sword.

“I have you in my sights!”

She fired.

Mitsunari saw the attack pierce through the length of the dragon’s body.

Hirano’s launching swords were powerful enough to tear through Terrestrial Dragon armor or sever their tails. But even if they could shatter some of the armor, they wouldn’t do much real damage to the body below. So…

“She destroys it from its unarmored inside!” shouted 15cm Ootani down at Mitsunari’s feet.

The glowing sword had just pierced through the Terrestrial Dragon’s 100m body.

It entered through the throat, severed the digestive system, pierced the respiratory system, passed between the ribs, hit and bounced up from the sternum, and finally crashed into the rear of the pelvis. That large bone shattered while a shockwave erupted within its body.

The dragon’s body swelled out and a short snapping sound fame from within.

That was the sound of its pelvis splitting.

Then the right side of the dragon’s back was destroyed from within.

The dull sounds of exploding innards raced out from the front and back of its body. Those sounds pushed the dragon’s armor out from within. Its forelegs and hindlegs remained intact since they were far removed from those innards, but its ribs were broken in the chest and the back, swelling out from within. But the dragon’s tough armor would not let it rupture from within.

None of the damage could escape, so it all hit the dragon’s insides.

Something like weaponry jutted out from the dragon’s back and belly.

Those were its broken ribs.

The dragon roared into the heavens as its many ribs pierced empty air.

Its voice was nothing more than a rupturing sound. The expansion had mostly come from the belly, so the dragon ended up arching its back, its skull pushing out from its jaw. The unmalleable bone could not keep up with the expanding flesh.

The arching of its back worsened until its neck audibly snapped.

That was the end of it.

That brief snap echoed into the sky while the Terrestrial Dragon turned to scattering ether light.

The final one had been defeated.

“Wow.”

Sakon sat down and looked up at it all.

The dragon-shaped blossom of ether light was already transforming into no more than a glowing mist.

“That was a gruesome method, but it looks pretty in the end.”

“My launching sword pierced it more easily since it was made of ether. I need to find a new method if we ever have to face a real Terrestrial Dragon or a Celestial Dragon. Like bringing along a sword arrow.”

Hirano’s explanation was based on knowledge gained from actually fighting one. Does she do things like this a lot for her shrine or whatever? wondered Sakon, but then Kasuya stood up behind her.

She nimbly hopped to her feet and swung arms down to eject her Argent Clou nails. She used the retraction to adjust them.

“It would be a lot easier with one of those sword arrows, but are you seriously planning to fight on the anti-ship level?” asked Kasuya.

“They did stop me from firing one at Aki,” said Hirano. “But even with one of those, the most I can do with a Celestial Dragon is simply pierce through it.”

The way those two discussed it showed how accustomed they were to these kinds of conversations.

Sakon decided to ask a simple question about a feeling she had noticed during their time here.

“Are you two close?”

“Oh, all of the Ten Spears other than Mitsunari and Takenaka are basically childhood friends.”

“And Hirano and I have a parent in comm-”

Hirano stopped Kasuya with a tap on the shoulder.

“We’ll tell you more about that in time.”

“I see,” was all Sakon could say. Then she heard footsteps approaching. That was Mitsunari. She was holding 15cm Ootani in her arms.

“Excellent work. I believe that is all of them, so the pope should wake up.”

“Hee hee. Looking back, this was quite the exciting training camp,” said Kasuya.

“It sure was,” agreed Sakon, standing up and looking to Ootani in Mitsunari’s arms. “Ootani-san, I asked you something rude at the beginning of the camp, didn’t I?”

“Eh? Oh, right. About me being a virus!”

“That’s right,” she said apologetically. “Hirano-san and Kasuya-san told me later on that all men have that side to them and I shouldn’t openly ask about it.”

“Wh-what have you been telling her!?”

Kasuya and Hirano had already turned around and begun to flee.

They were in perfect sync. Then a few lernen figurs opened around Ootani. Sakon recognized the people in them as Katou Yoshiaki and Wakisaka Angie back on the Azuchi.

They had frequently joined, or butted their way into, the conversations during the training camp.

And today that camp was ending. So…

…Ohh.

Sakon would be joining those major name inheritors tomorrow.

This training camp had been meant to eliminate the problems discovered during the unexpected fighting she had done starting at Nördlingen, but she still felt like she wasn’t strong enough. But…

…I’ll be joining people like this on the battlefield.

It was a strange thought. It had all started with an argument in her middle school faculty room. Or to go back further, it had started with the days she spent in that laboratory castle facility.

All of that had led to where she was now and where she was headed in the future.

“Kohime, what are you so excited about?”

“I-I’m just trembling in anticipation. And stop paying so much attention to my body!”

“Hm,” said Ootani, crossing his tiny arms. “I too feel a certain tension when I think of the days to come. How about you, Mitsunari-kun?”

In his tiny form, Ootani lifted his armor’s mask and looked up at Mitsunari.

…He’s so cute.

Ootani didn’t really have a face. Sakon had seen his face from time to time and he normally made sure to give himself a face when anyone would be seeing it, but he must have let his guard down here.

At the moment, the egg-like sphere of his head had two round curves, one big and one small.

The large curve at the bottom of his face was curved upwards to look like a smiling mouth. The small curve on the upper right of his face was curved downwards to look like a single smiling eye.

“Ootani-kun. Statistically, that looks like a smile.”

“Hashiba-sama stayed up all night drawing these curves, so they are very important to me.”

“Yeah, I’ve tried that in class before and drawing curves on a screen with a stylus is really hard,” said Sakon.

“Testament! And that is how Hashiba-sama drew this masterpiece!”

“Oh, are you in a better mood now?” asked Kasuya.

“Th-that’s the first thing you have to say after I get back!?”

This guy has awfully thin skin, she thought, but on second thought he didn’t really have skin at all.

Hirano spread her arms a bit and tilted her head.

“So what now? Do we forcibly wake the pope? At this point, if I use a sleep spell in reverse, it should wake her more safely than using a waking spell.”

“No. Rather than force her, I want to leave this place now that we are done here. Then if any further dragons appear it is not our problem,” said Mitsunari.

“Yes, and we don’t want to be late for the rendezvous,” said Kasuya.

That comment made Sakon curious, so she asked about it.

“What is our schedule after this?”

Mitsunari nodded and opened a lernen figur.

“According to our ‘summer break training camp pamphlet’ made by Takenaka-sama, we will head out to rendezvous with the Azuchi. All the training camp groups will be gathering together today and rendezvousing with the Azuchi tomorrow night. And…”

And…

“We generally cannot be involved in the Honnouji Incident, but circumstances allow Hashiba-sama and me to participate. The rest of you must wait aboard the Azuchi, but remain vigilant. Because once that process is complete, the Battles of Yamazaki and Shizugatake should begin, perhaps back to back.”

Kiyomasa departed late at night.

Her group had to leave Sanada land, but out of all the P.A. Oda groups, hers was the farthest east. If anyone saw them leaving, it would increase the impression that a P.A. Oda force was retreating, so Kiyomasa had made a personal request to leave under the cover of darkness.

“We’re ninjas here, so seeing you off at night is no problem at all.”

So they had prepared for their departure while loading the conspicuous mechanical dragon aboard a transport ship. Some of their transport ships would be heading to Mikawa to protect and provide supplies for Ikeda, but…

“Our destination is Lake Biwa Azuchi.”

“Hold on. Should you really be telling us where you’re headed?”

“I trust you.”

Unno responded with a nod. Her Far Eastern uniform had some decorative patterns on it and she observed Kiyomasa’s M.H.R.R. uniform.

“I didn’t get dressed up when we met, so I thought I should at least look nice to see you off.”

“And I ended up spending all my time in a track suit.”

Unno laughed. Which was strange since they had been enemies and Unno supposedly resented her.

Unno was a forgiving person. Or was that the inevitable result of anyone who went through what she did? Or had she ended up that way by spending so long grinding her teeth?

Kiyomasa didn’t know. So was her current smile no more than indulging in Unno’s confident attitude? If so…

“Unno-sama.” The words came readily to her lips. “I am not as confident as you are.”

“You have enough confidence to not admit defeat.”

She hoped so. But…

“How can I gain your level of confidence?”

“Hmm.” Unno held a hand on her chin and looked up into the night sky where the two moons were approaching full. “How should I put it? For me, it was realizing my anger was misplaced.”

“Your anger?”

“Testament. I’d confused being angry with revealing my uglier side. Ha!” Unno shrugged. “See, instead of actually being angry, I thought I should be angry and showed off the ugly and filthy parts of who I am.”

“So…?”

“I thought winning was all that mattered, but then I came across these people who managed to keep their childish hopes and dreams even as they suffered defeat.” Unno jerked her chin toward Kiyomasa. “I can tell there’s something weighing on your mind, but if you’re only using your anger as a shield, then my advice is to stop. And if you do have any of that childish stuff left, take good care of it. I lost all that. One day, I realized I had nothing left, so I had no choice but to make up for it with extra confidence.”

All that made Kiyomasa think of Fukushima. She had thrown an uglier side of herself at Fukushima back then because she thought she was angry, but now she wasn’t so sure.

She didn’t think Unno’s situation would perfectly match her own, but…

…What about my reaction then was justified?

She no longer thought she should have done that. Before even feeling embarrassed or immature, she had simply tried to hurt and test Fukushima.

Unno must have noticed that sort of thing inside herself and thrown it out. But in Kiyomasa’s case…

…I can’t believe this.

She knew she could never throw Fukushima out of her life. So…

“Thank you.”

She bowed toward Unno.

There was no hole in her heart. Because she had someone to fill it. So…

“I will try to find my own form of confidence.”

…She takes everything so seriously.

Unno didn’t know what her words had communicated to Kiyomasa, but it must have given her some kind of hint. She wondered if she had somewhat fulfilled her role of helping people as a shrine maiden, but…

“It’s strange. Not long ago, I thought of you as my enemy because of our past.”

She was confused.

“That past hasn’t changed – can’t change – so why is it I think of you differently now?”

“Well…”

Kiyomasa started to say something but stopped.

She really does take everything seriously. That has to be a pain, thought Unno, but…

“I think it comes down to relationships.”

Unno thought Sasuke or someone had said this at some point.

“There are of course the relationships between yourself and others, like the one between us, but there’s also a relationship between my past self and my current self which has been influenced by those other relationships. The past can’t change, but the influence of you and everyone around me has changed me and I’m no longer the person I was in the past.”

So…

“Forgiveness is what we call it when those changes let you accept someone you used to think of as bad.”

When she said that, the Terrestrial Dragons stood up in the forest. They held their forelegs to their mouths and spoke at a dragon-sized volume which ensured she could hear.

“Did you hear that? Our Unno-san is in a sentimental mood tonight.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her actually wearing her uniform before.”

“She thinks she’s being profound, but I feel like it all only makes sense in her own head.”

“Shut up, all of you!”

The dragons shouted and sank back into the forest and Kiyomasa laughed.

“Does that mean you have forgiven me, Unno-sama?”

“No.” The word came of its own accord. “I’m just tired of holding a grudge. It’s more of an ‘ugh, forget it’ kind of thing. Which is way more pathetic than actual forgiveness.”

“Personally, I think it is impressive that you can honestly admit to things like that.”

You do know how to compliment people, don’t you? thought Unno. All she could do was laugh.

In front of them, a transport ship had extinguished all but the bare minimum of lights and was already ready to go.

A silhouette suddenly appeared from the side. It was Mochizuki.

“Where were you hiding, Mochizuki?”

“I only just arrived. Although I did hear what you said by increasing the reception of my hearing devices.”

“Is that so?” said Unno while Mochizuki took a step forward and viewed the transport ship there.

“Is Asano-sama asleep?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but yes,” said Kiyomasa. “She says she cannot fight her sleep schedule.”

“No, she’s just hiding on the ship because she doesn’t like goodbyes,” a voice called down from the ship’s rear deck. Was that the mechanical dragon pilot Nabeshima? “She’ll regret not saying goodbye later on, though, so could you send her a divine mail? That should be enough for her.”

“Testament. Understood,” said Mochizuki. “I am grateful that will be sufficient.”

Mochizuki started to leave.

“Hey, hold on. Are you sure you don’t want to do more?” asked Unno.

“Testament. I have taught her everything I could during the allotted time. The rest is up to her.”

…She’s always so cold.

Unno’s thoughts were interrupted by the Terrestrial Dragons crossing their forelegs and sitting up. They looked to Nabeshima and puffed out their chests.

“You there. Girl.”

“Don’t you dare forget what we taught you.”

“If you do…”

All three dragons twisted their bodies and finished together.

“We’ll make sure you regret it.”

Unno threw three fan swords, each one stabbing into a dragon’s forehead.

“Ow! What is wrong with you, gaudy track suit woman!?”

“I’m wearing my uniform right now, you son of a bitch!”

“Calm down,” called down Nabeshima. “I’ll make sure to remember the European manners you taught me. And I know the old men learned a lot from this too.”

“And we had a good time joining those old men in trying out various support equipment for the elderly.”

“Sanada doesn’t have the largescale production capabilities needed to make those things.”

“So tell them to take care too.”

“I’ll pass it on. And don’t worry – I won’t embarrass you.”

“Thanks, girl.”

With that, the Terrestrial Dragons turned toward Unno.

Kiyomasa nodded back at them, so Unno inhaled and…

“Take care. The Testament says we’ll both eventually be on the side under Matsudaira’s rule.”

“Well…yes, that is what the Testament says.”

“That’s a weird response. Oh, right. The Genesis Project.”

Unno’s group were originally meant to be involved in that. The details hadn’t been known back when they were there, but she could make some pretty good guesses.

“There was a time when I hoped it would succeed,” she said.

“Do you not anymore?”

“Why do you want to know?”

After a pause, Kiyomasa answered with a smile.

“You really are strict. Just like when you come up with strategies.”

“It’s who I am. But…”

She figured this was okay to say.

“I know you can’t talk to me about this, but can’t you discuss this with your Ten Spears and come up with a joint decision on it?”

“We are the stoppers.”

“Is that so?” was all Unno could think to say. “You mean you’re the final line of defense to ensure the world keeps on existing?”

“Yes,” said Kiyomasa. “In other words, to end it but not to let it end.”

Then they heard something. The virtual ocean had begun to surround the transport ship as it prepared to ascend.

“Kiyomasa-senpai! The port hatch is open!” called down Nabeshima.

Unno saw Kiyomasa nod in response.

…Yeah.

She’s a strong girl, thought Unno. Unno had confidence, but she couldn’t see a way forward.

But this girl had seen everything that lay ahead and still saw a way forward. So…

“Get going.” Unno turned away. “Go hit them with everything you’ve got.”

Chapter 79: Inheritors in a Secret Place[edit]

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.”

Chapter 80: Honest One in the Morning[edit]

Umm

Where is the Musashi?

Wait?

Which way is south?

Point Allocation (Right of East)

The first place Olimpia looked after waking was in the mirror.

She checked to see how aged she was.

This was like a ritual for her. She used to find the aging process interesting and looked forward to how aged she would be in the future, but she had grown a bit tired of it recently.

After all, all the amusing things were found outside of her.

The amusement occurred within her aging self, but was not created there. She was only an ordinary woman. But…

“You may come in, Matthias.”

She called out while sitting on the bed and a knock came at the door before it opened.

A man in apron stood beyond the opening door.

“Rise and shine, Olimpia! The puppet Holy Roman Emperor has made breakfast in his role as the pope’s servant!”

“Just so you know, I had quite the awakening.”

“Not a problem. Would you like some hot water? A sports drink? Or do you want to go for alcohol first thing in the morning? I can get you the purest, most expensive water or soup if you want. And I you are hungry, I have everything from porridge and risotto to fried eggs and curry. So what will it be?”

“The smell of the curry is overpowering everything else.”

She sighed and realized the breath was actually a quiet laugh.

The Vice Chancellor had once told her that a woman’s smile was a valuable thing. And that his daughter refused to show him that value. But…

“Matthias?”

“What do you need, Olimpia?”

“Am I beautiful?”

“May I touch you?”

“Testament. If you don’t mess up my makeup.”

“Of course,” he said, wiping his hand off with a napkin before reaching out to touch her.

He first turned his hand around like he was bowing.

He had taken her hand a few times before as well, but…

“I had made some assumptions about your character based on your brother, but your hands are surprisingly normal.”

“There is much I keep hidden. Would you like to see it?”

“Show me.”

He pulled a bouquet of flowers from his pocket.

“Do you like them? These rose thorns do a real number on the spleen. I cannot feel pain, but it still makes me flinch because my nervous system is functional. Would you like to see it?”

“Show me.”

The emperor twitchily flinched.

“There. Did you like that?”

“It isn’t something you see every day.”

“Then I am glad I demonstrated. And…”

Matthias touched her cheek. Her wrinkles were deep and her skin dry. But…

“Beautiful,” he said. “This is form was only created because you were born as yourself. It is unique. And beautiful.”

“I like your, well, fairly nondescript face too. I’ve never seen one more nondescript.”

“How rude! I do sometimes wish I could transform like my brother, but I lack the aesthetic sense for it.”

“Why not study art?”

“A splendid idea! I will paint you.”

“Paint me growing older?”

“Paint your living self. I have more control over what I paint than what I can feel with my hand. I am endlessly jealous, Olimpia. And that jealousy will become an image of you.”

That made her smile.

“Oh, to be young again.”

“But aging is a beautiful thing. Your appearance is a reflection of the life you have lived.”

“Except I am losing my shape.”

“In that case,” said Matthias, smiling and rolling the breakfast cart toward her. “You are approaching your true form. An innocent and unsullied form. I envy you so as one bound by my obligations as a puppet.”

“You can paint anything in a positive light, can’t you?”

“Then answer me this: what are you currently worried about?”

“That one’s easy. I saw it in a dream.”

That act was too dangerous to be permissible without a bedroom located so deep underground. The reverse-aging people’s dreams gained physical manifestation, but she had used a dream-seeking spell on top of that.

“Is there a dragon coming?” he asked.

She simply shook her head.

“I honestly don’t remember it clearly. Not after being woken up so violently. I do wish Hashiba-san’s people could have been smarter about that. I had to view some gory images.”

But…

“There was more beyond that.”

“Yes?”

“Matthias. Do you know what it was? Do you at least have a good guess? Or is there something you are hoping it was?

“Because,” she continued.

She hadn’t seen it clearly in her dream, but she had sensed its presence.

“That must have been the guardian of your task.”

And…

“It was the ultimate happiness and inescapable despair for all who inhabit this world.”

Happiness doesn’t just land in your lap, does it? thought the Reine des Garous.

Dawn was approaching and the children were asleep in the tent. It was about time to wake up, but she had ended up waking first today.

Those children would soon wake up and head to Kyou. She planned to clean up and organize things here before heading to the Hexagone Française headquarters.

The second term would have begun by the time she arrived. Then the political dealings and wars would start back up and her daughter, her daughter’s king, and their classmates would be fighting in the Honnouji Incident and more.

In all likelihood, she would have a hard time waking up to a scene like this in the future.

So the first thing she did was look at each of them in turn and…

“–––––”

She pecked them each on the hair or cheek.

The leader of the Loup-Garous, symbols of terror, marked them hers with her saliva.

To ensure no terrors would dare approach them. She could do them that much of a favor.

And there was one thing here she found fascinating.

…My daughter’s king really has grown.

The sun nudist displayed the makings of a nation’s king, but this boy was a bit different. He had the makings of a people’s king.

It was the difference between being the leader of the system or institution known as a nation and being a leader who brought people together.

For example, the Reine des Garous tended to let her husband take charge because he would support her and put things in order for her. That was not a system or institution. And she felt certain her daughter saw that boy in the same way.

…Thank goodness.

She was so glad her words to him in the past had not crushed his spirit.

Maybe he hadn’t even noticed the possibility of his spirit being crushed.

Long ago, she had invited him and his sister here.

She had remembered this last time and she remembered it again now.

But last night she had received a new answer regarding that memory.

“Now I know why your spirit was not crushed by my lesson on how difficult it is become a king.”

She had felt self-conscious about this before. But…

“Because your great-grandmother was the kind of person who could give you a jam sandwich and call it a secret.”

It was all about happiness.

Before considering if he was doing the right thing, that boy had felt happy.

He had someone like that in his life.

The Reine des Garous’s concerns were irrelevant when he had that kind of happiness waiting for him at home.

He considered what would make people happy rather than what was right or wrong.

How could the lectures and lessons of the adults stand up to that?

After all, even the Reine des Garous had chosen happiness.

She had chosen to live with a human over being queen of the Loup-Garous.

So telling the boy how difficult becoming a king would be hadn’t broken him. He didn’t ask himself if it was right or wrong or if it was possible or not – he asked himself if it would make people happy or not.

Did the boy and his sister realize she was the one they had met that night?

Even if they did, they wouldn’t be aware that he had made her happy here and now. So…

“Nate? Just this once, I will make everyone lunches for your journey today. And the very first one will be for your king. Because…”

She giggled and sank down.

“I have my own secret with your king. One you know nothing about.”

She poked her daughter’s butt with her nose, causing the girl to scream and spring up.

Fukushima was bathed in early morning light.

She was at the observation platform.

She had only just woken. The sun wasn’t out yet, but dawn was fast approaching.

The stairs up the observation platform remained intact, a testament to the skill of the beings known as the environmental gods. But after climbing the full two-story height…

“Ohh.”

The land to the east was lit from behind and she could see something past the patches of fog.

She saw forests, snowy fields, and mountains.

What resembled a distant fortress sinking into the forest had to be the Shibata Team’s fleet. Either they had been instructed to remain on alert or they were preparing for the new term because they had some lights on at this early hour. And…

“Is that…?”

Even further away, she saw Lake Biwa to the south-southwest.

From here, the western side was hidden by the mountain range she was in and it resembled a massive bay.

But a white shape covered a portion of Lake Biwa. That was Lake Biwa Azuchi’s stealth barrier.

Were the others still inside there? Or were they spread out across different training camps like her?

…I wonder.

The wind reached her while she thought.

The morning wind came from the east. And next…

“Oh.”

The light shined in.

The sky had already been bright, so she had let her guard down. The sudden sunlight pierced her eyes far more sharply than the earlier light.

The wind felt cold, but the sunlight brought heat to her night-chilled body. She held her hand out toward the dawn a few times to check. Once her eyes adjusted, she held her hands together and bowed her head.

She took a breath.

Then she turned to view the last thing on her list. She looked more west-southwest than southwest. She looked to the distant sky in that direction.

“Is that the Musashi?”

She saw it there along with the dawn’s light.

It was distant and darkly shadowed, but the sunlight shining on it from the side made it give off a white light.

It was massive.

But that was her enemy.

It was her duty to defeat it. Whether or not she would be successful, she was dutybound to make the attempt.

But it was so massive.

And she was so tiny.

…Honestly.

Had she been wasting her time at this training camp? No, she felt she had done what she needed to do. She had focused more than ever before and spent days on end moving her entire body.

But that had taught her one primary lesson.

“I am weak.”

She had done everything she could to train, but she had still been terrified by a presence she felt in the night.

Maybe my biggest accomplishment during this training camp was reaching a point where I could choose to run away. Will the others laugh at me if I tell them that? Will they be disappointed in me?

She had her eyes on a massive foe at the moment.

She had to confront that enemy soon. The training camp had been preparation for that. But all she had learned was how weak she was and how unprepared she was to face a great power. So…

“I want someone who can accompany me.”

She allowed herself to think of someone in particular there.

Katou Kiyomasa.

She felt comfortable traversing the battlefield with that girl as her partner.

She wanted that.

No, she needed that girl if she was to attack the Musashi. Maybe she was rushing to conclusions here, but she meant every word of it.

“Kiyo-dono.” She voiced the words while staring at the Musashi’s massive form in the distance. “Thou are the only one who I can work with to defeat them and come out of it smiling.”

Fukushima missed Kiyomasa.

She ignored everything that had happened and her own need to apologize. She only felt a selfish desire to see her.

She wanted to see her and demonstrate her new strength. She wanted to tell her she could face any foe without worry and without fear of defeat if she had Kiyomasa by her side. She wanted to tell her she didn’t want anyone else by her side.

She wanted to tell her she wanted to let Kiyomasa handle everything other than her own issues and she wanted to keep doing things that way forevermore.

“That’s right.”

Everything seemed to click into place while she looked to the Musashi.

This wasn’t about her alone.

She remembered it was about the two of them. And…

“I want thee.”

She nodded and realized something.

Ever since coming here, she had barely even tried to remember facing Kiyomasa, being rejected, and being confessed to.

It was now coming back to her in pieces.

Maybe this was just a convenient way of looking at things, but she felt like she was gradually coming to terms with what she had done and the result thereof.

She could finally fully recall what happened then and analyze it.

“Okay.”

But wait.

What was it she hoped to accomplish by remembering and analyzing it?

Were these thoughts a sign that she wanted something from properly analyzing that event?

She wasn’t sure. She was still avoiding the issue, so could she really face it directly? And…

“–––––”

Fukushima bowed toward the Musashi.

She had lost last time and now she was the challenger. But…

“I swear it.”

That was all she did before descending the stairs.

It amused her she was being so decisive when she didn’t even know when she would next face the Musashi head on.

But she felt certain the others were doing the same.

She abandoned her elevated vantage point and descended the mountain to gather her things.

It was time to head back.

It was past 11 AM of September 2 when Tomoe Gozen received word of a Kyou-bound ship departing Hexagone Française.

The Protestants currently had three fleets’ worth of aerial ships stopped at a landport in the hills of eastern Saxony. That wasn’t much compared to the Catholic fleets, but the positioning said they were willing to fire on the Catholic ships as stationary cannons if the Catholics tried to interfere at Kyou.

Tomoe Gozen stood in a tower along Saxony’s city wall. She raised her right hand in a brand new summer uniform and gave some instructions.

“Raise the cannons and attach the covers. If we display an immediate intent to attack, they could take advantage of it. The 2nd term has already begun after all.

“And,” she continued.

She looked into the sky to confirm the Musashi was turning toward Kyou with a buffering spell active to eliminate the noise. She tracked the Musashi’s rotating bow with her raised finger.

“Listen. We must coordinate with the Musashi up there. Saxony Chancellor’s Officers and Student Council, do not forget to stay in contact with Musashi.”

“Lady Tomoe Gozen! Who from Musashi are we supposed to contact!?” asked a girl.

Tomoe Gozen opened a lernen figur and exchanged a few words.

“A girl known as Representative Committee Head Ookubo is apparently the best option.”

“Milady! We are busy enough as it is, but we just received a ‘Let’s Coordinate, Danke’ message from Saxony!”

“I-it was her again, I just know it! She passed them off to me!”

“Milady, now is the time to rebel! Take control of the Musashi and show her what’s what!”

A sign frame appeared in front of those two as they loudly discussed the matter on the bridge in front of the academy.

Musashi: “We are what, statistically speaking, people describe as ‘busy as hell’, but you two must be handling it with ease if you have time to plot a takeover. Over.”

“Kanou-kun, she knows.”

“No matter,” said Kanou. “We just need to do it stealthily, milady!”

Yoshiyasu, who was nearby checking on Righteousness via sign frame, glared at them.

“What does stealth matter when everyone already knows?”

“Azuma, you aren’t disembarking at Kyou?”

The Musashi was turning to the east. Miriam was looking east from the bow deck that acted as one of the Musashi’s frontmost points.

That spot acted as an ether conduit for the ship’s deck and a temporary market was being held there right now. The bow also gave a view down on the European towns below, which had an effect on Miriam.

…So many memories.

That was her mindset when she asked Azuma her question.

“Adding ‘technically’ sounds weird, but it is your hometown, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it would be. And the imperial palace is basically my birth home.”

“Would you mind telling me more?”

Azuma met her gaze when she asked that. She saw a hint of surprise on his face, but that didn’t surprise her. She tended to stay out of other people’s business. But…

“I thought it would be more…convenient if I knew more about you,” she explained.

“That’s logical.”

“Do you know what logical really means?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“It’s a handy excuse for doing what you want.”

After heading out together on several occasions, she felt comfortable saying things like this. Today, she was visiting this Musashino market with the girl in her lap. There were flowers for sale today, probably from Saxony.

She did not like decorating her room with flowers. Watering them was a pain and, if they got dirt and withered leaves on the floor, she knew she would sigh and find the flowers more of a hassle than they were worth.

But what about Azuma? If he would look after them for her, then maybe they could keep flowers in the room. But…

“Tell me.”

“It’s not that interesting, really. And I already told Honda-kun and some others.”

“The Vice President or the Vice Chancellor? And why?”

“Both. They might have to attack the imperial palace or forcibly intervene there, so I told them everything I know about its layout. I really wish I could have been more useful.”

You did more than enough, she thought with an inward smile.

…He really has changed.

Before, she doubted he would have told them that much and he wouldn’t have wanted to do more. Maybe it was his privileged upbringing, but he was accustomed to other people doing things for him, but he never knew how to decide when it was okay for him to do things for others. But now…

“Daily life sure can change people.”

It frustrated her that she couldn’t bring herself to say it was she who had changed him. That was a good and a bad habit of hers.

…If only I were more arrogant.

But those thoughts sometimes pushed her toward being a thoroughly unpleasant person, so she suppressed them. She was a reserved person deep down, so she tended to give up on things and withdraw from things, but…

“Azuma.”

She felt like she could trust her feelings this time.

Because of this boy who had somehow ended up with her and never knew how to give up on things or withdraw from things.

“Will you tell me?”

“Well,” said Azuma, choosing a path through the market. Since the Musashi was turning, most people were approaching the bow to get a look at Kyou. So he chose a path that let them avoid the crowd but continue their conversation. He was used to this by now, but…

“I have no real attachment to Kyou. I noticed when everyone started talking about it lately.”

“Well, this is getting heavy fast.”

Is it? he wondered, maybe because he lacked that attachment. And…

“I’ve never actually met the emperor – who I guess you would call my mother. I begged to see her and even tried breaking in to see her a few times when I was little, but they always scolded me and stopped me. I was usually caught by that Reizei who met with Honda-kun and the others before.”

“My, you were quite the little troublemaker when you were younger.”

“You know, that kind of compliment is kind of depressing when I look at who I am now.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

Miriam thought for a few seconds and then averted her eyes.

“And I suppose that didn’t make you feel much better, did it?”

“That you noticed at all shows you’re trying to do better, which is enough for me.”

“What kind of person do you think I am?”

“If I do better, it improves your score, right?”

She had told him that when they first met, so she gasped and turned toward him again.

“You remember the weirdest things.”

“It isn’t weird.”

Because…

“It means if I don’t get better, it hurts your score.”

Why did that make her hold her head in her hands? Finally, she beckoned him over with her left hand, head still lowered. He leaned in close, curious what this was about.

“Did it never occur to you to let me try to earn some points for myself?”

“But this is my problem.”

“If it’s your problem, why does it influence my score?”

He thought about that.

…Huh?

He felt like he had learned this in arithmetic class. Something about necessary conditions and sufficient conditions. But I’m only good at operating a register. I’m terrible at arithmetic. Regardless…

“I guess what I mean is, to me, your score is my problem.”

“…Can you say that more simply?”

“You’re important to me.”

She looked up, face red and hair disheveled, as people walked by in the market.

“You idiot. You’re not actually supposed to say it.”

She beckoned him over again, so he leaned in close.

“Idiot.”

She placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him.

He was confused, but not because he didn’t know what she had done. He couldn’t find any words and had a single thought in his head.

…Do this right.

Should he make sure no one else could see them? No, that wasn’t the point.

“–––––”

He made sure to focus only on Miriam.

He noticed her eyes were shut, so he shut his own and placed his hand on her cheek to support her.

Finally, her lips pulled away like she had just finished pecking him.

“Yes.”

He told her that was all right and opened his eyes.

He saw her looking at him, blushing and smiling.

“I’m important to me.”

And…

“I like people who think I’m important, Azuma.”

“By the way.” Miriam couldn’t look Azuma in the eye as they continued through the market. “Do you not want to visit Kyou?”

“I’m fine staying here.”

“I see,” she replied. “Judge,” she nodded.

That seemed to settle things all at once. Maybe it was immature and no more than an extension of childhood games, but…

“You know what, Azuma?” she said. “Poqou is not my real last name.”

“Eh? So it doesn’t come from the word ‘pork’ and you aren’t from a family of pig farmers?”

She briefly thought about taking it all back, but she decided to view this as his way of showing he was comfortable around her. But…

“It actually comes from taking the word ‘nobody’ and flipping it upside down.”

“Why?”

He was sharp. This was just like him. So she went ahead and explained.

“I come from a fairly rural place – a region without last names. That is, somewhere so far out in the sticks no one needs them. Instead, we use regional names, usually related to your occupation like you suggested.

“But,” she said as the path went around a corner. To her left was the shop selling the ham and vegetable rolls she had been thinking would be good for dinner. She checked to make sure the shop still had some inventory left. “But about all a disabled third daughter could do was spin yarn. Until one day, an important person from the village heard about my disability and reached out a charitable hand.”

“And that’s how you ended up at an academy?”

“I learned so much. I mean, everything was new to me. Especially since I had such an empty head.”

“If only it had been like that for me…”

“I really don’t like the idea of a sarcastic Azuma.”

“I meant that you’re quick to learn.”

“Why thank you.” But this was where the story got tricky. “Someone came to recruit me. Recruit me to a different academy. It was arranged by the important person who had given me my wheelchair and my position at the academy. So I went with the recruiter as a way of repaying that debt. And…”

She hesitated a moment but said it.

“I fell in love a bit and was firmly rejected.”

Miriam had mostly wanted to see his reaction, but…

“You aren’t reacting.”

“Oh, well, I’m just surprised you could do that.”

Does he not understand the nature of our relationship now? she wondered, but they really were two different people. That put her mind at ease and she shrugged.

“He already had feelings for someone, you see. I competed with that girl for the top spot, but then I started wondering why I was doing it and I felt like I was being a little unfair.”

“That was honorable of you.”

“Thank you.”

“But.” She tilted her head. “Does that mean I let her win? Or does it mean I lost?”

She wasn’t sure. Either way, she was here now because of it, but…

“What do you think?”

“About what?” he asked.

“Well, I let her win before the results of the final test were released. And then that school was disbanded, so I still don’t know how the test turned out.”

She had run away. She had done so because she believed that was for the best and that it would make everything easier. But…

…That all happened so long ago.

Was it a sign of dependence if she thought she could get over it all as long as Azuma said something to her now? Or did she just find it all too bothersome to deal with? But…

“Is that why you’re ‘nobody’?” asked Azuma. “The word nobody refers to the concept of ‘an absence of people’. So did you come here to have nobody with you?”

His question didn’t sound like a real question to her.

That was because Azuma immediately raised his eyebrows a hair and nodded. He had been asking it to himself to help himself reach an understanding of the situation. So when he spoke again, it was a different question.

“Did you regret it?”

“Yes, I did. I wondered why I had made that choice.”

“Then I’m thankful for your nobody.”

Because…

“It means all the things you wanted to be important can now be important to me.

“So,” he said, looking around. “What should we do for dinner?”

“We haven’t even bought lunch yet. Classes are starting, but everyone’s skipping and coming here since they’re going to Kyou.”

Oh, honestly.

“Azuma,” she said.

She didn’t know what was going to happen to the world as a whole or to them in particular, but…

“Don’t forget me. Chase after me.”

Chapter 81: Confessor in the Sky[edit]

Uh, oh

I thought I was used to this

But it feels weird head on

Point Allocation (Everyone Feels That Way)

It was past 4 o’clock.

Passing below the Musashi was a strange feeling for Masazumi.

As their ship traveled to Kyou, she saw the Musashi’s hull above them. The city of Kyou was out ahead.

Their transport ship was passing through the outskirts of Protestant Saxony and crossing the border with P.A. Oda.

Evening was approaching. The sky was colored somewhat yellow, but that color was fading.

…The sun started setting a lot faster while we were gone.

Out on the deck, she sensed the change the past week had made.

The change in the wind seemed the most significant to her, but was that due to being a Musashi resident?

The Musashi was turning toward Kyou overhead. They were continuing on to Kyou instead of rejoining the Musashi. That was partially to save time, but also because leaving from the Musashi would put their opponents on alert.

After all, there was nothing to hide them from Kyou. P.A. Oda had to be monitoring them.

So they kept going in the one transport ship.

The transport ships carrying the warriors were waiting atop the Musashi overhead. If something did happen, those ships and the Musashi would arrive to rescue them.

Everything was ready to go in case the Honnouji Incident really was happening today.

They only needed to relax and fly to Kyou. But Masazumi did have one concern.

Vice President: “Ookubo, has Kyou contacted us?”

Nagaya-Stable: “Only to say they are awaiting your 5 o’clock arrival.”

So no limit on numbers and no demand to see specific people.

…I guess it would count as harassment to send all our people in.

They had decided to harass P.A. Oda and Hashiba, but she wasn’t sure how far they could go with Akechi Mitsuhide here.

She didn’t want him to cancel their meeting out of anger, but…

“Vice President.”

While everyone made preparations and chatted behind her, the Tachibana Wife raised her hand.

She had repaired and maintained all of her cannons while they were in Hexagone Française and now she had them all out for one final check.

“There are Tres Españan ships in the landport north of Kyou.”

“Probably the baseball and track teams heading back from the nationals,” replied Noriki. He opened the tournament brackets on a sign frame. “The baseball team made it to the final 4. I was following it on divine radio. They could have continued in overtime if not for the 5 seconds taken by that foul, but that ref was strict.”

“Are you sure that was baseball?”

“Well, they were playing other things too. I ended up staying with you all, but the Valdes Brother sent an invitation and Ujinao took my siblings to watch the games.”

“Huh?” Naito tilted her head while attaching decorations to her Technohexen outfit. “Noririn, where is your wife living now?”

“With me ever since we returned from Kantou. The room across the street was available.”

Everyone exchanged a glance. The arms mimed blowing a whistle to get everyone lined up in two rows and then waved an imaginary baton to count down from three.

“Tell us these things!!”

Art-Ga: “So much material I could have been drawing! I’m suing you for damages! Don’t you think I won’t!”

Vice President: “You mean Ujinao came here when her business with Houjou isn’t complete yet!? If this leads to an international incident, I’m Ookubo-ing you!”

Nagaya-Stable: “Don’t use me as a verb!!”

Asama: “W-wait, she never showed up on any of the immigration checks.”

Laborer: “Because she took on a completely new body and gave up her inherited name. Houjou counts as…ruined I think they called it? So she counts as an ordinary person now. And she looks different, so I doubt anyone would know it was her at first glance. Speaking of, did none of you see her when she was waiting in our line at that Ariake porn festival?”

Gold Mar: “Ga-chan, Ga-chan. You’ll hurt your hand if you punch the floor like that. And don’t blame Bara-yan for distracting you by talking so much.”

Me: “Y’know, Noriki, you should spend more time with your wife.”

Laborer: “Ha ha ha. I have a whole lifetime with Ujinao ahead of me, but summer break of the third year, and what we’re doing now, only happen once. Ujinao could have enrolled in our academy, but she has her position as a Houjou to think about. And once that’s through, I can enjoy listening to her all I want.”

Flat Vassal: “I think that’s the longest thing Noriki-san has ever said.”

Bucket: “…”

Gold Mar: “Ohh, Pe-yan agrees!”

Masazumi sighed at Noriki’s revelation. She had some thoughts on the matter, but…

“Well, one of Musashi’s strengths is its ability to accept people with complicated backgrounds.”

But now she could guess why Noriki had undergone such a disturbingly rapid change of character. Ujinao probably told him not to feel any regrets.

After all, she had caused them a lot of trouble.

She had completed her task as the final leader of a dying nation, but just because the official work was done didn’t mean everything was gone. To her people who were moving elsewhere, Ujinao would always be important to them until the day she died.

Some of those people had come to Musashi.

She could not remain “Ujinao” to those people. To help them get a new start, she had chosen to lead the way by changing her appearance, changing her lifestyle, and not involving herself in politics.

However, Masazumi couldn’t say if that was what she had wanted to do.

That said, Noriki was enjoying the remainder of his school life as best he could.

That suggested his wife did not envy him of that. So…

“She’s through being a burden on people, is that it?”

“She’s apparently smiling a lot more now. I don’t know how much she smiled when living in Houjou, but that’s what she said.”

Naruze immediately began redrawing whatever she was working on, but Masazumi chose not to ask about it. Actually, shouldn’t you be preparing for Kyou?

Then Noriki looked to the idiot, Crossunite, and Urquiaga.

“I’m not much different from you three, huh?”

“You think about things too much.”

“Judge. None of my thinking ever gave me an answer. I only found the answer once I did something about it.”

And…

“I decided I was through thinking so much.”

“So what will you do now, Noriki-dono?”

“Well.” Noriki nodded and smiled. “Staying on the Musashi would be fine, but my siblings are close to supporting themselves now. So after graduating, I was thinking of leaving the Musashi and listening to what Ujinao has to say. And once we’re through with that, we can think about it again.”

“Masazumi, that makes your upcoming job all that more important,” said Urquiaga.

Masazumi had to agree.

“Noriki’s life on the surface won’t be easy if I don’t give the Far East equal standing with the other nations.”

“I’m used to hard work, but I wouldn’t argue if you made things easier for me.”

The way Noriki said that with a smile really made her notice how much he had changed. But since he was here now, he had to be preparing to fight.

…It really is a group effort with us, isn’t it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a question from Noriki.

“Anyway, is everyone ready for Kyou?”

That smile still looks wrong on him, but maybe that’s more of a me problem.

Naruze took another look at herself and Naito after Noriki asked his question.

They were summoning their Technohexen outfits separately and attaching decorations because they might participate in the Kyou meeting as bodyguards.

…Our mobility lets us carry Masazumi and the others back to the Musashi.

In the worst case, they could rescue the Chancellor, Horizon, and Masazumi. Those three would be enough to keep morale up. But is it worth rescuing the ones who would only lower morale?

“Wh-why are you staring at me, Naruze-kun!? Oh, did you want to read my new book!?” said Neshinbara.

“I warn you, Naruze-kun! I am impervious to those come-hither eyes when they belong to an old hag like you!” said Ohiroshiki.

I should draw up a priority list later, she decided. Meanwhile, Narumi and Urquiaga had finished preparing their equipment and had begun checking over the map of the imperial palace and surrounding area that Azuma had given them. The Tachibana Couple and Futayo were helping there and Adele was providing strategy support using the detailed model Suzu had created using the terrain data Tenzou had supplied.

…Huh.

“This is basically the same thing we always do.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the color red ascended into the sky to the east.

It was evening and the setting sun was changing from yellow to red, but this red was much more vivid.

“Fire!?”

“Musashino” checked on it using the sight devices on every Musashi ship.

Fire was rising into the sky near the center of Kyou.

She considered sending an emergency request to Suzu for confirmation, but the 1st Special Duty Officer’s report arrived first.

“This could be the result of a riot!”

Even as he spoke, fires erupted on the south and west sides of Kyou, followed by dark smoke. These weren’t just explosions. The smoke billowing into the sky meant this was a spreading fire. Which meant…

“Kyou is under attack by an unknown force! Over!”

As soon as she sent out the divine transmission, another divine transmission arrived.

Someone appeared on the sign frame in the center of Musashino’s bridge.

They were lit from behind.

The skinny man had a turban pulled down over his eyes. He was…

“Akechi Mitsuhide! Over.”

The Reine des Garous had finished cleaning up and was just about to leave the candy house when an emergency divine transmission arrived from Mouri-01.

The Catholic signe cadre displayed a skinny man. She did not recognize him. But…

…That man…

Maybe it was the setting sun shining in from behind him, but he looked like a silhouette cut out of the background. That made him seem isolated from everything else. Just like she had once been.

Then he spoke.

“Good afternoon. No, I guess that should be good evening by now.”

He bowed.

“I am Akechi Mitsuhide of P.A. Oda. Oh, did everyone receive the Ariake souvenirs I sent?”

Mitsuhide relaxed his shoulders.

Everyone was watching him from insha kotobs spread across the land. They were all people he would speak with when he ran across them and exchange greetings with when he noticed them nearby. So…

“I see you’ve returned, Shibata-kun.”

“You bet. I had time to think about some things and my shoulder’s doing a lot better.”

“Glad to see you haven’t changed. I sometimes wish I could be more like you.”

“Can’t blame you there. I am pretty badass,” said Shibata. “But I still haven’t stood on as big a stage as you.”

“Thanks.”

A smile escaped onto Mitsuhide’s lips. So he moved on.

“Niwa-kun.”

The screen showed Niwa looking at him from what looked like a ship’s dining hall.

She said nothing, so…

“I’m counting on you for a lot.”

“Shaja. You’ve forced a lot onto my plate before too. Honestly, I apologize for making it so easy for you.”

“I’m not sure what to say when a woman apologizes to me. I’ve screwed that one up bad in the past.”

“That’s news to me,” she said with a smile.

Oh, what a lovely smile. Sorry for sending you such a weird book. I am truly sorry. After reading it, I went to the author’s site and posted a comment: “If only the real one was like that.” I bet your subordinates are going to wish I hadn’t done that. I just know it.

…But it’s my duty!

“Are you there, Maeda-kun?”

“Um, yes, I am. Na-chan isn’t since he’s still in the mountains, so I can pass a message along to him if you want.”

“You go to so much effort for me.”

“Well, um, in that case, why not become a ghost? I’ll help you?”

He’s serious, isn’t he? But…

“No, thanks.”

Because…

“I am about to go where I have long wanted to go.”

“Well, good. You can leave things here to us. I’ll tell Na-chan to do his part. I know he’s said some nasty things about you, but if he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t say anything at all. He doesn’t understand you, but I think he sees you as an extremely culture-oriented person.”

“And I see him as an extremely athletics-oriented person. And very easy to understand too.”

“I think he’ll enjoy hearing that.”

“Okay,” Mitsuhide said.

…Takigawa-kun isn’t around anymore.

She had a powerful personality, but she observed the people around her carefully, he thought. What are they going to do about the Battle of Shizugatake without her? Well, that’s not my problem to worry about.

“Sakuma-kun.”

“Yes, yes, yes? You’re addressing me personally?”

“Of course. You have several important roles to play from here on.”

“That’s true.” The short girl with two prosthetic arms smiled.

She had been defeated at Novgorod and had been forced to sit back and watch at the Kantou Liberation, so he couldn’t say “keep up the good work”. Instead…

“Go out there and do your job, Retreating Sakuma.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll play the Retreating Sakuma role to the end.”

Just the answer he wanted. And…

“Hashiba-kun.”

“Why?”

An immediate question. And…

“Why have you started this unplanned action, Akechi-sama!”

In the Azuchi’s dining hall, Takenaka heard Hashiba raise her voice.

…Oops.

This had come as a surprise, but Hashiba’s response was not something they could let people see. But…

Kimee: “What does she mean? Does this mess with today’s plans?”

Kuro-Take: “Our plans are fine. It’s just that Akechi-san’s move here was unexpected.”

AnG: “Yeah, this isn’t at all what I had heard. So what do we do? What do we do?”

Angie’s question seemed to force a question out of Hashiba.

“Why, Akechi-sama? Why have you attacked the imperial palace!?”

Akechi nodded at Hashiba’s question.

“Because this was my only opportunity to make up for an old regret.”

Speaking the words were enough for his heart to quaver.

He was removing the self-imposed rule that had long bound him. He had told himself he must never do this, but the reason why was now fading away within him.

“I have to wonder if Carlos, Henry, William, or our teacher realized this. Our teacher may have even hoped for it.”

If so, he thought.

“I am the only one who managed to surpass our teacher’s expectations.”

“What do you mean?”

“A portion of this world has already surpassed his expectations and may be headed toward ruin. And you may try to stop it. So go fight it out.”

Yes, he thought.

When Mikawa had collapsed, he had heard a certain phrase on the divine network. He was leaving the fate of the world in these people’s hands, so he would say the same thing here. He didn’t know what would happen and it was terribly irresponsible, but what did that matter? Before, he had only been tricking himself into thinking he was responsible. So…

“And we’ll see who’s the strongest.”

“Now,” said Akechi, raising his right hand.

Masazumi saw the screen move, bringing an automaton into frame.

“Good evening. I am Reizei, manager of Kyou’s imperial palace. Akechi-sama is currently rebelling and intends to destroy the imperial palace, use us to conquer Kyou, and ultimately…”

She explained what was going to happen.

“He plans to hold a public audience with the emperor.”

Reizei threw off her restraints.

As an automaton, she served Akechi as her master.

But she had been created to manage and protect the imperial palace – she existed for that purpose.

Akechi’s actions conflicted with her purpose. But if her master ordered it of her…

…I have determined this will only last a short time.

The contradiction was spiraling within her. The more Akechi commanded her, the more she would shift in his direction. So there was something she had to say while the needle of her decisions could still swing in the other direction.

“The imperial palace requests assistance from an external force to deal with this emergency.”

They were about to open up the imperial palace, destroy the autonomous defenses, and fight their way inside, but…

“Musashi, Akechi-sama is calling you. Please stop us and protect the imperial palace.”

It was an absurd request.

But she was about to head there herself. So she spread her arms.

“We have our own mercenaries, so do be careful.”

Gin saw it.

Reizei gestured behind her where the sky was shimmering from smoke and heat. Some figures stood there, silhouetted by the sunset behind them. They were…

“Tres España!?”

The baseball and track teams.

Takakane, Fusae, the Valdes Siblings, and…

“Lady Juana!”

Juana stood there in her summer uniform. And she held a giant sword in her right hand.

Gin knew exactly what that was. So…

“This is a job for us,” said Muneshige.

Gin agreed. Juana’s shimmering silhouette was holding…

“Her Logismoi Oplo – Akedia Katathlipse!”

“You have a time limit.” Akechi snapped his right fingers. “According to Reizei-kun’s calculations, it will take us about 42 minutes to destroy the interior defenses, which not even she and the other automatons can control. Then we can enter the palace. And…”

The deck opened behind him and a device emerged from below. It was a metal cylinder about 2m in diameter and 3m tall.

“This is a dragon line reactor. I used my methods to make it a bit more compact than usual. Kyou’s ether had been gathered inside, so it should be rather destructive. What will I use it for? Well, I don’t want the other nations interfering in the imperial palace, so wiping it off of the face of the earth seems like the best method. I am destroying the palace and revealing its secrets because it is so important to the Far East, but I also don’t want the other nations getting their hands on it.”

“Akechi-sama, you are taking too long.”

“Oh, whoops. I’m pushing back that 42-minute limit, aren’t I?”

Just then, a divine transmission arrived.

“Lord Akechi!”

Next to him, Reizei wrote “It’s Musashi” on a sign frame and held it up for him. That was close. I nearly panicked because I didn’t know who this was. But now that he knew…

“What do you want, Musashi Vice President?”

“What will we discuss if we meet you there?”

“That is simple enough.”

There was something deep in his heart he wanted to support. And he intended to solve that issue now.

“I will tell you how I have surpassed my teacher and classmates and I will irresponsibly demand that the entire world solve a mystery not even I know the answer to.”

…That’s right.

There was something he had always wanted to be. It was not a part of a system or an occupation.

…A teacher.

He wanted to be someone who taught people and tried to save them from their worries and any serious threats they were facing.

“Now, then.”

He knew exactly what to say here.

“Class is about to begin.”

“That idiot! What is this about!?”

A bell rang to indicate a level 2 alert on the Musashi.

Ookubo ran up the stairs to the academy while surrounded by that ringing and other rushing people.

…Damn!

She had strengthened her body, but she still couldn’t run at the speed she wanted. She had planned to do some physical training after the Siege of Odawara and the Kantou Liberation, but she had enjoyed herself a little too much dealing with the politics and economics of Satomi. So now I’m out of shape! But…

Nagaya-Stable: “Kanou-kun! Get Principal Sakai and Vice Principle Yoshinao’s permission to deploy the warriors on my authority as Representative Committee Head! I’ll open up the student council rec room!”

She needed to summon the committee heads and ensure they could respond in full force.

…It’s like Mikawa.

Never again could the Musashi be helpless during an emergency like they had been at Mikawa. They had trained for these things and built up combat experience too.

CAN: “Milady, I have determined you have the authority to ask the warriors to prepare for combat. Actually deploying them would be more difficult since we can contact the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, and Vice President via divine transmission.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Then ask them to prepare. You can hear that, can’t you!?”

Far to the east, the direction the evening sun was shining, she hard a high-pitched sound. She knew what it had to be.

“Tres España’s transport ships and gods of war are attacking the Vice President’s transport ship!”

The first thing to fly their way was an artillery shell.

A steel ball was made extra hard and accelerated using spells.

“This is the Tres España baseball team’s multistage accelerated pitch artillery!”

Three baseball players lined up about 20m apart and the farthest back one threw a full-power pitch toward the next in line. Instead of catching it, the 2nd player made a full-power pitching motion.

They had no ball to throw, but by matching the timing perfectly, they ended up pitching the ball that flew in from behind.

That accelerated it. Then the player in front joined in with…

“Spell hardening!”

The three pitchers’ spell boosts increased the ball’s acceleration in stages. And with all the spell acceleration given to the artillery shell…

“It has an effective range of 8km! We can reach them in west Kyou all the way from north Kyou!”

“Testament! Our warrior athletes aren’t allowed to bring weapons when we visit other nations, but our sports themselves are our combat techniques!”

The metal balls and the physical boosting acceleration spells were both used in ordinary matches and training. But…

“No hard feelings, Musashi!”

“Yeah,” said the players adding to the pitch. “Tres España’s peace is riding on this mercenary job!”

Hashiba was facing down their home nation.

It had been big news in Tres España when Hexagone Française managed to stop Hashiba’s invasion at Paris and make peace.

Because Tres España was the only nation still untouched by Hashiba’s westward conquest.

Kyushu had been conquered and Shikoku didn’t have a developed economy yet. If Hashiba was looking for someone to invade and reap the benefits, Tres España was nearly defenseless while they tried to recover from their defeat at the Armada battle.

That was why they were working as mercenaries here.

According to the Testament, Spain and Germany became brother nations in the age of Carlos I because he was sovereign of both. This relationship continued, with both nations assisting each other and acting as a deterrent to growing France and plotting Italy by making moves to attack them from two fronts.

That cooperation had continued after the fall of Carlos I and they both joined the Catholic side of the Thirty Years’ War. So…

“Let’s do this.”

Tres España was not an enemy of the M.H.R.R. Catholics, but how could they demonstrate that?

“Sorry.”

They would stop Musashi.

Of course, Hashiba didn’t want this. But they were working with P.A. Oda and the only ones who could protect Akechi were Akechi’s own group and the Tres Españan mercenaries he had hired.

After this, Tres España would have room for negotiation if Hashiba did try to invade them. That negotiation might not go well, but…

“Our Chancellor and Lady Juana can make it work out at Westphalia!”

The players threw their pitch.

The blazing fastball flew and they heard something from behind.

“Let’s go!”

They had received this mercenary job shortly after the event on the Ariake. Their equipment had been brought in later and, just last night, they had managed to put together and perform some tests of their Cavaleiro Azor midsize aerial gods of war which were designed for localized use. If the El Azors were stable high-power models which could swap out their equipment for almost any scenario, these were…

“Midair martial art models with a focus on acceleration!”

Three gods of war flew out after the artillery shells. They flew toward…

“Oh.”

Musashi’s transport ship ascended while turning. Choosing not to stop moving was the correct one for a battlefield involving gods of war.

“Musashi’s aerial combat knowhow can’t be beat!”

That comment coincided with light erupting all around the transport ship.

The pitched shells had shattered against the defense barriers erected by the transport ship.

At a distance of 8km, the sound of the hits hadn’t reached the Tres Españan group yet. The manager, who was acting as observer, gave a report.

“Three hits! I’ll send you a diagram of their defense barrier density!”

Cheers and comments of appreciation blurred together, but by then everyone was already taking their pitching stances for the next round.

“The next ones will get through!!”

The battle began entirely one-sided.

Chapter 82: Deliverer Between Ships[edit]

The roaring holy fire

Carries my power

My howling right arm

Throws a magical pitch

Point Allocation (Deadly Hit By Pitch)

The transport ship’s deck was covered in rushed movements and decisions. First, the idiot panicked, Horizon slapped him, Asama calmed him, and Mitotsudaira protected him. As for Masazumi…

“Mukai!”

“Judge! I-I’m…working on it!”

Suzu drew a model in the air while Adele supported her on the deck.

She drew it rather than built it. She was using the Musashi’s modeling program which had been given “feelings” to speed things up.

The process was simple. The path of Suzu’s fingers, the way she moved them, and the strength she used guided the amount of ether material used for the model. Instead of shaping it, she drew it out in the air. It was a creation of momentum and impression. But the library they had built up replaced that image with a 3D model.

“D-done!”

The model showed their ship, the enemy ships, and Kyou connecting them. It only gave a general view, but it showed them a diagram of the 8km between them and the three enemy ships faster than any other method.

…Got it…in time!

Suzu indulged in some self-praise for not panicking. Not long ago, when she had finished up her first job like this, she had been more hesitant and scared. After all, she hadn’t known what to do after she was done. But now she knew she could relax.

Musashino: “Mukai-sama, this is the Musashino bridge. We have synced the bridge control system with your model data. If you have projection functionality, we can use your fortress parts – that is, your hip hard point parts – to- actually, never mind that. The point is, this will work.”

Bell: “G-good…I’m glad…it will work.”

She gathered that the Musashino bridge would be providing some assistance with the model.

She realized the enemy ship models were already moving on their own and model gods of war were approaching.

Bell: “C-can you show it…30 seconds later?”

Musashino: “We can. The present position will be displayed as ghosts. Over.”

Just as “Musashino” had said, the models’ movements and paths began to show the same future predictions they had used during the Kantou Liberation. Which showed…

…The gods of war…are so close!

Should they move the transport ship? But…

“M-Masazumi! I-is that…the imperial palace!?”

The model map showed a landport to the south of Kyou, but they probably couldn’t use that one anymore. And the imperial palace was…

“It’s there, Mukai!”

“Eh? Wh-where?”

Telling her verbally wasn’t going to help. She needed better instructions and Masazumi knew that.

“Umm.”

Sorry, I think I made the model too big. I’m used to making them for the bridge.

“Seijun-kun, get your ass in gearrrrrrrr!” shouted the idiot.

“Sh-shut up! Mukai, can I touch the models without breaking them!?”

“Y-yes…you’ll only…pass through them.”

All of a sudden, a leg and a left arm lifted from the shoulder by a right arm stuck up from below the model. The leg was Kimi’s and the left arm was Horizon’s. The limbs performed some synchronized swimming along the surface of the model’s water and twirled around before Kimi’s heel tapped at a space between the center and east of Kyou.

“Right here, Suzu!”

Now Suzu knew where it was, but what was she supposed to do about Masazumi who was only now hesitantly entering the model space?

“Sorry, Seijun-kun, but you were tooooooooooooo slow!”

“Sh-shut up! It’s called being careful!”

“We have incoming artillery fire, you two!!”

Asama’s warning was followed by dozens of explosions rattling Suzu’s inner ear.

The defense barriers were functioning, but she immediately identified two shots that got through.

…I need to do better.

She set the ship’s model in motion. Quickly and based on the 30-second prediction.

Asama was in charge of operating the defense barriers.

She used a targeting spell in reverse to determine where the enemy was aiming. Then she fed that information into the ship’s defense barrier activation settings to make sure they would have barriers in place. But…

…We don’t have enough barriers!

Their max number of simultaneous defense barriers wasn’t quite enough to cover all of the enemy’s shells. But if she increased that upper limit, it would reduce the strength of each barrier. She was already adding a slant to them to soften the impacts, but…

…Um, what am I supposed to do in this situation!?

Then she felt a soft tug on her skirt.

Eh? she thought, looking down to find the arms working together to lift a bow.

Of the three Tres Españan transport ships being used for the attack, the easternmost one’s stern suddenly ruptured.

Ether light erupted from it seemingly out of nowhere, so everyone initially thought it was an accident. They assumed the aft acceleration system had exploded.

But they were wrong. The first to react were the ones who had fought in the Battle of Mikawa.

“I-I recognize that ether light! That was Musashi’s anti-ship shrine maiden!”

“Damn! I forgot she shot us down back at Mikawa!”

“But wait! I didn’t detect her usual launch sequence!”

“Either way, this ship is unstable! We need to evacuate!”

They all screamed and jumped out into the empty air. The ship had already lost rear power, seeming to lean back as its aft slipped downwards.

“Abandon ship! If you’re on the bow, have the 2nd ship collect you!! Keep firing while you move!”

And…

“Send in the gods of war!”

“Oh, dear,” said Asama, wiping sweat from her brow.

She had her gauntlets and Umetsubaki but not her shrine maiden outfit, so she hadn’t been able to connect the side binder skirts or the tail binder.

That meant she couldn’t use her clothing for directional anchoring or for targeting support, so she had been forced to make up for that with spells. However…

…Fortunately, that actually shortened the targeting sequence!

If the enemy had detected that sequence, they might have erected a multi-layer defense barrier. After all, she had used this against them at Mikawa and the Armada battle. That wouldn’t be a problem if she could boost the power with spells, but she was in her summer uniform, which deprived her of the proper equipment.

She had been right to set the targeting to ether detection only and then boost the speed as much as she could. The arrow had torn into the enemy’s thruster and now the ship was losing control and sinking. So…

“That was a close one. That will reduce the amount of enemy artillery, so we should take fewer hits. A solid defense is so important in battle.”

“Defense, Asama-chi? That looked a lot more like offense to me.”

“D-don’t be silly, Naito. Like they say, a good offense is the best defense.”

Naruze immediately whispered into Naito’s ear.

“Does she think that means offense should be your only defense?”

“Wait, wait. I can do more than attack…I think.”

Still, this should have considerably reduced the strain on their defenses. The ship she had hit was working to regain enough control to make a gentle landing while the athletes on the deck chose whether to jump overboard or jump to another ship. The latter group would soon rejoin the artillery barrage, but…

“The barrage has let up for now. Suzu-san, take us to safety!”

Asama looked over to see Noriki giving Suzu some kind of advice with lots of gesturing. He had fought the Valdes Siblings before, so he probably had some useful information for her. For now, Asama needed to strengthen their defenses while…

“The gods of war!”

Three gods of war had arrived within visual range.

They aimed their three rifles toward the Musashi transport ship.

“Incoming attack from midsized aerial gods of war!”

“Cavaleiro Azor Unit A1 to A2 and A3. Pass them on the right while firing! Use this first pass to get a feel for the target’s size! Afterwards, we’ll match their turn!”

One of the three flying gods of war – the one with purple on its shoulder armor – flew out in front.

He, A1, opened a cadena firma in front of his facial sensory devices. He did the same for his two wingmen.

“Check this! It’s the enemy transport ship’s predicted course!”

A red ribbon line drew out the transport ship’s path along Kyou’s terrain.

The ship had arrived from the west and it was heading east, passing near the center of Kyou. But its bow was starting to turn south while rising. That meant it would be ascending and rapidly turning to the south. And a turn of 270 degrees would place it on a due north route, which would take it to…

“They plan to head north along Kyou’s main street to reach the imperial palace!”

The gods of war were coming from the north, so they would pass by the southward-turning ship from stern to starboard. They would fly in along the inner corner.

“A2, A3. Don’t get caught in their turn!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t get that close!” said A2 while making a quick descent. He flew on his back and aimed his rifle skyward, toward the bottom of the enemy ship’s hull.

Meanwhile, A1 moved out ahead and A3 fell back.

“You think there are any cute girls onboard!?”

“Get me some footage of Suzu-sama!”

“Testament!” replied A3, ascending.

A1 watched that and continued out ahead.

This three-craft formation was for assault recon.

They knew the enemy was turning south, but their port side was still pointed north.

So even with the Tres España artillery reduced, some of it would still hit the enemy on the port and the stern, which was turning north.

That was why the gods of war took the starboard side where the enemy ship itself would shield them from the artillery fire.

And the more defense barriers the enemy had to put up for their attacks, the fewer they would have to defend against the barrage from the north. If the enemy failed to respond properly to their attacks, even god of war weaponry could do serious damage to a transport ship.

So A1 flew out ahead. He dodged the enemy attacks on pure guts and drew the ship’s attention starboard as much as he could.

A2 provided support from below. That would force the enemy to focus down there as well and very few transport ships had cannons installed on the bottom. If A2 could bring down the ship, he would.

Then there was A3 flying in from above, using A1 and A2 as diversions. His attacks wouldn’t be very effective with the thick armor and defense barriers on the upper deck, but observing the enemy’s upper deck from visual range would provide intel on the enemy’s personnel and tactics.

So with that in mind…

“Let’s do this!”

A1 flew in.

He fired intermittently. His magazine held 36 ether bullets. To reduce the weight, they weren’t physical bullets, but they were wedge-shaped to better split the transport ship’s armor.

He estimated the length of the enemy ship. A quick calculation using that length and his movement speed told him how often to fire to not run out of ammo but also to not have ammo leftover after reaching the end of the ship. By sending that data to the god of war’s fingers, the god of war would automatically fire for him. I used to have to do that manually. These modern gods of war are impressive. He could focus on flying and send the fingers any updates to his speed.

He flew.

The Cavaleiro Azor midsized god of war wore armored clothing modeled after a summer uniform. The higher ups had decided that was good enough since it was meant for midair martial arts and not flying high in the sky, but A1 felt like it would get chilly come autumn. But for now…

“This works!”

Ether bullets had little recoil when fired. His hands were mechanically controlled, so they didn’t budge, staying perfectly aimed just below the transport ship’s deck edge. That would prevent those on the deck from ignoring the bullets – perfect for a diversion.

As long as he kept firing, he could at least fulfill that diversion role.

With no return fire, he felt this was a fairly easy close-range battle, but…

…Oh?

A familiar face raced across the deck.

He knew that boy. It was former Tres España 1st Special Duty Officer Tachibana Muneshige. Muneshige raised his hand in greeting.

“Hello! Long time no see!”

That cheerful freak! thought A1 for the first time in a while. He had thought the exact same thing when Muneshige had obtained a wife who took strong-willed to strange new places and was fed poison by her, yet only smiled and said, “Who knew poison was so sweet?”

But now he was running toward A1.

On closer inspection, he was carrying an artillery shell below each arm. And…

“Hi.”

A1 saw Muneshige leap from the edge of the deck into the empty air beyond.

A1 didn’t initially know what had happened. And a moment later…

…Did that freak jump to his death with a pair of shells!?

He clearly wasn’t going to fly far enough to reach A1. Well, he would probably have a descent spell at least, but…

“He’s falling too fast for that!?”

Muneshige was clearly falling. He wasn’t using any kind of spell to slow his descent. That was when A1 figured it out. If that rapid descent continued…

“A2! Get out of there!”

A2 was flying rapidly below the transport ship and firing on its hull, but then he noticed a gap appear in the defense barriers protecting against his fire.

Its position meant he would have to approach the ship to take advantage of it. Taking some grazing hits wouldn’t be a problem, but…

“A1, can you get closer to draw away-”

He was going to say “to draw away the enemy fire from above”, but the person he was trying to speak to shouted back at him instead.

“A2! Get out of there!”

A2 obeyed on reflex.

He moved away. He didn’t know what, but A1, his commanding officer, had detected a threat.

The enemy was above, so he would be safe as long as he moved away from the transport ship. But…

“God of war unit!”

A new voice arrived from the Tres España ships to north. The same ships still firing on the enemy.

“Look out below!”

A1 didn’t understand.

He knew Tachibana Muneshige had dropped down directly in front of him.

But if that was meant for A2, the correct warning was “look out above”. Muneshige was below A1, but the boy lacked any way to ascend.

So had the main group misread the situation? Had they mistaken Muneshige and A2’s positions? Or…

“A1,” said the observer back with the main group. “I meant you!”

The first thing A1 checked after hearing that was Tachibana Muneshige.

He was the only thing below, so he had to be the threat.

The god of war’s sight devices focused on falling Muneshige. He was holding artillery shells, so was he going to fire them at A1? Or…

“…?”

One of A1’s sight devices detected a strange movement. The preliminary lock on Tachibana Muneshige suddenly shifted.

There was another enemy.

This one was much more distant, even further along the straight line connecting A1 to Muneshige.

Far below the other side of the transport ship, someone had been hidden behind Muneshige until now.

…Her?

A1 recognized her as that freak’s wife.

“Tachibana Gin!”

She had gone first.

She had jumped off the other side of the ship ahead of her husband.

The husband had been a decoy to draw A1’s attention.

They had tricked him. Their falling positions had taken into account their shifting positions as they all moved, so who had crunched those numbers?

Muneshige twisted around in midair and something flew past his side and toward A1.

It was an artillery shell launched by Gin.

“Dammit!”

A1 returned fire and tried to take evasive action, but it was too late.

The hit prediction said it would hit his left side. A direct hit. Damage from the left side hard point to the internal frame. The bottom left of the four wings would be destroyed and the upper left would receive minor damage. That would reduce his propulsion by 42%.

He wouldn’t be able to fly. The recommendation was to eject.

…It can tell all that before I’m even hit?

These modern gods of war are impressive. But…

“Your cannon is Tres Españan too!”

The shell hit.

A2 and A3 knew A1 had been hit. They could share the sight device data sent from A1. He had been in a hurry to send it out and it still included the chest and windblown skirt of the summer uniform girl who had managed their takeoff, but the others chose to keep that a secret.

You’d do the same for us, thought A2.

At any rate, the cannon named Tachibana Gin was falling from the port side and the frea- the husband was falling from the starboard side. That wasn’t a problem for A3 up above, but A2 was below.

“Kh!”

They were using small, lightweight crafts, but their flight power system was really just a scaled down version of the El Azor one. The unneeded acceleration launched him about 100m away in an instant.

He saw A1’s components scattering as they fell from above. A1 had already purged his right arm to rebalance himself. His right wing was still functional, so he must have shifted all his weight to the left side so he could try and descend as if dangling from that wing.

A3 wanted to provide assistance, but he was in danger himself. He was monitoring Tachibana Gin’s position, so he ascended and circled above Tachibana Muneshige so he could-

…Huh?

Muneshige was above him.

Muneshige was running up the empty air like he was climbing a hill. Well, empty save for A1’s scattering components.

That seemed absurd, but A3 still took action. He accelerated backwards to put as much distance between them as he could. But…

…I can’t lose him!

He noticed Muneshige was holding his spear out toward him. Was that some kind of thruster?

If so, he thought, aiming and firing his rifle. The enemy gained a burst of acceleration at the same moment.

Muneshige’s spear was aimed for the muzzle of A3’s rifle, not A3 himself.

The bullet left the barrel at about the same time as Muneshige landed atop the barrel.

It had happened so fast.

That serious-faced boy raised his right hand right next to the god of war’s facial sight devices.

I’m dead, thought A3 just before Muneshige spoke.

“Long time no see. You were with the god of war unit that assisted us in the New World, weren’t you?

Anyway,” he said, taking the pair of shells he carried under his arms and pushing them into the god of war’s collarbones.

Wait, no, stop that. That’s a weak point.

But Muneshige looked back with a smile and bowed.

“It was a pleasure meeting you again.”

Then he tapped the bottom of his spear against the ignition explosive spell installed on the bottom of the shells.

Gin visually confirmed a second scattering of god of war parts in the sky.

…That should be enough.

Muneshige’s Kamenuki would accelerate toward its target. If used against a moving object in midair, it could follow after that target.

There of course had to be a limit to that ability, but the scattering components were not moving that fast. So for Muneshige, footholds had effectively been raining from the sky. He had used the wreckage of the god of war Gin had destroyed in order to get close enough to the 2nd god of war.

And now he was descending on the wreckage of that 2nd one.

Gin was descending too. Yes, they knew the baseball team’s suppression team was not the only threat.

“The track team is down on the ground!”

Some athletes in red light armored uniforms were sprinting down Kyou’s 100m-wide main street.

Those were the finalists of Tres España’s track team.

They were headed to Kyou’s imperial palace, which was visible on the right side of the main street. That was Musashi’s destination.

“How are things up above!?”

Gin looked up as she fell. She saw the transport ship making its ascending turn with A3 in pursuit.

Gin is trouble! thought Juana from the bottom of her heart.

The girl seemed docile, but she was a warrior through and through. She was quick to action and rivaled Muneshige in skill. Muneshige rivaled Takakane in offensive power, so logically speaking…

“Lady Juana, try not to get lost in thought,” said Flores, handling her pitches alone.

Juana knew Flores was right.

The track team was racing through the city of Kyoto under Fusae’s command.

And that wasn’t all. The baseball team’s outfielders were taking control of Kyou’s guardian gates located at the four cardinal directions. They would soon return to join with the track team, so…

…If we can hold the imperial palace’s entrance, we will have the Musashi group surrounded!

They were buying time. Gods of war A1 and A2 had been shot down, but without them, Musashi’s transport ship would likely have come from the west and taken a direct north route. They were instead taking a circular route to the south because they wanted to assess the situation and ensure they had a path to the north.

“They are also ascending, so they probably plan to take a descending path for greater speed.”

“You mean they’re going to crash into Fusae’s group at the palace entrance?”

“Musashi has never rammed people with one of their transport ships.”

Was it naïve to trust in your opponent’s conscience?

But if your opponent followed a certain rule, it was best to incorporate it into your tactics.

Still, Flores had said earlier they would have a hard time of it if the transport ship took a descending path.

“Will we be able to fire on them, Flores?”

“Hmm. We can aim lower, but their transport ship is a flat type. It isn’t very tall, which is a problem for us.”

Because…

“Throwing a low but stable pitch is tricky.”

“I will have to trust you on that, but does this mean they know how our artillery fire works?”

“Probably. Still, our regular players can handle that, so let’s take them off the bench and put them out front. An underhand pitch like mine should be pretty stable. The problem is swapping out the pitchers will lighten the attacks on the enemy ship for a short time.”

“The Student Council warriors can pick up the slack.” Juana raised her right hand. “Student Council warriors. Spell team. Prepare your banned book cannons!”

Masazumi watched as the last of the enemy gods of war passed by while firing into the air above.

Defense barriers opened in the sky and ether fragments scattered. The sounds of the hits and the sounds of the enemy fire played a rhythm for the wild dance of light and trembling found on the deck.

Masazumi couldn’t shout over the din, so she spoke through her sign frame.

Vice President: “Mukai! Are we still not done turning!?”

Bell: “W-we’re only…just starting!”

The ship was making a wide turn to invade Kyou from low altitude.

Noriki had noticed the enemy baseball team’s pitches were less accurate when thrown low. Partially because of his past battle with the Valdes Siblings and partially because he liked baseball. No, it was more accurate to say he had gained an interest in it after the Armada battle.

But taking a lower altitude course meant sinking into the city of Kyou. That meant straightening out their course and flying along the main street, but…

…Once we do that, we’re sitting ducks. There’s always a downside.

But the battlefield was always in motion. If they were not constantly making their own moves and fighting back, they couldn’t do anything at all. That of course applied to the enemy as well, so…

“Asama-kun! Incoming spell fire from Tres España!”

Neshinbara shouted his warning and expanded his sign frame. He observed the enemy movements and gathered what intel he needed to respond appropriately.

“Those are banned book cannons!”

Naruze was unfamiliar with the weapon name Neshinbara shouted. But…

…This can’t be good!

She could make a good guess what they were and what process they used to fire. Basically…

“They burn porn doujinshis to convert the sinful energy into a weapon, don’t they!?”

“Kiyonari, how am I supposed to respond to something like that?”

“Narumi, simply follow one of Catholicism’s lessons: if your enemy stands before you, punch him.”

Naruze was pretty sure some of those doujinshis features those two, but Neshinbara’s sign frame showed a fire burning high from the enemy’s deck. The fire struck the spell circle placed above it like a lid. With a sound like a beating drum, ether formed reproduced pages in the hands of the students lined up on either side.

“Here it comes! Those are acceleration cannons made with an average of 24 pages!”

From the cover in the very back to the back cover in the front, the 12 pieces of ether paper, with drawings on both sides, acted as an acceleration pathway.

…Weaponizing sinful energy? Not bad!

There were 12 lines of students in all. That many beams of light flew toward the transport ship while it was still trying to make its turn.

A3 ascended and checked on the result of the cannon fire.

Banned book cannons were a type of ether cannon. Just as one’s spirit of worship became Blessings, the feelings people poured into objects also became Blessings. And the narrative path of a story created a sort of current. If that was viewed as a Blessing conduit, then a book could function as a cannon if the Blessings of its creator’s passion and craftsmanship were accelerated down the narrative path.

Then they only had to place an ether shell inside.

Manga was actually best for this because they had a good number of pages and rate of story progression. Novels had more pages, but their acceleration pathways jammed easily, meaning they were powerful but were smaller caliber.

Today, they were using 500 books selected by the Library Committee’s archive team. They were all very lewd, but would become holy fire when burned by a holy flame. By then converting them to ether and reconstructing them, they formed page-based acceleration cannons.

Someone had spent days on end pouring their passion into these books, knowing very well they were creating a banned book. How powerful would they be?

The flying beams of light crashed into the enemy transport ship.

The defense barriers shattered noisily.

Eight beams had hit. So many had missed because the enemy ship had begun their turn and the Student Council’s warriors didn’t have the skill to react. But the power of the attack was still impressive. The enemy must have been cautious because they had opened 8-layer defense barriers, but each of them had been shattered down to the 6th or 7th layer.

A3 sent a report back to the main unit. It included some praise.

“That sure packed a punch! You nerds can really fight!”

Juana set up her targeting spell. Each variety of PC included in her uniform could run a Catholic artillery spell. That didn’t work when she was this far away, but she could still provide multitasking targeting support for the others. However…

…This is tricky when the enemy is in motion.

The Student Council warriors generally fought ground battles. They had received anti-air artillery training, but Musashi’s transport ships were flatter and faster than those of the other nations. Juana hurriedly adjusted a few settings and linked with the others’ artillery spells, reaching a point where she only had to give authorization, but…

“You there! Stop reading that! Have you forgotten how many of the selection group had to be imprisoned!?”

“S-sorry! But I saw the title ‘A Crash Course on Extreme Witch Hunting’ and I couldn’t help myself!”

“Th-the last panel on this page has her shout ‘spiritual!?’ and now I have to know what happens next!”

“Um, this one’s circle name is ‘No Lewd I Dwell On’, but that’s not quite a palindrome, is it!?”

How many times did I tell you not to read them? And no, that last one isn’t a palindrome. At any rate…

“If the installation is complete, then get going!”

“Excuse me!” shouted the 2nd student on the 1st right row. “This one gives you and the Chancellor a happy ending! What should I do!?”

Juana hardened her heart and shouted “fire”.

Flores ordered a pitch at the same time as Juana’s cannon fire. The pitches were a tad faster, but the banned book cannons were more powerful.

Musashi would have their turning side struck and…

…We might even take out their stern acceleration system!

Musashi had done that to them, so they could get payback. And if they shot the transport ship down over southern Kyou, her brother’s group could return from the four gates and fortify the defenses on the main street. So…

“Go! St. Elmo’s fire!”

Ether flames appeared across her body and she installed them into the metal ball. The others around her cheered as she pitched along with them.

A3 ascended and entered a wide turn from south to west. He was constantly firing on the transport ship’s bow. He was providing support for his allies firing on the port and stern, but it also prevented the enemy from firing on him while he observed them. His job was to maintain a certain distance from the transport ship while weaving left and right.

Then horizontal beams of light flew in along horizontal paths from the north. The banned book cannons and metal balls had been launched together with perfect timing.

The transport ship was turning while it ascended. It had still only just entered its turn.

It was ascending so it could begin descending during its turn and use that descending route to shorten the total turning time. Using gravity to provide some yaw was faster than simply rotating the ship horizontally.

But Tres España targeted that.

This would be their last chance to fire on the ship from side to stern.

The god of war’s brain system predicted the hits. Nine of the banned book cannons were on course to hit. 31 of the baseball team’s pitches were. A3 didn’t know where Musashi would send their defense barriers, but the hit rate was going to be higher than before.

“Hit them!”

In the instant of the hit, A3 saw the transport ship’s stern suddenly sink down.

…Did they hit it!?

No. A roar, which if described as a color would best be called white, came from the airspace around the transport ship. It was caused by…

“Their virtual ocean!”

A3 saw the ocean. It was spread out horizontally high in the air.

…I recognize that.

He had seen something like this before. Back at the Armada battle, he had witnessed something he had thought wasn’t possible.

An aerial ship had performed a loop. The maneuver had begun by forming a virtual ocean around the bow and pulling the ship up with that. But what happened if this was done with the stern thrusters stopped?

“The ship stands upright, but inertia pushes the stern out front!”

It rotated backwards. While the bow was lifted diagonally up, the air resistance pushing against the bottom eventually reached the point that the entire massive structure stood vertically.

The artillery from the north had arrived, but the enemy transport ship was standing up. The artillery had been fired in a horizontal row, so the vertical transport ship had minimized the surface area exposed to the attacks.

It was hit, but…

“Banned book cannon hits: 3! Metal ball hits: 11!”

A3 knew what would happen now.

“The transport ship is about to make a rapid turn to the north!!”

We haven’t stood a transport ship up like this since the Kantou Liberation, thought Narumi.

She was standing on the deck thanks to the ship’s gravitational control and her own martial arts. Even Musashi’s noncombatants knew how to handle this, so you could tell these were people who called the sky home.

And at the center of the deck, one girl held the sky in the palm of her hand.

Suzu.

She had the skill to earn the title of acting captain and she was focusing all of her control on this one transport ship. She stood the model transport ship up in the virtual space like she was holding a baby.

“Good.”

Suzu had stood the real transport ship up in south Kyou just a bit southeast of the center.

But the ship still had southeastward momentum. That was still placing air resistance on the ship and pushing it upwards, but now that it was vertical…

…The depowered stern is going to drift out in front of the vertical bow.

As things were, the stern would slip through and the ship would fall deck-side down.

But the acting captain did not try to wrestle the ship into control. She only applied a light rotation to turn the deck northward as the stern slid forward.

“You know…that thing?”

Narumi knew what Suzu meant, so she felt a smile on her lips.

“That thing…from Russia…with the upside-down ship? We’re going to…do the privet.”

Juana saw the enemy make what she could only call a challenge.

Musashi’s transport ship collapsed toward them with the deck turned their way.

It shifted to upside-down flight. That would normally be impossible. All of the crew and rigging on the deck would become stress pulling down and might even fall off. But…

…It sped up their turn by a lot!

Juana had assumed they would take a standard wide turn through the air.

But they hadn’t.

Their ascent had been the start of pitching the bow up with air resistance. What had looked like a turn had been the start of spinning the ship on the stern axis. It all made sense in retrospect, but she hadn’t predicted any of it.

It would be easy to chide herself for being careless, but figuring out what to do now was more important. So…

…Now I see what they’re trying to do!

The enemy would let their ship collapse down and fly upside-down while they descended all the way to the imperial palace.

There had to be stress and worries for the crew and equipment on the deck, but they likely intended to use the ship as a shield and abandon it here.

That meant they only had to keep this up for a few more minutes. Meanwhile, Tres España had no way of dealing significant damage to them in that time.

Juana felt pathetic for thinking they could handle this as long as they forced the enemy into a turn. But…

“What’s this, Ju? Feeling down?”

A divine transmission arrived.

It was from Fusae.

Juana listened to Fusae while having the banned book cannons and baseball team continue firing.

Fusae’s group had to be on the way to the front of the imperial palace right now, but…

“Faster, everyone! Full speed! Our goal is arriving 1200 meters south of the palace in 18 seconds!”

What did that mean?

…Are they passing by the entrance of the palace!?

Juana knew what was happening, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant.

“Fusae! Your group’s job was to fortify our defenses at the palace entrance!”

“Our defenses won’t matter much if they ram us with that transport ship. So…”

The track team members running along the main street responded with a united “Testament!”

A white and black giant seemed to rise up at the lead.

That was the flagcraft of Tres España’s god of war forces, Michiyuki Byakko. The heavyweight god of war carried Fusae on its shoulder as it ran out ahead down the main street.

A massive shape appeared out ahead of them.

That was the Musashi transport ship entering the main street at extreme low altitude and flying upside down.

Juana knew what Fusae’s group was going to do. And knowing it, she still made a point of speaking.

“Fusae! Here are your instructions!”

First…

“Stop that transport ship with the track team! The north group of the baseball team’s outfielders will gather in front of the palace! The other groups will mop up the enemy after the track team stops them!”

Yes, yes. That’s it, thought Fusae.

Their Vice President had trouble relying on others. Her desire to be relied on was so strong she tended to take everything onto her shoulders. Fusae knew Juana could handle a lot, but she wasn’t omnipotent and she didn’t have infinite capacity as a person.

…If only Ju would notice jpw the Chancellor she respects so much relies on her all the time.

In fact, the Chancellor could barely function without her around. How could she respect someone who did what she wouldn’t allow herself? This wasn’t about what had happened in the past.

…It’s because she’s taken what he’s working toward and made it into her own dream.

He wanted to save Tres España.

And Juana had to be a part of what he wanted to save.

So by assisting him and letting him rely on her, she saw it as saving herself and improving the circumstances she had been born into. But that felt too cold and unfeeling to Fusae, so she made sure to add “and it’s because Ju loves the Chancellor”.

But lately, Juana was more readily thanking others. Fusae hoped that side of her would grow. And to help that along…

“The trouble I go through for her.”

Fusae had to show off that she could be better than Juana in some regards. And she had to show it was no big deal or else Juana would never accept the help. Juana refused to make herself a burden on others.

Fusae hadn’t found a chance to do this since the Armada battle, so this was looking good. Juana was letting her guard down.

“Let’s go, everyone!”

They had passed the imperial palace, but everyone was staring ahead to their goal: 1200m south of the palace. That was where their top speed would intersect the enemy’s advance.

They were actually pushing themselves a bit too hard, but she knew they could all handle it. They had been training over summer break, after all. So…

“Taka! You guard the palace!”

Fusae dashed along the remaining thousand meters.

Naomasa clicked her tongue in a world flipped upside down.

…The Byakko’s here too!?

Suzaku’s repairs were complete, but she couldn’t use it in battle without giving it a test run first. She might be willing to risk it against the average opponent, but she had lost against Byakko even with everything working right.

She did wonder if the Suzaku’s nearly complete form could manage it, but she wanted to be fully prepared for that. It was still too soon.

“Damn!”

The rational part of her mind wondered when she had gotten so emotional, but she figured it probably bothered her so much because this felt like accepting defeat all over again.

She had 1 win and 1 loss against Byakko. And the win had come from surprising the enemy. She had never won in a fair fight and, based on how much damage was done, she had more or less lost that time too.

She honestly felt like it was a shame she couldn’t do anything. On the other hand, she had a job to do here.

“Suzu!”

That job was evacuating the noncombatants. They had to provide help in escaping the ship and landing. Futayo was already carrying Masazumi for that purpose. Then they had to carry the noncombatants somewhere sheltered from the enemy attack.

“Where’s our rendezvous point!?” she asked.

“Th-the imperial…palace! O-or if that…won’t work…the east should be safe…since Muneshige-san’s group…went there!”

Suzu’s models had stopped updating, but they displayed the result of what she and the Musashino’s bridge had accomplished.

It showed the locations of the enemy track and baseball teams, including predicted paths for the next 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

…It’s hard to believe.

They were capable of getting ahead of the enemy’s actions more than 2 minutes in advance.

But Naomasa knew these were only paths. If a battle broke out or collision occurred, Suzu and the automatons had no idea what would happen or how it would turn out.

“Good enough.”

Knowing the enemy’s path was plenty for escaping. So all she had to do was run away with Suzu in her arms. Only one other thing occurred to her.

“What will you do, Adele?”

“My job is to charge the palace with them!”

Adele pointed toward the warriors who had worked as the transport ship’s crew.

There were about 50 of them, but according to Futayo, this was the assault unit selected from the best of both Mikawa and Musashi.

Then they should be fine, concluded Naomasa, letting them handle things here. And…

“N-Naomasa…-san. Try to stay…aboard…as long as possible.”

“Hah. No one likes a stubborn girl, you know?”

The serious response of “I know” threw Naomasa off a little. But they were about to begin on Suzu’s final tactic, so all eyes were on her.

“And now Seijun-kun is going to tell us all a funny joke!”

Everyone looked to Masazumi instead. Everyone impatiently treaded in place and shook their shoulders while making “wrap it up” gestures, but their Vice President still raised her right hand.

“Our job is to break into imperial palace, but that’s not going to be easy with these Tres Españans being a real Spain in the rear! …Well, feeling more relaxed now? Feel free to laugh.”

“Don’t ask the impossible!”

Everyone’s retort was followed by a tremor coming from the bow.

“Huh!?”

Everyone turned around to check Suzu’s no-longer-updated models.

“Th-the track team…is seven seconds…early!”

Suzu’s sentence took up the few seconds they had left.

So a moment later…

“Goalllllllllllll!!”

A familiar voice reached them as the transport ship’s bow shattered and its shape split apart.

Michiyuki Byakko had hit it with an ultra vibration destruction blast.

Fusae had a plan.

…This lets me crush that transport ship all at once.

She attacked the keel. That was the mainest of the main frames running along the bottom from stem to stern.

She shot through it with Byakko’s Roar Deterioration ulta vibration destruction cannon.

She didn’t actually need to destroy it. She only had to hit it hard enough to tear it free from the ship. That would separate the sub frames from the main frames, leaving the entire ship more fragile

But an obvious problem presented itself to her. This flat Far Eastern transport ship had two keels. Even Byakko would have a hard time damaging both of them at once.

“I guess I’ll just have to do this.”

Fusae put Byakko in a sideways-sliding stance.

And she activated the Roar Deterioration on both shoulders. But while she normally pushed a shoulder out in front to fire, she was in a sideways-sliding stance this time.

“Here goes!”

The Roar Deteriorations opened their mouths. Byakko’s OS opened a ton of cross-style cadena firma around the shoulders, but Fusae ignored them. The center of the transport ship was approaching dead ahead. She aimed Byakko’s right palm toward the horizontal guard on the tip of the upside-down bow.

As if she planned to stop the ship with that hand.

“Roar Deterioration!”

It was more of a propagation than a tremor.

Byakko’s Roar Deterioration was fired from its shoulder cannons, but the vibration devices were contained in the shoulders themselves. So Fusae closed the cannon mouths. The output of the vibration devices could not leave through the cannons and instead traveled through Byakko’s outstretched right arm. As a result…

“Ultra vibration propagation destruction blow!”

The instant Byakko’s palm hit, the ship flying at high speed was blasted to pieces.

Chapter 83: Reunited Ones on Main Street[edit]

The annoyance of finding this

More exciting than troublesome

The trouble of finding this

More thrilling than annoying

Point Allocation (Self-Made Problems)

Fusae arrived at a renewed understanding of Byakko’s power.

Its power as one of the Four Sacred Beasts was the Path. Looking at its power system, OS, and balance, it had to be the best god of war in the world for close-quarters combat.

Its frame was sturdy. The frame was forged from Orei Metallo and black steel and it had survived even when the rest of the machine had been damaged.

But that sturdiness wasn’t where it truly shined. Orei Metallo could conduct ether. That meant the vibrations from the shoulder devices reached the extremities of the frame.

“I rarely use this, though.”

This locked up Byakko’s entire body for a moment.

And the instant Byakko’s raised right hand was enveloped in ether light and contacted the transport ship’s front guard, the ship’s bow swelled out in a sphere. The hardened wood, the port and starboard frames, and the hull armor were all destroyed like it had crashed into an invisible beast and been devoured.

The sound it made was not of impact. It was an overwhelming cacophony of tearing and breaking. The powerful vibration propagated beyond where Byakko was directly touching and tore a large volume of ship to smithereens.

The bow was destroyed within a 12m radius and the rest of the ship bounced upwards.

“There you are.”

Even as the bow was destroyed, the transport ship continued to fly and the Musashi crew was visible on the upside-down deck located on the very bottom.

…It’s been a while!

Gin wasn’t there. Neither was Muneshige. But Musashi’s 6th Special Duty Officer was, the 5th Special Duty Officer who had fought Takakane was, and the Vice Chancellor was…not. Well, she’s always something of a mystery.

At any rate, Fusae knew what she had to do. She would fire Roar Deterioration from the shoulder cannons this time. They were charging toward her on their own, so she could take them all out at once.

So she opened Byakko’s shoulders and noticed the destroyed bow moving past her. Byakko did not have unlimited fuel and the vibration devices would overheat if she used Roar Deterioration too many times in a row. So she would draw the enemy in and use it as few times as possible.

“Roar Deterioration!”

Just as she shouted that name, a shell flew in from the right and exploded in Byakko’s face.

Gin had sniped a perfectly-aimed shot from an elevated point to the west.

Gin knew Fusae’s timing.

…Byakko opens its shoulder cannons and braces itself before firing.

Byakko’s vision was sent to Fusae, but due to structural constraints, the Roar Deterioration cannons on the shoulders blocked the shoulder-side head sight devices. There were secondary sight devices on the shoulders, but they were much less effective than the primary ones when it came to detecting things long range. It was also fortunate for Gin that Fusae was on the left side of Byakko.

That meant she could not directly see an attack coming from the right.

Gin, meanwhile, couldn’t snipe from too high up because the transport ship acted as a lid.

She had made the shot from 1.5km away, on the roof of some ruins to the southwest of the imperial palace. The building had apparently been a railroad train station.

The 1st Special Duty Officer’s advance team had helped with the range finding. They were currently sending out information while disguising themselves as local guards and assisting the evacuation of Kyou’s people.

Gin’s shell had clearly hit, but she frowned and jumped down from the station roof.

“Master Muneshige! I will join you!”

“I am currently mopping up the eastern group, but I will join you when I am finished!”

Of course he had everything under control.

Their job was to secure an escape route for Musashi and provide support.

They knew the baseball team’s outfielders had taken control of the city gates and were now gathering at the imperial palace. Muneshige was eliminating the eastern group so Musashi could use that gate to escape. Gin was assisting Musashi’s entrance with long-range fire.

But she still felt like she should go assist Muneshige. She could hear sounds of battle over his divine transmission link.

“Hello, long time no see! How have you been!? Same old, same old, eh? Oh, and you? Is your wife doing well!? You have a new child!? That is wonderful news. And you…a grandchild!? I’m jealous! The secret to health is alcohol, you say!?”

Muneshige was actually stabbing and cutting down those people one after another. He would raise his left hand in greeting while he did so, so Gin had dubbed it the One-Handed Hello Strike. His social skills are something the Tachibana family never had. It even scares me and I’m his wife. I need to rush there and assist those he has greeted.

But she could already hear some high-speed mechanical noises from the sky. The gods of war had detected her earlier shot and were rushing this way. And the instant she landed, Gin saw the result of her shot. The shell’s explosion cleared to reveal…

“Byakko was unharmed!?”

Just by starting up, Roar Deterioration had devoured the shell.

That meant it had been powered up since she last saw it.

Fusae felt a chill in her gut.

…Not bad, Gin!

That sniper shot had been excellent. If Gin had used Cuatro Cruz’s anti-ship attack, Fusae would have had difficulty stopping it. That thing fired air shots, so it was a poor matchup for Roar Deterioration.

But that hadn’t happened. The ultra vibration destruction system was shaking the air and was ready to go.

“Let’s do this!” she shouted.

That was when the enemy all moved at once. They jumped down to the ground and split to the left and right. Musashi’s 6th Special Duty Officer in particular stayed until the last possible moment while holding Musashi’s acting captain.

“Suzu!”

Fusae thought she heard a quiet “okay” from beyond the deafening vibration. And…

“F-full…purge!”

Fusae sensed a great mass overhead.

Musashi’s transport ships had a certain structural trait. Since the Musashi’s base hull was created from wide blocks and long blocks, most of their transport traits were given sizes based on multiples of wide blocks and long blocks.

…So are the ships made from the same block structure?

They were. Wide block-sized pieces fell out from the center of the ship, from stem to stern. They were more than 90m long and 18m thick. And they were dropping from the transport ship like hammers.

The flat-design transport ship had a lifted bow, so if the very front of the ship was destroyed, Fusae had assumed she would get a view of the people hidden behind that slant while the ship itself passed overhead. But instead, the contents of the ship fell toward her.

“Musashi sure has gotten a taste for the flashy lately!”

Fusae considered whether or not she should attack with Roar Deterioration. She wasn’t sure if that would stop them, but it would definitely slow them down. However…

“Captain!”

Below, a group of people rushed toward her all at once.

Those boys and girls of the track team reported to her. The boys formed up on the left and the girls on the right.

“Leave this to us!”

With that, they drew the long objects from their backs and threw them at a high angle.

Those were javelins that doubled as throwing spears. The boys’ were about 2.7 meters long and the girls’ were about 2.2 meters long. With over a hundred athletes, over a hundred javelins were stabbed into the transport ship.

But it wasn’t enough to stop the falling ship blocks.

So they readied themselves and raised their voices. They raised their right fists and then swung them back down.

“Jump!”

That voice command caused the javelins to extend downwards.

That pole vaulting feature was used to jump over the defenses and walls of an enemy formation or fortress.

The series of attacks instantly and noisily brought the front of the transport ship down to the ground.

In a motion much like a pole vault, the poles jabbing down on the front of the transport ship caused its stern to spring high into the sky.

From Fusae’s perspective, the sky seemed to ascend.

The upwards spring of the ship’s stern was greater than the falling speed of the purged blocks. Also, the boys and girls had parted to the left and right, so…

…They added left and right angles to the springing!

Since the girls on the right were, on average, shorter, the ship would slant rightward as it stood up and collapsed forward.

That would keep it from traveling down the main street.

“Leave the street!” they all shouted.

Fusae nodded and faced forward to see the Musashi group that had evacuated the transport ship.

With one job complete, Tres España’s track team shifted focus to their next job.

They had removed the transport ship from the main street. Now they had to attack the Musashi group.

The baseball team would show up eventually, but they had heard the eastern group had already had been devastated by their former colleague Muneshige. That meant they were fighting their former 1st and 3rd Special Duty Officers, but…

“It is what it is. We’re mercenaries, so we can’t choose who we fight!”

That couple’s strength was unfortunate, but hardly a surprise. Still, they had managed to focus on their current task and they had successfully eliminated the transport ship. So…

“Let’s do this!”

The instant the words were out of their mouths, someone dropped down between them. Two someones, technically.

The Musashi Vice Chancellor had landed while carrying the Vice President.

She nimbly corrected her position with her hair swishing behind her.

“Oh, excuse me a moment.”

She readied her spear while the track team was still turning her way to see what this was about. She held the blade horizontally so it would reflect the poles they had set up.

“Bind, Tonbo Spare!”

Juana descended to the main street while continuing to command the firing of the banned book cannons.

She began running toward the imperial palace when she heard a loud rumble up ahead.

She knew what had happened. The many poles working to eliminate the transport ship had all broken at once and the ship had fallen diagonally onto the street.

The bow fell straight down and the vertical ship had bounced and skipped. But the impact had knocked all of the blocks out of the ship, so it made a half rotation toward the main street and began to skid toward Juana.

…Uh. oh.

She couldn’t say for sure what had gone wrong, but she knew no one could stop the battle now. If victory would be found after bringing down every opponent they came up against, then it was best to stick to the original plan.

“Fusae!”

Juana gave her command while running.

“Go for it!”

Fusae knew the track club behind her was not out of the fight.

They were quick runners and she knew they would have dodged the transport ship, so their attack would continue. Meanwhile, she had Byakko run to eliminate the enemy force in front of her.

The Musashi force had only just dropped down from the transport ship up ahead and on either side.

She had an effective attack for the closest ones.

Roar Deterioration was already starting up on Byakko’s shoulders. So…

“Let’s do this!”

Fusae looked to the opponents directly in front of her: Musashi’s warriors and their 6th Special Duty Officer. The officer was not riding her god of war. Fusae briefly found that disappointing, but…

“Fire, Byakko!”

There isn’t much I can do, thought Naomasa. Their opponents had set up this battle, but it had come as a surprise encounter for Musashi. They had gone as far as using the transport ship and purging its internal structure, but the opponent had survived it.

Naomasa knew exactly what she had to do now.

…Deal with Roar Deterioration!

She knew what kind of attack that was. The attack range wasn’t that large, but when used while running, it could destroy everything along a straight line. Their best bet was to…

“Scatter to the sides!”

Her shouted instruction was answered by Byakko accelerating. It was coming right for her.

…Damn, it’s fast!

This isn’t going to be easy, thought Naomasa. She was slowed down some by carrying Suzu, but it mostly came down to Byakko’s speed.

She considered purging her prosthetic arm and using that as a shield to escape with Suzu. It would look bad, but Roar Deterioration expanded from the shoulder cannons. A shield would have an effect. So…

“Suzu?”

Suzu held tightly to the prosthetic arm.

The action clearly said “don’t get rid of it”. Naomasa wondered what that was about.

“––––––”

Byakko was coming, but Naomasa figured it out. The air-rattling attack might shatter the ground out ahead, but she realized what Suzu’s action meant.

“Come!” she shouted.

She gave Suzu a gentle pat and then raised her prosthetic arm into the sky.

“Suzaku!”

An instant later, a vermilion color collided with the white. A six-winged god of war had flown in from the western sky where Musashi flew.

It was Jizuri Suzaku.

“Am I living in a horror story?”

Yoshiyasu pointed into the sky from the large hatch of Musashino’s god of war hangar.

“Do gods of war normally leave their docking station, crouch down to politely open the hatch, and fly out all with no pilot inside?”

“In this case, there is technically someone inside. And I much prefer it unlocks the hatch like that instead of forcing it open and breaking things. Also…” The maintenance chief pointed at Yatsufusa at the docking station directly ahead. “I get the feeling this one’ll be doing something similar eventually.”

“Hmm. I have a feeling Yatsufusa would just break through the hatch, so sorry in advance. But…”

Yoshiyasu sighed while locking her Righteousness into its docking station.

“I was thinking of going to help, but that thing beat me to it.”

“I can get yours ready if you want. I’ll need to swap out the joints for urban warfare, though.”

“The battle will be over if you’re only starting now. Still, maybe I could help them on the way out.”

Meanwhile, the ship shook below her feet. She looked up to the ceiling and the maintenance chief shrugged.

“That was fast. The Musashi is already purging its base hull.”

“So the residential areas are being removed?”

“Judge. Things aren’t looking good in Kyou. It’s possible this will lead straight into the Honnouji Incident set up in the east. So instead of going through a quick purge then, they want to do a full one now. First Asakusa, Shinagawa, and each ship’s warehouse district. Because that’s all dead weight during combat. The residential areas will have to come later and the academy is too big to be purged.”

Yoshiyasu knew where he was going with this.

“This is all so we can fire Kanesada at any time, isn’t it?”

“Because for Musashi, our leaders are more important than Kyou. The idiot isn’t here, but we can probably fire Small Kanesada after only a minimal purge.

“But anyway,” said the maintenance chief. Some noise was reaching them past the wind, rumbling transport ships, and purging of the wide and long blocks from the base hulls. “You can hear the inhumanly rapid sounds of clashing metal coming form Kyou, can’t you? That’s Byakko and Suzaku.”

“How’s it going?”

Yoshiyasu wanted to know about that battle, but the maintenance chief shook his head.

“It’s two of the Four Sacred Beasts playing together. Once they’ve had their fun, it’ll end, but Suzaku has its flight devices now. Byakko has basically already shown us what it means to add flight devices to Suzaku which already has that Swamp acceleration, but the question is whether or not Naomasa can control it.”

He sighed.

“Either way, it’ll be over in the blink of an eye.”

Naomasa harnessed Suzaku’s power.

It was armed with a midsized wrench in each arm. It wrapped its fingers around the hook-like rings and either swung them to attack or held them like a tonfa when she needed a narrow shield.

She was especially careful when striking. After all, Byakko would ignore the blow and make a punch of its own. If the wrench was deflected, it could possibly damage Suzaku’s wrist or fingers.

…And it doesn’t have any emergency spare parts or repair spells equipped!

It must have come out on its own. She had known about its recent autonomous actions, but now that it had gotten so obvious about it, she felt she should have been stricter with it. However…

“The flight devices!”

To fly all the way here, Suzaku must have completed its initial link with the flight devices. That left her with one thing to do here.

…This is a lot like when I fought Integrity at Satomi.

The flight devices’ acceleration could give a boost to all of Suzaku’s attacks. The thrusters could also be swung around to provide short dashes for evasion. If she could repeat those actions with enough precision…

…This should count as a test run!

Her opponent was Byakko. There was no better test opponent.

Suzaku had been improved, but there was no way to give it heavy armor. Taking a single hit would mean defeat against this opponent. But that tension was…

“Pretty nice.”

It seemed wrong to feel that way in combat, but she said it anyway.

“It’s been too long!”

Yes, thought Fusae when she heard Musashi’s 6th Special Duty Officer.

…She is much more accustomed to combat now.

When they had first fought, Naomasa had responded to Fusae’s brute force tactics with force of her own. That had let Fusae mercilessly shatter that force, but during their second battle, Naomasa had used trickery and then activated her Sacred Beast. Fusae had lost because she was too shaken by the activation of the Sacred Beast OS and seeing what was inside Naomasa’s god of war.

She hadn’t been able to predict that.

She should have known her opponent would be carrying her own burden and have things not even she understood.

This time, Fusae remained cautious since Suzaku appeared to be what she could only describe as “fully equipped”.

Mountain, River, Path, Swamp. Each of the Four Sacred Beasts had their own power. Byakko’s was the Path. It could create a virtual field that let it run through the sky.

That Path power did not only appear when Byakko was running through the air. Its specialized power system would convert its Path power to move the god of war.

The Roar Deterioration ultra vibration destruction cannon was part of that. By intermittently sending the path-creation power outwards, it created a vibration. That could also be sent through the god of war’s frame, but…

…What about her?

How could Suzaku’s Swamp be used? And aside from that…

“That sounds nice.”

The metallic impacts and evasions sent sparks soaring along Kyou’s main street.

Suzu sensed the metallic clash which was destroying the street.

She had experienced something similar at Sendai Castle. That had been Urquiaga and Narumi flirting in a way that was easily mistaken for a battle, but this was fundamentally different. Naomasa doesn’t love older sisters. Or does she? I guess I don’t really know. The point was, both sides saw this as no more than a battle with no consideration for international negotiations.

They attacked. They struck, they parried, and they dodged.

Their movements were largescale. Their actions were carried out using turning slides with a radius of about 5m.

But Suzaku flapped its wings to accelerate and Byakko used its great strength to leap. Their actions were based on separate things, which made it all the easier for their movements to mesh together in a sort of dance.

Suzu thought it was beautiful. The pavement was shattering and she kept hearing steel sounds, but their movements were picking up speed.

“Oh!” roared Naomasa.

Byakko roared back.

Suzaku’s striking power was far inferior to Byakko’s. A single solid hit from Byakko would be devastating for Suzaku, but a hit from Suzaku’s wrenches only made Byakko’s armor strain.

But Suzaku did not run away.

Because as long as it remained there and stopped Byakko, the others would be safe. And…

“Right.”

The wrenches. Naomasa was aiming for Byakko’s joints with the midsized wrenches she was using as attack and defense.

A wrench struck Byakko’s shoulder joint and locked it in place. Once Byakko couldn’t move…

…It accelerated?

Suzaku used its Swamp acceleration to power a tackle leading into a high-speed body slam that pushed Byakko back. Byakko was being cautious – probably because of that accelerated charge. It had trouble responding to that attack, much like Suzaku did with Byakko’s attacks.

And as the exchange of attacks continued…

“Let’s go…everyone!”

Suzu’s shout was answered by a roar of voices as the group that had evacuated the transport ship advanced down the center and sides of the street.

“Let’s go!”

Leading the charge front and center was the lieutenant commander of the warriors.

He was from Mikawa. He had served as Futayo’s lieutenant on the guard ship during the Battle of Mikawa. When the time came to decide what to do, he had supported the status quo decision and held the line. And when the time came to rescue Horizon, he had held back the Testament Union warriors rushing to the execution site and again held the line until the Vice Chancellor returned.

“So we do the same here!”

The others would follow him.

They formed columns on the left and right and charged the Tres Españan track team up ahead.

The transport ship was falling onto the main street in between the two groups. It had collapsed a bit diagonally, but…

“Run on top of it!”

The bottom of the flat ship formed a flat arch. By climbing up the rear thrusters, it formed a bridge to the battlefield. The Vice Chancellor had to be leading the way and fighting beyond it.

He knew exactly what to do.

“Charge and focus our attacks!”

The first to respond among Tres España’s track team were the ones who had fought in the Battle of Mikawa. They had used defensive formations back then, but the Far East excelled at one thing: breaking through enemy lines. And to do that here…

“Their side formations are on the move! After them!”

The columns of Far Eastern warriors rushed toward them on the left and right, joining together to form a wall. That wall was angled to the sides and held up defense barriers to protect the center and deflect any attacks outwards.

They were setting up a fully defensive advance so they could break through without fighting, but…

…Far Eastern defense spells use purification!

They didn’t reflect. They would break if the load was too great, but in general, they purified any received attack power, weakening it enough to slip away.

Moving in on the sides and then gathering in the center slowed Tres España’s response for just a moment. And even when the track team persistently caught up, their power was weakened and deflected by the defense barriers.

“Damn!”

They were furious, but they did have one effective attack to use against the group attempting to break through.

It came from the sky.

The god of war monitoring the transport ship had lost its target, but if they could hear it roaring by overhead…

“We could use some help, A3!”

A3 attacked.

Firing along the main street while traveling so quickly was dangerous. His allies were there and he couldn’t afford to damage the surrounding buildings. So if he was going to do this, it had to be…

…From directly above!

He fired straight own on the charging Musashi group.

But as safe as that choice seemed, it was in fact quite dangerous. Because…

“Musashi’s Technohexen are paying me a visit!”

White and black schale besens soared up from below.

Those two had defeated ace pilots at Mikawa. At the Armada battle, the Technohexen under their command had shot down A3’s comrades and the two of them had devastated the mechanical phoenixes. So this time…

“Here goes!” shouted A3.

As soon as he took his downwards course, a shot flew up from below.

It was a roll of 500-yen coins. And it was guided by a route drawn out by the Weiss Hexen. As things were, it was guaranteed to hit him.

So what could he do?

…Steel myself!

He accelerated straight down. Part of him wanted to crash into the group below like a high-speed tackle.

This group was worth it. He was sure of it.

But if he had a guiding path following him, he just had to outperform that path’s maneuverability. Relative speed would help him there. He could effectively add the shot’s speed to his own.

“Down!”

He passed between the rising Technohexen and the shot.

His Cavaleiro Azor excelled at maneuverability. It created that maneuverability with its acceleration and it had far greater short-distance acceleration than any previous god of war.

Those Techohexen wouldn’t have seen speed like this before. In an instant, they were in the sky far behind him and they looked back as the coin roll exploded.

He was already firing. He was bound to do some damage to the Musashi group below. But if they raised their defense barriers, they had already lost. Because those barriers would get in the way of any antiair fire they might have used.

He flew on. He kept a straight course while firing. He knew exactly when he needed to begin pulling up.

…No!

In that same instant, something passed by his flank. He thought it was another Technohexen shot, but then his auditory devices picked something up.

“Lovely to see you again! Your brother will be starting high school soon, won’t he!?”

When she saw a god of war explode overhead, Asama recalled what Suzu had said.

…Oh, right. This is supposed to be a privet.

When Naito and Naruze’s attack had missed, Asama had thought she would need to fire overhead, but…

“How serendipitous I ran across you on my way to intercept the western outfielders! Battling my old home is such fun since I keep running into familiar faces. Anyway, it’s a shame I couldn’t provide a proper greeting before you ejected. Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to the greet the next group!”

With the god of war explosion and forced ejection overhead, Asama saw Muneshige “fly” into the western sky.

Then Gin came running up from the east. She charged in to stop the track team’s right formation.

“Long time no see.”

Those four words were enough for the track team to stop and take up a defensive formation.

Their captain must have told them what would happen if they attacked her. Gin bowed toward Asama’s group before running off after Muneshige.

That just left Asama’s group on the ground and…

Gold Mar: “Wow, that was a close one! Sorry our old data wasn’t any help. I didn’t think we’d need to redo the entire launch process.”

Art-Ga: “We were lucky Muneo and Gin were here. I need to draw up a storyboard once this is over.”

Worshiper: “To thank them or harass them?”

But the enemy was in disarray. And the Musashi group was past the transport ship and moving on ahead.

Or they were trying to. But…

“…?”

Suddenly, Asama sensed something from the left and right. The track team attempting to pursue them suddenly scattered.

Asama’s group was heading toward the transport ship. At 100m long and 20m high, it would provide a lot of cover. Had the track team given up pursuit because of that?

…What is going on?

In the hopes of finding an answer, Asama looked back toward the track team.

At that very moment, the tail end of the Musashi warriors was blasted into the sky.

“…!”

She heard two roars of impact. They sounded metallic and were followed by the sound of breaking armor.

…Huh!?

It happened again before she could figure anything out. The tail end of their group – closer to her this time – was hit by something.

Asama saw a pair of metal balls. Her Konoha prosthetic eye ran a scan and told her the two metal balls had suddenly flown in from quite close by.

…What in the world?

They hadn’t come from above or below. They were just suddenly there, like they had teleported.

They likely came from beyond the transport ship up ahead. And…

“A 3rd set is coming!”

Her warning was drowned out by the metallic impacts.

But these impacts did not cause any damage. They were the crash of an attack intercepting the balls.

They had Noriki to thank for this. He smiled as he caught the two airborne metal balls.

“So we meet again,” he said. “Valdes must have improved his disappearing magic ball.”

Chapter 84: Transmitter in the Batter’s Box[edit]

So

How much of this

Follows the rules of baseball?

Point Allocation (Does Any of It?)

“Indeed I have,” he said from a point 200m north of the transport ship. “Because I, Pedro Valdes, could never win the nationals with a magic ball that requires I pitch alongside my sister.”

He raised a pair of metal balls and prepared a pitch toward the transport ship.

“Now, who is my opponent? I will use everything I have to defeat them.”

Some people emerged from the top of the transport ship: the Musashi group. They all pointed at Valdes and spoke as one.

“He’s the one!”

“Hey, it’s great to see you again! Congrats on making it to the final four!”

“Are you waiting for something? What do you want!?”

Valdes nodded at the shouted question from the Mito Lord in the lead.

“I want to know who my opponent is.”

Musashi’s princess answered while pointing his way.

“All of us.”

“Judge!”

The entire Musashi group charged his way.

“It looked like he wanted to set up a 1-on-1 match, so this makes us seem kind of bad! Oh, no! We’re the bad guys!”

“Do not be ridiculous, Adele-sama. Single combat is an outdated concept. It hasn’t been relevant since the Mongol invasions of the Far East,” said Horizon.

“What about all those duels we’ve been fighting?”

Valdes took his pitching stance up ahead. Noriki raised his head.

“Here it comes!”

“You aren’t handling this one?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“I’m not prepared for it. A direct hit could break some ribs and Ujinao would be upset if I came home like that. You don’t want Ujinao reverting to her old self and storming the place, do you?”

“Good point! Someone other than Noriki-dono needs to handle this one!” said Tenzou.

“Very well!” said the lieutenant of the warriors. He turned back toward Futayo. “Captain! Leave this to me!”

He took a direct hit.

He was blasted into the air where Persona-kun caught him and left him with the rescue squad behind them. Finally, everyone looked to Futayo, who was carrying Masazumi.

“Hey, your lieutenant was one-shotted!”

“Judge! A noble sacrifice! Glasses boy! What’s our next move!?”

“Eh?”

Gold Mar: “That’s all you have, Bara-yan? ‘Eh?’ ”

Novice: “A-and your attack missed earlier!”

Art-Ga: “Sure, but at least we did our job. You haven’t done squat.”

Novice: “Someone help! This Technohexen is using theoretical arguments against me!”

But there was still a fair amount of distance between them and Valdes. And during the time that gave them…

“Heh heh! There, I think!”

Their ranks parted where Kimi pointed just before a pair of metal balls appeared there. Two or three warriors weren’t quick enough, but they were already beginning their evasive action.

“Kh!”

It only grazed their shoulder or arm, but it still sent them flying into the other warriors who had gone the other way.

The ranks supported them.

“You alright!?”

“Damn, that was a nonrotating pitch!”

Valdes was already entering his next pitching stance. Blue fire burned in his hands, telling them this would be a magic ball as well.

But as fast as the Musashi group was running, they were still more than 100m away. Asama turned toward Persona-kun.

“I’ll fire on him, so-”

“No, Tomo. That would be too high to match the balls’ paths.”

So…

“I will do it!”

The wolf swung her chains and pulled out ahead.

Mitotsudaira gave herself a burst of speed.

She closed the distance between her and her opponent and she swung the silver chains.

Her opponent was using a spell. She understood the basics of the magic ball from reading the Armada battle records. But this was a new and improved version.

If she could see where the magic ball was, she could handle it. That was the inherent rule behind the magic ball spell, but she couldn’t actually respond to it without understanding how it worked as a spell.

…It must be a type of concealment spell.

If she could see through it, she would win. And…

“Fun fact,” said Valdes, beginning another pitch. “No one defeated this magic ball at the nationals. Which is hardly surprising.”

That was when Mitotsudaira noticed something. The Armada battle records had said Valdes used an overhand pitch. But now…

…A side arm pitch!?

Mitotsudaira swung the silver chains.

The vanishing magic ball worked by colliding a pair of pitches with a certain divine protection applied. That would give them identical positional data on an ether level rather than a physical one, so they would negate each other’s position and briefly disappear. Noriki’s battle records were enough know the pitched balls themselves were traveling through the ley lines.

Meanwhile, the silver chains were divine weapons capable of striking ether. In the same way they would attack ether beings, they could hit the balls in the ley lines. Plus, the chains were long, so if she used them as a bat…

…I know I can hit the balls if I swing soon enough!

She swung. She did so while running, but it was a full-power righthanded swing. She gathered strength in her right hand and…

“Homerun!”

Immediately, the warriors behind her were blasted into the air.

Noriki swung his right hand up into the air.

“Striiiiiiike one!!”

Whose side are you on?

What just happened? wondered Mitotsudaira.

The enemy’s projectiles moved fast. She quickly pulled her silver chains back, but she had swung them at the earliest timing.

Yet it hadn’t been quick enough. And…

…Huh?

She suddenly noticed something between her and the enemy. But before she could figure out why…

“Heh heh. The next one is coming. Right there!”

Everyone screamed and managed to get out of the way this time. A pair of metal balls enveloped in blue flame appeared out of nowhere there.

“Guts!”

The lieutenant had just finished receiving first aid, so he stopped them by grabbing them between his arms.

Mitotsudaira noticed the two balls were lined up front to back.

…So does it work the same as last time?

When the lieutenant passed her one of them, she confirmed the question growing in her mind.

“What is this?”

There was a mark on it. She knew that had to be a hint to figuring out the magic ball’s trick.

But knowing that didn’t tell her how to fight back. The enemy’s pitches were clearly faster than would be expected from the pitching motion. Meanwhile, Noriki swung his arm up in response to that pitch.

“Striiiiiiike two!!”

Again, whose side are you on?

Gold Mar: “Noririn’s super into this, huh?”

Unturning: “Isn’t that pitcher supposed to be our enemy?”

Laborer: “Yes, but I know the Valdes Siblings from the Armada battle. And I feel like he deserves to have at least one person on his side here.”

Flat Vassal: “H-he does have people here! Like, a whole bunch!”

Mitotsudaira considered a few theories. She wanted to keep a close eye on Valdes, but she also wanted to focus on something else. But as she ran toward him…

“One more strike and you’re out.”

“W-we’re using those rules!?”

Oops, Mitotsudaira belatedly realized.

…Was this supposed to be a duel!?

If she screwed this up, who would step up to take her place? No, the rest of the Tres Españans would probably catch up and this charge would devolve into a brawl. The Tachibana Couple were dealing with the baseball players to the east and west, but the groups from the north and south remained untouched and Valdes here was the first of them to arrive.

If they took too much time here, they would have a much harder time getting into the imperial palace. So…

“I’ll finish this here!”

Valdes nodded in response. He had already taken his pitching stance. Mitotsudaira had to quickly swing her silver chains. For some reason, his pitches had their speed boosted. So she had to increase her speed too.

“Nate.”

Her king’s voice reached her.

“Swing lefthanded.”

Valdes saw the enemy change her batting form for this pitch.

Doing that during a pitch was against the rules, but she wasn’t actually a baseball player. That was obvious enough from her stance. Any combat training would have taught her to use both arms, but people still had a dominant side. So…

…Why change now?

It doesn’t make sense. Then again, nothing Musashi does ever makes sense and trying to figure it out is a waste of time. Lady Juana said that repeatedly during the strategy meeting. I tried to demonstrate my understanding by expressing my outrage at how they made her grab their Chancellor’s dick, but she only yelled at me for that.

…So this must be the same as the dick.

“Sister, this is likely your brother’s last time to take the mound,” he whispered while making the pitch. “Disappear! My magic ball!”

Mitotsudaira saw Valdes’s pitch.

She had a theory, but if this was what she thought it was…

…Can I make it in time!?

She had already begun swinging the silver chains. With faster timing this time. But…

“Kh.”

Given the previous span of time from pitch to impact, the swing was too slow. This was the fastest she could manage, but it was too slow.

…If only I could get my bursts of acceleration to affect the chains.

Her mind sought out a logical explanation and was ready to give up, but…

“Nate, check this out.”

She heard her king’s voice and something else in her ear: a quiet sound she had heard several times the day before. It was a damp and pleasant but embarrassing sound.

“––––––”

She gasped and her fingers jumped. Sudden power reached her left hand’s fingers.

…Oh.

A burst of speed traveled through her left shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, and finally the silver chains.

Valdes saw something in that moment.

The silver chains gained a sudden burst of speed, but more than that…

…She shut her eyes!?

Was that because his magic ball disappeared? But the timing of it confirmed his concerns.

…Did she do it!?

A solid sound of impact rang out like a wave.

She had hit his pitch.

Asama heard multiple sounds at once.

She saw the color silver fly in a horizontal circle and then race outwards

The color scattered blue light into the air.

There were two of them. The silver chains had found Valdes’s metal balls.

Mitotsudaira got a hit.

Asama honestly didn’t know how Mitotsudaira had figured out the trick behind the magic ball and hit them. She considered asking Mitotsudaira later and spreading the story around.

But she had also noticed the chains’ unusual speed. Mitotsudaira had always swung them with brute force, so their speed was generally constant.

…But it looked like the center rushed out in front for a second there.

She knew what must have happened. The burst of acceleration Mitotsudaira could send throughout her body had reached the chains.

She had tried that several times during their time in hiding, but it hadn’t gone well. So why had it worked now?

“Um, Toori-kun?”

Asama turned around to find him biting his own index finger.

Yes. He and Mitotsudaira had bitten each other’s fingers yesterday. And Mitotsudaira had just used her left hand’s fingers, which included the bitten one.

That was the trick behind the wolf getting the acceleration to the chains.

But it wasn’t just the biting.

“That was transmission, wasn’t it?” Kimi smiled bitterly. “Mitotsudaira isn’t Catholic and she doesn’t worship the Asama Shrine’s Sakuya. She’s an Ootsubaki follower, the same as my foolish brother. She made the switch when she decided to be his knight, but Ootsubaki is an entertainment god.”

So…

“Entertainment gods provide spells that support the transmission of emotions and thoughts. But…”

“But what? That wasn’t a spell she used there,” pointed out Asama.

“This was something more fundamental than a spell. Surely you understand. What happens when someone you love suddenly sits next to you or touches you? It’s embarrassing, but you jump, don’t you?”

Kimi gave an exaggerated jerk of her shoulders and moaned, “Ah, what, Toori-kun?”. Is that supposed to be me? I don’t recall ever saying anything that disturbing.

“Heh heh. But that jump is an extremely small reaction. It’s a subtle thing because you can’t let the other person notice it. But it is still a movement of the muscles and bones.”

Asama knew where Kimi was going with this.

“Are you saying Mito never learned how to use the subtle sort of force needed to control the chains?”

“You mustn’t confuse weapons and tools with love and romance. Mitotsudaira needs to teach her entire body how to do this. Otherwise she might destroy my foolish brother with a hug. …By the way, foolish brother, was the finger sucking meant to hint at this?”

“No, it just felt right at the time. I guessed Nate had done that before as a kid, but not for a long time. I did think I’d be in trouble if she used her strength on me, so I figured there was nothing to fear if I did that.”

So…

“Since we had done that, I thought her finger would be sensitive to touch right now.”

That meant he probably had figured all that out. And most likely it happened…

…During the Kantou Liberation.

He had caught Mitotsudaira, been pushed down by her, and held her. That had led him to figure out why she rarely made any moves in his direction. It had looked like she had mastered her bursts of acceleration, but she actually couldn’t use it when holding or embracing something.

So he must have wanted to start at the beginning on teaching her this, which also meant…

…He’s going to keep doing that sort of thing with Mito.

Makes me want to slap her on the shoulder and tease her a bit, but she probably sees me the same way. And at the moment…

“I dedicate this victory to you, my king!” said the wolf.

As the two metal balls fell, she caught one in her left hand and struck the other from below so it would rest atop the first.

Then Noriki made his call.

“Interference! Batter out!!”

Whose side are you on, Noriki-kun?

Valdes did not watch as the St. Elmo’s Fire scattered and vanished from his arms.

He moved to the west of the main street and let the Musashi group pass.

…Well played!

His magic ball had been defeated by a first-time opponent. That was as close to a complete defeat as he could think of.

He was impressed she had seen through it. After all, she had aimed her hit for where the pitch split into two.

“That disappearing magic ball used multi-stage acceleration.”

The idea was simple. Before, the pitch had disappeared when the balls collided, but this time he had adjusted the divine protection so they would collide again within the ley line. But instead of canceling each other out again, they added to each other.

That gave a single pitch twice the speed.

But the balls couldn’t be seen since they had disappeared from the previous collision.

However, the switch from canceling out to addition required them to split apart inside the ley line, which made them unstable.

…That was the only moment a batter had.

He used a side arm pitch for this one. That let him hold the two balls in his palm. An underhand pitch would throw them with too much force and an overhand pitch would make it too easy for the balls to slip from his hand.

And since the spell required an early collision, he had to throw them both nearly simultaneously.

He first threw the one resting on the wrist side of his palm and then threw the one he was accelerating by catching it with his fingertips.

The collision very nearly happened in his hand.

Since the nationals included nonhumans with more than the usual number of arms and legs, it was sometimes allowed for a player to use multiple bats or pitch multiple balls. That came with a penalty of disallowing intentional walks, but they had still made it to the final four.

No one had actually hit it. But…

“Senpai! Your form was great there at the end!”

The baseball team greeted him from the side of the main street. Especially the catchers. All of the catchers were injured, with bandages around their arms and elsewhere.

No one could properly catch that magic ball yet.

But since it had been defeated here, perhaps the disappearing magic ball was a thing of the past.

The Musashi group passed him. He asked a question of the silver wolf in the lead.

“How did you figure out the trick?”

“Judge. Because…”

She tossed him one of the balls. He saw something on its surface.

“They had your blood on them.”

That explained it. It wasn’t just the magic ball. Any pitcher would place their blood or an equally valuable emotion within the balls they used. But…

“I couldn’t see anything, but I could still smell something there. So I asked myself why I would smell blood between us when I couldn’t see anything.” The wolf tossed the other ball to him. “The divine protection and spell used for your magic ball must only work when your god recognizes your effort. So that smell is the true essence of the pitch. That’s something separate from whether or not the physical ball is visible. That divine connection acts like a sign pointing to the magic ball and it won’t disappear so easily.”

“Testament. That would mean that my magic ball really was accepted by god.”

Valdes caught the falling ball.

“Captain! Lady Juana! Captain Fusae! This is as far as I go! The rest is in your hands!”

'’Then I’ll have to do something about this, thought Fusae.

She swung Byakko’s arm and took an attack stance while viewing both sides of the battle.

…We’re both pretty worn down.

Neither god of war had much undamaged armor left.

They both knew what the other was capable of. She had honestly been worried when the enemy had pinned down Byakko’s arm and thrown it. She had created a Path in the air and immediately circled behind the enemy, but the battle could have ended there if she had let the surprise get the better of her.

Those thrusters were a pain.

Suzaku itself was skinny, but it held steel weapons and placed its acceleration behind each attack.

Its body didn’t have that much power to draw on, but its flight momentum made up for that.

And the enemy was getting better at using that as the battle progressed. This type of movement was probably based on the battle the enemy had fought in Satomi during the Kantou Liberation. Any god of war pilot would know the traits of each nations’ gods of war, but…

“The eastern nations have more precise control with their flight devices than we do.”

…We have more power, though.

The El Azor was primarily used as a gunner because it had high-power flight, but was bad at midair close-quarters combat. They had felt a need to fix that and thus the Cavaleiro Azor was born. I didn’t expect all of those to be shot down by Muneshige-kun and Gin-chan, though. Oh, the Tachibana father is a god of war, so maybe they’re used to dealing with them.

“Oops!”

Fusae widely dodged one of Suzaku’s attacks.

The main street’s pavement was already badly broken, leaving a patchwork of visible earth, but she had just taken an advantageous position.

…The transport ship is visible dead ahead.

Her position and timing were perfect. The track team was directly past that transport ship while pursuing the enemy. And if that ship formed a wall…

“I’ll just have to push her into it!”

Chapter 85: Sacred Beasts of Two Directions[edit]

Is that the preparation?

Or is it the result?

Point Allocation (Vibes)

Suzu heard some loud noises while part of the group charged toward the imperial palace.

The noises came from beyond the transport ship behind them and were even louder than the earlier ones.

…That’s Byakko attacking!

And it wasn’t stopping. The god of war was using its attacks to push straight forward. It hadn’t made any rushes like this before, but Suzu knew why it could now.

“Suzu-san, what’s that I hear coming from Masa’s battle?”

“That’s the ground…being torn up…and stomping feet!”

Byakko was using the broken ground from the previous fighting. Its footwork had torn up the pavement and now it hooked its feet on the surviving pavement to strengthen its steps. To contrast how Suzaku used the acceleration of its flight devices, Byakko used the resistance of the ground.

Byakko made sure its footing enhanced its attacks and it kept going.

Suzaku could have done the same of course, but their power and weight were too different.

Still, Suzu could hear the sounds of Suzaku blocking Byakko’s attacks. It used its midsized wrenches as shields and used quick bursts of its flight devices to dodge and parry.

But it was falling back all the while. Worse, it was being driven straight back.

Byakko was in control of the direction Suzaku went. If Suzaku tried to escape to the sides, a giant fist would attack there and prevent the lateral movement.

Naomasa could use martial arts too, but she was not a puncher. If it came down to one-on-one fisticuffs, Byakko had the advantage.

Suzu listened to it all play out as sounds and she soon noticed another problem facing them.

Valdes and his group had moved aside, but the enemy’s main northern group had arrived at the imperial palace entrance up ahead.

And in the lead was…

“Takakane-dono!?”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Futayo. Takakane readied his long bat.

“As always, I’m the cornerstone of our defense! Now, come at me!”

A pair stepped forward in response.

“Let’s do this, Mary-dono!”

“Judge, we can take care of this!”

Urquiaga and Narumi followed.

“We can deal with the surrounding area. Narumi, you go for the big one.”

“Deal.”

Narumi changed course and moved out ahead. Instead of the imperial palace’s entrance, she veered left, giving the baseball players a wide berth. She flew past them to reach…

…Their main group!

Juana held Akedia Katathlipse and led a unit running this way. And…

“–––––”

Suzu heard a loud crash from behind.

Byakko had landed a powerful attack on Suzaku.

Fusae pushed forward.

She struck Suzaku and pushed it ahead of her. She wasn’t doing this just because.

…That wall!

The transport ship sat ahead. Its rear thrusters were dead, but that meant the giant torii-style piece of art was no more than a wall. If she could push Suzaku against that wall, she would win.

That would prevent Suzaku from falling back any further.

That would prevent Suzaku from activating the Swamp behind it.

So she pushed. She kept in close to avoid giving her opponent a chance to escape. She kept up a barrage of blows that would have left the average god of war out of breath, but it was easy for Byakko. The attacks were not uniform – she mixed in twists and hooks to break through her opponent’s reactions.

“Get…over there!”

She had Suzaku right where she wanted it. Of course, part of her felt it had been too easy. Which suggested her opponent was plotting something.

So she would crush that opponent.

She would use so much power any tricks would be a waste of time.

…How will you respond to that?

She prepared to throw the last punch to bring Suzaku to the wall.

That was when Suzaku did something.

The vermilion god of war moved back itself, slamming its back into the wall.

Fusae sensed a trap in Suzaku’s action.

There had to be something there. How could there not? When an opponent broke the implicit “rules” established for a battle, they were plotting something.

So she simply had to pour in as much power as possible. In addition to the final blow of her combination play, she used…

“Roar Deterioration – right shoulder only!”

The right ultra-vibration destruction cannon activated while closed. All of the vibration traveled to Byakko’s right fist. Byakko’s action briefly shook from the great burden, but not enough to matter.

Byakko threw a punch that would destroy whatever it touched.

And Suzaku responded.

It moved forward. After moving back, it immediately swung itself toward Byakko.

…You’re going for it!?

Fusae realized that had been a trick. Suzaku’s action had been goading her into attacking. By moving back, it had put her on guard and convinced her to use Roar Deterioration as she punched.

She considered what would happen if this Roar Deterioration punch was defeated.

…I can use my other arm or move out of the way!

She immediately thought up a few ideas and her body knew how to utilize them, so she kept going.

“Make that punch, Byakko!”

The punch landed. The giant white and black right hand shuddered some as it flew, but it received the feedback of a hit right away. She had aimed for Suzaku’s left arm. If she aimed for the front of the shoulder from the outside, it was very difficult to avoid.

So that was what she had done.

The attack hit.

At the very same moment, Suzaku purged its left arm.

…Old Man Taizou is not going to be happy with me.

He was bound to yell at Naomasa for destroying a newly-made part.

But it had been necessary here. Because…

…This’ll carry me to victory!

Releasing Suzaku’s left arm at the shoulder was only meant to be done after it took damage.

She could have purged it the instant the ultra-vibration destruction punch landed.

Or if she had dodged before even that, she wouldn’t have had to get rid of the arm at all.

But she did it beforehand. She sacrificed the arm before the attack even hit. And…

“Feast on that!”

The enemy’s right fist bit into the falling left arm.

With a sound more like tearing than smashing, Suzaku’s left arm instantly turned to dust.

Every bit of it was smashed to pieces. But Naomasa used that moment. When she purged the arm, something had fallen from its slack fingers.

A midsized wrench.

Naomasa looked to the enemy – at the right arm devouring her left arm.

…It stopped!!

Byakko stopped moving when it used Roar Deterioration. But what happened when the weapon was used to power a punch? Naomasa had known Byakko briefly stopped when its special weapon activated, but its arm would still be bent and provide a solid defense then.

So she didn’t aim for that moment.

If she was going to attack, it had to be when the arm was outstretched. So if she was going lure in the enemy…

“It had to be the moment of the ultra-vibration punch. You freeze again when that power propagates to the fist!”

The pause was only for the briefest of moments, but that was all anyone at their level needed.

It was bad manners, but Naomasa had Suzaku swing up its left knee. It struck the falling wrench with its thigh, knocking the wrench upwards with its powerful leg.

And knocking it right into the elbow joint of Byakko’s right arm.

The wrench caught on some metal, but it worked it loudly scraped its way inside. Then the metal protrusion pierced out the other side.

“How about that!?”

Byakko’s arm rattled. When it tried to pull back that arm after the punch, the elbow refused to bend.

The rest was simple enough. While the wrench bent and finally snapped from the attempt to bend the elbow…

“Suzaku!”

Suzaku grabbed Byakko’s right arm from above while it tried to pull back with its shoulder.

That worked as the start of an unbalancing move, so that’s what Naomasa did. Suzaku placed its fingers in the seam of Byakko’s right forearm armor and pulled. Byakko raised its left hand, so Naomasa went right ahead with…

…A throw!

Using the right arm as an axis, Naomasa unbalanced and threw Byakko outwards.

Naomasa did all this for what came next.

Byakko was twisting around to try and land on its back.

Naomasa made a further attack then.

She used the Swamp. That was Suzaku’s power as a Sacred Beast. The power could launch Suzaku forward. What happened if she used that against collapsing Byakko when Suzaku had specialized flight devices installed?

…Won’t it result in a high-speed body slam?

It would be more like a tackle, which was a lot less cool, but she couldn’t help that. Suzaku was missing an arm too and her opponent couldn’t dodge while in midair.

Now was her only chance. So she had Suzaku make a quick dash as if throwing itself forward.

“Suzaku, give me your Swamp acceleration!”

It happened as soon as she asked for it.

Sacred Beast sign frames appeared all around Suzaku. And…

…Ohh.

She saw light behind her. A phase space opened like a circular window, revealing lake scenery reflected in the water’s surface. Suzaku’s acceleration came from falling into that, but…

“Go!” she shouted just before seeing motion.

Byakko’s rotation speed suddenly increased while it collapsed as if rolling in the air.

…Huh?

It shouldn’t have been possible, but Byakko landed in a crouch before Suzaku could reach it. As it stood up, it raised its left arm toward Suzaku. Only then did Naomasa understand what the enemy had done.

…That arm!

Fusae’s decision had been a tightrope walk.

As soon as she could no longer use Byakko’s right arm, she had remembered the throw she had nearly fallen for earlier. She was in trouble if that happened again without the use of Byakko’s right arm. And if she thought something would be a threat, she knew this opponent would do exactly that.

So she had prepared for it. She had Byakko raise its left arm to resist if its right arm was grabbed.

But not to punch. The point was to swing the elbow back with all of Byakko’s might.

…If she hits me on the inside, I can resist with my momentum. And if she hits me from the outside…

She could accelerate the throw’s rotation.

Her adlibbed action worked like a charm. Her opponent’s special move was the Swamp acceleration and she knew that would mean a full-body tackle. So she knew what she had to do in response.

“Roar Deterioration – left shoulder only!”

She didn’t send the vibration into a punch this time. She launched it from the shoulder cannon.

If the enemy was going to charge at her…

“I just have to…strike back!”

Naomasa moved on reflex.

The acceleration at her back was pushing her forward. Part of her wanted to stop that, but she also had to worry about the enemy cannon blast in front of her.

She didn’t know what to do. What could she do in this situation?

Only one possibility came to mind: the right arm.

If Suzaku was going to slam into the enemy, this was her only way to resist.

“Use your right arm, Suzaku!”

To resist and break through, Naomasa had Suzaku spread its fingers and slam its right hand into Byakko’s cannon blast. She opened her mouth and opened up the flight devices too.

“Pour the acceleration into your arm!!”

Something exploded.

Fusae was a ghost, but she had a data link to Byakko’s control system. The collision here was powerful enough to sever that link.

With a deafening crash, Byakko was launched down the main street. The female god of war was large even for a heavy god of war, but it still bounced off its left shoulder and rolled a few times. Fusae had never crashed this badly even in training.

But Byakko tore up the ground and its right shoulder collided with one of the ancient buildings on the east side of the main street. Only then did it stop with a metallic groan.

“Ugh, that took out the left one.”

She could tell without looking.

The left shoulder cannon’s base had been smashed up and the upper armor was missing. Even the vibration device was gone, but…

…Was it shot through?

The shoulder was torn through, front to back, where the device had been. That was from the power that had launched Byakko and a secondary explosion caused by the vibration blast rupturing.

But what had caused the attack that destroyed the very base of Byakko’s shoulder?

Fusae looked to the opponent responsible.

Jizuri Suzaku. That Sacred Beast had purged its left arm and had its right arm raised.

It had crashed into the wall behind it with so much force its back seemed embedded.

It had been launched backwards and stopped when it again hit the stern of the transport ship.

Suzaku’s right hand was missing past the wrist.

But Fusae saw a collection of light around Suzaku.

Those were Sacred Beast sign frames. They bore Suzaku’s symbol and danced around the vermillion god of war.

Fusae knew what that was.

…That program sent the Swamp power into its frame just like Byakko does with Roar Deterioration.

That had to be what the previous attack was. At the 6th Special Duty Officer’s request, Suzaku had performed its own propagation attack.

Had it received the program from Byakko when Byakko used the attack? Either way, the Swamp power had been launched from Suzaku’s right arm and both gods of war were damaged.

Fusae looked to the 6th Special Duty Officer seated on Suzaku’s shoulder.

“So does this count as a draw?” she asked.

“You can claim the win. I had no idea what was going on at the end there.”

“Neither did I. What are these things?” Fusae voiced a thought that occurred to her. “These two may not be enemies. If anything, I think they’re beasts of the same pack. After all, it seems Byakko decided to teach Suzaku some new tricks.”

“Then I’ll have to apologize for sponging off of you.”

“I suppose so,” said Fusae, smiling bitterly. Byakko could still move. Suzaku could probably at least still walk.

…Retreat it is.

She would only be in the way if she joined the main force. She sent out an extraction request and announced the results of her battle via divine transmission.

“Enemy threat eliminated south of palace. Taka, this is in your hands now.”

“And I thought I had left this in your hands!”

Takakane had already begun his battle. His opponents were the English Princess and Musashi’s ninja. He barely knew anything about either. He had only seen them destroying the San Martin flagship at the end of the Armada battle.

They had launched a powerful blast from Ex. Collbrande, which they both wielded now.

Takakane specialized in defense, but he didn’t think he could stop something like that. But at the same time…

“Not bad at all, English Princess!”

“Judge! Thank you very much!”

Responds with a smile, huh? But the princess handled her sword well. Instead of raising the blade and letting it guide her, she made sure to guide it. When she jabbed, she jabbed straight.

She seemed to have faith in the sword.

She started holding it straight out or raised high. Her stance was so perfect it almost looked like she was training, but…

…That’s a royal’s sword!

Our Chancellor could never do this, he thought, but that probably came down to personality. Regardless, the sounds of the sword strikes came surprisingly quick.

“Captain Takakane!”

The flurry of attacks was so fast even those accustomed to battle were worried about him.

It made sense. Of all sword techniques, the direct attacks from overhead or straight ahead were the fastest. When starting with the blade low, it had to be turned to one side of the body or the other, but these attacks didn’t require that.

Starting from overhead increased the force of the strike. Jabbing straight out maximized speed. And a midlevel attack was more balanced. By using those three options as a base and weaving them together smoothly, she could keep the attacks coming at an impressive rate.

And she added footwork into the mix. Since all of her attacks came from the center, she determined direction of attack with her feet. That meant her spine was always kept straight.

It was a form of courtesy.

She treated the sword with respect, she never viewed her opponent from an angle, and she honored the battle itself.

Where had she learned to swordfight like that?

…No, I know the answer.

Sorry, thought Takakane.

I suppose we were part of the reason you had to learn to do this.

He remembered seeing it in the news. The history recreation leading up to the Armada battle had required a recreation of Bloody Mary.

And that meant the killing of the 300.

Takakane remembered it still.

The news had said Mary’s name inheritor had killed the rebels one by one. People throughout town had whispered that England must have concluded they had no way of backing out of the Armada battle. The Tres Españan officers had agreed with that analysis.

Some had felt Mary’s actions had gone too far, but most had called it “courageous” since the Testament was on their side in this case. They had even suggested rescuing her and letting her transfer to their academy.

Takakane remembered discussing that over drinks.

And as a result…

…I’m really sorry.

I know it’s far too late now, but none of it felt real back then. We were so busy worrying about Tres España’s future and you were all the way across the ocean – or the sky really. We thought it was a political issue and, to be frank, we thought it was England’s problem.

Sure, some of us suggested letting you transfer in, but none of us actually did anything about it. Because it’s not in the Testament and any wrong move could have triggered the Armada battle early.

We glorified you as the English Princess who took our side and we all figured you really would be executed when the Armada battle came around.

Probably the only person who thought of you as an actual person was the Chancellor. Because…

…He sent out the Grande y Felicísima Armada without needing your execution first.

Musashi had taken her side too.

She hadn’t been executed yet when the Armada battle began. The process had begun, but it still wasn’t complete.

Musashi had been the first to act. They had sent a separate group to stop her execution. They had done so by officially challenging England to some duels, but their main force had continued on to the Armada battle without waiting for the result.

Thanks to that, the English Princess had been saved.

Tres España could have stopped Musashi there. They could have pointed out that the execution was incomplete and insist no major international events could proceed before it was complete. Juana had been with the Grande y Felicísima Armada, so they even had a negotiator on hand.

But the Chancellor had let the battle commence.

Letting the Armada battle begin without the execution had to have influenced England’s Fairy Queen who had implicitly allowed it as well.

Because with the Armada battle complete, the only reason left to insist on the execution was personal feelings.

As a combat-focused Vice Chancellor, Takakane didn’t know how much of that they had worked to achieve together and how much had simply worked out that way.

But he knew the Chancellor had gone along with it. That had come as a shock to Juana who had failed to notice his earlier actions.

Now that I think about it, the Chancellor made her cry back then, thought Takakane. But at the same time…

“It was a great decision!”

The current duel was the result.

That’s a nice sword.

That sword and your scars are enough to tell me what happened with the 300.

We helped make it happen, but that’s still a nice sword.

Fortunately, there was no grudge in her sword. Its movements did not complain about needing to kill him or needing to carry out justice.

Grudges defiled swords.

But this princess had none of that. She must have had plenty of regrets, but she had gone through with it anyway. And the ones she cut down must have been thankful for her sword and her attitude.

All her straightforward attacks were honestly a lot of fun to block.

Would she be willing to join us for a 1000-ball fungo session? Her precision would make for some damn useful practice.

But there was a problem. Someone else was doing his best to attack him from behind.

“Hey, over here! I’m over here! Hey, hey, hey! Can’t you see me!? Oh, caught you looking! So you can hear me! C’mon, focus on me!”

Since when are ninjas so loud and annoying?

Tenzou chose to play a diversionary role for Mary.

His motto was “the best diversions are the most annoying”. So this is me making a diversion. I’m not this annoying normally. I swear.

Art-Ga: “Wow, the most annoying guy ever is begging for attention.”

Gold Mar: “This is the sad fate of a failed attempt at popularity.”

Unturning: “Reminds me of the people jumping around behind a reporter.”

…Narumi-dono’s description was especially apt, but I thought she was busy fighting the enemy’s main force!?

He wasn’t happy about it, but he had to admit that Takakane’s defense was captivatingly impressive.

After all, he was blocking Mary’s attacks while also blocking Tenzou’s from behind.

Tenzou and Mitotsudaira had once attacked Shibata Katsuie at Novgorod. The situation had been similar to this, but while Shibata had used his own attacks to stay in control of the battle, Takakane was letting them take control but responding perfectly.

The man left no openings. Which made sense when he was matching his actions to theirs. If they tried to slip into an opening, he would simply respond to that attack. And…

“Hey, Tenzou!” said Toori. “We’re stuck back here cause of you!”

“It’s not my fault!”

Well, it’s everyone’s fault, so I guess I’m part of that.

The main Musashi group was 100m away from the imperial palace’s entrance. Mitsuhide had given them 42 minutes, but…

“We only have about 12 minutes left!”

The imperial palace was more than a kilometer north to south and more than 500m east to west. It was surrounded by a hardened bamboo wall standing around 12m tall and a one-way shield spell made to look like bamboo blinds was placed over the top to keep gods of war from seeing over the wall.

However, the inside was mostly taken up by a park. Further in, there was a four-building structure and an underground facility.

The surface buildings were known as the inner palace and the underground facility was known as the greater palace. The inner palace was guarded by automatons and even Azuma had barely ever been inside it.

They wanted at least 5 minutes to get inside there and travel through it. Which meant…

…We have 7 more minutes.

But the enemy’s defenses were clever. First, the baseball team led by Takakane had lined up in several layers of horizontal lines to stand in their way. It was similar to a Tercio, but sparser and more intersecting.

Tenzou had thought breaking through would be easy, but…

…That formation is designed to devour attackers.

When an attacker moved out ahead to clear the way, the baseball players let them through the first line.

Then they worked to stop the others following after the attacker.

They let the strongest enemy through and stopped the rest.

In baseball terms, it was like giving a strong batter an intentional walk and getting their outs from the later batters.

The strategy was proving to be trouble.

The Musashi attackers did not expect to be let through like that. And those following assumed the attacker had cleared the way, so they didn’t expect to be stopped.

Then when the attackers and other capable fighters moved to put a stop to that strategy, the enemy defenders responded and split them up. Meanwhile, the enemy’s attackers moved in and attacked the followers they had lured in.

The combination of delays and infiltration was a challenge to deal with.

And it all came down to their focus on defense.

…Well done!

The enemy didn’t need to win this. They only had to buy enough time. They also never got complacent and were always working to ensure their defense had the advantage.

Tenzou knew this was a problem and he was working to think up a solution when a sign frame appeared next to him.

Horizey: “What should we do? Shall I fire a Logismoi Oplo?”

Asama sensed everyone’s eyes on her. She knew they were all asking her to dissuade Horizon.

“Um, Horizon? If you fire it now, you will hit our people too.”

“Not a problem. If I use Maska Orge, it will only cause great pain and make them rethink some of their poorer decisions. Or should I harass everyone in the area using the pride or vainglory ones?”

“Well, um, Kyou is actually a heavily populated area.”

Horizon opened a sign frame, accessed the Kyou town hall site, checked the population number, checked the local specialties and famous locations, and…

…Oh, she’s interested in Kinkakuji.

Did she like gaudy things, or was it just something she recognized? But after closing the sign frame, Horizon raised and clenched her right fist.

“Curse those Tres Españan devils! They’re using Kyou’s population as a human shield!”

“Yes, yes. Not shooting is the correct choice, Horizon.”

Everyone repeatedly pressed the “applause button” on the divine network. Ohh, that’s a lot of praise. But…

“So what do we do? We can’t get through like this.”

“Should we call Flatty? She could smash the place up with her god of war,” he suggested.

“Keep in mind they have a Logismoi Oplo too,” said Neshinbara. “Do you want another contest between Akedia and Lype? And at this distance, a god of war would make a good artillery target. She could act as a diversion though.”

“In that case,” said Naito, looking up. “How about we thin them out with some sniping?”

“From above, it would be too obvious where you’re aiming. Their formation shifts so organically because their managers are keeping watch and giving instructions along with their coach. If they responded to your sniping with those same organic movements, they would fill in any space we might be able to pass through.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

“At this point, we have to rely on the ace up our sleeve.”

In other words…

“We fulfill our win condition.”

Narumi was battling the enemy’s main force led by Juana and Flores.

She wasn’t using Unturning Centipede since it was being repaired and because she had replacement parts for her combat prosthetics. Instead, she was summoning multiple mandible swords, linking them together, and swinging them like a whip.

She hadn’t accomplished much with that so far, but she couldn’t help that.

That was because the enemy primarily used long range attacks. They kept their distance and, when she rushed them, they would focus on defense and fire on her.

Each group would defend and act as decoys, knowing their teammates would attack. That meant they never actively went on the offensive, but they couldn’t be ignored either.

…What a pain.

Narumi’s chains of mandible swords had reached a dozen meters long. That was heavy for her prosthetic limbs, but they let her hold one enemy group at bay while attacking a different group. She needed that since she couldn’t block the closest group’s shots when she was attacking. She was starting to get the hang of it, so she thought she could finish this up before long. But…

“Oh?”

She heard a war cry from the south. It came from the guards’ lieutenant.

“Charge!”

The guards had been defending Musashi’s main group, but now they were going in for an attack.

However, the enemy had to be packed in tight around them. They wouldn’t be able to break through. And the enemy would pack in even more tightly around them and the palace’s entrance when they noticed it.

…What are they hoping to accomplish?

Narumi wondered if this was a leadup to using a Logismoi Oplo after all.

But then she saw a puzzling movement. Juana reacted to this charge by taking a few steps back.

…Is she not going to fight back if this is leading to a Logismoi Oplo?

Only a Logismoi Oplo could directly fight a Logismoi Oplo, so why would Juana fall back?

Puzzled, Narumi heard sounds of clashing metal. Musashi’s main group was charging.

Fusae watched it happen from atop the transport ship.

The Musashi group took an arrowhead formation in front of the imperial palace. Takakane and the baseball team packed together at the tip of that arrowhead to block and crush the charging enemy.

They were packed in quite densely. Both in the front and back.

…That’s a pretty solid formation.

If Musashi charged into that, they would only be further worn down. The leading group would be let through and the rest would be attacked. That split and crush tactic used the opposite shape and concept of the Tercio. You placed your enemy into a mold, made them feel like they were defending themselves, and wore them down.

This was the same. The lieutenant of the Musashi warriors led the charge and he ended up moving too far out.

He would soon be eliminated and focus would shift to those following him.

Or that was the plan.

Fusae watched as Musashi’s lieutenant took a certain action. Immediately after being let past the first line, he threw himself to the ground and shouted.

“The path is clear!”

Takakane saw the result while battling the English Princess.

Over at their main force, the Tres Españan warriors were packed together into a sea of people. Several people at the leading edge were blasted into the air.

They were not Musashi’s attackers. They were…

“Our people!?”

His confusion was answered by an incoming attack.

It came from the English Princess. She had a smile on her sweaty face.

“Distractions can be dangerous.”

Immediately, a second blast came from the enemy’s leading edge.

It was a simultaneous pair of artillery blasts.

The Technohexen were firing their quasi-anti-ship cannons horizontally as if they were anti-personnel weapons.

Chapter 86: Victors Before the Gates[edit]

Can you believe it?

Nothing ever goes my way

In life

Point Allocation (Self-Tsukkomi)

Naito had never fired an ultra-close-range anti-personnel cannon before.

She was lying down, her legs spread a bit to fight the recoil of Schwarz Fräulein with its brush aimed forward. She had applied installation anchoring spells on Schwarz Fräulein and on her own body.

“Next one, Ga-chan!”

“Judge. Let’s go straight center but low down!”

Naruze stuck a roll of coins in the brush. Once it was in place, she drew out a guidance path and Naito fired.

…Wow.

A roar rang out and the ground shook. An impressive plume of ether light smoke formed, but…

“–––––!”

The blast blew away the tightly-packed baseball team up ahead.

But they were all tough. They had prepared plenty of defense spells in order to hold Musashi here.

…This is the first time I’ve seen someone go with full-on defensive buffs without even giving themselves some acceleration!

She had heard M.H.R.R.’s Schau Essen unit was similar. If so, maybe the nations had compared notes over their long history together.

This cannon was meant for use against gods of war or ships, but they were only launched a bit through the air when they took a hit.

“You can’t judge these books by their cover.”

As a baseball team, they looked lightly equipped, but they were not. That explained why anyone who carelessly charged at them was having such a hard time.

Neshinbara must have known them well. Naito and Naruze’s sniping generally used 10-yen coins, but that wouldn’t have accomplished much here.

So instead of taking potshots from the sky…

…We can win by blasting open a path with horizontal shots!

The anchoring required a low-to-the-ground stance, but the defenders around them provided cover that also hid the timing of their shots.

So if they kept this up…

“Ga-chan, how many shots left!?”

“I brought everything from our summer sales, so another 7!”

Will that be enough? wondered Naito. Yes, it will, she decided and fired.

…Judge!

This would work. The response was promising and her mood was improving. And…

“Wait!”

The enemy pushed in from the sides to fill the path they had opened. As defenders, they wore gloves and armor designed to block attacks, but Naruze…

“Forkball.”

The shot fired with that word drew out a sharp curve and ricocheted off the ground. It collided with the lead defender’s crotch despite all his armor and sent a few of them flying.

All the other guys there shrieked and pulled back, but…

“Slider.”

They couldn’t avoid that dropping angle from up high. And Naito kept firing too.

She hit them over and over. Schwarz Fräulein’s brush had heated up a lot and the very end was starting to scorch, but she didn’t let that stop her. This was what she had to do now. As long as she kept firing…

“I see it now,” said Naruze.

Hearing that, everyone looked forward while crouching low.

The wave of people there parted, revealing the imperial palace’s entrance.

The enemy was still there, but the situation had improved. So…

“Let’s clear the way!”

Naruze nodded and drew out a line.

“Fastball.”

One position on Tres España’s baseball team had a greater defense than any other: the catcher.

Catchers were chosen for their armor, build, strength, and glove handling. To be a regular, they had to make sure they “stopped” any ball or runner.

After all, they had to deal with magic balls, extraordinary blazing fastballs, and nonhumans. “Catching” the ball simply wasn’t possible most of the time, but they needed to know how to “stop” it. And…

“This is where we dry our tears after ranking 4th!”

The regular catcher and the reserves dove into the center area everyone else had left.

They had one thing on their minds: during the nationals, they had managed to “stop” Pedro Valdes’s disappearing magic ball, but they had never managed to “catch” it.

Thanks to that, the catcher had dropped the ball, leading to an uncaught third strike which allowed the opposing team to get a point thanks to the batter’s acceleration spell.

They had been working on a way to prevent that ever since the regionals and it still mostly came down to luck.

But he had given a point away.

Their loss could also be blamed on the team’s failure to earn another point, but they wouldn’t have had to if not for that point.

Aki’s academy had won. That was a reservation academy. Several of their athletic teams had joined together after Aki sank and that swift-footed batter had apparently been from the track team initially. They could only laugh bitterly at that revelation. Their own baseball and track teams got along well, but they had never thought to plan for an opposing batter being a track team finalist. So Takakane had laughed and said it couldn’t be helped, but at the hotel afterwards, they had all seen his back as Fusae comforted him.

That was why the catchers had to do this here.

“You think a visible shell can scare us!?”

They jumped into the center as it arrived.

It flew perfectly straight.

…Nicely done!

The Weiss Hexen’s guidance path was so straight it gave them chills. There was no attempt to avoid or hit anything. It simply ran straight and fast.

It scored a direct hit.

The regular catcher caught it in his glove. But the power of the shell pushed on his glove, knocking it into his body. However…

“I caught it!”

That was when the next one came.

But this one wasn’t a projectile. It was a small steel-colored shape. Musashi’s vassal was charging in with spear held out.

“…!”

She crashed into him. She had a lot of speed, making it a powerful blow. In fact, hitting me with a spear meant for mobile shells is no joke. But…

“I barely felt that puny blow!”

No sooner did he get the words out than the vassal spun around with the spear still sticking into him.

He thought she was going to stab it in more and prepared himself, but something else happened.

A silver wolf rushed in toward the back end of the spear.

“Time to steal home!”

She crashed into it.

…That guy is heavy!

At the moment of impact, Mitotsudaira was impressed by her opponent.

Kicking the spear in felt like kicking a stone that had grown up out of the crust.

He wouldn’t budge. But she was Musashi’s #1 Knight. She poured on another burst of acceleration for an even faster straight kick.

“…!”

It was more like trying to kick through the spear than simply kicking it. She hoped the blow would…

…Break through!

It worked. The catcher collided with the catcher behind him. The process repeated until 5 of them had collided into each other. But…

“You aren’t getting through!” roared the front catcher.

She had moved him, but not gotten through him.

She had shaken him, but he hadn’t fallen. So she used the force of the kick to jump back.

“Futayo!”

Takakane saw someone soar.

Musashi’s Vice Chancellor, someone he had faced before, leaped forward.

She carried their Vice President over her shoulder and flew through the air using short-distance acceleration. Since the catchers had been pushed together by the previous impact, she managed to soar over their heads.

“I will accept your challenge some other time. But for now, I have gotten through.”

Quit trying to act cool, thought Takakane while she landed behind the baseball team. That put her at the palace’s entrance.

The enemy had a single strategy here: achieve their minimum win condition.

…Which means entering the palace!

They had chosen their Vice Chancellor and Vice President for that task.

They were Musashi’s greatest fighter and greatest mind. Well, that “greatest mind” does seem to start wars over nothing, but aside from that. Those two had gotten into the palace ahead of the others.

They had outdone Tres España there.

The hole opened by the enemy was soon filled. Their gunners didn’t have unlimited ammo.

So Takakane had a single command.

“After them!”

The baseball team’s formation collapsed. The enemy was probably counting on that, but they weren’t out of the fight just yet.

“Join us, south group!”

Naomasa was moving Suzaku and withdrawing to the west of the main street when she saw Tres España rushing in. The baseball team’s outfielders – around 300 in all – charged in from the south of the street.

They were on their way to the palace’s entrance where something new was underway.

…Just when I thought Futayo and Masazumi had gotten in…

Naito was apparently out of ammo. Toori, Horizon, and the rest of their main force were trying to get to the palace to make the most of the hole opened by the Technohexen.

But the baseball players were already running to the palace’s entrance and some were pursuing Masazumi and Futayo.

Naomasa had hoped they would all give chase and enter the palace, but Takakane kept his cool. He fortified their defense at the entrance to keep Musashi’s main force from getting through.

On top of that, enemy reinforcements were arriving from the south.

…And unfortunately, our main force includes Toori and Horizon.

She wished she could use Suzaku, but then she heard a rumbling in the sky.

It came from a pair of Tres Españan transport ships. They were moving to hide the palace from Musashi.

They likely expected Righteousness to attack. Naomasa could see pitchers standing on the deck, preparing for anti-air interception.

They were completely surrounded.

They did have a way out. They could join the Tachibana Couple securing an escape route or they could have Righteousness break through just like Tres España predicted.

“And Naito and Naruze can carry out two each.”

Toori and Horizon for one. And given their jobs and positions, maybe Asama-chi and Mitotsudaira for the other? Kimi is important too, but I feel like she knows how to look after herself at times like this. But more than any of that…

“The Logismoi Oplo.”

Naomasa tried to remember if any of them could attack just the enemy and leave the surrounding area untouched.

As the enemy pushed in, Mitotsudaira formed a wall with her silver chains and pushed back.

Her king was behind her. She heard him speaking to Horizon through the yelling and shouting.

“So, Horizon, do you have a Logismoi Oplo that’ll just hit the enemy and not get us any complaints about damage to the residents here? If so, I’ll help you use it.”

“I see. I have just the one.”

Horizon pulled out Aspida Phylargia and handed the giant shield to the king.

“This will not damage the residents or give them any other reason to complain. It will only hit the enemy, so your assistance is requested, Toori-sama.”

“Y-you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you!?”

“The enemy is coming!” shouted Mitotsudaira as a racket arrived from the south.

“The Tres Españan baseball team’s center fielders have arrived!!”

“They said we couldn’t catch up from behind, but now look at us!”

“We show up on divine TV a lot! Usually our backs as we watch a ball hit the batter’s eye screen!”

“Testament!” they shouted as an impact arrived from behind.

The sudden pressure broke through the rear wall of the Musashi group.

The enemy was passing through.

…Finally!

Mitotsudaira stopped holding back the enemy.

She could send bursts of acceleration into her silver chains now. That would let her take the initiative back with an instantaneous counterattack. So…

Silver Wolf: “Get down, everyone!”

Asama: “Eh!? But I was just about to create a narrow defense field for us!”

Flat Vassal: “No, I can push them back, so everyone get over here!”

Gold Mar: “Huh? I was planning to carry the Chancellor and Mito-tsan on my broom.”

Horizey: “A merciless blast from Maska Orge should work. Everyone, think hard on the mistakes you have made.”

Silver Wolf: “Do we all have separate plans here!?”

Me: “Why not just do all of them?”

Why not indeed? thought Mitotsudaira.

Then something dropped from the sky toward her. The large shape was enveloped in light.

…That’s…

It was a god of war knife.

The weapon carried by one of the enemy gods of war had been thrown out into the air and was now falling this way.

The wolf saw a knife that used an ether blade to reduce its weight. It was about 3m long when including the glowing blue blade.

Based on its position, this had to be from the second of the three gods of war they had brought down. Which meant…

“It’s started back up again!?”

She didn’t look up into the sky. She looked to the top of an ancient building that was becoming part of the evening shadows.

A god of war stood there with damage from its collarbone to left shoulder.

It was moving, albeit slowly and awkwardly.

After ejecting, the pilot must have manually purged the majority of the damaged parts and then reentered the cockpit.

It had dropped its rifle somewhere, but it still had the weapons worn on the god of war itself.

That explained it. A god of war’s computational power and strength would be enough to get the ether blade here. With its position fixed in place, the god of war’s knees gave out below it and it fell off of the building. However…

…This is bad!

Mitotsudaira knew that blade likely wouldn’t hit. They could easily dodge something with that fall speed.

But their separated main force’s movements were currently restricted and this had caught them by surprise. Plus, the enemy was rushing toward them. So…

“Horizon! Tomo!”

Attack and defense. Those two could provide them both right away. Protecting everyone and defeating the entire enemy force would be difficult, but…

“Fire on-!”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before something dropped from the sky even faster than the ether blade.

It rotated downwards and landed right in front of Horizon and the king. Mitotsudaira recognized the white and black shape.

She had seen it at Mikawa. It was…

“Stithos Porneia!?”

Urquiaga was battling the enemy away from Musashi’s main force.

He had already given up asking each and every opponent if they had an elder sister. Around 30 had answered in the affirmative. Even if they were the enemy, that many elder sisters was a good thing. Amen. But he would still punch them later.

Even so, he wasn’t about to miss something flying this way. His aerial training let him detect where a flying object had come from.

…Over there.

His calculations indicated the top of a building to the northeast.

His dragon eyes saw two tall figures standing there, looking down upon the battle.

“––––”

They turned around and left. Urquiaga gave a silent bow of thanks for their action and decision.

He was Catholic, after all. So…

“Demonstrate your mercy, elder-sisterless people!”

Asama saw Horizon pick it up.

“Oh, dear.”

Several sign frames appeared around Horizon as she rested the hammer on her shoulder like it was a mallet. The sign frames doubled in number and various permissions were given on an emergency basis. And…

“Will this make me dislike lewd things?”

“D-did you have to look at me when you said that!?” he said. “I-I’m not sad! Not at all, you hear!?”

Horizon brandished the hammer at him, so he patted her shoulder and returned to his position. There, he lowered his hands, counted down from three, and raised his hands.

“And…kaboom!!” everyone said together.

Horizon joined in by slamming the hammer into the ground.

Adele knew that Logismoi Oplo’s power.

Stithos Porneia had been given to K.P.A. Italia. Its overdrive would “defang” any enemy weapon within a 3km radius.

…That thing caused us so much trouble.

It had kept her from starting up Raging Beast and any other weapon had come apart, fallen from their hands, and couldn’t be picked up again. It was a very thorough disarming. But at the same time…

“It only eliminates the enemy without affecting anyone else nearby!”

Horizon had used it without fully synchronizing with its power. Several sign frames appeared with emergency text on them and Horizon commented on the current maximum output.

“Only 30%. But that should do for now.”

A field spread out from the impact point. And…

“Oh.”

Adele heard the opposite sound she had last time.

All of the enemy’s weapons were removed and sent far away from here.

She heard quiet metallic sounds as the weapons clanked together, scattered around, and fell to the ground. All of the dismantled weapons fell from the enemy’s hands.

“Kh!”

The enemy felt the same frustration Musashi had last time. But since Adele knew how that felt, she didn’t like seeing the confused way the enemy looked down at their hands and the ground.

But she had a job to complete now.

“Charge!”

She readied her spear and charged straight forward.

She didn’t have to look back to know the others were following. She also knew Mitotsudaira’s group would pass her eventually. But as the 1st Vassal…

“Here goes!”

She charged toward the imperial palace.

The enemy was breaking through the Tres Españan forces.

The Tres Españan warriors had only lost their weapons. They still had their armor. But…

“Damn! When we try to repel them instead of just stopping them, it takes away our armor too!”

“Is it a no touching rule!? This lewd weapon is strict!!”

“If anything, it’s anti-lewd!”

While they all reached their own understanding of the situation, their weapons had been fully disarmed. Their weapons mostly consisted of bats, but the grips slipped from their hands and all the spells and divine protections shattered into ether fragments.

Meanwhile, the enemy was passing the gate into the imperial palace.

They were going to make it. That would mean defeat, but…

“Lady Juana!” someone shouted.

Only a Logismoi Oplo or divine weapon could oppose a Logismoi Oplo.

Juana’s Akedia Katathlipse would break the disarming field and free them from this situation.

Everyone turned toward their main force to the north which was engaging the Date Vice Chancellor. Juana wielded a large sword at the eastern end of that main force.

She pulled the sword back by her side and jabbed it forward.

Her footing was solid and her attack flew straight toward the light of the expanding field.

“…”

It hit.

A massive amount of light shattered.

It sounded a lot like breaking glass.

Stithos Porneia’s field had been broken by Juana’s Akedia Katathlipse.

All the Tres Españans cheered and reached for their weapons. Some picked up bats, others javelins, and yet others gloves.

But just as they picked them up, readied them, and prepared to pursue the Musashi group, they all heard a metallic clang over the shattering field.

They looked to the north – toward Juana.

The Vice President, who had just saved them all, was crouched down.

The Logismoi Oplo was missing.

No, the white and black sword was up in the air. It had flown up over her head.

“The field overpowered it…and deflected it?”

Narumi did not overlook this opportunity. She used her prosthetic legs to dash.

“…!”

She used a mandible sword to make the airborne Logismoi Oplo skip once before she caught it.

She had it. It was captured. So she held it in close so she could…

…Land!

She quickly spun around to check on her surroundings.

But Juana, Flores, and the other enemies weren’t even looking her way.

They were all looking at sighing Juana and her hands.

…What is going on?

Narumi’s thoughts were interrupted by Flores.

“I’d heard the Logismoi Oplo choose their own wielders.”

So what did it mean for one to be deflected like this?

Flores continued.

“Lady Juana…this means you don’t need Akedia anymore, doesn’t it?”

Narumi found the answer to an earlier question.

Earlier, she had seen Juana fall back during the fighting.

It had happened just before Musashi’s main force turned the tables on Tres España.

…Her only chance was to fire her Logismoi Oplo.

Juana must have considered the possibility. But what if she was no longer suitable as that Logismoi Oplo’s wielder like Flores had suggested?

She had not fired the Logismoi Oplo or even activated it while Musashi attacked.

She tricked us, thought Narumi.

“I never would have guessed you were a diversion.”

Her job had been to pull away fighters as powerful as Narumi and him. By keeping her distance but not too much distance, she delayed them while hoping her allies could wear them down.

But she couldn’t have predicted the arrival of Stithos Porneia at the very end. She had fired a single shot and destroyed the field to save her people, but that was all she managed.

The Logismoi Oplo had rejected her. Narumi couldn’t say if that was a good thing or not. But…

“I’ll be taking this Logismoi Oplo.”

“I can hand it over to you willingly, can’t I?”

Was she telling them to prepare to negotiate at a later date? If so…

…She must have planned more or less how this would play out.

She was staying on Hashiba and P.A. Oda’s side but also leaving Musashi indebted to her. Based on the stories she had heard, Narumi had assumed Juana was more straitlaced than that, but it looked like she needed to adjust that opinion a bit.

And Juana raised her right hand.

“Only 5 minutes remain. I say we have fulfilled our role, so I order a full withdrawal!”

Takakane sighed. He wished he could stick at it longer as Vice Chancellor, but this was indeed the right time to withdraw.

They had done their duty and, given the time remaining for Akechi Mitsuhide’s dragon reactor, this really was the limit.

…I hate how unfinished this feels.

A solid conclusion always seemed to elude him. When he had died at Aki, it had been by suicide along with Fusae.

The Armada battle was meant to be a major fight for his nation, but his comrades had forced him to leave the fight and escape.

And now this was ending without a proper conclusion.

His history recreation was already over, so he might never get any kind of conclusion.

“Hey, Fusae,” he said while everyone relaxed and sighed. “We’re never getting a satisfying death, are we?”

“Lately, I’ve been thinking that was our punishment for failing to live a satisfying life and killing ourselves, Taka.”

Maybe so, he thought, closing the divine transmission.

That was when he saw someone bowing in front of him.

It was the English Princess. She brushed her hair back with the sunset shining on one side of her.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Judge. For blocking my sword so flawlessly each and every time.” She gave a troubled frown. “I hope you will pass on to the others everything that happened leading up to the Armada battle.”

“Are you going on?”

“Judge,” she said, turning toward the imperial palace with that annoying ninja by her side. “I have decided I will go wherever my heart leads me.”

“Testament,” replied Takakane. Then she took off running. Her footing was solid even after all that moving around. She must not have stopped training. Because she wanted to remain worthy of those 300 scars. And with all that in her past…

…Where her heart leads her, huh?

“Whelp, I lost.”

“Why’s that, captain? Cause you can’t win against beautiful women?”

“If so, I’m never winning anything against Fusae.”

He heard the excited cries of the girls of the track club in the distance, but he didn’t mind. Because he was an expert defender. Deflecting any and all attacks was what he did. However…

“By blocking all of those attacks, I was letting them all hit me. I’d lost from the beginning this time.”

“So the battle in Kyou is ending. It sounds like things are getting dicey there, so I would love it if they would all evacuate soon.”

A voice spoke in front of a white domed school building awash in the colors of sunset.

A man in glasses was tending to the flower bed. He was weeding, smoothing out the dirt where it had gotten uneven, and using a spade to let some air in where the dirt had gotten too hard.

“But regardless, that was excellent work from them all. The Chancellor’s Officers and warriors said they wanted some way to help out after the Armada battle, so I hope this fulfilled that desire while providing us all with some benefits as well.”

He tended to the spaces labeled “Juana”, “Flores”, and other names before his own one labeled “Segundo”.

Another man was tidying up an easel, canvas, and other art supplies nearby.

He spoke up while getting a close look at the growth of the flowers from below.

“It sounded like Takakane and the Valdes Siblings enjoyed themselves. Even if they made it to the final four, a loss is still a loss. Although it also sounded like Fusae got into quite a fight along with the track team.”

“Yes, and women’s intuition is a scary thing. When she decided to bring Byakko along this year, I never imagined she would actually use it. I doubt even Juana expected that one.”

“And it’s only allowed through customs when travelling through Kyou or K.P.A. Italia which have connections to M.H.H.R. But, still, Fusae always seems to know what’s going on. She can fill the gap left by Muneshige.”

“Have you ever considered doing any work yourself?”

“Your new pottery hobby could be a risk too, you know? Juana was complaining that ‘Mister is too busy with his potter’s wheel to have any time for me’.”

“If she would just come talk to me, I’d be more than willing to listen.” He mimed spinning a potter’s wheel. “Plus, it was honestly awkward the time she sat across from me and let me keep working without saying a word.”

“You could have said something.”

“You know I have trouble with that!”

“Why not invite her to try her hand at pottery?”

“If I did, I imagine she would fail miserably her first attempt and, a week later, she would have started a dedicated workshop and gotten so ridiculously good at it that it became one of the primary industries supporting Tres España’s recovery.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you started working in a field and growing fruits a while back, didn’t you? And didn’t you tend to this flowerbed originally?”

That question made Segundo pause for a moment. And after ten or so seconds…

“Would you like to know what new industries are on the rise here? And would you like to know who it was that asked me to tend to this flowerbed for the first time in a while?”

“I-I’m good, thanks.”

“I was thinking of picking up oil painting next.”

“Don’t you dare! Hands off! This is my hobby and contribution!”

“Wasn’t your art burned on the Ariake recently?”

“Because I’ve started providing the art for a wide variety of groups lately. You can run a single search for my name and get a list of them all. Flores apparently did that to around up all of my art and now there’s an awful rumor going around that your circle will be shut down if you get me to do your art.”

“Juana is having the time of her life over there, isn’t she?”

Segundo smiled bitterly, but then he sighed and removed his hat.

“Anyway, they need to keep an eye on Kyou and P.A. Oda after withdrawing.”

“I’m sure Fusae will do that, but is there anything in particular you want her to look for?”

“Yes.” Segundo nodded and pointed down at the ground. “We haven’t heard a peep out of P.A. Oda regarding our protection of Akechi Mitsuhide.”

“What does that mean? Is P.A. Oda trying to politically erase this entire incident?”

Segundo tilted his head at Velázquez’s question.

“Well, they can’t really address anything outside the battle itself since we’re mercenaries, but it’s still worrying that they haven’t sent anything to Juana or me. It’s almost…”

Almost…

“Like they’re saying there will be no more room to discuss politics or battles following this incident. Including the fact that the Apocalypse is so close at hand.”

“Hold on. You can’t be serious.”

“That was basically how it worked with Houjou, wasn’t it? Granted, they’re a more distant nation, but still. After a certain point, they put an end to negotiating with other nations.”

So…

“I want everyone there to keep an eye on Kyou and P.A. Oda, but this could be a problem.”

Segundo looked to the flowerbed and smiled bitterly.

“Juana tended to this bed so much better than I ever did, so it’s going to be a mess if she stays away too long.”

Masazumi received word via divine transmission that the battle outside had come to an end.

Futayo was currently carrying her deeper inside the imperial palace.

They had started off in the garden that was really a full-on park. From there, she had seen large buildings to either side.

…Ohh.

They had passed through three tall torii.

The final one was the entrance to the structure leading underground and its gate sat open.

Or rather, it had been opened for them.

“This looks familiar,” commented Futayo.

“Yes,” agreed Masazumi. It was just like… “Novgorod.”

After traveling down a corridor about 15m wide and tall, several doors sat open. And…

“Look.”

There was a god of war. The midsized god of war was about 7m tall and it was a combat model, but it was destroyed and lay collapsed in the corridor. And it wasn’t alone. There was an area with what looked like guard stations positioned here and there, but it was littered with destroyed gods of war and…

…Automatons.

They were an old model. Masazumi initially thought they were like Reizei or Ranmaru, but they looked different.

A cloying scent reached her nose there. It all led Futayo to speed up.

“It looks like a battle was fought here. Was there an internal conflict?”

“I know the automatons sided with Akechi in his attempt to reveal the palace’s secrets, but everything here probably dates back to the Age of Dawn.”

She wondered if they had received some automatic updates and noted some components and frames bore the IZUMO logo. Had the automatons updated their bodies and parts while maintaining the same OS? If so…

…How long have they been guarding this place?

The thought made Masazumi feel faint and her breath caught in her throat. After passing what she counted as the 7th barrier door, something came into view.

“It is just like Novgorod.”

There was a pit about 30m across. The outer edge of the circular hole was carved with stone stairs and walkways leading down. The walkways had lights illuminating them.

“Masazumi.”

“Don’t you dare fall, okay?”

“Ha ha ha. Don’t worry. I would never jump down.”

Futayo hopped up onto the railing and then leaned out until her body was perpendicular to the ground.

“I will run down instead.”

And she really did run down the railings.

Futayo raced straight down the pit using the railings as footholds.

Chapter 87: Satisfied Girl in the Land of Questions[edit]

Machines are happiest

When they have satisfied

Their own function

Point Allocation (Obviously)

Asama took the lead as they all ran into the imperial palace.

She was not particularly quick on her feet, so she had boosted her speed with a spell and was trying her best not to get in the others’ way.

“Submit!”

She clapped, spread her hands apart, clapped again, and bowed.

Then she opened a sign frame and greeted the local god. She of course used Sakuya’s name first, mentioned her IZUMO connection next, and only gave their own names last.

…Because gods can be so prideful!

The local god sent a reply granting them passage, but it came with a sun logo. Which meant…

“Wow, the emperor is the local god here! I had heard the rumors, but I didn’t expect to receive the imperial emblem!”

“Oh, Asama-kun! Let me see! Let me see!”

If anyone who didn’t work directly for Shinto saw it directly, it could harm the emblem, so she sent Neshinbara a photo of it instead. But…

“Huh!? This isn’t what I wanted, Asama-kun! This is a map of Kyou’s best restaurants!”

Horizey: “The emperor is such a sophisticated person. I assumed it would be replaced with a porn video.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Right? I’m surprised it didn’t turn out as an ad for all the latest emperor merch. It’s surprises like this that really leave a good first impression! That said, I like Horizon’s idea too. Give us our porn, you cowards!!”

Asama: “Kimi, this the holiest place in the Far East!”

Me: “But aren’t we here to ransack the place?”

…No, we’re supposed to be stopping that.

She had said as much in her divine transmission to the local god. But it did scare her she hadn’t received any kind of response beyond the initial authorization. So she placed a divine protection on everyone’s feet to silence their footsteps and keep any dirt from falling off their shoes.

Urquiaga offered her his shoulder, so she sat on his right shoulder.

“It sure is quiet,” commented Narumi from his left shoulder.

“Yes. I think we haven’t received a response because the infrastructure needed for the local god to contact us has mostly been hijacked. Lord Akechi must have used his main shrine privileges to replace the system component.”

“Is that possible?”

Asama had some concerns, but she figured conjecture was acceptable at the moment. So she went ahead and said it.

“What if…the emperor is too busy controlling the ley lines to do any other work? What if the kinds of tasks a normal local god could handle are being done by the palace’s OS and automatons borrowing the emperor’s power output?”

“If so…” Narumi looked out ahead and placed a finger on her mouth. “What is the emperor exactly?”

That comment was joined by a sound. It came from past the torii up ahead. It reverberated from the passageway leading into a structure there.

“That was a gunshot!” exclaimed Tenzou.

Reizei nodded when she heard the gunshot.

She opened a sign frame and checked her own number. She was Automaton 0018, but even when she held up the frame…

“It still won’t open, huh? Then this is a job for me.”

“Everything here has been a job for you, Akechi-sama. This has been humiliating for one of the initial four-digit models.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Akechi.

They were in a white hall. The stone room had a radius of about 20m and a surprisingly roughly constructed ceiling. The floor was polished enough to see their reflections in.

Rails for bringing in and sending out cargo began in the center of the room and led to the door in the back.

That door was a giant gate made of stone. Seamless stone.

“A stone door. That usually means the final boss is waiting on the other side.”

“Although to us, that is our actual boss.”

“Anyway,” said Akechi, spreading his arms but not opening sign frames.

He instead produced wings made of ether on either side of him. They were small symbols, only about 30cm. But…

“The leader of the Six Heavenly Demon Armies – my boss – gave me a minor servant. It can provide divine protections and it can act as either a Mouse or a weapon, but I have been using it like this since we arrived here.”

“And yet this is my first time hearing about it, Akechi-sama. You would hold your hand out and the gates would open. Without any kind of explanation, I assumed it was some form of illusion.”

“I thought you knew. Reizei-kun, didn’t you click your tongue when I opened that earlier gate?”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did. I heard it.”

“Unit #70 was still battling the defense mechanisms at the time, so you must have heard a gunshot.”

Akechi reluctantly smiled at Reizei’s response. And…

“Oh, but I do have a question for you as #18.”

“What is it? I would like to have this gate open and start on my work as soon as possible, but I can spare 10 seconds to hear you out.”

“Okay,” said Akechi. “#18, why did you go along with my plan here?”

“I cannot say.”

Her immediate response made Akechi’s shoulders slump. And she tapped her fist against the stone gate.

“You have asked me that several times already. Humans have a bad habit of seeking other people’s opinions. Now, Akechi-sama, use that illusion of yours again.”

“That wasn’t what I meant, actually.”

Akechi swung his arms and something flowed out from the sleeves all at once.

It was written text. And it wasn’t in just one language. A variety of different languages formed waves as the flapping wings sent them flowing out.

The waves did not remain mere waves. The words rotated through the air, split apart based on their origins, and sometimes joined together to create new words.

“Jibril – authority over words. This power can fluidly permeate and fuse with any form of information. It was originally a wide-range acclimation defense against spells, but…”

There was a sound.

It came from the stone gate in front of them. The locks at the top and bottom unlocked and sign frames appeared. They said…

“Oh, looks like it doesn’t work if you aren’t from here.”

“You couldn’t have done it without me, Akechi-sama.”

Reizei nodded and placed her own sign frame over the one bearing the emperor’s logo.

After a few confirmation popups, they heard another door opening within and something heavy sliding into place.

The next thing they knew, white mist was leaking from a gap in the stone gate.

“Um, what is this? What is going on in there? Is everything frozen?”

“Your audience with the emperor is being prepared. I do not know if this is a bluff or not, but the process may be surprisingly similar to how your lunch was stored,” explained Reizei. “This door has not been opened in 18 years. And that was the only time since the Nanbokucho period. They decided it was the logical decision then and the same decision was made here, but given what happened afterwards, I have to wonder if there had been some other option. However…”

“However?”

“Well, if everything that happened ultimately led to what we are about to do, I am willing to accept it all. As automatons, we must accept that all the bad things that happened were the best possible choice.”

So…

“Please do not blame yourself, Akechi-sama.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Akechi reached a hand toward the stone gate.

“Once it’s open, bring in what I told you. The layout inside hasn’t been changed, has it? I’ll be alright?”

“You will.”

A light sound came from the passageway they had arrived down. Other automatons were carrying something this way.

Reizei listened to that as she continued.

“The emperor is a quiet person.”

Futayo ran through the battlefield.

At the bottom of the pit, she found a small hall and a passageway leading further underground.

…This is just like at Novgorod!

The only difference was finding automatons waiting for her instead of Fukushima.

She had seen their wreckage before, but these ones were unharmed. Since they were wielding rifles worn over the shoulder with sling belts, they must have been the guards.

The gunfire had already begun when Futayo jumped down from the last railing.

There were four of them. She shifted Tonbo Spare’s extension device and changed the weapon’s position when she landed and then raced toward the closest automaton.

The small hall was 30m wide and about 70m long.

It currently contained god of war wreckage and three layers of barricade had been created by stacking up stones that were probably construction materials.

The first barricade was on the right, the next on the left, and the third on the right. The passageway leading further underground gaped open beyond the barricades.

The pit’s walls had been dark rock, but this place was white. Nowhere to hide, noted Futayo as she ran.

The closest automaton stood in the center ahead of all three barricades.

Futayo knew that was a decoy. A decoy who knew she would be shot by her fellow automatons. Because…

…In that position, I have no choice but to go after her first!

The automaton held a gun. Ignoring her would get Futayo shot in the back. And since they had to leave after this was all over, she couldn’t be left here regardless.

But there was no cover where she was.

Futayo thought for a brief moment before giving up on thinking. She just had to check on one thing first.

“Masazumi!”

“Take care of it!”

Then take care of it she would.

The automaton standing out front saw the Musashi Vice Chancellor charging toward her.

The girl was fast, but there was no cover here. She was hopping side to side as a feint, but the amplitude of that was enough to immediately calculate when she would move toward the automaton.

So the automaton only had to aim her gun and fire. She held the front-loading repeater at her hip with its sling belt over her shoulder. She used the visual information to adjust its aim and synced her vision with it using a pseudo-smart system. With that done, she only had to predict the enemy’s movement based on her vision and fire there.

She fired. Her finger pulled the trigger thrice for a three-shot burst. The fuse rotated thrice and a bullet shot out each time. They flew toward the Musashi Vice Chancellor…who was no longer there.

“Eh?”

No, she was there. She had just moved faster than the automaton had predicted.

What did that mean?

The reason was obvious. The Musashi Vice Chancellor had removed the Vice President from her shoulder and thrown her into the air.

Her reduced weight had increased her speed. It could hardly be simpler.

The automatons made an immediate decision. They numerically measured the threat and compared their answers.

The airborne Vice President had no weapon. She effectively had no combat ability, so she was low on the threat scale. Conversely, the Vice Chancellor was faster, lighter, and had use of both her arms.

The Vice Chancellor was the threat. So the automaton made a decision and gave a command.

She fired out ahead of the Musashi Vice Chancellor and spoke to the others.

“Fire.”

Bullets flew from three points behind her.

They were all aimed at the path ahead of the Musashi Vice Chancellor. The Musashi Vice Chancellor was coming straight toward the lead automaton. So the others fired on that automaton. Even if her own bullet missed, the others’ bullets would pass through her and reach the Musashi Vice Chancellor.

Just as she felt confident of their victory, the Musashi Vice Chancellor disappeared.

…Eh?

It happened so suddenly the automaton failed to reach any kind of decision. But the others’ bullets were arriving from behind.

The enemy was no longer there, so she realized her sacrifice would be for naught. But just then…

“That was a poor decision.”

A voice came from right in front of her.

Before she could figure out what this meant, the automaton found her vision spinning.

Her feet had been rapidly swept out from under her.

Futayo had not hesitated.

When the lead automaton had fired, she had charged straight in but adjusted her path in one specific way: down.

She had slid. The floor was polished, so she slid quite well using her hip skirt armor. And she chose a path that went…

…Right below the enemy’s gun!

It was obvious at a glance that the enemy’s vision was fixed to the gun barrel. Her face and eyes had not turned in Futayo’s direction, but the gun barrel was pursuing her. Futayo made a few feints just to be sure, but the automaton’s face hadn’t moved while the gun barrel did. That was enough for a general idea of how it worked.

But even with her vision set to the gun barrel, she wasn’t actually looking straight out from the muzzle. If so, the bullet would obscure her view.

So it was likely set above the barrel. Setting it below would place the barrel itself in between her original viewpoint and the new one when switching. Even if it gave a nice view, setting it above seemed more advantageous.

So Futayo had chosen to slide in below the barrel. Because there…

…She shouldn’t see my approach past the bullet and the muzzle flash!

The automaton would have seen her if she was still using the view from her face. Her two eyes were spaced apart enough to provide greater three-dimensional vision and depth perception. But she had set her vision on the barrel for ease of aiming and that had created an opening.

She likely hadn’t have known how Futayo managed to sweep her feet out from under her.

Futayo had used the bottom of Tonbo Spare. It was no more than a light jab using the extension device. The automaton pitched forward and fell over. Once Futayo was past her, she hopped up onto her knees.

While she did, she reached out, grabbed the rifle’s sling belt, and yanked on the automaton’s body, further tripping her in midair. Through that, she stole the rifle while the enemy’s bullets pierced through the empty space the automaton had just vacated.

Futayo had seen the path of the bullets. She knew the enemy was at the origins of those paths.

She hopped up from her knees and placed her feet under her. She let her sliding momentum pull her forward to attack the barricade on the right.

The automaton at the front right barricade could not see the Musashi Vice Chancellor.

The girl had charged in while ducking lower than the barricade of stacked stone.

But the automaton could see something: her spear. It had just hopped upwards.

…There!

She fired.

There was no on there.

She had only seen the thrown spear spinning without its owner.

The Musashi Vice Chancellor wasn’t there.

“#82!” shouted #64 from the rear right barricade.

She must have seen the enemy.

“To your right!”

The automaton obeyed her fellow automaton’s instruction.

She aimed her gun right and fired her second shot the instant she saw someone leaping over the barricade.

A moment later, she was hit by the illusion that she had exploded.

…Eh?

Her vision was to blame. Her vision was set to her gun barrel and it had exploded into sparks while intense noise ran through the signal.

“–––––”

She quickly canceled the sight adjustment. Then she saw the barrel of her rifle had ruptured and split. The damage must have been accompanied by great heat because a shimmering and some smoke rose from the metal tube.

…What happened?

She saw something scattering in the air. It was a palm-sized black metal box.

The box was the front-loading magazine for a rifle. The powder and bullets came as a set and one of those sets had just ruptured, producing hot smoke as it fell.

Only then did the automaton realize that was what she had just shot.

The Musashi Vice Chancellor had tossed the magazine toward her muzzle while making a double feint. First distracting the automaton with her spear and then with herself.

The automaton’s mistake was searching for the enemy and asking her fellow automatons for the answer. Otherwise, she would have seen what was right in front of her.

The magazine had ruptured.

Her carelessness had cost her her weapon. She could no longer fight. And her opponent…

“#64!”

The enemy moved toward the second barricade. She grabbed the spear that had cleared the automaton’s head and ran straight there.

Masazumi saw it happen while the ascent of her flight came to an end and she began the fall.

The second barricade was on the left. The automaton there immediately fired at Futayo.

But sparks and a metallic noise scattered in the space between those two.

The obstacle to blame was in the air.

…The first automaton’s rifle!

If the enemy could see from their barrel, Futayo only had to throw something between them. That was a lot easier said than done and it took guts too.

Futayo closed in on the automaton. She also raised her right arm in the air. She spiked the midair rifle as it hopped up from being shot, slamming it toward her opponent.

That opponent did not try to oppose the flying rifle. She dodged it by sliding rapidly to the outside edge.

Because…

“#67!”

That voice had to be the automaton at the rearmost barricade.

Even further back than where Masazumi was going to fall, the automaton protected by the last barricade fired on Futayo. The automaton at the left barricade cleared her ally’s line of fire and sent her own bullet toward Futayo.

A duet of gunshots rang out and flew toward Futayo. The thrown rifle bounced in midair.

Masazumi felt she was at risk here, but she felt something else as well.

…I can count on her.

The thought came unbidden, but she knew it was true and reliable. The thought was based on all of Futayo’s battles she had seen and been caught up in.

If she was being honest, she was so out her league here she didn’t have much choice but to count on Futayo.

Meanwhile, Futayo was moving below. Just as it looked like she would be shot, she moved forward.

She should have been hit by the enemy bullets without cover, but sparks blossomed in midair.

There was some cover in the air there.

The spiked but evaded rifle had suddenly changed direction in midair.

The hunk of metal moved between Futayo and the 3rd automaton even as it fell apart. How had she managed that?

…Was it the belt!?

#64, who was guarding the 2nd barricade, realized how the enemy had directed her makeshift cover through the air.

…She cut the belt and grabbed it!

The rifle’s sling belt was meant to be worn over the shoulder, but this opponent had cut one side from its clasp.

That explained why she had struck it when throwing it at #64 earlier. She had been holding one end of the belt, so her hand had formed a fist.

The rifle had bounced back through the air like a counterweight and blocked #64’s bullet.

And now she was approaching.

The enemy’s advance dodged #67’s bullet fired from behind #64 on the left.

The enemy was coming.

#64 groaned and started to leave her barricade.

But she couldn’t.

Aiming her gun at the enemy had extended its sling belt and the rifle the enemy had used as cover had fallen inside the sling belt. A split second later, the rifle acted as a hook and the enemy tugged at her.

She and her belt were pulled toward the enemy.

The enemy greeted her with a jab of her spearhead.

…Oh, no!

She could not dodge. The instant she realized her erroneous decision, she felt something cold run across her neck.

It was the blade. But it had not cut through her neck. Instead, it had cut the taut belt. With a snapping sound, her neck was freed from the belt. And her gun was stolen away. Meanwhile, the enemy cleared the barricade and landed without killing her momentum.

“–––––––”

#64 stretched out her hand, but she couldn’t reach.

The enemy ran straight toward the final automaton.

The final automaton, #67, made a decision.

She switched off the pseudo-smart system placing her vision on the barrel and returned to her usual sight devices.

She had a reason for that decision. Her fellow automatons had been defeated when the enemy took advantage of that method’s downside. And when her wider field of vision returned, she saw…

…The Musashi Vice President!

The girl was beginning to fall. The Musashi Vice Chancellor would have to catch her.

That meant the Vice Chancellor was guaranteed to arrive at the Vice President’s landing point. So if #67 fired a bullet there…

“You are mine!”

She fired. The Musashi Vice Chancellor made a leap a moment later.

And just as #67 calculated her shot would hit…

“Masazumi!”

The Musashi Vice Chancellor sent out her spear one-handed.

She used the extension device to hit the airborne Vice President.

#67 saw it happen.

The Vice Chancellor let go of her spear in a diagonal orientation such that the tip pierced the floor and the bottom struck the Vice President.

But this wasn’t actually an attack against the Vice President. The girl’s legs were ready and waiting. Her left leg was pulled up such that the bottom of the spear struck the hard heel of her shoe.

“––––––”

The Vice President made another jump in midair.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor dodged #67’s bullet. She dropped to one knee where she had sent the spear toward the Vice President and she skidded forward. That created a slight lag, but the bullet only tore into the floor in front of her.

In her kneeling position, the Vice Chancellor slid on her knee armor and heel while taking a certain stance.

She readied the rifle she had stolen from #64.

And she fired it.

#67 assumed it was aimed at her, but it wasn’t. It was aimed at her rifle.

The bullets weren’t perfectly aimed, but they still managed to hit the barrel and forend. A shock ran through the front-loading magazine attached below the barrel.

“Ah!”

The magazine exploded, taking the rifle with it.

Futayo threw aside the now-empty rifle and stood up.

She reached out her right hand and grabbed the fully-extended Tonbo Spare which was falling over after hitting Masazumi. The automaton behind her turned around, holding her wrist which must have been hurt in the rifle’s explosion.

“Why!?”

Futayo didn’t understand. Why? Why what?

But that made it a free question. She figured she could say whatever she wanted.

She did so while catching falling Masazumi, spinning around once to reduce the impact of the fall, and taking off running again.

“I only did what I could!”

Yes. Breaking through here was expected of her as Musashi’s top warrior.

So as she made her way to the passageway leading down…

“Masazumi, the rest is likely up to you!”

Masazumi nodded at Futayo’s statement and thought, She’s changed too.

She sometimes got into a weird slump or got obsessed with weird sweets, but she was joining the others in their sleepovers recently.

…She’s learned to do more than just defeat the enemy.

Their policy of never losing anyone was seen as insincere because it was a nigh impossible task. If you said you could do the impossible just to increase your apparent value, then that was indeed insincere.

But what if you could actually do it?

Masazumi thought Futayo’s previous statement was fine. If only the idiot and Horizon didn’t have such high hopes and such an optimistic outlook.

…Regardless, we need to start by doing the things we can do.

Futayo rarely said much, so Masazumi appreciated that she had done that here.

Presently, Futayo jumped down a set of stairs all at once and landed in a wide stone passageway.

Futayo stopped once there to speak.

“This must be the bottom level. The floor isn’t hollow.”

You can tell? wondered Masazumi.

…Oh?

The ground suddenly shook. And this wasn’t just any tremor. It was a deep shaking.

“Just like at Mikawa.”

“You mean the one everyone said they could feel even on the Musashi?”

Futayo had been far away at the time, but that wasn’t worth worrying about.

“Yes, it felt just like this. Asama later explained it was caused by the ley lines.”

“Then Lord Akechi must be having a party through here.”

With that, Futayo looked to the floor. The stone paved floor had a set of embedded transport rails running down the center.

The rails were dully glowing, meaning they had recently been used.

“Did he bring his dragon reactor in here?” asked Futayo.

“Yes, I think we should hurry.”

The two of them followed the rails back to their source and saw something at a nearby wall. A torii marked the entrance of…

“An elevator. Maybe taking this down would have been easier,” said Futayo.

“I’m sure they would have forced us to get off at a higher floor. They were waiting for us, remember?”

“Which means I eliminated that obstacle for everyone else.”

…Oh, she can find an explanation to satisfy herself.

She really has changed, thought Masazumi, but she started to worry when she saw the “Earthly World” label, which apparently indicated the elevator’s top floor, glowing an ominous red.

“L-let’s stop talking and get going!”

Just as she urged Futayo on, a voice reached them from down the passageway.

“We were expecting you. Please, this way.”

It was a quiet, but unmistakable voice. It belonged to…

“Reizei!?”

Reizei was waiting at the closed stone door.

She spread her arms in front of the door, awaiting the two people arriving in the hall.

“Sorry, we got delayed completing our assignment. Is the meeting to be held here?”

“Through this door. Do you know what this place is?”

“Where are we, Masazumi?” asked the Vice Chancellor.

“Well, um, that would take a while to explain, but simply put, I think we’re in front of the emperor’s room.”

Was that really a sufficient answer? But the Vice Chancellor’s response was to gasp and point at Reizei’s feet.

“And you’re wearing your outdoor shoes! Show some respect!”

“S-so are you two! And my feet have a ‘treadless’ divine protection.”

The Vice Chancellor looked to the Vice President and the latter responded.

“Um, right. Asama should clean up after us later. I guess?”

“Judge! Then we have nothing to worry about. Now, maid, what did you want?”

…These people are so hard to deal with.

But she did have something to ask.

“When I made Akechi-sama my master, I asked him a certain question. He gave the correct answer, so I accepted him as my master.

“Now, I ask you,” said Reizei. “What is the emperor?”

Masazumi sensed her eyebrows rising.

…The emperor?

Hadn’t they already covered this?

Besides, it wasn’t entirely clear what that question was asking.

…What answer are you looking for here?

The person who managed the ley lines.

The unaging being who had lived since the Age of Dawn.

Most likely, one of the Party of Seven Hundred who had met the Environmental Gods during the Age of Dawn.

And Azuma’s mother.

That about covered the answers Masazumi could come up with. It felt like a question Neshinbara would love to field, but Asama or the representative of another religion were more likely to know the answer.

But what was Masazumi supposed to say?

“Can I have a moment to think it over?”

“You only have 3 minutes left.”

As long as Reizei would wait. Masazumi held her palm out without answering. She needed to figure out what direction to take her thoughts on this. Then Futayo spoke up.

“We pass! Now, either give us another question or let us through without answering.”

We must be so hard to deal with.

Reizei saw the Vice President pat the Vice Chancellor on the shoulder and tell her to calm down.

That had honestly been a close one. She had asked her question but they had tried to pass on it. That had never happened before, so she didn’t have a response prepared. Automatons always sought the best answer, so she might have admitted to being at fault and gone along with it. She didn’t know if this would ever happen again, but her long life was always full of surprises. I need to remember this one. But…

“Sorry about that. Can I ask one thing?”

“As long as you do not ask for the answer.”

“Okay.” The Vice President spoke to her. “You said Lord Akechi has managed Kyou for a while, right? Then…”

Here came the question.

“He contacted Azuma while Azuma lived here, didn’t he?”

Reizei nodded at the Vice President’s question.

“The prince is said to be the emperor’s child, so as the manager of Kyou, Akechi-sama arranged the prince’s education and his later secularization.”

“I see,” said the Vice President, nodding.

…Well done.

That was an excellent question, thought Reizei.

The Vice President was viewing the facts and she had hesitated.

A very human response.

But she asked another question.

“You say Azuma is said to be the emperor’s child, right?”

And…

“And you asked us what the emperor is, right?”

She had to know the answer now. Reizei understood why she would hesitate, but she wasn’t going to play along.

“Give me your answer.”

“Sure.”

The Vice President took a step forward and opened her mouth. And just as the words left her…

“–––––”

The earth shook and the imperial palace rumbled.

But Reizei had heard the Vice President’s answer. Her voice had been drowned out by the rumbling, but Reizei had read her lips.

…Well done.

That was the exact answer Akechi had given without hesitation. To arrive at it so quickly told Reizei that the next generation had arrived.

Reizei felt satisfaction.

This was different from receiving a perfect evaluation on the quality of their work or giving one on the quality of someone else’s work.

She had just realized that everything they had done had linked to someone else’s work and that other person was perfectly capable of taking over.

This wasn’t just about the present. She felt confident about the past, the present, and the future. And…

…Akechi-sama.

Someone who can surpass us has arrived, thought Reizei.

Yes. The automatons had sensed something similar in Akechi too.

They had sensed possibility for the future.

That was something they lacked since they only guarded and updated the past without ever changing its essential form. Because searching out something new was to expose yourself to taboos and possibly tear down the present.

In the past, something had exposed them by violating that rule. But even if it had been necessary, it had reshaped the world.

So at the time, they had felt the past needed to be sealed away.

But now that the Apocalypse was in motion, they weren’t so sure

Then two men had paid them a visit. One a teacher and the other a student. They had searched around the world, so they could make good guesses regarding the meaning of the inner palace and greater palace and regarding what the emperor was.

They had also understood the solution to the Apocalypse.

…To end it but not to let it end.

Accomplishing that was sure to free the automatons in every way.

But, they had thought. Is that really the best answer? Is there no other possibility?

Was there no way to keep things going?

Time had passed and a man had arrived.

The boy who had once visited them as a student had become a teacher and taught this man as the next generation of student.

He had looked unusually old for his age and he had called himself a terrible student. Sure enough, he had not arrived at the information the previous two had and his proposed solution had been imposed upon him.

But 10 years ago, he had suddenly taken action.

And after a few more springs passed, he had spoken to Reizei.

“I don’t actually plan to do it, but I do have a somewhat rebellious idea.”

“What might that be?”

“Reveal my teacher’s path to some others.”

“What others? Akechi-sama, I wasn’t aware you had any friends.”

“I used to, long ago. Or I think I did anyway,” he had said. “It’s too late once it’s all set in motion, but if I reveal everything, it might throw the world into chaos. This world is all about personal benefit and the Far East is still in a tough spot after what happened way back when. But I get the feeling the Prince of Orange is thinking something similar. He still hasn’t returned the book I lent him.”

So…

“I will reveal everything to someone with different ideas, who I feel can come up with a different method.”

“So you don’t have another method in mind yourself?”

“I enjoyed my time working for my teacher. Trying to forcibly surpass him would be an insult to everyone who was lost…and I would regret it myself. So…”

So…

“I will release the information. I don’t know if it will be in time or if it will be any use, but I will make the world a fairer place. This is my irresponsible way of saying I wouldn’t mind it if everything my teacher and the others decided doesn’t come to pass. If everyone is tilling the fields and someone is staring to the end of the path between the fields, I’m fine with only being the person who gives them a push forward. I’ve seen my own dream, so I want to give some support to someone with a dream I’ve never even considered.”

“I see,” was Reizei’s response at the time. “Then I will be the one to support you, Akechi-sama.”

Time had flown after that. She hadn’t expected it to ever actually happen, but Akechi’s words had given them all a more hopeful goal to work toward.

And now here they were. The next generation had arrived. Was the end of the path between the fields located behind her back?

Now, thought Reizei. I have completed my final task.

Because their work had been inherited by someone else, just in a form she didn’t even recognize. So…

“––––––”

Reizei let them through.

Masazumi saw Reizei fall silent.

Reizei was guarding the stone door with her eyes shut and her arms slightly spread. But she wasn’t responding to anything Masazumi said.

“Could it be?”

Masazumi exchanged a glance with Futayo, hurried up next to Reizei, and stood in front of the stone door. And she looked.

“Reizei…no, #18.”

She touched the stone door and lightly pushed.

It opened. And…

“We are in your debt,” said Futayo. “This means you chose to trust us, doesn’t it?”

Reizei did not move. She had completed her purpose as an automaton, so all of her functions had ceased.

Running footsteps approached from behind.

“Hey, Seijun! What’s going on here!?”

Masazumi nodded back at the others. She and Futayo had gone ahead, cleared out the enemy, and opened the gate. We’re like the outriders, she thought with a bitter smile, but this was something she had decided long ago. She could tell that when she looked to Reizei. She was the same. So…

“We cleared you a path, idiot.”

Mitotsudaira heard Masazumi speak with a hand on the stone door.

“Listen. I gave Reizei there an answer. Most likely, we’ll have that answer confirmed through here, so don’t let it shock you.”

“How do you expect us to respond when you put it like that?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Masazumi.

There had to be a story behind that unmoving automaton. Her king sighed and spoke to her.

“Let her talk a little more. She’s just excited after getting her job done.”

Mitotsudaira smiled bitterly and gave a quick bow. So the rest of them followed after Masazumi as she pushed on the stone door.

Asama took a deep breath and checked over everyone’s divine protections. But she had already done that countless times on the way here.

“Try not to be so nervous,” said Mitotsudaira.

“I’d love to, but this is like my big boss’s home.”

Just as Asama responded, a divine transmission sign frame opened and a voice spoke from it.

“Hi. You made it, if just barely.”

So.

“Let’s make this a worldwide broadcast. Class will begin as soon as you arrive.”

Oh, I’m enjoying this, thought Mitsuhide.

If he could complete all of this, he would surpass all those fun times of old and finally reach the same level as the others. Then he could hold his head high and they would know he was just as great as they were.

…What the Musashi Chancellor said on the Ariake really caught me by surprise.

The boy had told him to come to them if he needed someone to rely on. Which was why he had come to them now.

He would ask them to surpass all those who had come before and reach some place he had never even seen before.

“That is what I want from you.”

Chapter 88: Meeters in an Edited Land[edit]

Wait

Um

Sorry…

Point Allocation (Happens a Lot)

The broadcast arrived at every part of the Far East.

It was seen by Ookubo and Yoshiyasu on the Musashi.

It was seen by the Fairy Queen and the Trumps in England.

It was seen by Tomoe Gozen in M.H.R.R.

By the Roi-Soleil, Terumoto, and the Reine des Garous in Hexagone Française.

By Segundo in Tres España and Juana in Kyou.

By Kagekatsu and Marfa in Sviet Rus.

By Olimpia and Matthias in K.P.A. Italia.

By Shibata, Niwa, Hashiba, and the others in P.A. Oda.

By Masamune and Yoshiaki in Oushuu.

The leaders of the academies and many others saw the divine transmission in Satomi, Sanada, Kyushu, and the Udon Kingdom.

Most of those people had no idea what was happening and didn’t immediately believe it when they heard where this was coming from.

But understanding came when a certain name was given.

“Good evening. I am Akechi Mitsuhide of P.A. Oda.”

He continued.

“I am currently inside Kyou’s inner palace. And I am about to release the emperor.”

“Why is he doing this?”

Silence had fallen in the Azuchi’s dining hall and Takenaka saw Hashiba’s shoulders slump.

The Ten Spears’ staff officer placed a hand on their leader’s shoulder.

“The better the student, the more likely they are to decide ‘this is good enough’ at some point. I’m guessing that’s what this is…although I don’t know if Akechi-san was a good student or not.”

“This isn’t about that!”

“Yeah, I know.”

When Takenaka contradicted her previous statement, Hashiba’s shoulders slumped again.

“Sorry. I’m only complaining.”

“Actually, Hashiba-kun, you’re a pretty good student, so you need to watch out. Oh, and one other thing.”

“Testament,” replied Hashiba. She checked the dining hall’s lernen figur again before bowing toward everyone there. “I will be heading out soon. Because there is something I must do. Takenaka-san, watch what Akechi-san does and respond accordingly. I doubt this will change anything significant and we do have insurance just in case, but this will change something.”

Asama sensed the flow of ether.

The stone door was thick, but when it was closed, it had felt like there was a space directly behind it. However, that wasn’t the case. The other side of the door was filled with light and when they walked into it…

…The space expands around us? It’s a lot like Avalon.

She had a bad habit of analyzing everything she came across, but if it helped her stay focused, she was fine with that. So as her excitement grew, she focused on her duties of examining and recording their surroundings and responding to any minor issues that cropped up. But the next thing she knew, the light had vanished.

Before she could react, they were in a hall.

A hall made of stone.

“Eh?”

A puzzled voice escaped Asama’s mouth. This was supposed to be the emperor’s room in the inner palace, so she was expecting something nicer than this.

In fact, all the books and stories depicted the inner palace as primarily a residence, so she had imagined the interior based on that.

But this was no home.

This was a vast hall carved out of stone. It had to be around 100m in radius. Rails ran straight from the entrance to the central stage. The place was dimly lit, but a few spotlights shined on the path built around the rails and on the central stage.

It reminded Asama of an excavation site, but another spotlight shined on the ceiling.

“Look, that’s the picture Ga-chan drew!”

She looked up and saw it there.

The illuminated image was not a reflection in a mirror. The stone had been carved away, creating a sculpture. And the sculpture’s shape matched what Naruze had shown them the day before.

A faceless baby with celebrating people watching on.

“Is this…the original?” asked Naito.

“No, I don’t think so,” replied Asama. “Chronologically speaking, the Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning Project had the people meet the Environmental Gods first and create the Testament afterwards, so this was probably the last one made.”

“Right,” said Naruze. She tilted her head and glared up at it. “Why did I even bother working so hard on it when we were about to find it right here anyway?”

Me: “Wow. I legit don’t have an answer for this one. Who asked her to do that, anyway?”

Vice President: “I-I did! But how was I supposed to know it was in the palace!?”

Art-Ga: “Sob, sob. Did you hear that, Margot? Masazumi is so mean. She thinks ignorance is an excuse. She might as well say she doesn’t have to take responsibility because she was drunk when we did it.”

Gold Mar: “Yes, yes. She’s the meanest, Ga-chan. You can cheer yourself up by drawing a Seijun porn doujin set in this room.”

Asama: “Um, I think any drawing you make of this place will be deemed ‘harmful’ and erased.”

They never change, do they? thought Mitotsudaira.

Just as Asama was getting more excited but also more relaxed, Mitotsudaira was honestly starting to relax as well. Her king was the same as always and the arms were cautiously patrolling at everyone’s feet…but that wasn’t too unusual.

Simply put, this was an away game, but they were treating it like a home game. So…

“I’m glad you made it.”

Mitsuhide raised a hand in greeting from the front of the hall.

He was 15m away and the tall cylinder behind him was probably the dragon line reactor.

“Okay. First, I want you to answer my question. I expect your Vice President already did so for #18, but I want to hear it for myself.”

This was the question Masazumi had warned might shock them.

“What do you think the emperor is?”

Masazumi answered before Mitotsudaira could even consider the question.

“An automaton.”

Masazumi clearly stated her answer. This was her second time answering, so she was confident and prepared. She stepped out in front of the others as if clearing the way.

“What was used to speak with the Environmental Gods during the Age of Dawn? I’m sure they had all sorts of tech back then, but there’s one really obvious answer: summon them into an automaton.”

So…

“The automaton containing the Environmental Gods is the emperor and the imperial regalia used to control them are used to contain them inside the automaton.”

Mitsuhide nodded.

“Correct.”

He took a step aside to reveal what was behind him.

…Is that her?

Someone sat in a throne there.

It was a doll dressed in white.

She had black hair, small gold decorations, and an outfit that looked like a white kimono with extra volume.

She’s beautiful, was Toori’s initial thought.

Is this what you call the Earth Mother? But it’s hard to say who she looks like.

She kind of looks like Horizon, but also like Asama, Nate, sis, mom, maman, and Yoshiko. Oh, and Seijun too. I could keep going forever.

But as uncertain as that impression was, he was certain of one thing.

“She’s so small.”

“Eh? She’s surprisingly tall, actually. Around 170cm, I think.”

“I didn’t mean her height.”

Horizon slapped him.

“O-owww! That was really loud! I’ve never heard a slap so loud!”

“Toori-sama, making a visual judgment is an amateur mistake. You cannot know for sure without grabbing them to see.”

“Grab them and see? Let’s try it.”

He tried it on Horizon and she slapped him again.

“C-couldn’t you be a little more like Mary with Tenzou!?”

“Um, um,” interrupted Suzu with Asama’s support. She pointed at Mitsuhide. “You’re ignoring…him.”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I didn’t see anything. So, anyway.” He turned toward Masazumi. “How did you know?”

“Because we were asked what the emperor is.” Masazumi placed a hand on her chest. “Several options came to mind, but none of them felt right. Then, when I considered what you have in common with us, something occurred to me.”

That was…

“Azuma.”

Masazumi had even asked Reizei if Mitsuhide and Azuma had known each other.

“If Reizei was asking me the same riddle as you, that had to be the key. Then I thought about the emperor while removing Azuma from the equation. And when I asked Reizei about Azuma, she said he was said to be the emperor’s child.

“She asked what the emperor ‘is’ and told what Azuma is ‘said to be’. She was pointing to the actuality of the emperor and an interpretation of Azuma.”

So…

“So if Azuma is only the emperor’s child through interpretation, then he could be eliminated from the equation.”

She didn’t really want to think about this, but it was probably the truth.

“In that case, only one thing I can think of fits all the conditions needed for the emperor: an automaton.”

Is Azuma going to complain when we get back? wondered Toori. But he’s been flirting with Miriam a lot lately, so maybe it’ll be fine? he also wondered.

Meanwhile, Mitsuhide looked upwards.

“Thank you for providing such a difficult answer. Now we can move on.”

“Hey, not so fast,” said Toori. “What do you think about Imperial Boy?”

“Imperial Boy? Oh, um, testament. I will explain why later, but I only want him to be happy. That is why I arranged to have him sent to you. I knew Musashi would accept him no matter what he is.”

“You’re good with words. And don’t worry. He’s plenty happy now that he’s got a girlfriend and a kid.”

“M-Miriam! This is some pretty heavy stuff related to my origins, so don’t take the sign frame away!”

“Papa and mama are having sex on the bed!”

“H-how do I edit out the unnecessary parts!? Is this sign frame completely useless!?”

A protest arrived from Imperial Boy, but Toori chose to ignore it. He saw Asama hang her head and send a response, so he made a mental note to make her some snacks and let her scold him later.

But following Mitsuhide’s gaze toward the ceiling showed three sign frames slowly circling above the emperor automaton’s head. They were each about 2m long.

“These are the imperial regalia. The mirror is for divine transmissions, the magatama for control, and the sword for security. I have already taken control of all three with my Jibril.”

“What are you hoping to do with them?” asked Masazumi.

Mitsuhide shrugged.

“Deactivate the control system and return her to the Environmental Gods.”

“Wouldn’t that cause something similar to the collapse of the Harmonic World?”

“The Harmonic World is gone and the Far East is stable. The Environmental Gods are working on repairing the outside world’s environment after running wild for so long. The repairs might take just as long, but the process is already under way and restoring control to them should speed things up.”

“Hey, wait.” Toori raised his hand to interrupt. “Does that girl there want that? I mean, if you return what’s inside her, won’t she be empty?”

“It would be more accurate to say I am offering this body to the Environmental Gods. It will be returned to them. Although she no longer has a soul.”

Mitsuhide pointed at the left chest of her clothing.

“Ah,” gasped Neshinbara from behind Toori. “0003. She’s a single digit!”

“Yeah, well my student number in class is always #2. Right after sis.”

“Heh heh heh. Yes, I am #1! And Asama is #3! How about that!?”

Suzu, Asama, and even Mitotsudaira this time moved to intervene. Then Masazumi spoke to Mitsuhide.

“Sorry. Our idiot doesn’t know when to shut up.”

“C-calling someone an idiot proves you’re the real idiot! Heh heh. Take that, idiot!”

“Velázquez, this is really hard to watch. Even if it is audio only.”

“Let’s just assume this means things are running smoothly.”

“You know,” said Masazumi, pointing at the idiot. “This is a very important meeting and you’re the only one acting like an idiot, Aoi. Everyone else did their part. That’s what brought us here! Yes, this is the culmination of everything we have done!”

“It really is,” agreed Mitsuhide. “You cracked Carlos I’s code and solved the mystery they were discussing. And now you know all about my teacher’s project and their Slavic wordplay.”

“Huh?”

…What project? What Slavic wordplay?

She started to sweat, but the Date Vice Chancellor whispered behind her.

“I know we cracked the code, but I thought there were still parts we couldn’t read or didn’t understand.”

“Yes. We only figured out it set the Honnouji Incident as a time limit.”

Raising her hand while listening to those voices was quite the challenge.

This is so awkward, she thought while she spoke up.

“Sorry. We haven’t gotten that far.”

“Eh?”

Gold Mar: “He, uh, just said ‘eh?’ ”

Flat Vassal: “Does this mean we came here too soon?”

10ZO: “If anything, isn’t it like skipping through all the cutscenes and finding you have no idea what the final boss is talking about?”

Horizey: “Or like we neglected our summer homework because we were so busy with our summer event, harassment, finger sucking, and surprise kisses.”

Silver Wolf: “D-do you have to single me out just because it was so recent!?”

Art-Ga: “So who’s the biggest idiot here?”

Novice: “Hey! Hey, come on! Don’t stare at me like that! I had a deadline to meet! The pure white wings of my heart are being stained red!”

Almost Everyone: “You sure are in top form!”

Mitotsudaira saw Masazumi raise her hand while everyone was sweating.

“Sorry, Lord Akechi. We’ll figure out the rest later, so can we continue this discussion based on what we do know?”

It wasn’t often she sounded so cornered. But…

“Yes, well, I was never the best student myself. Hm, I suppose I can limit what I tell you,” said Akechi. “First, let’s discuss your friend Azuma-sama. The emperor is an automaton and she contains the Environmental Gods, but office work automatons at the time could not give birth. So technically speaking, Azuma-sama is not the emperor’s direct child.”

Azuma was listening to the divine transmission atop the bed.

He had felt a strange, uneasy feeling ever since Masazumi had answered Mitsuhide’s question.

He had thought “it couldn’t be” countless times now and even said it jokingly to Miriam. But…

“Mitsuhide-sama is talking about me?”

There was no doubting that. But in that case…

“Am I-”

Before he could finish, he felt a weight on his shoulders.

“Silly boy. Don’t let this get you down in the stereotypical way.”

It was Miriam. She had wrapped her arms around his shoulders as if resting on his back. And he realized what that meant. She could not use her legs, so shifting position to do this meant…

“Thank you.”

“Judge. Yes, that’s better. No matter who or what you might be, you’re still someone who knows how to thank people when they do you a favor. As long as you can form relationships with others, then it doesn’t matter who you are. Isn’t that how it works on Musashi, Imperial Boy?”

“Y-yes. Although a lot of people here are pretty awful.”

“True. If you accept that your existence can’t be explained then I’ll be here with that unexplainable Imperial Boy.”

That would mean… thought Azuma before smiling bitterly.

“I’m not sure how many points that’s worth.”

“Judge. All of that can come later. Of course you’re confused the first time. Now, listen.”

Miriam shook his shoulders, so he looked to the sign frame again just in time to hear another voice.

“According to #18, an intruder alert sounded and she ran in here to find #3 holding a baby.”

“That must be the motherless child!”

Mitotsudaira saw Mitsuhide shake his head at Neshinbara’s exclamation.

“Azuma-sama appeared to #3. And when he was investigated, it was discovered he had a human form and body as a spirit being, but he was essentially the same as a Loup-Garou and similar species. So it was assumed #3 had created him from the ley lines for some reason.”

“There you have it! Neshinbara-kun was wrooooooooong!”

“Dammit! Can you erase that mistake from the records!? Please!?”

He’s reached national treasure levels of pathetic, thought Mitotsudaira, but with her king there, she could think of some other things they might want erased from the records.

“But,” she said to Mitsuhide, shaking her hair and asking a question. “Why did you have Azuma secularized?”

“Since this is the emperor, the request came from #18, albeit rather indirectly. She said if Azuma-sama remained here, people would try to use him to get close to the emperor. And that would be harmful for him. The truth of the emperor was a secret, so we had no other choice.”

Because…

“The emperor is not the manager of the Environmental Gods – she is simply the system used to access and directly speak with the Environmental Gods. What do you think the nations would do once they discovered that?”

“Hold on. I fail to see the issue there.”

That interruption came from Masazumi and Mitotsudaira agreed. Something about Mitsuhide’s statement didn’t add up.

It also applied to the imperial regalia overhead.

“Isn’t it more convenient if you can access and send commands to the Environmental Gods?”

“That’s right,” said Mitotsudaira. “Why does it matter if the emperor is actually a negotiation system as long as you the nations agree to a management pact? And you have the regalia, so…”

Mitotsudaira realized something while she spoke. If the access itself was the problem…

“Is there some reason contacting the Environmental Gods is a bad idea?”

“Contact them, Nate!? You mean like this!?”

Her king faced the emperor and suddenly dropped his pants and underwear.

“Hey! Mouri-01! Why’s it raining all of a sudden!? The sky was clear a second ago!”

“Princess! I don’t understand either, but I’m sending out the laundry unit! So I’m kind of busy!”

“S-stop that! She’s sensitive, so don’t stimulate her like that!”

Is that how you put it? thought Masazumi while watching all the others restrain the idiot.

Mouri was sending some kind of complaint, but they couldn’t prove anything. But if this was how it worked…

“I can see how this could be a problem, but is it really that big of one? It seems to me you could prevent this by adding a strict ‘no idiots’ clause to the pact.”

“That is because you don’t understand the Environmental Gods,” said Mitsuhide. “Now, what were the people of the Age of Dawn attempting to access through the Environmental Gods?”

Me: “Based on what happened, I’d guess the weather.”

10ZO: “But the environment would include the crust movement and ocean currents too.”

Novice: “It would be more accurate to say the ley lines themselves. That lets them access all things.”

Unturning: “But what good is accessing that?”

Novice: “U-um, once you have access to all things, you can of course…what can you do?”

Gold Mar: “Hmm. Is there anything useful you could do?”

Asama shook her head at Naito’s question and then looked to Mitsuhide.

“Access to the ley lines is used for making ley line reactors and divine transmissions that travel through the ley lines. But if all you do is access them, the ley lines as a whole are a vast current where you can’t make out any one thing. So simply accessing them is not enough to, for example, mess with the surface of the planet.”

“Asama-sama, is that similar to how eating the red flesh of a watermelon does not let you change the shape of the rind?”

“Well, um, more or less. There isn’t really a surface to the ley lines, but without a well-defined mold, it’s nothing more than a current. That’s why we have the Environmental Gods manage the planet’s surface on our behalf, but I’m not sure what you could accomplish by directly accessing the ley lines through them.”

But that was already known. She had to think further than that.

What had the Age of Dawn people done by accessing the ley lines?

…Send a divine transmission? Transport something? Or extract fuel?

While she thought, Asama realized how solidified her thoughts were. Her detailed knowledge of the relevant techniques and information bound her thinking. So…

“Toori-kun?”

She would rely on him. He tilted his head.

He didn’t know the answer either. But she felt a strange sense of relief and amusement from that.

“So, Asama. Why did the Age of Dawn people create this girl? Did that never come up when we spoke with Oushuu’s Taikou?”

He meant Yasuhira and Asama thought it might have. So she held a hand out to tell everyone to give her a moment while she ran a search with Hanami. Eventually…

…Here we go.

During the Age of Dawn, the Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning Project was proposed with a certain goal in mind.

This was given in a few books and Asama read it out loud now.

“There were four decisions.

“1. Acquire the power to prevent humanity from being destroyed and to both protect and preserve them.

“2. Speak with the Environmental Gods to prevent the world’s environment from growing even more extreme.

“3. Create the Harmonic Divine States, a copy of the Far East, in a phase space as a response to the growing population and to the extreme environment of the outside world.

“4. Create the Testament as a guide for the people.

“Those four decisions became known as the Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning Project.”

And one overall objective summed up them all.

“ ‘Reinforce destiny and acquire a destiny which does not lead to ruin.’ ”

Asama had found the answer.

This was what the people had tried to take from the current of all things.

“A collection of the time, existence, and causality of all things.”

She had seen the answer, even if she still didn’t know how they had done it.

“In other words, destiny. The people back then realized the all-encompassing current of the ley lines was destiny.”

“Well done.”

Mitsuhide complimented the next generation.

They must have gathered a lot of information to reach this point.

“The importance of what was done forced the people to hide what they did and how they did it. And later, Houjou Tokiyori began an investigation during his pilgrimage around the Far East. Later still, when the Oda clan gained a connection to Kyou during the Warring States period, Oda Nobuhide, the teacher two generations before me, began researching the Northern and Southern Courts and reached an understanding. No one person was responsible. It took several generations of teachers and students to finally arrive at the answer.”

So…

“The people of the Age of Dawn used the Environmental Gods to create a gentler environment, but also to manipulate the ley lines in a very specific way.”

Namely…

“They made destiny our ally.”

That’s hard to believe, thought Masazumi. Hadn’t they just concluded that the ley lines were too vast for people to understand? So how could they make destiny their ally?

“But apparently they did it, so I guess you would call it ‘fate accompli’.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Hey! Vice President! Tres España and the Udon Kingdom are complaining about heavy rains and Sviet Rus is thanking us for the balmy temperature! Hey! Don’t ignore me!”

“Seijun, you need to stop making such shocking puns. They’re cataclysmic.”

“Yes. In the Age of the Gods, it’s said the gods of comedy would line up in a row and attack each other, rising to a higher level each time they won. That must have been quite disastrous.”

Masazumi shook that thought from her head.

“It isn’t possible. They couldn’t do it. And if they did get destiny on our side, why are all these tragedies happening? And why is the Apocalypse happening? It doesn’t make sense.”

She thought back to her own past. It had happened a long time ago and she had come to terms with it, but if destiny was on their side…

“Why!?”

“You mean the Double Border Crest? Yes, and the Princess.”

As soon as Mitsuhide said that, Masazumi saw a light behind him.

Red light drew out a circle to form…

…The Double Border Crest!?

Mitsuhide glanced behind himself.

“Don’t be so impatient. I’d like to play at being a teacher a while longer.”

“Lord Akechi!”

He swung his hand their way.

He threw an insha kotob shaped like wings. It appeared to be a spell.

“Take this. It will make you Akechi Mitsuhide. Because this is the end for me.”

Asama watched the insha kotob gently flying toward them. It was directed toward Horizon and him, but…

“…”

They both silently dodged it. “Eh!?” shouted Mitotsudaira as it nearly hit her, but she dodged back behind him.

“H-hey!”

Asama didn’t want it to fall, so she caught it. Then he and Horizon turned toward her.

“That’s for you then, Asama,” he said.

“It does seem to be a real pain-in-the-rear one-off spell,” Horizon said.

“No, no, no, no. I can’t do it! Here, Toori-kun! Or Horizon!”

“In that case.” Masazumi raised her hand. “Let’s say it belongs to those two, but Asama holds onto it for management and transport purposes?”

“Yeahhhhhhhhhh! Great decision, Masazumi-sama! The villains know how to allocate their work!”

“Um, are you calling me a villain?” asked Asama. “And I feel like this is just placing more work on my plate. Oh, and if this is an information release spell, I think it would conflict with my own release spells.”

No one was paying her any attention anymore. Except for him, who was holding up just one hand in prayer, but…

“That isn’t how you pray.”

“Take care of that for me.”

She couldn’t say no when he said that. The spell was Mlasi. If it was set to “hidden” it would need some hierarchical operation, but she thought she could at least set its ownership for now. And…

“With that done, I will give you a hint regarding your assignment.”

The mark of the Princess Disappearances appeared behind Mitsuhide. And behind that…

“Do you remember when I said Oda Nobuhide, the teacher from two generations ago, may have proved the existence of the Princess?”

She did. That had been back at the Ariake. And…

“Motonobu-sensei carried on where he left off by creating a certain project.”

“Which wasn’t the Genesis Project, right? You said that was half right.”

“Correct,” answered Akechi. “Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was only a theory and it came first.”

…Huh?

And…

“Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

Asama didn’t understand.

She did often hear the terms Golgotha and Messiah. For example…

Novice: “See!? What did I tell you!? The world does have a secret underside!”

…Um, yes. I can’t really deny that at this point.

“Now,” said Mitsuhide. “I have one final thing to teach you. Everything is in motion and we should have failed, but the possibility of everything working out has presented itself. So we can’t just follow what my teacher told us. Not even we know what will happen now, so I plan to leave this with the next generation. All so I can irresponsibly ask you to show me what you are capable of. So…”

So…

“I will tell you how the people of the Age of Dawn convinced destiny to take their side. Because just as your Vice President said, destiny is too great to fully grasp.”

He pointed at the ceiling.

“That faceless child is the answer.”

Naruze looked up at an image identical to the one she had drawn.

…This is the answer!?

She didn’t understand.

For that matter, she didn’t even understand why the people had tried to get destiny on their side.

Way back then, there was a time when everyone would have been killed if things hadn’t worked out.

So had they left that problem in destiny’s hands?

Naruze looked up at the image again.

That faceless child had to represent everyone’s destiny. The thing all people celebrated but wasn’t any single person was destiny.

But could you bring that to your side?

She wasn’t sure how effective it would be even if you managed it. After all, she had never considered herself to be particularly lucky. She didn’t see the current world as lucky either.

In Musashi, no one could get by without laughing. That unique atmosphere had to come from everyone’s indifference to destiny.

Most likely, she began.

…That plan failed.

And she had a question. The same one Masazumi had asked: Why?

Why wasn’t destiny on the people’s side now? The Princess, the Apocalypse, and so much more didn’t fit with that idea.

Besides, did destiny have a mold? Even if it did, it would be too large to handle.

What did any of this mean? And how had they done it?

Naruze looked down in order to ask, but…

“Ga-chan.”

Margot had looked down first and she tapped Naruze’s shoulder.

Only then did Naruze notice that Mitsuhide had disappeared.

Horizon looked straight ahead.

Blood-red light wrote out some text below where the Double Border Crest had appeared. It said…

“ ‘You finally made it, Mitsuhide-kun’!”

Horizon gasped, turned toward Masazumi, and raised her right hand.

“Yeahhhhhh! El Presidente Masazumi-sama! I think this means he isn’t Mitsu-hiding like with the Prince of Orange! Or is there some other Mitsu-hidden message here!? Is there some Mitsu-hideous monster waiting for us if we dig deeper!?”

“How did I know you were going to bring that up here!?”

Naruze was jotting down some kind of notes. She never missed a thing. But…

“Oh?”

Horizon looked up to see scattering light. It came from the imperial regalia. She tilted her head.

“The knife, the plate, and the chopstick rest are vanishing!”

“No, Ariadust-kun! I don’t know who made those icons, but let’s ignore how poorly drawn they are!”

At any rate, they were rapidly coming apart. Ether light scattered while another light emerged.

It was a sea of text.

Waves of writing in countless languages filled the space above the stage. And…

“Woah!”

The ground shook enough for Adele to lose her balance.

Asama opened a sign frame and spoke.

“The ley line readings are growing! Three big ones are trying to travel underground. Access privileges for the Environmental Gods using the imperial regalia are being returned!”

Asama opened another sign frame. When she checked the local god status, her eyebrows shot up and she displayed it for the others.

The logo displayed on the expanded frame represented the current manager of this place. The emperor’s sun crest had been replaced by…

“The Double Border Crest?”

“Heh heh. Wrong, Horizon! There’s a small circle in the middle and it doesn’t have the rods sticking out on the sides, right? I know what this is! It’s a failed attempt at drawing a lewd symbol!”

“It’s the Environmental Gods’ logo! The power here is no longer being rewritten by the emperor’s presence!”

The automaton was engulfed by the massive amount of text surrounding her and the crust shook even harder.

…That light.

Bluish-white light flooded out from the center of the stage and gradually grew yellow.

“That’s the ley line! I can’t believe it’s appearing so strongly it’s visible to the naked eye!”

“Um, Asama-sama. I have a simple question: what should we do about this?”

Asama placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile.

“We should run! Especially when there’s a dragon line reactor here too!!”

Sure enough, the metal cylinder at the back of the stage was sinking into the ley line. When the idiot saw it, he tilted his head.

“Aren’t we in trouble if that goes boom?”

“It’s actually worse if this continues,” explained Asama. “Like this, this place can continue accessing the Environmental Gods until it stabilizes. So the dragon line reactor is meant to sever that connection.”

“So returning the Environmental Gods’ authority and temporary body created a connection to this place, but the dragon line reactor will sever that ley line link?”

“Correct. So I think the damage in the ley line will be limited to the surface. But as for us…”

Everyone nodded at Asama.

“We had better run away!!”

While everyone shouted and took off running, Masazumi thought from atop Futayo’s shoulder.

…What is even going on anymore?

She more or less knew what had happened in the Age of Dawn. She wasn’t sure how much of it was true, but apparently some people had figured out the hidden truth over the course of a few generations. Those people included Houjou Tokiyori, Oda Nobuhide, and Lord Motonobu.

During that, there must have been a Lord Motonobu faction, which Mitsuhide had since left.

And since he was supporting Musashi, they too must have strayed from what that faction wanted.

In a way, that was a very Musashi thing to do. But…

“Let’s get back to the Musashi. It all comes down to tonight.”

In other words…

“The Honnouji Incident will be tonight. This has to be leading to that.”

“Judge,” replied the others. While running, they passed by unmoving Reizei.

“This way!”

The automatons they had fought earlier were waiting in front of the elevator.

“I am glad they survived,” said Futayo.

Masazumi agreed. Meanwhile, a sign frame opened. It displayed Tres España’s Vice President.

“We are detecting a surface tremor just like the one at Mikawa! We are waiting up top, so board our ship once you escape! We will carry you to the Musashi!”

At 7:13 PM, the Musashi group escaped the imperial palace, where they were rescued by a Tres Españan transport ship. Three minutes later, a powerful quake struck the city of Kyou.

The hypocenter was 3km deep. The physical destruction left a gap in the city over a 500m radius around that point.

The actual crater was centered on the imperial palace, but it did not expand beyond it.

Ether light erupted from a crack in the earth, it sucked in the center of the palace in a conical shape, and every building within 300m collapsed.

The sounds of great stone colliding and the roar of breaking buildings continued for a while like a storm of noise. Afterwards, the detritus at the bottom of the 300m hole was shaken and blasted upwards.

The resultant noise was too deafening for “destruction” to do it justice and the lighter pieces of debris were pulverized and launched into the sky as dust. That fell upon the nearby ruins and buildings, but…

“It’s a good thing you had everyone withdraw ahead of time, Lady Juana.”

“Testament. Whether or not they should suppress the dragon light reactor readings is up to Kyou’s residents.”

While the Tres Españan group and the Musashi group were both gathering data, a relay transport ship arrived from Musashi. The two groups set aside that they had just been enemies and exchanged goodbyes. The Musashi group arrived back on the Musashi at close to 8 PM.

When they arrived, a “what now?” mood hung over them all.

But just as they were starting to get some rest, a wide-area divine transmission arrived.

It came from P.A. Oda. It turned out to be a statement made by Hashiba.

“Starting tonight at midnight, P.A. Oda will host the Honnouji Incident.”

Um…

“If you play a part in that history recreation, please join us. Testament.”

Masazumi made her decision after receiving a nod from Toori.

“The Musashi will depart at 11:30 tonight. It’s time to intervene in Honnouji! It all comes down to this! Everyone, make your preparations and get the rest you need to be at your best!”

But she immediately made an “oh” of realization.

“But I want our class to join me for a bit. We need to organize our information and do some negotiating! We can eat afterwards! Hey, don’t run away, idiot!”

It was oppressive, but it gave everyone something to do.

It was time for a short meeting and some rest in the time before the Honnouji Incident began.

Final Chapter: Bearers of Battle[edit]

Okay

I think

I’m gonna have fun with it

Point Allocation (Eh!?)

“Huh? Musashi is joining the Honnouji Incident? Can they do that?”

Kasuya saw Mitsunari straighten up at Sakon’s question. Mitsunari’s shoulders slumped on the deck of the ship taking them to the Lake Biwa Azuchi. The eastern town that signaled the end of the K.P.A. Italia nightscape was passing by behind her.

“It just kind of turned out that way. Or rather, one of our people has embarrassed us.”

“It’s not your fault, Mitsunari,” said Kasuya.

“That’s right,” agreed Hirano, her hair blowing in the wind, which was losing the sea scent. “Once Honnouji begins tonight, a whole lot will be set in motion. We have the Battle of Yamazaki, so that’s first up for us. A lot is going to happen and it might all come to an end at Honnouji, but we have no role there.”

So…

“As restless as we’ll be feeling, we just have to wait and see what happens to the world.”

She was right.

There was so much happening now it was honestly hard to keep track of. They would probably have to adjust their schedule, but…

“We made good use of the break,” said Kasuya.

“Yes, and it had been so long since I got to spend so much time with you.”

Then, a lernen figur arrived. It was from the Lake Biwa Azuchi.

“Oh, is Kiyomasa back at Azuchi already?”

“Testament,” confirmed Mitsunari. “And Kani-sama sent word that the Shibata Team cannot depart yet because Fukushima-sama has yet to return from the mountains.”

“The mountains?” said Hirano with a tilt of the head, but that made sense to Kasuya. Fukushima had always been the athletic type. But Mitsunari also tilted her head. Sakon and Ootani both looked curiously at her.

“What is it, Mitsunari-sama?” asked Sakon.

“I detected some kind of communique reaching you, but what was it about?” asked Ootani.

“Testament,” said Mitsunari. “It seems Niwa-sama and Sakuma-sama have regrouped with the Shibata Team. I hadn’t been informed that was their plan, so I will need to subtly rework the schedule. Now, then,” she said. “We must hurry to the Lake Biwa Azuchi. I think we can arrive before the Honnouji Incident, but everything is so unpredictable at the moment.”

Kani felt like giving up.

…I might not get back to the Lake Biwa Azuchi tonight!

She had her luggage and she had a ship, but Fukushima wasn’t here.

Fukushima had contacted them to say she was rushing back while carrying her luggage, but she was running extremely late. When returning for her luggage, she claimed to have fallen asleep and then made friends with a herd of deer, neither of which seemed like much of an excuse, but Kani was surprised to learn just how naturally careless Fukushima had become.

…That must be the mountain effect!

Terrifying. Oversleeping is the bane of a greengrocer. I need to be more careful. Don’t ask me what’s up with the deer, though.

But some incredible guests had arrived while they waited for Fukushima. Kani currently had her folded luggage and blanket lying next to each other at the land port in a now-snowless field, but…

“Is that Niwa-sama!?”

Niwa’s P.A. Oda ship had landed and begun unloading its cargo. Are those supplies!? wondered Kani, but all of the officers were equipped for combat.

Niwa, Shibata, and the others were gathering in front of the ship. Kani had never seen either of them, but Shibata was really big and looked strong, while Niwa was wearing an M.H.R.R. uniform, partially to deal with the cold, which was apparently a very rare outfit for her.

With Niwa’s arrival, the ships exchanged weaponry and caused a lot of hustle and bustle.

The Honnouji Incident was tonight.

Kani had heard the general outline for that, so she had an idea of what was about to happen. Her initial opinion was…

“That’s so cool!”

But at the same time…

“Won’t that be tough!?”

She felt both at the same time, but when she voiced the latter, Matsu rubbed her head and Mori wept, saying he wished more people were like her. What’s that supposed to mean!?

The Shibata Team said they had known the Honnouji Incident was coming. According to Maeda, they would work to stop anyone who tried to intervene in Honnouji. He said that was why they had withdrawn from the Battle of Novgorod and come here.

…Does that mean they’re on their way to pick a fight with Musashi!?

Then a large hand rose into the air.

“Heyyyyy! Kani-kuuuuuuun!? Get over here! Hey, you! Yeah, you!”

“You’re going to scare the poor girl, Shibata-kun.”

“So what?” he replied, but Kani was just glad that such a ridiculous superior was calling her by name. He had returned earlier, but she hadn’t had a chance to properly greet him. That was because they had been so busy, but…

“Testament! I’m Kani Saizou! I support Fukushima Masanori on the Hashiba Team!”

“Wow, you’re young. And such nice skin. You must eat your vegetables!”

“Thank you very much, Niwa-senpai! My parents run a greengrocer!”

“Is that so?” Niwa smiled a little, but then her eyebrows drooped. “Oh, but this is a problem. We were just getting so excited about meeting Sakuma-san, but…”

“But what!?”

“Testament. I’m here as Takigawa-san’s replacement, you see.”

“Takigawa-sama’s!?”

Kani had seen Takigawa Ichimasu briefly during the Siege of Odawara. If her memory served, Takigawa had lost at the Siege of Kanie Castle and retired. She had even given up her inherited name, so if Niwa was her replacement…

“That must be tough for a supply runner.”

“Yes, it really is.

“Because,” said Niwa just before Shibata placed his hands on Kani’s shoulders from behind.

Eh!? she thought and Niwa continued with a smile.

“The thing is, we’re about to announce the Battle of Shizugatake.”

“…Huh!?”

She knew about the Battle of Shizugatake. That was the showdown between Hashiba and Shibata’s forces. Hashiba officially took control of the Oda clan’s forces after winning the Battle of Yamazaki, but Shibata saw that as usurping the Oda clan and rebelled. But…

“I thought that didn’t happen until after the Honnouji Incident and the Battle of Yamazaki!?”

“You gotta go with the flow! You get what I mean, Kani-kuuuuuun!?” Shibata slapped her shoulders. “Okay, while the others are having fun at Honnouji, we’ll be doing Shizugatake as some rapid training for our underclassmen! That okay with you, Kani-kuuuuuun!?”

Shibata laughed.

“Which makes you our hostage! Run away if you can! Give it your best shot!!”

Sanada’s end-of-summer festival had been delayed to September due to Hashiba’s training camp and Chancellor Nobuyuki searching for a way forward.

As a shrine maiden, Unno was in charge of the festival ceremony, so she felt the need to wear something other than a track suit while she started the fire, made an offering, recited a prayer, and made a song and dance offering.

“Okay! Now we can party!! Go nuts, everyone! Who’s got the first song!? You! You’ve got a ‘first song’ kind of face! Get on up here! What’ll you be singing!? I’ll play along with whatever you choose, so just start!”

As they set up the festival stands, the festivities really got going.

They discussed Kyou and Honnouji too, but…

“Sanada is already ready for Sekigahara and those of us here are looking ahead to the Edo Shogunate, so don’t worry about that so much.”

“Besides, even if you visited now out of curiosity, there’s nothing you could do.”

“True,” agreed Torahide while drinking. Soon, the conversation shifted to the Shibata forces starting the Battle of Shizugatake.

Unno had met Shibata back when she was in P.A. Oda. That was before his inherited name, but he had been something of an elite even then. Everyone had gotten a chance to greet him when he visited their academy.

She was curious, so she waited until everyone was a little drunk next to the shrine and made a divine transmission.

UNO: “Hey, Kiyomasa. How are things over there?”

Kiyo-Massive: “Eh? D-do I know you? I don’t recall an Uno-san.”

She heard some merciless laughter and a shout of “take that, you idiot!” from Torahide, but she ignored it.

UNO: “It’s Unno. I misspelled my screenname and never bothered fixing it. So I hear things are getting exciting over there.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Y-yes. I only just arrived, but I’ve already been given work to do. Asano-san was really upset with Katagiri-kun earlier, so it’s kind of a pain.”

Unno couldn’t wait to tell Mochizuki about this. But…

UNO: “Hey, it could be worse than being busy. When things get really bad, you feel so overloaded you just give up on doing anything at all.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Yes, I will do what I can. Um, what are you doing?”

Unno held the sign frame up to the others, switched to voice input, and let them all respond in unison.

“We’re getting drunk!!”

UNO: “Get the picture?”

After a moment, Kiyomasa responded with some suppressed laughter.

Kiyo-Massive: “S-sorry. That just struck me as really funny. But…thank you for this. I feel a lot more relaxed now. When you aren’t in the center of it, all our work is nothing more than something to drink to at a festival, isn’t it?”

UNO: “I think that’s how these things always work. I’m sure you have a lot on your plate, but good luck. Oh, and one other thing.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Yes?”

UNO: “When you’re sleeping, you mutter the name of who you’re dreaming about. You should probably try to stop doing that if you’re sleeping around the others there.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Huh!? I, um, do what!?”

UNO: “ ‘Ah, wait, Masanori-sama! you can’t just shove that hard thing in so soon. You need to rub the salt in first!’ Why does pickling cucumbers get you all hot and bothered?”

Kiyo-Massive: “P-pickles are delicious! Especially on summer mornings!”

Her desperate attempt to dodge the issue was hilarious. But…

UNO: “You have my support. I may be new, but I’m still a shrine maiden. Should I make you a good luck charm and send it to you?”

Kiyo-Massive: “Eh? W-well, if you don’t mind.”

We worship Izanami. Making a romance charm with her will probably be a real pain, thought Unno, but…

UNO: “Again, good luck. If things get too bad, come visit us.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Thank you.”

All she does is thank people, thought Unno. But she took that moment to end the divine transmission. That was probably best for Kiyomasa too. And…

…So things are on the move.

A lot of history was about to happen in Kansai. It would be Sanada’s turn once all that was over, but how would it end? Meanwhile…

“Excuse me, Unno-sama.”

Mochizuki arrived from the southern path coming up on the side of the shrine.

“Huh? What do you want?”

“Testament. You have a visitor.”

Who could that be? she wondered. Torahide twisted around to look and bent his head too. While they waited, someone climbed the path after receiving a nod from Mochizuki.

It was a girl. Probably middle school age. She had black hair and wore a Far Eastern uniform, but she had added Houjou decorations. She wore a merchants backpack full of merchant tools.

“U-um, are you Unno-sama?”

“Yup. This dangerous-looking lady is Unno.”

Only when Torahide spoke aloud did the girl notice the Terrestrial Dragon’s presence, so she jumped back in fright. She froze up so perfectly you could tell she had never seen a dragon up close before. Not that most people have. This is probably normal. Unno smiled and patted the girl on the shoulder.

“Just think of him as some weird artwork. So why do you want to see me?”

“Testament.” The girl reached into her pocket. Old habits die hard and Unno instantly readied herself for battle, but Mochizuki shook her head. She must have already searched the girl. In that case, thought Unno, taking a look.

“I was given this from the person who protected Houjou’s water source.”

The girl held out a bundle of long needles.

…Are you kidding me?

“Um, I was told to get it to you during summer break, but so much was going on in Houjou. I’m sorry. He didn’t give me his name, but, u-um…”

“O-oh, I see.”

Unno couldn’t make fun of the girl’s reaction to the dragon now. Not when seeing some ninja needles were enough to make her hands tremble.

“He said to give them to Unno of Sanada,” said the girl.

When Unno accepted them, her vision suddenly blurred.

…You idiot.

It’s over, she told herself. Now you’ve completely dealt with that last piece of reservation.

It was all over.

Even if she did go give these to Nezu, she doubted she would ever go to the front line again.

This was her home now.

And right now, she only wanted to help build up that home.

Yes, that’s right.

When she had been speaking to Kiyomasa, she had also been speaking to herself.

But now it had all come true.

The words weren’t what mattered. It was the passage of time and the facts that tied it all together.

Tears spilled from her eyes. At the same time, the Terrestrial Dragons stood up from the forest, everyone behind her stood up as well, and they all pointed at her.

“Someone made you cry this time!!”

Stop trying to make me feel better, idiots.

“Milady! Milady! Now the Shibata Team is starting the Battle of Shizugatake! As if we didn’t have enough on our plate already!”

“Damn! We need to focus on Honnouji! Where did the Vice President get off to!? Bathing in the Dangerous Waters after holding a meeting at the Asama Shrine!? Is she messing with us!?”

September 2nd was going to be a long night.

–I’m so fortunate.

Afterword[edit]

And that was Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon VIII-C. This volume ended summer break and it feels like a big turning point has arrived, but to the commanders at the time, I think these turning points had to feel like, “Huh? The tides are suddenly turning?”

I mean, it’d be a real shock to have half your class swapped out after summer break. Given the way things happened back then and because they were so cut off from information, the impact must have been at about that level.

In that sense, the real winners were whoever went to the usual hangouts at the convenience store, mall, or wherever else (Kyou was a lot like that back then), but if you were playing in a regional tournament or busy studying, you wouldn’t have heard any of it.

And Europe wasn’t much different on this front. Most of those countries had systems for sending messengers or letters, but rumors and delays were still a problem. The larger the country, the more they turn into dinosaurs where the actions of the extremities can’t reach the head. That was why absolute monarchy could be seen as a way of simplifying communications and speeding up the country’s reactions. Meanwhile, the Holy Roman Empire had all of the principalities to worry about, so communications and instructions would conflict and the entire country declined. In that sense, one reason behind France’s success was using their king to manage their information infrastructure and army as much as possible.

Now, the chat.

“Got any embarrassing stories from your school days? We’ve started including kindergarten ones lately.”

“How about the time they opened the pool at nursery school, but I fell on the poolside and stood back up with my forehead split open? I was bleeding bad and I collapsed into the pool, so no one got to swim that year.”

“You people have been causing trouble all your lives, haven’t you?”

“Then how about the time I insisted on helping clean at nursery school, so I went up into the attic to help the teacher and got so overexcited I jumped right into a nail sticking down from the column above me? My head bled a whole bunch and I fell down the stairs to the floor below.”

“What is it with you and head injuries?”

I think I did hear children are prone to hurting their heads. Anyway, my work background music this time was Be Free by GReeeeN. Every time I hear it, it feels like a song for taking the first step.

This time, I was wondering, “Who took the biggest first step?” The next one will be after Hexen and GT, so wait a bit.

March 2015. A morning for visiting Makuhari.

-Kawakami Minoru

Notes[edit]

Back to Volume 8B

Return to Main Page

Horizon:Volume 8C

Cover Flap[edit]

Installation[edit]

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere - 8C[edit]

Characters[edit]

Sake[edit]

Characters[edit]

Glossary[edit]

A[edit]

B[edit]

C[edit]

D[edit]

E[edit]

F[edit]

G[edit]

H[edit]

I[edit]

J[edit]

K[edit]

L[edit]

M[edit]

N[edit]

O[edit]

P[edit]

Q[edit]

R[edit]

S[edit]

T[edit]

World[edit]

Study: The Current Locations of Hashiba, Musashi, and the Other Nations[edit]

Chapter 56: Searcher in the Dark[edit]

Chapter 57: Arguer at the Sales Table[edit]

Chapter 58: Curious People in a Curious Place[edit]

Chapter 59: On-Site Decisionmaker[edit]

Chapter 60: Students of Heaven and Earth[edit]

Chapter 61: Worrier at the Party[edit]

Chapter 62: Rester in the Great Outdoors[edit]

Chapter 63: Late Night Stalker in the Late Night Kitchen[edit]

Chapter 64: Girl Wandering Nearby[edit]

Chapter 65: Outdoor Discoverer[edit]

Chapter 66: Outdoor Meeters[edit]

Chapter 67: Questioners Around the Fire[edit]

Chapter 68: Confirmers During the Debate[edit]

Chapter 69: Perceiver in a Bright Place[edit]

Chapter 70: Resigned Girl at Rock Bottom[edit]

Chapter 71: Dancers at the Waterside[edit]

Chapter 72: Face-to-Face Players[edit]

Chapter 73: Cooker at the Hunting Grounds[edit]

Chapter 74: Trapped Wolf[edit]

Chapter 75: A Mother in Public[edit]

Chapter 76: Relaxer at the Rest Spot[edit]

Chapter 77: Speakers in a Circle[edit]

Chapter 78: Storytellers Before Quitting Time[edit]

Chapter 79: Inheritors in a Secret Place[edit]

Chapter 80: Honest One in the Morning[edit]

Chapter 81: Confessor in the Sky[edit]

Chapter 82: Deliverer Between Ships[edit]

Chapter 83: Reunited Ones on Main Street[edit]

Chapter 84: Transmitter in the Batter’s Box[edit]

Chapter 85: Sacred Beasts of Two Directions[edit]

Chapter 86: Victors Before the Gates[edit]

Chapter 87: Satisfied Girl in the Land of Questions[edit]

Chapter 88: Meeters in an Edited Land[edit]

Final Chapter: Bearers of Battle[edit]

Afterword[edit]

Notes[edit]

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