Horizon:Volume 8C Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Outdoor Discoverer

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.

<There are two “textbooks” hidden behind the righthand shelf. You can use them to make some future plans while you stir the pot or whatever.>

That wasn’t all either.

<The mirror in front of the sink gives you a view of the dining hall, so you can enjoy observing every little thing someone does while you do the dishes.>

It kept going.

<The bedroom’s back windowsill is perfect for putting your feet on.>

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?”

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