Horizon:Volume 8C Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Storytellers Before Quitting Time

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.”

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